he immediately seated himself on his throne, surrounded by his children
in a wide semicircle, and his officers and retainers all passed before
him; for each he had a kindly word or glance, winning respect from all,
and filling every one with joy and hope.

"The only really divine attribute of my royal condition," said he to
himself, "is that it is so easy to a king to make men happy. My
predecessors chose the poisonous Uraeus as the emblem of their authority,
for we can cause death as quickly and certainly as the venomous snake;
but the power of giving happiness dwells on our own lips, and in our own
eyes, and we need some instrument when we decree death."

"Take the Uraeus crown from my head," he continued aloud, as he seated
himself at the feast. "Today I will wear a wreath of flowers."

During the ceremony of bowing to the king, two men had quitted the hall--
the Regent Ani, and the high-priest Ameni.

Ani ordered a small party of the watch to go and seek out the priest
Pentaur in the tents of the wounded by the harbor, to bring the poet
quietly to his tent, and to guard him there till his return. He still
had in his possession the maddening potion, which he was to have given to
the captain of the transport-boat, and it was open to him still to
receive Pentaur either as a guest or as a prisoner. Pentaur might injure
him, whether Katuti's project failed or succeeded.

Ameni left the pavilion to go to see old Gagabu, who had stood so long in
the heat of the sun during the ceremony of receiving the conqueror, that
he had been at last carried fainting to the tent which he shared with the
high-priest, and which was not far from that of the Regent. He found the