The Pharaoh and the Priest: An Historical Novel of Ancient Egypt

  CHAPTER XLIV

  There was in his voice so much kindliness that the astonished princewas silent and let him go.

  They were in the desert; a couple of hundred yards behind them was anarmy; in front were fugitives several hundred yards in advance. Butthough they beat and urged on their horses, the fleeing, as well asthe pursuers, advanced with great difficulty. The sun poured fromabove dreadful heat on them, the fine but sharp dust pushed itselfinto their mouths, into their nostrils, into their eyes above all;under their horses' feet the burning sand gave way at every step. Inthe air reigned a deathlike silence.

  "But it will not continue like this," said Rameses.

  "It will be worse and worse," answered Pentuer. "Dost thou see,worthiness,"--he indicated the fugitives,--"their horses are in sandto their knees?"

  The prince laughed, for at that moment they came out on ground whichwas firmer, and trotted about a hundred yards. But soon their road wasconfronted by a sea of sand, and again they advanced step by stepslowly.

  Sweat poured from the men, there was foam on the horses.

  "It is hot!" whispered the heir.

  "Listen, lord," said Pentuer, "this is not a good day for hunting inthe desert. This morning the sacred insects showed great disquiet,then dropped into lethargy. Also my knife of a priest went down verylittle in the earthen scabbard, which means intense heat. Both thesephenomena--the heat, and the lethargy of insects--may announce atempest. Let us return, for not only have we lost sight of the camp,but even sounds from there do not reach to us."

  Rameses looked at the priest almost contemptuously.

  "And dost thou think, O prophet," said he, "that I, having oncecommanded the capture of Musawasa, can return empty-handed because Ifear heat and a tempest?"

  They went on without stopping. At one place there was hard groundagain, thanks to which they approached the fugitives to within thedistance of a sling cast.

  "Hei, ye there!" cried the heir, "yield."

  The Libyans did not even look behind, and waded on through the sandwith great effort. After a while one might suppose that they would beovertaken. Soon again, however, the prince's party struck on deep sandwhile the Libyans hastening forward vanished beyond an elevation.

  The Asiatics cursed, the prince gritted his teeth.

  At last the horses began to stumble more and to be weary, so theriders had to dismount and go on foot. All at once an Asiatic grewpurple, and fell on the sand. The prince commanded to cover him with amantle, and said,--

  "We will take him on the way back."

  After great toil they reached the top of the sand height, and saw theLibyans. For them too the road had been murderous, two of their horseshad stopped.

  The camp of the Egyptian army was hidden completely behind the rollingland, and if Pentuer and the Asiatics had not known how to guidethemselves by the sun they could not have gone back to thecamping-place. In the prince's party another man fell, and threwbloody foam from his mouth. He was left, with his horse. To finishtheir trouble, on the outline of the sands stood a group of cliffs;among these the Libyans vanished.

  "Lord," said Pentuer, "that may be an ambush."

  "Let it be death, and let it take me!" replied the heir, in a changedvoice.

  The priest gazed at him with wonder; he had not supposed such resolvein Rameses.

  The cliffs were not distant, but the road was laborious beyonddescription. They had not only to walk themselves, but to drag theirhorses out of the soft sand. They waded, sinking below their ankles;they sank to their knees even in some places.

  Meanwhile the sun was flaming above them,--that dreadful sun of thedesert,--every ray of which not only baked and blinded, but prickedalso. The men dropped from weariness: in one, tongue and lips wereswollen; another had a roaring in his head, and saw black patchesbefore his eyes; drowsiness seized a third,--all felt pain in theirjoints, and lost the sensation of heat. Had any one asked if it werehot, they would not have answered.

  The ground grew firm under their feet again, and the party passed inbetween the cliffs.

  The prince, who had more presence of mind than those who were withhim, heard the snorting of horses; he turned to one side, and in theshade cast by the cliff saw a crowd of people lying as each man haddropped. Those were the Libyans.

  One of them, a youth of twenty years, wore an embroidered purpleshirt, a gold chain was around his neck, and he carried a sword richlymounted. He seemed unconscious; the eyes were turned in his head, andthere was foam on his lips. In him Rameses recognized the chief. Heapproached him, drew the chain from his neck, and unfastened hissword.

  Some old Libyan who seemed less wearied than others, seeing this,called out,--

  "Though thou art victor, Egyptian, respect the prince's son, who ischief."

  "Is he the son of Musawasa?" asked Rameses.

