Pharaoh, too, gazed fixedly into space, as though lost in a dream.  The
sceptre had slipped from his hand and lay in his lap.

The queen had been torn away from the corpse of her son, which was now
delivered to the embalmers, and it was not until she reached the entrance
of the audience-chamber that she had succeeded in checking her tears.
She had no thought of resistance; the inexorable ceremonial of court
etiquette required the queen to be present at any audience of importance.
To-day she would gladly have shunned the task, but Pharaoh had commanded
her presence, and she knew and approved the course to be pursued; for she
was full of dread of the power of the Hebrew Mesu, called by his own
people Moses, and of his God, who had brought such terrible woe on the
Egyptians.  She had other children to lose, and she had known Mesu from
her childhood, and was well aware how highly the great Rameses, her
husband's father and predecessor, had prized the wisdom of this stranger
who had been reared with his own sons.

Ah, if it were only possible to conciliate this man.  But Mesu had
departed with the Israelites, and she knew his iron will and had learned
that the terrible prophet was armed, not alone against Pharaoh's threats,
but also against her own fervent entreaties.

She was now expecting Hosea.  He, the son of Nun, the foremost man of all
the Hebrews in Tanis, would succeed, if any one could, in carrying out
the plan which she and her royal husband deemed best for all parties,--a
plan supported also by Rui, the hoary high-priest and first prophet of
Amon, the head of the whole Egyptian priesthood, who held the offices of
chief judge, chief treasurer, and viceroy of the kingdom, and had
followed the court from Thebes to Tanis.

Ere going to the audience hall, she had been twining wreaths for her
loved dead and the lotus flowers, larkspurs, mallow and willow-leaves,
from which she was to weave them, had been brought there by her desire.
They were lying on a small table and in her lap; but she felt paralyzed,
and the hand she stretched toward them refused to obey her will.

Rui, the first prophet of Amon, an aged man long past his ninetieth
birthday, squatted on a mat at Pharaoh's left hand.  A pair of bright
eyes, shaded by bushy white brows, glittered in his brown face--seamed
and wrinkled like the bark of a gnarled oaklike gay flowers amid withered
leaves, forming a strange contrast to his lean, bowed, and shrivelled
form.

The old man had long since resigned the management of business affairs to
the second prophet, Bai, but he held firmly to his honors, his seat at
Pharaoh's side, and his place in the council, where, though he said
little, his opinion was more frequently followed than that of the
eloquent, ardent second prophet, who was many years his junior.

The old man had not quitted Pharaoh's side since the plague entered the
palace, yet to-day he felt more vigorous than usual; the hot desert wind,
which weakened others, refreshed him.  He was constantly shivering,
despite the panther-skin which hung over his back and shoulders, and the
heat of the day warmed his chilly old blood.

Moses, the Hebrew, had been his pupil, and never had he instructed a
nobler nature, a youth more richly endowed with all the gifts of
intellect.  He had initiated the Israelite into all the highest
mysteries, anticipating the greatest results for Egypt and the
priesthood, and when the Hebrew one day slew an overseer who had
mercilessly beaten one of his race, and then fled into the desert, Rui
had secretly mourned the evil deed as if his own son had committed it and
must suffer the consequences.  His intercession had secured Mesu's
pardon; but when the latter returned to Egypt and the change had occurred
which other priests termed his "apostasy," the old man had grieved even
more keenly than over his flight.  Had he, Rui, been younger, he would
have hated the man who had thus robbed him of his fairest hopes; but the
aged priest, who read men's hearts like an open book and could judge the
souls of his fellow-mortals with the calm impartiality of an unclouded
mind, confessed that he had been to blame in failing to foresee his
pupil's change of thought.

Education and precept had made Mesu an Egyptian priest according to his
own heart and that of the divinity; but after having once raised his hand
in the defence of his own people against those to whom he had been bound
only by human craft and human will, he was lost to the Egyptians and
became once more a true son of his race.  And where this man of the
strong will and lofty soul led the way, others could not fail to follow.

