th; recovered his presence of
mind, however, in a moment, and answered: "Then the gods have punished
the father through the children."

"In what way? Psamtik suits his father's present mood very well. It is
true that Tachot is ill, but she prays and sacrifices with her father
all the more for that; and as to Nitetis, you and I both know that her
death will not touch him very closely."

"I really do not understand you."

"Of course not, so long as you fancy that I believe your beautiful
patient to be Amasis' daughter."

The Egyptian started again, but Phanes went on without appearing to
notice his emotion: "I know more than you suppose. Nitetis is the
daughter of Hophra, Amasis' dethroned predecessor. Amasis brought her
up as his own child-first, in order to make the Egyptians believe that
Hophra had died childless; secondly, in order to deprive her of her
rights to the throne; for you know women are allowed to govern on the
Nile."

"These are mere suppositions."

"For which, however, I can bring irrefragable proofs. Among the papers
which your old servant Hib brought with him in a small box, there must
be some letters from a certain Sonnophre, a celebrated accoucheur, your
own father, which..."

[To judge from the pictures on the monuments and from the 1st Chap.
of Exodus, it would seem that in ancient, as in modern Egypt,
midwives were usually called in to assist at the birth of children;
but it is also certain, that in difficult cases physicians were
employed also. In the hieratic medical papyrus in Berlin, women are
often spoken of as assisting at such times. In the medical Papyrus
Ebers certain portions are devoted to diseases peculiar to women.
"There were special rooms set aside in private houses for the birth
of children, as symbolical ones were reserved in the temples. These
chambers were called meschen, and from them was derived the name
given to midwives, to meschennu.]

"If that be the case, those letters are my property, and I have not the
slightest intention of giving them up; besides which you might search
Persia from one end to the other without finding any one who could
decipher my father's writing."

"Pardon me, if I point out one or two errors into which you have fallen.
First, this box is at present in my hands, and though I am generally
accustomed to respect the rights of property, I must assure you that, in
the present instance, I shall not return the box