  "Thou hast spoken truth," replied the Libyan. "This is Tehenna, theson of Musawasa; he is our leader; he is worthy to be even prince ofEgypt."

  "But where is Musawasa?"

  "In Glaucus. He will collect a great army and avenge us."

  The other Libyans said nothing; they did not even look at theirconquerors.

  At command of Rameses the Asiatics disarmed them without the leasttrouble, and sat down in the shade themselves.

  At that moment they were all neither enemies nor friends, only men whowere mortally wearied. Death was hovering over all, but beyond restthey had no desire.

  Pentuer, seeing that Tehenna remained unconscious, knelt near him andbent above his head so that no one saw what he was doing. Soon Tehennasighed, struggled, and opened his eyes; then he sat up, rubbed hisforehead, as if roused from a deep sleep, which had not yet left him.

  "Tehenna, leader of the Libyans, thou and thy people are prisoners ofhis holiness," said Rameses.

  "Better slay me here," said Tehenna, "if I must lose my freedom."

  "If thy father, Musawasa, will submit and make peace with Egypt, thouwilt be free and happy."

  The Libyan turned his face aside, and lay down careless of everything;he seemed to be sleeping.

  He came to himself, in a quarter of an hour, somewhat fresher. Hegazed at the desert and cried out with delight: on the horizon a greencountry was visible,--water, many palms, and somewhat higher, a townand a temple.

  Around him all were sleeping, both Asiatics and Libyans. But Pentuer,standing on a rock, had shaded his eyes with his hand and was lookingin some direction.

  "Pentuer! Pentuer!" cried Rameses. "Dost thou see that oasis?"

  He sprang up and ran to the priest, whose face was full of anxiety.

  "Dost thou see the oasis?"

  "That is no oasis," said Pentuer; "that is the ghost of some regionwhich is wandering about through the desert--a region no longer inexistence. But over there--over there--is reality!" added he, pointingsouthward.

  "Are they mountains?"

  "Look more sharply."

  The prince looked, and saw something suddenly.

  "It seems to me that a dark mass is rising--my sight must be dulled."

  "That is Typhon," whispered the priest. "The gods alone have power tosave us, if only they have the wish."

  Indeed, Rameses felt on his face a breath, which amid the heat of thedesert seemed all at once hot to him. That breath, at first verydelicate, increased, growing hotter and hotter, and at the same timethe dark streak rose in the sky with astonishing swiftness.

  "What shall we do?" asked Rameses.

  "These cliffs," said the priest, "will shelter us from being coveredwith sand, but they will not keep away dust or the heat which isincreasing continually. But in a day or two days--"

  "Does Typhon blow that long?"

  "Sometimes three and four days. But sometimes he springs up for acouple of hours, and drops suddenly, like a vulture pierced with anarrow. That happens very rarely."

  The prince became gloomy, though he did not lose courage. The priest,drawing from under his mantle a little green flask, said,--

/>   "Here is an elixir. It should last thee a number of days. Wheneverthou art afraid, or feel drowsy, drink a drop. In that way thou wiltbe strengthened and endure."

  "But thou, and the others?"

  "My fate is in the hands of the One. As to the rest of the people,they are not heirs to the throne of Egypt."

  "I do not wish this liquid!" cried the prince, pushing away the littlebottle.

  "Thou must take it!" said Pentuer. "Remember that the Egyptian peoplehave fixed their hopes on thee. Remember that on thee is theirblessing."

  The black cloud had covered half the sky, and the hot wind blew withsuch force that the prince and priest had to go to the foot of thecliff.

  "The Egyptian people--their blessing?" repeated Rameses.

  All at once he called out,--

  "Was it thou who conversed with me a year ago in the garden? That wasimmediately after the manoeuvres--"

  "That same day, when thou hadst compassion on the man who hangedhimself through despair because his canal was destroyed," answered thepriest.

  "Thou didst save my house and the Jewess Sarah from the rabble whowished to stone her."

  "I did," said Pentuer. "And soon after thou didst free the innocentlaborers from prison, and didst not permit Dagon to torture thy peoplewith new tribute."

  "For this people," continued the priest in a louder voice, "for thecompassion which thou hast always shown them I bless thee againto-day. Perhaps thou art the only one who will be saved here, butremember that the oppressed people of Egypt will save thee, they wholook to thee for redemption."

