(_The priests salute and go out._) _Gebuel_ (_sardonically_). The secret of all knowledge is within the shrine. The vigil must be long. You will be alone for many hours, and none will enter in to disturb you. Have courage! _Nectoris._ Your look upon me is heavy and cold as stone. O Master, do you deny me the wisdom of the Golden Hawk, for which I ask in all humility? _Gebuel._ Again I say the secret is within the shrine. Keep vigil! _Nectoris._ I am afraid! Your face has become like a mask of stone. The human face is hidden behind it. I am afraid! _Gebuel._ The secret is within the shrine. Keep vigil till I come again. (_He goes._) _Nectoris_ (_shrieks_). This terror kills me! (_She throws off her veil._) Spirit of Zozer my father, I call on you for help! My flesh fails—I cannot move, Father in thy magic shrine, save me! Father in thy magic shrine, reign over me! Father in thy magic shrine, pour thy will into me, for I am powerless alone! Spirit of Zozer my father, help thy child! (_She sinks on the floor. The Ka glides in and covers herself with the veil._) _The Ka._ Look upon me. I am with you. You have begun well, and are worthy of your inheritance. Do not fail now. Have you forgotten your father’s words? _Nectoris._ Sister of my soul! they are in my heart for ever. _The Ka._ Speak them. _Nectoris._ He said, a Golden Hawk has been fashioned by the magicians of Mount Bakhua, and will be hidden by them in a sanctuary. Its capture would bring joy and great knowledge to Egypt. If you, a woman wise with the serpent wisdom, should gain that sanctuary and bring back the amulet, I will give the throne of Egypt to you and to your daughters for ever; that honour may be paid to the woman of splendid courage. And no man shall reign over Egypt, in his own right, from that day. _The Ka._ So he swore to you. You know what is within this shrine; enter and take the Golden One for your people. _Nectoris._ The face of the Guardian was terrible when he left me, as though he knew I were tempting the gods to my ruin. Can a mortal look on that hidden brightness and live? _The Ka._ You are not mortal. The pure essence of the gods, whereof your spirit is made, is but veiled with a gossamer of substance. Have not we, O my sister soul, passed together through the flames which cleanse us from mortality? Have I not stripped you naked of that mortal flesh, which gives terror to the whirl of time and to the immensity of the abyss, when your mortal heart died in you, and your spirit dared greatly in those spaces beyond knowledge?