iest gazed at him with wonder; he had not supposed such resolve
in Ramses.

The cliffs were not distant, but the road was laborious beyond
description. They had not only to walk themselves, but to drag their
horses out of the soft sand. They waded, sinking below their ankles;
they sank to their knees even in some places.

Meanwhile the sun was flaming above them, that dreadful sun of the
desert, every ray of which not only baked and blinded, but pricked
also. The men dropped from weariness: in one, tongue and lips were
swollen; another had a roaring in his head, and saw black patches
before his eyes; drowsiness seized a third, all felt pain in their
joints, and lost the sensation of heat. Had any one asked if it were
hot, they would not have answered.

The ground grew firm under their feet again, and the party passed in
between the cliffs.

The prince, who had more presence of mind than those who were with him,
heard the snorting of horses; he turned to one side, and in the shade
cast by the cliff saw a crowd of people lying as each man had dropped.
Those were the Libyans.

One of them, a youth of twenty years, wore an embroidered purple shirt,
a gold chain was around his neck, and he carried a sword richly
mounted. He seemed unconscious; the eyes were turned in his head, and
there was foam on his lips. In him Ramses recognized the chief. He
approached him, drew the chain from his neck, and unfastened his sword.

Some old Libyan who seemed less wearied than others, seeing this,
called out,

"Though Thou art victor, Egyptian, respect the prince's son, who is
chief."

"Is he the son of Musawasa?" asked Ramses.

"Thou hast spoken truth," replied the Libyan. "This is Tehenna, the son
of Musawasa; he is our leader; he is worthy to be even prince of
Egypt."

"But where is Musawasa?"

"In Glaucus. He will collect a great army and avenge us."

The other Libyans said nothing; they did not even look at their
conquerors.

At command of Ramses the Asiatics disarmed them without the least
trouble, and sat down in the shade themselves.

At that moment they were all neither enemies nor friends, only men who
were mortally wearied. Death was hovering over all, but beyond rest
they had no desire.

Pentuer, seeing that Tehenna remained unconscious, knelt near him and
bent above his head so that no one saw what he was doing. Soon Tehenna
sighed, struggled, and opened his eyes; then he sat up, rubbed his
forehead, as i