aily habit, thou shalt throw the crocodile
into the water after him." Having taken the crocodile from his master
the steward departed.

[Footnote 1: This name means "splitter of stones." It will be remembered
that the late Sir H.M. Stanley was called the "stone-splitter," because
of his great strength of deed and word.]

Then the wife of Ubaaner told the steward to set the little lodge in the
garden in order, because she was going to spend some time there. When
the steward had furnished the lodge, she went there, and the young
peasant paid her a visit. After leaving the lodge he went and bathed in
the lake, and the steward followed him and threw the wax crocodile into
the water; it immediately turned into a large crocodile 7 cubits (about
11 feet) long and seized the young man and swallowed him up. When this
took place the magician Ubaaner was with the king, and he remained in
attendance upon him for seven days, during which time the young man was
in the lake, with no air to breathe. When the seven days were ended King
Nebka proposed to take a walk with the magician. Whilst they were going
along Ubaaner asked the king if he would care to see a wonderful thing
that had happened to a young peasant, and the king said he would, and
forthwith walked to the place to which the magician led him. When they
arrived at the lake Ubaaner uttered a spell over the crocodile, and
commanded it to come up out of the water bringing the young man with
him; and the crocodile did so. When the king saw the beast he exclaimed
at its hideousness, and seemed to be afraid of it, but the magician
stooped down fearlessly, and took the crocodile up in his hand, and lo,
the living crocodile had disappeared, and only a crocodile of wax
remained in its place. Then Ubaaner told King Nebka the story of how the
young man had spent days in the lodge in the garden talking and drinking
beer with his wife, and His Majesty said to the wax crocodile, "Get thee
gone, and take what is thine with thee." And the wax crocodile leaped
out of the magician's hand into the lake, and once more became a large,
living crocodile. And it swam away with the young man, and no one ever
knew what became of it afterwards. Then the king made his servants seize
Ubaaner's wife, and they carried her off to the ground on the north side
of the royal palace, and there they burned her, and they scattered her
ashes in the river. When King Khufu had heard the story he ordered many
offerin