Rui knew likewise full well what the renegade meant to give to his race;
he had confessed it himself to the priest-faith in the one God.  Mesu had
rejected the accusation of perjury, declaring that he would never betray
the mysteries to the Hebrews, his sole desire was to lead them back to
the God whom they had worshipped ere Joseph and his family came to Egypt.
True, the "One" of the initiated resembled the God of the Hebrews in many
things, but this very fact had soothed the old sage; for experience had
taught him that the masses are not content with a single invisible God,
an idea which many, even among the more advanced of his own pupils found
difficult to comprehend.  The men and women of the lower classes needed
visible symbols of every important thing whose influence they perceived
in and around them, and the Egyptian religion supplied these images.
What could an invisible creative power guiding the course of the universe
be to a love-sick girl?  She sought the friendly Hathor, whose gentle
hands held the cords that bound heart to heart, the beautiful mighty
representative of her sex--to her she could trustingly pour forth all the
sorrows that burdened her bosom.  What was the petty grief of a mother
who sought to snatch her darling child from death, to the mighty and
incomprehensible Deity who governed the entire universe?  But the good
Isis, who herself had wept her eyes red in bitter anguish, could
understand her woe.  And how often in Egypt it was the wife who
determined her husband's relations to the gods!

Rui had frequently seen Hebrew men and women praying fervently in
Egyptian temples.  Even if Mesu should induce them to acknowledge his
God, the experienced sage clearly foresaw that they would speedily
turn from the invisible Spirit, who must ever remain aloof and
incomprehensible, and return by hundreds to the gods they understood.

Now Egypt was threatened with the loss of the laborers and builders she
so greatly needed, but Rui believed that they might be won back.

"When fair words will answer our purpose, put aside sword and bow," he
had replied to Bai, who demanded that the fugitives should be pursued and
slain.  "We have already too many corpses in our country; what we want is
workers.  Let us hold fast what we seem on the verge of losing."

These mild words were in full harmony with the mood of Pharaoh, who had
had sufficient sorrow, and would have thought it wiser to venture unarmed
into a lion's cage than to again defy the wrath of the terrible Hebrew.

So he had closed his ears to the exhortations of the second prophet,
whose steadfast, energetic will usually exercised all the greater
influence upon him on account of his own irresolution, and upheld old
Rui's suggestion that the warrior, Hosea, should be sent after his people
to deal with them in Pharaoh's name--a plan that soothed his mind and
renewed his hopes.

The second prophet, Bai, had finally assented to the plan; for it
afforded a new chance of undermining the throne he intended to overthrow.
If the Hebrews were once more settled in the land, Prince Siptah, who
regarded no punishment too severe for the race he hated, might perhaps
seize the sceptre of the cowardly king Menephtah.

But the fugitives must first be stopped, and Hosea was the right man to
do this.  But in Bai's eyes no one would be more able to gain the
confidence of an unsuspicious soldier than Pharaoh and his royal consort.
The venerable high-priest Rui, though wholly unaware of the conspiracy,
shared this opinion, and thus the sovereigns had been persuaded to
interrupt the mourning for the dead and speak in person to the Hebrew.

Hosea had prostrated himself before the throne and, when he rose, the
king's weary face was bent toward him, sadly, it is true, yet graciously.

According to custom, the hair and beard of the father who had lost his
first-born son had been shaven.  Formerly they had encircled his face in
a frame of glossy black, but twenty years of anxious government had made
them grey, and his figure, too, had lost its erect carriage and seemed
bent and feeble, though he had scarcely passed his fifth decade.  His
regular features were still beautiful in their symmetry, and there was a
touch of pathos in their mournful gentleness, so evidently incapable of
any firm resolve, especially when a smile lent his mouth a bewitching
charm.

