"Dost think this gold?" asked she. "I will bet my necklace that that tube is copper, and only covered on both sides with thin strips of gold." "Is that thy way of greeting me?" inquired the astonished Rameses. "Yes, for I know my brethren," said she. "They counterfeit not only gold, but rubies and sapphires." "Woman," said the heir, "in this tube is thy safety." "What is safety to me? I am wearied in this place, and I am afraid. I have sat here four days as in prison." "Dost thou lack anything?" "I lack air, amusement, laughter, songs, people. O vengeful goddess, how harshly thou art punishing!" The prince listened with amazement. In that mad woman he could not recognize the Kama whom he had seen in the temple, that woman over whose person had floated the passionate song of the Greek Lykon. "To-morrow," said the prince, "thou canst go to the garden; and when we visit Memphis or Thebes, thou wilt amuse thyself as never in thy life before. Look at me. Do I not love thee, and is not the honor which belongs to me enough for a woman?" "Yes," answered she, pouting, "but thou hadst four women before me." "But if I love thee best?" "If thou love me best, make me first, put me in the palace which that Jewess Sarah occupies, and give a guard to me, not to her. Before the statue of Astaroth I was first. Those who paid homage to the goddess, when kneeling before her, looked at me. But here what? Troops beat drums and sound flutes; officials cross their hands on their breasts, and incline their heads before the house of the Jewess--" "Before my first-born son," interrupted the prince, now impatient, "and he is no Jew." "He is a Jew!" screamed Kama. Rameses sprang up. "Art thou mad?" but quieting himself quickly, he added, "Dost thou not know that my son cannot be a Jew--" "But I tell thee that he is a Jew!" cried Kama, beating the table with her fist. "He is a Jew, just as his grandfather is, just as his uncles are; and his name is Isaac." "What hast thou said, Phœnician woman? Dost wish that I should turn thee out?" "Turn me out if a lie has gone from my lips. But if I have spoken truth, turn out that woman with her brat and give me her palace. I wish and deserve to be first in thy household. She deceives thee, reviles thee. But I, for thy sake, have deserted my goddess and exposed myself to her vengeance." "Give me proofs and the palace will be thine. No, that is false!" said Rameses. "Sarah would not permit such a crime. My first-born son!" "Isaac--Isaac!" cried Kama. "Go to her, and convince thyself." Rameses, half unconscious, ran out from Kama's house and turned toward Sarah's villa. Though the night was starry, he lost his way and wandered a certain time through the garden. The cool air sobered him; he found the road to the villa and entered almost calmly.