ad had their own tea they took him some. He did not like the tea
at all, but he liked the bread and butter, and cake that went with it.
They took it in turns to sit with him during the evening, and left him
fairly happy and quite settled for the night.

But when they went up in the morning with a kipper, a quarter of which
each of them had gone without at breakfast, Rekh-mara was gone! There
was the cosy corner with the rag-bag, and the moth-eaten fur coat--but
the cosy corner was empty.

'Good riddance!' was naturally the first delightful thought in each
mind. The second was less pleasing, because everyone at once remembered
that since his Amulet had been swallowed up by theirs--which hung
once more round the neck of Jane--he could have no possible means of
returning to his Egyptian past. Therefore he must be still in England,
and probably somewhere quite near them, plotting mischief.

The attic was searched, to prevent mistakes, but quite vainly.

'The best thing we can do,' said Cyril, 'is to go through the half
Amulet straight away, get the whole Amulet, and come back.'

'I don't know,' Anthea hesitated. 'Would that be quite fair? Perhaps he
isn't really a base deceiver. Perhaps something's happened to him.'

'Happened?' said Cyril, 'not it! Besides, what COULD happen?'

'I don't know,' said Anthea. 'Perhaps burglars came in the night, and
accidentally killed him, and took away the--all that was mortal of him,
you know--to avoid discovery.'

'Or perhaps,' said Cyril, 'they hid the--all that was mortal, in one of
those big trunks in the box-room. SHALL WE GO BACK AND LOOK?' he added
grimly.

'No, no!' Jane shuddered. 'Let's go and tell the Psammead and see what
it says.'

'No,' said Anthea, 'let's ask the learned gentleman. If anything has
happened to Rekh-mara a gentleman's advice would be more useful than a
Psammead's. And the learned gentleman'll only think it's a dream, like
he always does.'

They tapped at the door, and on the 'Come in' entered. The learned
gentleman was sitting in front of his untasted breakfast.

Opposite him, in the easy chair, sat Rekh-mara!

'Hush!' said the learned gentleman very earnestly, 'please, hush! or the
dream will go. I am learning... Oh, what have I not learned in the last
hour!'

'In the grey dawn,' said the Priest, 'I left my hiding-place, and
finding myself among these treasures from my own country, I remained. I
feel more at home here somehow.'

'Of cours