Page:Orczy--the gates of Kamt.djvu/131

 the son of Ra, the beloved of the gods. Let him come without fear, but let him come covered with remorse."

Evidently Har-sen-tu was the first criminal to be tried in our presence in the great hall of Men-ne-fer. There was a stir among the crowd, and from out the shadows a curious group detached itself and came forward slowly and silently. There were men and women, also two or three children, all dressed in black, and some had their heads entirely swathed in thick dark veils. In the midst of them, carried by four men, was the criminal, he who, covered with sins, was to stand forth before the Pharaoh for judgment, mercy or pardon. That criminal was the dead body of a man, swathed in white linen wrappings, through which the sharp features were clearly discernible. The men who had carried it propped the corpse up in the middle of the building, facing the Pharaoh, until it stood erect, weird and ghostlike, stiff and white, sharply outlined by the brilliant moon against the dense black of the shadows behind, while round, in picturesque groups, a dozen or so men and women knelt and stood, the women weeping, the children crouching awed and still, the men solemn and silent.

And the Pharaoh, with his high priest, the three learned judges, the numerous jury, sat in solemn judgment upon the dead.

From amidst the group a man came forward, and in quiet, absolutely passionless tones, began recounting the sins of the deceased.

"He owned three houses," he said, "and twenty-five oxen; he had at one time seventy sheep, and his cows gave him milk in plenty. His fields were rich in barley and wheat, and he found gold dust amidst the shingle by the stream close to his house. And yet," continued the accuser, "I, his mother's sister's child, asked him to lend