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all the interesting star-scenery that we pass as we travel in our year-long, never-ending path around the sun, the most magnificent and impressive is the figure of the beautiful constellation of Orion.

This constellation is not only one of the largest, but its stars are so particularly vivid as a group and so uniquely arranged as a design, that they never fail to catch the eye of even the casual observer,—like the carpenter, who, on noticing it for the first time, humorously exclaimed, "Well, look at the house-roof up in the sky!" thus unconsciously recognizing the stars as being united in a common picture or constellation.

All the ancient legends agree in describing Orion as a giant of extraordinary height and the greatest hunter in the world. Classical evidence is abundant as to his huge stature, though obviously, this evidence is not trustworthy. Pliny reports that an earthquake in Crete disclosed the bones of a giant 46 cubits in length, held by some to be Orion. A cubit is an ancient measure of about 18 inches so that if Pliny's report is correct, Orion was 69 feet tall.

There are many stories which relate the adventures of Orion

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Rh I took every opportunity of communicating with the Odhyapoks. Some of them declined an interview, others who came were soon tired of my inquiries, which of course were directed chiefly to acquire a knowledge of their manner of teaching. These left me in disgust, probably in general from not being able to answer questions on subjects with which they ought to have been familiar. There were others however, who most liberally, and patiently informed me, to the utmost of their power, concerning whatever I asked. Among these were the Purohit, his brothers, and friend, and also Roghuprosad of Potiram, a metaphysician or philosopher, and Ramsundor and Madobram, of the same vicinity, persons esteemed for their knowledge in the law, as well as in literature. These persons, as well as all the possessors of religious endowments, complain of the rapacity of the new land-holders, that have purchased lots of the Raja’s estate, and who are alleged, under various pretexts, to make encroachments on the lands that have been given to learned and pious persons of both religions. I am inclined however to believe, that these persons would not content themselves with idle clamour, were they really aggrieved; but, so far as I can understand, the truth is, that in the careless administration of the Dinajpúr Raja’s estates, these persons actually enjoyed more land than their titles justified, and it is on these portions that the new land-holders have encroached. As however the encouragement for learning is evidently too small in this district, a remedy might perhaps be found in the free lands, which the land-holders have now seized, owing to the failure of heirs. The amount is not considerable, and the Government, was an attempt made to recover, would wade through a disgusting scene of corruption, and very likely after all be frustrated; but if the recovery were granted to individuals of learning on whom it might be wished to bestow encouragement, the matter might be more easily accomplished.

The defects attending the plan of education by the Odhyapoks are so great, that perhaps any addition to their endowments may be considered as ill bestowed, especially in a district where the Hindús do not form the mass of the people. I am persuaded, that enough might be recovered for the establishment of some good schools for the instruction of youth in Muhammedan science and literature, for which at present there is no establishment whatever, and the teachers of the higher schools have neither profit nor honour to encourage them in their useful employment.

The academy kept by an Odhyapok is called a Chauvari. Youths usually go there at about 12 years of age, after they have been instructed in the knowledge taught at Pathsals and in the Prakrito language, but the pupil is not permitted to read any book in that low tongue.

The course of study in a Hindú Academy begins with the Vyakoron or Songskrito grammar and literature. For the first 10 years some study a grammar called Songkhyiptosar, said to have been composed by a Brahmin named Kromodiswro, concerning whose history the Pandits could give me no information. The study of this grammar is sometimes facilitated by the commentary of Goyichondor. Others again study a grammar called Kolap, said to have been composed by Sorbo Borma, who was contemporary with Salivaha. This grammar seems to be nearly as obscure and unscientific as the former, for its study usually occupies 10 years, although persevering students sometimes are masters of it in eight. Others study a grammar called, written by Vopodev, a Brahmin of the five tribes introduced by Adisur into Bengal, and therefore a modern author. These who use this grammar study two commentaries, one called Gon, written also by Vopo-

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 Townsend, looking down on her with his laughing eyes, suddenly remembered.

“What is she like?” he had inquired when his wife told him she had met Dr. Fane’s bride.

“Oh, quite a nice little thing. Actressy.”

“Was she on the stage?”

“Oh, no, I don’t think so. Her father’s a doctor or a lawyer or something. I suppose we shall have to ask them to dinner.”

“There’s no hurry, is there?”

When they were sitting side by side at table he told her that he had known Walter Fane ever since he came to the Colony.

“We play bridge together. He’s far and away the best bridge player at the Club.”

She told Walter on the way home.

“That’s not saying very much, you know.”

“How does he play?”

“Not badly. He plays a winning hand very well, but when he has bad cards he goes all to pieces.”

“Does he play as well as you?”

“I have no illusions about my play. I should describe myself as a very good player in the second class. Townsend thinks he’s in the first. He isn’t.”

“Don’t you like him?”

“I neither like him nor dislike him. I believe he’s not bad at his job and every one says he’s a good sportsman. He doesn’t very much interest me.”

It was not the first time that Walter’s moderation had exasperated her. She asked herself why it was necessary to be so prudent: you either liked people or you didn’t. She had liked Charles Town-


text: Dictionary of Spoken Spanish/Part 1/P

title: Dictionary of Spoken Spanish/Part 1/P


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 send very much. And she had not expected to. He was probably the most popular man in the Colony. It was supposed that the Colonial Secretary would retire soon and every one hoped that Townsend would succeed him. He played tennis and polo and golf. He kept racing ponies. He was always ready to do any one a good turn. He never let red tape interfere with him. He put on no airs. Kitty did not know why she had resented hearing him so well spoken of, she could not help thinking he must be very conceited: she had been extremely silly; that was the last thing you could accuse him of.

She had enjoyed her evening. They had talked of the theatres in London, and of Ascot and Cowes, all the things she knew about, so that really she might have met him at some nice house in Lennox Gardens; and later, when the men came into the drawing-room after dinner, he had strolled over and sat beside her again. Though he had not said anything very amusing, he had made her laugh; it must have been the way he said it: there was a caressing sound in his deep, rich voice, a delightful expression in his kind, shining blue eyes, which made you feel very much at home with him. Of course he had charm. That was what made him so pleasant.

He was tall, six foot two at least, she thought, and he had a beautiful figure; he was evidently in very good condition and he had not a spare ounce of fat on him. He was well-dressed, the best-dressed man in the room, and he wore his clothes well. She liked a man to be smart. Her eyes wandered to Walter: he really should try to be a little


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 Still another legend describes the attempt of Æsculapius, famous physician and son of Apollo, to restore Orion to life. This attempt so angered Jupiter, due to the influence of Pluto, who had become irritated by the physician's power to detain a soul after it had started for the Kingdom under the ground, that Jupiter sent one of his thunderbolts and annihilated Æsculapius, otherwise his brother's realms might in time have become depopulated. Apollo, in fury, shot the one-eyed Cyclops who had furnished the thunderbolts, and then sought Jupiter, as had his sister, and requested him to place the physician in the sky and light him up with everlasting stars, for this was the second son that he had killed with a thunderbolt and he was feeling rather badly about it. Jupiter, having no objection to this, kindly granted the request, and it is believed by many that the physician is represented by Ophiuchus, a huge sky figure whose head rests next to that of Hercules.

When Orion was placed in the sky, he was allowed to bring along his lion's skin, which hangs on his arm, his sword, which swings from his girdle, his great club, which he flourishes above his head, and his two dogs, who watch his battle with the red-eyed Bull.

Taurus, the Bull, is easily recognized by his V-shaped face and the red glare of the star which marks his eye. This angry creature charges with lowered head, his golden horns just above the Hunter, who defends himself with his club now decked with glittering star-points and forces the Bull to back before him all the way across the sky.

A first glimpse of the Hunter and the Bull may be obtained in the east about midnight during late October although it is more

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 better turned out. She noticed Townsend’s cuff-links and waistcoat buttons; she had seen similar ones at Cartier’s. Of course the Townsends had private means. His face was deeply sunburned, but the sun had not taken the healthy colour from his cheeks. She liked the little trim curly moustache which did not conceal his full red lips. He had black hair, short and brushed very sleek. But of course his eyes, under thick, bushy eyebrows, were his best feature: they were so very blue, and they had a laughing tenderness which persuaded you of the sweetness of his disposition. No man who had those blue eyes could bear to hurt any one.

She could not but know that she had made an impression on him. If he had not said charming things to her his eyes, warm with admiration, would have betrayed him. His ease was delightful. He had no self-consciousness. Kitty was at home in these circumstances and she admired the way in which amid the banter which was the staple of their conversation he insinuated every now and then a pretty, flattering speech. When she shook hands with him on leaving he gave her hand a pressure that she could not mistake.

“I hope we shall see you again soon,” he said casually, but his eyes gave his words a meaning which she could not fail to see.

“Hong-Kong is very small, isn’t it?” she said.


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HO would have thought then that within three months they would be on such terms? He had told her since that he was crazy about her on that first evening. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He remembered the dress she wore; it was her wedding dress, and he said she looked like a lily of the valley. She knew that he was in love with her before he told her, and a little frightened she kept him at a distance. He was impetuous and it was difficult. She was afraid to let him kiss her, for the thought of his arms about her made her heart beat so fast. She had never been in love before. It was wonderful. And now that she knew what love was she felt a sudden sympathy for the love that Walter bore her. She teased him, playfully, and saw that he enjoyed it. She had been perhaps a little afraid of him, but now she had more confidence. She chaffed him and it amused her to see the slow smile with which at first he received her banter. He was surprised and pleased. One of these days, she thought, he would become quite human. Now that she had learnt something of passion it diverted her to play lightly, like a harpist running his fingers across the strings of his harp, on his affections. She laughed when she saw how she bewildered and confused him.

