“No doubt because she was fond of you for yourself, Bes.  A woman would not marry even to please the holy Tanofir.”

“Oh!  Master,” he replied in a new voice, a very sad voice, “I would that I could think so.  But look at me, a misshapen dwarf, accursed from birth.  Could a fair lady like this Karema wed such a one for his own sake?”

“Well, Bes, there might be other reasons besides the holy Tanofir,” I said hurriedly.

“Master, there were no other reasons, unless the Cup, when it is awake, remembers what it has held in trance, which I do not believe.  I wooed her as I was, not telling her that I am also King of the Ethiopians, or any more than I seem to be.  Moreover the holy Tanofir told her nothing, for he swore as much to me and he does not lie.”

“And what did she say to you, Bes?” I asked, for I was curious.

“She lied fast enough, Master.  She said—­well, what she said when first we met her, that there was more in me than the eye saw and that she who had lived so much with spirits looked to the spirit rather than to the flesh, and that dwarf or no she loved me and desired nothing better than to marry me and be my true and faithful wife and helpmeet.  She lied so well that once or twice almost I believed her.  At any rate I took her at her word, not altogether for myself, believe me, Master, but because without doubt what the holy Tanofir has shown us will come to pass, and it is necessary to you that I should be married.”

“You married her to help me, Bes?”

“That is so, Master—­after all, but a little thing, seeing that she is beautiful, well born and very pleasant, and I am fond of her.  Also I do her no wrong for she has bought more than she bargained for, and if she has any that are not dwarfs, her children may be kings.  I do not think,” he added reflectively, “that even the faithful Ethiopians could accept a second dwarf as their king.  One is very well for a change, but not two or three.  The stomach of a tall people would turn against them.”

I took Bes’s hand and pressed it, understanding the depth of his love and sacrifice.  Also some spirit—­doubtless it came from the holy Tanofir—­moved me to say,

“Be comforted, Bes, for I am sure of this.  Your children will be strong and straight and tall, more so than any of their forefathers that went before them.”

This indeed proved to be the case, for their father’s deformity was but an accident, not born in his blood.

“Those are good-omened words, Master, for which I thank you, though the holy Tanofir said the like when he wed us with the sacred words this morning and gave us his blessing, endowing my wife with certain gifts of secret wisdom which he said would be of use to her and me.”

“Where is she now, Bes?”

“With the holy Tanofir, Master, until I fetch her, training her younger sister to be a diviner’s worthy Cup.  Only perhaps I shall never send, seeing that I think there will be fighting soon.”