"
"So thou canst," Deborah said eagerly--but before she could continue,
Rachel appeared at the outer opening, the amphora held by one arm, the
ape by the other. Her face was alight with a smile that seemed
dangerously akin to tears.
"Here is water, clean and fresh, but the Nile is bank-full of the
plague. It was Anubis that showed me!" She lowered the amphora into
the rack and took up the linen band the ape had slipped. "Oh, it is
ungrateful to tie thee, Anubis," she went on, "but thou must not betray
us, thou good creature."
"It was Anubis!" Deborah repeated inquiringly.
"Aye. Not once did the hideous sight disturb him. He was athirst and
he made me a well in the sand with his paws. See how Jehovah hath sent
us succor by humble hands." She stroked the hairy grotesque and
tethered him reluctantly.
Deborah muttered under her breath. "I liked the creature not, since he
made me think of the abominable idolatries of Mizraim, but he hath
served the oppressed. He shall be more endurable to me."
The night fell and the dawn came again and again, but holy Hapi was
denied. Hour by hour the fuming lamp was set before the entrance, the
door was put a little aside, that the entering air might be purified
for those within.
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