  Hereupon it grew dark; from the south came a shower of hot sand, andsuch a mighty wind rose that it threw down a horse that was standingin the open. The Asiatics and the Libyan prisoners all woke, but eachman merely pressed up to the cliff more closely, and possessed bygreat fear remained silent.

  In nature something dreadful was happening. Night covered the earth,and through the sky black or ruddy clouds of sand rushed with madimpetus. It seemed as though all the sand of the desert, now alive,had sprung up and was flying to some place with the speed of a stonewhirled from the sling of a warrior.

  The heat was like that in a bath: on the hands and feet the skinburst, the tongue dried, breath produced a pricking in the breast. Thefine grains of sand burnt like fire sparks.

  Pentuer forced the bottle to the prince's lips. Rameses drank a coupleof drops and felt a marvellous change: the pain and heat ceased totorment him; his thought regained freedom.

  "And this may last a couple of days?" asked he.

  "It may last four," replied Pentuer.

  "But ye sages, favorites of the gods, have ye no means of savingpeople from such a tempest?"

  The priest thought awhile, and answered,--

  "In the world there is only one sage who can struggle with evilspirits. But he is not here."

  Typhon had been blowing for half an hour with inconceivable fury. Ithad become almost like night. At moments the wind weakened, the blackclouds pushed apart; in the sky was a bloody sun, on the earth anominous light of ruddy color. The hot stifling wind grew more violent,the clouds of sand thicker. The ghastly light was extinguished, and inthe air were heard sounds and noises to which human ears are notaccustomed.

  It was near sunset, but the violence of the tempest increased, and theunendurable heat rose continually. From time to time a gigantic bloodyspot appeared above the horizon, as if a world fire were coming.

  All at once the prince saw that Pentuer was not before him. Hestrained his ear and heard a voice, crying,--

  "Beroes! Beroes! If thou cannot help us, who can? Beroes! in the nameof the One, the Almighty, who knows neither end nor beginning, I callon thee."

  On the northern extremity of the desert, thunder was heard. The princewas frightened, since thunder for an Egyptian was almost as rare aphenomenon as a comet.

  "Beroes! Beroes!" repeated the priest in a deep voice. Ramesesstrained his eyes in the direction of the voice, and saw a dark humanfigure with arms uplifted. From the head, the fingers, and even fromthe clothing of that figure, light bluish sparks were flashing.

  "Beroes! Beroes!"

  A prolonged roar of thunder was heard nearer; lightning gleamed amidclouds of sand, and filled the desert with lurid flashes.

  A fresh peal of thunder, and again lightning.

  The prince felt that the violence of the tempest was decreasing, andthe heat also. The sand which had been whirled through the air beganto fall to the earth now, the sky became ashen gray, next ruddy, nextmilk-colored. At last all was silent, and after a while thunder washeard again, and a cool breeze from the north appeared.

  The Asiatics and Libyans, tormented by heat, regained consciousness.

  "Warriors of the pharaoh," said the old Libyan on a sudden, "do yehear that noise in the desert?"

  "Will there be another tempest?"

  "No; that is rain."

  In fact some cold drops fell from the sky, then more of them, till atlast there was a downpour accompanied by thunder.

  Among the soldiers of Rameses and their prisoners mad delight sprangup suddenly. Without caring for the thunder and lightning the men, whoa moment before had been scorched with heat, and tormented by thirst,ran under the rain like small children. In the dark they washedthemselves and their horses, they caught water in their caps andleather bags, and above all they drank and drank eagerly.

  "Is not this a miracle?" cried Rameses. "Were it not for this blessedrain we should all perish here in the burning grasp of Typhon."

  "It happens," said the old Libyan, "that the southern sandy windrouses a wind from the sea and brings heavy rain to us."

  Rameses was touched disagreeably by these words, for he had attributedthe downpour to Pentuer's prayers. He turned to the Libyan, andasked,--

  "And does it happen that sparks flash from people's bodies?"

  "It is always so when the wind blows from the desert," answered theLibyan. "Just now we saw sparks jumping not only from men, but fromhorses."

  In his voice there was such conviction that the prince approaching anofficer of his cavalry whispered,--

  "But look at the Libyans."

  When he had said this some one made a noise in the darkness, and aftera while tramping was heard. When a flash lighted up the desert theysaw a man escaping on horseback.

  "Bind these wretches!" cried the prince, "and kill any one who resistsyou. Woe to thee, Tehenna, if that scoundrel brings thy brethrenagainst us. Ye will perish in dreadful tortures, thou and thy menhere."

