staring at the temples and palaces of the wonderful city made glorious
by the light of the setting sun, that city of which she had heard so
often, touched his head with the feathers of her fan. Thereon, as though
glad of an excuse to express his ill-humour, Abi sprang up and boxed her
ears so heavily that the poor girl fell to the deck.

"Awkward cat," he cried, "do that again and you shall be flogged until
your robe sticks to your back!"

"Pardon, mighty Lord," she said, beginning to weep, "it was an accident;
the wind caught my fan."

"So the rod shall catch your skin, if you are not more careful, Merytra.
Stop that snivelling and go send Kaku the Astrologer here. Go, both, I
weary of the sight of your ugly faces."

The girl rose, and with her fellow slave ran swiftly to the ladder that
led to the waist of the ship.

"He called me a cat," Merytra hissed through her white teeth to her
companion. "Well, if so, Sekhet the cat-headed is my godmother, and she
is the Lady of Vengeance."

"Yes," answered the other, "and he said that we were both ugly--we, whom
every lord who comes near the Court admires so much! Oh! I wish a holy
crocodile would eat him, black pig!"

"Then why don't they buy us? Abi would sell his daughters, much more his
fan-bearers--at a price."