ce. Thou wouldst be the happiest of women, and I should get
back what I had spent on thee."

At the palace of the heir, on the day appointed to receive Sargon,
Egyptian troops were drawn up, and a throng of people were standing
near, eager for spectacles.

The Assyrian retinue appeared about midday, the hour when heat is
greatest. In front inarched policemen armed with swords and sticks;
behind them a number of naked swift runners, and three horses. Those
were trumpeters and a herald. At the corner of each street the
trumpeters sounded a signal, and the herald called in a loud voice:
"Behold, Sargon is approaching; the ambassador of the mighty Assar, a
relative of the king, a lord of immense wealth, a conqueror in battles,
a ruler of provinces. Give him, O people, due homage as a friend of the
ruler of Egypt!"

After the trumpeters rode Assyrian cavalry, with pointed caps, in
narrow skirts and jackets. Their shaggy and enduring horses had on
their foreheads and breasts bronze armor patterned as fish-scales. Next
appeared infantry in helmets, and long mantles reaching the earth. One
division was armed with heavy clubs, the next with bows, the third with
spears and shields. Each man had, besides, a sword, and was armored.

After the soldiers came Sargon's horses, chariots, and litters,
surrounded by servants in white, red, and green garments. After them
came five elephants with litters on their backs; on one rode Sargon, on
another the Chaldean priest Istubar.

The procession was closed by warriors on horseback and on foot, and by
harsh Assyrian music, produced by trumpets, drums, metallic plates, and
pipes squealing shrilly.

Prince Ramses, surrounded by priests, nobility, and officers, dressed
in various colors, and richly, was awaiting the ambassador in the great
hall of audience, which was open on all sides. The heir was gladsome,
knowing that the Assyrians were bringing gifts which, in the eyes of
Egyptians, might pass as tribute. But when he heard the immense voice
of a herald in the court praising the might of Sargon, he frowned.
"When the expression flew to his ears, that King Assar was the friend
of the pharaoh, he grew angry. His nostrils dilated like those of an
angry bull, and sparks flashed in his eyeballs. Seeing this, the
officers and nobility began to assume threatening faces, and put hands
to their sword-hilts. The holy Mentezufis noted their looks, and cried,

"In the name of his holiness, I comm