you, it is because I ascribe
your success as much to the active influence of the Divinity in your
temple, which may promote my acquirements and achievements, as to your
great gifts and your industry, in which I will not be behind you. I have
already seen your high-priest Ameni--what a man! And who does not know
thy name, Gagabu, or thine, Meriapu?"

"And which of you," asked the other new-comer, "may we greet as the
author of the most beautiful hymn to Amon, which was ever sung in the
land of the Sycamore? Which of you is Pentaur?"

"The empty chair yonder," answered Gagabu, pointing to a seat at the
lower end of the table, "is his. He is the youngest of us all, but a
great future awaits him."

"And his songs," added the elder of the strangers. "Without doubt,"
replied the chief of the haruspices,--[One of the orders of priests in
the Egyptian hierarchy]--an old man with a large grey curly head, that
seemed too heavy for his thin neck, which stretched forward--perhaps
from the habit of constantly watching for signs--while his prominent
eyes glowed with a fanatical gleam. "Without doubt the Gods have granted
great gifts to our young friend, but it remains to be proved how he will
use them. I perceive a certain freedom of thought in the youth, which
pains me deeply. Although in his poems his flexible style certainly
follows the prescribed forms, his ideas transcend all tradition; and
even in the hymns intended for the ears of the people I find turns of
thought, which might well be called treason to the mysteries which only
a few months ago he swore to keep secret. For instance he says--and we
sing--and the laity hear--

"One only art Thou, Thou Creator of beings;
And Thou only makest all that is created.

And again--

He is one only, Alone, without equal;
Dwelling alone in the holiest of holies."

[Hymn to Amon preserved in a papyrus roll at Bulaq, and deciphered
by Grehaut and L. Stern.]

Such passages as these ought not to be sung in public, at least in times
like ours, when new ideas come in upon us from abroad, like the swarms
of locusts from the East."

"Spoken to my very soul!" cried the treasurer of the temple, "Ameni
initiated this boy too early into the mysteries."

"In my opinion, and I am his teacher," said Gagabu, "our brotherhood may
be proud of a member who adds so brilliantly to the fame of our temple.
The people hear the hymns without looking closely at the