54 " " money on hand and subject to draft..224 " -- - Total..................................553 " " "To these now, to the five hundred and fifty-three talents gained, add the original capital I had from thy father, and thou hast SIX HUNDRED AND SEVENTY THREE TALENTS!--and all thine--making thee, O son of Hur, the richest subject in the world." He took the papyri from Esther, and, reserving one, rolled them and offered them to Ben-Hur.

The pride perceptible in his manner was not offensive; it might have been from a sense of duty well done; it might have been for Ben-Hur without reference to himself.
"And there is nothing," he added, dropping his voice, but not his eyes--"there is nothing now thou mayst not do." The moment was one of absorbing interest to all present.

Simonides crossed his hands upon his breast again; Esther was anxious; Ilderim nervous.

A man is never so on trial as in the moment of excessive good-fortune.
Taking the roll, Ben-Hur arose, struggling with emotion.
"All this is to me as a light from heaven, sent to drive away a night which has been so long I feared it would never end, and so dark I had lost the hope of seeing," he said, with a husky voice.
"I give first thanks to the Lord, who has not abandoned me, and my next to thee, O Simonides.

Thy faithfulness outweighs the cruelty of others, and redeems our human nature.