Page:Orczy--the gates of Kamt.djvu/304

 downwards on the ground. Hugh and Maat-kha alone remained standing. At a sign from the high priest they both placed their hand upon the forehead of the beast, while the priestesses intoned a triumphal march. Then, as stolidly as he had come, the god Hapi retired from the gaze of his worshippers.

"Oh thou, the son of Ra! the emissary of Osiris! the beloved of the gods! art ready to take the oath which will bind thee, thy body and thy soul, the breath within thy body and the blood beneath thy flesh, to the woman who is to be thy wife?"

And I, in this strange and vivid dream, which was so real, and which I could not grasp, heard Hugh's voice clear and distinct:

"I am ready."

And I, his friend, his chum, his schoolfellow, I, Mark Emmett, who would have given at any time my life for his, could not succeed in giving one warning shout to stop this monstrous deed.

The poison—whatever it was—was still in my veins … my limbs felt like lead … I could not keep my head erect. . . . I could see all, hear every word, and smell the incense … but I could not utter a sound.

"Oh! son of Ra, beloved of the gods, at dawn when anon, Isis, the pure, sinks fainting into the arms of Osiris, her beloved and glorious spouse, thou wilt stand beside the sacred cataract, where since five times a thousand years the kings of Kamt have given the first kiss to their bride!

"Oh then! oh, son of Ra, wilt swear to give thy bride that kiss and to take her for wife?"

"I swear!" said Hugh, earnestly.

"Oh, son of Ra, beloved of the gods, having taken unto thee a wife, wilt swear to be true to her with thy soul and with thy body?"