And it was to be mine to rule this moonlit land; mine to preserve those sacred shrines, and cherish the honour of their Gods; mine to cast out the Ptolemy and free Egypt from the foreign yoke!  In my veins ran the blood of those great Kings who await the day of Resurrection, sleeping in the tombs of the valley of Thebes.  My spirit swelled within me as I dreamed upon this glorious destiny, I closed my hands, and there, upon the pylon, I prayed as I had never prayed before to the Godhead, who is called by many names, and in many forms made manifest.

“O Amen,” I prayed, “God of Gods, who hast been from the beginning; Lord of Truth, who art, and of whom all are, who givest out thy Godhead and gatherest it up again; in the circle of whom the Divine ones move and are, who wast from all time the Self-begot, and who shalt be till time—­hearken unto me.[*]

     [*] For a somewhat similar definition of the Godhead see the
     funeral papyrus of Nesikhonsu, a Princess of the Twenty-
     first Dynasty.—­Editor.

“O Amen—­Osiris, the sacrifice by whom we are justified, Lord of the Region of the Winds, Ruler of the Ages, Dweller in the West, the Supreme in Amenti, hearken unto me.

“O Isis, great Mother Goddess, mother of the Horus—­mysterious Mother, Sister, Spouse, hearken unto me.  If, indeed, I am the chosen of the Gods to carry out the purpose of the Gods, let a sign be given me, even now, to seal my life to the life above.  Stretch out your arms towards me, O ye Gods, and uncover the glory of your countenance.  Hear! ah, hear me!” And I cast myself upon my knees and lifted up my eyes to heaven.

And as I knelt, a cloud grew upon the face of the moon covering it up, so that the night became dark, and the silence deepened all around—­even the dogs far below in the city ceased to howl, while the silence grew and grew till it was heavy as death.  I felt my spirit lifted up within me, and my hair rose upon my head.  Then of a sudden the mighty pylon seemed to rock beneath my feet, a great wind beat about my brows and a voice spoke within my heart: 

“Behold a sign!  Possess thyself in patience, O Harmachis!”

And as the voice spoke, a cold hand touched my hand, and left somewhat within it.  Then the cloud rolled from the face of the moon, the wind passed, the pylon ceased to tremble, and the night was as the night had been.

As the light came back, I gazed upon that which had been left within my hand.  It was a bud of the holy lotus new breaking into bloom, and from it came a most sweet scent.

And while I gazed behold! the lotus passed from my grasp and was gone, leaving me astonished.

CHAPTER IV

OF THE DEPARTURE OF HARMACHIS AND OF HIS MEETING WITH HIS UNCLE SEPA, THE HIGH PRIEST OF ANNU EL RA; OF HIS LIFE AT ANNU, AND OF THE WORDS OF SEPA