Dagon waved his hand.
"Stupid girls!" said he. "They think only about dressing, painting, and perfuming themselves; but whence these perfumes come, and who brings them to Egypt, they know not."
"We must give him a favorite who will know."
"Where shall we find her?" asked Dagon. "Ah, I have it!" cried he, stroking his forehead. "Dost Thou know Kama, the priestess of Astaroth?"
"What?" interrupted Rabsun, astounded. "The priestess of the holy goddess Astaroth to be a favorite of an Egyptian?"
"Thou wouldst prefer that she were thine," sneered Dagon. "She can even cease to be high priestess when it is necessary to bring her near the court."
"Thou speakest truth," said Hiram.
"But that is sacrilege!" said Rabsun, indignantly.
"And the priestess who commits it is to die," said the gray-haired
Hiram.
"If only that Jewess, Sarah, does not hinder," added Dagon, after a moment of silence. "She is waiting for a child to which the prince is attached already. If a son is born, all our plans may be thwarted."