he material of war, and most of the
wounded, were also sent to Egypt by sea.

CHAPTER XL.

Nearly three months had passed since the battle of Kadesh, and to-day the
king was expected, on his way home with his victorious army, at Pelusium,
the strong hold and key of Egyptian dominion in the east. Splendid
preparations had been made for his reception, and the man who took the
lead in the festive arrangements with a zeal that was doubly effective
from his composed demeanor was no less a person than the Regent Ani.

His chariot was to be seen everywhere: now he was with the workmen, who
were to decorate triumphal arches with fresh flowers; now with the
slaves, who were hanging garlands on the wooden lions erected on the road
for this great occasion; now--and this detained him longest--he watched
the progress of the immense palace which was being rapidly constructed of
wood on the site where formerly the camp of the Hyksos had stood, in
which the actual ceremony of receiving the king was to take place, and
where the Pharaoh and his immediate followers were to reside. It had been
found possible, by employing several thousand laborers, to erect this
magnificent structure, in a few weeks, and nothing was lacking to it that
could be desired, even by a king so accustomed as Rameses to luxury and
splendor. A high exterior flight of steps led from the garden--which had
been created out of a waste--to the vestibule, out of which the
banqueting hall opened.

This was of unusual height, and had a vaulted wooden ceiling, which was
painted blue and sprinkled with stars, to represent the night heavens,
and which was supported on pillars carved, some in the form of
date-palms, and some like cedars of Lebanon; the leaves and twigs
consisted of artfully fastened and colored tissue; elegant festoons of
bluish gauze were stretched from pillar to pillar across the hall, and in
the centre of the eastern wall they were attached to a large shell-shaped
canopy extending over the throne of the king, which was decorated with
pieces of green and blue glass, of mother of pearl, of shining plates of
mica, and other sparkling objects.

The throne itself had the shape of a buckler, guarded by two lions, which
rested on each side of it and formed the arms, and supported on the backs
of four Asiatic captives who crouched beneath its weight. Thick carpets,
which seemed to have transported the sea-shore on to the dry land-for
their pale blue groun