ruggles neither with wind nor current, but he lets them bear
him in the direction which they have taken."

At this moment a courier came in with news that the people had fallen
upon foreigners. They had assaulted Greeks, Assyrians, but especially
Phoenicians. They had plundered many shops and slain a number of
persons.

"Here is proof," cried the excited pharaoh, "that we should not turn a
crowd from the road it has taken. Let the troops be near the temples
to-morrow, and let them march in if the people begin to burst into
them, or or if they begin to withdraw under pressure.

"It is true that grapes should be gathered in the month Paofi; but is
there a gardener, who if his fruit were ripe a month earlier, would
leave it on the vines to wither?

"I repeat this: I wished to delay the movement of the people till we
had finished preparations. But if it is impossible to delay, let us
raise our sails and use the wind which is blowing. Ye must arrest
Herhor and Mefres tomorrow and bring them to the palace. In a few days
we will finish with the labyrinth."

The members of the council recognized that the decision of the pharaoh
was proper, and they departed admiring his promptness and wisdom. Even
generals declared that it was better to use the occasion at hand than
to have forces ready when the time had passed in which to use them.

It was night. Another courier rushed in from Memphis with information
that the police had been able to protect foreigners, but that the
people were excited and it was unknown what they might attempt on the
morrow.

Thenceforth courier arrived after courier. Some brought news that a
great mass of men armed with clubs and axes were moving toward Memphis
from every direction. From somewhere else information came that people
in the region of Peme, Sochem, and On, were fleeing to the fields and
crying that the end of the world would come the day following.

Another courier brought a letter from Hiram that he would arrive very
soon. Another announced the stealthy advance of temple regiments to
Memphis, and, what was more important, that from Upper Egypt were
moving strong divisions of people and troops hostile to the
Phoenicians, and even to his holiness.

"Before they arrive," thought the pharaoh, "I shall have the high
priests in my hands and even the regiments of Nitager now some days
late in arriving."

Finally information was brought that troops had seized here and there
on the highways