Men were sent to search the garden. They searched every path, but there was no priest.
This circumstance made a bad impression on the dignitaries. Each one sat in silence, sunk in alarming thoughts.
About sundown the pharaoh's chamber servant entered and whispered that the lady Hebron was very ill, and implored his holiness to visit her.
The officials, knowing the relations between their lord and the beautiful Hebron, looked at one another. But when the pharaoh announced his purpose of going into the garden they made no protest. The garden, thanks to numerous guards, was as safe as the palace. No one considered it proper to watch over the pharaoh even from a distance, knowing that Ramses did not wish any one to be occupied with him at certain moments.
When he disappeared, the chief scribe said to the treasurer,
"Time drags on like a chariot in the desert. Perhaps Hebron has some news from Tutmosis."
"At this moment," answered the treasurer, "his expedition with a few tens of men to the temple of Ptah seems to me inconceivable madness!"
"But did the pharaoh act more wisely at the Soda Lakes when he chased all night after Tehenna?" put in Hiram. "Daring means more than numbers."
"But that young priest?" asked the treasurer.
"He came without our knowledge and went without leave," added Hiram.
"Each one of us acts like a conspirator."