The prince sprang up.

"Silence!" cried he. "I should prefer treason on the part of my most faithful servants, to such weakness in the country. Egypt yield to a.s.syria--why, a year later Egypt herself would fall under the yoke of a.s.syria, for by subscribing to such infamy she would confess her own helplessness."

He walked up and down the room, with indignation, while Hiram looked at him with compa.s.sion or with sympathy.

All at once Rameses halted before the Phnician,--

"This is false! Some adroit villain has deceived thee, O Hiram, with the semblance of truth, and thou hast believed him. If such a treaty existed, they would have kept it in the closest secrecy. In the present case one of the four priests whom thou hast mentioned is a traitor, not only to his own sovereign, but to his co-conspirators--"

"There might have been some fifth man who overheard them," interrupted Hiram.

"And who sold the secret to thee?"

"It is a wonder to me," said Hiram, "that the prince has not discovered the power of gold."

"But stop, worthiness, our priests have more gold than thou, though thou art wealthy beyond the wealthy!"

"Still I am not angry when a drachma comes to me. Why should others refuse a talent?"

"They would because they are servants of the G.o.ds," said the prince, pa.s.sionately; "they would fear divine punishment."

The Phnician laughed.

"I have seen," said he, "many temples of various nations, and in those temples great and small statues, of wood, stone, and gold even. But G.o.ds I have never met."

"Blasphemer!" exclaimed Rameses. "I have seen a divinity, I have felt its hand on my person, I have heard its voice."

"In what place?"

"In the temple of Hator, in its hall of entrance, and in my cell."

"In the daytime?"

"In the night," replied the prince; and he stopped.

"At night the prince heard speeches of the G.o.ds, and felt their hands," replied the Phnician, emphasizing word after word. "At night it is possible to see many things. What happened?"

"In the temple I was seized by the head, by the shoulders, by the legs; and I swear--"

"Phst!" interrupted Hiram, with a smile. "It is not proper to swear in vain."

He looked fixedly at Rameses with his quick and wise eyes, and seeing that doubt was rising in the young man, he continued,--

"I will tell thee something, lord. Thou art inexperienced, though surrounded by a net of intrigues, but I have been the friend of thy grandfather and thy father. Now I will render thee a service: Come in the night to the temple of Astaroth, but bind thyself to keep the secret. Come alone, and thou wilt be convinced as to who the G.o.ds are who speak in the temples and touch us."

"I will come," said Rameses, after some meditation.

"Forewarn me, prince, on the morning of the day, and I will give thee the evening pa.s.sword; thou wilt be admitted. Only betray neither me nor thyself," said the Phnician, with a kindly smile. "Men never pardon betrayal of their secrets, though G.o.ds pardon sometimes." He bowed, raised his eyes and hands, while he whispered a blessing.

"Deceivers!" cried the prince. "Thou prayest to G.o.ds, and dost not believe in them."

Hiram finished the blessing, and said,--

"It is true that I have no belief in Egyptian or a.s.syrian, or even in Phnician G.o.ds, but I believe in One who dwells not in temples and whose name is unknown to us."

"Our priests believe also in One," said Rameses.

"So do the Chaldeans, but they and your priests have conspired against us. There is no truth in this world, prince."

After Hiram's departure the heir shut himself up in the most remote chamber under pretext of reading sacred papyruses.

Almost in the twinkle of an eye the information received recently arranged itself in the fiery imagination of Rameses, and he formed a plan. First of all, he understood that a secret battle for life and death was raging between the priests and the Phnicians. About what?

Naturally about wealth and influence. Hiram said truly, that should the Phnicians be expelled from Egypt, all the estates of the pharaoh, and even of the nomarchs and the entire aristocracy, would pa.s.s into possession of the temples.

Rameses had never liked the priests, and he had known and seen for a long time that the greater part of Egypt belonged to them, that their cities were the richest, their fields the best tilled, their people satisfied. He understood too that one-half the treasures which belonged to the temples would suffice to rescue the pharaoh from ceaseless troubles and give back power to him.

The prince knew this, and more than once he had said so with bitterness. But when through the influence of Herhor he became viceroy and received the corps in Memphis, he grew reconciled with the priests and stifled his previous dislike of them.

All that dislike had revived again.

Not only had the priests not told him of their negotiations with a.s.syria, they had not even forewarned him of the emba.s.sy of Sargon.

This question might indeed be the great secret of the state and the temples. But why did they conceal the amount of tributes from various Asiatic nations, unpaid thus far? One hundred thousand talents--why, that was a sum which might restore immediately the financial status of the pharaoh! Why had they concealed from him that which even a prince of Tyre knew, a man who was of the council in that city?

What a shame for him, the heir to the throne, and the viceroy, that his eyes were first opened by foreigners! But there was something worse still: Pentuer and Mefres had proved to him in every way that Egypt must avoid war. In the temple of Hator that emphasis had seemed to him suspicious, since a war might obtain for the state thousands of legions of slaves, and raise the general prosperity of the country.

To-day this seemed the more necessary since Egypt ought to receive unpaid sums and gain still more tribute.

The prince rested his arms on the table and calculated,--

"We," thought he, "should receive a hundred thousand talents. Hiram calculates that the plunder of Nineveh and Babylon would give about two hundred thousand; together, three hundred thousand. With such a sum we might cover the cost of the mightiest war, and there would remain besides several hundred thousand as profit, and captives and a hundred thousand yearly tribute from newly conquered regions. After that," concluded the prince, "we could reckon with the priesthood!"

Rameses was excited. Still reflection came to him,--

"But if Egypt was unable to wage a victorious war against a.s.syria?"

His blood boiled at this question. "How Egypt? Why should Egypt not trample a.s.syria, when he appeared at the head of its armies, he a descendant of Rameses the Great, who had hurled himself single-handed on the Hitt.i.te war-chariots and scattered them."

The prince could understand everything save this, that man might conquer him and that he could not s.n.a.t.c.h victory from the greatest enemy. He felt in himself endless daring, and he would have been astounded if any enemy whatever had not fled at sight of his steeds in full onrush. Did not the G.o.ds themselves stand on the war-chariot of the pharaoh to defend his shield and smite with heavenly bolts his enemies?

"But what did this Hiram say to me about G.o.ds?" thought the prince.

"And what will he show me in the temple of Astaroth? We shall see."

CHAPTER x.x.xI

The old man kept his promise. Every day to the prince's palace in Pi-Bast came crowds of slaves and long rows of a.s.ses bearing wheat, barley, dried meat, woven stuffs, and wine. Phnician merchants brought gold and precious stones under inspection of Hiram's a.s.sistants.

In this manner the heir received in the course of five days the hundred talents promised. Hiram accounted a lower per cent to himself,--one talent for four, in a year. He asked no pledge, but was satisfied with the receipt of the prince, certified before a tribunal.