present at the sacrifices of children
which the Hebrews perform in desert places, where the owl hoots, the
hyena howls, and the adder hisses."

Tahoser quietly left the room without a word, and concealed herself in
the garden behind the mimosa bushes. After waiting two hours, she saw
Poeri issue forth into the country. Light and silent as a shadow, she
started to follow him.

IX

Poeri, who was armed with a strong palm stick, walked towards the river
along a causeway built over a field of submerged papyrus which, leafy at
their base, sent up on either hand their straight stalks six and eight
cubits high, ending in a tuft of fibre and looking like the lances of an
army in battle array.

Holding in her breath and walking on tiptoe, Tahoser followed him on the
narrow road. There was no moon that night, and the thick papyrus would
in any case have been sufficient to conceal the young girl, who remained
somewhat behind.

An open space had to be crossed. The sham Hora let Poeri go on first,
bent down, made herself as small as she could, and crawled along the
ground. Next they entered a mimosa wood, and, concealed by the clumps of
trees, Tahoser was able to proceed without having to take as many
precautions. She was so close to Poeri, whom she feared to lose sight of
in the darkness, that very often the branches that he pushed aside
slapped her in the face; but she paid no attention to this. A feeling
of burning jealousy drove her to seek the solution of the mystery, which
she did not interpret as did the servants in the house. Not for one
moment had she believed that the young Hebrew went out thus every night
to perform any infamous and profane rite; she believed that a woman was
at the bottom of these nocturnal excursions, and she wanted to know who
her rival was. The cold kindness of Poeri had proved to her that his
heart was already won; otherwise, how could he have remained insensible
to charms famous throughout Thebes and the whole of Egypt? Would he have
pretended not to understand a love that would have filled with pride
oeris, priests, temple scribes, and even princes of the royal blood?

On reaching the river shore, Poeri descended a few steps cut out of the
slope of the bank, and bent down as if he were casting off a rope.
Tahoser, lying flat on the summit of the bank, above which the top of
her head alone showed, saw to her great despair that the mysterious
stroller was casting off a light papyrus b