"Shall I give the story in full?" he asked with an odd quiet in his
voice.
"Nay! Nay!" Har-hat protested; "I have told the worst I would have
said concerning that defeat of mine." Again he laughed and returned to
the young man's identity once more.
"Aye, I might have known that thou wast somewhat of kin to Mentu. Ye
are as much alike as two owlets--same candid face."
He sauntered away, leaving an awkward silence behind him.
"Sit beside me?" asked Masanath, drawing the folds of her white robes
aside to make room for the scribe. But Hotep did not seem to hear.
Instead, he wandered away for another chair, became interested in a
group of long-eyed beauties near by and apparently forgot Masanath.
Kenkenes did not permit any lapse between the invitation and its
acceptance. He dropped into the place made for Hotep, as if the offer
had been extended to him.
"From Bubastis to Memphis, from Bast to Ptah," he said. "Dost thou
miss the generous levels of the Delta in our crevice between the hills?"
She shook her head. "Memphis is the lure of all Egypt, and he who hath
been transplanted to her would flout the favor of the gods, did he make
homesick moan for his native city."
"And thou hast warmer regard for the stir of Memphis than the quiet of
the north?"
"There is no quiet in the north now.
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