servants by the banks of the canal. That seal is a holy token, O
Prince, which, it is said, has descended for twice a thousand years in
the family of the Great King, and as the Satrap did not know how it
had come into the hands of the noble Shabaka, he ordered me to obtain
it if I could."

"And the pearls too, Butler?"

"Yes, O Prince, since those gems are a great possession with which any
Satrap could buy a larger satrapy."

"Let him go," said Peroa, and the man rose, rubbing himself and
weeping in his pain.

"Now, Butler," he went on, "return to your master with a grateful
heart, since you have been spared much that you deserve. Say to him
that he cannot steal the Signet, but that if he is wise he will obey
it, since otherwise his fate may be worse than yours, and to all his
servants say the same. Foolish man, how can you, or your master, guess
what is in the mind of the Great King, or for what purpose the Signet
of signets is here in Egypt? Beware lest you fall into a pit, all of
you together, and let Idernes beware lest he find himself at the very
bottom of that pit."

"O Prince, I will beware," said the humbled butler, "and whatever is
written over the seal, that I will obey, like many others."

"You are wise," answered Peroa; "I pray for his own sake that the
Satrap Idernes may be as wise. Now begone, thanking whatever god you
worship that your life is whole in you and that your right hand