chief god, was forsaking Egypt. With feverish impulse he hastened to the hall of records, on the other side of the temple. He searched the ancient annals and was filled with awe to read, that one thousand years before, the light was visible in the sanctuary during the descent of the column of water in the clepsydra, or water-clock, through two divisions, roughly, our minutes. But to-night, the bright spot was visible not quite half a minute, and not in the center of the temple! Tempest-tossed, he remained absorbed in meditation, in the vast library containing the records of thirty centuries. At midnight, the din in the streets subsided, and then silence came on. He looked out; the city was deserted. The throngs had hurried to the river, pressing every boat into service, to see who should be first to detect the rise in the Nile, from Central African floods. Mesocharis was relieved somewhat and began to seek the cause for the shifting of the solar beam. Either the solid temple resting on a foundation of Herculean rocks was moving, or the sun. But the temple could not move unless the entire globe, the earth moved. This he thought would destroy the universe, and cause displacement of the sun likewise. He saw that in a few years the solar rays would not fall on the central point. This would have a vast effect on the nation; for both hierarchy and government would fall, after the gods had shown displeasure. Should he tell the king in the morning? This troubled the priest. Since man appeared, no such questions had ever agitated the mind. No sleep came to calm his troubled spirit, and he beheld the sun rise in its usual glory. When it was high in the dome of the sky he walked toward the palace of Pharaoh. Traversing the winding walks, unutterable dismay filled his mind. He dreaded to approach the monarch with such an unheard-of message. When he came to the marble steps his courage failed and he turned away. He did not go to his own palace, but returned to the library in the temple. He was almost in collapse. He made every effort to calm. his mind which was racing at terrific speed. Finally, order came out of mental chaos. He came to a decision. This was to order the priests of the sun, from Memphis, Abydos and Heliopolis to come to Thebes, for counsel. He dispatched messengers and in due time they came. Trouble and care stood on their brows. They also had noticed the shifting of the sun's rays in their sanctuaries. Not one could offer a suggestion as to the cause. They had not told the king. Pinotem, priest of Memphis, first advised that they visit the monarch in a body and inform him of the departure of the light of Egypt. They agreed and told all to Pharaoh. He was filled with unutterable fear. It seemed to him that either the solid earth was unstable, or the sun, and, in either case, his throne. The hundreds of costly temples of the sun were becoming useless for their intended purposes. The king of Egypt was thrown into mental chaos. He dismissed his priests with commands to assemble again on the third day. Every nation of antiquity from Gaul to India had esoteric mysteries, secret societies, whose members were received by solemn rites of initiation. The chief, or grand lodge of Egypt (also the chief one in the world) was due to meet in the great Labyrinth at Arsinoë, on the day of the first full moon after the summer solstice. On the third day the four priests came to counsel with their monarch. The approaching Grand Lodge was mentioned of which the king was grand master and must preside, while Mesocharis himself was grand warden. Meines, priest of the solar temple at Heliopolis, proposed that inquiry be made of all priests and delegates from the temples of Egypt and from temples in foreign countries to find whether their temples were turning. Hikten, priest of the nome of Abydos, agreed to the plan. Meanwhile, it was decided that this shifting of the solar rays should not be revealed to the people, and by no means to the army, save to its commanders who were initiates into the mysteries. When the full moon appeared, the grand Labyrinth was a scene of animation. Hierophants, princes, scholars, literary men and the most intellectual men of the world filled the enormous rooms; traversed the mysterious subterranean ways and corridors, and held feasts of intellect amid surroundings of culture and refinement. Members of the mysteries of Isis and Osiris came from Ellora, Persepolis, Susa, Ecbatana, Nineveh, Babylon, Palmyra, Jerusalem, Tyre, Sidon, Athens, Dodona, Eleusis, Samothrace, Corinth and Rome. Many candidates from the temples in all these worldcenters were in waiting to receive initiatory rites in the Labyrinth. When all business had been transacted, the subject of the shifting of solar temples was broached by the king. Pent-up excitement at once broke forth. Every priest present from every temple in the cities mentioned, had noticed the mystery. Not one could even suggest a cause. Priests of many other types of religion were present also Hierophants were in attendance who presided over sacrifices and rites in vast temples orientated towards the larger stars. Temples in all parts of the world, of porphyry, marble and onyx, whose axes were directed to the stars, Sirius, Canopus, Aldebaran, Vega, Arcturus and others, were declared to be turning their Holy of Holies away from the tiny beams. Consternation filled the minds of all. They realized that they were in the presence of an appalling aweinspiring mystery. Could the gods be displeased with all mankind? And were all hierarchies and kingdoms to end? Were the gods |