h again, pointing a finger at his
son. "Did I not warn thee from the first?"

Kenkenes raised his head.

"Can you avoid a knave if he hath designs on you?" he asked. "Have I
erred in crossing his will? Have I sinned in loving and protecting her
whom I love?"

Mentu's hands fell down at his sides. The simple questions had
silenced him. His son was blameless now that he had expiated his
offenses against the law, and from the moral standpoint his persistence
in his claim on Rachel was just--praiseworthy.

"Nay," he said sullenly, "but since thou didst love the girl, how came
it that thou didst not wed her long ago and save her this shame and
danger?"

He saw the face of his son grow paler.

"The bar of faith lay between us," Kenkenes answered. "I was an
idolater, she a worshiper of the One God. She would not wed with me,
therefore."

The murket looked at his son, stupefied with amazement.

"Thou--thou--" he said at last, his words coming slowly by reason of
his emotions. "The Israelite rejected thee!"

Kenkenes bent his head in assent.

"Thou! A prince among men--a nobleman, a genius--a man whom all
women--Kenkenes! by Horus, I am amazed! And thou didst endure it, and
continue to love and serve and suffer for her! Where is thy pride?"

Kenkenes stopped him with a motion of his hand.

"A maid's unwillingness is obstacle enough," he said. "Shall a man
summon further difficulty in the form of his self-esteem to stand in
the way of his love? Nay, it could not be, and that thou knowest, my
father, since thou, too, hast loved. When a man is in love it is his
pride to be long-suffering and humble. But there is naught separating
us now save it be the hand of Har-hat."

"So much for Israelitish zeal! Thou hast been a pawn for her to play
during these months. Long ago had she surrendered if thou hadst been--"

Kenkenes smiled. "She did not surrender. It was I."

"Thy faith?" the murket asked in a voice low with earnestness.

"Thou hast said!"

A dead silence ensued. Kenkenes may have awaited the outbreak with a
quickening of the heart, but it did not come. Instead, the murket sat
down on the bench and gazed at his son intently.

After a long interval he spoke.

"Thus far had I hoped that thou wast taken by the Israelite but in thy
fancy. The hope was vain. Thou art in love with her."

Kenkenes endured the steady gaze and waited for Mentu to go on.

"There is no help for thee now," th