^ *> • '- f^-^ym^-^i^ ..4i^ ; '.^-^ L I B R.AR.Y OF THE UNIVERSITY or ILLI NOI6 82.^ V. ( S. ^0 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign http://www.archive.org/details/sarchedonlegendo01whyt SAROHEDON. i*ondon; bobsok ani> sons, pbxnt£rs» pancsas soai>, >.w. SARCHEDON BY a J. WHYTE MELVILLE, AOTHOE OF ' TEE GLADIATORS,' ' EOLMEY HOrSE.' ZTC: m THREE VOLUMES. VOL L LONDON: CHAPMAN AND HALL, 193 PICCADILLY. 1871. _ , ?a3 TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE AUSTIN LAYARD, D.C.L. HER MAJESTY'S MINISTER AT MADRID, THE FOLLOWING ROMANCE IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, AS A TRIBUTE OF . ADMIRATION TO THE GREAT DISCOVERER, WHOSE SKILL, COURAGE, AND RESEARCH HAVE EXCAVATED FROM THE DESERT SANDS THE ARTS, ARMS, AND RECORDS OF A MIGHTY NATION WHOSE LEARNING AND PERSEVERANCE HAVE RESTORED AN IMPORTANT LINK IN THE world's HISTORY, LONG SEVERED IN THE OBLIVION OF THE PAST. Onslow Gardens, June 1871. CONTENTS OF YOL, L CHAP. I. The King of Beasts . PAGS 3 II. IMerodach . , . . 17 III. Semiramis . . , , 32 IV. The Temple of his God ' 47 V. The Staks in their Courses . 60 VI. A Dreamer of Dseajis . 74 VII. The King of Nations 88 Tin. The LrsT of the Eye 104 IX. The Pride of Life 118 X. A Banquet of Wine . 133 XI. Like to Like 148 XII. The Gods of the Heathen . 162 XIII. Mother and Son 177 XIV. Strong as Death . 192 XV. The Queen's Petition . 207 XVI. Cruel as the Grave . 222 XVII. The Divining Cup . 236 XVIII. A Lying Spirit . • 251 XIX. The Eeast of Baal . 264 XX. Gone to the Stars . 276 THE SEVEN STARS. ' They watcliliim who wakes — They watch] him who sleeps — liim who speaks — liim who is silent — the giiilty, the blame- less : tliere is none on earth who is not watched.' Bhmldhatjosa Proverbs. VOL. I. SARCHEDON. — -fH^— - CHAPTER I. THE KING OF BEASTS. Dying in the desert — stretched, limp and helpless, in the darkening waste — poured out like water on the tawny sand — two specks poised high above him in the deeper orange of the upper sky — a wide - winged vulture hovering and wheeling between the stricken lion and the setting sun. Dying in the desert — grim, dignified, unyielding, like a monarch slain in battle. So formidable in the morning — the herdsman's terror, the archer's dread, the savage ^Testier in whose grasp horse and rider went down crushed, mangled, over - matched, like sucking fawn and unweaned child — fierce, tameless, unconquered — a noble adversary for the noblest 4 SARCHEDON. champions of the plain — but ere the last red streak of evening faded on the dusky level of their wilderness, a thing for the foul night-bird to tear and buffet — for the wild ass, wincing and snorting, half in terror, half in scorn, to spurn and trample with her hoof. Pitiful in its hopelessness, the wistful pleading of eyes gradualty waning to the apathy of death ; j)itiful the long flickering tongue, licking with some- thing of a dog's homely patience that fatal gash of which the pain grew every moment more endurable, only because it was a death-wound ; and pitiful too the utter prostration of those massive limbs, with knotted muscles and corded sinews — of that long, lean, tapering body — the very emblem of agile strength — which, striving in agony to rear but half its height, sank down again in dust, writhing, power- less, like an earthworm beneath the spade. Xo yell, no moan — only a short quick breathing, a convulsive shiver, and the occasional effort to rise, that time by time soaked and stained his lair with darker jets of blood. So those specks on the upper sky widened into two huge soaring vultures, while the wing of a third brushed lightly against the fallen lion's mane, as the THE KING OF BEASTS. 5 foul bird ventured nearer its coming banquet, croak- ing hideous invitations to others and yet others, that emerged, as if by magic, from the solemn cloudless heaven. Far back into the desert, varied here and there by clammy clotted spots, lay a single track of foot- prints, closer together, less sharp, round, and clearly- defined, as they dragged towards -the end. Many a weary furlong had he travelled, the king of beasts, on his journey here to die ; and yet he never was to reach the patch of arid reeds that instinct bade him seek for a last shelter — the scanty covert wherewith nature prompted him to shield his death agony from the remorseless bird of prey. It is a royal sport to-day. It was a royal sport, no doubt, thousands of years ago, to rouse the kingly lion from his haunt of reeds, or rock, or cool dank quivering morass, in those wide plains that stretch between the Tigris and the Euphrates, the Meso- potamia of the ancients, the Naha-raina of its present migratory tribes. A royal sport, when followed by a queen and all her glittering train, defiling from the lofty porches of Babylon the Great, with tramp of horse and ring of bridle, with steady footfall of As- syrian warriors — curled, bearded, erect, and for- 6 SARCHEDON. midable — with ponderous tread of