“And above all things I thank the Gods that my general Scheschenk—­my foster-brother and friend—­is returning well and unwounded from the war.  I think, Katuti, that the figures in our dreams are this day taking forms of flesh and blood!”

“They are growing to the stature of heroes!” cried the widow.  “And you yourself, my lord, have been stirred by the breath of the Divinity.  You walk like the worthy son of Ra, the Courage of Menth beams in your eyes, and you smile like the victorious Horus.”

“Patience, patience my friend,” said Ani, moderating the eagerness of the widow; “now, more than ever, we must cling to my principle of over-estimating the strength of our opponents, and underrating our own.  Nothing has succeeded on which I had counted, and on the contrary many things have justified my fears that they would fail.  The beginning of the end is hardly dawning on us.”

“But successes, like misfortunes, never come singly,” replied Katuti.

“I agree with you,” said Ani.  “The events of life seem to me to fall in groups.  Every misfortune brings its fellow with it—­like every piece of luck.  Can you tell me of a second success?”

“Women win no battles,” said the widow smiling.  “But they win allies, and I have gained a powerful one.”

“A God or an army?” asked Ani.

“Something between the two,” she replied.  “Paaker, the king’s chief pioneer, has joined us;” and she briefly related to Ani the history of her nephew’s love and hatred.

Ani listened in silence; then he said with an expression of much disquiet and anxiety: 

“This man is a follower of Rameses, and must shortly return to him.  Many may guess at our projects, but every additional person who knows them may be come a traitor.  You are urging me, forcing me, forward too soon.  A thousand well-prepared enemies are less dangerous than one untrustworthy ally—­”

“Paaker is secured to us,” replied Katuti positively.  “Who will answer for him?” asked Ani.

“His life shall be in your hand,” replied Katuti gravely.  “My shrewd little dwarf Nemu knows that he has committed some secret crime, which the law punishes by death.”

The Regent’s countenance cleared.

That alters the matter,” he said with satisfaction.  “Has he committed a murder?”

“No,” said Katuti, “but Nemu has sworn to reveal to you alone all that he knows.  He is wholly devoted to us.”

“Well and good,” said Ani thoughtfully, but he too is imprudent—­much too imprudent.  You are like a rider, who to win a wager urges his horse to leap over spears.  If he falls on the points, it is he that suffers; you let him lie there, and go on your way.”

“Or are impaled at the same time as the noble horse,” said Katuti gravely.  “You have more to win, and at the same time more to lose than we; but the meanest clings to life; and I must tell you, Ani, that I work for you, not to win any thing through your success, but because you are as dear to me as a brother, and because I see in you the embodiment of my father’s claims which have been trampled on.”