low him to talk,
he demanded his ring back, called a young priest, delivered the precious
signet into his charge, and desired him to get into his chariot that was
waiting at the door, and carry to Pentaur the command, in his name, to
return to the temple of Seti.

The haruspex submitted, though deeply vexed, and asked whether the guilty
boys were also to go unpunished.

"No more than Pentaur," answered Ameni. "But can you call this
school-boy's trick guilt? Leave the children to their fun, and their
imprudence. The educator is the destroyer, if he always and only keeps
his eyes open, and cannot close them at the right moment. Before life
demands of us the exercise of serious duties we have a mighty
over-abundance of vigor at our disposal; the child exhausts it in play,
and the boy in building wonder-castles with the hammer and chisel of his
fancy, in inventing follies. You shake your head, Septah! but I tell you,
the audacious tricks of the boy are the fore-runners of the deeds of the
man. I shall let one only of the boys suffer for what is past, and I
should let him even go unpunished if I had not other pressing reasons for
keeping him away from our festival."

The haruspex did not contradict his chief; for he knew that when Ameni's
eyes flashed so suddenly, and his demeanor, usually so measured, was as
restless as at present, something serious was brewing.

The high-priest understood what was passing in Septah's mind.

"You do not understand me now," said he. "But this evening, at the
meeting of the initiated, you shall know all. Great events are stirring.
The brethren in the temple of Anion, on the other shore, have fallen off
from what must always be the Holiest to us white-robed priests, and will
stand in our way when the time for action is arrived. At the feast of the
valley we shall stand in competition with the brethren from Thebes. All
Thebes will be present at the solemn service, and it must be proved which
knows how to serve the Divinity most worthily, they or we. We must avail
ourselves of all our resources, and Pentaur we certainly cannot do
without. He must fill the function of Cherheb

[Cherheb was the title of the speaker or reciter at a festival. We
cannot agree with those who confuse this personage with the chief of
the Kolchytes.]

for to-morrow only; the day after he must be brought to judgment. Among
the rebellious boys are our best singers, and particularly young Anana,
who leads t