arder to fight against cunning weakness
than against honest enmity. Shall we reward the man who has deprived the
world of Pentaur by giving him a crown? It is hard to quit the trodden
way, and seek a better--to give up a half-executed plan and take a more
promising one; it is hard, I say, for the individual man, and makes him
seem fickle in the eyes of others; but we cannot see to the right hand
and the left, and if we pursue a great end we cannot remain within the
narrow limits which are set by law and custom to the actions of private
individuals. We draw back just as we seem to have reached the goal, we
let him fall whom we had raised, and lift him, whom we had stricken to
the earth, to the pinnacle of glory, in short we profess--and for
thousands of years have professed--the doctrine that every path is a
right one that leads to the great end of securing to the priesthood the
supreme power in the land. Rameses, saved by a miracle, vowing temples to
the Gods, will for the future exhaust his restless spirit not in battle
as a warrior, but in building as an architect. He will make use of us,
and we can always lead the man who needs us. So I now hail the son of
Seti with sincere joy."

Ameni was still speaking when the flags were hoisted on the standards by
the triumphal arches, clouds of dust rolled up on the farther shore of
the Nile, and the blare of trumpets was heard.

First came the horses which had carried Rameses through the fight, with
the king himself, who drove them. His eyes sparkled with joyful triumph
as the people on the farther side of the bridge received him with shouts
of joy, and the vast multitude hailed him with wild enthusiasm and tears
of emotion, strewing in his path the spoils of their gardens-flowers,
garlands, and palm-branches.

Ani marched at the head of the procession that went forth to meet him; he
humbly threw himself in the dust before the horses, kissed the ground,
and then presented to the king the sceptre that had been entrusted to
him, lying on a silk cushion. The king received it graciously, and when
Ani took his robe to kiss it, the king bent down towards him, and
touching the Regent's forehead with his lips, desired him to take the
place by his side in the chariot, and fill the office of charioteer.

The king's eyes were moist with grateful emotion. He had not been
deceived, and he could re-enter the country for whose greatness and
welfare alone he lived, as a father, loving and