Paaker suddenly brought his horses to a stand-still, threw the reins to the slave, sprang from the chariot, called the dwarf to his side, and said: 

“We will walk from here to the river, and you shall tell me all you know; but if an untrue word passes your lips I will have you eaten by my dogs.”

“I know thou canst keep thy word,” gasped the little man.  “But go a little slower if thou wilt, for I am quite out of breath.  Let Katuti herself tell thee how it all came about.  Rameses compelled her to give her daughter to the charioteer.  I do not know what he said of thee, but it was not complimentary.  My poor mistress! she let herself be caught by the dandy, the ladies’ man-and now she may weep and wail.  When I pass the great gates of thy house with Katuti, she often sighs and complains bitterly.  And with good reason, for it soon will be all over with our noble estate, and we must seek an asylum far away among the Amu in the low lands; for the nobles will soon avoid us as outcasts.  Thou mayst be glad that thou hast not linked thy fate to ours; but I have a faithful heart, and will share my mistress’s trouble.”

“You speak riddles,” said Paaker, “what have they to fear?”

The dwarf now related how Nefert’s brother had gambled away the mummy of his father, how enormous was the sum he had lost, and that degradation must overtake Katuti, and her daughter with her.

“Who can save them,” he whimpered.  “Her shameless husband squanders his inheritance and his prize-money.  Katuti is poor, and the little words “Give me! scare away friends as the cry of a hawk scares the chickens.  My poor mistress!”

“It is a large sum,” muttered Paaker to himself.  “It is enormous!” sighed the dwarf, “and where is it to be found in these hard times?  It would have been different with us, if—­ah if—.  And it would be a form of madness which I do not believe in, that Nefert should still care for her braggart husband.  She thinks as much of thee as of him.”

Paaker looked at the dwarf half incredulous and half threatening.

“Ay—­of thee,” repeated Nemu.  “Since our excursion to the Necropolis the day before yesterday it was—­she speaks only of thee, praising thy ability, and thy strong manly spirit.  It is as if some charm obliged her to think of thee.”

The pioneer began to walk so fast that his small companion once more had to ask him to moderate his steps.

They gained the shore in silence, where Paaker’s boat was waiting, which also conveyed his chariot.  He lay down in the little cabin, called the dwarf to him, and said: 

“I am Katuti’s nearest relative; we are now reconciled; why does she not turn to me in her difficulty?”

“Because she is proud, and thy blood flows in her veins.  Sooner would she die with her child—­she said so—­than ask thee, against whom she sinned, for an “alms.”

“She did think of me then?”