OUR SERVANTS. 199 



of the oldest in the world — which, in the Museum at 

 Cairo, gives us so accurate a portrait of an ancient 

 E(»yptian. In looking at it you feel that you can read 

 the character of this man who lived three or four 

 thousand years ago ; and know that, although one of 

 the best-tempered of souls, he was as obstinate as 

 Pharaoh himself. Nor were those qualities larking in 

 his modern fac-simile, the ostrich-herd ; whose broad 

 countenance, as he strode after his long-legged charges, 

 bearing, in place of the Egyptian's staff of office, a stout 

 tackey, wore the identical expression which that artist 

 of long ago has caught so well. The good fellow 

 showed a laudable tenacity of purpose in the steady 

 perseverance with which he was putting by all he could 

 save of his wages, and investing the money in cows. 

 With these latter it was his intention to purchase a 

 wife, as soon as a sufficient number could be collected 

 to satisfy tlie demands of the prospective father-in-law, 

 A marriage after this fashion, although not quite in 

 accordance with English ideas, has certainly the ad- 

 vantage of inducing good habits in the intending 

 Benedick. In the first place, he learns to economize 

 instead of spending his money on drink. He will, of 

 course, take as many suppjes as you like to offer him ; 

 but you will never find him going off on the spree for 

 two or three days, and coming back considerably the 

 worse for his outing, as those of his brethren who have 

 not his motive for thrift are too fond of doing. He is 

 altogether a better servant than they, being less inde- 

 pendent and more anxious to please. Often, too, he 



