“How about the people who were too poor to do that kind of thing?” asked Don.
“They got around it by having pictures of those things, the food and boats and other necessaries painted on the walls of the tomb,” answered his uncle.
“Not much nourishment in that,” Teddy whispered to Don.
“Those manuscripts you saw,” continued the professor, “were what is called the ‘Book of the Dead.’ They told the dead man what answers to give when he stood before Osiris, the supreme judge who weighed his character and decided whether he was worthy to enter Paradise. Among other things, he was instructed to say: ‘I have not stolen’; ‘I have not lied’; ‘I have not killed.’ You see the general idea of what was right and what was wrong was very much the same then as it is now.”
The time passed quickly, and when the party emerged from the latest of the tombs they had visited, the sun was high in the heavens and the valley was like an oven.
As they passed the different gangs of diggers they made inquiries of the overseers regarding Mr. Sturdy. The officials listened with courtesy, and in some cases with interest, but none of them could give any information. None could be found who had seen such a man as Phalos or Professor Bruce described. Nor had they heard the name. The latter of course was not surprising, for, as Don bitterly reflected, his father did not even know his own name.
“No help to be gained from these sources,” the captain summed up after a series of disheartening experiences. “It’s strictly up to us to do the finding ourselves. Now let’s get back to Luxor and make our final preparations.”
There were many other wonders in the vicinity that under other circumstances the lads, especially, would have liked to visit, such as the Colossi of Memnon, the Temple of Karnak, but everything else must be abandoned or deferred in their overwhelming desire to find Don’s father.
There had been much debate among the members of the party as to the motive power of the expedition. The captain, remembering the value of the automobiles in their Sahara trip, would have preferred them. But inquiry both at Cairo and at Luxor had shown them that there was none to be had of the type wanted, and the ordinary kind without the caterpillar tread, would have been of no use in the desert.
Had they expected their search to be confined entirely to the Valley of the Kings, they would have used donkeys, the common mode of travel in that vicinity. But this idea also was abandoned, because of the supplies that would be needed for the animals.