treasure; and since war gave
the easiest means to win them, and since, besides, it agreed with his
need of glory, Ramses conceived the plan of warfare. But now he was
concerned neither with slaves, nor treasures, nor glory, for in him was
sounding at that moment a voice mightier than every other, the voice of
hatred. The pharaohs had struggled so long with the Assyrians, both
sides had shed so much blood, the struggle had fixed its roots in their
hearts so profoundly, that the prince grasped for his sword at the very
sight of Assyrian warriors. It seemed that the spirits of all the slain
Egyptians, their toils and sufferings, had risen in the soul of this
descendant of pharaohs and cried for retribution.

When Ramses reached the palace, he summoned Tutmosis. One of them had
drunk too much, the other was raging.

"Dost Thou know what I have seen just now?" asked the prince of his
favorite.

"One of the priests, perhaps."

"I have seen Assyrians. O ye gods! what I felt! What a low people!
Their bodies from head to foot are covered with wool, as wild beasts
are; the stench of old tallow comes from them; and what speech, what
beard, what hair!"

The prince walked up and down the room quickly, panting, excited.

"I thought," said he, "that I despised the robberies of scribes, the
deceit of nomarchs, that I hated the cunning and ambition of priests; I
felt repulsion for Jews, and I feared the Phoenicians; but I convinced
myself to-night that those were all amusements. I know now, for the
first time, what hate is, after I have seen and heard Assyrians. I
understand now-why a dog tears the cat which has crossed his path."

"Thou art accustomed to Jews and Phoenicians, worthiness, Thou hast met
Assyrians now for the first time," put in Tutmosis.

"Stupidity! the Phoenicians!" continued the prince, as if to himself.
"The Phoenicians, the Philistines, the Arabs, the Libyans, even the
Ethiopians seem, as it were, members of our own family. When they fail
to pay tribute, we are angry; when they pay, we forget our feeling.

"But the Assyrians are something strange, something inimical, so that I
shall not be happy till I can count one hundred thousand of their hands
cut off by us."

Never had Tutmosis seen the prince in such a state of feeling.

CHAPTER XXXIII

A COUPLE of days later Ramses sent his favorite with a summons to Kama.
She appeared soon in a tightly closed litter.

Ramses received her in a separate ch