_The Steward, who had gone out, returns at once, whip in hand, followed by a poor old man, half naked, and covered with mud, who carries a hod._ STEWARD [_stopping before the statue of Thoueris_] There. Draw near, potter, and look. By some mischance, the horn and the plume of Goddess Thoueris have been broken. The master must not see them when he comes back for the feast of the Nomination. There is the horn--there is the plume. Replace them. PAKH [_with terror_] I--must I ... to-day when my son is coming home? STEWARD. Are you not our servant? PAKH. I am. STEWARD. And a potter? PAKH. I am. STEWARD. Did you not say you knew how to do what I ask? PAKH. I did not know that I must lay hands on the Goddess Thoueris. STEWARD. Obey. PAKH [_throwing himself on his knees_] I pray you! I pray you ... I should never dare. And then ... my son ... my son who is coming back from a long, long journey.... STEWARD. You shall have twenty blows of the stick for having tired my tongue. If you refuse to obey me you shall have two hundred. PAKH. I pray you. STEWARD. Bid Sokiti help you. _He goes out at the back; as he passes he gives Sokiti a blow with his whip, making a sign to him to go and join Pakh._ _Sokiti obeys without manifesting sorrow or surprise._ PAKH. He says we must lift down the Goddess. SOKITI. I? PAKH. You and I. SOKITI [_beginning to tremble. After a pause_] I am afraid. PAKH. I too--I am afraid. SOKITI. If you touch her you die. PAKH. You will die of the stick if you do not obey. SOKITI. Why cannot they leave me at my work. I was happy. PAKH. We must--we must tell her that it is in order to repair her crown. SOKITI. Yes. We must let her know. _They prostrate themselves before the goddess._ PAKH. Oh, Mighty One!--thou who hast given birth to the gods, pardon if our miserable hands dare to touch thee! Thy horn and thy right plume have fallen off. 'Tis to replace them. SOKITI. We are forced to obey--O breath divine--creator of the universe.... It is to mend thee. PAKH [_rising, to Sokiti_] Come! _Bitiou, the dwarf, enters; he is a poor deformed creature. When he sees Pakh and Sokiti touching the statue, he tries to run away. He falls, picks himself up, and hides in a corner. By degrees he watches and draws near during what follows. Pakh and Sokiti take the statue from its pedestal and set it upright on the ground._ SOKITI. She has not said anything. PAKH. She must be laid on her belly. SOKITI. Gently.... _They lay her flat._ PAKH [_giving him the horn_] Hold that. [_He goes to his hod, takes a handful of cement, and proceeds to mend the statue_] Here ... the plume ... so ... there ... we must let her dry. In the meantime let us go look upon the Nile; we may see the boat that brings my son. SOKITI. You will not see him. PAKH. I shall not see him? SOKITI. He is a priest. PAKH. Not yet.