"Asar-Mut," Mentu said under his breath.
The first voice and its second protested in chorus.
"As the gods hear me, I saw it!" the first went on. "It was a statue most sacrilegiously wrought and the man stood before it. It was cunningly hidden between two walls, and there is no spot on the desert that looks so much like the place as this. And yet, no wall—no statue—no sign of—"
"How did you find it yesterday?" the fan-bearer asked.
"We followed the hag, and she, the girl. The pair of them were in sight of each other, as they ran."
"How did they find it?"
"Magic! Magic!"
"There were three of you and one man overthrew you all?" the high priest commented suspiciously.
"Holy Father!" the servant protested wildly, "he was a giant—a monster for bigness. Besides, there were but two of us, after he had all but throttled me."
Har-hat laughed again. "Aye, and after he pitched Nak over the cliff, there was but one. But tell me this: was he noble or a churl?"