Part 33 (1/2)
Now about this voice there was so, nor did the others, for to speak the truth, all of us were frightened and thought that wethat breathed approach this tent through a triple line of sentries? So we sat still, staring at the darkness, till presently in that darkness appeared a glow of light, such as corehile we gasped with fear, till presently it took shape, and the shape it took was that of the ancient withered face, the sightless eyes, and the white beard of the holy Tanofir Yes, there not two feet froround seemed to float the head of the holy Tanofir, limned in faint flame, which I suppose ht of some camp-fire without
”O my beloved master!” cried Karema, and threw herself towards him
”O my beloved Cup!” answered Tanofir ”Glad am I to know you well and unshattered”
Then a torch was lit and lo! there before us, wrapped in his dark cloak sat the holy Tanofir
”Whence come you, my Great-uncle?” I asked amazed
”From less far than you do, Nephew,” he answered ”Namely out of Amada yonder Oh! ask ar who knows the path And by the way, if you have aught to eat I should be glad of a bite and a sup, since in Aht there is little left”
Karema sped from the tent and presently returned with bread and wine of which Tanofir partook al drink that I have tasted for oblet; ”but better a broken vow than broken hen one has much to plan and do At least I hope the Gods will think so when I ain Now, say, what is your force?”
We told him
”Good And what is your plan?”
We shook our heads, having none
”Bes,” he said sternly, ”I think you grow dull since you becae that one years schemes would have come so fast that they would have choked each other between those thick lips of yours And Shabaka, tell eneralshi+p whereof once you had plenty, in the soft air of Ethiopia? Or is it that even the shadow of e makes _you_ dull?
Well, I must turn to the woman, for that is always the lot of man Your plan, Karema, and quickly for there is no tirew fixed and her eyes dreamy as she spoke in a slow, measured voice like one who knows not what she says
”My plan is to destroy the ar and to relieve the city of Aood plan,” said holy Tanofir, ”but the question is, how?”
”I think,” went on Kareue above this place there is a spot where at this season the Nile can be forded by tallof their shoulders First then, I would send five thousand swordsmen across that ford and let the where the sailors revel in safety, or sleep sound, and fire the shi+ps The wind blows strongly from the south and the flames will leap fast from one of them to the other Most of their creill be burned and the rest can be slain by our five thousand”
”Good, very good,” said the holy Tanofir, ”but not enough, seeing that on the eastern bank is gathered the host of over two hundred thousand men Noill you deal with _them_, Karema?”
”I seee of the desert but behind the sand-hills I would send the archers of whom there arethat road which leads them past Amada On its farther side are low hills streith rocks Here I would let the archers take cover and wait for the breaking of the dawn Then beneath them they will see the most of the Eastern host and with such bows as ours they can sweep the plain fro a hundred arrows to a hter the Easterns by the ten thousand, for when these turn to charge a shaft should pierce through two together”
”Good again,” said Tanofir ”But what of the ar which lies upon this side of A us so few, it will advance and with the first light begin to thread the swaall it as it coh with loss, and find us waiting for it here shoulder to shoulder, rank upon rank with locked shi+elds, against which horse and foot shall break in vain, for who shall drive a wedge through the Ethiopian squares that Shabaka has trained and that Bes, the Karoon, commands? I say that they shall roll back like waves fro ever fewer till the claony reach their ears from beyond Aht of the burning shi+ps strikes terror in theain,” said the holy Tanofir ”But still many on both fronts will be left, for this army of Easterns is very vast And hoill you deal with these, O Karema?”
”On these I would have Pharaoh with all his reates of Aht like wounded lions between tild bulls and torn and trampled and utterly destroyed Only I know not how to tell Pharaoh what he ain,” said the holy Tanofir, ”very good And as for the telling of Pharaoh, well, I shall see hie, my chipped Cup which I had alh broken, you still hold so h it rown up in ht thehed a little and Karema stretched her arms as one does akes from sleep, rubbed her eyes and asked if he would not eat ain in a quick, clear voice