of the crowd, and in the
palace court he found a messenger from the temple of Seti, commissioned
by Ameni to communicate to him and to the people, the occurrence of a
great miracle, in that the heart of the ram of Anion, that had been torn
by wolves, had been found again within the breast of the dead prophet
Rui.

Ani at once descended from his chariot, knelt down before all the
people, who followed his example, lifted his arms to heaven, and praised
the Gods in a loud voice. When, after some minutes, he rose and entered
the palace, slaves came out and distributed bread to the crowd in
Ameni's name.

"The Regent has an open hand," said a joiner to his neighbor; "only look
how white the bread is. I will put it in my pocket and take it to the
children."

"Give me a bit!" cried a naked little scamp, snatching the cake of bread
from the joiner's hand and running away, slipping between the legs of
the people as lithe as a snake.

"You crocodile's brat!" cried his victim. "The insolence of boys gets
worse and worse every day."

"They are hungry," said the woman apologetically. "Their fathers are
gone to the war, and the mothers have nothing for their children but
papyrus-pith and lotus-seeds."

"I hope they enjoy it," laughed the joiner. "Let us push to the left;
there is a man with some more bread."

"The Regent must rejoice greatly over the miracle," said a shoemaker.
"It is costing him something."

"Nothing like it has happened for a long time," said a basket-maker.
"And he is particularly glad it should be precisely Rui's body, which
the sacred heart should have blessed. You ask why?--Hatasu is Ani's
ancestress, blockhead!"

"And Rui was prophet of the temple of Hatasu," added the joiner.

"The priests over there are all hangers-on of the old royal house, that
I know," asserted a baker.

"That's no secret!" cried the cobbler. "The old times were better than
these too. The war upsets everything, and quite respectable people go
barefoot because they cannot pay for shoe-leather. Rameses is a great
warrior, and the son of Ra, but what can he do without the Gods; and
they don't seem to like to stay in Thebes any longer; else why should
the heart of the sacred ram seek a new dwelling in the Necropolis, and
in the breast of an adherent of the old--"

"Hold your tongue," warned the basket-maker. "Here comes one of the
watch."

"I must go back to work," said the baker. "I have my hands quite full
for the feast t