Now tell your tale, friend Philo,
I said. Whence come you, most welcome Philo, and by what magic do you find me here?
I come from far to the south, Prophetess, out of an ancient land of which you shall learn afterward. For three moons have I struggled over difficult seas driven by contrary winds, to reach the mouths of Nile and to find you, if still you lived.
And who sent you, friend Philo?
A certain Master who is known to both of us, he sent me.
Is he perchance named Noot?
I asked in a low voice, and if so, did you sail hither over mortal seas, or over those through which Ra travels in the Under-world?
This I said wondering, for it came into my mind that he who knelt before me might perchance be not a man but a shadow sent to summon me to the halls of Osiris.
Mortal seas I sailed; those of the Under-world still await my prow, O Wisdom's Daughter. Here is the proof of it,
and drawing a roll from his bosom, with it he touched his brow in token of reverence, then gave it to me.
I broke the seals, I opened that roll, and by the light of the rising sun I read. It ran thus:
From Noot, the son of Noot, the high-priest, the guardian of Secrets, to Ayesha, Child of Isis, Wisdom's Daughter, the Instructed, the Oracle: Thus saith Noot.
I live, I do not sleep in my eternal house. My spirit shows me that which passes upon the Nile. I know that you have obeyed my commands which I gave to you before we parted in the bygone years, O my begotten in the goddess. I know that you have waited patiently in faith through many tribu-
