the Glory, a low, sweet voice: 'Queen Ahura, my daughter,' it said, 'I
am that Spirit to whom thou and thy husband did pray this night in
the sanctuary of my temple. It seemed to both of you that your prayers
remained unheard, yet it was not so, as my priest knew well. Queen
Ahura, thou and Pharaoh thy husband have put your trust in me these many
years, and not in vain. A daughter shall be given to thee and Pharaoh,
and my Spirit shall be in that child. She shall be beautiful and
glorious as no woman was before her, for I clothe her with health and
power and wisdom. She shall rule over the Northern and the Southern
Lands; yea, for many years the double crown shall rest upon her brow,
and no king that went before her, and no king that follows after her,
shall be more great in Egypt. Troubles and dangers shall threaten her,
but the Spirit that I give to her shall protect her in them all, and she
shall tread her enemy beneath her feet. A royal lover shall come to her
also, and she shall rejoice in his love and from it shall spring many
kings and princes. Neter-Tua, Morning Star, shall be her name, and
high-priestess of Amen--no less--shall be her office, for she is my
child whom I have taken from heaven and sent down to earth; the child
that I have given to Pharaoh and to thee, and I love her and appoint the
good goddesses to be her companions, and command Osiris to receive her
at the last.

"'Behold, in token of these things I lay my symbol on thy breast, and on
her breast also shall that symbol be. When I lift it from thee and thou
dost open thy eyes, then awaken Pharaoh at thy side and let these my
words be written in a roll, so that none of them are forgotten.'

"Then, O Pharaoh," went on Ahura, "from the Glory there came forth a
hand, and in the hand was the Symbol of Life shining as though with
fire, and the hand laid it upon my breast and it burned me as though