“And what is that?”

“Power, Hornecht—­mighty power!  As ruler of a whole province, commander of all the mercenaries in Aarsu’s stead, he will take care not to break with us.  I know him.  If I can succeed in making him believe Mesu has wronged him—­and the imperious man will afford some pretext for it—­and can bring him to the conviction that the law directs the punishment we mete out to the sorcerer and the worst of his adherents, he will not only assent but approve it.”

“And if he fails in his mission?”

“He will return at any rate; for he would not be false to his oath.  But if Mesu, from whom we may expect anything, should detain him by force, the boy will be of service to us; for Hosea loves him, his people value his life, and he belongs to one of their noblest tribes.  In any case Pharaoh must threaten the lad; we will guard him, and that will unite his uncle to us by fresh ties and lead him to join those who are angry with the king.”

“Excellent!”

“The surest way to attain our object will be by forging still another chain.  In short—­now I beg you to be quiet, your temper is far too hot for your grey hairs—­in short, our Hebrew brother-in-arms, the saviour of my life, the ablest man in the army, who is certain to win the highest place, must be your son-in-law.  Kasana’s heart is his—­my wife has told me so.”  Hornecht frowned again, and struggled painfully to control his anger.  He perceived that he must overcome his objection to giving his daughter to the man whose birth he scorned, much as he liked and esteemed his character.  He could not refrain from uttering an oath under his breath, but his answer to the prophet was more calm and sensible than the latter had anticipated.  If Kasana was so possessed by demons that this stranger infatuated her, let her have her will.  But Hosea had not yet sued for her.

“By the red god Seth, and his seventy companions,” he added wrathfully, “neither you, nor any one shall induce me to offer my daughter, who has twenty suitors, to a man who terms himself our friend, yet finds no leisure to greet us in our own house!  To keep fast hold of the lad is another thing, I will see to that.”

CHAPTER XI.

The midnight heavens, decked with countless stars, spanned with their cloudless azure vault the flat plains of the eastern Delta and the city of Succoth, called by the Egyptians, from their sanctuary, the place of the god Tum, or Pithom.

The March night was drawing toward its end, pallid mists floated over the canal, the work of Hebrew bondmen which, as far as the eye could reach, intersected the plain, watering the fields and pastures along its course.

Eastward and southward the sky was shrouded by dense veils of mist that rose from the large lakes and from the narrow estuaries that ran far up into the isthmus.  The hot and dusty desert wind, which the day before had swept over the parched grass and the tents and houses of Succoth, had subsided at nightfall; and the cool atmosphere which in March, even in Egypt, precedes the approach of dawn, made itself felt.