rpses were put into the earth. But the blood,
the pain, the tears, who will reckon them?

"Therefore, wonder not, lord, that the Egyptian toiler to this day
looks with fear toward the west, when above the horizon the triangular
forms of the pyramids seem bloody or crimson. They are witnesses of his
sufferings and fruitless labor.

"And to think that this will continue till those proofs of human pride
are scattered into dust! But when will that be? For three thousand
years those pyramids frighten men with their presence; their walls are
smooth yet, and the immense inscriptions on them are legible."

"That night in the desert thy speech was different," interrupted the
prince.

"For I was not looking at these. But when they are before my eyes, as
at present, I am surrounded by the sobbing spirits of tortured toilers,
and they whisper, 'See what they did with us! But our bones felt pain,
and our hearts longed for rest from labor.'."

Ramses was touched disagreeably by this outburst. "His holiness, my
father," said he, after a while, "presented these things to me
differently; when we were here five years ago, the sacred lord told me
the following narrative:

"During the reign of the pharaoh Tutmosis I, Ethiopian ambassadors came
to negotiate touching the tribute to be paid by them. They were all
arrogant people. They said that the loss of one war was nothing, that
fate might favor them in a second; and for a couple of months they
disputed about tribute.

"In vain did the wise pharaoh, in his wish to enlighten the men mildly,
show our roads and canals to them. They replied that in their country
they had water for nothing wherever they wanted it. In vain he showed
them the treasures of the temples; they said that their country
concealed more gold and jewels by far than were possessed by all Egypt.
In vain did the lord review his armies before them, for they asserted
that Ethiopia had incomparably more warriors' than his holiness.

"The pharaoh brought those people at last to these places where we are
standing and showed them those structures.

"The Ethiopian ambassadors went around the pyramids, read the
inscriptions, and next day they concluded the treaty required of them.

"Since I did not understand the heart of the matter," continued Ramses,
"my holy father explained it.

"'My son,' said he, 'these pyramids are an eternal proof of superhuman
power in Egypt. If any man wished to raise to himself a pyramid he