The languid indolence of his movements scarcely impaired the natural
dignity of his presence, yet his musical voice was wont to have a feeble,
beseeching tone.  He was no born ruler; thirteen older brothers had died
ere the throne of Pharaoh had become his heritage, and up to early
manhood he had led a careless, joyous existence--as the handsomest youth
in the whole land, the darling of women, the light-hearted favorite of
fortune.  Then he succeeded his father the great Rameses, but he had
scarcely grasped the sceptre ere the Libyans, with numerous allies,
rebelled against Egypt.  The trained troops and their leaders, who had
fought in his predecessor's wars, gained him victory, but during the
twenty years which had now passed since Rameses' death, the soldiers had
rarely had any rest.  Insurrections constantly occurred, sometimes in the
East, anon in the West and, instead of living in Thebes, where he had
spent many years of happiness, and following the bent of his inclination
by enjoying in the splendid palace the blessing of peace and the society
of the famous scholars and poets who then made that city their home, he
was compelled sometimes to lead his armies in the field, sometimes to
live in Tanis, the capital of Lower Egypt, to settle the disturbances of
the border land.

This was the desire of the venerable Rui, and the king willingly followed
his guidance.  During the latter years of Rameses' reign, the temple at
Thebes, and with it the chief priest, had risen to power and wealth
greater than that possessed by royalty itself, and Menephtah's indolent
nature was better suited to be a tool than a guiding hand, so long as he
received all the external honors due to Pharaoh.  These he guarded with a
determination which he never roused himself to display in matters of
graver import.

The condescending graciousness of Pharaoh's reception awakened feelings
of mingled pleasure and distrust in Hosea's mind, but he summoned courage
to frankly express his desire to be relieved from his office and the oath
he had sworn to his sovereign.

Pharaoh listened quietly.  Not until Hosea confessed that he was induced
to take this step by his father's command did he beckon to the high-
priest, who began in low, almost inaudible tones:

"The son who resigns great things to remain obedient to his father will
be the most loyal of the 'good god's' servants.  Go, obey the summons of
Nun.  The son of the sun, the Lord of Upper and Lower Egypt, sets you
free; but through me, the slave of his master, he imposes one condition."

"What is that?"  asked Hosea.

Pharaoh signed to Rui a second time and, as the monarch sank back upon
his throne, the old man, fixing his keen eyes on Hosea, replied:

"The demand which the lord of both worlds makes upon you by my lips is
easy to fulfil.  You must return to be once more his servant and one of
us, as soon as your people and their leader, who have brought such
terrible woe upon this land, shall have clasped the divine hand which the
son of the sun extends to them in reconciliation, and shall have returned
to the beneficent shadow of his throne.  He intends to attach them to his
person and his realm by rich tokens of his favor, as soon as they return
from the desert to which they have gone forth to sacrifice to their God.
Understand me fully!  All the burdens which have oppressed the people of
your race shall be removed.  The 'great god' will secure to them, by a
new law, privileges and great freedom, and whatever we promise shall be
written down and witnessed on our part and yours as a new and valid
covenant binding on our children and our children's children.  When such
a compact has been made with an honest purpose on our part to keep it for
all time, and your tribes have consented to accept it, will you promise
that you will then be one of us again?"

"Accept the office of mediator, Hosea," the queen here interrupted in a
low tone, with her sorrowful eyes fixed imploringly on Hosea's face.
"I dread the fury of Mesu, and everything in our power shall be done to
regain his old friendship.  Mention my name and recall the time when he
taught little Isisnefert the names of the plants she brought to him and
explained to her and her sister their beneficial or their harmful
qualities, during his visits to the queen, his second mother, in the
women's apartments.  The wounds he has dealt our hearts shall be pardoned
and forgotten.  Be our envoy.  Hosea, do not deny us."

"Such words from royal lips are a strict mandate," replied the Hebrew.
"And yet they make the heart rejoice.  I will accept the office of
mediator."

