ith kind and fatherly pride at his blooming sons.

The lion was at rest--but nevertheless he was a lion, and terrible things
might be looked for when he should rouse himself, and when the mighty
hand, which now dispensed bread, should be clenched for the fight. There
was nothing mean in this man, and yet nothing alarming; for, if his eye
had a commanding sparkle, the expression of his mouth was particularly
gentle; and the deep voice which could make itself heard above the clash
of fighting men, could also assume the sweetest and most winning tones.
His education had not only made him well aware of his greatness and
power, but had left him also a genuine man, a stranger to none of the
emotions of the human soul.

Behind Pharaoh stood a man, younger than himself, who gave him his
wine-cup after first touching it with his own lips; this was Mena, the
king's charioteer and favorite companion. His figure was slight and yet
vigorous, supple and yet dignified, and his finely-formed features and
frank bright eyes were full at once of self-respect and of benevolence.
Such a man might fail in reflection and counsel, but would be admirable
as an honorable, staunch, and faithful friend.

Among the princes, Chamus sat nearest to the king;

[He is named Cha-em-Us on the monuments, i. e., 'splendor in
Thebes.' He became the Sam, or high-priest of Memphis. His mummy
was discovered by Mariette in the tomb of Apis at Saqqarah during ha
excavations of the Serapeum at Memphis.]

he was the eldest of his sons, and while still young had been invested
with the dignity of high-priest of Memphis. The curly-haired Rameri, who
had been rescued from imprisonment--into which he had fallen on his
journey from Egypt--had been assigned a place with the younger princes at
the lowest end of the table.

"It all sounds very threatening!" said the king. "But though each of you
croakers speaks the truth, your love for me dims your sight. In fact, all
that Rameri has told me, that Bent-Anat writes, that Mena's stud-keeper
says of Ani, and that comes through other channels--amounts to nothing
that need disturb us. I know your uncle--I know that he will make his
borrowed throne as wide as he possibly can; but when we return home he
will be quite content to sit on a narrow seat again. Great enterprises
and daring deeds are not what he excels in; but he is very apt at
carrying out a ready-made system, and therefore I choose him to be my
Regent