In the evening, again, under the guardianship of Tutmosis, the worthy Hiram stood in the cabinet of his holiness. This time he did not complain of weariness, but he fell on his face and cursed the stupid Dagon.

"I have learned," said he, "that that mangy fellow dared to remind thee, holiness, of our talk concerning the ca.n.a.l to the Red Sea. May he perish! May the leprosy devour him! May his children become swineherds and his grandchildren Hebrews. But do thou, sovereign, only command, and whatever wealth Phnicia has she will lay at thy feet without bond or treaty. Are we a.s.syrians--or priests," added he in a whisper, "that one word of such a mighty potentate should not suffice us?"

"But if I should require a really large sum?"

"Such as--?"

"For example, thirty thousand talents."

"Immediately?"

"No, in the course of a year."

"Thou wilt have it, holiness," answered Hiram, without hesitation.

The pharaoh was astonished at this liberality.

"But must I give you a pledge?"

"Only for form's sake," replied the Phnician. "Give us, holiness, the quarries in pledge, so as not to rouse the suspicions of priests.

Were it not for them, thou wouldst have all Phnicia without pledge or paper."

"But the ca.n.a.l? Am I to sign a treaty at once?" asked Rameses.

"Not at all. Thou wilt make, O holiness, a treaty when it pleases thee."

It seemed to the pharaoh that he was uplifted in the air. At that moment it seemed to him that he had tasted for the first time the sweetness of regal power, and tasted it, thanks to the Phnicians.

"Hiram," said he, controlling himself no longer, "I give thee permission this day to dig a ca.n.a.l which shall join the Red Sea with the Mediterranean."

The old man fell at the feet of the pharaoh.

"Thou art the greatest sovereign ever seen on earth," said he.

"For the time thou art not permitted to speak of this to any one, because the enemies of my glory are watching. But that thou shouldst feel certain, I give thee this from my own finger."

He took from his finger a ring adorned with a magic stone on which was engraved the name Horus, and put it on the finger of the Phnician.

"The property of all Phnicia is at thy command," said Hiram, moved profoundly. "Thou wilt accomplish a work which will herald thy name till the sun quenches."

The pharaoh pressed Hiram's iron-gray head and commanded him to sit down before him.

"And so we are allies," said he, after a while, "and I hope that from this will rise prosperity for Egypt and Phnicia."

"For the whole world," added Hiram.

"But tell me, prince, whence hast thou such confidence in me?"

"I know thy n.o.ble character, holiness. If thou, sovereign, wert not a pharaoh, in a few years thou wouldst become the most renowned of Phnician merchants and the chief of our council."

"Let us suppose that," replied Rameses. "But I, to keep my promises, must first bend the priests. That is a struggle the issue of which is uncertain."

Hiram smiled.

"Lord," said he, "if we were so insignificant as to abandon thee to-day when thy treasury is empty, and thy enemies are insolent, thou wouldst lose the battle. For a man deprived of means loses daring easily; from an impoverished king his armies turn away as well as his dignitaries and his subjects. But if thou, sovereign, have our gold and our agents, with thy army and thy generals thou wilt have as much trouble with the priests as an elephant with a scorpion. Thou wilt barely set thy foot on them and they will be crushed beneath it. But this is not my affair. The high priest Samentu is waiting in the garden, he whom thou hast summoned. I withdraw; it is his hour. But I refuse not the money. Command me to the extent of thirty thousand talents."

He fell on his face again and then withdrew, promising that Samentu would present himself straightway.

In half an hour the high priest appeared. As became one who honored Set he did not shave his red beard and s.h.a.ggy hair; he had a severe face, but eyes full of intellect. He bowed without excessive humility and met the soul-piercing gaze of the pharaoh with calmness.

"Be seated," said the pharaoh.

The high priest sat on the floor.

"Thou pleasest me," said Rameses. "Thou hast the bearing and the face of a Hyksos, and they are the most valiant troops in my army." Then he inquired, on a sudden--

"Art thou the man who informed Hiram of the treaty of our priests with a.s.syria?"

"I am," replied Samentu, without dropping his eyes.

"Didst thou share in that iniquity?"

"I did not. I overheard the conditions. In the temples, as in thy palaces, holiness, the walls are honeycombed with pa.s.sages through which it is possible to hear on the summit of pylons what is said in the cellars."

"And from subterranean places it is possible to converse with persons in upper chambers?" asked the pharaoh.

"And imitate voices from the G.o.ds," added the priest seriously.

The pharaoh smiled. Then the supposition was correct that it was not the spirit of his father, but priests who spoke to him and to his mother.

"Why didst thou confide to Phnicians a great secret of the state?"

inquired Rameses.

"Because I wished to prevent a shameful treaty which was as harmful to us as to Phnicia."

"Thou mightst have forewarned some Egyptian dignitary."

"Whom?" inquired the priest. "Men who were powerless before Herhor; or who would complain of me to him and expose me to death and tortures? I confided it to Hiram, for he meets dignitaries of ours whom I never see."

"But why did Herhor and Mefres conclude such a treaty?" inquired Rameses.

"In my opinion, they are men of weak heads whom Beroes, the great Chaldean priest, frightened. He told them that for ten years evil fates would threaten Egypt; that if we began war with a.s.syria during that time we should be defeated."

"And did they believe him?"

"Beroes, it seems, showed them wonders. He was even borne above the earth. Beyond doubt that is wonderful; but I cannot understand why we should lose Phnicia because Beroes can fly above the earth."

"Then thou dost not believe in miracles?"