in petty
warfare, would ask for peace with Egypt.

The plan was well constructed, but the authors of it failed in one
point; they had not found Ramses a military genius.

The disbanded Libyan regiments robbed along the way, and reached their
birthplace very quickly, all the more quickly since Herhor had given no
command to place obstacles before them. The very first of the disbanded
men, when they stood on Libyan soil, told wonders to their relatives.

According to their stories, dictated by anger and personal interest,
Egypt was then as weak as when the Hyksos invaded it nine hundred years
earlier. The pharaoh's treasury was so poor that he, the equal of the
gods, had to disband them, the Libyans, who were the chief, if not the
only honor of the army. Moreover, there was hardly any army unless a
mere band on the eastern boundary, and that was formed of warriors of a
common order.

Besides, there was dissension between the priesthood and his holiness.
The laborers had not received their wages, and the earth tillers were
simply killed through taxes, therefore masses of men were ready to
rebel if they could only find assistance. And that was not the whole
case, for the nomarchs, who ruled once independently, and who from time
to time demanded their rights again, seeing now the weakness of the
government, were preparing to overturn both the pharaoh and the supreme
priestly council.

These tidings flew, like a flock of birds, along the Libyan boundary,
and found credit quickly. Those barbarians and bandits ever ready to
attack, were all the more ready then, when ex-warriors and officers of
his holiness assured them that to plunder Egypt was easy.

Rich and thoughtful Libyans believed the disbanded men also; for during
many years it had been to them no secret that Egyptian nobles were
losing wealth yearly, that the pharaoh had no power, and that earth-
tillers and laborers rebelled because they suffered.

And so excitement burst out through all Libya. People greeted the
disbanded warriors and officers as heralds of good tidings. And since
the country was poor, and had no supplies to nourish visitors, a war
with Egypt was decided on straightway, so as to send off the new
arrivals at the earliest.

Even the wise and crafty Libyan prince, Musawasa, let himself be swept
away by the general current. It was not, however, the disbanded
warriors who had convinced him, but certain grave and weighty persons
who, in every lik