I remember, as though it were but yesterday, the morning--I was then a boy of fifteen--when my father told us that two of the King's daughters would soon become members of the household.

There were three of us children--Charmian, who went to the war with the Queen, because Iras, our niece, was ill; I myself; and Straton, who died long ago.

We were urged to treat the princesses with the utmost courtesy and consideration, and we perceived that their reception really demanded respect; for the palace, which we had found empty and desolate, was refurnished from roof to foundation.
"The day before they were expected horses, chariots, and litters came, while boats and a splendid state galley, fully manned, arrived by sea.
Then a train of male and female slaves appeared, among them two fat eunuchs.
"I can still see the angry look with which my father surveyed all these people.

He drove at once to the city, and on his return his clear eyes were as untroubled as ever.

A court official accompanied him, and only that portion of the useless amount of luggage and number of persons that my father desired remained.
"The princesses were to come the next morning--it was at the end of February--flowers were blooming in the grass and on the bushes, while the foliage of the trees glittered with the fresh green which the rising sap gives to the young leaves.