n some of which Tua recognised
officers of her own whom she had commanded to accompany Rames, to an
apartment of no great size, where he bade them be seated. Presently a
door opened, and through it came Rames, plainly dressed in the uniform
of an Egyptian general, on which they saw he wore no serpent crest
or other of the outward signs of royalty. Only on his right hand that
lacked the little finger, gleamed a certain royal ring, which Tua
knew. With him also were several captains to whom he talked of military
affairs.

Seeing the two women, he bowed to them courteously, and asked them to
forgive him for having kept them waiting for him. Then he said:

"What was it that you wished to show me, Ladies? Oh! I remember,
precious stones. Well, I fear me that you have brought them to a bad
market, seeing that although Napata is called the City of Gold, she
needs all her wealth for her own purposes, and I draw from it only a
general's pay, and a sum for the sustenance of my household, which is
small. Still, let me look at your wares, for if I do not buy myself,
perhaps I may be able to find you a customer."

Now when they saw the young man's noble face and bearing, and heard his
simple words, the hearts of Asti and Tua, his mother and his love, beat
so hard within their breasts that for a while they could scarcely speak.
Glad were they, indeed, that the veils they wore hid their troubled
faces from his eyes, which, as in the morning, lingered on them
curiously.

At length, controlling herself with an effort, Asti answered:

"Perchance, Lord, the Great Lady your wife, or the ladies your
companions, will buy if you do not."

"Have I not already told you, Merchant," asked Rames angrily, "that I
have no wife, and no companions that are not men?"

"You said so, Sir," she replied humbly, always speaking in her feigned
voice, "yet forgive us if we believed you not, since in our journeyings
my daughter and I have seen many princes, and know that such a thing is
contrary to their nature. Still we will show you our wares, for surely
all the men in Napata are not unmarried."

Then, without more ado, she drew out a box of scented cedar and, opening
it, revealed a diadem of pearls worked into the shape of the royal
_uraeus_, which they had fashioned thus at Tat, and also a few of their
largest single gems.

"Beautiful, indeed," said Rames, looking at them, "though there is but
one who has the right to wear this crown, the divine