The hoary high-priest nodded approvingly, exclaiming:

"I hope a long period of blessing may arise from this brief hour.  But
note this.  Where potions can aid, surgery must be shunned.  Where a
bridge spans the stream, beware of swimming through the whirlpool."

"Yes, by all means shun the whirlpool," Pharaoh repeated, and the queen
uttered the same words, then once more bent her eyes on the flowers in
her lap.

A council now began.

Three private scribes took seats on the floor close by Rui, in order to
catch his low tones, and the scribes and councillors in the circle before
the throne seized their writing-materials and, holding the papyrus in
their left hands, wrote with reed or brush; for nothing which was debated
and determined in Pharaoh's presence was suffered to be left unrecorded.

During the continuance of this debate no voice in the audience chamber
was raised above a whisper; the courtiers and guards stood motionless at
their posts, and the royal pair gazed mutely into vacancy as though lost
in reverie.

Neither Pharaoh nor his queen could possibly have heard the muttered
conversation between the men; yet the Egyptians, at the close of every
sentence, glanced upward at the king as if to ensure his approbation.
Hosea, to whom the custom was perfectly familiar, did the same and, like
the rest, lowered his tones.  Whenever the voices of Bai or of the chief
of the scribes waxed somewhat louder, Pharaoh raised his head and
repeated the words of Rui: "Where a bridge spans the stream, beware of
swimming through the whirlpool;" for this saying precisely expressed his
own desires and those of the queen.  No strife!  Let us live at peace
with the Hebrews, and escape from the anger of their awful leader and his
God, without losing the thousands of industrious workers in the departed
tribes.

So the discussion went on, and when the murmuring of the debaters and the
scratching of the scribes' reeds had continued at least an hour the queen
remained in the same position; but Pharaoh began to move and lift up his
voice, fearing that the second prophet, who had detested the man whose
benedictions he had implored and whose enmity seemed so terrible, was
imposing on the mediator requirements impossible to fulfil.

Yet he said nothing save to repeat the warning about the bridge, but his
questioning look caused the chief of the scribes to soothe him with the
assurance that everything was progressing as well as possible.  Hosea had
only requested that, in future, the overseers of the workmen should not
be of Libyan birth, but Hebrews themselves, chosen by the elders of their
tribes with the approval of the Egyptian government.

Pharaoh cast a glance of imploring anxiety at Bai, the second prophet,
and the other councillors; but the former shrugged his shoulders
deprecatingly and, pretending to yield his own opinion to the divine
wisdom of Pharaoh, acceded to Hosea's request.

The divinity on the throne of the world accepted, with a grateful bend of
the head, this concession from a man whose wishes had so often opposed
his own, and after the "repeater" or herald had read aloud all the
separate conditions of the agreement, Hosea was forced to make a solemn
vow to return in any case to Tanis, and report to the Sublime Porte how
his people had received the king's proposals.

But the wary chief, versed in the wiles and tricks with which the
government was but too well supplied, uttered the vow with great
reluctance, and only after he had received a written assurance that,
whatever might be the result of the negotiations, his liberty should not
be restricted in any respect, after he had proved that he had used his
utmost efforts to induce the leader of the Hebrews to accept the compact.

At last Pharaoh extended his hand for the warrior to kiss, and when the
latter had also pressed his lips to the edge of the queen's garments, Rui
signed to the head-chamberlain, who made obeisance to Pharaoh, and the
sovereign knew that the hour had come when he might retire.  He did so
gladly and with a lighter heart; for he believed that he had done his
best to secure his own welfare and that of his people.

A sunny expression flitted across his handsome, worn features, and when
the queen also rose and saw his smile of satisfaction it was reflected on
her face.  Pharaoh uttered a sigh of relief as he crossed the threshold
of the audience chamber and, accosting his wife, said:

"If Hosea wins his cause, we shall cross the bridge safely."

"And need not swim through the whirlpool," the queen answered in the same
tone.

