Page:Orczy--the gates of Kamt.djvu/144

 of man, in quarrel, revenge, or any other cause, for he who sheddeth the blood of man, his blood, too, shall be shed.'"

"But Kesh-ta is irresponsible, half deprived of her reason by sorrow and the terrible mutilation which the hand of an inhuman slave-driver inflicted upon her. To throw a human creature in such a state in the midst of an arid wilderness without food or drink, as a punishment for a crime which her hand committed, but not her mind, is barbarous, monstrous, cruel, unworthy the great people of Kamt."

"Let no man shed the blood of man," repeated the high priest, solemnly, "in quarrel, revenge, or any other cause. Hast mission, oh, beloved of Osiris, to upset the decrees of the gods?"

"Nay! I am here to follow the laws of the gods, as well as all the people of Kamt, but thou, oh, Pharaoh," he added, turning to the sick man, "knowest what physical ailments are, knowest how terrible they are to bear. Think of the moments of the worst pain thou hast ever endured, and think of them magnified a thousandfold, and then thou wilt fall far short of the slow and lingering torture to which thou wouldst subject this half-crazed woman."

"Let no man shed the blood of man," repeated the high priest for the third time, with more solemnity and emphasis, for he noticed, just as I did, that Hugh's powerful appeal, his picturesque—to them, mysterious—presence was strongly influencing the judges and the jury and all the spectators. One by one the pink lotus blossoms were lifted upwards, the judges whispered to one another, the men ceased to buffet and jostle the unfortunate woman.

"Oh, ye who are called upon to decide if a criminal