ation, let him have one measure of grain for every
twenty that he shall gather for thee."

Nothing could have suited my wishes and abilities better, and my pay on
Earth had been only one measure in five hundred. The Pharaoh's reply was
thus translated to us,--

"The gods put into thy mouth, O Zaphnath, only the ripeness of their
wisdom, and Pharaoh granteth thy requests ere they are uttered. But what
desireth the wise man?"

To this I made answer for the doctor,--

"When thou knowest his wondrous wisdom touching many things, O Pharaoh,
thou mayest think fit to give him a place among thy wise men, where they
may learn from him and he from them. Will it please thee to send a
slave for the Larger Eye and have it placed by yonder window, and he
will presently show unto thee many of the wonders of the starry heavens
that are hidden beyond the reach of man's unaided vision."

While two slaves were despatched in charge of a soldier to bring the
telescope, we were served with a highly-sparkling, gas-charged wine,
which further whetted my appetite. Then came another maiden with a small
roast bird, neatly and delicately carved, and each tempting piece was
laid upon a small lozenge of bread. I never ate anything with more
relish.

There was an excited buzz among the women, and the Pharaoh himself was
visibly affected at the sight of the telescope, whose burnished brass
was evidently mistaken for gold. The doctor mounted it upon the backs of
slaves near a high window, whence there was a good view of the heavens,
and signalled to me to explain its use.

"O Zaphnath, wilt thou make known unto the Pharaoh, and these, his
guests, that the wondrous value of this instrument lieth not in its
bright and glistening appearance, but in the farther reach and truer
vision of the heavenly bodies which it affordeth us. With this we
ascertain all and far more than yon monstrous Gnomons tell thee; we
learn the periods of the day, the seasons of the year, and vastly more
than our common tongue hath words to tell thee of. Tell me, what
callest thou yon risen orb, which hasteneth a rapid backward journey
through the heavens?" I asked, indicating the full disc of Phobos.

"That is the Perverse Daughter, sole disobedient Child of Night, whose
stubborn, contrary ways are justly punished by her mother. For she must
draw a veil across her brilliant face for a brief period during every
hasty trip she makes."

"Behold her, then, just entering upon