Page:Weird Tales volume 32 number 05.djvu/23

Rh it all than the searching for a mummy.

And then I would suddenly become conscious that cruel, unseen eyes were upon me.

On reaching Tangier I found I would have a two-day wait before I could catch a ship bound for Dakar. I spent the time wandering among the narrow alleys of the Arab quarters, hearing the wild din of drums and pipes, and watching the swaying Ouled-Naïls in smoke-hazy native cafés. It was noon the day I boarded the steamer that was to take me to my final destination. Once again there were those who watched me from an upper deck, but now a third had joined the pair. Yet of that three but two were human!

That night at dinner I sat next to a dignified old gentleman whose place was at the captain's right. The officer introduced us.

Professor Richards an interesting companion in the days that followed. A former instructor of mathematics, he had given up his teaching some years before to devote his entire study to archeology. Never have I met a more learned man. From the earliest pre-dynasty Kings of lower Egypt to those of their final successors, there was hardly a ruler with whose reign he was not familiar.

We were sitting in our deck chairs late one afternoon, watching the play of the sea in the sun rays. His knowledge of antiques had brought to mind the strange ring of The Midnight Lady. Of course I made no mention as to how it came to be in my possession or the purpose of my voyage, and had but asked his opinion as to its age and origin.

"Almost impossible to state an accurate date," he had mused. "Obviously the ring of some ancient Queen; the size and weight, together with the cobra ensign and other characteristic markings, tell me as much. But as to her identity, h-mm." He held the mystic band aloft, and brought a tiny pocket magnet into play.

"There were three great feminine rulers of Egypt, Mr. O'Hara. Nitocris, a lady of unquestionable wisdom, reigned some five thousand years ago. Fifteen centuries later, in the golden days of Egypt's supremacy, we find the immortal Hatshepsut was sole ruler of her throne. Ages passed to bring at last the third." He turned toward me.

"Queen, Lady of the Two Lands, Qlauapatrat, Divine Daughter, her Father loving."

"Which is all a big mystery to me," I answered with a smile.

"The title given to Cleopatra in hieroglyphic inscription," informed my companion, but there was a tone of anxiety in his voice.

"Cleopatra! Oh come now, Professor, you are not going to tell me that the ring belonged to one of that famed trio."

"Not to the first," spoke the archeologist gravely. "No; not to the first. I have seen the band of Queen Nitocris. Its whereabouts is also known to me. The ring of Hatshepsut is said to have been buried with that long-lived ruler, though of that we cannot be certain, as her mummy was never found. Some wild rumors have it that a few years ago a small party of Arabs came upon it in the ruins of a temple far down the Nile, but after all they are only rumors. As for Cleopatra, it is an historical fact that"

He stopped short. "But how does the ring come to be in your possession at all?" he asked.

"I am afraid it's too long a story