ill-use. The Hebrews belonged to him, and because he
held them their God afflicted Egypt. Egypt complained and would have
him sacrifice his private property, his slaves, for its sake. To the
peevish king the demand was unreasonable. Yet he was not extraordinary
in his behavior. Unselfishness was not an attribute of ancient kings.

Meneptah was a man that wished to be swayed. He craved approbation and
was helpless without an abettor. His puny ideas had to be championed
by another before they became fixed convictions. After the plague of
locusts, the Hebrew question reached serious proportions. Har-hat had
estranged most of the ministers, and in his strait Meneptah felt
vaguely and for the first time that he needed the acquiescence of
others in addition to the fan-bearer's ready concord.

One early morning, in a corridor leading from the entrance, he met
Hotep. A sudden impulse urged him to consult his scribe.

"Where hast thou been?" he asked, noticing Hotep's street dress.

"To the temple, O Son of Ptah."

"What hast thou to ask of the gods that thy king can not give thee?"

Hotep hesitated, and the color rushed into his cheeks. The Hathors
tortured him with an opportunity he dared not seize. How could he ask
for Masanath?

"I went to pray for that which all Egyptians crave at this hour--the
succor of Egypt," he said, instead.

Meneptah signed his scribe to follow him to a seat near by.

"Why may I not require of thee the services of a higher minister?" he
began, after he had seated himself. "Never hast thou failed me, and I
can not say so much of the great nobles above thee. Serve me well in
this, Hotep, and thou mayest take the place of some one of these."

"Let me but serve thee," the scribe returned placidly; "that is reward
in itself."

"Thou knowest," the king began, plunging into the heart of the
question, "that I yielded to these ravening wolves, Mesu and Aaron. I
have consented to release the Israelites. But other thought hath come
to me in the night. Thou knowest that no evil hath befallen the land
of Goshen. Har-hat explaineth this strange thing by the location of
the strip. The Nile toucheth it not and rains fall there. Furthermore
the winds blow differently in that district, and withal the hand of
Rannu of the harvests hath sheltered it. It may be, but to me it
seemeth that the Hebrew sorcerer hath cast a protecting spell over the
spot. But whatever the cause, the race of