"And if the chief succeeds in soothing Mesu, and induces the Hebrews to
stay in the land," Pharaoh added:

"Then you will enrol this Hosea--he looks noble and upright--among the
kindred of the king," Isisnefert interrupted.

But upon this Pharaoh drew up his languid, drooping figure, exclaiming
eagerly:

"How can I?  A Hebrew!  Were we to admit him among the 'friends' or
'fan-bearers' it would be the highest favor we could bestow!  It is no
easy matter in such a case to choose between too great or too small a
recompense."

The farther the royal pair advanced toward the interior of the palace,
the louder rose the wailing voices of the mourning women.  Tears once
more filled the eyes of the queen; but Pharaoh continued to ponder over
what office at court he could bestow on Hosea, should his mission prove
successful.




CHAPTER X.

Hosea was forced to hurry in order to overtake the tribes in time; for
the farther they proceeded, the harder it would be to induce Moses and
the leaders of the people to return and accept the treaty.

The events which had befallen him that morning seemed so strange that he
regarded them as a dispensation of the God whom he had found again; he
recollected, too, that the name "Joshua," "he who helps Jehovah," had
been received through Miriam's message.  He would gladly bear it; for
though it was no easy matter to resign the name for which he had won
renown, still many of his comrades had done likewise.  His new one was
attesting its truth grandly; never had God's help been more manifest to
him than this morning.  He had entered Pharaoh's palace expecting to be
imprisoned or delivered over to the executioner, as soon as he insisted
upon following his people, and how speedily the bonds that held him in
the Egyptian army had been sundered.  And he had been appointed to
discharge a task which seemed in his eyes so grand, so lofty, that he was
on the point of believing that the God of his fathers had summoned him to
perform it.

He loved Egypt.  It was a fair country.  Where could his people find a
more delightful home?  It was only the circumstances under which they had
lived there which had been intolerable.  Happier times were now in store.
The tribes were given the choice between returning to Goshen, or settling
on the lake land west of the Nile, with whose fertility and ample supply
of water he was well acquainted.  No one would have a right to reduce
them to bondage, and whoever gave his labor to the service of the state
was to have for overseer no stern and cruel foreigner, but a man of his
own blood.

True, he knew that the Hebrews must remain under subjection to Pharaoh.
But had not Joseph, Ephraim, and his sons, Hosea's ancestors, been called
his subjects and lived content to be numbered among the Egyptians.

If the covenant was made, the elders of the tribes were to direct the
private concerns of the people.  Spite of Bai's opposition, Moses had
been named regent of the new territory, while he, Hosea, himself was to
command the soldiers who would defend the frontiers, and marshal fresh
troops from the Israelite mercenaries, who had already borne themselves
valiantly in many a fray.  Ere he had quitted the palace, Bai had made
various mysterious allusions, which though vague in purport, betrayed
that the priest was cherishing important plans and, as soon as the
guidance of the government passed from old Rui's hands into his, a high
position, perhaps the command of the whole army, now led by a Syrian
named Aarsu, would be conferred on him, Hosea.

But this prospect caused him more anxiety than pleasure, though great was
his satisfaction at having gained the concession that every third year
the eastern frontiers of the country should be thrown open to his people,
that they might go to the desert and there offer sacrifices to their God.
Moses had seemed to lay the utmost stress upon this privilege, and
according to the existing law, no one was permitted to cross the narrow
fortified frontier on the east without the permission of the government.
Perhaps granting this desire of the mighty leader might win him to accept
a compact so desirable for his nation.

During these negotiations Hosea had again realized his estrangement from
his people, he was not even aware--for what purpose the sacrifice in the
desert was offered.  He also frankly acknowledged to Pharaoh's
councillors that he knew neither the grievances nor the requirements of
the tribes, a course he pursued to secure to the Hebrews the right of
changing or revising in any respect the offers he was to convey.

What better proposals could they or their leader desire?

