“For Solomon’s sake!” cried the Eagle.  “Do you dare to name the King whom you have injured?  He has discovered your absence and in his righteous anger will punish you severely.”

“Lead me to him,” replied the Hoopoe.  “I know that he will forgive me when he hears where I have been and what I have to tell him.”

The Eagle led him to the King, who with a wrathful face was sitting on his throne.  The Hoopoe trembled and drooped his feathers humbly, but when Solomon would have crushed him in his mighty fist the bird cried,—­

“Remember, King, that one day you also must give an account of your sins.  Let me not therefore be condemned unheard.”

“And if I hear you, what excuse can you have to offer?” answered Solomon, frowning.  But this was his favorite bird and he hoped that there might be some reason for sparing him.

“Well,” said the Hoopoe, “at Mecca I met a Hoopoe of my acquaintance who told me so wonderful a tale of the marvelous Kingdom of Sheba in Arabia that I could not resist the temptation to visit that country of gold and precious stones.  And there, indeed, I saw the most prodigious treasures; but best of all, O King, more glorious than gold, more precious than rare jewels, I saw Queen Balkis, the most beautiful of queens.”

“Tell me of this Queen,” said Solomon, loosening his rough grasp upon the Hoopoe.  So it was, say the Mussulmans, that a bird told Solomon of the great Queen whose journey to Jerusalem is described in the Bible.

The Hoopoe told of her power and glory, her riches, her wisdom, and her beauty, until Solomon sighed a great sigh and said, “It seems too good to be true!  But we shall see.”

So the King wrote a letter to Balkis, bidding her follow the guidance of fate and come to the court of the wise King.  This note he sealed with musk, stamped with his great signet, and gave to the Hoopoe, saying,—­

“If now you have spoken truth, take this letter to Queen Balkis; then come away.”

The Hoopoe did as he was bid, darting off towards the south like an arrow.  And the next day he came to the palace of the Queen of Sheba, where she sat in all her splendor among her counselors.  He hopped into the hall and dropped the letter into her lap, then flew away.

Queen Balkis stared and stared at the great King’s seal upon the mysterious letter, and when she had read the brief invitation she stared and stared again.  But she had heard the fame of Solomon and was eager to ask him some of her clever questions to prove his wisdom.  So she decided to accept his invitation and come to Jerusalem.

She came with a great train of attendants, with camels that bore spices and treasures of gold and precious stones, gifts for the most wise King.  And she asked him more questions than any woman had ever asked him before, though he knew a great many ladies, and they were all inquisitive.

But Solomon was so wise that he answered all her questions without any trouble.