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With all his might he struck the edge of the axe between the shutter and the wall, and a stream of smoke poured out of the new outlet, and before him, enveloped in its black clouds, stood a staggering man who held Uarda in his arms. Kaschta sprang forward into the midst of the smoke and sparks, and snatched his daughter from the arms of her preserver, who fell half smothered on his knees.
Outside the palace as well as within every one was waking up to terror and excitement. "Fire! fire! an incendiary! Help! Save the king!" cried Kaschta, who rushed on, followed by a crowd of guards whom he had roused; Uarda had flown to call Bent-Anat, as she knew the way to her room. The king had got on to the parapet outside the window with Mena, and was calling to the soldiers.
"Make haste, men!" cried Pentaur. "The three best horses for me, Horus, and Kaschta; the rest remain here." As the red-bearded soldier led the horses forward, the moon shone forth, and within an hour the travellers had reached the plain; they sprang on to the beasts and rode madly on towards the lake, which, when the sun rose, gleamed before them in silvery green.
When the three men had crept back through the low passage in the rocks, and found themselves once more in the open air, they found a high wind was blowing. "The storm will soon be over," said Horus. "See how the clouds are driving! Let us have horses, Pentaur, for there is not a minute to be lost." The poet ordered Kaschta to summon the people to start but the soldier advised differently.
You people must wait, we will soon call you to come under shelter." Pentaur closely followed his guide, pushing his way through the dripping brushwood, crawling through a low passage in the rock, and at last emerging on a small rocky plateau. "Take care where you are going!" cried Kaschta. "Keep to the left, to the right there is a deep abyss. I smell smoke!
While the boy eagerly followed her instructions with all his little might, she rubbed the soldier's temples with an essence which she had in the bottle, and poured a few drops of it between his lips. Kaschta came to himself, stretched his limbs, and stared in astonishment at the place in which he found himself.
By this time the soldier had rejoined Pentaur, and both listened for a few minutes; then the poet whispered to his guide: "They are speaking Egyptian, I caught a few words." "All the better," said Kaschta. "Paaker or some of his people are in there; the door is there still, and shut. If we give four hard and three gentle knocks, it will be opened. Can you understand what they are saying?"
When the three men had crept back through the low passage in the rocks, and found themselves once more in the open air, they found a high wind was blowing. "The storm will soon be over," said Horus. "See how the clouds are driving! Let us have horses, Pentaur, for there is not a minute to be lost." The poet ordered Kaschta to summon the people to start but the soldier advised differently.
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