He had now almost recovered from the shock of Kāra’s assault, and began to grow angry.
“What do you mean, you dog, by felling me like a wild beast and trying to throttle me?” he demanded, with his first breath.
“What do you mean by stealing into my house and prying into my private affairs?” returned Kāra brusquely.
The dragoman’s eyes fell upon the papyrus at his feet, and his face changed its expression.
“Where did you get it?” he asked, quickly. “Are there more of them? Is it a tomb or a temple? Tell me, Kāra, tell me all about it.”
The Egyptian smiled, grimly.
“There are more of them,” he said. “Look! in that corner are fourteen other rolls; but whether they came from a tomb or a temple I do not know. They are my inheritance from Hatatcha. Where she found them she alone could have told; but she carried the secret to the nether world.”
Tadros mused for a time.
“Where have they been kept all these years?” he asked in a tone of disbelief.
“Hidden underneath the rushes of her bed. I dragged them all out last night, as you can see.”