acts of oppression
by which the Greek; had provoked and offended the schismatic Egyptian
and hunted them to death, were now avenged by his father. It lifted up
his heart and made him proud to think of it. He showed his secret soul
to the old man who was as much surprised as delighted at what he found
there; for he had feared that Orion might not be able wholly to escape
the powerful influences of Greek beguilements;--nay, he had often felt
anxious lest his own son might disapprove of his having surrendered to
the Arab conquerors the province entrusted to his rule, and concluded a
peace with them.

The Mukaukas now felt himself as one with Orion, and from time to time
looked tenderly up at him from the draught-board. Neforis was doing her
best to entertain the mother of her son's future bride, and divert her
attention from his strange demeanor. She seemed indeed to be successful,
for Dame Susannah agreed to everything she said; but she betrayed the
fact that she was keeping a sharp watch by suddenly asking: "Does your
husband's lofty niece not think us worthy of a single word?"

"Oh no!" said Neforis bitterly. "I only hope she may soon find some
other people to whom she can behave more graciously. You may depend upon
it I will put no obstacle in her way."

Then she brought the conversation round to Katharina, and the widow told
her that her brother-in-law, Chrysippus, was now in Memphis with his two
little daughters. They were to go away on the morrow, so the young girl
had been obliged to devote herself to them: "And so the poor child is
sitting there at this minute," she lamented, "and must keep those two
little chatter-boxes quiet while she is longing to be here instead."

Orion quite understood these last words; he asked after the young girl,
and then added gaily:

"She promised me a collar yesterday for my little white keepsake from
Constantinople. Fie! Mary, you should not tease the poor little beast."

"No, let the dog go," added the widow, addressing the governor's little
granddaughter, who was trying to make the recalcitrant dog kiss her
doll. "But you know, Orion, this tiny creature is really too delicate
for such a big man as you are! You should give him to some pretty young
lady and then he would fulfil his destiny! And Katharina is embroidering
him a collar; I ought not to tell her little secret, but it is to have
gold stars on a blue ground."

"Because Orion is a star," cried the little girl. "So she