These, also, subsided and passed along the sign of
silence. A leader in the front rank walked away and took a drink,
using his hands as a cup. The whole silent herd followed and did
likewise, solemnly and thoughtfully.
Presently the bolder began to whisper and conjecture among themselves,
hushing the sibilant surmises of the humbler with a cautioning frown.
An old man, who could not lower his voice, quavered a resolve to "ask
and discover," and started toward the soldier to put his resolution
into effect. A wiry old woman seized him and drew him back.
"Wilt thou humiliate him with thy notice, meddler?" she demanded in a
fierce whisper. "See him not, and it will be a mercy to him in his
hour of abasement,--him who hath been balsam to the wound of Israel!"
She turned about and took the road toward Pa-Ramesu, the unprotesting
old man trotting after her. The crowd followed, silent at first, then
softly talkative, and finally, in the distance, singing and noisy once
again.
A careening camel, almost white in the early morning sunshine, broke
the sky-line far up the road leading from Tanis in the north. Very
much nearer, to the west, two single litters, with a staff-bearing
attendant, were approaching.
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