common and a proud people. But, by Besa, is she not beautiful!"

He enlarged on this latter thought at such exhaustive length that he
had traversed the valley and field, found his boat, crossed the Nile
and was at home before he had made an end.

CHAPTER XIII

THE COMING OF THE PHARAOH

On the first day of February, runners, dusty, breathless and excited,
passed the sentries of the Memphian palace of Meneptah with the news
that the Pharaoh was but a day's journey from his capital. They were
the last of a series of couriers that had kept the city informed of the
king's advance. For days before, public drapers were to be seen
clinging cross-legged to obelisk and peristyle; moving in spread-eagle
fashion, hung in a jacket of sail-cloth attached to cables, across the
fronts of buildings, looping garlands, besticking banners and spreading
tapestries. Scattering sounds of hammer and saw continued even through
the night. The city's metals were polished, her streets were sprinkled
and rolled, her stone wharves scoured, her landings painted, her
flambeaux new-soaked in pitch. The gardens, the storehouses and the
wine-lofts felt unusual draft for the festivities, and the great
capital was decked and scented like a bride.

Now, on the eve of the Pharaoh's coming, the preparations were
complete. The city was full of excitement and pleasant expectancy.
Only once before during the six years of Meneptah's reign had such
enthusiasm prevailed. When the Rebu horde descended upon Egypt,
Meneptah had sent his generals out to meet the invader, but he,
himself, had remained under cover in Memphis because he said the stars
were unpropitious. And this was the son of Rameses II, than whom, if
the historians and the singer Pentaur say true, there was never a more
puissant monarch! But when the marauder was overthrown and routed, and
his generals turned toward Memphis with their captives in chains,
Meneptah hastened to meet them, decked his chariot with war trophies
and entered his capital in triumph. He was hailed with exultant
acclaim.

"Hail, mighty Pharaoh! who smites with his glance and annihilates with
his spear. He overthrew companies alone, and with his lions he routed
armies. His enemies crumbled before him like men of clay, for he
breathed hot coals in his wrath and flames in his vengeance." And the
enthusiasm that inspired the eulogy was sincere. Meneptah was none the
less loved because Memphis understood hi