"Dost thou know, prince, what a war is to which one must go through a desert? Who will a.s.sure us that before we could reach the Euphrates half our army and carriers would not perish from hardship?"

"That would be cured by one battle," interrupted Rameses.

"A battle!" repeated the priest. "But does the prince know what a battle is?"

"I hope so!" replied the heir, striking his sword.

Mentezufis shrugged his shoulders.

"But I say, lord, that thou dost not know what a battle is; thou hast even an entirely false idea of it from manuvres at which thou hast always been the victor, though more than once thou shouldst have been conquered."

The prince frowned. The priest put his hand beneath his robe, and said quickly,--

"Guess what I have in my hand, worthiness."

"What?" repeated Rameses, with astonishment.

"Guess quickly and truly," insisted the priest, "for if thou art mistaken two of thy regiments perish."

"Thou hast a ring," said the heir, who had grown joyous.

Mentezufis opened his hand; there was a bit of papyrus in it.

"But what have I now?" asked the priest again.

"A ring."

"Well, not a ring, but an amulet of the divine Hator. Dost see, lord, that is a battle? In time of battle Fate holds out her hand every moment, and commands us to guess at the very quickest the surprise inclosed in it. We succeed, or we fail; but woe to the man who fails oftener than he guesses; and a hundredfold more to those on whom Fate turns her back and forces into blunders."

"But still I believe, and I feel here," cried the heir, striking his breast, "that a.s.syria must be trampled."

"Oh, that the G.o.d Amon might speak through thy mouth," said Mentezufis. "What thou sayst is true; a.s.syria will be humbled, perhaps even with thy hands, but not immediately--not immediately."

The priest took farewell; Rameses remained alone. In his head and his heart raged a hurricane.

"So Hiram was right in saying that they deceive us," thought he. "I am certain now that our priests have made a treaty with the Chaldeans which his holiness will be forced to sanction. Has anyone ever heard of a thing so monstrous? He, the lord of the living, and of the western world, must sign a treaty invented by intriguers!"

Breath failed him.

"The holy Mentezufis has betrayed himself. It is true, then, that in case of need Egypt can put forth an army of half a million? I did not even dream of such forces. Still they think that I fear their fables about fate, which commands us to solve riddles. Only let me have two hundred thousand men, trained like Greek and Libyan regiments, and I would undertake to solve all riddles on earth and in the heavens."

"That is a hot head," thought the worthy Mentezufis, while returning to his cell,--"a woman hunter, an adventurer, but strong. After the weak pharaoh of to-day he reminds us rather of Rameses the Great. In ten years the stars may change; he will ripen and crush a.s.syria. Of Nineveh there will remain only ruins, sacred Babylon will find its true place, and the one supreme G.o.d, the G.o.d of Egyptian and Chaldean prophets, will reign from the Libyan desert to the sacred Ganges."

"If our youth would not make himself ridiculous by night pilgrimages to the Phnician priestess; if he should be seen in the garden of Astaroth, or if people should think that the erpatr was inclining his ear to the faith of Phnicia-- Not much is needed in Lower Egypt to reject the ancient G.o.ds. What a mixture there is of nations here!"

Some days later the worthy Sargon informed the viceroy officially of his position as amba.s.sador, declared the wish to salute him, and begged for an Egyptian escort which might conduct him with all safety and honor to the feet of the pharaoh.

The prince deferred his answer two days, and appointed an audience to Sargon at the expiration of two other days. The a.s.syrian, accustomed to eastern delay in journeys and business, was offended in no way, and wasted no time. He drank from morning till evening, played dice with Hiram and other rich men from Asia. In free moments he slipped away, like Rameses, to Kama.

As an elderly and a practical man, he offered the priestess rich presents at every visit. His feelings he explained as follows:--

"O Kama, why sit in Pi-Bast and grow thin here? While young, the service of Astaroth may please thee; but when old, a wretched fate will present itself. They will take thy costly robes from thee, and put a younger woman in the temple; thou wilt earn, then, a handful of roasted barley by telling fortunes, or by nursing women in childbirth.

Had the G.o.ds in punishment created me a woman, I should choose to be the mother and not the nurse attending her."

"Hence I say," continued Sargon, "leave the temple and join my household. I will give thee ten talents in gold; I will give forty cows, and of wheat a hundred measures. The priests will fear chastis.e.m.e.nt from the G.o.ds, so as to gain from me a better bargain.

But I shall not yield a drachma; I may add, at most, a few sheep to let them celebrate a solemn service. The heavenly Astaroth will appear then, and will free thee from vows if I add a gold chain or a goblet."

