served the wife of Mena in this capacity. He was called Nemu, or "the
dwarf," and his sharp tongue made him much feared, though he was a
favorite, for he passed for a very clever fellow and was a good tale-
teller.

"Make room for me, my lords," said the little man. "I take very little
room, and your beer and roast is in little danger from me, for my maw is
no bigger than a fly's head."

"But your gall is as big as that of a Nile-horse," cried the cook.

"It grows," said the dwarf laughing, "when a turn-spit and spoon-
wielder like you turns up. There--I will sit here."

"You are welcome," said the steward, "what do you bring?"

"Myself."

"Then you bring nothing great."

"Else I should not suit you either!" retorted the dwarf. "But
seriously, my lady mother, the noble Katuti, and the Regent, who just now
is visiting us, sent me here to ask you whether Paaker is not yet
returned. He accompanied the princess and Nefert to the City of the
Dead, and the ladies are not yet come in. We begin to be anxious, for it
is already late."

The steward looked up at the starry sky and said: "The moon is already
tolerably high, and my lord meant to be home before sun-down."