l people pressed into the little oratory to
express their gratitude to the deceased prophet by laying a few flowers
on his altar. Nefert and Rameri also went in, and when Nefert had offered
a long and silent prayer to the glorified spirits of her dead, that they
might watch over Mena, she laid her garland beside the grave in which her
husband's mother rested.

Many members of the court circle passed close to the royal party without
recognizing them; they made every effort to reach the scene of the
festival, but the crowd was so great that the ladies had several times to
get into a tomb to avoid it. In each they found the altar loaded with
offerings, and, in most, family-parties, who here remembered their dead,
with meat and fruits, beer and wine, as though they were departed
travellers who had found some far off rest, and whom they hoped sooner or
later to see again.

The sun was near setting when at last the princess and her companions
reached the spot where the feast was being held. Here stood numbers of
stalls and booths, with eatables of every sort, particularly sweet cakes
for the children, dates, figs, pomegranates, and other fruits. Under
light awnings, which kept off the sun, were sold sandals and kerchiefs of
every material and hue, ornaments, amulets, fans, and sun-shades, sweet
essences of every kind, and other gifts for offerings or for the toilet.
The baskets of the gardeners and flower-girls were already empty, but the
money-changers were full of business, and the tavern and gambling booths
were driving a brisk trade.

Friends and acquaintances greeted each other kindly, while the children
showed each other their new sandals, the cakes they had won at the games,
or the little copper rings they had had given to them, and which must now
be laid out. The largest crowd was gathered to see the magicians from the
House of Seti, round which the mob squatted on the ground in a compact
circle, and the children were good-naturedly placed in the front row.

When Bent-Anat reached the place all the religious solemnity was ended.

There stood the canopy under which the king and his family were used to
listen to the festal discourse, and under its shade sat to-day the Regent
Ani. They could see too the seats of the grandees, and the barriers which
kept the people at a distance from the Regent, the priests, and the
nobles.

Here Ameni himself had announced to the multitude the miracle of the
sacred heart, and had p