“And yet, what said the writing of the Divine Menkau-ra?—­it was emeralds, was it not?  And emeralds are now so rare and hard to come by.  Ever did I love emeralds, and I can never find them without a flaw.”

“It is not a matter of what thou dost love, Cleopatra,” I said; “it is a matter of the need of Khem and of the secret meaning of thy heart, which thou alone canst know.”

“Ay, surely, Harmachis; surely!  And is not the need of Egypt great?  There is no gold in the treasury, and how can I defy the Roman if I have no gold?  And have I not sworn to thee that I will wed thee and defy the Roman; and do I not swear it again—­yes, even in this solemn hour, with my hand upon dead Pharaoh’s heart?  Why, here is that occasion of which the Divine Menkau-ra dreamed.  Thou seest it is so, for else Hat-shepsu or Rameses or some other Pharaoh had drawn forth the gems.  But no; they left them to come to this hour because the time was not yet come.  Now it must be come, for if I take not the gems the Roman will surely seize on Egypt, and then there will be no Pharaoh to whom the secret may be told.  Nay, let us away with fears and to the work.  Why dost look so frightened?  Having pure hearts, there is naught to fear, Harmachis.”

“Even as thou wilt,” I said again; “it is for thee to judge, since if thou judgest falsely on thee will surely fall the curse from which there is no escape.”

“So, Harmachis, take Pharaoh’s head and I will take his——­Oh, what an awful place is this!” and suddenly she clung to me.  “Methought I saw a shadow yonder in the darkness!  Methought that it moved toward us and then straightway vanished!  Let us be going!  Didst thou see naught?”

“I saw nothing, Cleopatra; but mayhap it was the Spirit of the Divine Menkau-ra, for the spirit ever hovers round its mortal tenement.  Let us, then, be going; I shall be right glad to go.”

She made as though to start, then turned back again and spoke once more.

“It was naught—­naught but the mind that, in such a house of Horror, bodies forth those shadowy forms of fear it dreads to see.  Nay, I must look upon these emeralds; indeed, if I die, I must look!  Come—­to the work!” and stooping, she with her own hands lifted from the tomb one of the four alabaster jars, each sealed with the graven likeness of the heads of the protecting Gods, that held the holy heart and entrails of the Divine Menkau-ra.  But nothing was found in these jars, save only what should be there.

Then together we mounted on the Sphinx, and with toil drew forth the body of the Divine Pharaoh, laying it on the ground.  Now Cleopatra took my dagger, and with it cut loose the bandages which held the wrappings in their place, and the lotus-flowers that had been set in them by loving hands, three thousand years before, fell down upon the pavement.  Then we searched and found the end of the outer bandage, which was fixed in at the hinder part of the neck.