Another rumour began to run among the crowd; like the ring set circling
by a stone in water it spread from mouth to mouth, ever widening as it
went.
Marvels had happened in the temple of Hathor, that was the rumour.
Moreover it gave details: that the High-Priest had handed to the bride
the accustomed lotus-bud, the flower of the goddess, and lo! it opened
in her hand. Also, it was said, that presently the stem of it turned
to a sceptre of gold, and the cup of the bloom to sapphire stones more
perfect far than any from the desert mines.
Nor was this all, so went the tale, for when, as he must, the bridegroom
Abi offered the white dove to Hathor in her shrine, a hawk swept through
the doorway and smote it in his very hand. Yes, there in the gloom of
the shrine smote it and left it dead, blood running from its beak and
breast, dead upon the knees of the goddess; left it and was gone again!
Now what hawk, asked the people of each other, dare such a deed as
this, unless in truth it was sent by the hawk-headed Horus, the son of
Amen-Ra.
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