And when Charlie became her lover the situation between herself and Walter seemed exquisitely absurd. She could hardly look at him, so grave and


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86 dev, and another written by a Brahmin Ram Torko Vagis. This system is probably much more rational than the others, as youths require only from three to five years for its study. Finally, other masters use a grammar equally easy, called Saroswot, and composed by Onobhyut Acharyo of Varanosi (Benares). These also use the commentary of Govindo called Podochondrika, and that of Ramkrishno, called Podmokumari.

The pupils hitherto have been employed in studying the grammar of an unknown tongue, written in that language; and probably, as usual, in the most unintelligible style, the irksome nature of which perhaps draws out the study to such a length. They then begin to learn the meaning of the words in an Obhidhan. So far as I can learn, an Obhidhan is rather a vocabulary than a dictionary; and the natives have not yet adopted the alphabetical arrangement of their words to facilitate the study of their language. The only vocabulary used in Dinajpúr is the Omorkosh of Omorsingho, whom the Pandits here, as usual, consider as a person belonging to the sect of Buddha, who flourished at the court of Vikrom. The study of this occupies only one year, and is sometimes assisted by the commentary of a physician named Bhorot Mollick, and at others by the commentary of Ray Mukut, which by its prolixity lengthens the time of study for 6 months.

The students now are qualified to begin the poets, and the work usually chosen to form their taste is that called Bhotti, which is said to consist of extracts from the of, made by , brother of Vikrom. A year is employed in reading this work, which according to the Pandits who use it, is so excellent and sublime, that every other poem appears flat, and is unnecessary; but others, among whom is the Raja’s Purohit, prefer two poems of, named and. The former treats of the actions of a prince named Bhogiroth, who brought the Ganges to water India, and its study occupies six months. The latter treats of the actions of the goddess Bhogowoti the spouse of Sib, and occupies nearly the same time. Sri Chondro, a brother of the Raja’s Purohit, although a professor of law, seems to extend the study of the poets more than usual, and beside the common extracts from the work of Balmiki, he reads with his pupils another history of Ram called Natok. The account, which he gives of this work, will afford an idea of the present taste of Hindús for fable. Honuman, the faithful servant of Ram, had written an account of his master’s wars. Now Balmiki, who had written his account of these events 60,000 years before they happened, was naturally enough afraid that his work might be injured by that of one of the principal actors. He therefore applied to Honuman, who with great good nature threw his book, which was written on stone, into the sea, where it lay for many ages, until it was discovered by Kalidas while he was bathing. This ingenious person covered himself with wax, and having thrown himself into the sea, rubbed his body on the stones, until he procured an impression of a considerable portion of this valuable work; which he published to the delight of mankind. Other professors of law are less indulgent, and proceed to that dry study immediately after their pupils have read the Omorkosh. The pupils are now considered as completely instructed in the Vyakoron, or Songskrito grammar, and may peruse whatever of the classical authors in that language they can venture to read. In Dinajpúr no person except Brahmins are instructed in the Vyakoron; but in some parts of Bengal, the Baidyos, or medical tribe, and even some rich Kayosthos are permitted to study such portions of this science, as have been composed by mere men: but whatever is supposed to have been delivered by Munis, or by gods, is concealed from their profane eyes. Some Kayosthos have, however, had the audacity to lay open the veil, and have even translated part of the works of into the Prakrito language; but this is held to have been highly unjustifiable. Some


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 self-controlled, without laughing. She was too happy to feel unkindly towards him. Except for him, after all, she would never have known Charlie. She had hesitated some time before the final step, not because she did not want to yield to Charlie’s passion, her own was equal to his, but because her upbringing and all the conventions of her life intimidated her. She was amazed afterwards (and the final act was due to accident; neither of them had seen the opportunity till it was face to face with them) to discover that she felt in no way different from what she had before. She had expected that it would cause some, she hardly knew what, fantastic change in her so that she would feel like somebody else; and when she had a chance to look at herself in the glass she was bewildered to see the same woman she had seen the day before.

“Are you angry with me?” he asked her.

“I adore you,” she whispered.

“Don’t you think you were very silly to waste so much time?”

“A perfect fool.”

ER happiness, sometimes almost more than she could bear, renewed her beauty. Just before she married, beginning to lose her first freshness, she bad looked tired and drawn. The uncharitable said that she was going off. But there is all the difference between a girl of twenty-five and a married


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 woman of that age. She was like a rosebud that is beginning to turn yellow at the edges of the petals, and then suddenly she was a rose in full bloom. Her starry eyes gained a more significant expression; her skin (that feature which had always been her greatest pride and most anxious care) was dazzling: it could not be compared to the peach or to the flower; it was they that demanded comparison with it. She looked eighteen once more. She was at the height of her glowing loveliness. It was impossible not to remark it and her women friends asked her in little friendly asides if she was going to have a baby. The indifferent who had said she was just a very pretty woman with a long nose admitted that they had misjudged her. She was what Charlie had called her first time he saw her, a raging beauty.

They managed their intrigue skill. He had a broad back, he told her (“I will not have you swank about your figure,” she interrupted lightly), and it did not matter about him; but for her sake they mustn’t take the smallest risk. They could not meet often alone, not half often enough for him, but he had to think of her first, sometimes in the curio shop, now and then after luncheon in her house when no one was about; but she saw him a good deal here and there. It amused her then to see the formal way he spoke to her, jovial, for he was always that, with the same manner he used with every one. Who could imagine when they heard him chaff her with that charming humour of


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Rh You will always be my own darling Bertie.”

And she signed it “Winkums,” which was Bertie’s diminutive for Winifred— a diminutive which, quite accurately, she had always considered inappropri- ate, but tonight, perhaps conscience- stricken, found homely and consoling.

Winkums! What would he call her —then?

She got back into bed and fell asleep with two little tears still trembling on her long black evelashes.

IX
Towarp midday next day as Mr. Arbuthnot was descending the stairs in search of breakfast he encountcred a radiant vision in the smartest of black and white which blushed charmingly as it returned his polite good morning, passed him, then halted a few steps higher up and arrested his further progress by a hesitating “Mr. Arbuth- not!”

He turned and went up to her.

“Yes, Miss Barker?”

It was nothing—but she just—well, she just wanted to thank him for hav- ing spoken to Lord Arthur. Of course, she knew that girls in her position must expect somctimes to come across men who would treat them—well, he knew —not quite respectfully. Still, that didn’t make it the less unpleasant when it did happen, did it?

He agreed, gravely, that it did not. He was perfectly well aware—and so was Miss Barker—that in nine cases out of ten he would himself have acted just as Buigie had done. For he was, I am sorry to say, a careless and casual vouth. But having had that better mo- ment—his average was one better to nine worse, roughly—he felt, before Miss Barker's pretty gratitude, ex- tremely virtuous, and even contrived to look it. So virtuous that Miss Barker permitted herself the ghost of a smile and a little glance from under her eyc- iashes—just to restore the conversation to a morc natural footing.

“I'm sure I looked a perfect fright, too,” she said with a frown. “Did 1 look very awful?”

That odd brightness reappeared in Mr. Arbuthnot’s eves.

“You looked—you looked—” He hesitated, at a loss for an adequate ad- jective.

“Nice?” she ventured, shyly.

He caught her hand and held it be- tween his own, very tightly. She made no demur.

“Lovely,” he said gallantly, his face very close to hers.

She withdrew her hand, laughed softly, flashed another glance from un- der those long silky lashes, and went on her way. He remained looking up after her until she disappeared with a little farewell wave of her hand.

Then he resumed his progress toward breakfast, inwardly determined to see a great deal mote of Miss Barker in the immediate future.

X
THis determination he proceeded to put into execution with such guileful industry during the three weeks that followed that he became, as Lady Mar- jory declared, an absolute nuisance.

Had Lady Marjory’s respected mother been still alive, or had Lady Marjory’s distinguished papa not been so preoccupied with the affairs of the nation and those of a certain charming Russian danseuse, it is possible that Mr. Arbuthnot’s constant presence in the Langs’ household might have re- ceived a less tolerant welcome. But both Lady Marjory and her brother were too amused to be censorious; though the former did upon one occa- sion speak to her maid a few explicit words of warning.

“I don’t know what your views may be, Barker,” she said kindly, pausiag in the examination of a tiny red mark on her imperious little chin, “but I do know what Mr. Arbuthnot’s views, are, very well indeed. So probably do you. His one real ambition is to break his neck—so he is not at all likely to trou- ble about other people’s comfort—of


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 his that so lately he had held her in his passionate arms?

She worshipped him. He was splendid, in his smart top boots and his white breeches, when he played polo. In tennis clothes he looked a mere boy. Of course he was proud of his figure: it was the best figure she had ever seen. He took pains to keep it. He never ate bread or potatoes or butter. And he took a great deal of exercise. She liked the care he took of his hands; he was manicured once a week. He was a wonderful athlete and the year before he had won the local tennis championship. Certainly he was the best dancer she had ever danced with; it was a dream to dance with him. No one would think he was forty. She told him she did not believe it.

“I believe it’s all bluff and you’re really twenty-five.”

He laughed. He was well pleased.

“Oh, my dear, I have a boy of fifteen. I’m a middle-aged gent. In another two or three years I shall just be a fat old party.”

“You’ll be adorable when you’re a hundred.”

