“Master,” he said, “yonder King demanded your bow and therefore a bow must be sent to him.  But there is no need for it to be that with which you shot the lions, which, too, you value above anything you have, seeing that it came down to you from your forefather who was a Pharaoh of Egypt, and has been your companion from boyhood ever since you were strong enough to draw it.  As you may remember I copied that bow out of a somewhat lighter wood, which I could bend with ease, and it is the copy that we will give to the King.  Only first I must set your string upon it, for that may have been noted; also make one or two marks that are on your bow which I am finishing now, having begun the task with the dawn.”

“You are clever,” I said laughing, “and I am glad.  The holy Tanofir, looking on my bow, once had a vision.  It was that an arrow loosed from it would drink the blood of a great king and save Egypt.  But what king and when, he did not see.”

The dwarf nodded and answered,

“I have heard that tale and so have others.  Therefore I play this trick since it is better that yonder palace dweller should get the arrow than the bow.  There, it is finished to the last scratch, and none, save you and I, would know them apart.  Till we are clear of this cursed land your bow is mine, Master, and you must find you another of the Eastern make.”

“Master,” I repeated after him.  “Say, Bes, did I dream or did you in truth tell me last night that you are by birth and right the king of a great country?”

“I told you that, Master and it is true, no dream, since joy and suffering mixed unseal the lips and from them comes that at times which the heart would hide.  Now I ask a favour of you, that you will speak no more of this matter either to me or to any other, man or woman, unless I should speak of it first.  Let it be as though it were indeed a dream.”

“It is granted,” I said as I rose and clothed myself, not in my own garments which had been taken from me in the palace, but in the splendid silken robes that had been set upon me after I was loosed from the boat.  When this was done and I had washed and combed my long, curling hair, we descended to a lower chamber and called for the woman of the house to bring us food, of which I ate heartily.  As we finished our meal we heard shouts in the street outside of, “Make way for the servants of the King!” and looking through the window-place, saw a great cavalcade approaching, headed by two princes on horseback.

“Now I pray that yonder Tyrant has not changed his mind and that these do not come to take me back to the boat,” I said in a low voice.

“Have no fear, Master,” answered Bes, “seeing that you have touched his sceptre and drunk from his cup which he gave to you.  After these things no harm can happen to you in any land he rules.  Therefore be at ease and deal with these fellows proudly.”