Part 29 (2/2)

At length we drew near to the river and here, gathered on the open land, I found the ainst the Easterns, and with thereat concourse of others from the city These collected roundypt from my loss But I broke away from them almost in tears and with my mother hid , also his beautiful ho, although she see to us while the steersmen and rowers of the boat, tall Ethiopians every one of theave me a General's salute Then, as the wind served, we hoisted the sail and glided away up Nile, till presently the teht

Of that long, long journey there is no need to tell Up the Nile we travelled slowly, dragging the boat past the cataracts till Egypt was far behind us In the end, many days after we had passed the mouth of another river that was blue in colour which flowed from the northern mountain lands down into the Nile, we ca and steep that wenear to it at sunset I saw a athered on the sand and beyond them a camp in which were set many beautiful pavilions that seeold, as were the banners that floated above therasshopper, also done in gold with silver legs

”It seeers travelled in safety,” said Bes to me, ”for know, that yonder are some of my subjects who have coer call youAnd you ive me, but when you come into my presence you must bohich I shall like less than you do, but it is the custo and that I were your friend, for henceforth good-bye to ease and jollity”

I laughed, but Bes did not laugh at all, only turned to his ho already ruled hih he were indeed a slave, and said, ”Lady Kareet that you have ever been a Cup or anything useful, since henceforth you must be a queen, that is if you please my people”

”And what happens if I do not please the her fine eyes

”I do not quite know, Wife Perhaps they may refuse to accept me, at which I shall not weep Or perhaps they may refuse to accept you, at which of course I should weep very much, for you see you are so very white and, heretofore, all the queens of the Ethiopians have been black”

”And if they refuse to accept me because I am white, or rather brown, instead of black like oiled marble, what then, O Husband?”

”Then--oh! then I cannot say, O Wife Perhaps they will send you back to your own country Or perhaps they will separate us and place you in a temple where you will live alone in all honour I re a Goddess of her until she died of weariness Or perhaps--well, I do not know”

Then Karery

”Noish I had remained a Cup,” she said, ”and the servant of the holy Tanofir who at least taughtblack barbarians in the co, it seems has no power to protect the hororoth before there is need?” asked Bes humbly ”Surely it would be tis had happened”

”If any of thes than that,” she replied, but the talk went no further, for at this ,it to the bank

Then Bes stood up on the proaving his bow and there arose a hty shout of, ”_Karoon! Karoon!_ It is he, it is he returned after many years!”

Twice they shouted thus and then, every one of them, threw themselves face doards in the sand

”Yes,been ers in far lands by the help of the Grasshopper in heaven, and, as ers will have told you, of ned to coth returned to Ethiopia that I may shed my wisdom on you like the sun and pour it on your heads like melted honey Moreover, mindful of our lahich aforetime I defied and therefore left you, I have searched the whole world through till I found the most beautiful woned to come to this far country to be your queen Advance, fair Karema, and show yourself to these my Ethiopians”

So Karema stepped forward and stood on the prow of the boat by the side of Bes, and a strange couple they looked The Ethiopians who had risen, considered her gravely, then one of them said,

”Karoon called her beautiful, but in truth she is ally”

”At least she is a woman,” said another, ”for her shape is female”

”Yes, and he hasmay choose his oife soe another's taste?”

”Cease,” said Bes in a lordly way ”If you do not think her beautiful to-night, you will to-morrow And now let us land and rest”

So we landed and while I did so I took note of these Ethiopians They were great men, black as charcoal with thick lips, white teeth and flat noses Their eyes were large and the whites of them somewhat yellow, their hair curled like wool, their beards were short and on their faces they wore a continual smile Of dress most of them had little, but their elders or leaders wore lion and leopard skins and some were clad in a kind of silken tunic belted about thebows, short swords and small shi+elds round in shape and made from the hide of the hippopotast them since even the humblest wore bracelets of that metal, while about the necks of the chieftains it ound in great torques, also sometimes on their ankles They wore sandals on their feet and some of therasshoppers fashi+oned of gold bound on the top of their heads, and these I took to be the priests There were no women in their number