She liked his black, bushy eyebrows. She wondered whether it was they that gave his blue eyes their disturbing expression.

He was full of accomplishments. He could play the piano quite well, rag-time, of course, and he could sing a comic song with a rich voice and good humour. She did not believe there was anything he could not do. He was very clever at his work


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 too and she shared his pleasure when he told her that the Governor had particularly congratulated him on the way he had done some difficult job.

“Although it’s I as says it,” he laughed, his eyes charming with the love he bore her, “there’s not a fellow in the Service who could have done it better.”

Oh, how she wished that she were his wife rather than Walter’s!

F course it was not certain yet that Walter knew the truth, and if he didn’t it was better perhaps to leave well alone; but if he did, well, in the end it would be the best thing for all of them. At first she had been, if not satisfied, at least resigned to seeing Charlie only by stealth; but time had increased her passion and for some while now she had been increasingly impatient of the obstacles which prevented them from being always together. He had told her so often that he cursed his position which forced him to be so discreet, the ties which bound him, and the ties which bound her: how marvellous it would have been, he said, if they were both free! She saw his point of view; no one wanted a scandal, and of course it required a good deal of thinking over before you changed the course of your life; but if freedom were thrust upon them, ah, then, how simple everything would be!

It was not as though any one would suffer very much. She knew exactly what his relations were with his wife. She was a cold woman and there


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 Upper and Lower Egypt, Nebka, the blessed, while the page was stifled in the crocodile. And after the seven days were passed, the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Nebka, the blessed, went forth, and Uba-aner went before him.

“And Uba-aner said unto his Majesty, ‘Will your Majesty come and see this wonder that has come to pass in your days unto a page?’ And the King went with Uba-aner. And Uba-aner called unto the crocodile and said, ‘Bring forth the page.’ And the crocodile came forth from the lake with the page. Uba-aner said unto the King, ‘Behold, whatever I command this crocodile he will do it.’ And his Majesty said, ‘I pray you send back this crocodile.’ And Uba-aner stooped and took up the crocodile, and it became in his hand a crocodile of wax. And then Uba-aner told the King that which had passed in his house with the page and his wife. And his Majesty said unto the crocodile, ‘Take to thee thy prey.’ And the crocodile plunged into the lake with his prey, and no man knew whither he went.

“And his Majesty the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Nebka, the blessed, commanded, and they brought forth the wife of Uba-aner to the north side of the harem, and burned her with fire, and cast her ashes in the river.

“This is a wonder that came to pass in the days of thy forefather the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Nebka, of the acts of the chief reciter Uba-aner.”

His Majesty the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Khufu, then said, “Let there be presented to the King Nebka, the blessed, 1,000 loaves, 100 draughts of beer, an ox, two jars of incense; and let there be presented a loaf, a jar of beer, a jar of incense and a piece of meat to the chief reciter Uba-aner; for I have seen the token of his learning.” And they did all things as his Majesty commanded.

The royal son Bau-f-ra then stood forth and spake. He said, “I will tell thy Majesty of a wonder which came to pass in the days of thy father Seneferu, the blessed, of the deeds of the chief reciter Zazamankh. One day King Seneferu, being weary, went throughout his palace seeking for a pleasure


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 had been no love between them for years. It was habit that held them together, convenience, and of course the children. It was easier for Charlie than for her: Walter loved her; but after all, he was absorbed in his work; and a man always had his club; he might be upset at first, but he would get over it; there was no reason why he should not marry somebody else. Charlie had told her that he could not make out how she came to throw herself away on Walter Fane.

She wondered, half smiling, why a little while before she had been terrified at the thought that Walter had caught them. Of course it was startling to see the handle of the door slowly turn. But after all they knew the worst that Walter could do, and they were ready for it. Charlie would feel as great a relief as she that what they both desired more than anything in the world should be thus forced upon them.

Walter was a gentleman, she would do him the justice to acknowledge that, and he loved her; he would do the right thing and allow her to divorce him. They had made a mistake and the lucky thing was that they had found it out before it was too late. She made up her mind exactly what she was going to say to him and how she would treat him. She would be kind, smiling, and firm. There was no need for them to quarrel. Later on she would always be glad to see him. She hoped honestly that the two years they had spent together would remain with him as a priceless memory.

“I don’t suppose Dorothy Townsend will mind


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 to lighten his heart, but he found none. And he said, ‘Haste, and bring before me the chief reciter and scribe of the rolls Zazamankh;’ and they straightway brought him. And the King said, ‘I have sought in my palace for some delight, but I have found none.’ Then said Zazamankh to him, ‘Let thy Majesty go upon the lake of the palace, and let there be made ready a boat, with all the fair maidens of the harem of thy palace; and the heart of thy Majesty shall be refreshed with the sight, in seeing their rowing up and down the water, and seeing the goodly pools of the birds upon the lake, and beholding its sweet fields and grassy shores; thus will thy heart be lightened. And I also will go with thee. Bring me twenty oars of ebony inlaid with gold, with blades of light wood inlaid with electrum; and bring me twenty maidens, fair in their limbs, their bosoms, and their hair, all virgins; and bring me twenty nets, and give these nets unto the maidens for their garments.’ And they did according to all the commands of his Majesty.

“And they rowed down the stream and up the stream, and the heart of his Majesty was glad with the sight of their rowing. But one of them at the steering struck her hair, and her jewel of new malachite fell into the water. And she ceased her song, and rowed not; and her companions ceased, and rowed not. And his Majesty said, ‘Row you not further?’ And they replied, ‘Our little steerer here stays and rows not.’ His Majesty then said to her, ‘Wherefore rowest thou not?’ She replied, ‘It is for my jewel of new malachite which is fallen in the water.’ And he said to her, ‘Row on, for behold I will replace it.” And she answered, ‘But I want my own piece back in its setting.’ And his Majesty said, ‘Haste, bring me the chief reciter Zazamankh,’ and they brought him. And his Majesty said, ‘Zazamankh, my brother, I have done as thou sayedst, and the heart of his Majesty is refreshed with the sight of their rowing. But now a jewel of new malachite of one of the little ones is fallen in the water, and she ceases and rows not, and she has spoiled the rowing of her side. And I said to her, “Wherefore rowest thou not?” and she answered to me, “It is for my jewel of new malachite which is fallen in the water.” I replied to her, “Row on, for behold


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 I will replace it;” and she answered to me, “But I want my own piece again back in its setting.”’ Then the chief reciter Zazamankh spake his magic speech. And he placed one part of the waters of the lake upon the other, and discovered the jewel lying upon a shard; and he took it up and gave it unto its mistress. And the water, which was twelve cubits deep in the middle, reached now to twenty-four cubits after he turned it. And he spake, and used his magic speech; and he brought again the water of the lake to its place. And his Majesty spent a joyful day with the whole of the royal house. Then rewarded he the chief reciter Zazamankh with all good things. Behold, this is a wonder that came to pass in the days of thy father, the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Seneferu, of the deeds of the chief reciter, the scribe of the rolls, Zazamankh.”

Then said the majesty of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Khufu, the blessed, “Let there be presented an offering of 1,000 cakes, 100 draughts of beer, an ox, and two jars of incense to the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Seneferu, the blessed; and let there be given a loaf, a jar of beer, and a jar of incense to the chief reciter, the scribe of the rolls, Zazamankh; for I have seen the token of his learning.” And they did all things as his Majesty commanded.

The royal son Hordedef then stood forth and spake. He said: “Hitherto hast thou only heard tokens of those who have gone before, and of which no man knoweth their truth. But I will show thy Majesty a man of thine own days.” And his Majesty said, “Who is he, Hordedef?” And the royal son Hordedef answered, “It is a certain man named Dedi, who dwells at Dedsneferu. He is a man of 110 years old; and he eats 500 loaves of bread and a side of beef, and drinks 100 draughts of beer, unto this day. He knows how to restore the head that is smitten off; he knows how to cause the lion to follow him trailing his halter on the ground; he knows the designs of the dwelling of Tahuti. The majesty of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Khufu, the blessed, has long sought for the designs of the dwelling of Tahuti, that he may make the like of them in his pyramid.”


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 “I can’t leave you like this,” he said, putting his arms round her. “You know I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“Don’t touch me. For God’s sake go. Go away.”

She tried to tear herself from him, but he would not let her. She was crying hysterically now.

“Darling, don’t you know that I’ve always loved you,” he said in his deep, charming voice. “I love you more than ever.”

“How can you tell such lies! Let me go. Damn you, let me go.”

“Don’t be unkind to me, Kitty. I know I’ve been a brute to you, but forgive me.”

She was shaking and sobbing, struggling to get away from him, but the pressure of his arms was strangely comforting. She had so longed to feel them round her once more, just once, and all her body trembled. She felt dreadfully weak. It seemed as though her bones were melting, and the sorrow she felt for Walter shifted into pity for herself.

“Oh, how could you be so unkind to me?” she sobbed. “Don’t you know that I loved you with all my heart. No one has ever loved you as I loved you.”

“Darling.”

He began to kiss her.

“No, no,” she cried.

He sought her face, but she turned it away; he sought her lips; she did not know what he was saying, broken, passionate words of love; and his arms held her so firmly that she felt like a child that has


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 And his Majesty said, “Thou, thyself, Hordedef, my son, bring him to me.” Then were the ships made ready for the King’s son Hordedef, and he went up the stream to Dedsneferu. And when the ships had moored at the haven, he landed, and sat him in a litter of ebony, the poles of which were of cedar wood overlaid with gold. Now when he drew near to Dedi, they set down the litter. And he arose to greet Dedi, and found him lying on a palmstick couch at the door of his house; one servant held his head and rubbed him, and another rubbed his feet.