While listening to these statements Kama bit her lips to restrain laughter; and he continued,--

"If thou go with me to Nineveh, thou wilt be a great lady. Thou shall have a palace; I will give thee also horses, a litter, slaves, and servants. In one month thou wilt pour out on thy person more perfume than thou offerest here in one year to thy G.o.ddess. And who knows,"

concluded he, "thou mayst please King a.s.sar; if so, he would take thee to his palace. Thou wouldst be the happiest of women, and I should get back what I had spent on thee."

At the palace of the heir, on the day appointed to receive Sargon, Egyptian troops were drawn up, and a throng of people were standing near, eager for spectacles.

The a.s.syrian retinue appeared about midday, the hour when heat is greatest. In front marched policemen armed with swords and sticks; behind them a number of naked swift runners, and three horses. Those were trumpeters and a herald. At the corner of each street the trumpeters sounded a signal, and the herald called in a loud voice: "Behold, Sargon is approaching; the amba.s.sador of the mighty a.s.sar, a relative of the king, a lord of immense wealth, a conqueror in battles, a ruler of provinces. Give him, O people, due homage as a friend of the ruler of Egypt!"

After the trumpeters rode a.s.syrian cavalry, with pointed caps, in narrow skirts and jackets. Their s.h.a.ggy and enduring horses had on their foreheads and b.r.e.a.s.t.s bronze armor patterned as fish-scales.

Next appeared infantry in helmets, and long mantles reaching the earth. One division was armed with heavy clubs, the next with bows, the third with spears and shields. Each man had, besides, a sword, and was armored.

After the soldiers came Sargon's horses, chariots, and litters, surrounded by servants in white, red, and green garments. After them came five elephants with litters on their backs; on one rode Sargon, on another the Chaldean priest Istubar.

The procession was closed by warriors on horseback and on foot, and by harsh a.s.syrian music, produced by trumpets, drums, metallic plates, and pipes squealing shrilly.

Prince Rameses, surrounded by priests, n.o.bility, and officers, dressed in various colors, and richly, was awaiting the amba.s.sador in the great hall of audience, which was open on all sides. The heir was gladsome, knowing that the a.s.syrians were bringing gifts which, in the eyes of Egyptians, might pa.s.s as tribute. But when he heard the immense voice of a herald in the court praising the might of Sargon, he frowned. When the expression flew to his ears, that King a.s.sar was the friend of the pharaoh, he grew angry. His nostrils dilated like those of an angry bull, and sparks flashed in his eyeb.a.l.l.s. Seeing this, the officers and n.o.bility began to a.s.sume threatening faces, and put hands to their sword-hilts. The holy Mentezufis noted their looks, and cried,--

"In the name of his holiness, I command n.o.bles and officers to receive the worthy Sargon with the respect due a great king's amba.s.sador!"

The heir frowned, and strode impatiently along the raised platform where his viceregal chair was standing. But the disciplined officers and the n.o.bles grew silent, knowing that they could not trifle with the a.s.sistant of the war minister.

Meanwhile, in the court the immense and heavily armed a.s.syrian warriors stood in three ranks, opposite the half-naked and slender warriors of Egypt. The two sides looked at each other like a band of tigers at a herd of rhinoceroses. In the hearts of each ancient hatred was smouldering. But command towered above hatred.

At that moment the elephants entered, the Egyptian and a.s.syrian trumpets roared, the troops of both armies raised their weapons, the people fell on their faces, while the a.s.syrian dignitaries, Sargon and Istubar, were descending from their litters.

In the hall Prince Rameses sat on an elevated chair beneath a baldachin, while at the entrance door appeared the herald.

"Most worthy lord," said he, turning to the heir, "the amba.s.sador of the great King a.s.sar, the renowned Sargon, and his a.s.sociate, the pious prophet Istubar, desire to salute thee and render thee honor as viceroy and heir to the pharaoh,--may he live through eternity!"

"Ask those dignitaries to enter and comfort my heart by the sight of their persons," answered the viceroy.

Sargon entered the hall with a clattering and clinking. He was dressed in a long green robe, thickly embroidered with gold. At his side, in a snow-white mantle, walked the devout Istubar, and behind them stately a.s.syrian lords carried gifts for the viceroy.

Sargon approached the elevation, and said in the a.s.syrian language, which an interpreter repeated in Egyptian immediately,--

"I, Sargon, a leader, a satrap, and a relative of the most mighty King a.s.sar, come to salute thee, O viceroy of the most mighty pharaoh, and in sign of eternal friendship I offer gifts to thee."

The heir rested his palms on his knees, and sat as motionless as the statues of his ancestors.

"Interpreter," said Sargon, "hast thou repeated badly to the prince my kindly greeting?"