o that there, beyond on the fields of Osiris, I be
not born into slavery a second time."

CHAPTER III

Panting with anger, Prince Ramses rushed up the hill, while behind him
followed Tutmosis. The wig of the exquisite had turned on his head, his
false beard had slipped down, and he carried it in his hand. In spite
of exertion he would have been pale had it not been for the layers of
rouge on his face.

At last Ramses halted at the summit. From the ravine came the outcry of
warriors and the rattle of the onrolling balistas; before the two men
stretched the immense plain of Goshen, bathed continually in sun-rays.
That did not seem land, but a golden cloud, on which the mind painted a
landscape in colors of silver, ruby, pearl, and topaz.

"Look," cried the heir to Tutmosis, stretching out his hand, "those are
to be my lands, and here is my army. Over there the loftiest edifices
are palaces of priests, and here the supreme chief of the troops is a
priest! Can anything like this be suffered?"

"It has always been so," replied Tutmosis, glancing around with
timidity.

"That is not true! I know the history of this country, which is hidden
to thee. The leaders of armies and the masters of officials were the
pharaohs alone, or at least the most energetic among them. Those rulers
did not pass their days in making offerings and prayers, but in
managing the state."

"If it is the desire of his holiness to pass his days that way?" said
Tutmosis.

"It is not my father's wish that nomarchs should govern as they please
in the capitals of provinces. Why, the governor of Ethiopia considered
himself as almost equal to the king of kings. And it cannot be my
father's wish that his army should inarch around two golden beetles
because the minister of war is a high priest."

"He is a great warrior," whispered Tutmosis, with increasing timidity.

"He a great warrior? Because he dispersed a handful of Libyan robbers
ready to flee at the mere sight of Egyptians. But see what our
neighbors are doing. Israel delays in paying tribute and pays less and
less of it. The cunning Phoenician steals a number of ships from our
fleet every year. On the east we are forced to keep up a great army
against the Hittites, while around Babylon and Nineveh there is such a
movement that it is felt throughout all Mesopotamia.

"And what is the outcome of priestly management? This, that while my
great-grandfather had a hundred thousand talents of yea