rse of the holy Tanofir is not a thing to mock at," said Bes, "as
I who revere him, know as well as any man."

"No, Husband, and therefore I leave for Egypt as soon as may be. It
seems that my sister is dead, this year past, and the holy Tanofir has
no one to hold his cup."

"And what shall I do?" asked Bes.

"That is for you to say, Husband. But if you will, you can stay here
and guard our children, giving the command of your army to the lord
Shabaka."

Now, for we were alone, Bes twisted himself about, rolling his eyes and
laughing as he used to do before he became Karoon of Ethiopia.

"O-ho-ho! Wife," he said, "so you are to go to Egypt, leaving me to play
the nurse to babes, and my brother here is to command my armies, leaving
me to look after the old men and the women. Nay, I think otherwise. I
think that I shall come also, that is if my brother wishes it. Did he
not save my life and is it not his and with it all I have? Oh! have
done. Once more we will stand side by side in the battle, Brother, and
afterwards let Fate do as it will with us. Tell me now, what is the tale
of archers and of swordsmen with which we can march against the Great
King with whom, like you, I have a score to settle?"

"Seventy and five thousand," I answered.

"Good! On the fifth day from now the army marches for Egypt."

CHAPTER XVI. TANOFIR FINDS HIS BROKEN CUP

March we did, but on the fifteenth day, not the fifth, since there
was much to make ready. First the Council of the Ethiopians must be
consulted and through them the people. In the beginning there was
trouble over the matter, since many were against a distant war, and this
even after Bes had urged that it was better to attack than wait to be
attacked. For they answered, and justly, that here in Ethiopia distance
and the desert were their shields, since the King of kings, however
great his strength, would be weary and famished before he set foot
within their borders.

In the end the knot was cut with a sword, for when the army came to
learn of the dispute, from the generals down to the common soldiers,
every man clamoured to be led to war, since, as I have said, these
Ethiopians were fighters all of them, and near at hand there were none
left with whom they could fight. So when the Council came to see that
they must choose between war abroad and revolt at home, they gave way,
bargaining only that the children of the Karoon should not leave the
land so that if aught