And the King’s son Hordedef said, “Thy state is that of one who lives to good old age; for old age is the end of our voyage, the time of embalming, the time of burial. Lie, then, in the sun, free of infirmities, without the babble of dotage: this is the salutation to worthy age. I come from far to call thee, with a message from my father Khufu, the blessed, for thou shalt eat of the best which the King gives, and of the food which those have who follow after him; that he may bring thee in good estate to thy fathers who are in the tomb.”

And Dedi replied to him: “Peace to thee! Peace to thee! Hordedef, son of the King, beloved of his father. May thy father Khufu, the blessed, praise thee, may he advance thee among the elders, may thy ka prevail against the enemy, may thy soul know the right road to the gate of him who clothes the afflicted; this is the salutation to the King’s son.” Then the King’s son, Hordedef, stretched forth his hands to him, and raised him up, and went with him to the haven, giving unto him his arm. Then said Dedi, “Let there be given me a boat, to bring me my youths and my books.” And they made ready for him two boats with their rowers. And Dedi went down the river in the barge in which was the King’s son, Hordedef. And when he had reached the palace, the King’s son, Hordedef, entered in to give account unto his Majesty the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Khufu, the blessed. Then said the King’s son Hordedef, “O King, life, wealth, and health! My lord, I have brought Dedi.” His Majesty replied, “Bring him to me speedily.” And his Majesty went into the hall of columns of Pharaoh (life, wealth, and health), and Dedi was led before him. And his Majesty said, “Where-


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was on November 18th that the snow came. In the morning we woke to window-ledges heaped white, and snowflakes falling so whirling thick that it was impossible to see ten feet ahead. The mud was gone; in a twinkling the gloomy city became white, dazzling. The droshki with their padded coachmen turned into sleights, bounding along the uneven street at headlong speed, their drivers' beards stiff and frozen.... In spite of Revolution, all Russia plunging dizzily into the unknown and terrible future, joy swept the city with the coming of the snow. Everybody was smiling; people ran into the streets, holding out their arms to the soft, falling flakes, laughing. Hidden was all the greyness; only the gold and coloured spires and cupolas, with heightened barbaric splendour, gleamed through the white snow.

Even the sun came out, pale and watery, at noon. The colds and rheumatism of the rainy months vanished. The life of the city grew gay, and the very Revolution ran swifter....

I sat one evening in a traktir—a kind of lower-class inn—across the street from the gates of Smolny; a low-ceilinged, loud place called "Uncle Tom's Cabin," much frequented by Red Guards. They crowded it now, packed close around the little tables with their dirty table-cloths and enormous china tea-pots, filling the place with foul cigarette-smoke, while the harassed waiters ran about crying "Seichass! Seichass! In a minute! Right away!"

In one corner sat a man in the uniform of a captain,


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 addressing the assembly, which interrupted him at every few words.

"You are no better than murderers!" he cried. "Shooting down your Russian brothers on the streets!"

"When did we do that?" asked a worker.

"Last Sunday you did it, when the yunkers——"

"Well, didn't they shoot us?" One man exhibited his arm in a sling. "Haven't I got something to remember them by, the devils?"

The captain shouted at the top of his voice. "You should remain neutral! You should remain neutral! Who are you to destroy the legal Government? Who is Lenin? A German—"

"Who are you? A counter-revolutionist! A provocator!" they bellowed at him.

When he could make himself heard the captain stood up. "All right!" said he. "You call yourselves the people of Russia. But you're not the people of Russia. The peasants are the people of Russia. Wait until the peasants—"

"Yes," they cried, "wait until the peasants speak. We know what the peasants will say.... Aren't they workingmen like ourselves?"

In the long run, everything depended upon the peasants. While the peasants had been politically backward, still they had their own peculiar ideas, and they constituted more than eighty per cent of the people of Russia. The Bolsheviki had a comparatively small following among the peasants; and a permanent dictatorship of Russia by the industrial workers was impossible.... The traditional peasant party was the Socialist Revolutionary party; of all the parties now supporting the Soviet Government, the Left Socialist Revolutionaries were the logical inheritors of peasant leadership—and the Left Socialist Revolutionaries, who were at the mercy of the organ-


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 ised city proletariat, desperately needed the backing of the peasants....

Meanwhile Smolny had not neglected the peasants. After the Land decree, one of the first actions of the new Tsay-ee-kah had been to call a Congress of Peasants, over the head of the Executive Committee of the Peasants' Soviets. A few days later was issued detailed Regulations for the Volost (Township) Land Committees, followed by Lenin's "Instruction to Peasants," which explained the Bolshevik revolution and the new Government in simple terms; and on November 16th, Lenin and Miliutin published the "Instructions to Provincial Emissaries," of whom thousands were sent by the Soviet Government into the villages.

Upon his arrival in the province to which he is accredited, the emissary should call a joint meeting of the Central Executive Committees of the Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies, to whom he should make a report on the agrarian laws, and then demand that a joint plenary session of the Soviets be summoned.... He must study the aspects of the agrarian problem in the province. Has the land-owners' property been taken over, and if so, in what districts? Who administers the confiscated land—the former proprietor, or the Land Committees? What has been done with the agricultural machinery and with the farm-animals? Has the ground cultivated by the peasants been augmented?
How much and in what respect does the amount of land now under cultivation differ from the amount fixed by the Government as an average minimum?

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  sending of grain to the cities, as the only means of avoiding famine.What are the measures projected or put into effect for the transfer of land from the land-owners to the Land Committees and similar bodies appointed by the Soviets?It is desirable that agricultural properties well appointed and well organised should be administered by Soviets composed of the regular employees of those properties, under the direction of competent agricultural scientists.

All through the villages a ferment of change was going on, caused not only by the electrifying action of the Land decree, but also by thousands of revolutionary-minded peasant-soldiers returning from the front.... These men, especially, welcomed the call to a Congress of Peasants.

Like the old Tsay-ee-kah in the matter of the second Congress of Workers' and Soldiers' Soviets, the Executive Committee tried to prevent the Peasant Congress summoned by Smolny. And like the old Tsay-ee-kah, finding its resistance futile, the Executive Committee sent frantic telegrams ordering the election of Conservative delegates. Word was even spread among the peasants that the Congress would meet at Moghilev, and some delegates went there; but by November 23d about four hundred had gathered in Petrograd, and the party caucuses had begun....

The first session took place in the Alexander Hall of the Duma building, and the first vote showed that more than half of all the delegates were Left Socialist Revolutionaries, while the Bolsheviki controlled a bare fifth, the conservative Socialist Revolutionaries a quarter, and all the rest were united only in their opposition to the old Executive Committee, dominated by Avksentiev, Tchaikovsky and Peshekhonov....

The great hall was jammed with people and shaken with continual clamour; deep, stubborn bitterness divided the delegates into angry groups. To the right was a sprinkling


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 fore is it, Dedi, that I have not yet seen thee?” And Dedi answered: “He who is called it is that comes; the King (life, wealth, and health) calls me, and behold I come.” And his Majesty said, “Is it true, that which men say, that thou canst restore the head which is smitten off?” And Dedi replied, “Truly, I know that, O King (life, wealth, and health), my lord.” And his Majesty said, “Let one bring me a prisoner who is in prison, that his punishment may be fulfilled.” And Dedi said: “Let it not be a man, O King, my lord; behold we do not even thus to our cattle.” And a duck was brought unto him, and its head was cut off. And the duck was laid on the west side of the hall, and its head on the east side of the hall. And Dedi spake his magic speech. And the duck fluttered along the ground, and its head came likewise; and when it had come part to part the duck stood and quacked. And they brought likewise a goose before him, and he did even so unto it. His Majesty caused an ox to be brought, and its head cast on the ground. And Dedi spake his magic speech. And the ox stood upright behind him, and followed him with his halter trailing on the ground.

And King Khufu said, “And is it true what is said, that thou knowest the number of the designs of the dwelling of Tahuti?” And Dedi replied, “Pardon me, I know not their number, O King (life, wealth, and health), but I know where they are.” And his Majesty said, “Where is that?” And Dedi replied: “There is a chest of whetstone in a chamber named the planroom, in Heliopolis; they are in this chest.” And Dedi said further unto him, “O King (life, wealth, and health), my lord, it is not I that is to bring them to thee.” And his Majesty said, “Who, then, is it that shall bring them to me?” And Dedi answered to him, “It is the eldest of the three children who are in the body of Rud-didet who shall bring them to thee.” And his Majesty said: ‘“Would that it may be as thou sayest! And who is this Rud-didet?” And Dedi replied: “She is the wife of a priest of Ra, lord of Sakhebu. And she has conceived these three sons by Ra, lord of Sakhebu, and the god has promised her that they shall fulfil this noble office (of reigning) over all this land, and that the eldest of them shall be high-priest in Heliopolis.” And his Majesty’s heart be-


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 of officers' epaulettes, and the patriarchal, bearded faces of the older, more substantial peasants; in the centre were a few peasants, non-commissioned officers, and some soldiers; and on the left almost all the delegates wore the uniforms of common soldiers. 'These last were the young generation, who had been serving in the army… The galleries were thronged with workers—who, in Russia, still remember their peasant origin…

Unlike the old T'say-ee-kah, the Executive Committee, in opening the session, did not recognise the Congress as official; the official Congress was called for December 13th; amid a hurricane of applause and angry cries, the speaker declared that this gathering was merely "Extraordinary Conference"… But the "Extraordinary Conference" soon showed its attitude toward the Executive Committee by electing as presiding officer Maria Spiridonova, leader of the Left Socialist Revolutionaries. |

Most of the first day was taken up by a violent debate as to whether the representatives of Volost Soviets should be seated, or only delegates from the Provincial bodies; and just as in the Workers' and Soldiers' Congress, an overwhelming majority declared in favour of the widest possible representation. Whereupon the old Executive Committee left the hall…

Almost immediately it was evident that most of the delegates were hostile to the Government of the People's Commissars. Zinoviev, attempting to speak for the Bolsheviki, was hooted down, and as he left the platform, amid laughter, there were cries, ""There's how a People's Commissar sits in a mud-puddle!"

