“Then the Ka or the body of Pharaoh—­I know not which it was—­ceased from speaking, and lay there a while staring at me with its cold eyes, till at length the spirits of my four sons who are dead entered the chamber and, lifting up the shape, carried it away.  I awoke, shaking like a reed in the wind, and ran hither up a thousand steps to find you brawling with this low-born slut, dead Pharaoh’s worn-out shoe that in bygone years I kicked from off my foot.”

Now Merytra would have answered, for she loved not such names, but the two men looked at her so fiercely that her rage died, and she was silent.

“Read me this vision, Man, and be swift, for the torment of it haunts me,” went on Abi.  “If you cannot I strip you of your offices, and give your carcase to the rods until you find wisdom.  It was you who set me on this path, and by the gods you shall keep me safe in it or die by inches.”

Now, seeing his great danger, Kaku grew cold and cunning.

“It is true, O Prince,” he said, “that I set you on this path, this high and splendid path, and it is true also that from the beginning I have kept you safe in it.  Had it not been for me and my counsel, long ago you would have become but a forgotten traitor.  Remember that night at Thebes, when in your pride you desired to smite at the heart of Pharaoh, and how I held your hand, and remember how, many a time, my wisdom has been your guide, when left to your own rash folly you must have failed or perished.  It is true also, Prince, that in the future as in the past, with me and by me you stand or fall.  Yet if you think otherwise, find some wiser man to lead you, and wait the end.  All the rods in Egypt cannot be broken on my back, O Abi.  Now shall I speak who alone have knowledge, or will you seek another counsellor?”

“Speak on,” answered Abi sullenly, “we are fish in the same net, and share each other’s fortune to the end, whether it be Set’s gridiron or fat Egypt’s pleasure pond.  Fear not, what I have promised you shall have while it is mine to give.”

“Just now you promised rods,” remarked Kaku, making a wry face and replacing the remains of his wig upon his bald head, “but let that pass.  Now as to this dream of yours, I find its meaning good.  How did Pharaoh come to you?  Not as a living spirit, but in the fashion of a dead man, and who cares for dead men?”

“I do, for one, when they cut my mouth with broken crystals,” interrupted Merytra, who was bathing her wounds in a basin of water.

“Would that they had cut your tongue instead of your lips, Woman,” snarled Abi.  “Continue, Kaku, and heed her not.”

“And what was his message?” went on the magician.  “Why, that you shall marry the Majesty of Egypt, and rule in her right and sit in the seat of kings.  Are not these the very things that you desire, and have worked for years to win?”

“Yes, Kaku, but you forget all that about one Rames, and the tomb that I must hollow, and the rest.”