THE TALISMAN OF AHTKA-RĀ.
Kāra found he had only time to dress for a dinner with Mrs. Everingham.
Aneth was to be there also, and he must not neglect the intrigue he was
conducting to obtain an ascendency over the girl. That was the reason,
he told himself, why he was so anxious to attend.
His plans were progressing well at this time. The only adverse element
was the obvious infatuation of Gerald Winston for Miss Consinor; but the
Egyptian had carefully gauged the depths of the young girl’s character.
She was interested in antiquities, and therefore encouraged Winston, who
was a noted scholar; but there was no danger in that. Kāra knew more of
Egyptology than all the scholars in Cairo, and had often seen Aneth’s
face brighten when he told her some strange and interesting bit of
unwritten history. To be sure, Winston was her own countryman, and had
an advantage in that; yet Mrs. Everingham had once said in his hearing
that a handsome foreigner was always fascinating to an Englishwoman, and
he had remembered the careless remark and pondered its truth until he
had come to believe it.
He had a better argument than any of these in reserve, however. If the
Englishman really succeeded in winning Aneth’s love in the end, then
Kāra knew how to compel the girl to obedience.
As he left his room he found the dragoman leaning against a pillar of
the courtyard.
“Is Nephthys here?” he inquired.
“I suppose so,” answered the dragoman, yawning sleepily. “She was due to
arrive this afternoon, wasn’t she?”
Kāra looked at him with sudden suspicion.
“Have you seen her?” he demanded.
“Am I the keeper of your harem?” retorted Tadros, indignantly. “Old
Tilga has been hidden in the women’s quarters for hours. Probably she is
attending to your Nephthys.”
He eyed his master disdainfully, and Kāra walked on and entered the
carriage. He had barely time to join the company at dinner, and Nephthys
could wait.
Winston was not present this evening, and the prince found Aneth
unusually gracious. She chatted so pleasantly, her manner was so
friendly and her clear eyes so sweet and intelligent, that Kāra gave way
to the moment’s enchantment and forgot all else in the delight of her
society.
Nor did he recover readily from the spell. After returning home he paced
the floor for an hour, recalling the English girl’s fair face and every
change of its expression. Then he gave a guilty start as a recollection
of Hatatcha swept over him, impressing upon his memory his fearful
oath.
Kāra’s nature, despite his cold exterior, was fervid in the extreme. He
had sworn to hate this girl, yet to-night he loved her passionately. But
Hatatcha’s training had not entirely failed. He calmed himself, and
examined his danger critically, as an outsider might have done.
To yield to his love for Aneth would mean enslavement by the enemy, a
condition from which his judgment instinctively revolted. To steel his
heart against her charms would be difficult, but its necessity was
obvious. He determined to pursue his plot with relentless hatred, and to
raise between the girl and himself as many bars as possible. He scorned
his own weakness, and since he knew that it existed, he resolved to
conquer it.
Once Hatatcha had said to him: “You are cold, selfish and cruel, and I
have made you so.” True; these qualities had been carefully instilled
into his nature. He was proud that he possessed them, for he had a
mission to fulfil. And if he desired any peace in his future life, that
mission must be fully accomplished.
In the morning he went to see Nephthys, and his face brightened as he
realized how remarkably beautiful she was. The Orientals generally
admire only the form of a woman, being indifferent to the face; but Kāra
was modern enough to appreciate beauty of feature, while holding to an
extent the Eastern prejudice that a fat and soft form is the chief
attraction of the female sex. So he found Nephthys admirable in every
way; and if her indifference and perfect subjection to his will in any
way annoyed him, he was at this time unaware of the fact. He wished this
girl to replace Aneth Consinor in his affection and esteem, and would
forgive much in Nephthys if she could manage to bring about this
excellent result.
After this he devoted much of his attention to the Nile girl, striving
in his association with her to exclude all outside interests. He
purchased for her marvelous costumes and hired two Arab maidens to
attend her and keep her royally attired. Kāra’s most splendid diamonds
and rubies were set by Andalaft in many coronets, brooches and bracelets
to deck her person, and many of the wonderful pearls he had brought from
the secret tomb were carefully sized and strung to form a necklace for
the Egyptian girl’s portly neck.