stately elephants, gorgeous in trappings of scarlet, pearls, and gold, with stealthy gait of meek -eyed camels, jolodding patient under their burdens in the rear. Scouring into the waste before that jewelled troop, herds of wild asses bruised and broke the shoots of wormwood beneath their flying hoofs, till the hot air was laden with an aromatic smell ; the ostrich spread her scant and tufted wings to scud before the wind, tall, swift, ungainly, in a cloud of yellow dust ; the fleet gazelle, with beating heart, and head tucked back, sprang for- ward like an arrow from the bow, never to pause nor stint in her terror-stricken flight, till man and horse, game and hunter, pursuer and pursued, were left hopelessly behind, far down beyond the unbroken level of the horizon. Was not her speed of foot the strength and safety and glory of her being? Nor could the desert falcon strike her save unawares, nor the cruel Eastern greyhound overtake her save when she had lately drunk her fill from the spring. But the monarch of the desert, the grim and lordly lion, sought no refuge in flight, accepted no compromise of retreat. Driven from his covert, he might move slowly and sullenly away ; but it was to turn in savage wrath on the eager horseman who THE KING OF BEASTS. 7 approached too near, on the daring archer who ven- tured to bend his bow within point-blank distance of so formidable an enemy. Nevertheless, even the fiercest of their kind must yield before man, the con- queror of beasts; before woman, the conqueror of man : and on the shaft which drank his life-blood, and transfixed the lion from side to side, was graven the royal tiara of a monarch's mate, were cut those wedge-shaped letters that indicated the name of Se- miramis the Great Queen. Fainter and fainter drooped the mighty frame of the dying beast; one by one large red drops plashed heavily on the sand beneath him, as the first bright stars of a Chaldean sky blazed from the clear depths of heaven. The perishable was fast fading below. Was that indeed eternal which shone so pure and pitiless above ? Great Babylon lay spread out, massive, myste- rious, and indistinct, in the shades of coming night. Here and there, huge piles of building loomed vast and shadowy against the sky ; far below these, amidst the tents, houses, palaces, and gardens within the town, glittered and flashed a world of lamps and torches, scattered bright and countless as the stars in that other world above; while rearing its head, 8 SARCHEDON. like some ghostly giant, high over shaft and co- lumn, fortress, palace, and obelisk, rose a lofty tower that seemed to demand of heaven its secrets, and bade defiance to the sky. Here, on the summit of this tower, stood a human figure, gazing fixedly on the planets already visible, scanning the heavens with rapt attention ; calm, se- rious, abstracted, wrestling, as it were, with all its mental forces, for the triumph of intellect, the mas- tery of thought. It was Assarac, priest of Baal, reading the stars, as a student reads a book writ in some symbolical language of which he holds the key. Assarac the priest, the man for whom in that voluptuous climate, amidst that gorgeous people, delighting in splendour, in pleasure, in luxury, in warfare, glory, arts, arms, and magnificence, the world could furnish but one attraction — the insa- tiable craving of ambition — to lull which he must rule supreme; therefore he trained himself, night and day, with the weapons of victory, seeking dili- gently that knowledge which constitutes power. The act of worship is amongst all creation indi- genous and peculiar to man. As he alone stands erect and raises his front without efi'ort towards THE KING OF BEASTS. 9 heaven, so he bends the knee in reasoning adoration, neither cowering down with his head in the dust, nor grovelling on his belly, like other creatm-es, in abject fear ; but, wanton, unstable, and extravagant even in his noblest aspirations, this viceroy of earth has been ever prone to waver in his allegiance, eager to am- plify his worship of the one true God into a thousand false religions, more or less beautiful, poetical, and absurd. Amongst these, none could be less unworthy than that earhest form of superstition which attri- buted to the celestial bodies certain properties of power and knowledge, such as could affect the present no less than they predicted the future. Man's intel- lect felt elevated and purified by scientific communion with the book of Fate as wTitten on the luminous pages of the sky, while his soul seemed scarce de- based by an adoration that lifted it at least to the visible and material heaven. On the wide-stretching plains of Western Asia, in the wai-m cloudless As- syrian night, with the lamps of heaven flashing out theii- radiance in uninterrupted splendour from the centre to the boundless hoiizon, it was no wonder that students and sages should have accepted for deities those distant worlds of fire on which eyes, brain, hopes, thoughts, and