Therefore, the hour to proceed against the
Israelites was not far away. Kenkenes knew that he might not delay,
even for a short sleep, in Tanis.
He fixed upon Pithom as the chosen spot for the rendezvous, since it
was situated on the Wady Toomilat.
He refreshed himself with a beaker of sour wine in which a recuperative
simple had been stirred, and took the road to the south.
Immediately outside of the city walls he came upon the track of the
departing king, and followed it faithfully as long as there was light
to show it to him. A dozen miles out of Tanis he ceased to run, and
thereafter his progress became slower as his fatigue increased. Toward
the end of the first watch, at the northern borders of the district
known as Succoth, at the extreme east of Goshen, he came upon a mighty
track.
Even in the dark he could see that a diaphanous gauze of dust overhung
it and the air was heavy with the most volatile particles. The sandy
earth had been ground and worked to the depth of over a foot. How
difficult had it been for the rearmost ranks to cover this ploughed
soil! The track was a mile in width, and by the nature of the marks
upon it, Kenkenes knew that husbandmen, not warriors, had passed over
this spot.
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