"They said so in the temple of Seti, whence I have just come," replied
Paaker.

The porter shrugged his shoulders with a sneer, and said: "The palm-tree
that is quickly set up falls down more quickly still." Then he desired a
servant to conduct the stranger to Pentaur.

The poet recognized the Mohar at once, asked his will, and learned that
he was come to have a wonderful vision interpreted by him.

Paaker explained before relating his dream, that he did not ask this
service for nothing; and when the priest's countenance darkened he added:

"I will send a fine beast for sacrifice to the Goddess if the
interpretation is favorable."

"And in the opposite case?" asked Pentaur, who, in the House of Seti,
never would have anything whatever to do with the payments of the
worshippers or the offerings of the devout.

"I will offer a sheep," replied Paaker, who did not perceive the subtle
irony that lurked in Pentaur's words, and who was accustomed to pay for
the gifts of the Divinity in proportion to their value to himself.

Pentaur thought of the verdict which Gagabu, only two evenings since, had
passed on the Mohar, and it occurred to him that he would test how far
the man's superstition would lead him. So he asked, while he suppressed
a smile:

"And if I can foretell nothing bad, but also nothing actually good?"--