t their expectation, the large boat slipped through under
the heavy mist which rises from the waters before sunrise, and the
captain and crew, steering down the Phatmetic branch of the river with
renewed spirit, ascribed their success to the intercession of the pious
sisters.

By daylight it was easier to avoid the sand-banks; but how narrow was
the water-way-at this season usually overflowing! The beds of papyrus on
the banks now grew partly on dry land, and their rank green had faded to
straw-color. The shifting ooze of the shore had hardened to stone, and
the light west wind, which now rose and allowed of their hoisting the
sail, swept clouds of white dust before it. In many cases the soil was
deeply fissured and wide cracks ran across the black surface, yawning to
heaven for water like thirsty throats. The water-wheels stood idle, far
away from the stream, and the fields they were wont to irrigate looked
like the threshing floors on which the crops they bore should be
threshed out. The villages and palm-groves were shrouded in shimmering
mist, quivering heat, and dazzling yellow light; and the passer-by on
the raised dykes of the shore bent his head as he dragged his weary feet
through the deep dust.

The sun blazed pitilessly in the cloudless sky, down on land and river,
and on the fugitive nuns who had spread their white head-cloths above
them for an awning and sat in dull lethargy, awaiting what might he
before them.

The water-jar passed from hand to band; but the more they drank the
more acute was their discomfort, and their longing for some other
refreshment. At meal time the dishes were returned to the tiny cabin
almost untouched. The abbess and Rufinus tried to speak comfort to them;
but in the afternoon the superior herself was overpowered by the heat,
and the air in the little cabin, to which she retired, was even less
tolerable stuffy than on deck.

Thus passed a long day of torment, the hottest that even the men could
remember; and they on the whole suffered least from it, though they
toiled at the oar without ceasing and with wonderful endurance.

At length evening fell after those fearful midday hours; and as a cool
breeze rose shortly before sunset to fan their moist brows, the hapless
victims awoke to new energies. Their immediate torment had so crushed
them that, incapable of anticipating the future, they had ceased either
to fear or to hope; but now they could rejoice in thinking of the start