He sat down on the arm of Masanath’s chair and shouted with laughter.  With a great effort Kenkenes controlled himself.

“Shall I give the story in full?” he asked with an odd quiet in his voice.

“Nay!  Nay!” Har-hat protested; “I have told the worst I would have said concerning that defeat of mine.”  Again he laughed and returned to the young man’s identity once more.

“Aye, I might have known that thou wast somewhat of kin to Mentu.  Ye are as much alike as two owlets—­same candid face.”

He sauntered away, leaving an awkward silence behind him.

“Sit beside me?” asked Masanath, drawing the folds of her white robes aside to make room for the scribe.  But Hotep did not seem to hear.  Instead, he wandered away for another chair, became interested in a group of long-eyed beauties near by and apparently forgot Masanath.  Kenkenes did not permit any lapse between the invitation and its acceptance.  He dropped into the place made for Hotep, as if the offer had been extended to him.

“From Bubastis to Memphis, from Bast to Ptah,” he said.  “Dost thou miss the generous levels of the Delta in our crevice between the hills?”

She shook her head.  “Memphis is the lure of all Egypt, and he who hath been transplanted to her would flout the favor of the gods, did he make homesick moan for his native city.”

“And thou hast warmer regard for the stir of Memphis than the quiet of the north?”

“There is no quiet in the north now.”

“So?”

“Nay; hast thou not heard of the Israelitish unrest?”

“Aye, I had heard—­but—­but hath it become of any import?”

“It is the peril of Egypt that she does not realize her menace in these Hebrews,” the lady answered.  “The north knows it, but it has sprung into life so recently, and from such miserable soil, that even my father, who has been away from the Delta but a few months, does not appreciate the magnitude of the disaffection.”

“Thou hast lived among them, Lady Masanath.  What thinkest thou of these people?” Kenkenes asked after a little silence.

“Of the mass I can not speak confidently,” she answered modestly.  “They are proud—­they pass the Egyptian in pride; they have kept their blood singularly pure for such long residence among us; they are stubborn, querulous and unready.  But above all they are a contented race if but the oppression were lifted from their shoulders.  They are an untilled soil—­none knows what they might produce, but the confidence of their leader, who is a wondrous man, bespeaks them a capable people.  To my mind they are mistreated beyond their deserts.  I would have the powers of Egypt use them better.”

“Is it known in the north what Mesu’s purpose is?  The Israelites among us talk of their own kingdom, and I wonder if the Hebrew means to set up a nation within us, or assail the throne of the Pharaohs, or go forth and settle in another country.”