when his will had been duly signed and witnessed, he called
the treasurer for an interview alone with him. He had made up his mind
that one person, at least, must be informed of the enterprise he had
planned, and that one could be no other than Nilus. So he begged him to
accompany him to the impluvium of his private residence; and several
office scribes who were present heard the invitation given. They did not,
however, allow themselves to be disturbed in their work; the youngest
only--a handsome lad of sixteen, an olive-complexioned Egyptian, with
keen, eager black eyes, who had listened sharply to every word spoken by
the treasurer and his master, quietly rose from his squatting posture as
soon as they had quitted the office, and, stole, unobserved into the
anteroom. From thence he flew up the ladder-like steps which led to the
dovecote of which he had the care, sprang on to the roof of the lower
story, and crept flat on his face till he was close to the edge of the
large square opening which gave light and air to the impluvium below.
With a swift movement of the hand he pushed back the awning which shaded
it at midday, and listened intently to the dialogue that went on below.

This listener was Anubis, the water-wagtail's foster-brother; and he
seemed to be in no way behind his beloved mistress in the art of
listening; for no one could prick up his ears more sharply than Anubis.
He knew, too, what was to be his reward for exposing himself on a roof to
the shafts of the pitiless African sun, for Katharina, his adored
play-fellow and the mistress of his ardent boy's heart, had promised him
a sweet kiss, if only he would bring her back some more exact news as to
Orion's perilous journey. Anubis had told her, the evening before, all he
had heard in the anteroom to the office, but such general information had
not satisfied her. She must see clearly before her, must know exactly
what was going on, and she was not mistaken when she imagined that the
reward she had promised the lad would spur him to the utmost.

Anubis had not indeed expected to gain his end so soon, boldly as he
dared to hope; scarcely had he pushed aside the awning, when Orion began
to explain to Nilus all his plan and purpose.

When he had finished speaking, the boy did not wait to hear Nilus reply.
Intoxicated with his success, and the prospect of a guerdon which to him
included all the bliss of heaven, he crept back to the dovecote. But he
could not g