ld man dies she shall travel by boat to Thebes;
arrived there, she will find no difficulty in learning which is
my house, and on presenting herself there she will be well
received. I will write at once to Mysa, telling her that you
have found a little Israelite handmaiden as her special
attendant, and that, should the girl arrive before my return,
she is at once to assume that position.

"It would not do for her to come here were her grandfather to
die before we leave for home. In the first place, she would be
in the way, and in the second, her features and dress would
proclaim her to be an Israelite. The people in the villages she
passed through might detain her, and insist on her remaining
with them; or, should she arrive here, the fact of her
departing with us might be made a subject of complaint, and the
Israelites would not improbably declare that I had carried off
a young woman of their tribe as a slave. Therefore, in all
respects it is better that she should proceed up the river to
Thebes.

"As they are poor you had best leave a sum of money with them
to pay for her passage by boat, and for her support during the
voyage. I find that I shall have finished with the steward
earlier than I had expected, and shall be starting in about
three days to inspect the canals and lay out plans for some
fresh ones; therefore, if by that time you have had enough
sport to satisfy you, you had best journey back."

"My father has consented," Chebron said joyously as he finished the
letter. "I felt sure that he would; still, I was anxious till I got
the letter, for it would have been a great disappointment to the old
man could it not have been managed. I will go off and tell him at
once. I shall not want you this morning, Jethro; so you can either
stay here with Amuba or do some fishing or fowling on the lake. The
boat is all in readiness, you know."

Chebron went off to the cottage. Ruth was in the garden tending the
vegetables, and he stopped to speak to her before entering.

"I have not heard yet," he said, "how it came about that you were
seized by the crocodile."

"I hardly know how it was," she said. "I am in the habit of going down
many times a day to fetch up water for the garden, and I always keep a
lookout for these creatures before I fill my jar; but yesterday I had
just gone round the corner of