The queen shook her head.

"Egypt is thine," said she, "and the gods have endowed thee with great
wisdom. Were it not for that, I should fear terribly a struggle with
Herhor."

"I do not dispute with him; I remove him."

"Egypt is thine," repeated the queen, "but I fear a struggle with the
priests. It is true that thy father, who was mild beyond measure, has
made those men insolent, but it is not wise to bring them to despair
through severity. Besides, think of this: Who will replace them in
counsel? They know everything that has been, that is, and that will be
on earth and in heaven; they know the most secret thoughts of mankind,
and they direct hearts as the wind directs tree leaves. Without them
Thou wilt be ignorant not only of what is happening in Tyre and
Nineveh, but even in Thebes and Memphis."

"I do not reject their wisdom, but I want service," answered the
pharaoh. "I know that their understanding is great, but it must be
controlled so that it may not deceive, and it must be directed lest it
ruin the State. Tell me thyself, mother, what they have done with Egypt
in the course of thirty years? The people suffer want, or are in
rebellion; the army is small, the treasury is empty, and meanwhile two
months' distance from us Assyria is increasing like dough containing
leaven, and today is forcing on us treaties."

"Do as may please thee, but remember that the device of a pharaoh is a
serpent, and a serpent is silence and discretion."

"Thou speakest truth, mother, but believe me, at certain times daring
is better than prudence. The priests planned, as I know today, that the
Libyan war should last entire years. I finished it in the course of a
few days, and only because every day I took some mad but decisive step
If I had not rushed to the desert against them, which by the way was a
great indiscretion, we should have the Libyans outside Memphis at this
moment."

"I know that Thou didst hunt down Tehenna, and that Typhon caught
thee," said the queen. "O hasty child, Thou didst not think of me."

He smiled.

"Be of good heart," replied Ramses. "When the pharaoh is in battle, at
his left and his right hand stands Amon. Who then can touch him?"

He embraced the queen once more and departed.

CHAPTER LI

THE immense suite of his holiness had remained in the hall of
attendance, but as if split into two parts. On one side were Herhor,
Mefres, and some high priests superior in years; on the other were a