shment, he added,

"During our sail on the Nile that maiden sang our most sacred hymn, a
hymn to which only the pharaoh and high priests have the right to
listen. Poor child! she might have suffered for her skill and for her
ignorance of what she was singing."

"Then has she committed sacrilege?" inquired Ramses, in confusion.

"Yes, unconsciously," answered Herhor. "It is lucky that I was the only
man who understood it, and my decision is that between that song and
our hymn the resemblance is remote. In every case let her never repeat
it."

"Well, and should she purify herself?" asked the prince. "Will it
suffice her, as a foreign woman, if she gives thirty cows to the temple
of Isis?"

"Yes, let her give them," replied Herhor, with a slight grimace. "The
gods are not offended by gifts."

"Do thou, noble lord," said Ramses, "be pleased to accept this
miraculous shield, which I received from my sacred grandfather."

"I? the shield of Amenhotep?" exclaimed the minister, with emotion. "Am
I worthy of it?"

"By thy wisdom Thou art equal to my grandfather, and Thou wilt equal
him in position."

Herhor made a low bow in silence. That golden shield set with precious
stones, besides its great value in money, had moreover the virtue of an
amulet; hence it was a regal present.

But the prince's words might have the loftier meaning that Herhor would
equal Amenhotep in position. Amenhotep had been the father-in-law of a
pharaoh. Had the heir decided already to marry Herhor's daughter?

That was the fond dream of Queen Nikotris and the minister. But it must
be acknowledged that Ramses in speaking of the future dignities of
Herhor had not thought in the least of marrying his daughter, but of
giving him new offices, of which there was a multitude at the court and
in the temples.

CHAPTER XVIII

FROM the day that he became viceroy of Lower Egypt a life unparalleled
in troubles set in for Ramses, such a life as he had not even imagined,
though born and reared in the pharaoh's palace.

People simply tortured him; his torturers were persons who had
interests of various kinds and who were of various social classes.

On the very first day, at sight of the throngs of people, who crowded
and pushed one another with eagerness, trampled his lawns, broke his
trees, and injured even the wall which enclosed his villa, the heir
demanded a guard for protection. But on the third day he was forced to
flee from his own dwelling