THE MIGHT OF SKILL.
When Daphne awoke she found herself lying on a luxurious couch, in a
low apartment lighted with hanging lamps. From the movement, she judged
they were on the sea. Her companions were still sleeping, but the women
slaves were awake, and moved about easily.
Daphne arose and tried to walk, but her feet were unsteady with the
movement. She called a slave-girl, and with her help reached the
door. She found, from the slave’s report, they had slept a very long
time—how long she knew not.
Outside the door was a kind of ladder. She climbed up into the fresh
air, and found herself on the deck of a large ship. A vessel of some
kind it certainly was, for no land was in sight—nothing but the waves
dancing in the sunlight. But the craft was altogether different from
anything she had heard of or imagined.
No sail was set, nor did there appear to be any masts. There were no
oars, and no places where oars might be used. The floor on which she
stood was a smooth unbroken surface, except for the entrance by which
she had ascended, and two of a similar kind in different places, of
which the doors were closed. No man was visible, and there was no sound
except the lapping of the waves.
At first she thought some dreadful storm must have carried away the
upper part of the vessel, and left only the lower portion; but on
looking, she found no signs of breakage or wreck, and discovered, to
her amazement, that the sides of the bulwarks round the deck were of
iron, or some metal, perfectly finished.
The wind seemed very strong, but the waves hardly moved. She saw some
birds in the water, which were, she thought, swimming at a great pace
without any effort; then some beams passed with the same speed; then,
as she looked more carefully, the waves of the sea seemed rushing past
and breaking on the bows of the vessel. At last she found that it was
the ship which, without sail or oar, or any visible power, was dashing
through the water. She was awe-struck! Alone in the midst of the sea,
with no sign of human power, the vessel was rushing through the water
like some huge sea-monster!
She made her way to the side, almost expecting to see great fins
ploughing the water, or a myriad arms clutching it in swimming. But
she could see nothing, and hear nothing. Silently, without a jar or
shock of any kind, the vessel sped on its way through a desolate waste
of waters. The silence and solitude terrified her, and she turned to
call her companions. She wished to know if she were still in a land of
dreams, and under the power of the drug.
But the sun shone with burning heat, the spray of the water was cold,
the air was fresh, and everything she touched and saw seemed real and
true. No phantom sea or ocean, she thought, could look so strong and
glaring.
Suddenly the Egyptian leader stood by her side, and as she shrank from
him, he said, “Fear not! I have sworn an oath that cannot be broken.”
And when she looked in his eyes, her courage was restored, and she
said, “Tell me whither we are going, and how it is that the vessel
moves without sail or oars. To me it seems like wicked magic.”
“We are going,” he replied, “to a country in which, if thou wilt, thou
shalt be a great queen; and there is no magic, but simply human skill
which moves the ship, though it would be tedious to explain the matter
more fully.”
Then Daphne mused for a time on the strangeness of her situation, and
at length, after gazing fixedly at the Egyptian, she said, “Grant me
one more promise.” And he said, “If it is possible, I will grant it.”
“Already when we were still at Athens,” she said, “I noticed thou
toldest the other maidens things that thou knewest to be false, taking
advantage of their ignorance. Now I am altogether in thy power and at
thy mercy, and I am prepared for my fate, having escaped a horrible
death through thy aid. But my request is this: whatever thou sayest to
me, let it be truth—do not play with me at least, with idle tales.”
The Egyptian seemed to reflect for a long time, and his look became
gloomy.
Then he said: “Already I have promised thee more than I intended, and
the truth is too hard for thee to hear, or even to understand, for the
present.”
For a moment Daphne shuddered, but by an effort she recovered her
composure, and said: “To avoid death by the pestilence, willingly, with
my eyes open, I surrendered myself to thee, although I did not know
even thy name. I look on myself as already in the under-world. Nothing
now will terrify me, for thy vaunted oath I believe no longer.”
The Egyptian replied, “The oath cannot be broken, and whatever I say
to thee shall be free from deceit. But there are many things that I
cannot tell thee: whatever I say shall be true, but neither can I tell
thee everything, nor could thy mind at present bear it, any more than
thy eyes could look straight at the sun. My country is in many ways
different from Athens. My name is Thoth.”
At first Daphne was displeased to be treated like a child, but her
curiosity was excited, and she began to ask questions. The answers,
however, seemed for the most part to cause still greater mystery.
Suddenly she heard a cry of alarm from some of her companions. They too
had awaked, and had come to join Daphne. Just as they came near, at
the other end of the vessel two of the merchants appeared, and began
to eye the maidens with the look of curious contempt which at first
had alarmed Daphne. She turned to Thoth and said, “Why are these men
so hateful in appearance? They fill me with dread, and terrify my
companions.”
A look of displeasure crossed the face of the leader, and he said
sternly, “This shall not be. I will compel them to honour whom I
choose, and in a short time I will give thee an undoubted sign.”