nd teeth.
He desires to become only overseer of the labyrinth, and his ward,
Lykon, he would make only pharaoh! Indeed, to satisfy the greed of my
assistants the gods would have to make ten Egypts,"

When both dignitaries had left the vault, Herhor, in the night,
returned on foot to the temple of Isis where he had a dwelling, but
Mefres commanded to make ready a couple of litters on horses. In one of
these the younger priests placed the sleeping Lykon with a bag on his
head; in the other the high priest himself took his place and,
surrounded by a party of horsemen went at a sharp trot in the direction
of Fayum.

On the night between the 14th and 15th Paofi the high priest Samentu,
according to the promise given Ramses, entered the labyrinth by a
corridor known to himself only. He had in his hand a bundle of torches,
one of which was burning, and on his back he carried tools in a small
basket.

Samentu passed very easily from hall to hall, from corridor to
corridor, pushing back with a touch stone slabs in columns and in walls
where there were secret doors. Sometimes he hesitated, but then he read
mysterious signs on the walls and compared them with signs on the beads
which he bore on his neck.

After a journey of half an hour he found himself in the treasure room,
whence by pushing aside a slab in the pavement he reached a hall in the
lower story. The hall was spacious and its ceiling rested on a number
of short thick columns.

Samentu put down his basket and, lighting two torches, began by the
light of them to read inscriptions on the walls.

"Despite my wretched figure," declared one inscription, "I am a real
son of the gods, for my auger is terrible.

"In the open air I turn to a column of fire, and I am lightning.
Confined I am thunder and destruction, and no building can resist me.

"Nothing can weaken me but sacred water which takes my force away. But
my anger is roused as well by the smallest spark as by a flame.

"In my presence everything is twisted and broken. I am like Typhon, who
overturns the highest trees and lifts rocks from their places."

"In one word, every temple has its secret which others do not know,"
thought Samentu.

He opened one column and took a large pot from it. The pot had a' cover
sealed with wax, also an opening through which passed a long slender
cord; it was unknown where this cord ended inside the column. Samentu
cut off a piece, touched the torch with it and saw that the