"Our luck is ill to-day, Bes, seeing that before the end of it we may well be parted."
"Not so, Master, our luck is good to-day seeing that before the end of it you will be the richer by the finest pearls in the whole world, by my weight in pure gold (and Master, I am twice as heavy as the king thought and will stuff myself with twenty pounds of meat before the weighing, if I have the chance, or at least with water, though in this hot place that will not last for long), and by six picked huntsmen, brave men as you thought, who will serve to escort us and our treasure to the coast."
"First I must win the match, Bes."
"Which you could do with one eye blinded, Master, and a sore finger.
Kings think that they can shoot because all the worms that crawl about them and are named men, dare not show themselves their betters. Oh! I have heard tales in yonder city. There have been days when this Lord of the world has missed six lions with as many arrows, and they seated smiling in his face, being but tamed brutes brought from far in cages of wood, yes, smiling like cats in the sun. Look you, Master, he drinks too much wine and sits up too late in his Women"s house--there are three hundred of them there, Master--to shoot as you and I can. If you doubt it, look at his eyes and hands. Oh! the pearls and the gold and the men are yours, and that painted prince who mocked us is where he ought to be--dead in the mud.
"Did I tell you how I managed that, Master? As you know better than I do, lions hate those that have on them the smell of their own blood.
Therefore, while I pointed out the way to him, I touched the painted prince with the bleeding tail of that which we killed, pretending that it was by chance, for which he cursed me, as well he might. So when we came to the dead lion and, as I had expected, met there the lioness you had wounded, she charged through the hunters at him who smelt of her husband, and bit his head off."
"But, Bes, you smelt of him also, and worse."
"Yes, Master, but that painted cousin of the King came first. I kept well behind him, pretending to be afraid," and he chuckled quietly, adding, "I expect that he is now telling an angry tale about me to Osiris, or to the Gra.s.shopper that takes him there, as it may happen."
"These Easterns worship neither Osiris, nor your Gra.s.shopper, Bes, but a flame of fire."
"Then he is telling the tale to the fire, and I hope that it will get tired and burn him."
So we talked merrily enough because we had done great deeds and thought that we had outwitted the Easterns and the King, not knowing all their craft. For none had told us that that man who hunted with the King and yet dared to draw arrow upon the quarry before the King should be put to death as one who had done insult to his Majesty. This that royal fox remembered and therefore was sure that he would win the wager.
Now the chariots turned and pa.s.sing down a path came to an open s.p.a.ce that was cleared of reeds. Here they halted, that of the King and my own side by side with ten paces between them, and those of the court behind.
Meanwhile huntsmen with dogs entered the great brake far away to the right and left of us, also in front, so that the lions might be driven backwards and forwards across the open s.p.a.ce.
Soon we heard the hounds baying on all sides. Then Bes made a sucking noise with his great lips and pointed to the edge of the reeds in front of us some sixty paces away. Looking, I saw a yellow shape creeping along between their dark stems, and although the shot was far, forgetting all things save I was a hunter and there was my game, I drew the arrow to my ear, aimed and loosed, making allowance for its fall and for the wind.
Oh! that shot was good. It struck the lion in the body and pierced him through. Out he came, roaring, rolling, and tearing at the ground. But by now I had another arrow on the string, and although the King lifted his bow, I loosed first. Again it struck, this time in the throat, and that lion groaned and died.
The King looked at me angrily, and from the court behind rose a murmur of wonder mingled with wrath, wonder at my marksmanship, and wrath because I had dared to shoot before the King.
"The wager looks well for us," muttered Bes, but I bade him be silent, for more lions were stirring.
Now one leapt across the open s.p.a.ce, pa.s.sing in front of the King and within thirty paces of us. He shot and missed it, sending his shaft two spans above its back. Then I shot and drove the arrow through it just where the head joins the neck, cutting the spine, so that it died at once.
Again that murmur went up and the King struck the charioteer on the head with his clenched fist, crying out that he had suffered the horses to move and should be scourged for causing his hand to shake.
This charioteer, although he was a lord--since in the East men of high rank waited on the King like slaves and even clipped his nails and beard--craved pardon humbly, admitting his fault.
