It was a very strange night, silent, with a heavy, stirless air. Therewere no stars, but the curtain of black cloud which seemed to hangbeyond the camp of the Egyptians was alive with lightnings whichappeared to shape themselves to letters that I could not read.
"Behold the Book of Fate written in fire by the hand of God!" saidBakenkhonsu, as he watched.
About midnight a mighty east wind began to blow, so strongly that wemust lie upon our faces under the lea of the chariots. Then the winddied away and we heard tumult and shoutings, both from the camp ofEgypt, and from the camp of Israel beyond the cloud. Next there came ashock as of earthquake, which threw those of us who were standing to theground, and by a blood-red moon that now appeared we perceived that allthe army of Pharaoh was beginning to move towards the sea.
"Whither go they?" I asked of the Prince who clung to my arm.
"To doom, I think," he answered, "but to what doom I do not know."
After this we said no more, because we were too much afraid.