Page 9 - 1923 VES Meteor

THE 1r£TEOR 53
sinia was adntncing with n numerous army against Egypt. \\"hen the raper burnt out, he um:1t lend his forces to bat- tle. It was ulmost out. ..1s be sat and watched, tlJCre was n slight comruotiou at his side. llrunese:; entered, fell at the feet of Pharaoh crying, "Busiris, don't go, don't go!" then fainted away.
"Some foolishness," said Pharanb.
Tho taper burnt out.
Day dawned on tho Plain of ands. The day of the bat-
tle had arrived. At sunrise, the hosts of .Abyssinia began to mo•·e. One long line of black appeared in the distance and moved in and out among tho sand-dunes. A hom sounded somewhere. In the opposite direction the Egyptians came to meet the enemy. Both armies paused, then rushed together a howling, screeching mass.
Busiris watched the battle in the valley from the royal tent; he looked confident. The Egyptians were winning; in another hour the Abyssinians 'vould be either surrounded or routed.
Half an hour passed. The enemy wero ah eady scattering; fig·ures were running wildly over tho dtmes. Suddenly there was confusion in the ranks of tbe E!!:l>tinns. Bush·is looked again. The whole van was de:;erling to the Ab~·ssinians. The rear, thrown into confusion, ru.hcd madly from the Yal- ley. Phru·aoh stood too dazed to tnoYe. He stretched one hand in front of him as if fce"!ing.
A sighing, a l'urubling. ·whirlpooLs of sand wound slowly from the desert, twirling, m·i~ring; larger and larger, more confused. Clouds of sand swept into the >alley. The armies wet·e no more. Still the Phara ·h of Egypt stood staring from the hill. Something came whirling behind, s'rcpt him off .into the valley to be no more, while wildl:·, indistinctly through the storm carue-
"Shifting Sands, Shifting Sands !"
R. 0. TALIAFERRO.