Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-10-25
CHAPTER vi.
Athor. the Golden.

AT sunrise the morning after his return
from On. kenkenesf appeared at the Nile,
attended by a burden-bearing slave.
The first lean, brown boatman who touch
ed his knee and offered his bari for hire.
kenkenes patronized. The slave had eased
his load into the boat and Kenkenes was
on the point of embarking when. a four
cared bari, which had passed them like
the wind moment before, put about sew
eral rods above them and returned to the
group on shore
A bent and Withered serpitor uas c+,rd
ing in the bow of the boat wildly pesticn
latlng, as If he feared Kenkenes would
insist on pulling away despite his efforts.
Inc young man recognized the servant of
The large bari was ,beached and the servi-
tor alighted with agility and, reckoning
| to kenkenes, took him aside, 81 -
mere mas been an errori-a grave error,
concerning the message - the old man be-
gan in excitement; But thou art In no wise
at fauit. Yet mayhap, thou cant aid us in
unraveling the tangle- Seer' y -
he olspiayed the Hnen-wrapped roll, the
covering split where Snofru had opened it.
but the wavering hieratic characters of
the address In Lofs hand, still intact
When the young sculptor had gazed the
old servant nervously undid the roll and
showed within a letter to the commander
over Pa-Ramesu, written in the strong epis-
tolary symbols of the royal scribe
! kenkenes frowned with vexation Inno-
cent and efficient though he had been.
the miscarriage of his mission stung him
nevertheless. The blunder was not long a
mystery to him.
Summoning all the patience at his COM
mand, he recounted the events in the
apartments of the ancient hierarch of
Amen.
There were two Scrolls" he explained:
one TO the servant Of Ra at On, the other
to Atsu. The holy father sealed them both
before he addressed them and confused the
directions. The one which 1 should have
Drought to thine august master, hath gone
to the taskmaster over Pa-Ramesu.'
Thou madest all speed?" the servant de-
manded, trembling with eagerness
"A half-day's journey less than the usual
time l made in returning. 1 doubt much, If
the messenger with the other scroll hath
passed Memphis yet, since he may not
have been dispatched in such hot haste
Furthermore, because of the festivities in
Tape, it would have been well-nigh impos-
sible for him to hire boat until the
next day."
This information kindled a light of hone
on the old servants face.
Thou givest me life again." he exclaim-
ed. THE blessings of Ra be upon thee!'
Without further words he ran back to the
boat, and the last Kenkenes saw of him, he
was frantically urging his boatmen to
greater speed back to On.
Kenkenes dismissed his slave and rowed
down stream toward Masaarah
When he reached his block Of stone he
unrolled his load of equipments and set to
work without delay. He was remote from
any possible interruption from Memphis,
and the slaves in the gorge and in the
stone pits had no opportunity to come upon
his sacrilege in idle hours. They would be
held like prisoners within the limits of
the quarries. His sense of security had
been strengthened by the renewed activi-
ties in Masaarah.
With a shovel of tamarisk he cleared the
slab of it's drift of sand. He found that
the block broadened at the base and was
separate from the sheet of rock on which
it stood. Among his supplies was a roll of
reed mating, and with this cut into proper
lengths, he carpeted a considerable space
about the block Precaution rather than
luxury had prompted this procedure, since
the Clipped stone falling on the covering
could be carried Clearly and at once from
the spot.
Pausins long enough to eat a thin slice
of white bread and gazelle meat, and to
drink a draft from the porous and ever
cooling water bottle, he Burned to the pro-
lection and concealment, of his statue
Weary and happy, he rowed himself back
to Memphis and slept soundly on the eve
of a great offensen against the laws Of
Egypt. a7 r.
(To be continued itomorrow)