The future was full of fresh hopes of happiness for his people and
himself.  If the compact was made, the time had arrived for him to
establish a home of his own, and Miriam's image again appeared in all
its loftiness and beauty.  The thought of gaining this splendid maiden
was fairly intoxicating, and he wondered whether he was worthy of her,
and if it would not be presumptuous to aspire to the hand of the
divinely-inspired, majestic virgin and prophetess.

He was experienced in the affairs of life and knew full well how little
reliance could be placed upon the promises of the vacillating man, who
found the sceptre too heavy for his feeble hand.  But he had exercised
caution and, if the elders of the people could but be won over, the
agreement would be inscribed on metal tables, sentence by sentence, and
hung in the temple at Thebes, with the signatures of Pharaoh and the
envoys of the Hebrews, like every other binding agreement between Egypt
and a foreign nation.  Such documents--he had learned this from the
treaty of peace concluded with the Cheta--assured and lengthened the
brief "eternity" of national covenants.  He had certainly neglected no
precaution to secure his people from treachery and perjury.  Never had he
felt more vigorous, more confident, more joyous than when he again
entered Pharaoh's chariot to take leave of his subordinates.  Bai's
mysterious hints and suggestions troubled him very little; he was
accustomed to leave future anxieties to be cared for in the future.  But
at the camp he encountered a grief which belonged to the present;
surprised, angry, and troubled, he learned that Ephraim had secretly left
the tent, telling no one whither he was going.  A hurried investigation
drew out the information that the youth had been seen on the road to
Tanis, and Hosea hastily bade his trusty shield-bearer search the city
for the youth and, if he found him, to order him to follow his uncle to
Succoth.

After the chief had said farewell to his men, he set off, attended only
by his old groom.  He was pleased to have the adone--[Corresponding to
the rank of adjutant.]--and subaltern officers who had been with him, the
stern warriors, with whom he had shared everything in war and peace, in
want and privation, show so plainly the pain of parting.  Tears streamed
down the bronzed cheeks of many a man who had grown grey in warfare, as
he clasped his hand for the last time.  Many a bearded lip was pressed to
the hem of his robe, to his feet, and to the sleek skin of the noble
Libyan steed which, pressing forward with arching neck only to be curbed
by its rider's strength, bore him through the ranks.  For the first time
since his mother's death his own eyes grew dim, as shouts of farewell
rang warmly and loudly from the manly breasts of his soldiers.

Never before had he so deeply realized how firmly he was bound to these
men, and how he loved his noble profession.

Yet the duty he was now fulfilling was also great and glorious, and the
God who had absolved him from his oath and smoothed the way for him to
obey his father's commands as a true and upright man, would perhaps bring
him back to his comrades in arms, whose cordial farewell he still fancied
he heard long after he was out of reach of their voices.

The greatness of the work assigned to him, the enthusiasm of a man who
devotes himself with devout earnestness to the performance of a difficult
task, the rapturous joy of the lover, who with well-founded hopes of the
fulfilment of the purest and fairest desires of his heart, hastens to
meet the woman of his choice, first dawned upon him when he had left the
city behind and was dashing at a rapid trot toward the south-east across
the flat, well-watered plain with its wealth of palm-groves.

While forcing his steed to a slower pace as he passed through the streets
of the capital, and the region near the harbor, his mind was so engrossed
by his recent experiences and his anxiety concerning the runaway youth,
that he paid little attention to the throng of vessels lying at anchor,
the motley crowd of ship owners, traders, sailors, and laborers,
representatives of all the nations of Africa and Asia, who sought a
livelihood here, and the officials, soldiers, and petitioners, who had
followed Pharaoh from Thebes to the city of Rameses.

He had even failed to see two men of high rank, though one, Hornecht, the
captain of the archers, had waved his hand to him.

They had retired into the deep gateway formed by the pylons at the
entrance of the temple of Seth, to escape the clouds of dust which the
desert wind was still blowing along the road.

