"The bond-people are already in ferment. There was mutiny at Pa-Ramesu recently, when three hundred were chosen to work the quarries. Moreover, the taskmasters are corrupt. The commander, one Atsu by name, appointed when the chief Merenra became nomarch over Bubastis, hath disarmed the under-drivers, removed the women from toil and restored many privileges which are ruinous to law and order. The whole Delta is in commotion. The nomad tribes near the Goshen country are agitated; communities of Egyptian shepherds have been won over to the Hebrew's cause, and now the Israelitish renegade needs but to betray the secrets to bring such calamity upon Egypt as never befell a nation. "But, Brother, he is within reach of an avenging hand! Commission us, I pray thee, to protect the mysteries after any manner that to us seemeth good. "Despatch is urgent. He may fly again. Give us thine answer as we have sent this to thee--by a nobleman--a swift and trusty one, and the blessings of the Radiant Three be upon thy head. "Thy servant, the Servant of Ra, "Snofru." When the priest finished, the king was sitting upright, his face flushed with feeling. "Sedition!" he exclaimed; "organized rebellion in the very heart of my realm!" He paused for a space and thrust back the heavy fringes of his cowl with a gesture of peevish impatience. "What evil humor possesses Egypt?" he burst forth irritably. "Hardly have I overthrown an invader before my people break out. I quiet them in one place and they revolt in another. Must I turn a spear upon mine own?" "Well," he cried, stamping his foot, when the three before him kept silence, "have ye no word to say?" His eyes rested on Har-hat, with an imperious expectation in them. The fan-bearer bent low before he answered. "With thy gracious permission, O Son of Ptah," he said, "I would suggest that it were wise to cool an insurrection in the simmering. The disaffection seems to be of great extent. But the Rameside army assembled on the ground might check an open insurrection. Furthermore, thou hast seen the salutary effect of thy visit to Tape when she forgot her duty to her sovereign. Thy presence in the Delta would undoubtedly expedite the suppression of the rebellion likewise." "O, aye," Meneptah declared. "I must go to Tanis. It seems that I must hasten hither and thither over Egypt pursuing sedition like a scent-hunting jackal. Mayhap if I were divided like Osiris[1] and a bit of me scattered in each nome, I might preserve peace. But it goes sore against me to drag the army with me. Hast thou any simpler plan to offer, holy Father?" The old priest shifted a little before he answered.