ee at once with his
politic hand."

"Hotep will obey as I command; that thou knowest," he said with dignity.

"Thou wilt not reach the point of command with him," she vehemently
insisted. "He would catch thine intent ere thou hadst stated it and
would make thee aghast at thyself in a twinkling by his smooth
reasoning and vivid auguries. Nay, if thou art to have thy way in
this, I wash my hands of it. We are as good as undone."

She turned away from him, but he followed her contritely.

"I submit," he said helplessly. "Advise me, but I--nay, ask me not to
endanger thee, Ta-user."

She shook her head and moved on. He advanced a step or two after her,
stopped, and wheeling about, resumed his place at the parapet.

After a little pause she was beside him again.

"Shall we forego this thing?" she asked.

"Nay," he answered quietly. "I can achieve it without help." She drew
a breath as if to speak but held her peace. They stood in silence side
by side for a while.

Presently she slipped between him and the parapet.

"Hast thou not called me wise in thy time?" she asked. "I believed
thee, then."

"I told thee a truth, but I might have added that thou art over-brave,"
he said, catching her drift.

"Listen, then, to me. Thou, in thy young credulity, seest in this only
justice to an enemy. I, in the wisdom of riper years and the
discernment bred of experience with knaves, see in it the redemption of
Egypt. If the heaviest penalty overtook us is it not a result worth
achieving at any cost? Seti, believe me; grant me my belief! It is
the one hope of thy father's kingdom. Shall it fail because thou wast
envious for my safety above Egypt's? I can aid thee to success. That
thou hast said. If thou failest, though thou dost attempt it alone,
dost thou dream that I could see thee punished without crying out, 'It
was I who urged him!' If thou art undone, likewise am I. If thou art
to succeed, wilt thou selfishly keep thy success to thyself?"

She slipped her arm about his neck and pressed close to him.

"Nay, Seti, thou dost overestimate the peril. The Hebrew will not
betray us, and who else will know of it? I shall make a journey into
Goshen, find Mesu and bid him meet thee at a certain place. There thou
shalt come at a certain time with the treasure, and the feat is done.
But if we fail--" she flung her head back and bewitched him with a
heavy eye--"will it be hard for me to persuade the king?"