“I don’t know how you feel about it, Antoine,” said Perry, confidingly to his friend, as they turned in for the night, “and I wouldn’t say so to Uncle George for the world, but I’m sure glad to have a rest from that camel. I was just beginning to think that my backbone never would come straight again.” Antoine smiled sympathetically. “I think it is the worst animal that man has ever used as a beast on which to ride,” he admitted. “I’m stiff, too.” “It’s the worst I ever want to ride,” rejoined the boy, and yawning, fell asleep. At sunrise the next day, the work of excavation was begun in earnest. Daoud and the laborers had been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the rest of the party, especially that of Dr. Hunt, who was known as “El Mudir” (the governor) by all the natives. Perry was assigned the duty of supervising the work of the laborers at one of the excavations and he had his hands full, for the Egyptians were as excitable as children, and at the slightest sign of a bone wanted to pull it out in triumph. They had been working with the Art Museum explorations, and it was difficult to explain to them that while a vase or a statuette was a thing in itself, a bone was of special value chiefly when its relation to other bones was clearly shown. Besides which, Perry had received a good lesson as to the perishability of bones, in connection with the Eosiren and this caused him to be careful. “Hey!” he shouted suddenly to one of the men, who was walking off with a basket of sand on his shoulder, from the top of which a small piece of bone was protruding, “What are you doing with that?” The tone, rather than the words, halted the man, and he stopped. But his knowledge of English was not much greater than the few words of Arabic that Perry had picked up in the week he had been in Egypt and matters were at a deadlock when Daoud came along. Perry explained his point and a brief colluquy in Arabic ensued. “He says some one told him that we were looking for elephant bones, and so he didn’t think a little bone like that would be any use.” “Tell him, then, Daoud,” said the boy, “that the kind of elephants we’re looking for were sometimes as small as cats.” Even Daoud’s impassive face could not hide the fact that he thought this a fib—as it was undoubtedly a gross exaggeration, but he translated it as bidden. Immediately the laborer put down his basket, and taking out the small bone, handed it dramatically to Perry, saying in Arabic: “Elephant!”