Tutmosis raised his pitcher; soldiers rushed up from the door. The wounded man fell with his face to the steps, crying,-- "Have mercy, sun of Egypt!" The soldiers were ready to seize him when Rameses pulled himself free of the women and approached the unfortunate giant. "Touch him not!" cried Rameses to the warriors. "What dost thou wish, man?" "I wish, lord, to tell thee of the wrongs which we suffer." At that moment the nomarch stepped up to the viceroy and whispered,-- "This is a Hyksos. Look, worthiness, at his shaggy hair and his beard. But the insolence with which he burst in proves that the criminal is not a genuine Egyptian." "Who art thou?" asked Rameses. "I am Bakura, a laborer in the regiment of diggers in Sochem. We have no work now, so the nomarch Otoes commanded us--" "He is a drunkard and a madman!" whispered the excited Sofra. "How dares he speak to thee, lord--" The prince gave such a look to the nomarch that he bent double and moved backward. "What did the worthy Otoes command you the workers?" asked the viceroy of Bakura. "He commanded us, lord, to go along the bank of the Nile, swim in the river, stand at the roads, make an uproar in thy honor, and he promised to give us what was proper for doing so. For two months before that, we, O lord, received nothing,--neither barley cakes, nor fish, nor olive oil for our bodies." "What is thy answer to this, worthy lord?" asked the prince of the nomarch. "He is a dangerous drunkard, a foul liar," answered Sofra. "What noise didst thou make in my honor?" "That which was commanded," said the giant. "My wife and daughter cried with the others, 'May he live through eternity!' I sprang into the water and threw a garland at thy barge, worthiness; for this they promised an uten. When thou wert pleased graciously to enter the city of Atribis, I approached to throw myself under the horses and stop thy chariot--" The prince laughed. "As I live," said he, "I did not think that we should end the feast with such joyousness. But how much did they pay thee for falling under the chariot?" "They promised three utens, but have paid nothing to me or my wife or my daughter. Nothing has been given to the whole regiment of diggers to eat for two months past." "On what do ye live then?" "On begging, or on that which we earn from some earth-worker. In this sore distress we revolted three times, and desired to go home. But the officers and scribes either promised to give something or commanded to beat us." "For the noise made in my honor?" put in the prince, laughing.