"
"Dost thou know him?" Kenkenes asked with interest.
"Nay, he has dwelt in Midian these forty years. He returned some time
ago and hath dwelt passively in Goshen till--"
The artist dropped his voice and came nearer to his son.
"He hath dwelt passively in Goshen till of late, and it is whispered
that some secret work against him inaugurated by the priesthood, or
mayhap the Pharaoh, hath given him provocation to revolt against
Meneptah."
After a silence Kenkenes asked in a lowered tone:
"Hath he made demonstration?"
"O, aye, he is clamoring to lead his people a three days' journey into
the wilderness to make sacrifice to their god."
"Shades of mine ancestors! If that is all, let them, so they return,"
Kenkenes said amicably.
"Let them!" the sculptor exploded. "Dost thou believe that they would
return?"
"I apprehend that the Rameside army would be capable of thwarting them
if they were disposed to depart permanently."
"Thou dost apprehend--aye, of a truth, I know thou dost! Halt all our
works of peace for an indefinite time; mass the vast army of the
Pharaoh and spend days and good arrows in retrieving the runaways,
merely that a barbarian god may smell the savor of holy animals
sacrificed! Gods! Kenkenes, thou art as trustworthy a counselor as
Har-hat!"
Thereafter there was a silence in the work-room.
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