for
protection against the sun as against the cold, and other things to
prove that Kenkenes had met with disaster.

The fate of the young man seemed to be explained. The great house of
Mentu was darkened; the servants went unkempt and the artist wore a
blue scarf knotted about his hips. The high priest dismissed the
subject of the sacrilege from his mind, now that his nephew was dead.
The people of Memphis who knew Kenkenes mourned with Mentu; the
festivities were dull without him, and there were some, like Io and the
Lady Senci, who went into retirement and were not to be comforted.

But Har-hat presented jeweled housings to Apis for the prospering of
his search after Rachel, and set about assisting the god with all his
might. He sent couriers, armed with a description and warrant for the
arrest of Kenkenes and the Israelite, into all the large cities of
Egypt. He ransacked Pa-Ramesu and the brick-fields, Silsilis, Syene,
where there were quarries, and especially Thebes, which was large and
remote, a tempting place for fugitives.

When he heard the news of the young sculptor's death, he actually sent
a message of condolence to Mentu, much to the tearful and unspeakable
rage of the heart-broken murket. Yet, with all the limitless resources
placed at the command of a bearer of the king's fan, Har-hat continued
to search for the young artist, until word came to him from Thebes
several days later.

His next move was to bring to the notice of the Pharaoh that the
taskmaster Atsu was pampering the Israelites of Masaarah and defeating
the ends of the government. Furthermore, the overseer had treated with
contempt the personal commands of the fan-bearer. So Atsu was removed
entirely from over the Hebrews, reduced to the rank of a common
soldier, and returned to the nome from which he came, in the coif and
tunic of a cavalryman.

Thus it was that Har-hat avenged himself for the loss of Rachel, put
all aid out of her reach, and kept up an unceasing pursuit of her.

CHAPTER XXIII

THE TOMB OF THE PHARAOH

It was far into the tenth night that Kenkenes arrived in Thebes. On
the sixteenth day Rachel would begin to expect him, and he could not
hope to reach Memphis by that time. She should not wait an hour longer
than necessary. He would get the signet that night and return by the
swiftest boat obtainable in Thebes. The dawn should find him on the
way to Memphis.

He entered the streets of the Libyan sub