ther
was leagued in a secret conspiracy. He also confided to her that not
only great distinction and high offices, but a marriage with herself had
been arranged to bind Hosea to the Egyptians and to a cause from which
the chief of the archers expected the greatest blessings for himself,
his house, and his whole country.

These tidings had filled her heart with joyous hope of a long desired
happiness, and she confessed it to the prisoner with drooping head amid
floods of tears, by the little wayside temple; for he was now forever
lost to her, and though he did not return the love she had lavished on
him from his childhood, he must not hate and condemn her without having
heard her story.

Joshua listened willingly and assured her that nothing would lighten
his heart more than to have her clear herself from the charge of having
consigned him and the youth at his side to their most terrible fate.

Kasana sobbed aloud and was forced to struggle hard for composure ere
she succeeded in telling her tale with some degree of calmness.

Shortly after Hosea's departure the chief-priest died and, on the same
day Bai, the second prophet, became his successor. Many changes now
took place, and the most powerful man in the kingdom filled Pharaoh with
hatred of the Hebrews and their leader, Mesu, whom he and the queen
had hitherto protected and feared. He had even persuaded the monarch to
pursue the fugitives, and an army had been instantly summoned to compel
their return. Kasana had feared that Hosea could not be induced to fight
against the men of his own blood, and that he must feel incensed at
being sent to make treaties which the Egyptians began to violate even
before they knew whether their offers had been accepted.

When he returned--as he knew only too well--Pharaoh had had him watched
like a prisoner and would not suffer him to leave his presence until
he had sworn to again lead his troops and be a faithful servant to the
king. Bai, the new chief priest, however, had not forgotten that Hosea
had saved his life and showed himself well disposed and grateful to him;
she knew also that he hoped to involve him in a secret enterprise, with
which her father, too, was associated. It was Bai who had prevailed upon
Pharaoh, if Hosea would renew his oath of fealty, to absolve him
from fighting against his own race, put him in command of the foreign
mercenaries and raise him to the rank of a "friend of the king." All
these events, of c