  In spite of rain, darkness, and thunder the prince's soldiers hurriedto bind the Libyans, who made no resistance.

  Perhaps they were waiting for Tehenna's command, but he was so crushedthat he had not even thought of fleeing.

  The storm subsided gradually, and instead of that heat of the daytimea piercing cold seized the desert. The men and horses had drunk allthey wanted; the bags were full of water; there were dates and cakesin abundance, so a good disposition prevailed. The thunder grew weak;at last even noiseless lightning flashed less and less frequently; onthe northern sky the clouds parted; here and there stars twinkled.

  Pentuer approached Rameses,--

  "Let us return to the camp," said he. "In a couple of hours we shallbe there, before the man who has escaped can lead forth an enemy."

  "How shall we find the camp in such darkness?" asked Rameses.

  "Have ye torches?" asked the priest of the Asiatics.

  Torches, or long cords soaked in an inflammable substance they had;but there was no fire, for their wooden fire-drills were rain soaked.

  "We must wait till morning," said Rameses, impatiently.

  Pentuer made no answer. He took a small instrument from his bag, tooka torch from one of the soldiers, and went to one side. After a whilethere was a low hissing, and the torch was lighted.

  "He is a great magician, that priest," muttered the old Libyan.

  "Before my eyes thou hast performed a second miracle," said the
prince. "Canst thou explain to me how that was done?"

  The priest shook his head.

  "Ask of me anything, lord, and I will answer. But ask not to explaintemple secrets."

  "Not even if I were to name thee my counsellor?"

  "Not even then. Never shall I be a traitor, and even if I desired tobe one I should be terrified by punishment."

  "Punishment?" repeated Rameses. "Aha! I remember in the temple ofHator, that man hidden under the pavement, on whom the priests werepouring burning pitch. Did they do that, indeed, and did that man diereally in tortures?"

  Pentuer was silent, as if not hearing the question, and drew outslowly from his wonderful bag a small statue of a divinity withcrossed arms. The statue depended from a string; the priest let ithang, and whispered a prayer, while he watched it. The statue, aftersome turnings and quiverings, hung without motion.

  Rameses, by the light of the torch, looked at these acts withastonishment.

  "What art thou doing?" asked he.

  "I can only say this much to thee, worthiness," replied Pentuer, "thatthis divinity points with one hand at the star Eshmun.[19] This handleads Phoenician ships through the sea during night hours."

  [19] Polar star.

  "Then the Phoenicians, too, have this god?"

  "They do not even know of him. The god which points one hand always tothe star Eshmun, is known only to us and the priests of Chaldea. Bythe aid of this god every prophet night and day, in bad and goodweather, can find his way on the sea or in the desert."

  At command of the prince, who went with a lighted torch at the side ofPentuer, the retinue and the prisoners followed the priest,northeastward. The god depending from a string trembled, but indicatedwith outstretched hand, the sacred star, Eshmun, the guardian oftravellers.

  They went on foot at a good pace, leading the horses. The cold was sosharp, that even Asiatics blew on their hands, and the Libyanstrembled.

  With that, something began to crackle and break underfoot. Pentuerstopped, and bent down.

  "In this place," said he, "rain has made a pool on the rock. And see,worthy lord, what has become of the water."

  Thus speaking, he raised and showed the prince what seemed a plate ofglass, but which melted in his hand.

  "When there is great cold," said he, "water becomes a transparentstone."

  The Asiatics confirmed the words of the priest, and added that faraway in the north, water turned into stone very often, and fog turnedinto a white salt which is tasteless, but breaks in the hands andcauses pain in the teeth.

  The prince admired Pentuer's wisdom still more.

  Meanwhile, the northern side of the heavens grew clear, showing theGreat Bear and the star, Eshmun. The priest repeated a prayer again,put the guiding god into his bag, and commanded to quench the torches,and to leave only a burning cord which kept the fire, and indicatedtime by its gradual burning.

  The prince enjoined watchfulness on his men, and taking Pentuer,pushed ahead some tens of paces.

  "Pentuer," said he, "from this hour I make thee my counsellor, bothnow and when it shall please the gods to give me the crown of Upperand Lower Egypt."

  "How have I deserved this favor?"

  "Before my eyes thou hast done deeds which show great wisdom, and alsopower over spirits. Besides thou wert ready to save me. So, althoughit is thy resolve to keep many things from my knowledge--"

  "Pardon, lord," interrupted Pentuer. "For gold and jewels, thou wiltfind traitors shouldst thou need them, among priests even. But I amnot of those men. For think, were I to betray the gods, what bondcould I give not to betray thee also?"

