were arranged between the ranks of the army, and men on
asses were disposed among the cavalry. So it happened that the
Egyptians seemed as numerous as sands in the desert, and the Libyans
were as timid as doves, over which a falcon is soaring.

At nine in the morning his gilded war chariot stood before the tent of
the viceroy. The horses bearing ostrich plumes reared so that two men
had to hold each of them.

Ramses came out of his tent, took his place in the chariot, and seized
the reins himself, while the place of the charioteer was occupied by
the priest Pentuer, who held now the position of counselor. One of the
commanders carried a large green parasol over the prince; behind, and
on both sides of the chariot, marched Greek officers in gilded armor.
At a certain distance behind the prince's retinue came a small division
of the guard, in the midst of it Tehenna, son of the Libyan chief
Musawasa.

A few hundred paces from the Egyptians, at the entrance of the ravine,
stood the gloomy crowd of Libyans imploring the conqueror's favor.

When Ramses came with his suite to the eminence where he was to receive
the envoys of the enemy, the army raised such a shout in his honor that
the cunning Musawasa was still more mortified, and whispered to the
Libyan elders,

"I say to you, that is the cry of an army which loves its commander."

Then one of the most restless of the Libyan chiefs, a great robber,
said to Musawasa,

"Dost Thou not think that in a moment like this we should be wiser to
trust to the swiftness of our horses than to the kindness of the
pharaoh's son? He must be a raging lion, which tears the skin even when
stroking it, while we are like lambs snatched away from our mothers."

"Do as may please thee," replied Musawasa, "Thou hast the whole desert
before thee. But the people sent me to redeem their faults, and above
all I have a son, Tehenna, on whom the prince will pour out his wrath
unless I win favor."

To the crowd of Libyans galloped up two Asiatic horsemen, who declared
that their lord was waiting for submission.

Musawasa sighed bitterly and went toward the height on which the
conqueror had halted. Never before had he made such a painful journey.
Coarse linen used by penitents covered his back imperfectly; on his
head, sprinkled with ashes, the heat of the sun was burning; sharp
pebbles cut his naked feet, and his heart was crushed by his own sorrow
and that of his people.

He had advanced