"We Left Socialist Revolutionaries refuse," cried Nazariev, a delegate from the Provinces, "to recognise this so-called Workers' and Peasants' Government until the peasants are


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 represented in it. At present it is nothing but a dictatorship of the workers.... We insist upon the formation of a new Government which will represent the entire democracy!"

The reactionary delegates shrewdly fostered this feeling, declaring, in the face of protests from the Bolshevik benches, that the Council of People's Commissars intended either to control the Congress or dissolve it by force of arms-an announcement which was received by the peasants with bursts of fury....

On the third day Lenin suddenly mounted the tribune; for ten minutes the room went mad. "Down with him!" they shrieked. "We will not listen to any of your People's Commissars! We don't recognise your Government!"

Lenin stood there quite calmly, gripping the desk with both hands, his little eyes thoughtfully surveying the tumult beneath. Finally, except for the right side of the hall, the demonstration wore itself out somewhat.

"I do not come here as a member of the Council of People's Commissars," said Lenin, and waited again for the noise to subside, "but as a member of the Bolshevik faction, duly elected to this Congress." And he held his credentials up to that all might see them.

"However," he went on, in an unmoved voice, "nobody will deny that the present Government of Russia has been formed by the Bolshevik party-" he had to wait a moment, "so that for all purposes it is the same thing...." Here the right benches broke into deafening clamour, but the centre and left were curious, and compelled silence.

Lenin's argument was simple. "Tell me frankly, you peasants, to whom we have given the lands of the pomieshtchiki; do you want now to prevent the workers from getting control of industry? This is class war. The pomieshtchiki of course oppose the peasants, and the manufactures oppose the work-


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 the workers. Are you going to allow the ranks of the proletariat to be divided? Which side will you be on?

"We, the Bolsheviki, are the party of the proletariat—of the peasant proletariat as well as the industrial proletariat. We, the Bolsheviki, are the protectors of the Soviets—of the Peasants' Soviets as well as those of the Workers and Soldiers. The present Government is a Government of Soviets; we have not only invited the Peasants' Soviets to join that Government, but we have also invited representatives of the Left Socialist Revolutionaries to enter the Council of People's Commissars....

"The Soviets are the most perfect representatives of the people—of the workers in the factories and mines, of the workers in the fields. Anybody who attempts to destroy the Soviets is guilty of an anti-democratic and counter-revolutionary act. And I serve notice here on you, comrades Right Socialist Revolutionaries—and on you, Messrs. Cadets—that if the Constituent Assembly attempts to destroy the Soviets, we shall not permit the Constituent Assembly to do this thing!"

On the afternoon of November 25th Tchernov arrived in hot haste from Moghilev, summoned by the Executive Committee. Only two months before considered an extreme revolutionist, and very popular with the peasants, he was now called to check the dangerous drift of the Congress toward the Left. Upon his arrival Tchernov was arrested and taken to Smolny, where, after a short conversation, he was released.

His first act was to bitterly rebuke the Executive Committee for leaving the Congress. They agreed to return, and Tchernov entered the hall, welcomed with great applause by the majority, and the hoots and jeers of the Bolsheviki.

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 Conference of the Twelfth Army on the question of calling a Congress of all the Peasant delegates of the armies of the Western Front, and I know very little about the insurrection which occurred here——"

Zinoviev rose in his seat, and shouted, "Yes, you were away-for a few minutes!" Fearful tumult. Cries, "Down with the Bolsheviki!"

Tchernov continued. "The accusation that I helped lead an army on Petrograd has no foundation, and is entirely false. Where does such an accusation come from? Show me the source!"

Zinoviev: "Izviestia and Dielo Naroda—your own paper—that's where it comes from!"

Tchernov's wide face, with the small eyes, waving hair and greyish beard, became red with wrath, but he controlled himself and went on. "I repeat, I know practically nothing about what has happened here, and I did not lead any army except this army, (he pointed to the peasant delegates), which I am largely responsible for bringing here!" Laughter, and shouts of "Bravo!"

"Upon my return I visited Smolny. No such accusation was made against me there.... After a brief conversation I left—and that's all! Let any one present make such an accusation!"

An uproar followed, in which the Bolsheviki and some of the Left Socialist Revolutionaries were on their feet all at once, shaking their fists and yelling, and the rest of the assembly tried to yell them down.

"This is an outrage, not a session!" cried Tchernov, and he left the hall; the meeting was adjourned because of the noise and disorder....

Meanwhile, the question of the status of the Executive Committee was agitating all minds. By declaring the assem-


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 bly" Extraordinary Conference," it had been planned to block the reelection of the Executive Committee. But this worked both ways; the Left Socialist Revolutionists decided that if the Congress had no power over the Executive Committee, then the Executive Committee had no power over the Congress. On November 25th the assembly resolved that the powers of the Executive Committee be assumed by the Extraordinary Conference, in which only members of the Executive who had been elected as delegates might vote....

The next day, in spite of the bitter opposition of the Bolsheviki, the resolution was amended to give all the members of the Executive Committee, whether elected as delegates or not, voice and vote in the assembly.

On the 27th occurred the debate on the Land question, which revealed the differences between the agrarian programme of the Bolsheviki and the Left Socialist Revolutionaries.

Kolchinsky, for the Left Socialist Revolutionaries, outlined the history of the Land question during the Revolution. The first Congress of Peasants' Soviets, he said, had voted a precise and formal resolution in favour of putting the landed estates immediately into the hands of the Land Committees. But the directors of the Revolution, and the bourgeois in the Government, had insisted that the question could not be solved until the Constituent Assembly met.... The second period of the Revolution, the period of "compromise,"was signalled by the entrance of Tchernov into the Cabinet. The peasants were convinced that now the practical solution of the Land question would begin; but in spite of the imperative decision of the first Peasant Congress, the reactionaries and conciliators in the Executive Committee had prevented any action. This policy provoked a series of agrarian disorders, which appeared as the natural expression of impatience and thwarted energy on the part of the peasants. The peasants understood the


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 You’re one of those cowards who only think what it’s profitable for them to think.”

“Well, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. You have come back, and if you don’t mind my saying anything so objectionable you’ve come back prettier than ever.”

“And Walter?”

He could not resist the facetious answer which came to his mind. Charlie smiled.

“Nothing suits you so well as black.”

She stared at him for a moment. Tears filled her eyes and she began to cry. Her beautiful face was distorted with grief. She did not seek to hide it, but lay on her back with her hands along her sides.

“For God’s sake don’t cry like that. I didn’t mean to say anything unkind. It was only a joke. You know how sincerely I feel for you in your bereavement.”

“Oh, hold your stupid tongue.”

“I’d give anything to have Walter back again.”

“He died because of you and me.”

He took her hand, but she snatched it away from him.

“Please go away,” she sobbed. “That’s the only thing you can do for me now. I hate and despise you. Walter was worth ten of you and I was too big a fool to see it. Go away. Go away.”

She saw he was going to speak again and she sprang to her feet and went into her room. He followed her, and as he entered, with instinctive prudence, drew the shutter so that they were almost in darkness.


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 exact meaning of the Revolution—they tried to turn words into action....

"The recent events," said the orator, "do not indicate a simple riot, or a 'Bolshevik adventure,' but on the contrary, a real popular rising, which has been greeted with sympathy by the whole country....

"The Bolsheviki in general took the correct attitude toward the Land question; but in recommending that the peasants seize the land by force, they committed a profound error.... From the first days, the Bolsheviki declared that the peasants should take over the land 'by revolutionary mass-action.' This is nothing but anarchy; the land can be taken over in an organised manner.... For the Bolsheviki it was important that the problems of the Revolution should be solved in the quickest possible manner—but the Bolsheviki were not interested in how these problems were to be solved....

"The Land decree of the Congress of Soviets is identical in its fundamentals with the decisions of the first Peasants' Congress. Why then did not the new Government follow the tactics outlined by that Congress? Because the Council of People's Commissars wanted to hasten the settlement of the Land question, so that the Constituent Assembly would have nothing to do....

"But also the Government saw that it was necessary to adopt practical measures, so without further reflection, it adopted the Regulations for Land Committees, thus creating a strange situation; for the Council of People's Commissars abolished private property in land, but the Regulations drawn up by the Land Committees are based on private property.... However, no harm has been done by that; for the Land Committees are paying no attention to the Soviet decrees, but are putting into operation their own practical decisions—decisions based on the will of the vast majority of the peasants....


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 "These Land Committees are not attempting the legislative solution of the Land question, which belongs to the Constituent Assembly alone.... But will the Constituent Assembly desire to do the will of the Russian peasants? Of that we cannot be sure.... All we can be sure of is that the revolutionary determination of the peasants is now aroused, and that the Constituent will be forced to settle the Land question the way the peasants want it settled.... The Constituent Assembly will not dare to break with the will of the people...."

