allowed an occasional and distant glimpse of the adorable animals. When
Psamtik passed they were just being fed; cakes soaked in milk, salt and
clover-blossoms were placed in golden cribs for the cows, and small birds
of many-colored plumage in the beautifully-wrought and ornamented cage of
the sparrow-hawk. But, in his present mood, the heir to the throne of
Egypt had no eye for these rare sights; but ascended at once, by means of
a hidden staircase, to the chambers lying near the observatory, where the
high-priest was accustomed to repose after the temple-service.

Neithotep, a man of seventy years, was seated in a splendid apartment.
Rich Babylonian carpets covered the floor and his chair was of gold,
cushioned with purple. A tastefully-carved footstool supported his feet,
his hands held a roll covered with hieroglyphics, and a boy stood behind
him with a fan of ostrich-feathers to keep away the insects.

The face of the old man was deeply lined now, but it might once have been
handsome, and in the large blue eyes there still lay evidence of a quick
intellect and a dignified self-respect.

His artificial curls had been laid aside, and the bald, smooth head
formed a strange contrast to the furrowed countenance, giving an
appearance of unusual height to the forehead, generally so very low among
the Egyptians. The brightly-colored walls of the room, on which numerous
sentences in hieroglyphic characters were painted, the different statues
of the goddess painted likewise in gay colors, and the snow-white
garments of the aged priest, were calculated to fill a stranger not
only with wonder, but with a species of awe.

The old man received the prince with much affection, and asked: