comers might be, and then continued to meditate on the task proposed to
him by Amru. From the bottom of his heart he cursed the hour in which he
had pledged himself to take the part of these strangers; for after such
long idleness he longed to be able to prove his powers. Suddenly, and as
if by a miracle, he saw the way opened before him which he had himself
hoped to tread, and now he was fettered and held back from an enterprise
which he felt he could carry out with success and benefit to his country,
while it attracted him as with a hundred lode-stones.

Next morning, when his will had been duly signed and witnessed, he called
the treasurer for an interview alone with him. He had made up his mind
that one person, at least, must be informed of the enterprise he had
planned, and that one could be no other than Nilus. So he begged him to
accompany him to the impluvium of his private residence; and several
office scribes who were present heard the invitation given. They did
not, however, allow themselves to be disturbed in their work; the
youngest only--a handsome lad of sixteen, an olive-complexioned Egyptian,
with keen, eager black eyes, who had listened sharply to every word
spoken by the treasurer and his master, quietly rose from his squatting
posture as soon as they had quitted the office, and, stole, unobserved
into the anteroom. From thence he flew up the ladder-like steps which
led to the dovecote of which he had the care, sprang on to the roof of
the lower story, and crept flat on his face till he was close to the edge
of the large square opening which gave light and air to the impluvium
below. With a swift movement of the hand he pushed back the awning which
shaded it at midday, and listened intently to the dialogue that went on
below.

This listener was Anubis, the water-wagtail's foster-brother; and he
seemed to be in no way behind his beloved mistress in the art of