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 "I do not understand."

"I brought it with me from the foot of the throne of Ra, where a poor wandering soul, who had sinned deeply and suffered much, gave it to me when he knew that I was about to dwell among the fairest of the daughters of Kamt, so that it might preserve me from the same sin and the same suffering."

"But wilt thou not tell me what those sins and those sufferings are?"

"Nay! thou art too young to understand, but I will tell thee the name of the wandering soul who gave me the blue charm. He was a sculptor, far famed in ancient Kamt, and his name was Amen-het."

I gave Hugh a violent nudge, for I felt very much annoyed with him. To put it mildly, it was a singular want of good manners to rake up the terribly sad story of Amen-het, the sculptor, while partaking of the Princess's lavish hospitality. Amen-het had undoubtedly been a fool, and was punished for his folly according to the barbarous law of this beautiful country; but since time immemorial men have committed follies of the worst kind for women far less attractive and fascinating than was the Princess Neit-akrit.

To begin with, she was very young; she may, in a moment of thoughtlessness, have expressed a vague wish to possess some lamps similar in design to those which burned in the sanctuary of Ra. The sculptor, like a fool, took her at her word and went there, where all the people of Kamt are strictly forbidden to go, within the inner sanctuary of the temple. Surely she could not be blamed for his folly, and no doubt she had suffered horribly when …

But at this point my brief reflections were interrupted by Princess Neit-akrit's voice, truly the most melodious sound I had ever heard.