Athribis did not recognize the papyrus as one that he had seen
before. The sight of any papyrus, however, had been distasteful to
him since the night of his adventure on the roof, but be thought the
papyri of that escapade safely burned long ago. He knew that
Heraklas' mother had ordered those destroyed that were found on the
roof. Athribis supposed the one also burnt that had fallen into the
court. What else should have become of it? No suspicion concerning
it had crossed his mind till now.

"Oh, that I could see what he readeth!" wished Athribis vainly.
"What meaneth that large sign? Is it the 'tau'?"

Heraklas farther unrolled the papyrus, and the mark of the cross
that had caught Athribis' eye and had interested him, vanished. The
mark seemed to the slave like the Egyptian "tau" or sign of life;
used afterwards, curiously enough, by the Christians of Europe as a
prefix to inscriptions. Numbers of inscriptions headed by the tau
have remained even to the present time, in early Christian
sepulchres in the Great Oasis.

"If that were the tau, there may be no harm in the writing," thought
Athribis sullenly. "Yet why hideth he here?"

The supposed sign of the tau rolled in sight again, as Heraklas
shifted the papyrus.

Heraklas had discovered the papyrus when it hung from the palm in
the court. Seeing the character of the writing, he had kept the roll
for secret perusal. He conjectured that the thief, supposed to have
been on the roof, might have dropped the roll. During the three