Followed him Lenin, listened to now with absorbing intensity. "At this moment we are not only trying to solve the Land question, but the question of Social Revolution—not only here in Russia, but all over the world. The Land question cannot be solved independently of the other problems of the Social Revolution.... For example, the confiscation of the landed estates will provoke the resistance not only of Russian land-owners, but also of foreign capital—with whom the great landed properties are connected through the intermediary of the banks....

"The ownership of the land in Russia is the basis for immense oppression, and the confiscation of the land by the peasants is the most important step of our Revolution. But it cannot be separated from the other steps, as is clearly manifested by the stages through which the Revolution has had to pass. The first stage was the crushing of autocracy and the crushing of the power of the industrial capitalists and land-owners, whose interests are closely related. The second stage was the strengthening of the Soviets and the political compromise with the bourgeoisie. The mistake of the Left Socialist Revolutionaries lies in the fact that at that time they did not oppose the policy of compromise, because they held the theory that the consciousness of the masses was not yet fully developed....

"If Socialism can only be realised when the intellectual


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 development of all the people permits it, then we shall not see Socialism for at least five hundred years.... The Socialist political party—this is the vanguard of the working-class; it must not allow itself to be halted by the lack of education of the mass average, but it must lead the masses, using the Soviets as organs of revolutionary initiative.... But in order to lead the wavering, the comrades Left Socialist Revolutionaries themselves must stop hesitating....

"In July last a series of open breaks began between the popular masses and the 'compromisers'; but now, in November, the Left Socialist Revolutionaries are still holding out their hand to Avksentiev, who is pulling the people with his little finger.... If Compromise continues, the Revolution disappears. No compromise with the bourgeoisie is possible; its power must be absolutely crushed....

"We Bolsheviki have not changed our Land programme; we have not given up the abolition of private property in the land, and we do not intend to do so. We adopted the Regulations for Land Committees,—which are not based on private property at all—because we want to accomplish the popular will in the way the people have themselves decided to do it, so as to draw closer the coalition of all the elements who are fighting for the Social Revolution.

"We invite the Left Socialist Revolutionaries to enter that coalition, insisting, however, that they cease looking backward, and that they break with the 'conciliators' of their party....

"As far as the Constituent Assembly is concerned, it is true, as the preceding speaker has said, that the work of the Constituent will depend on the revolutionary determination of the masses. I say, 'Count on that revolutionary determination, but don't forget your gun!'"

Lenin then read the Bolshevik resolution:

The Peasants' Congress, fully supporting the Land decree of November 8th... approves of the Provisional Workers' and Peas-


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 asants' Government of the Russian Republic, established by the second All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies.

The Peasants' Congress... invites all peasants unanimously to sustain that law, and to apply it immediately themselves; and at the same time invites the peasants to appoint to posts and positions of responsibility only persons who have proved, not by words but by acts, their entire devotion to the interests of the exploited peasant-workers, their desire and their ability to defend these interests against all resistance on the part of the great land-owners, the capitalists, their partisans and accomplices....

The Peasants' Congress, at the same time, expresses its conviction that the complete realisation of all the measures which make up the Land decree can only be successful through the triumph of the Workers' Social Revolution, which began November 7th, 1917; for only the Social Revolution can accomplish the definite transfer, without possibility of return, of the land to the peasant-workers, the confiscation of model farms and their surrender to the peasant communes, the confiscation of agricultural machinery belonging to the great land-owners, the safe-guarding of the interests of the agricultural workers by the complete abolition of wage-slavery, the regular and methodical distribution among all regions of Russia of the products of agriculture and industry, and the seizure of the banks (without which the possession of land by the whole people would be impossible, after the abolition of private property), and all sorts of assistance by the State to the workers....

For these reasons the Peasants' Congress sustains entirely the Revolution of November 7th... as a social revolution, and expresses its unalterable will to put into operation, with whatever modifications are necessary, but without any hesitation, the social transformation of the Russian Republic.

The indispensable conditions of the victory of the Social Revolution, which alone will secure the lasting success and the complete realisation of the Land decree, is the close union of the peasant-workers with the industrial working-class, with the proletariat of all advanced countries. From now on, in the Russian Republic,


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306 all the organisation and administration of the State, from top to bottom, must rest on that union. That union, crushing all attempts, direct or indirect, open or dissimulated, to return to the policy of conciliation with the bourgeoisie—conciliation, damned by experience, with the chiefs of bourgeois politics—can alone insure the victory of Socialism throughout the world....

The reactionaries of the Executive Committee no longer dared openly to appear. Tchernov, however, spoke several times, with a modest and winning impartiality. He was invited to sit on the platform.... On the second night of the Congress an anonymous note was handed up to the chairman, requesting that Tchernov be made honorary President. Ustinov read the note aloud, and immediately Zinoviev was on his feet, screaming that this was a trick of the old Executive Committee to capture the convention; in a moment the hall was one bellowing mass of waving arms and angry faces, on both sides.... Nevertheless, Tchernov remained very popular.

In the stormy debates on the Land question and the Lenin resolution, the Bolsheviki were twice on the point of quitting the assembly, both times restrained by their leaders.... It seemed to me as if the Congress were hopelessly deadlocked.

But none of us knew that a series of secret conferences were already going on between the Left Socialist Revolutionaries and the Bolsheviki at Smolny. At first the Left Socialist Revolutionaries had demanded that there be a Government composed of all the Socialist parties in and out of the Soviets, to be responsible to a People's Council, composed of an equal number of delegates from the Workers' and Soldiers' organisation, and that of the Peasants, and completed by representatives of the City Dumas and the Zemstvos; Lenin and Trotzky were to be eliminated, and the Military Revolutionary Committee and other repressive organs dissolved.

Wednesday morning, November 28th, after a terrible all-night struggle, an agreement was reached. The Tsay-ee-kah,


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 came troubled for this; but Dedi spake unto him: “What is this that thou thinkest, O King (life, wealth, health), my lord? Is it because of these three children? I tell thee thy son shall reign, and thy son’s son, and then one of them.” His Majesty said, “And when shall Rud-didet bear these?” And he replied, “She shall bear them on the twenty-fifth of the month Tybi.” And his Majesty said, “When the banks of the canal of Letopolis are cut, I will walk there that I may see the temple of Ra, lord of Sakhebu.” And Dedi replied, “Then I will cause that there be four cubits of water by the banks of the canal of Letopolis.” When his Majesty returned to his palace, his Majesty said: “Let them place Dedi in the house of the royal son Hordedef, that he may dwell with him, and let them give him a daily portion of 1,000 loaves, 100 draughts of beer, an ox, and 100 bunches of onions.” And they did everything as his Majesty commanded.

And one day it came to pass that Rud-didet felt the pains of birth. And the majesty of Ra, Lord of Sakhebu, said unto Isis, to Nebhat, to Meskhent, to Hakt, and to Khnumu: ‘Go ye, and deliver Rud-didet of these three children that she shall bear, who are to fulfil this noble office over all this land; that they may build up your temples, furnish your altars with offerings, supply your tables of libation, and increase your endowments.” Then went these deities; their fashion they made as that of dancing-girls, and Khnumu was with them as a porter. They drew near unto the house of Ra-user, and found him standing, with his girdle fallen. And they played before him with their instruments of music. But he said unto them, “My ladies, behold, here is a woman who feels the pains of birth.” They said to him, “Let us see her, for we know how to help her.” And he replied, “Come, then.” And they entered in straightway to Rud-didet, and they closed the door on her and on themselves. Then Isis stood before her, and Nebhat stood behind her, and Hakt helped her. And Isis said, “O child, by thy name of User-ref, do not do violence.” And the child came upon her hands, as a child of a cubit; its bones were strong, the beauty of its limbs was like gold, and its hair was like true lapis-lazuli. They washed him, and prepared him, and placed him on a carpet on the brickwork. Then


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 composed of 108 members, was to be augumented by 108 members elected proportionally from the Peasants' Congress; by 100 delegates elected directly from the Army and the Fleet; and by 50 representatives of the Trade Unions (35 from the general Unions, 10 Railway Workers, and 5 from the Post and Telegraph Workers). The Dumas and Zemstvos were dropped. Lenin and Trotzky remained in the Government, and the Military Revolutionary Committee continued to function.

The sessions of the Congress had now been removed to the Imperial Law School building, Fontanka 6, headquarters of the Peasants' Soviets. There in the great meeting-hall the delegates gathered on Wednesday afternoon. The old Executive Committee had withdrawn, and was holding a rump convention of its own in another room of the same building, made up of bolting delegates and representatives of the Army Committees.

Tchernov went from one meeting to the other, keeping a watchful eye on the proceedings. He knew that an agreement with the Bolsheviki was being discussed, but he did not know that it had been concluded.

He spoke to the rump convention. "At present, when everybody is in favour of forming an all-Socialist Government, many people forget the first Ministry, which was not a coalition Government, and in which there was only one Socialist-Kerensky; a Government which, in its time, was very popular. Now people accuse Kerensky; they forget that he was raised to power, not only by the Soviets, but also by the popular masses....

"Why did public opinion change toward Kerensky? The savages set up gods to which they pray, and which they punish if one of their prayers is not answered.... That is what is happening at this moment.... Yesterday Kerensky; today Lenin and Trotzky; another to-morrow....


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 "We have proposed to both Kerensky and the Bolsheviki to retire from the power. Kerensky has accepted—to-day he announced from his hiding-place that he has resigned as Premier; but the Bolsheviki wish to retain the power, and they do not know how to use it....

