the center of the court was a second aisle of sphinxes. They had
entered this when the priest, with a startled exclamation, sprang
behind one of the recumbent monsters in time to avoid the frolicsome
salutation of an ape.

"Anubis! Mut, the Mother of Darkness, lends you her cloak! Out!"
Kenkenes cried, striking at his pet. The wary animal eluded the blow
and for a moment revolved about another sphinx, pursued by his master,
and then fled like a phantom out of the court by the path he came. By
this time the priest had emerged from his refuge and was attempting to
prevent the young man's interference with the will of the ape.

"Nay, nay; I am sorry!" the priest exclaimed as Anubis disappeared.
"It is an omen. Toth[2] visiteth Ptah; Wisdom seeketh Power! Came he
by divine summons or did he seek the great god? It is a problem for
the sorcerers and is of ominous import!"

"The pestiferous creature followed me unseen from the house," Kenkenes
explained, rather flushed of countenance. "To me it is an omen that
the idler who keeps the gate is not vigilant."

The priest shook his head and led the way without further words into
the temple. Here the young sculptor was conducted through a wilderness
of jacketed columns, over pavements that rang even under sandaled feet,
to the center of a vast hall. The priest left him and disappeared
through the all-enveloping twilight into the more sacred part of the
temple.

In a moment, Asar-Mut, high priest to Ptah, appeared, approaching
through the dusk. He wore the priestly habiliments of spotless linen,