arter inhabited only by the poor captives of our tribe whom
the cruel Pharaoh employs in making brick, and to whom he refuses the
straw necessary to burn the bricks? What motive brought that Egyptian
woman to our wretched huts? Why was her garment soaking wet, as if she
had just emerged from a pool or from the river?"

"I know no more than you do," replied Ra'hel.

"Suppose she were a spy of our masters'," said the old woman, whose
fierce eyes were lighted up with hatred. "Great events are
preparing,--who knows whether the alarm has not been given?"

"How could that young girl, ill as she is, hurt us? She is in our hands,
weak, alone, ill. Besides, we can, at the least suspicious sign, keep
her prisoner until the day of deliverance."

"In any case, she is not to be trusted. See how delicate and soft are
her hands!"

And old Thamar raised one of the arms of the sleeping Tahoser.

"In what respect can the fineness of her skin endanger us?"

"Oh, imprudent youth!" said Thamar; "oh, mad youth! which cannot see
anything, which walks through life trustfully, without believing in
ambushes, in brambles under the grass, in hot coals under the ashes, and
which would gladly caress a viper, believing it to be only a snake. Open
your eyes! That woman does not belong to the class of which she seems to
be; her thumb has never been flattened on the thread of the spindle, and
that little hand, softened by essences and pomades, has never worked.
Her poverty is a disguise."

Thamar's words appeared to impress Ra'hel; she examined Tahoser more
attentively. The lamp shed upon her its trembling rays, and the delicate
form of the priest's daughter showed in the yellow light relaxed in
sleep. The arm which Thamar had raised still rested upon the mantle of
striped wool, showing whiter by contrast with the dark stuff; the wrist
was circled with a bracelet of sandal wood, the commonplace adornment of
the coquetry of poverty; but if the ornament was rude and roughly
chased, the flesh it covered seemed to have been washed in the perfumed
bath of riches. Then Ra'hel saw how beautiful was Tahoser, but the
discovery excited no evil feeling in her heart; Tahoser's beauty
softened, instead of irritating her as it did Thamar; she could not
believe that such perfection concealed a vile and perfidious soul; and
in this respect her youthful candour judged more correctly than the long
experience of her maid.

Day at last dawned, and Tahoser's fever