He looked up at Burke, smiling.  “Therefore,” he said, “this papyrus scroll was written by Meris, ex-king, a speculative thousands of years before Christ.  And it begins:  ‘I, Meris the King.’”

“How does all this bear upon what concerns me?” demanded Burke.

“Wait!”

Something in the quiet significance of the Tracer’s brief command sent a curious thrill through the younger man.  He leaned stiffly forward, studying the scroll, every faculty concentrated on the symbol which the Tracer had now touched with the carefully sharpened point of his pencil: 

[Illustration:  Glyph]

“That,” said Mr. Keen, “is the ancient Egyptian word for ‘little,’ ‘Ket.’  The next, below, written in two lines, is ‘Samaris,’ a proper name—­the name of a woman.  Under that, again, is the symbol for the number 18; the decimal sign,

[Illustration:  Glyph]

and eight vertical strokes,

[Illustration:  Glyph]

Under that, again, is a hieroglyph of another sort, an ideograph representing a girl with a harp; and, beneath that, the symbol which always represented a dancing girl

[Illustration:  Glyph]

and also the royal symbol inclosed in a cartouch,

[Illustration:  Glyph]

which means literally ‘the Ruler of Upper and Lower Egypt.’  Under that is the significant symbol

[Illustration:  Glyph]

representing an arm and a hand holding a stick.  This always means force—­to take forcibly or to use violence.  Therefore, so far, we have the following literal translation:  ’I, Meris the King, little Samaris, eighteen, a harpist, dancing girl, the Ruler of Upper and Lower Egypt, to take by violence—­’”

“What does that make?” broke in Burke impatiently.

“Wait! Wait until we have translated everything literally.  And, Mr. Burke, it might make it easier for us both if you would remember that I have had the pleasure of deciphering many hundreds of papyri before you had ever heard that there were such things.”

“I beg your pardon,” said the young man in a low voice.

“I beg yours for my impatience,” said the Tracer pleasantly.  “This deciphering always did affect my nerves and shorten my temper.  And, no doubt, it is quite as hard on you.  Shall we go on, Mr. Burke?”

“If you please, Mr. Keen.”

So the Tracer laid his pencil point on the next symbol

[Illustration:  Glyph]

“That is the symbol for night,” he said; “and that

[Illustration:  Glyph]

is the water symbol again, as you know; and that

[Illustration:  Glyph]

is the ideograph, meaning a ship.  The five reversed crescents

[Illustration:  Glyph]

record the number of days voyage; the sign

[Illustration:  Glyph]

means a house, and is also the letter H in the Egyptian alphabet.