helmets.

Among these restless, almost wild animals, some tens of men were
busied, men such as Ramses had never seen elsewhere. They had shaggy
hair, great beards, pointed caps with ear-laps; some wore long robes of
coarse cloth reaching to their heels; others wore short coats and
skirts, and some had boots on their feet. All carried swords, bows, and
darts.

At sight of these foreigners, stalwart, awkward, laughing vulgarly,
smelling of tallow, and speaking an unknown and harsh language, the
prince was indignant. As a lion, though not hungry, prepares to spring
when he sees a common animal, so Ramses, though they had offended him
in no way, felt a terrible hatred toward those strangers. He was
irritated by their language, their dress, the odor from their bodies,
even their horses. The blood rushed to his head, and he reached for his
sword to attack those men slay them and their beasts also. But soon he
recovered his senses.

"Set has cast a spell on me," thought Ramses.

At that moment a naked Egyptian, with a cap on his head and a girdle
around his waist, passed along the path slowly. The prince felt that
the man was near to him, even precious at that moment, for he was an
Egyptian. He took from his purse a gold ring worth from ten to twenty
drachmas, and gave it to the bondman.

"Listen," said he; "who are those people?"

"Assyrians," whispered the Egyptian; and hatred glittered in his eyes
as he answered.

"Assyrians," repeated the prince. "Are those Assyrians, then? And what
are they doing here?"

"Their lord, Sargon, is paying court to the priestess, the sacred Kama,
and they are guarding him. May leprosy devour them, the wretches, the
swine sons!"

"Thou mayst go."

The naked man made a low obeisance and ran, surely to some kitchen.

"Are those Assyrians?" thought the prince, as he looked at their
strange figures and heard their hated, though un-understood language.
"So already Assyrians are on the Nile, to become brothers to us, or to
deceive us, and their dignitary, Sargon, is courting Kama?"

He returned home. His imaginings died before the light of a passion
felt then for the first time. He, a man mild and noble, felt a deadly
hatred toward the ancient enemies of Egypt, whom he had never met till
that evening.

When leaving the temple of Hator, and after his interview with Hiram,
he began to think of war with Asia; that was merely thinking that Egypt
needed population, and the pharaoh needed