  Rameses grew thoughtful.

  "Thou hast answered wisely," said he. "But it is a wonder to me whythou, a priest, hast for me kindness in thy heart. Thou didst bless mea year ago, and to-day thou wouldst not let me go alone into thedesert, and hast shown me great service."

  "Because the gods have forewarned me that thou art worthy, lord;shouldst thou wish, thou mayst rescue the ill-fated people of Egypt."

  "How do the people concern thee?"

  "I came from them. My father and brother raised water long days fromthe Nile, and received blows of sticks for their labor."

  "How can I aid the people?" asked Rameses.

  Pentuer grew animated.

  "Thy people," said he, with emotion, "toil too much, they pay too muchtribute, they suffer persecution and misery. Hard is the fate of thetoiling man. The worm eats half his harvest, the rhinoceros the otherhalf; in the fields, a legion of mice live; the locust comes,--thecattle trample,--the sparrows steal. What is left after these for thethreshing floor the thief takes. Oh, wretched earth-tillers! Now comesthe scribe to the boundary and mentions the harvest. His attendantshave sticks, and black men carry palm rods. 'Give wheat!' say they. Heanswers, 'There is none.' They flog him; immediately they stretch himout at full length--they bind him; they hurl him into the canal, wherethey sink him, head downward. They bind his wife in his presence andalso his children. His neighbors flee, carrying their wheat away withthem."[20]

  [20] Original description.

  "I have seen that myself," said Rameses, "and have driven off at leastone scribe of that sort. But can I be everywhere to forestallinjustice?"

  "Thou mayst command, lord, not to torment working-men needlessly. Thoumayst decrease taxes, appoint days of rest for the earth-tillers. Thoumayst give each family a patch of land, even the harvest of whichwould be theirs, and serve to nourish them. In the opposite case theywill feed themselves as they now do, with lotus seeds, rotten fish andpapyrus, till thy people will perish finally. But show them favor andthey will rise."

  "Indeed, I will do so!" said Rameses. "A wise owner will not letcattle starve nor work beyond the strength of their bodies, or beclubbed without reason. This must be changed."

  Pentuer halted.

  "Dost thou promise that, worthy lord?"

  "I swear!" answered Rameses.

  "Then I swear that thou wilt be the most famous of all pharaohs;before thee the fame of Rameses the Great, will grow pale!" cried thepriest, mastering himself no longer.

  The prince fell to thinking, then asked,--

  "What can we two do against those priests who hate me?"

  "They fear thee, lord," answered Pentuer. "They fear lest thou beginwar too soon against Assyria?"

  "What is that to them if the war be successful?"

  The priest bent his head and spread his hands, but was silent.

  "Then I will tell thee," cried the prince, in anger. "They want nowar! They fear that I might return from it a conqueror, laden withtreasures, urging on slaves in front of me. They fear this becausethey wish every pharaoh to be a weak tool in their grasp,--a utensilof no real value,--a utensil to be thrown aside when the wish comes.But this will not happen in my case. Either I shall do what I plan,and which I, as the son and heir of the gods have the right to do, orI shall perish."

  Pentuer drew back, and muttered an exorcism.

  "Speak not thus, worthy lord," said he, in confusion, "lest evilspirits circling through the desert may seize thy words. Aword,--remember this, ruler,--is like a stone sent from a sling; itmay strike a wall, rebound, and hit the man who hurled it."

  The prince motioned with his hand contemptuously.

  "It is all one," replied he. "A life in which every one stops my willhas no worth for me. When the gods do not bar me, the winds of thedesert do; when evil spirits are not against me, the priests are. Isthe power of a pharaoh to be of such sort. I wish to do what my mindsays, to give account to my deathless ancestors, and to them only, notto this or that shaven head, who pretends to interpret the will ofdivinity, but who is really seizing power, and turning my wealth tohis own use."

  At some tens of yards from them a strange cry was heard at thatmoment, half neighing, half bleating, and an immense shadow sped past.It went like an arrow, and as far as could be seen had a humped backand a long neck.

  From the prince's retinue came sounds of fear. r />
  "That is a griffin! I saw its wings clearly," said one and another ofthe Asiatics.

  "The desert is swarming with monsters," added the old Libyan.

  Rameses was afraid; he also thought that the passing shadow had thehead of a serpent, and something resembling short wings.