"If the Bolsheviki succeed, or if they fail, the fate of Russia will not be changed. The Russian villages understand perfectly what they want, and they are now carrying out their own measures.... The villages will save us in the end...."

In the meanwhile, in the great hall Ustinov had announced the agreement between the Peasants' Congress and Smolny, received by the delegates with the wildest joy. Suddenly Tchernov appeared, and demanded the floor.

"I understand," he began, "that an agreement is being concluded between the Peasants' Congress and Smolny. Such an agreement would be illegal, seeing that the true Congress of Peasants' Soviets does not meet until next week....

"Moreover, I want to warn you now that the Bolsheviki will never accept your demands...."

He was interrupted by a great burst of laughter; and realising the situation, he left the platform and the room, taking his popularity with him....

Late in the afternoon of Thursday, November 16th, the Congress met in extraordinary session. There was a holiday feeling in the air; on every face was a smile.... The remainder of the business before the assembly was hurried through, and then old Nathanson, the white-bearded dean of the left wing of the Socialist Revolutionaries, his voice trembling and tears in his eyes, read the report of the "wedding" of the Peasants' Soviets with the Workers' and Soldiers' Soviets. At every mention of the word "union" there was ecstatic applause.... At the end Ustinov announced the ar-


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 rival of a delegation from Smolny, accompanied by representatives of the Red Army, greeted with a rising ovation. One after another a workman, a soldier and a sailor took the floor, hailing them.

Then Boris Reinstein, delegate of the American Socialist Labor Party: "The day of the union of the Congress of Peasants and the Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies is one of the great days of the Revolution. The sound of it will ring with resounding echoes throughout the whole world—in Paris, in London, and across the ocean—in New York. This union will fill with happiness the hearts of all toilers.

"A great idea has triumphed. The West, and America, expected from Russia, from the Russian proletariat, something tremendous.... The proletariat of the world is waiting for the Russian Revolution, waiting for the great things that it is accomplishing...."

Sverdlov, president of the Tsay-ee-kah, greeted them. And with the shout, "Long live the end of civil war! Long live the United Democracy!" the peasants poured out of the building.

It was already dark, and on the ice-covered snow glittered the pale light of moon and star. Along the bank of the canal were drawn up in full marching order the soldiers of the Pavlovsky Regiment, with their band, which broke into the Marseillaise. Amid the crashing full-throated shouts of the soldiers, the peasants formed in line, unfurling the great red banner of the Executive Committee of the All-Russian Peasants' Soviets, embroidered newly in gold, "Long live the union of the revolutionary and toiling masses!" Following were other banners; of the District Soviets—of Putilov Factory, which read, "We bow to this flag in order to create the brotherhood of all people!"

From somewhere torches appeared, blazing orange in the night, a thousand times reflected in the facets of the ice,


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 streaming out smokily over the throng as it moved down the bank of the Fontanka singing, between crowds that stood in astonished silence.

"Long live the Revolutionary Army! Long live the Red Guard! Long live the Peasants!"

So the great procession wound through the city, growing and unfurling ever new red banners lettered in gold. Two old peasants, bowed with toil, were walking hand in hand, their faces illumined with child-like bliss.

"Well," said one, "I'd like to see them take away our land again, now!

Near Smolny the Red Guard was lined up on both sides of the street, wild with delight. The other old peasant spoke to his comrade, "I am not tired," he said. "I walked on air all the way!"

On the steps of Smolny about a hundred Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies were massed, with their banner, dark against the blaze of light streaming out between the arches. Like a wave they rushed down, clasping the peasants in their arms and kissing them; and the procession poured in through the great door and up the stairs, with a noise like thunder....

In the immense white meeting-room the Tsay-ee-kah was waiting, with the whole Petrograd Soviet and a thousand spectators beside, with that solemnity which attends great conscious moments in history.

Zinoviev announced the agreement with the Peasants' Congress, to a shaking roar which rose and burst into storm as the sound of music blared down the corridor, and the head of the procession came in. On the platform the presidium rose and made place for the Peasants' presidium, the two embracing; behind them the two banners were intertwined against the white wall, over the empty frame from which the Tsar's picture had been torn....


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 Then opened the "triumphal session." After a few words of welcome from Sverdlov, Maria Spiridonova, slight, pale, with spectacles and hair drawn flatly down, and the air of a New England school-teacher, took the tribune—the most loved and the most powerful woman in all Russia.

"... Before the workers of Russia open now horizons which history has never known.... All workers' movements in the past have been defeated. But the present movement is international, and that is why it is invincible. There is no force in the world which can put out the fire of the Revolution! The old world crumbles down, the new world begins...."

Then Trotzky, full of fire: "I wish you welcome, comrades peasants! You come here not as guests, but as masters of this house, which holds the heart of the Russian Revolution. The will of millions of workers is now concentrated in this hall.... There is now only one master of the Russian land: the union of the workers, soldiers and peasants...."

With biting sarcasm he went on to speak of the Allied diplomats, till then contemptuous of Russia's invitation to an armistice, which had been accepted by the Central Powers.

"A new humanity will be born of this war.... In this hall we swear to workers of all lands to remain at our revolutionary post. If we are broken, then it will be in defending our flag...."

Krylenko followed him, explaining the situation at the front, where Dukhonin was preparing to resist the Council of People's Commissars. "Let Dukhonin and those with him understand well that we shall not deal gently with those who bar the road to peace!"

Dybenko saluted the assembly in the name of the Fleet, and Krushinsky, member of the Vikzhel, said, "From this moment, when the union of all true Socialists is realised, the whole army


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 of railway workers places itself absolutely at the disposition of the revolutionary democracy!" And Lunatcharsky, almost weeping, and Proshian, for the Left Socialist Revolutionaries, and finally Saharashvili, for the United Social Democrats Internationalists, composed of members of the Martov's and of Gorky's groups, who declared:

"We left the Tsay-ee-kah because of the uncompromising policy of the Bolsheviki, and to force them to make concessions in order to realise the union of all the revolutionary democracy. Now that that union is brought about, we consider it a sacred duty to take our places once more in the Tsay-ee-kah.... We declare that all those who have withdrawn from the Tsay-ee-kah should now return."

Stachkov, a dignified old peasant of the presidium of the Peasants' Congress, bowed to the four corners of the room. "I greet you with the christening of a new Russian life and freedom!"

Gronsky, in the name of the Polish Social Democracy; Skripnik, for the Factory-Shop Committees; Tifonov, for the Russian soldiers at Salonika; and others, interminably, speaking out of full hearts, with the happy eloquence of hopes fulfilled.... It was late in the night when the following resolution was put and passed unanimously:

"The Tsay-ee-kah, united in extraordinary session with the Petrograd Soviet and the Peasants' Congress, confirms the Land and Peace decrees adopted by the second Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, and also the decree on Workers' Control adopted by the Tsay-ee-kah.

"The joint session of the Tsay-ee-kah and the Peasants' Congress expresses its firm conviction that the union of workers, soldiers and peasants, this fraternal union of all the workers and all exploited, will consolidate the power conquered by them, that it will take all revolutionary measures


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 Meskhent approached him and said, “This is a king who shall reign over all the land.” And Khnumu gave strength to his limbs. Then Isis stood before her, and Nebhat stood behind her, and Hakt helped her. And Isis said, “O child, by thy name of Sah-ra, stay not in her.” Then the child came upon her hands, a child of a cubit; its bones were strong, the beauty of its limbs was like gold, and its hair was like true lapis-lazuli. They washed him, and prepared him, and laid him on a carpet on the brickwork. Then Meskhent approached him and said, “This is a king who shall reign over all the land.” And Khnumu gave strength to his limbs. Then Isis stood before her, and Nebhat stood behind her, and Hakt helped her. And Isis said, “O child, by thy name of Kaku, remain not in darkness in her.” And the child came upon her hands, a child of a cubit; its bones were strong, the beauty of its limbs was like gold, and its hair was like true lapis-lazuli, And Meskhent approached him and said, “This is a king who shall reign over all the land.” And Khnumu gave strength to his limbs. And they washed him, and prepared him, and laid him on a carpet on the brickwork.

And the deities went out, having delivered Rud-didet of the three children. And they said, “Rejoice! O Ra-user, for behold three children are born unto thee.” And he said unto them, “My ladies, and what shall I give unto ye? Behold, give this bushel of barley here unto your porter, that ye may take it as your reward to the brew-house.” And Khnumu loaded himself with the bushel of barley. And they went away toward the place from which they came. And Isis spake unto these goddesses, and said, “Wherefore have we come without doing a marvel for these children, that we may tell it to their father who has sent us?” Then made they the divine diadems of the King (life, wealth, and health), and laid them in the bushel of barley. And they caused the clouds to come with wind and rain; and they turned back again unto the house. And they said, “Let us put this barley in a closed chamber, sealed up, until we return northward, dancing.” And they placed the barley in a close chamber.

And Rud-didet purified herself, with a purification of fourteen days. And she said to her handmaid, “Is the house made


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 ready?” And she replied, “All things are made ready, but the brewing barley is not yet brought.” And Rud-didet said, “Wherefore is the brewing barley not yet brought?” And the servant answered, “It would all of it long since be ready if the barley had not been given to the dancing-girls, and lay in the chamber under their seal.” Rud-didet said, “Go down, and bring of it, and Ra-user shall give them in its stead when he shall come.” And the handmaid went, and opened the chamber. And she heard talking and singing, music and dancing, quavering, and all things which are performed for a king in his chamber. And she returned and told to Rud-didet all that she had heard. And she went through the chamber, but she found not the place where the sound was. And she laid her temple to the sack, and found that the sounds were in it. She placed it in a chest, and put that in another locker, and tied it fast with leather, and laid it in the storeroom, where the things were, and sealed it. And Ra-user came returning from the field; and Rud-didet repeated unto him these things; and his heart was glad above all things; and they sat down and made a joyful day.

