"My hand and tongue should wither!" Ledscha passionately interrupted, and
then, with zealous feminine solicitude, she asked whether the three ducks
would suffice to satisfy the hunger of these strong men.

The old woman smiled and pointed to a pile of fresh leaves heaped one
above another, beneath which lay several fine shad. They were not to be
cooked until the expected visitors arrived, and she had plenty of bread
besides.

In the presence of these proofs of maternal solicitude the morose,
wrinkled countenance of the old sorceress wore a kind, almost tender
expression, and the light of joyous anticipation beamed upon her young
guest from her redrimmed eyes.

"I am to see them once more!" cried Tabus in an agitated tone. "The
last--and all three, all! If they-- But no; they will not set to work
so near Pelusium. No, no! They will not, lest they should spoil the
meeting with the old woman. Oh, they are kind; no one knows how kind my
rough Satabus can be. He would be your father now, girl, if we could
have kept our Abus--he was the best of all--longer. It is fortunate that
you are here, for they must see you, and it would have been hard for me
to fetch the other things: the salt, the Indian pepper, and the jug of
Pelusinian zythus, which Satabus is always so fond of drinking."

Then Ledscha went into the ruinous left wing of the house, where she took
from a covered hole in the floor what the old woman had kept for the last
of her race, and she performed her task gladly and with rare skill.

Next she prepared the fish and the pan, and while her hands were moving