e told. I suppose that I welcomed
them and conducted them to the guest house that had been made ready for
them in the gardens. Doubtless, I listened eagerly to the first words
which Heliodore spoke to me, save that one in the cathedral, the word
of greeting. Doubtless, I asked her many things, and she gave me many
answers. But of all this nothing remains.

What comes back to me is a picture of the Egyptian prince, Magas, and
myself seated at some meal in a chamber overlooking the moonlit palace
garden. We were alone, and this noble, white-bearded man, hook-nosed
and hawk-eyed, was telling me of the troubles of his countrymen, the
Christian Copts of Egypt.

"Look on me, sir," he said. "As I could prove to you, were it worth
while, and as many could bear witness, for the records have been kept,
I am a descendant in the true line from the ancient Pharaohs of my
country. Moreover, my daughter, through her Grecian mother, is sprung
from the Ptolemies. Our race is Christian, and has been for these three
hundred years, although it was among the last to be converted. Yet,
noble as we are, we suffer every wrong at the hands of the Moslems. Our
goods and lands are doubly taxed, and, if we should go into the towns of
Lower Egypt, we must wear garments on which the Cross is broidered as
a badge of shame. Yet, where I live--near to the first cataract of
the Nile, and not so very far from the city of old Thebes--the
Prophet-worshippers have no real power. I am still the true ruler of
that district, as the Bishop Barnabas will tell you, and at any moment,
were my standard to be lifted, I could call three thousand Coptic spears
to fight for Christ and Egypt. Moreover, if money were forthcoming, the
hosts of Nubia could be raised, and together we might sweep down on the
Moslems like the Nile in flood, and drive them back to Alexandria."

Then he went on to set out his plans, which in sum were that a Roman
fleet and army should appear at the mouths of the Nile to besiege and
capture Alexandria, and, with his help, massacre or drive out every
Moslem in Egypt. The scheme, which he set forth with much detail, seemed
feasible enough, and when I had mastered its particulars I promised to
report it to the Empress, and afterwards to speak with him further.

I left the chamber, and presently stood in the garden. Although it was
autumn time, the night in this mild climate was very warm and pleasant,
and the moonlight threw black shadows of the