he Prince, which I found that a messenger had commanded
should be made ready for me. It stood near by the entrance to the Avenue
of Sphinxes, which leads to the greatest of all the Theban temples,
where is that mighty columned hall built by the first Seti and his son,
Rameses II, the Prince's grandfather.

Here, having entrance to the place, I would often wander at night,
and in my spirit draw as near to heaven as ever it has been my lot to
travel. Also, crossing the Nile to the western bank, I visited that
desolate valley where the rulers of Egypt lie at rest. The tomb of
Pharaoh Meneptah was still unsealed, and accompanied by a single
priest with torches, I crept down its painted halls and looked upon the
sarcophagus of him whom so lately I had seen seated in glory upon the
throne, wondering, as I looked, how much or how little he knew of all
that passed in Egypt to-day.

Moreover, I copied the papyri that I had come to seek, in which there
was nothing worth preserving, and some of real value that I discovered
in the ancient libraries of the temples, and purchased others. One of
these indeed told a very strange tale that has given me much cause for
thought, especially of late years now when all my friends are dead.

Thus I spent two months, and should have stayed longer had not
messengers reached me from the Prince saying that he desired my return.
Of these, one followed within three days of the other, and his words
were:

"Think you, Scribe Ana, that because I am no more Prince of Egypt I am
no longer to be obeyed? If so, bear in mind that the gods may decree
that one day I shall grow taller than ever I was before, and then be
sure that I will remember your disobedience, and make you shorter by a
head. Come swiftly, my friend, for I grow lonely, and need a man to talk
with."

To which I replied, that I returned as fast as the barge would carry
me, being so heavily laden with the manuscripts that I had copied and
purchased.

So I started, being, to tell truth, glad to get away, for this reason.
Two nights before, when I was walking alone from the great temple of the
house, a woman dressed in many colours appeared and accosted me as such
lost ones do. I tried to shake her off, but she clung to me, and I saw
that she had drunk more than enough of wine. Presently she asked, in a
voice that I thought familiar, if I knew who was the officer that
had come to Thebes on the business of some Royal One and abode in the