We maintained
the silence of bad temper and excessive heat until the sun sank into
the sand. Then, however, we wiped our foreheads, said a cheerful
good-bye to the flies that had been tormenting us, and woke up. "I am immensely obliged to you, Dr. Pinsent," said Sir Robert. "So am I," said Miss Ottley. "The boot is on the other foot," I replied. "It's kind of you to permit
me to be present at your triumph. Is it a king?" "No," said Miss Ottley, "a priest of Amen of the eighteenth dynasty." "Oh, a priest." Miss Ottley bridled at my tone. "No king was ever half as interesting
as _our_ priest," she declared. "He was a wonderful man in every way, a
prophet, a magician, and enormously powerful. Besides, he is believed
to have committed suicide for the sake of principle, and he predicted
his own resurrection after a sleep of two thousand years." "He has been dead 3285 years," sighed Sir Robert. "Is that his fault?" cried the girl. "It falsifies his prophecy." She shrugged her shoulders. "Ptahmes was his name," said Sir Robert, turning to me. "He was the
right-hand man of Amen-hotep IV; but when that king changed his
religion and his name and became Akhenaten and a devotee of the old
worship of Heliopolis, Ptahmes apparently killed himself as a protest
against the deposition of Amen, his particular divinity." "Read that," said Miss Ottley. She handed me a page of type-written manuscript. It ran as follows:

"Hearken to the orders which are put upon you by Ptahmes, named
Tahutimes, son of Mery, son of Hap. "All my ways were regulated even as the pace of an ibis. The
Hawk-headed Horus was my protector like amulets upon my body. I trained
the troops of my lord. I made his pylon 60 cubits long in the noble
rock of quartzite, most great in height and firm as heaven. I did
not imitate what had been done before. I was the royal scribe of the
recruits. Mustering was done under me. I was appointed Judge of the
Palace; overseer of all the prophets of the south and of the north. I
was appointed High Priest of Amen in the Capital--King of all the Gods. I was made the eyes and ears of the king: keeper of my lord's heart and
fan-bearer at the King's right hand. Great men have come from afar to
bow themselves before me, bringing presents of ivory and gold, copper,
silver and emery, lazuli, malachite, green felspar and vases of mern
wood inlaid with white precious stones sometimes bearing gold at one
time 1000 deben (200 pounds weight). For my fame was carried abroad
even as the fame of the king, 'lord of the sweet wind.' And there
was spoken of me by the son of Paapis that my wisdom was of a divine
nature, because of my knowledge of futurities. Yet on the sixth day of
the month of Pakhons in the 18th year I desire to rest. My lord, at the
solicitation of the great royal wife and mother Nefertiti, has put off
the worship of his predecessors. The name of Amen is proscribed from
the country. Ra is proscribed from the country. Horus is proscribed
from the country. Aten is set up in their place and worshipped in the
land. My lord has even changed his name. Apiy is the high priest of the
new God that is from the Mesopotamian wilderness. Amen, king of the
Gods, dandled my lord and is forsaken and proscribed. I am an old man
and would rest: although my lord has not forsaken me. He has appointed
me overseer of all his works. Therefore, shall you carry me to the
temple of Kak, and give my body to the hands of the priests of Amen who
will wrap me in the linen sheets of Horus without removing my heart, my
entrails or my lungs. Then you shall carry me to Khizebh and enclose
me in the place prepared for me; and cover my tomb to a depth of five
fathoms with the sand of the desert at that hour when no man looks or
listens. Do this even as I command, and as royal scribe I trace the
order with my pen. But you shall place my papyri and the sign by which
I shall be known, and the stele of ivory engraved with the directions
to the priests of Amen who are to wake me from my sleep at the distant
hour, in the tomb that is prepared for my body in the temple of
Merenptah and in such manner that I shall there appear to sleep. And
all these things you shall do, or my curse shall pursue you and your
children and their children for the space of four hundred lives. Nor
shall you remove the endowment of my gifts nor touch them where they
lie under a penalty of great moment." I strained my eyes to catch the last words, for the darkness was
already setting down upon the desert; and I was profoundly interested. "Wonderful!" I said, as I returned her the document. "A papyrus, of
course?" "Yes, one of several. Father found it seven years ago at Dier el
Batiri." "I had not heard." Sir Robert coughed. "No," said he, "nor anyone else. I have never
published it. It did not come to me in the usual way. I bought it from
an Arab who had rifled the tomb in which it was discovered." "And the other papyri and the ivory stele?" I questioned. "They are in my possession, too." "They enabled you doubtless to locate the real tomb that holds the
body?" "They helped." Then silence supervened. To me it was filled with wonder. I could not
help asking myself what circumstances could possibly have induced
Ottley to withhold so valuable an historic treasure for so many years
from the world. Such a course of action was utterly opposed to all
practice, and the unwritten but immutable laws of scientific research. It seemed strangely at odds, too, with the man's reputed character. It
would have covered him with glory to have placed his discovery before
the Society to which we both belonged. And a dozen incidents related
of him far and wide, proved that he was not indifferent to praise and
fame. He read my thoughts probably, for at length he cleared his throat
and spoke. "There were reasons why I should not blazon the find abroad," he said. "No doubt," I observed, with unintentioned dryness. "One papyrus speaks of a golden treasure," he went on quietly. "If
published, it would have set thousands looking for the tomb. In that
case the chances are that the body of Ptahmes would have been destroyed
by some vandal intent solely on pillage." "You assumed a great responsibility," I remarked. I simply had to say
it, for I was angry, and his explanation appeared puerile to me. "Do you dispute my right?" he demanded coldly. I shrugged my shoulders. "It is not for me to say, Sir Robert. Doubtless when the time comes you will be able to satisfy the Society
and the world that you have acted rightly." "I admit no responsibility," he answered; "and permit me to observe
that you are talking nonsense. I owe no duty to communicate the results
of my purchases or discoveries to any Society or to the world." "True, Sir Robert. An action for damages could not lie against you." "Sir!" he cried. "Father," said Miss Ottley, "how can Dr. Pinsent's foolish sarcasm
affect you? Besides, we need his Arabs." "Quite so," said Sir Robert. "We need his Arabs.