aspirations were nightly 10 SARCHEDON. fixed — the guides of their science, the exponents of their history, the arbiters of their fate. While the rude camel- driver, as he plodded by night through the trackless desert, relied, no less than the early mariner, for progress and safety on the stars, priests in their temples, kings in their palaces, consulted the same changeless, passionless, inscrutable witnesses, for the web of policy, the con- duct of warfare, the fui-therance of love, desire, am- bition, or revenge. Ere long, by an inevitable process in the human mind, the instructor of their course came to be looked on as the originator of events ; and that which began only with an assumption that it could foretell, was soon credited with the power to bias, to prevent, or to destroy. Then arose an idolatry which seemed irresistible to the noblest and boldest nations of the ancient world, which, notwithstanding their own sublime creed, possessed a strong fascination for the Chosen People themselves. Yav, Nebo, Bel, and Ashtaroth* came to be worshipped as living deities, reigning and revealing themselves through the planets that bore these names. The Seven Stars t were believed to * Jupiter, Mercury, Saturn, and Venus. t Eatlier the seven spheres, or the five planets with the sun and moon. THE KING OF BEASTS. 11 time the inevitable inrircli of the universe to their seven tones of m^'sterious music, unheard by mortal ears only because it never ceased nor faltered in its eternal diapason. The twelve months of the year vrere sacred, each to its especial luminary. Thirty stars were worshipped as the Consulting Gods. Twelve to the north, twelve to the south, were be- lieved respectively to compel the destinies of living men and dead, the whole twenty -four bearing the title of Judges of the World. And finally, lest su- perstition should overlook one single object of its adoration, or idolatry fail in the smallest detail to sin against its Creator, priests, temples, sacrifices, and votive offerings were assigned to those countless worlds that gem a Southern night, under the col- lective title of the Host of Heaven. Assarac looked abroad, above, around, below — with the confident glance of a monarch who reviews his powers, with the critical attention of a calculator who sums up his total, with the visionary gaze of a prophet who forecasts his destiny, yet not entirely without something of that astute and wary expression which on the magician's face seems to scan and do- minate, while it half mistrusts, the implements of his art. 12 SAECHEDON. He was yet a young man, to count by years, and his dark almond-shaped eyes had lost none of the fire and softness which are only combined before middle life; but above his black 'eyebrows there were lines traced deep in the tawny forehead, and at his temples a few white hairs already mingled with the black bushy ringlets that, confined by a fillet of gold, were drawn back in clustering profusion to his neck and shoulders. His arms, but for the heavy gold bracelets that clasped their wrists, were bare, as were his strong muscular legs from knee to ankle ; he wore sandals, fastened by straps of embroidered leather crossing and recrossing so as to form no slight protection for foot and instep. His long gown of white linen, open to the breast and looped so as to give the legs freedom of action at the knee, was bor- dered with cunning needlework wrought in tissue of gold and scarlet silk, its arrow-headed characters dis- playing many a dark sentence and time-honoured re- cord. A tasselled cord fastened it at the waist, and a deep fringe, also of scarlet tissue, hung below its edges, while an ample cloak, white and embroidered like the gown, fell from one shoulder and trailed be- hind the priest as he stood erect and motionless, looking out into the night. THE KISG OF BEASTS. 13 On his solid earrings, on his golden bracelets, on the fillet that bound his forehead, on the very clasps that secured his sandals, was graven the mystic circle that, with or without its winged figure, constituted a memorial and a symbol of fate, omnipotence, and eternity. If he worshipped the stars, he could yet conceive of a power so supreme as to control and dominate their influence ; nor could his religion in its aspirations for this ineff'able essence find a better emblem of its ideal than that geometrical figure which has neither beginning nor end. He bore in his hand a lotus-flower lately gathered, and was careful, with something of superstitious re- verence, to preserve its freshness; though once, when it caught his eye by chance, a smile of mingled scorn and curiosity i;\Teathed his full red lips ; but he looked aloft again the next instant ^^dth a keener and more rapt attention in his gaze. If he speculated on the symbohcal interpretation of the plant, it was nof there he sought the power and lore that should en- able him to control his kind. Though he carried two knives in his girdle, though his limbs