He looked fixedly at Rameses with his quick and wise eyes, and seeing that doubt was rising in the young man, he continued,-- "I will tell thee something, lord. Thou art inexperienced, though surrounded by a net of intrigues, but I have been the friend of thy grandfather and thy father. Now I will render thee a service: Come in the night to the temple of Astaroth, but bind thyself to keep the secret. Come alone, and thou wilt be convinced as to who the gods are who speak in the temples and touch us." "I will come," said Rameses, after some meditation. "Forewarn me, prince, on the morning of the day, and I will give thee the evening password; thou wilt be admitted. Only betray neither me nor thyself," said the Phœnician, with a kindly smile. "Men never pardon betrayal of their secrets, though gods pardon sometimes." He bowed, raised his eyes and hands, while he whispered a blessing. "Deceivers!" cried the prince. "Thou prayest to gods, and dost not believe in them." Hiram finished the blessing, and said,-- "It is true that I have no belief in Egyptian or Assyrian, or even in Phœnician gods, but I believe in One who dwells not in temples and whose name is unknown to us." "Our priests believe also in One," said Rameses. "So do the Chaldeans, but they and your priests have conspired against us. There is no truth in this world, prince." After Hiram's departure the heir shut himself up in the most remote chamber under pretext of reading sacred papyruses. Almost in the twinkle of an eye the information received recently arranged itself in the fiery imagination of Rameses, and he formed a plan. First of all, he understood that a secret battle for life and death was raging between the priests and the Phœnicians. About what? Naturally about wealth and influence. Hiram said truly, that should the Phœnicians be expelled from Egypt, all the estates of the pharaoh, and even of the nomarchs and the entire aristocracy, would pass into possession of the temples. Rameses had never liked the priests, and he had known and seen for a long time that the greater part of Egypt belonged to them, that their cities were the richest, their fields the best tilled, their people satisfied. He understood too that one-half the treasures which belonged to the temples would suffice to rescue the pharaoh from ceaseless troubles and give back power to him. The prince knew this, and more than once he had said so with bitterness. But when through the influence of Herhor he became viceroy and received the corps in Memphis, he grew reconciled with the priests and stifled his previous dislike of them. All that dislike had revived again.