Ere long I too shall be wrapped in mummy-cloths, and then if duty calls you into Syria some prudent housewife must take my place.

It is no small matter.

Your grandfather Assa often would say that a house well-conducted in every detail was a mark of a family owning an unspotted name, and living with wise liberality and secure solidity, in which each had his assigned place, his allotted duty to fulfil, and his fixed rights to demand.

How often have I prayed to the Hathors that they may send you a wife after my own heart." "A Setchem I shall never find!" said Paaker kissing his mother's forehead, "women of your sort are dying out." "Flatterer!" laughed Setchem, shaking her finger at her son.

But it is true.