n because of a woman."

Bes rolled his eyes around as though he thought to see that woman in the
desert. Not discovering her, he stared upwards and there found light.

"Is she perchance named the lady Amada, Master?"

I nodded.

"So. The lady Amada who you told the Great King is the most beautiful
one in the whole world, causing the fire of Love to burn up in his
royal heart, and with it many other things of which we do not know at
present."

"_You_ told him, Bes," I said angrily.

"I told him of a beautiful one; I did not tell him her name, Master, and
although I never thought of it at the time, perhaps she will be angry
with him who told her name."

Now fear took hold of me, and Bes saw it in my face.

"Do not be afraid, Master. If there is trouble I will swear that I told
the Great King that lady's name."

"Yes, Bes, but how would that fit in with the story, seeing that I was
brought out of the boat for this very purpose?"

"Quite easily, Master, since I will say that you were led from the boat
to confirm my tale. Oh! she will be angry with me, no doubt, but in
Egypt even a dwarf cannot be killed because he has declared a certain
lady to be the most beautiful in the world. But, Master, tell me, when
did you learn to love her?"

"When we were boy and girl, Bes. We used to play together, being
cousins, and I used to hold her hand. Then suddenly she refused to let
me hold her hand any more, and I being quite grown up then, though she
was younger, understood that I had better go away."

"I should have stopped where I was, Master."

"No, Bes. She was studying to be a priestess and my great uncle, the
holy Tanofir, told me that I had better go away. So I went down south
hunting and fighting in command of the troops, and met you, Bes."

"Which perhaps was better for you, Master, than to stop to watch the
lady Amada acquire learning. Still, I wonder whether the holy Tanofir is
_always_ right. You see, Master, he thinks a great deal of priests and
priestesses, and is so very old that he has forgotten all about love and
that without it there never would have been a holy Tanofir."

"The holy Tanofir thinks of souls, not of bodies, Bes."

"Yes, Master. Still, oil is of no use without a lamp, or a soul without
a body, at least here underneath the sun, or so we were taught who
worship the Grasshopper. But, Master, when you came back from all your
hunting, what happened then?"

"Then I found, Bes, that the lady