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A silence fell, and the raft passed below Masaarah. Again Nari spoke, proving that she had heard and thought upon the last words of her mistress. "Are not the gods omnipotent and everywhere?" "Aye, so hast thou been taught, Nari." "Our gods, and the gods of every nation like them?" the serving-woman persisted. "The gods of Egypt are so, and each nation boasts its gods equally potent."
A pair of decoy birds, tame and unfettered, stood near her, craning their small heads, puzzled at the movement of the boat which was undecipherable since they were motionless. Nari sat in the prow, her hands folded, her face quite expressionless. The service of the day was out of the routine, but as a good servant, she was capable of adapting herself to the change.
He seized the sweep and drove the raft about, poling with wide strokes. At that moment, a cry, which was more of a hoarse whisper, broke from his lips. "Body of Osiris! The river! the river!" Masanath leaned on one hand and looked over the side of the raft. With a bound and a shivering cry, Nari was cowering beside her, the little craft tossing on the waves at the force of the leap.
Weak, shaking, sated with horror and numb with fear, Masanath attempted to return to her apartments, but at the second step she reeled. Hotep saw her. The fan-bearer was not in sight. In an instant the scribe was beside the fainting girl, supporting her, nor did he release her until she was safe in the ministering arms of Nari. As he was leaving her he commended her most solemnly to the gods.
It is in the palace and everywhere." Meanwhile a chorus of screams smote upon her ears and the wild outcries of men filled the great palace with terrifying clamor. Masanath, shaking with dread, wrung her hands and wept. Nari, stupid with fear, sat up and listened. Presently some one came running and beat, with frenzied hands, upon the door. "Open! Open!
She turned to awaken Nari, when she heard inside the palace excited words and hurrying feet. Some one ran, barefoot, past her door, calling under his breath upon the gods. At that moment an incisive shriek cut the increasing murmur in the palace and died away in a long shuddering wail of grief. "Awake, awake, Nari!" Masanath cried, shaking the sleeping woman. "Something has befallen the city.
Nari went on: "But the soldier told me further that the Israelites had spent the night chanting and dancing before their God, and it seems from this spot that the quarries are empty. They do not fear, boasting their God's care." Masanath shook her head. "He must look to them at once, ere the soldiery fall upon them. His time for aid is short," she said.
"Get thee down to the kitchens, Pepi," she said presently, "and if Nari hath come, send her up to me. Give thyself comfort and remain in the palace. It may be that I shall need thee." She surveyed herself with a swift glance in a plate of polished silver which was her mirror, and then, darting out of her door, ran down the corridor as though she would outstrip repentance before it overtook her.
Thus it results that Japanese poems are, for the most part, impressionist; they suggest a great deal more than they actually express. Here is an example: Momiji-ha wo Kaze ni makasete Miru yori mo Hakanaki mono wa Inochi nari keri This may be translated: More fleeting than the glint of withered leaf wind-blown, the thing called life."* *See Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, article "Japan."
"Let him come up," she continued to Nari. The waiting woman bowed and left her. Rachel arose and took a place on the farther side of the hypostyle, with the screens of matting between her and Masanath. She was still in hiding. The fat servitor came up presently. "The gracious gods have had thee under their sheltering wings during these troublous times," he said, bowing.
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