of the king I offer to allow you to
depart, carrying with you your arms and standards. The king has been
in your country. He knows how great and powerful is your nation, and
fain would be on terms of friendship with it; therefore he would
inflict no indignity upon you. The tribute which your king laid upon
the land is far more than it can pay, but the king will be willing to
send every year, to the nearest garrison to his frontiers, a tribute
of gold and precious stones of one-fifth the value of that which has
been until now wrung from the land. This he will do as a proof of the
honor in which he holds your great nation and as a recognition of its
power. The king ordered me to say that he will give you until
to-morrow morning to reflect over his offer. If it is refused the
whole garrison will be put to the sword."

So saying Jethro descended from the terrace, leaving the Egyptians to
consider the terms he proposed.

CHAPTER XX.

THE KING OF THE REBU.

The offer that Amuba had made through Jethro was a politic one, and he
was influenced by two motives in granting a delay of twenty-four hours
before receiving the answer. In the first place, he felt sure that his
own force would, before the conclusion of that time, be trebled in
strength, and that should the Egyptians refuse he would be able to
repel any efforts they might make to cut their way out until he would
be at the head of such a force that he could at will either storm
their positions or, as he intended, beleaguer them until starvation
forced them to surrender.

In the second place, he thought that the Egyptian answer, if given at
once, would probably be a refusal; but the time for reflection would
enable them to look their position in the face and to recognize its
hopelessness. On the one side would be certain defeat and death; on
the other their general would lead out his command intact and without
dishonor. Although he had threatened to put the garrison to the sword
in case they refused, Amuba had no intention to carry out his threat,
but on the contrary had determined that even were the Egyptians forced
to surrender by famine he would freely grant them the same terms he
now offered.

He knew the proud and haughty nature of the Egyptians, and that the
news of the massacre of a great garrison and the successful rising of
a tributary province would excite such deep feeling that sooner or
later an army would be dispatched to avenge the disaster. I