sorrowfully, "only yesterday, we again
sold a herd to the Mohar; and the water-wheels must be turned, and the
corn must be thrashed, and we need beasts for sacrifice, and milk,
butter, and cheese, for the use of the house, and dung for firing."

[In Egypt, where there is so little wood, to this day the dried dung
of beasts is the commonest kind of fuel.]

Katuti looked thoughtfully at the ground.

"It must be," she said presently. "Ride to Hermonthis, and say to the
keeper of the stud that he must have ten of Mena's golden bays driven
over here."

"I have already spoken to him," said the steward, "but he maintains that
Mena strictly forbade him to part with even one of the horses, for he is
proud of the stock. Only for the chariot of the lady Nefert."

"I require obedience," said Katuti decidedly and cutting short the
steward's words, "and I expect the horses to-morrow."

"But the stud-master is a daring man, whom Mena looks upon as
indispensable, and he--"

"I command here, and not the absent," cried Katuti enraged, "and I
require the horses in spite of the former orders of my son-in-law."

Nefert, during this conversation, pulled herself up from her indolent
attitude. On hearing the last words she rose from her couch, and said,
with a decision which surprised even her mother--

"The orders of my husband must be obeyed. The horses that Mena loves
shall stay in their stalls. Take this armlet that the king gave me; it is
worth more than twenty horses."

The steward examined the trinket, richly set with precious stones, and
looked enquiringly at Katuti. She shrugged her shoulders, nodded consent,
and said--

"Abscha shall hold it as a pledge till Mena's booty arrives. For a year
your husband has sent nothing of importance."

When the steward was gone, Nefert stretched herself again on her couch
and said wearily:

"I thought we were rich."

"We might be," said Katuti bitterly; but as she perceived that Nefert's
cheeks again were glowing, she said amiably, "Our high rank imposes great
duties on us. Princely blood flows in our veins, and the eyes of the
people are turned on the wife of the most brilliant hero in the king's
army. They shall not say that she is neglected by her husband. How long
Mena remains away!"

"I hear a noise in the court," said Nefert. "The Regent is coming."

Katuti turned again towards the garden.

A breathless slave rushed in, and announced that Bent-Anat, the daughter
of