While Hornecht was vainly trying to arrest the horseman's attention, his
companion, Bai, the second prophet of Amon, whispered: "Let him go!  He
will learn where his nephew is soon enough."

"As you desire,"  replied the soldier.  Then  he eagerly continued the
story he had just begun.  "When they brought the lad in, he looked like a
piece of clay in the potter's workshop."

"No wonder," replied the priest; "he had lain long enough in the road in
the dust of Typhon.  But what was your steward seeking among the
soldiers?"

"We had heard from my adon, whom I sent to the camp last evening, that
the poor youth was attacked by a severe fever, so Kasana put up some wine
and her nurse's balsam, and dispatched the old creature with them to the
camp."

"To the youth or to Hosea?"  asked the prophet with a mischievous smile.

"To the sufferer," replied Hornecht positively, a frown darkening his
brow.  But, restraining himself, he added as if apologizing:  "Her heart
is as soft as wax, and the Hebrew youth--you saw him yesterday......"

"Is a splendid lad, just fitted to win a woman's heart!"  replied the
priest laughing.  "Besides, whoever shows kindness to the nephew does not
harm the uncle."

"That was not in her mind," replied Hornecht bluntly.  "But the invisible
God of the Hebrews is not less watchful of his children than the
Immortals whom you serve; for he led Hotepu to the youth just as he was
at the point of death.  The dreamer would undoubtedly have ridden past
him; for the dust had already .  .  .  ."

"Transformed him into a bit of potter's clay.  But then?"

"Then the old man suddenly saw a glint of gold in the dusty heap."

"And the stiffest neck will stoop for that."

"Quite true.  My Hotepu did so, and the broad gold circlet the lad wore
flashed in the sunlight and preserved his life a second time."

"The luckiest thing is that we have the lad in our possession."

"Yes, I was rejoiced to have him open his eyes once more.  Then his
recovery grew more and more rapid; the doctor says he is like a kitten,
and all these mishaps will not cost him his life.  But he is in a violent
fever, and in his delirium says all sorts of senseless things, which even
my daughter's nurse, a native of Ascalon, cannot clearly comprehend.
Only she thought she caught Kasana's name."

"So it is once more a woman who is the source of the trouble."

"Stop these jests, holy father," replied Hornecht, biting his lips.
"A modest widow, and that boy with the down still on his lips."

"At his age," replied the unabashed priest, "fullblown roses have a
stronger attraction for young beetles than do buds; and in this
instance," he added more gravely, "it is a most fortunate accident.  We
have Hosea's nephew in the snare, and it will be your part not to let him
escape."

"Do you mean that we are to deprive him of his liberty?"  cried the
warrior.

"Even so."

"Yet you value his uncle?"

"Certainly.  But the state has a higher claim."

"This boy.  .  .  ."

"Is a desirable hostage.  Hosea's sword was an extremely useful tool to
us; but if the hand that guides it is directed by the man whose power
ever greater things we know .  .  .  ."

"You mean the Hebrew, Mesu?"

"Then Hosea will deal us wounds as deep as those he erst inflicted on our
foes."

"Yet I have heard you say more than once that he was incapable of
perjury."

"And so I say still, he has given wonderful proof of it to-day.  Merely
for the sake of being released from his oath, he thrust his head into the
crocodile's jaws.  But though the son of Nun is a lion, he will find his
master in Mesu.  That man is the mortal foe of the Egyptians, the bare
thought of him stirs my gall."

"The cries of the wailing women behind this door admonish us loudly
enough to hate him."

"Yet the weakling on the throne has forgotten vengeance, and is now
sending Hosea on an errand of reconciliation."

"With your sanction, I think?"