were massive and muscular, his chest deep and his head erect, the man's habits seemed those of peace and study, not of action and warfare. His face, 14 SARCHEDON. for all its indications of intellectual virility, was somewhat too rounded in outline, too full and flaccid, rather perhaps unmanly than effeminate, and hearing an expression of sustained effort, as of one who con- tinually strives to hide and overcome a consciousness of unmerited degradation. There was no sign of beard about the well-cut lips, nor on the firmly - moulded chin; and for Assarac the priest it was too obvious that the domestic affections must ever remain a sealed book — his hearth must be the sacred fire of his worship, and the starry canopy of heaven his home. * And what have you given me ?' said he, raising his hand towards the glittering world above, with a gesture that denoted quite as much of defiance as devotion. * What have you given me, my gods, in exchange for the glow of youth, the dignity of manhood, the rapture and the folly and the sweet sorrow that are common, like cool breezes and run- ning streams, to all but such as me ? No wife, no child ! None of the treasures others guard so jeal- ously; but, in compensation, none of the fears that bid the brave man cower and the strong man quake. What have jon given me, my gods ? The thirst for power, the desire to rule, the knowledge that THE KING OF BEASTS. 15 causes brave and strong to bend and quiver like reeds in the Euphrates before the breeze that hurries down its stream. You have given me wisdom to forecast men's lives and destinies; it is strange if he who has a knowledge of the future cannot control and warp the present to his will. I have torn open your scrolls by force of hand; I have compelled you to reveal your secrets by sheer strength of intellect — ye are my gods indeed, and I your priest and servant ; yet is there something working here in this forehead, in this breast, that seems to dominate you as the goad rules the elephant, as the bridle turns and guides the foaming war-horse on the plain ! Your strength, your knowledge, and your fire are mine — mine until these reasoning powers are dulled — these senses enervated by luxury and indulgence. Pro- phesy — prophesy! Trace for me in your shafts of light the story of that which is to come : show me the future of Assarac the priest — his growing know- ledge, his indomitable struggles, his successful en- counters, the culminating glory of his career. Show me the destiny of that fairest, bravest, fiercest of women — the diamond of the East ! whose white arm conquers nations, whose flashing eyes set towns and palaces and kingdoms all ablaze — beautiful, proud, 16 SARCHEDON. and pitiless — Semiramis the Great Queen ; of her lord, the king of nations, the grim old champion who scojffs, forsooth, at your power, my gods ! and trusts only in the strength of his right arm and in his sword. Shall ye not avenge yourselves for his scorn and unbelief? Shall not Assarac your priest rise on the war-worn monarch's ruin to a splendour before which the glory of Ninus and all his line shall pale, even as ye pale yourselves, eternal host, before the Lord of Light who comes with day ?' Even while he spoke the dying lion, far off in the desert, turned on his side with one quick gasping moan, one convulsive shudder of his mighty limbs, ere they grew rigid and motionless for ever, breaking short off in his death-pang the shaft on which was graven a royal tiara and the symbol of the Great Queen. CHAPTER II. MERODACH. The boldest war-horse was never too courageous to wince and tremble at the smell of blood. A solitary rider speeding across the surface of the desei-t, smooth, swift, and noiseless, like a bird on the wing, found himself nearly unseated by the violence with which the good horse under him plunged aside in terror, swerving from a low dark object lying in his path. While the startled horse- man drew rein to examine it more closely, he scared two sated vultures from their work, the gorged birds hopping lazily and unconcernedly to a few paces' dis- tance. Already the gray streaks of morning were tinged with crimson, as they flushed and widened on the long level of the horizon ; and the lion, dead at nightfall, was picked nearly to the bone. Ere dawn had fairly broke, and long before the VOL. I. c 18 SAKCHEDON. gold on bit and bridle-piece caugbt the first flash of sunrise, the traveller had sped many a furlong on his way, and the vultures had laboured back to continue their loathsome meal. He had been riding the live- long night, yet his good horse seemed neither blown nor wearied ; snorting, indeed, in the very wanton- ness of strength, as he settled down again to his long untiring gallop, and cleared his nostrils from the abomination that had so disturbed him in his career. ' Soh, Merodach !' said his master, ' my gentle bold-hearted steed ! I never knew you shrink from lining foe, be it man or brute; but you would not trample on a dead enemy, would you, my king of horses ? Steady then ! At this rate we shall see the tower of Belus springing out of the plain, and the black tents by the Well of Palms, before the sun is another spear's length above the sky-line of this half-cooled sand. Steady, my gallant horse ! Ah ! you are indeed fit to carry him who takes the message of a king !' Merodach, or Mars, no less sensible of his lord's caresses than he was worthy of the praises lavished on him, arched his crest, shook his head till its orna- ments rang again, and increased his speed, for a reply. MERODACH. 