ortunate giant.

"Touch him not!" cried Ramses to the warriors. "What dost Thou wish,
man?"

"I wish, lord, to tell thee of the wrongs which we suffer."

At that moment the nomarch stepped up to the viceroy and whispered,

"This is a Hyksos. Look, worthiness, at his shaggy hair and his beard.
But the insolence with which he burst in proves that the criminal is
not a genuine Egyptian."

"Who art thou?" asked Ramses.

"I am Bakura, a laborer in the regiment of diggers in Sochem. We have
no work now, so the nomarch Otoes commanded us."

"He is a drunkard and a madman!" whispered the excited Sofra. "How
dares he speak to thee, lord."

The prince gave such a look to the nomarch that he bent double and
moved backward.

"What did the worthy Otoes command you the workers?" asked the viceroy
of Bakura.

"He commanded us, lord, to go along the bank of the Nile, swim in the
river, stand at the roads, make an uproar in thy honor, and he promised
to give us what was proper for doing so. For two months before that,
we, O lord, received nothing, neither barley cakes, nor fish, nor olive
oil for our bodies."

"What is thy answer to this, worthy lord?" asked the prince of the
nomarch.

"He is a dangerous drunkard, a foul liar," answered Sofra.

"What noise didst Thou make in my honor?"

"That which was commanded," said the giant. "My wife and daughter cried
with the others, 'May he live through eternity!' I sprang into the
water and threw a garland at thy barge, worthiness; for this they
promised an uten. When Thou wert pleased graciously to enter the city
of Atribis, I approached to throw myself under the horses and stop thy
chariot."

The prince laughed.

"As I live," said he, "I did not think that we should end the feast
with such joyousness. But how much did they pay thee for falling under
the chariot?"

"They promised three utens, but have paid nothing to me or my wife or
my daughter. Nothing has been given to the whole regiment of diggers to
eat for two months past."

"On what do ye live then?"

"On begging, or on that which we earn from some earthworker. In this
sore distress we revolted three times, and desired to go home. But the
officers and scribes either promised to give something or commanded to
beat us."

"For the noise made in my honor?" put in the prince, laughing.

"Thy worthiness speaks truth. Yesterday the revolt was greatest, for
which the worthy nomarch Sofra gave command to take the te