This spot was so far from that on
which the building stood where he had been given to the leopard,
that the lad concluded these people had not witnessed that scene.
Pentaur's caravan would have left the oasis before now. Probably the
merchant was about to renew his journey at the time of his visit to
the leopard's den.
The woman pointed to Timokles' branded cheek. Taking heart from the
apparent lack of real hostility in the manner of his captors,
Timokles asked for something to eat. He was understood, and the
three, taking Timokles, turned from the hills, and proceeded
eastward, till, coming to a black tent near some palms, the woman
went in and brought Timokles some barley cakes.
While the boy ate, the two men, still watching him, betook
themselves to work. They seemed to be makers of idols. The father
was carving a small wooden statuette of the god Thoth. The son
worked on a larger idol, the goddess Apet, or Thoueris, in the shape
of a hippopotamus walking upright on hind feet. The idol was of
green serpentine, and the mother watched with evident pride the
skill with which her son worked.
Timokles moved to rise, and instantly the suspicious eyes of the
young hippopotamus-sculptor flashed. The father dropped his
statuette, and, fiercely springing forward, forced Timokles to the
ground, bound him, and went back to the carving of the ibis-head of
Thoth.
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