Now speak; didst thou obtain aught further ?" "The king declared unto me to what house Nitetis belongs." "And further naught ?" "No, my father; but art thou not eager to learn ?...

" "Curiosity is a woman's vice; moreover, I have long known all that thou canst tell me." "But didst thou not charge me but yesterday to ask my father this question ?" "I did do so to prove thee, and know whether thou wert resigned to the Divine will, and wert walking in those ways wherein alone thou canst become worthy of initiation into the highest grade of knowledge.

Thou hast told us faithfully all that thou hast heard, and thereby proved that thou canst obey--the first virtue of a priest." "Thou knewest then the father of Nitetis ?" "I myself pronounced the prayer over king Hophra's tomb." "But who imparted the secret to thee ?" "The eternal stars, my son, and my skill in reading them." "And do these stars never deceive ?" "Never him that truly understands them." Psamtik turned pale.

His father's dream and his own fearful horoscope passed like awful visions through his mind.

The priest detected at once the change in his features and said gently: "Thou deem'st thyself a lost man because the heavens prognosticated evil at thy birth; but take comfort, Psamtik; I observed another sign in the heavens at that moment, which escaped the notice of the astrologers.