"You have won praise and reward by your splendid deeds from the father
whom you have saved and filled with pride. But the king watches over the
laws, and guides the destiny cf this land, the king must blame you, nay
perhaps punish you. You could not yield to the discipline of school,
where we all must learn to obey if we would afterwards exercise our
authority with moderation, and without any orders you left Egypt and
joined the army. You showed the courage and strength of a man, but the
folly of a boy in all that regards prudence and foresight--things harder
to learn for the son of a race of heroes than mere hitting and slashing
at random; you, without experience, measured yourself against masters of
the art of war, and what was the consequence? Twice you fell a prisoner
into the hands of the enemy, and I had to ransom you.

"The king of the Danaids gave you up in exchange for his daughter, and he
rejoices long since in the restoration of his child; but we, in losing
her, lost the most powerful means of coercing the seafaring nations of
the islands and northern coasts of the great sea who are constantly
increasing in might and daring, and so diminished our chances of securing
a solid and abiding peace.

"Thus--through the careless wilfulness of a boy, the great work is
endangered which I had hoped to have achieved. It grieves me particularly
to humiliate your spirit to-day, when I have had so much reason to
encourage you with praise. Nor will I punish you, only warn you and teach
you. The mechanism of the state is like the working of the cogged wheels
which move the water-works on the shore of the Nile-if one tooth is
missing the whole comes to a stand-still however strong the beasts that
labor to turn it. Each of you--bear this in mind--is a main-wheel in the
great machine of the state, and can serve an end only by acting
unresistingly in obedience to the motive power. Now rise! we may perhaps
succeed in obtaining good security from the Asiatic king, though we have
lost our hostage."

Heralds at this moment marched into the tent, and announced that the
representative of the Cheta king and the allied princes were in
attendance in the council tent; Rameses put on the crown of Upper and
Lower Egypt and all his royal adornments; the chamberlain who carried the
insignia of his power, and his head scribe with his decoration of plumes
marched before him, while his sons, the commanders in chief, and the
interpreters follo