Then some of the king's men, whose place it was to wait on him, came to him and said it would be a good plan for him to have all the fair maids in the land brought to his house, that he might choose one of them to be queen, in the place of Vash-ti. And the king did as they said. Now there was a Jew in the king's house, whose name was Mor-de-ca-i. He was a poor man, and was there to wait on the king. And there was a maid named Es-ther, who was one of his kins-folk. And she was "fair of face, and full of grace." And when the word went forth from the king, scores and scores of fair young maids came to the king's house, and Es-ther came with them. And one of the king's men had them all in his charge. This man was so pleased with Es-ther that he was more kind to her than he was to the rest, and sent maids to wait on her, and put her and her maids in the best part of the house where the wo-men were. But Es-ther had not let it be known that her folks were Jews, for Mor-de-ca-i had told her not to tell it. [Illustration: ES-THER AND THE KING.] As soon as the king saw Es-ther he fell in love with her, and set the crown on her head, and made her queen in the place of Vash-ti. Then the king made a great feast, and gave gifts to the poor for the new queen's sake. And she had not yet made it known that her folks were Jews. Now two of the king's men, who stood on guard at the doors of his house, were wroth with the king and sought to kill him. And their plot was known to Mor-de-ca-i, who was a watch-man at the king's gate. And he told it to Es-ther, and she told it to the king, and both of the men were hung. And what Mor-de-ca-i had done to save the king's life was put down in a book. And in this same book was set down all that took place in the king's reign. Now there was in the king's house a man whose name was Ha-man. And the king gave him a high place, and bade those of low rank bow down to Ha-man. But the Jew at the gate would not bow when Ha-man went in and out. And the rest of the men who stood by told Ha-man of it. Now Ha-man was a vain man, and when he saw that Mor-de-ca-i did not bow to him as the rest did he was full of wrath. It had been made known to him that Mor-de-ca-i was a Jew. And so he told the king if he would make a law that all the Jews should be put to death, he would give him a large sum of gold and sil-ver. The king heard what Ha-man said, and then took his ring from his hand and gave it to Ha-man, and told him to do with the Jews as he thought best. The king gave him his ring that he might use it as a seal. And Ha-man set the scribes to work, and they wrote just what he told them, in the king's name. And when the wax was put at the end with the king's seal on it, it was the same as if the whole had been writ by the king's own hand. Men were sent out in haste to make the law known through-out the land, that all the Jews in Per-si-a were to be slain. And when this was done Ha-man and the king sat down to drink wine.