  "Do monsters really show themselves in the desert?" asked he of thepriest.

  "It is true," said Pentuer, "that in such a lonely place evil spiritsprowl about in strange guises. But it seems to me that that which haspassed is rather a beast. It is like a saddle horse, only larger andquicker in movement. Dwellers in the oases say that this beast maylive without drinking water at all, or at least very rarely. If thatbe the case, men hereafter may in crossing deserts use this strangecreature, which to-day rouses fear only."

  "I should not dare to sit on the back of a great beast like that,"said Rameses, as he shook his head.

  "Our ancestors said the same of the horse, which helped the Hyksos toconquer Egypt, but to-day it is indispensable to our army. Timechanges men's judgments greatly," said Pentuer.

  The last clouds had vanished from the sky and a clear night set in.Though the moon was absent the air was so clear that on the backgroundof the white sand a man could distinguish the general outline ofobjects, even when small or distant. The piercing cold alsodiminished. All advanced now in silence, and sank, as they walked, inthe sand to their ankles. Suddenly a tumult and cries rose among theAsiatics,--

  "A sphinx! Look, a sphinx! We shall not escape from this desert ifspectres show themselves all the time."

  Indeed, outlines of a sphinx on a white limestone hill were seen veryclearly. The body of a lion, an immense head with an Egyptian cap, andas it were a human profile.

  "Calm yourselves, barbarians," said the old Libyan. "That is nosphinx; it is a lion, and he will do no harm, for he is occupied ineating."

  "Indeed, that is a lion!" confirmed the prince halting. "But how heresembles a sphinx."

  "He is the father of our sphinxes," added the priest in a low voice."His face recalls a man's features, his mane is the wig."

  "And our great sphinx, that at the pyramids?"

  "Many ages before Menes," said Pentuer, "when there were no pyramidsyet, there was on that spot a rock which looked like a recumbent lion,as if the gods wished in that way to indicate the beginning of thedesert. The holy priests of that period commanded artists to hew therock around with more accuracy and to fill out its lacks by additions.The artists, seeing people oftener than lions, cut out the face of aman, and thus the first sphinx had its origin."

  "To which we give divine honor," said the prince, smiling.

  "And justly," answered the priest. "For the gods made the firstfeatures of this work and men finished them under divine guidance. Oursphinx by its size and mysteriousness recalls the desert. It has theposture of spirits wandering through it, and terrifies men as does thedesert. That sphinx is really the son of the gods and the father ofterror."

  "Everything has in its own way an earthly beginning," answered theprince. "The Nile does not flow from heaven, but from certainmountains which lie beyond Ethiopia. The pyramids, which Herhor saidwere an image of our state, are built on the model of mountainsummits. And our temples, too, with their pylons and obelisks, withtheir gloom and coolness, do they not recall caves and mountains,extending along the Nile valley? How many times in hunting have I notgone astray among eastern ridges! I have always struck upon somestrange collection of rocks which recalled a temple. Frequently even,on their rough sides, I have seen hieroglyphs written by wind and byrainstorms."

  "In that, worthiness, thou hast proof," said Pentuer, "that ourtemples were reared on a plan which the gods themselves outlined. Andas a small kernel cast into the ground gives birth to aheaven-touching palm tree, so the picture of a cliff, a cave, a lion,even a lotus, placed in the soul of a pious pharaoh, gives birth to analley of sphinxes, to temples and their mighty columns. Those are theworks of divinities, not men, and happy is the ruler who when he lookscan discover divine thought in earthly objects and present it in aform pleasing to future generations."

  "But such a ruler must have power, much wealth, and not depend on thefancies of priests," interrupted Rameses.

  Before them extended a second sandy elevation, on which at that momentappeared some horsemen.

  "Are they our men, or the Libyans?" asked Rameses.

  The sound of a horn was heard from the eminence; to this an answer wasgiven by the prince's retinue. The horsemen came down as quickly asthe deep sand would let them. When they had approached one criedout,--

  "Is the heir to the throne here?"

  "He is, and is well!" cried Rameses.

  They dismounted and fell on their faces.

  "Oh, Erpatr!" cried the leader of the newly arrived, "thy troops arerending their garments and scattering dust on their heads, thinkingthat thou hast perished. All the cavalry has scattered over the desertto find traces, while the gods have permitted us, the unworthy, to befirst to greet thee."

  The prince named the man a centurion and commanded him to present hissubordinates for a reward on the morrow.