“Grand! splendid!” cried Euergetes, springing again to his feet, and opening his large eyes with radiant surprise and delight, as if heaven itself had opened before them, revealing the sublime host of the gods feasting at golden tables.

“You are a great man, Eulaeus, and I shall know how to reward you; but do you know of such wild beasts as we require, and do they know how to conduct themselves so that no one shall dare to harbor even the shadow of a suspicion that the wounds torn by their teeth and claws were inflicted by daggers, pikes or spearheads?”

“Be perfectly easy,” replied Eulaeus.  “These beasts of prey have already had work to do here in Memphis, and are in the service of the king—­”

“Aha! of my gentle brother!” laughed Euergetes.  “And he boasts of never having killed any one excepting in battle—­and now—­”

“But Philometor has a wife,” interposed Eulaeus; and Euergetes went on.

“Aye, woman, woman! what is there that a man may not learn from a woman?”

Then he added in a lower tone:  “When can your wild beasts do their work?”

“The sun has long since risen; before it sets I will have made my preparations, and by about midnight, I should think, the deed may be done.  We will promise the Roman a secret meeting, lure him out to the temple of Serapis, and on his way home through the desert—­”

“Aye, then,—­” cried the king, making a thrust at his own breast as though his hand held a dagger, and he added in warning:  “But your beasts must be as powerful as lions, and as cautious-as cautious, as cats.  If you want gold apply to Komanus, or, better still, take this purse.  Is it enough?  Still I must ask you; have you any personal ground of hatred against the Roman?”

“Yes,” answered Eulaeus decisively.  “He guesses that I know all about him and his doings, and he has attacked me with false accusations which may bring me into peril this very day.  If you should hear that the queen has decided on throwing me into prison, take immediate steps for my liberation.”

“No one shall touch a hair of your head; depend upon that.  I see that it is to your interest to play my game, and I am heartily glad of it, for a man works with all his might for no one but himself.  And now for the last thing:  When will you fetch my little Hebe?”

“In an hour’s time I am going to Asclepiodorus; but we must not demand the girl till to-morrow, for today she must remain in the temple as a decoy-bird for Publius Scipio.”

“I will take patience; still I have yet another charge to give you.  Represent the matter to the high-priest in such a way that he shall think my brother wishes to gratify one of my fancies by demanding—­absolutely demanding—­the water-bearer on my behalf.  Provoke the man as far as is possible without exciting suspicion, and if I know him rightly, he will stand upon his rights, and refuse you persistently.  Then, after you, will come Komanus from me with greetings and gifts and promises.