he was within, and she would
not answer me 'aye' or 'nay,' but I know that she told the truth
concerning the Israelite."

Masanath, who had stood, the picture of dismay and apprehension during
the last part of the recital, seized his arm.

"Hast thou had an eye to the master?" she demanded in a fierce whisper.

"Aye," he answered quickly. "I have followed him like a shadow, and this
I know. Nak and Hebset were here when I came, but they went that same
night, each in a different direction, to search further for her. They
returned to-night, but I know not whether they brought one with them."

Masanath clasped her hands and thought for a moment, a mental struggle
evidenced on her little face by the rapid fluctuations of color.

"Get thee down to the kitchens, Pepi," she said presently, "and if Nari
hath come, send her up to me. Give thyself comfort and remain in the
palace. It may be that I shall need thee."

She surveyed herself with a swift glance in a plate of polished silver
which was her mirror, and then, darting out of her door, ran down the
corridor as though she would outstrip repentance before it overtook her.

The flight was not long, but she had lost her composure before she
started. Outside her doors, she trembled as if unprotected. Soldiers of
the royal guard paced along the hall before her chambers. The lamps that
burned there were of gold; the drapings were of purple wrought with the
royal symbols; the asp supported the censers; the head of Athor
surmounted the columns. She was a dweller of the royal house. Far, far
away from her were the unimperial quarters in which, once, she would have
lived. There was her father--there was Hotep--

She came upon him whom she sought. He was on the point of entering his
apartments. He paused with his hands on the curtains and waited for her.

"A word with thee, my Lord," she panted, chiefly from trepidation.

"I have come to expect no more than a word from thee," he said.

The answer would have sent her away in dudgeon, under any other
circumstances, but her pride could not stand in the way of this very
pressing duty.

"A boon," she said, choking back her resentment.

"A boon! Thou wouldst ask a boon of me! Nay, I will not promise, for it
may be thou comest to ask thy freedom, and that I will not grant for
spleen."

Still she curbed herself. "Nay, O Prince; I am come to ask naught of
thee which--a wife--may not justly ask of--her--lord."