the great minister wished peace at all
costs, in spite of the fact that he was chief of the armies.

"We shall see," whispered Ramses to himself.

A couple of days before his departure Ramses was summoned to his
holiness. The pharaoh was sitting in an armchair in a marble hall; no
other person was present, and the four entrances were guarded by Nubian
sentries.

At the side of the royal armchair was a stool for the prince, and a
small table covered with documents written on papyrus. On the walls
were colored bas-reliefs showing the occupations of field-workers, and
in the comers of the hall were ungraceful statues of Osiris smiling
pensively.

When the prince at command of his father sat down, his holiness spoke
to him,

"Here, my son, are thy documents as leader and viceroy. Well, have the
first days of power wearied thee?"

"In thy service, holiness, I shall find strength."

"Flatterer!" said the pharaoh, smiling. "Remember that I do not require
overwork on thy part. Amuse thyself; youth needs recreation. This does
not mean, however, that Thou art not to have important affairs to
manage."

"I am ready."

"First I will disclose my cares to thee. Our treasury has a bad aspect;
the inflow of revenue decreases yearly, especially in Lower Egypt, and
expenditures are rising."

The pharaoh fell to thinking.

"Those women those women, Ramses, they swallow up the wealth, not of
mortal men only, but my wealth. I have some hundreds of them, and each
woman wishes to have as many maids as possible, as many dressmakers,
barbers, slaves, slaves for her litter, slaves for her chamber, horses,
oarsmen, even her own favorites and their children Little children!
When I was returning from Thebes one of those ladies, whom I do not
even remember, ran into my road and, showing a sturdy boy of three
years, desired that I should designate for him a property, since he
was, as she said, a son of mine. My son, and three years of age. Canst
Thou understand this? The affair was simple. I could not argue with a
woman, besides, in such a delicate question. But for a man of noble
birth it is easier to be polite than find money for every fancy of that
sort."

He shook his head and continued,

"Meanwhile incomes since the beginning of my reign have decreased one-
half, especially in Lower Egypt. I ask what this means. They answer:
people have grown poor, many citizens have disappeared, the sea has
covered a certain extent of land on