and why shouldst
thou not stoop to pick up gold out of the dust? I know how thou couldst
speak with the old woman without being seen."

"Speak," said Ani.

"Throw her into prison for a day, hear what she has to say, and then
release her--with gifts if she is of service to you--if not, with blows.
But thou wilt learn something important from her that she obstinately
refused to tell me even."

"We will see!" replied the Regent. He threw a ring of gold to the dwarf
and got into his chariot.

So large a crowd had collected in the vicinity of the palace, that Ani
apprehended mischief, and ordered his charioteer to check the pace of the
horses, and sent a few police-soldiers to the support of the out-runners;
but good news seemed to await him, for at the gate of the castle he heard
the unmistakable acclamations of the crowd, and in the palace court he
found a messenger from the temple of Seti, commissioned by Ameni to
communicate to him and to the people, the occurrence of a great miracle,
in that the heart of the ram of Anion, that had been torn by wolves, had
been found again within the breast of the dead prophet Rui.

Ani at once descended from his chariot, knelt down before all the people,
who followed his example, lifted his arms to heaven, and praised the Gods
in a loud voice. When, after some minutes, he rose and entered the
palace, slaves came out and distributed bread to the crowd in Ameni's
name.

"The Regent has an open hand," said a joiner to his neighbor; "only look
how white the bread is. I will put it in my pocket and take it to the
children."

"Give me a bit!" cried a naked little scamp, snatching the cake of bread
from the joiner's hand and running away, slipping between the legs of the
people as lithe as a snake.

"You crocodile's brat!" cried his victim. "The insolence of boys gets
worse and worse every day."

"They are hungry," said the woman apologetically. "Their fathers are gone
to the war, and the mothers have nothing for their children but
papyrus-pith and lotus-seeds."

"I hope they enjoy it," laughed the joiner. "Let us push to the left;
there is a man with some more bread."

"The Regent must rejoice greatly over the miracle," said a shoemaker. "It
is costing him something."

"Nothing like it has happened for a long time," said a basket-maker. "And
he is particularly glad it should be precisely Rui's body, which the
sacred heart should have blessed. You ask why?--Hatasu is Ani's
anc