who awaited the arrival of the king. All bowed
before him, as he entered, more or less low, each according to his rank;
he immediately seated himself on his throne, surrounded by his children
in a wide semicircle, and his officers and retainers all passed before
him; for each he had a kindly word or glance, winning respect from all,
and filling every one with joy and hope.

"The only really divine attribute of my royal condition," said he to
himself, "is that it is so easy to a king to make men happy. My
predecessors chose the poisonous Uraeus as the emblem of their authority,
for we can cause death as quickly and certainly as the venomous snake;
but the power of giving happiness dwells on our own lips, and in our own
eyes, and we need some instrument when we decree death."

"Take the Uraeus crown from my head," he continued aloud, as he seated
himself at the feast. "Today I will wear a wreath of flowers."

During the ceremony of bowing to the king, two men had quitted the
hall--the Regent Ani, and the high-priest Ameni.

Ani ordered a small party of the watch to go and seek out the priest
Pentaur in the tents of the wounded by the harbor, to bring the poet
quietly to his tent, and to guard him there till his return. He still had
in his possession the maddening potion, which he was to have given to the
captain of the transport-boat, and it was open to him still to receive
Pentaur either as a guest or as a prisoner. Pentaur might injure him,
whether Katuti's project failed or succeeded.

Ameni left the pavilion to go to see old Gagabu, who had stood so long in
the heat of the sun during the ceremony of receiving the conqueror, that
he had been at last carried fainting to the tent which he shared with the
high-priest, and which was not far from that of the Regent. He found the
old man much revived, and was preparing to mount his chariot to go to the
banquet, when the Regent's myrmidons led Pentaur past in front of him.
Ameni looked doubtfully at the tall and noble figure of the prisoner, but
Pentaur recognized him, called him by his name, and in a moment they
stood together, hand clasped in hand. The guards showed some uneasiness,
but Ameni explained who he was.

The high-priest was sincerely rejoiced at the preservation and
restoration of his favorite disciple, whom for many months he had mourned
as dead; he looked at his manly figure with fatherly tenderness, and
desired the guards, who bowed to his superior dignit