her energy, and gliding
close by the sloping walls of the giant buildings, she managed not to
lose sight of the young Hebrew, who turned around the corner of the
mighty brick walls of the palace and entered the streets of Thebes.

After walking for some fifteen minutes, the palaces, the temples, the
splendid dwellings vanished, and were replaced by humbler houses;
granite, sandstone, and limestone were replaced by unbaked bricks and by
clay worked with straw. Architectural design disappeared; low huts
showed around like blisters or warts upon lonely places, upon waste
fields, and were changed by the darkness into monstrous shapes. Pieces
of wood and moulded bricks arranged in heaps obstructed the way. Out of
the silence rose strange, troubling sounds: an owl whirled through the
air, lean dogs, raising their long, pointed noses, followed with
plaintive bay the erratic flight of a bat; scorpions and frightened
reptiles scurrying by, made the dry grass rattle.

"Could Harphre have spoken the truth?" thought Tahoser, impressed by the
sinister aspect of the place. "Is it possible that Poeri comes here to
sacrifice a child to those barbarous gods who love blood and suffering?
Never was any place better fitted for cruel rites."

Meanwhile, profiting by the shadow of corners, the ends of walls, the
clumps of vegetation, and the unevenness of the ground, she kept at the
same distance from Poeri.

"Even if I were to be present as an invisible witness at some scene as
frightful as a nightmare, to hear the cries of the victim, to see the
priest, his hands red with blood, draw from the little body the smoking
heart, I should go on to the end," said Tahoser to herself, as she saw
the young Hebrew enter a hut built of clay, through the crevices of
which shone a few rays of yellow light.

When Poeri was fairly within, the daughter of Petamounoph approached,
though not a pebble cracked under her light step, nor a dog marked her
presence by a bark. She went around the hut, pressing her hand to her
heart and holding in her breath, and discovered, by seeing it shine
against the dark ground of the clay wall, a crack wide enough to allow
her glance to penetrate the interior. A small lamp lighted the room,
which was less bare than might have been supposed from the outward
appearance of the cabin. The smooth walls were as polished as stucco.
On wooden pedestals, painted in various colours, were placed vases of
gold and silver; jewels spa