Nephthys was pleased with these possessions. They drew her from the dull
lassitude in which she had existed, and aroused in her breast a womanly
exultation that even her mother could never have imagined her able to
develop. It may be the girl began to think and to dream; yet if so,
there was little outward indication of the fact. To comprehend any
woman’s capabilities is difficult; to comprehend those of Nephthys
seemed impossible. She was luxury-loving by nature, as are all
Orientals, and accepted the comforts of her surroundings without
questioning why they were bestowed upon her. Whatever sensibilities she
possessed had long lain dormant. They might be awakening now; her
delight in adornment seemed the first step in that direction.
Kāra purposely remained away from the club for several evenings
following that in which he had won Consinor’s ten thousand pounds.
Perhaps he wished his enemy to become uneasy and fret at the delay in
wiping out the debt, and if so, it would have gratified him to know the
feverish anxiety with which the viscount haunted the club, and watched
every new arrival in the hope that Kāra would appear.
At last the Egyptian judged that he had waited long enough, and prepared
to still further enmesh his victim. In his room that evening he took
from a secret drawer of his cabinet a small roll of papyrus, on which
were closely written hieroglyphics. To refresh his memory he read the
scroll carefully, although it was not the first time he had studied it
since it had fallen at his feet when the bust of Isis was overturned at
the tomb of Ahtka-Rā.
Freely translated, the writing was as follows:
“Being finally prepared to join Anubis in the nether world, I, Ahtka-Rā,
son of the Sun and High Priest of Āmen, have caused to be added to the
decoration of my sarcophagus the precious Stone of Fortune given to me
by the King of Kesh[A] in return for having preserved him and his people
from the wrath of Rameses. It is my belief that this wondrous stone will
guard my tomb when my spirit has departed, and by its powers preserve
my body and my treasure from being despoiled, until that time when I
shall return to Qemt[B] to live again. Let no descendant of my house
remove it from its place, for the Stone of Fortune is mine, and I
bequeath it not to any of those who may come after me. In time of need
my children may take of the treasure what they require, but to disturb
my Stone of Fortune will be to draw upon the offender the bitterest
curse of my spirit. It may be known to all from its changing color,
being never the same for long; and the color of it is not bright, as is
the ruby or the carnelian or amethyst, but ever gloomy and mysterious.
That none may mistake its location, I have embedded it in a triple band
of gold, and it is placed at the head of my sarcophagus. There shall it
remain. Since it came into my possession I have ever worn it in my
bosom, and by its magic I have been able to control Rameses the son of
Seti, to rule his kingdom as if it were my own, to confound all my
enemies and accusers, and to amass such riches as no man of Qemt has
ever before possessed. Also has it brought to me health and many years
in which to accomplish the purpose of my present existence. For this
reason do I refuse to part with it in the ages during which I await the
new life. Whatever else may happen to my tomb, I implore those who live
in the days to come to leave to me this one treasure.”
[A] Ethiopia.
[B] Egypt.
It was signed by Ahtka-Rā and sealed with his seal, being doubtless the
work of his own hand.
Kāra rerolled the papyrus and put it away, pausing to glance with a
smile at the strange ring he wore upon his hand.
“My great ancestor was selfish,” he murmured, “and wished to prevent any
of his descendants from becoming as famous as he himself was.
Nevertheless, had I read the script before I removed the stone from the
sarcophagus, I would have respected Ahtka-Rā’s wish; but I did not know
what treasure I had gained until afterward, when it was too late to
restore the stone without another visit to the tomb. A curse is a
dreadful thing, especially from one’s ancestor, and it is even to avoid
Hatatcha’s curse that I am now fulfilling her vengeance. But Ahtka-Rā
may rest content; I have merely borrowed his talisman, and it shall be
returned to him when I have obtained full satisfaction from my
grandmother’s enemies. Meantime, the stone will protect me from evil
fortune, and when it is restored the curse will be averted.”
Something in this expression struck him as incongruous. He thought
deeply for a moment, a frown gathering upon his brow. Then he said: “I
must not deceive myself with sophistries. What if the curse is already
working, and because of it the English girl has turned my strength to
weakness? But that cannot be. Whenever I have worn this ring I have
mastered all difficulties and triumphed as I desired; and I will triumph
in my undertaking to-night, in spite of the reproach I can already see
in Aneth’s eyes. I am still the controller of my own destiny as well as
the destinies of others; for if the talisman did so much for Ahtka-Rā as
he claims, it will surely prove stronger than any curse.”
With a laugh he shook off the uncanny feeling that had for the moment
oppressed him, and went to the club.