Year: 1860

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Rhemphisinitis-it is no great conse
quence which he was an aged gentle
manly sort of person, very fond o
amassing riches; propensity he had Sc
unremttingly endeavored to crafty dur
ing his whole career, that he had become
one of the wealthiest monarchs that ever
swayed the Egyptian sceptre.


But was he happy after he had arrived
at this consummstion of his wishes? No
exactly so and on this rests our present
story, the facts of which are taken from
the Greek historian Herodotus, though
we claim and use the privilege of relating
them in our own humble way.


Rhemphis, then, had accumulated great
treasures of gold and silver, and precious
jewels. 1t was delightful to the old king
to look upon them, but for the fear ot
loosing them came in the way to mar bis
enjoyment.


The monarch distrusted his servants
and everybody about him, naturally
enough supposing that every one regard
ed such objects with eyes as covetous as
his own.


This idea became the torment of the
kings life. What was to be done TO
do him justice, Rhemphis was not cruel
or tyrannical, and although particular
persons among his dependants might be
the chief objects of his uneasy suspicious,
he never once thought of inviting them
to banquet, and letting loose execution
ers upon them in their hour of unguarded
relaxation which was the plan adopted
by certain successor of his, some two or
three thousand years afterwards, in order
to get rid of four or five hundred servants
usually called Mameluzes) who had be-
come objects of jealousy and dislike to
their master.


Rhemphis never took such a scheme
as this into his head. The plan he did
fall upon was the simple one of builing a
secure place for the reception of the gold
which he was afraid of loosing With
this view he called an architect, or rather
several architects before him, to consult
about the stone strong box he had resolv-
ed to build. We say SeveraL architects,
because there is strong reason to believe
that the job was executed by contract.


The builder to whom the employment
fell executed it, at least; in a way and
manner very different from the employ
er's wishes, which renders the presump-
ton of its being a contractvery strong.


The new treasury was erected close to
the side of the palace walls, and had no
opening whatever excepting one to the
private apartment of Rhemphis, in the
interior of the royal building. Nothing
but blank stone wall of sufficient
strength, was presented to gazers from
the outside; and as for the door leading
to and from the palace, the king took ex-
cellent good care that the keys of it
should never for moment leave his own
girdle, and that its strength should be
such as to render access without these
lock pickers impossible.


Rhemphis was absolutely happy, or at
least wonderful merry, when once he got
his strong box fairly made, and his treas
ures deposited in it,


Every day after dinner, to the great
astonishmeut and also to the satisfaction
of his only daughter--a creature young
and beautiful as the dawn.-he would
make an attempt to carol an emphatic
ditty, which being translated from the
Coptic, approached very near in signif-
cation to our own "Begone dull care !"


But this state of complacency did not
continue long. On one of his solitary
visits to his strong box, it struck the
king that things were not precisely as he
had left them on previous OCCASION
He missed some of his golden boards !;
but their total amount was so immense,
that he could not be certain Of the fact
until he had made mark and examined
a second time.


His suspicious were confirmed, his gold
had been pilfered, and that in no small
quantities From that hour, as may be
supposed, the kings comfort was utterly
destroyed, and the more so, because he
could not form the slightest conception
of the authors of the robbery or the man
ner in which it had been effected. The
lock and seals-for he was in the habit of
using the additional precaution of sealing
up the door-were apparently untouched.
1t was next to impossible that any person
could have entered by the door, and as
Rhemphis held up his lamp, and looked
around the dead walls, he though it
equally out of the question to suppose
that any one could pass through them.


Nevertheless, on succeeding visits the
monarch perceived the diminution of his
gold still to continue.


Never was an old gentleman so puz-
zled, so distracted. How could the thief
get in, and who could the thief be p
All that Rhemphs could determine on the
matter was that the pilferer must be one
Of his own servants and having arrived
at this conclusion the next question was,
How to catch him p?


To place guards around the place would
have been ridiculous, as the unknown
thief would thereby have been deliberate
ly warned of his danger. At last Rhem-
phis determined to place traps inside the
treasure house, and around the waits con-
tanning the precious boards. The kings
confidential artificer got tho traps made
accordingly and they were with all pos
sible speed, set in the requisite situation.
But before we tell the issue, we must in
Il Al A \ a. Al