"Through Herhor," thought he, "that man hanged himself on the edge of the desert. To maintain priests and temples about two million Egyptian men toil grievously. If the property of the priests belonged to the pharaoh's treasury, I should not have to borrow fifteen talents and my people would not be oppressed so terribly. There is the source of misfortunes for Egypt and of weakness for its pharaohs!" The prince felt that a wrong was done the people; therefore he experienced no small solace in discovering that priests were the authors of this evil. It did not occur to him that his judgment might be unjust and faulty. Besides, he did not judge, he was only indignant. The anger of a man never turns against himself,--just as a hungry panther never eats its own body; it twirls its tail and moves its ears while looking for a victim. CHAPTER XIII The expedition of the heir to the throne, undertaken with the object of discovering the priest who had saved Sarah and had given him legal advice, had a result that was unexpected. The priest was not discovered, but among Egyptian earth-tillers legends began to circulate which concerned Rameses. Some mysterious man sailed about from village to village and told the people that the heir to the throne freed the men who were in danger of condemnation to the quarries for attacking his dwelling. Besides, he had beaten down an official who was extorting unjust rent from tenants. Finally, the unknown person added that Prince Rameses was under the special guardianship of Amon, who was his father. Simple people listened to these tidings eagerly, first, because they agreed with facts, second, because the man who told the story was himself like a spirit--it was not known whence he came nor whither he had vanished. Prince Rameses made no mention whatever of his tenants to Dagon; he did not even summon him. He felt ashamed in presence of the Phœnician from whom he had taken money and might require money yet more than one time. But a few days after the adventure with Dagon's scribe the banker came himself to the heir, holding in his hand some covered object. On entering the prince's chamber he bent down, untied a white kerchief, and drew forth from it a very beautiful gold goblet; the goblet was set with stones of various colors, and covered with carving in relief which on the lower part represented the gathering and pressing out of grapes and on the cup part a feast. "Accept this goblet, worthy lord, from thy slave," said the banker, "and use it for a hundred, a thousand years, to the end of ages." The prince understood what the Phœnician wanted; so, without touching the golden gift, he said with a stern expression,-- "Dost thou see, Dagon, that purple reflection inside the goblet?" "I do, indeed," replied the banker; "why should I not see that which shows the goblet to be the purest gold?" "But I declare that to be the blood of children seized away from their parents," said the heir, angrily.