emain here."

"In that case," the embalmer said, "you will need to be disguised
before you start. It is known that Ameres had two fair-skinned slaves,
and that one of them was concerned with my young lord here in the
matter; also that the other, after fighting furiously in the garden,
and, as I heard, slaying several of his master's enemies, managed to
make his escape. Fortunately I have the materials at hand. We use
paints and stains in abundance for the sere clothes of the dead and
the decorations of their coffins, and I can easily make you as dark as
any of our people. That, with one of my wigs and Egyptian garments,
will alter you so that, so long as you do not look any one fairly in
the face, there will be no fear whatever of your discovery; but you
must not look up, for even when I have blackened your lashes the
lightness of your eyes would at once betray you."

In half an hour Jethro was transformed into a middle-class citizen of
Thebes, and started on his mission of inquiry. During the day some
officials came to the establishment and made many inquiries after the
missing lads. Not contented with denials, they went through the whole
buildings, examining all the chambers closely.

"It is known," they said to Chigron, "that they several times came
here, and that Ameres was a patron of yours. It is our duty to search
any house where shelter might have been given them, though we can
hardly believe that any one would hold communication, far less receive
into this house, persons guilty of such an act of sacrilege as they
have been. However, there is no chance of their escaping us. Messages
have been sent all over Egypt. Moreover, as they had no horses they
cannot have gone far. Yours is the first house we have searched, for
the servants all say the same--that the son of Ameres was frequently
here."

"He was not here very frequently," Chigron replied, "though he
certainly came sometimes, and was interested in watching the various
processes."

Chebron had, in fact, been several times to the embalmer's. Amuba had
accompanied him, although he himself would have preferred staying
away, for to him the whole scene was repulsive. Chebron's temperament
differed, however, widely from that of his friend. The dead were
sacred in Egypt, and all the rites and ceremonies connected with them
bore a religious character. They had no fear of death, and deemed it
but a sleep that would last three thousand years. It was for this
rea