e we need fear no suspicion on the
part of our boatmen. I suppose you disposed of the chariot as we
arranged, Amuba?"

"Yes, I drove north for five hours and then turned aside into a wood.
Here I loosed the horses so that they could feed as they chose. They
would doubtless by morning stray into the fields, and so attract
attention. Then there would be a search to see to whom they belonged,
and the chariot would be found. By the time that the news spreads that
Ptylus is dead, and also that his chariot and horses are missing, and
have doubtless been taken off by those who had attacked him, the
tidings that the chariot is found will have been taken to the nearest
town, and it will shortly be reported all over the country that we are
making north, and the search for us will be made in that direction
only."

"Are you going back to the house, Jethro?"

"Yes. Chigron has given out to his servants that the visitors are
relatives of mine, and as I have been frequently seen going in and out
in this garb they are now accustomed to me; and it will be natural for
me to sleep there to-night and to start with them in the morning. We
shall start exactly at sunrise. You had better wait at a distance from
the house and follow us, coming up and joining us just as we reach the
river side. The boat will be taken above the city to the highest
steps; and we shall be able to proceed to that point without entering
the town itself. Be careful with your disguises. The news of the death
of Ptylus will not, I hope, be generally known in the city until we
are fairly afloat. Were it otherwise it would be dangerous for you to
run the risk of being seen abroad."

CHAPTER XVI.

UP THE NILE.

Late at night Jethro again went up to the hiding-place on the hill.
Chigron had just returned from another visit to the city. He said:

"The whole of the town is in an uproar. The news that Ptylus and his
son have been found slain has been received, and the excitement is
tremendous. The death by violence of two high priests of Osiris
within so short a time is regarded as a presage of some terrible
national misfortune. That one should have been slain was an almost
unprecedented act--an insult of a terrible kind to the gods; but this
second act of sacrilege has almost maddened the people. Some regard it
as a judgment of Osiris, and deem that it is a proof that, as a few
ventured to whisper before, the death of Ameres was brought about by
an intrigue