The artist dropped his voice and came nearer to his son.
"He hath dwelt passively in Goshen till of late, and it is whispered that some secret work against him inaugurated by the priesthood, or mayhap the Pharaoh, hath given him provocation to revolt against Meneptah."
After a silence Kenkenes asked in a lowered tone:
"Hath he made demonstration?"
"O, aye, he is clamoring to lead his people a three days' journey into the wilderness to make sacrifice to their god."
"Shades of mine ancestors! If that is all, let them, so they return,"
Kenkenes said amicably.
"Let them!" the sculptor exploded. "Dost thou believe that they would return?"
"I apprehend that the Rameside army would be capable of thwarting them if they were disposed to depart permanently."
"Thou dost apprehend—aye, of a truth, I know thou dost! Halt all our works of peace for an indefinite time; mass the vast army of the Pharaoh and spend days and good arrows in retrieving the runaways, merely that a barbarian god may smell the savor of holy animals sacrificed! Gods! Kenkenes, thou art as trustworthy a counselor as Har-hat!"
Thereafter there was a silence in the work-room. But a peppery man is seldom sulky, and Kenkenes was fully prepared for the mildness in his father's voice when he spoke again.