“Charmion,” he went on, advancing towards her with outstretched finger, “I say that at times I do not trust thee. But two nights gone I dreamed I saw thee standing in the desert. I saw thee laugh and lift thy hand to heaven, and from it fell a rain of blood; then the sky sank down on the land of Khem and covered it. Whence came the dream, girl, and what is its meaning? I have naught against thee as yet; but hearken! On the moment that I have, though thou art of my kin, and I have loved thee--on that moment, I say, I will doom those delicate limbs, which thou lovest so much to show, to the kite and the jackal, and the soul within thee to all the tortures of the Gods! Unburied shalt thou lie, and bodiless and accursed shalt thou wander in Amenti!--ay, for ever and ever!” He paused, for his sudden burst of passion had spent itself. But by it, more clearly than before, I saw how deep a heart this man had beneath the cloak of his merriness and simplicity of mien, and how fiercely the mind within him was set upon his aim. As for the girl, she shrank from him terrified, and, placing her hands before her sweet face, began to weep. “Nay, speak not so, my father,” she said, between her sobs; “for what have I done? I know nothing of the evil wandering of thy dreams. I am no soothsayer that I should read dreams. Have I not carried out all things according to thy desire? Have I not been ever mindful of that dread oath?”--and she trembled. “Have I not played the spy and told thee all? Have I not won the heart of the Queen, so that she loves me as a sister, refusing me nothing--ay, and the hearts of those about her? Why dost thou affright me thus with thy words and threats?” and she wept afresh, looking even more beautiful in her sorrow than she was before. “Enough, enough,” he answered; “what I have said, I have said. Be warned, and affront our sight no more with this wanton dress. Thinkest thou that we would feed our eyes upon those rounded arms--we whose stake is Egypt and who are dedicated to the Gods of Egypt? Girl, behold thy cousin and thy King!” She ceased weeping, wiping her eyes with her chiton, and I saw that they seemed but the softer for her tears. “Methinks, most royal Harmachis, and beloved Cousin,” she said, as she bent before me, “that we are already made acquainted.” “Yea, Cousin,” I answered, not without shamefacedness, for I had never before spoken to so fair a maid; “thou wert in the chariot with Cleopatra this day when I struggled with the Nubian?” “Assuredly,” she said, with a smile and a sudden lighting of the eyes, “it was a gallant fight and gallantly didst thou overthrow that black brute. I saw the fray and, though I knew thee not, I greatly feared for one so brave. But I paid him for my fright, for it was I who put it into the mind of Cleopatra to bid the guards strike off his hand--now, knowing who thou art, I would I had said his head.” And she looked up shooting a glance at me and then smiled.