Warren sheaf., 1905-09-28

Without further words he ran back
to the boat. and the last Kenkenes saw
of him he was frant1cally urging his
boatmen to greater speed back to On
Kenkenes dismissed his slave and
r0wed downstream 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 op-
portunity to come upon his sacrilege
in Idle hours. They would be held like
prisoners within the limits of the quar-
r1es. His sense of security had been
strengthened by the renewed activities
in Masaarah.
With 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 q roll of reed mating,
and with this cut into proper lengths
he carpeted considerable space about
the block. Precaution rather than lux
nry had prompted this procedure, since
the Clipped stone falling on the COW
ering could be carried cleanly and at
once from the spot
Pausing long enough to eat thin
slice Of white bread and gazelle meat
and to drink a draft from the porous
and ever cooling water bottle, he
turned to the protection and conceal.
ment Of his statue.
g. Weary and happy, he rowed himself
back to Memphis and slept soundly
on the eve of a great offense against
the laws Of Egypt.
But the next day, when the young
sculptor faced the moment Of actual
creation, he realized that his goddess
must take form from an unembodied
idea. The ritual had been his guide
before, and his genius, set free to soar
as it would, fluttered wildly without
direction. The young sculptor realized
that he was in need Of model Sto-
sicaIy he admitted that such a thing
:. was as impossible as it was indispen-
sable. 1t seemed that he had met
complete batflement.
He took up his tools and returned
to Memphis, but each succeeding morn
ing found him in the desert again, des-
perately hopeful succeeding even
ing in the city disheartened and silent
So it followed for several days.
On the 9Th Of January the festival in
honor Of the return of Isis from Phe-
nicia was celebrated in Memphis. Ken
kenes left the revel in midafternoon
and crossed the Nile to the hills. He
found no content away from his block
Of stone-no happiness before it.
He descended through the gorge and
found that the Hebrews were but nom-
inally idle. Presently little company
of Hebrew children approached, their
bare feet making velvety sounds in the
silence of the ravine. Each balanced
a skin of water on his head. !
Kenkenes caught himself looking
sharply at each face as he passed, for
it contained somewhat Of that for
which he sought. AS he walked along
looking after them he became aware
that some one was near him. He turn
ed his head and stopped In his tracks.
He confronted his idea embodied
Athor, the golden!
It was an Israelitish maiden, barely
sixteen years old, but in all his life he
had never looked upon such beauty.
He had gazed with pleased eyes on the
slender blush tinted throats and wrists
of the Egyptian beauties, but never
had he beheld such whiteneSs Of flesh