And after these days it came to pass that Rud-didet was wroth with her servant, and beat her with stripes. And the servant said unto those that were in the house: “Shall it be done thus unto me? She has borne three kings, and I will go and tell this to his Majesty King Khufu the blessed.” And she went, and found the eldest brother of her mother, who was binding his flax on the floor. And he said to her, “Whither goest thou, my little maid?” And she told him of all these things. And her brother said to her: “Wherefore comest thou thus to me? Shall I agree to treachery?” And he took a bunch of the flax to her, and laid on her a violent blow. And the servant went to fetch a handful of water, and a crocodile carried her away.

Her uncle went therefore to tell of this to Rud-didet; and he found Rud-didet sitting, her head on her knees, and her heart beyond measure sad. And he said to her, “My lady, why makest thou thy heart thus?” And she answered, “It is because of this little wretch that was in the house; behold she went out saying, ‘I will go and tell it.’” And he


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 “What the eye doesn’t see the heart doesn’t grieve for,” he smiled.

She shrugged her shoulders.

“You’re despicable.”

“I’m human. I don’t know why you should think me such a cad because I fell head over ears in love with you. I didn’t want to, you know.”

It gave her a little twist of the to hear him say that.

“I was fair game,” she answered

“Naturally I couldn’t foresee that we were going to get into such a devil of a scrape.”

“And in any case you had a pretty shrewd idea that if any one suffered it wouldn’t be you.”

“I think that’s a bit thick. After all, now it’s all over, you must see I acted for the best for both of us. You lost your head and you ought to be jolly glad that I kept mine. Do you think it would have been a success if I’d done what you wanted me to? We were dashed uncomfortable in the frying-pan, but we should have been a damned sight worse off in the fire. And you haven’t come to any harm. Why can’t we kiss and make friends?”

She almost laughed.

“You can hardly expect me to forget that you sent me to almost certain death without a shadow of compunction?”

“Oh, what nonsense! I told you there was no risk if you took reasonable precautions. Do you think I’d have let you go for a moment if I hadn’t been perfectly convinced of that?”

“You were convinced because you wanted to be.


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 bowed his head unto the ground, and said, “My lady, she came and told me of these things, and made her complaint unto me; and I laid on her a violent blow. And she went forth to draw water, and a crocodile carried her away.”

(The rest of the tale is lost.)

There dwelt in the Sekhet Hemat—or Salt Country—a peasant called the Sekhti, with his wife and children, his asses and his dogs; and he trafficked in all good things of the Sekhet Hemat to Henenseten. Behold now he went with rushes, natron, and salt, with wood and pods, with stones and seeds, and all good products of the Sekhet Hemat. And this Sekhti journeyed to the south unto Henenseten; and when he came to the lands of the house of Fefa, north of Denat, he found a man there standing on the bank, a man called Hemti—the workman—son of a man called Asri, who was a serf of the high-steward Meruitensa. Now said this Hemti, when he saw the asses of Sekhti, that were pleasing in his eyes, “Oh that some good god would grant me to steal away the goods of Sekhti from him!”

Now the Hemti’s house was by the dike of the tow-path, which was straightened, and not wide, as much as the width of a waistcloth: on the one side of it was the water, and on the other side of it grew his corn. Hemti said then to his servant, “Hasten! bring me a shawl from the house,” and it was brought instantly. Then spread he out this shawl on the face of the dike, and it lay with its fastening on the water and its fringe on the corn.

Now Sekhti approached along the path used by all men. Said Hemti: “Have a care, Sekhti! you are not going to trample on my clothes!” Said Sekhti, “I will do as you like, I will pass carefully.” Then went he up on the higher side. But Hemti said, “Go you over my corn, instead of the path?” Said Sekhti: “I am going carefully; this high field of corn is not my choice, but you have stopped your path with your clothes, and will you then not let us pass by the side of the path?” And one of the asses filled its


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 mouth with a cluster of corn. Said Hemti: “Look you, I shall take away your ass, Sekhti, for eating my corn; behold it will have to pay according to the amount of the injury.” Said Sekhti: “I am going carefully; the one way is stopped, therefore took I my ass by the inclosed ground; and do you seize it for filling its mouth with a cluster of corn? Moreover, I know unto whom this domain belongs, even unto the lord steward Meruitensa. He it is who smites every robber in this whole land; and shall I then be robbed in his domain?”

Said Hemti, “This is the proverb which men speak: ‘A poor man’s name is only his own matter.’ I am he of whom you spake, even the lord steward of whom you think.” Thereon he took to him branches of green tamarisk and scourged all his limbs, took his asses, and drave them into the pasture. And Sekhti wept very greatly, by reason of the pain of what he had suffered. Said Hemti, “Lift not up your voice, Sekhti, or you shall go to the demon of silence.” Sekhti answered: “You beat me, you steal my goods, and now would take away even my voice, O demon of silence! If you will restore my goods, then will I cease to cry out at your violence.”

Sekhti stayed the whole day petitioning Hemti, but he would not give ear unto him. And Sekhti went his way to Khenensuten to complain to the lord steward Meruitensa. He found him coming out from the door of his house to embark on his boat, that he might go to the judgment-hall. Sekhti said: “Ho! turn, that I may please thy heart with this discourse. Now at this time let one of thy followers, whom thou wilt, come to me that I may send him to thee concerning it.” The lord steward Meruitensa made his follower, whom he chose, go straight unto him, and Sekhti sent him back with an account of all these matters. Then the lord steward Meruitensa accused Hemti unto the nobles who sat with him; and they said unto him: “By your leave: As to this Sekhti of yours, let him bring a witness. Behold thou it is our custom with our Sekhtis; witnesses come with them; behold, that is our custom. Then it will be fitting to beat this Hemti for a trifle of natron and a trifle of salt; if he is commanded to pay for it, he will pay for it.” But the high steward Meruitensa held his


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 She shifted her feet a little so that she should not touch him.

“Are you still angry with me?” he asked, the shadow of a smile on his lips and his eyes melting.

“Not a bit,” she laughed.

“I don’t think you’d laugh if you weren’t.”

“You’re mistaken; I despise you much too much to be angry with you.”

He was unruffled.

“I think you’re rather hard on me. Looking back calmly, don’t you honestly think I was right?”

“From your standpoint.”

“Now that you know Dorothy, you must admit she’s rather nice?”

“Of course. I shall always be grateful for her great kindness to me.”

“She’s one in a thousand. I should never have had a moment’s peace if we’d bolted. It would have been a rotten trick to play on her. And after all I had to think of my children; it would have been an awful handicap for them.”

For a minute she held him in her reflective gaze. She felt completely mistress of the situation.

“I’ve watched you very carefully during the week I’ve been here. I’ve come to the conclusion that you really are fond of Dorothy. I should never have thought you capable of it.”

“I told you I was fond of her. I wouldn’t do anything to cause her a moment’s uneasiness. She’s the best wife a man ever had.”

“Have you never thought that you owed her any loyalty?”


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 peace; for he would not reply unto these nobles, but would reply unto the Sekhti.

Now Sekhti came to appeal to the lord steward Meruitensa, and said, “O my lord steward, greatest of the great, guide of the needy:

Now the Sekhti made this speech in the time of the majesty of the King Neb-ka-n-ra, blessed. The lord steward Meruitensa went away straight to the King and said: “My lord, I have found one of these Sekhti, excellent of speech, in very truth; stolen are his goods, and he has come to complain to me of the matter.”

His Majesty said: “As thou wishest that I may see health! lengthen out his complaint, without replying to any of his speeches. He who desireth him to continue speaking should be silent; behold, bring us his words in writing, that we may listen to them. But provide for his wife and his children, and


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 convenient to look for them in November or December when the Hunter's huge figure stands squarely in the south. By the middle of May, the battle scene has reached the western horizon. One by one, each sparkling light disappears not to be seen again until the following October. One should say perhaps 'at a convenient hour' for in the summer-time Orion may be seen in the east at dawn. Aurora, the Dawn-goddess, up bright and early to open the sun gates for Apollo, saw the handsome hunter on the sky slope decked with red and white and yellow lights of stars. Like Diana, she loved him immediately, but, in the words of the poets, he pales before her colorful radiance as she reaches upward to announce the coming of the sun. Because dawn takes away the stars, Orion is said to have been carried away by this goddess and even yet this story may be seen enacted when watching the glory of Orion captured by Aurora as she flashes rosy-tinted in the east.

During the course of his adventurous wanderings on earth, Orion once came to the Island of Chios, in the Ægean Sea, where he fell in love with a maiden named Merope. In order to display his skill as a hunter, he cleared the island of its scourge of wild beasts and brought their skins as presents to his sweetheart. This he accomplished alone and unaided except by his mighty club and the protecting hide of a lion. This is the same lion's skin that he wears in the sky during his struggle with Taurus, the Bull, only here it is adorned by a faintly curved row of tiny 4th and 5th magnitude stars, and about ten stars of the 6th magnitude. This "tawny skin" hangs over the Hunter's left arm between his western shoulder and the Bull.

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