"It is a lie," whispered Bes. "The horses never stirred. How could they with those grooms holding their heads? Nevertheless, Master, the pearls are as good as round your neck."
"Silence," I answered. "As we have heard, in the East all men speak the truth; it is only Egyptians who lie. Also in the East men"s necks are encircled with bowstrings as well as pearls, and ears are long."
The hounds continued to bay, drawing nearer to us. A lioness bounded out of the reeds, ran towards the King"s chariot and as though amazed, sat down like a dog, so near that a man might have hit it with a stone. The King shot short, striking it in the fore-paw only, whereon it shook out the arrow and rushed back into the reeds, while the court behind cried,
"May the King live for ever! The beast is dead."
"We shall see if it is dead presently," said Bes, and I nodded.
Another lion appeared to the right of the King. Again he shot and missed it, whereon he began to curse and to swear in his own royal oaths, and the charioteer trembled. Then came the end.
One of the hounds drew quite close and roused the lioness that had been p.r.i.c.ked in the foot. She turned and killed it with a blow of her paw, then, being mad, charged straight at the King"s chariot. The horses reared, lifting the grooms off their feet. The King shot wildly and fell backwards out of the chariot, as even Kings of the world must do when they have nothing left to stand on. The lioness saw that he was down and leapt at him, straight over the chariot. As she leapt I shot at her in the air and pierced her through the loins, paralysing her, so that although she fell down near the King, she could not come at him to kill him.
I sprang from my chariot, but before I could reach the lioness hunters had run up with spears and stabbed her, which was easy as she could not move.
The King rose from the ground, for he was unharmed, and said in a loud voice,
"Had not that shaft of mine gone home, I think that the East would have bowed to another lord to-night."
Now, forgetting that I was speaking to the King of the earth, forgetting the wager and all besides, I exclaimed,
"Nay, your shaft missed; mine went home," whereon one of the courtiers cried,
"This Egyptian is a liar, and calls the King one!"
"A liar?" I said astonished. "Look at the arrow and see from whose quiver it came," and I drew one from my own of the Egyptian make and marked with my mark.
Then a tumult broke out, all the courtiers and eunuchs talking at once, yet all bowing to the mud-stained person of the King, like ears of wheat to a tree in a storm. Not wishing to urge my claims further, for my part I returned to the chariot and the hunting being done, as I supposed, unstrung my bow which I prized above all things, and set it in its case.
While I was thus employed the eunuch Houman approached me with a sickly smile, saying,
"The King commands your presence, Egyptian, that you may receive your reward."
I nodded, saying that I would come, and he returned.
"Bes," I said when he was out of hearing, "my heart sinks. I do not trust that King who I think means mischief."
"So do I, Master. Oh! we have been great fools. When a G.o.d and a man climb a tree together, the man should allow the G.o.d to come first to the top, and thence tell the world that he is a G.o.d."
"Yes," I answered, "but who ever sees Wisdom until she is flying away?
Now perhaps, the G.o.d being the stronger, will cast down the man."
Then both together we advanced towards the King, leaving the chariot in charge of soldiers. He was seated on a gilded chair which served him as a throne, and behind him were his officers, eunuchs and attendants, though not all of them, since at a little distance some of them were engaged in beating the lord who had served as his charioteer upon the feet with rods. We prostrated ourselves before him and waited till he spoke. At length he said,
"Shabaka the Egyptian, we made a wager with you, of which you will remember the terms. It seems that you have won the wager, since you slew two lions, whereas we, the King, slew but one, that which leapt upon us in the chariot."
Here Bes groaned at my side and I looked up.
"Fear nothing," he went on, "it shall be paid." Here he s.n.a.t.c.hed off the girdle of priceless, rose-hued pearls and threw it in my face.
"At the palace too," he went on, "the dwarf shall be set in the scales and his full weight in pure gold shall be given to you. Moreover, the lives of the six hunters are yours, and with them the men themselves."
"May the King live for ever!" I exclaimed, feeling that I must say something.
"I hope so," he answered cruelly, "but, Egyptian, you shall not, who have broken the laws of the land."
"In what way, O King?" I asked.
"By shooting at the lions before the King had time to draw his bow, and by telling the King that he lied to his face, for both of which things the punishment is death."