“To guard the palace?”
“Undoubtedly.”
“Then he commands many soldiers, and Pharaoh has confidence in him?”
“The utmost, though he ill deserves it.”
“And he is a Syrian, and therefore of our blood.”
“And more closely allied to us than to the Egyptians, at least so far as language and appearance are concerned.”
“I should have taken him for a man of our race, yet he is, as you were, one of the leaders in the army.”
“Other Syrians and Libyans command large troops of mercenaries, and the herald Ben Mazana, one of the highest dignitaries of the court—the Egyptians call him Rameses in the sanctuary of Ra—has a Hebrew father.”
“And neither he nor the others are scorned on account of their birth?”
“This is not quite so. But why do you ask these questions?”