"Ay," replied the priest with a mocking smile.  "We send him to build a
bridge!  Oh, this bridge!  A grey-beard's withered brain recommends it to
be thrown across the stream, and the idea just suits this pitiful son of
a great father, who would certainly never have shunned swimming through
the wildest whirlpool, especially when revenge was to be sought.  Let
Hosea essay the bridge!  If it leads him back across the stream to us, I
will offer him a right warm and cordial welcome; but as soon as this one
man stands on our shores, may its supports sink under the leaders of his
people; we, the only brave souls in Egypt, must see to that."

"So be it.  Yet I fear we shall lose the chief, too, if justice overtakes
his people."

"It might almost seem so."

"You have greater wisdom than I"

"Yet here you believe me in error."

"How could I venture to .  .  .  ."

"As a member of the military council you are entitled to your own
opinion, and I consider myself bound to show you the end of the path
along which you have hitherto followed us with blindfold eyes.  So
listen, and judge accordingly when your turn comes to speak in the
council.  The chief-priest Rui is old .  .  .  ."

"And you now fill half his offices."

"Would that he might soon be relieved of the last half of his burden.
Not on my own account.  I love strife, but for the welfare of our native
land.  It is a deep-seated feeling of our natures to regard the
utterances and mandates of age as wisdom, so there are few among the
councillors who do not follow the old man's opinions; yet his policy
limps on crutches, like himself.  All good projects are swamped under his
weak, fainthearted guidance."

"That is the very reason my vote is at your disposal," cried the warrior.
"That is why I am ready to use all my might to hurl this sleeper from the
throne and get rid of his foolish advisers."

The prophet laid his finger on his lips to warn his companion to be more
cautious, drew nearer to him, pointed to his litter, and said in a low,
hurried tone:

"I am expected at the Sublime Porte, so listen.  If Hosea's mission is
successful his people will return--the guilty with the innocent--and the
latter will suffer.  Among the former we can include the whole of Hosea's
tribe, who call themselves the sons of Ephraim, from old Nun down to the
youth in your dwelling."

"We may spare them; but Mesu, too, is a Hebrew, and what we do to him..."

"Will not occur in the public street, and it is child's play to sow
enmity between two men who desire to rule in the same sphere.  I will
make sure that Hosea shall shut his eyes to the other's death; but
Pharaoh, whether his name is Meneptah or"--he lowered his voice--"Siptah,
must then raise him to so great a height--and he merits it--that his
giddy eyes will never discern aught we desire to conceal.  There is one
dish that never palls on any man who has once tasted it."

"And what is that?"

"Power, Hornecht--mighty power!  As ruler of a whole province, commander
of all the mercenaries in Aarsu's stead, he will take care not to break
with us.  I know him.  If I can succeed in making him believe Mesu has
wronged him--and the imperious man will afford some pretext for it--and
can bring him to the conviction that the law directs the punishment we
mete out to the sorcerer and the worst of his adherents, he will not only
assent but approve it."

"And if he fails in his mission?"

"He will return at any rate; for he would not be false to his oath.  But
if Mesu, from whom we may expect anything, should detain him by force,
the boy will be of service to us; for Hosea loves him, his people value
his life, and he belongs to one of their noblest tribes.  In any case
Pharaoh must threaten the lad; we will guard him, and that will unite his
uncle to us by fresh ties and lead him to join those who are angry with
the king."

"Excellent!"

"The surest way to attain our object will be by forging still another
chain.  In short--now I beg you to be quiet, your temper is far too hot
for your grey hairs--in short, our Hebrew brother-in-arms, the saviour of
my life, the ablest man in the army, who is certain to win the highest
place, must be your son-in-law.  Kasana's heart is his--my wife has told
me so."  Hornecht frowned again, and struggled painfully to control his
anger.  He perceived that he must overcome his objection to giving his
daughter to the man whose birth he scorned, much as he liked and esteemed
his character.  He could not refrain from uttering an oath under his
breath, but his answer to the prophet was more calm and sensible than the
latter had anticipated.  If Kasana was so possessed by demons that this
stranger infatuated her, let her have her will.  But Hosea had not yet
sued for her.