"Impossible! I shall not believe till proof be given." "Proof there will be," replied Hiram. "One of these days a great lord will come to Pi-Bast from Assyria, Sargon, the friend of King Assar. He will come under pretext of a pilgrimage to the temple of Astaroth, he will bring gifts to thee and to his holiness; then he will make a treaty. Ye will in fact put seals to that which the priests have determined to the ruin of Phœnicia, and perhaps to your own great misfortune." "Never! What return could Assyria give Egypt?" "That speech is worthy of a pharaoh. What return would Egypt get? Every treaty is good for a state if only something be gained through it. I am astonished specially by this," continued Hiram, "that Egypt should conclude a bad transaction: besides Phœnicia, Assyria will take almost all Asia, and to you will be left, in the form of a favor, the Israelites, the Philistines, and the peninsula of Sinai. In that case the tributes belonging to Egypt will be lost, and the pharaoh will never receive those hundred and five thousand talents." The viceroy shook his head. "Thou dost not know Egyptian priests," said he; "not one of them would accept such a treaty." "Why not? The Phœnician proverb says: 'Better barley in the granary than gold in the desert.' Should Egypt feel very weak she might prefer Sinai and Palestine to a war with Assyria. But this is what sets me to thinking: Not Egypt, but Assyria, is easy to conquer. Assyria has a quarrel on the northwest; Assyria has few troops, and those of poor quality. Were Egypt to attack she would destroy Assyria, seize immense treasures in Babylon and Nineveh, and establish her authority in Asia at once and securely--" "Such a treaty cannot exist, as thou seest," interrupted Rameses. "In one case alone could I understand such a treaty," continued Hiram. "If 'tis the plan of the priests to set aside kingly power in Egypt; and toward this, O prince, they have been striving since the days of thy grandfather." "Thou art speaking aside from the question," said Rameses, but he felt alarm in his heart. "Perhaps I am mistaken," answered Hiram, looking into his eyes quickly. "But hear me out, worthiness." He moved up his armchair to the prince, and said in a lowered voice,-- "If the pharaoh should make war on Assyria, he would have a great army attached to his person; a hundred thousand talents of tribute in arrears, about two hundred thousand talents from Nineveh and Babylon, finally about a hundred thousand talents yearly from conquered countries. Such immense wealth would enable him to redeem the property mortgaged to the priests, and put an end at once and forever to their meddling." The prince's eyes glittered, and Hiram continued,-- "To-day the army depends on Herhor, and therefore on the priests; remove the foreign regiments, and the pharaoh, in case of war, could not depend on his warriors.