brought and began to read:


"To Loi, the most high Servant of Amen, Lord of Tape, the Servant of
Ra, at On, sends greeting:

"The gods lend me composure to speak calmly with thee, O Brother. And
let the dismay which is mine explain the lack of ceremony in this
writing.

"It is not likely that thou hast forgotten the good Queen Neferari
Thermuthis' foster-son--the Hebrew Mesu, whom she found adrift in a
basket on Nilus. But lest the years have driven the memory of his
misdeeds from thy mind, I tell again the story. Thou knowest he was
initiated a priest of Isis, and scarce had the last of the mysteries
been disclosed to him, ere it was seen that the brotherhood had taken
an apostate unto itself.

"By the grace of the gods, he interfered in a brawl at Pithom and
killed an Egyptian. Before he could be taken he fled into Midian, and
the secrets of our order were safe, for a time.

"One by one our fellows have entered Osiris. The young who knew not
have filled their places. Thou and I, only, are left--and the Hebrew!

"He hath returned!

"The gods make strong our hands against him! He went away as a menace,
but he returneth as a pestilence. The demons of Amend are with him,
and his hour is most propitious. He hath sunk himself in the