The objection was plausible.
"Then, let us go to Masaarah and discover of a surety," the scribe suggested.
When Atsu emerged from the mouth of the little valley into the quarries some time after the midday meal, he was confronted by the murket and the royal scribe. Neither of the men was unknown to him.
Hotep halted him.
"Was there a guest with the fair-haired Israelite maiden last night?" the scribe asked.
Atsu's face, pinched and darker than usual, blazed wrathfully.
"Have ye also joined yourselves with Har-hat to run that hard-pressed child to earth?" he exclaimed. "Do ye call yourselves men?"
"The gods forbid!" Hotep protested. "We do not concern ourselves with the maiden. It is the man who may be with her that we seek."
The taskmaster made an angry gesture, and Hotep interrupted again.
"I do not question her decorum, and the man of whom I speak is of spotless character. He is lost and we seek him."