to the
sentinels, he secretly loosened some of the strings which fastened the
necks of the wineskins, and then whipping the donkeys and letting them run
on a little way in front, he pursued them with loud cries.

"Oh, miserable wretch that I am!" he cried, beating his head and looking
the very picture of despair. "All my good wine wasted on the ground! What
shall I do? Oh, what shall I do? Stop, most ungrateful of donkeys,
children of Set, that devour my substance and waste my wine as if it were
water! May Tefnet plague you with gadflies, and Renenutet poison the
thistles! Oh dear! oh dear! I am a ruined man."

The soldiers, supposing it to be a genuine accident, laughed loudly at the
fellow's distress, and while some chased and caught the donkeys, the
others brought bowls and pitchers and began to drink the wine, as it ran
out of the skins.

"Never mind, worthy sir!" they said to Ladronius. "The wine is serving a
very good purpose. Here is to our future friendship and your excellency's
very good health!"

Ladronius pretended to fly into a great passion, and called them thieves
and monsters of iniquity for robbing a poor man of his wine.

"Ay, laugh away!" he cried. "But a day of reckoning will come for your
wickedness. See how the law treats robbers!" And he pointed to his
brother's body hanging on the wall.

"Now, by Anubis, the fellow speaks truth," said one of the soldiers. "We
are but sorry fellows to drink away a poor man's living, and if this were
to come to the ears of the king, we should be in evil case for leaving our
duty."

The others laughed good-humoredly, as they tied up some of the skins, and
did their best to put the merchant into a good temper. Ladronius, after a
little more grumbling, appeared to be pacified, and, as a sign of
good-will, presented a wineskin to the soldier who had first spoken in his
favor.

"May you never want a young friend to speak for you in your old age," said
he, "and may you meet with no worse companions than these; for though they
seem to be somewhat headstrong, yet I perceive that I spoke hard words in
my anger."

The soldiers, who by this time had sat down on the grass and were passing
the wineskin from one to another, declared that the merchant was a
good-hearted old fellow and invited him to come and drink their health.

"Nay, my masters," said Ladronius, pretending to adjust the straps on the
donkeys' backs. "I have far to go, and I am but a little way on my