ian wheat, and they make of it a drink which is stronger than
wine. They have a plant the leaves of which give strength to the
members, gladness to the mind, and which enables them even to dispense
with sleep. They have paper which they adorn with many colored images,
and they have clay which after it is burned shines like glass, and is
as resonant as metal.

"Tomorrow, if Thou permit, holiness, I will send specimens of the works
of these people."

"Thou art narrating wonders, Hiram. But I do not see the connection
between those things and the canal which Thou wishest to dig."

"I will tell in brief," replied the Phoenician. "When there is a canal
all the Phoenician and Egyptian fleets will sail on the Red Sea and
beyond it; in the course of a couple of months they will reach those
rich countries which by land are almost inaccessible.

"But dost Thou not see, holiness," continued he, with gleaming eyes,
"the treasures which we shall find there? Gold, precious stones, grain,
woods? I swear to thee, lord," added he with enthusiasm, "that gold
will be cheaper than copper is now, wood will be cheaper than straw,
and a slave cheaper than a cow. Only let us, lord, dig the canal, and
hire fifty thousand of thy warriors."

Ramses, too, was excited.

"Fifty thousand warriors," repeated he. "But what will ye give me for
this?"

"I have said already, holiness. One thousand talents yearly for the
right to work, and five thousand for the workmen, to whom we will give
food and wages."

"But ye will kill them with work?"

"May the gods forbid! There is no profit when workmen perish. Thy
warriors, holiness, will not work more at the canal than today on roads
and at fortresses but what glory for thee, lord! what income for the
treasury, what profit for Egypt! The poorest earth-tiller will have a
wooden cottage, some cattle, tools, and furniture, and as I live, a
slave. No pharaoh has ever raised the state to such a height or carried
out such a work.

"What will dead and useless pyramids be in comparison with a canal to
facilitate the passage of treasures to the whole world?"

"Yes," added the pharaoh, "and fifty thousand warriors on the eastern
boundary."

"Of course!" exclaimed Hiram. "In view of that force, which will cost
thee nothing, holiness, Assyria will not dare to stretch a hand toward
Phoenicia."

The project was so brilliant and promised such profit that Ramses XIII
felt dazed by it. But he mastered himself.