The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1907-04-24

! ~
burden bearing slave.
The first lean, brown boatman who
touched his knee and offered his bari
for hire Kenkenes patronized. The
slave had eased bis load into the boat
and Kenkenes was on the point Of en-
barking when a four cared bari which
had passed them like the wind a mo-
ment before put about several rods
above them and returned to the group
on shore.
A bent and withered servitor was
standing in the bow Of the boat, wild
" gesticulating, as if he feared Ken
kenes would insist on pulling away
despite his efforts The young man
recognized the servant Of Snofru, old
Ranas.
The large bari was beached, and the
servitor alighted with agility and, beck
oning to Kenkenes, took him aside.
"There has been an error-a grave
error-concerning the message" the old
man began in excitement "but thou
art In nowise at fault. Yet mayhap
| thou canst aid US in unrayeling the
tangle Seew
He displayed the linen wrapped roll,
sthe covering split where Snofru had
opened it, but the wavering hieratic
characters of the address in Lois hand
were 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 epistolary symbols Of the
royal scribe.
Kenkenes frowned with vexation.
Innocent and efficient though he had
been, the miscarriage Of his mission
stung him nevertheless. The blunder
was not long mystery to him.
Summoning all the patience at his
command, he recounted the events In
the apartments of the ancient hierarch
| Of Amen.
'oThere were two Scrolls" he explain
ed-.'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 / should have brought to
thine august master hath gone to the
| taskmaster over Pa-Ramesu."
Thou madest all speed:" the serv-
ant demanded, trembling with eager
ness.
"a half days journey less than the
usual time made in returning. l
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, be-
cause of the e5festivities in Tape it would
have been we'll nigh impossible for him
to hire a boat until the next day"
This information kindled a light of
hope on the old servants face.
Thou givest me life again" he ex-
claimed. .The blessings Of Ra be upon
theew
Without further words he ran back
to the boat, and the last Kenkenes saw
Of him he was frantically urging bis
boatmen to greater speed back to On.
Kenkenes dismissed his slave and
rowed 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-
ries. His sense Of security had been
strengthened by the renewed activities
in Masaarah.
With shovel Of tamarisk he cleared
the slab of its 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 considerable space about
the block. Precaution rather than lux
ury 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 a thin
slice of white bread and gaZelle meat
and to drink draft from the porous
and ever cooling water bottle. be
turned to the protection and conceal
ment Of his statue.
Weary and happy, he rowed himself
back to Memphis and slept soundly
on the eve Of great offensa against
the laws Of Egypt
But the next day, when the young
sea!ptor .acetl The a3o1aent ctual