His lips were parted with eagerness, his
breath panted into the heart of the scroll, as he held his face down
that he might see. He unrolled the papyrus to the end. He sat up,
and drew a breath. His bare feet kicked viciously at the unrolled
papyrus. No treasure in that first scroll! He seized the second.
With eagerness all the greater because of his former disappointment,
he searched through this roll, his face bent down till his eyelashes
almost swept the surface of the writing. In vain! There was nothing!
"These Christians! What cheats they are!"
He snatched the third roll. With trembling fingers he unrolled this,
the last of the papyrus scrolls. There must be something hidden! It
could not be possible that he would be disappointed in the last
scroll! Was there no treasure? Not a thin wedge of gold at the heart
of this papyrus? Not a jewel, not anything that savored of riches?
Athribis' shaking fingers unrolled the papyrus to its very end.
Nothing but the continuous writing, and the stick on which the
scroll had been rolled! His limp hand let fall the end of the
papyrus. It descended upon the heap at his feet. Had he dared, he
would have cried aloud in his disappointment.
But it was not his voice that pierced the night. Some one had seen
him!
"A robber!" cried a woman's tones. "A thief! On the roof!"
Athribis leaped to his feet.
Pages:
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32