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"Finally dusk fell And soon we heard theand Queen approached The soldiers careat open court of the palace ere brought as we had been before Here it was that Khayman had laid his hands upon us and we had been dishonored, and before those very saain

"Only it was night and the laht played upon the gilded lotus blossoms of the pillars, and upon the painted silhouettes which covered the walls Al last the King and Queen stepped upon the dais And all those assembled fell to their knees The soldiers forced us into the saan to speak

"In a quavering voice, she told her subjects that ere doued Khay and Queen theods, stronger even than the god Ra, had cast down this diabolical force and raised up into celestial glory the King and the Queen

"But the great god could not look kindly upon the witches who had so troubled his beloved people And he demanded now that no mercy be shown

" 'Mekare, for your evil lies and your discourse with deue shall be torn from your mouth And Maharet, for the evil which you have envisioned and sought to make us believe in, your eyes shall be plucked out! And all night, you shall be bound together, so that you , the one unable to speak, the other unable to see And then at high noon tomorrow in the public place before the palace you shall be burnt alive for all the people to see

" 'For behold, no such evil shall ever prevail against the gods of Egypt and their chosen King and Queen For the gods have looked upon us with benevolence and special favor, and we are as the King and Queen of Heaven, and our destiny is for the coood!'

"I was speechless as I heard the condemnation; my fear, my sorrow lay beyond my reach But Mekare cried out at once in defiance She startled the soldiers as she pulled away from them and stepped forward Her eyes were on the stars as she spoke And above the shocked whispers of the court she declared:

" 'Let the spirits witness; for theirs is the knowledge of the future-both what it would be, and what I will! You are the The Queen Of The Damned, that's what you are! Your only destiny is evil, as well you know! But I shall stop you, if I reatestyou down Look well upon ain!'

"And no sooner had she spoken this oath, this prophecy, than the spirits, gathering, began their ind and the doors of the palace were flung open and the sands of the desert salted the air

"Screams rose from the panic-stricken courtiers

"But the Queen cried out to her soldiers: 'Cut out her tongue as I have co to the walls in terror, the soldiers caue

"In cold horror I watched it happen; I heard her gasp as it was done And then with astonishing fury, she thrust the down on her knees snatched up the bloody tongue and sed it before they would tramp upon it or throw it aside

"Then the soldiers laid hold of me

"The last things I beheld were Akasha, her finger pointed, her eyes glea And then the stricken face of Khay down his che

eks The soldiers clamped their hands on my head and pushed back my eyelids and tore all vision from me, as I ithout a sound