"Nay, I swear by Osiris," she protested wildly. "The light came in with the hour of dawn."
Kenkenes released her and hurried away. He did not doubt that the old woman had told the truth. He had overslept the light. Unas could not have taken Rachel and Masanath to Tanis together. The Israelite would have been sent on before.
There was yet Atsu to question, and then—on to Tanis to rescue Rachel or to avenge her.
He met no one until he reached a bazaar of jewels near the temple square. An armed watchman stood before the tightly closed front of the lapidary's booth, above the portal of which a flaring torch was stuck in a sconce.
"The house of Atsu?" the watchman repeated after Kenkenes. "Atsu is no longer a householder in Memphis."
"When did he depart?"
"Eight or nine months ago, at the persuasion of the Pharaoh."
The lightness of the man's manner irritated the already vexed spirit of the young artist.
"Be explicit," he demanded sharply. "What meanest thou?"
"He was stripped of his insignia and reduced to the rank of ordinary soldier," the man answered, "for pampering the Israelites. He is with the legions in the north."