“Hearken to that which I say to thee, That thou mayest be King of the earth, That thou mayest be ruler of the lands, That thou mayest increase good. Harden thyself against all subordinates; The people give heed to him who terrorises them; Approach them not alone. Fill not thy heart with a brother; Know not a friend, Nor make for thyself intimates, Wherein there is no end. When thou sleepest, guard for thyself thine own heart, For a man has no people In the day of evil. I gave to the beggar; I nourished the orphan; I admitted the insignificant, As well as him who was of great account. But he who ate my food made insurrection; He to whom I gave my hand aroused fear therein.” (_Breasted._) The spirit of these sayings creeps into the work, and excavators may be trusted to keep their own counsel. They will take immense trouble and pains in their explanations, and endeavour to render into popular language the hieroglyphics, and the meanings of the dead past; but let the ignorant only intrude upon a piece of their sacred earth, and “ice is not in it with them.” Once, while going through some excavations, a friend pointed out a small blue bead lying on the top of one of the low mud walls which separate tomb from tomb. “Shall I steal it?” he asked. Knowing the ways of excavators, I whispered a warning, “Better not.” A few steps further on the excavator turned round and explained pointedly, “Every article found in the diggings is taken note of; even a small bead” (here he paused, and we felt uncomfortable) “is placed on the top of the wall near where it was found, and is catalogued in its turn.” After this little admonition upon righteousness, we walked thoughtfully along, and my friend edged up to me. “Good job I did not steal it,” he whispered. “I am perfectly certain he” (indicating the excavator) “did not hear what I said to you, unless he has ears as well as eyes in the back of his head.” Excavators are, as a rule, extremely good judges of humanity. They know that an ancient predatory instinct is present in most people of the Anglo-Saxon race, and who knows how many short lectures on honesty that one small blue bead gave rise to. But even excavators, or perhaps it is more correct to say some of them, have their failings. They are apt to look down from an immense height upon an amateur digger as something too ignorant for words; and a pained look comes over their faces when you mention the work done by So-and-so, and the conclusions to which he has come. “What is the country coming to?” their expression seems to say.