erhaps to
make away with us in our sleep and take back the gold and the priceless,
rose-hued pearls, any two of which were worth it all. But such was not
their command nor did they dare to steal them on their own account,
since then, even if they escaped the vengeance of the King, their wives
and all their families would have paid the price.

Now we entered Egypt near the Salt Lakes that are not far from the head
of the Gulf, crossing the canal that the old Pharaohs had dug, which
proved easy for it was silted up. Before we reached it we found some
peasant folk labouring in their gardens and I heard one of them call to
another,

"Here come more of the Easterns. What is toward, think you, neighbour?"

"I do not know," answered the other, "but when I passed down the canal
this morning, I saw a body of the Great King's guards gathering from the
fort. Doubtless it is to meet these men of whose coming the other two
who went by fifty hours ago, have warned the officers."

"Now what does that mean?" I asked of Bes.

"Neither more nor less than we have heard, Master. The two King's
messengers who have gone ahead of us all the way from the city, have
told the officer of the frontier fort that we are coming, so he has
advanced to the ford to meet us, for what purpose I do not know."

"Nor do I," I said, "but I wish we could take another road, if there
were one."

"There is none, Master, for above and below the canal is full of water
and the banks are too steep for horses to climb. Also we must show no
doubt or fear."

He thought a while, then added,

"Take the royal seal, Master. It may be useful."

He gave it to me, and I examined it more closely than I had done before.
It was a cylinder of plain white shell hung on a gold chain, that which
Bes had bitten through, but now mended again by taking out the broken
link. On this cylinder were cut figures; as I think of a priest
presenting a noble to a god, over whom was the crescent of the moon,
while behind the god stood a man or demon with a tall spear. Also
between the figures were mystic signs, meaning I know not what. The
workmanship of the carving was grown shallow with time and use for the
cylinder seemed to be very ancient, a sacred thing that had descended
from generation to generation and was threaded through with a bar of
silver on which it turned.

I put the seal which was like no other that I had seen, being the work
of an early and simpler age, round my