19 He was in trutli a rare and unequalled specimen of his kind, the true pure-bred horse of the Asiatic plains. Strong and bold as had been the very lion he was leaving rapidly behind him, beautiful in his rounded symmetry of shape, and so swift that Sarche- don, his rider, was wont to boast only one steed in all the ai-mies of the King of Assyi-ia was able, mth a man's weight on his back, to outstrip the wild ass in her native plains, and that steed was Merodach. Horse and rider seemed a pair well matched, as they flung their dancing shadows behind them on the sand. The arms of one and accoutrements of the other shone ablaze with gold in the splendoui- of the morning sun. Both seemed full of pride, courage, mettle, and endurance, countei-parts in strength and beauty, forming when combined the fairest and no- blest ideal of the warlike element in creation. So they galloped on, choosing their course as if by in- stinct, through the trackless waste. Long before noon a lofty to^^v-er seemed to grow, cubit by cubit, out of the horizon. Presently the walls and palaces of a city were seen stretching far on either side along the plain, like a line of white surf on a distant shore. Then strips of verdure, intersecting each other with more frequency, as a 20 SARCHEDON. network of irrigation filtered tlie waters of the Eu- phrates through many a trickling stream, to fertilise the desert in the neighbourhood of Great Babylon. Yet a few^ more furlongs of those smooth untiring strides; a startled ostrich scudding away on long awkward legs before the wind ; a troop of wild asses standing at gaze for a moment, to disappear with snort and whinny, and heels glancing upward through volumes of dust ; a fleet gazelle scouring off in one direction, a desert -falcon darting through the sun- light in another ; and Sarchedon could already descry that knot of feathery trees, that sprinkling of black tents, that low marble structure of dazzling white, which, under the name of the Well of Palms, afforded a landmark for every thirsty wayfarer journeying to the Great City. But, except the sea, there is no such fallacious medium through which to estimate distance as the sun-dried atmosphere and unbroken expanse of the desert. Ere they reached those scattered tents and halted at the Well of Palms, neither man nor horse were unwilling to enjoy a moment's respite from their exertions ; while the former, at least, was suf- fering from a protracted thirst, which under those scorching skies made a draught from the desert MERODACH. 21 Spring such a cordial, such an elixir, as could not be pressed from the choicest grapes that ever blushed and ripened in the Assyrian sun. Springing off Merodach's back, his master drew the embossed bit carefully from his favourite's mouth, pressing his head down with a caress towards the water, while he administered, like a true horseman, to the needs of his servant before he slaked his own parched lips, or so much as dipped his hand in the cold, clear, tempting element. But Merodach, though he pointed his ears and neighed jo}^ully, scarcely wetted his muzzle in the marble basin ; thereby af- fording a proof, had any been wanting, of his cele- brated pedigree and stainless purity of breed. His young lord was not so abstemious. He looked about, indeed, for a drinking-vessel ; but would have done very well without it, had not a shadow come between him and the sun as he was in the act of stooping to immerse face, lips, and nostrils in the sparkling water. With the ready instinct of one whose trade is war, he sprang erect, but bowed his head again in manly courtesy when he saw a girlish figure bending over him to dip her pitcher in the fountain. * Drink, my lord,' said a very sweet and gentle voice from the folds of a thin white veil. ' ^yhen 22 SARCHEDON. your thirst is quenched, your servant will take her payment in news from the army of the Great King.* He was young, bold, gallant, born under a South- ern sun ; but had Ashtaroth, Queen of Heaven, come down in person to accost him, with a pitcher of water in her hand, he must have drunk before he could utter a syllable in reply. The girl watched him, while he emptied the ves- sel, with such tender interest as women take in the physical needs of one to whom they render aid, and refilled it forthwith, showing, perhaps not uncon- sciously, a lithe and graceful figure as she bent over the fountain. * Thanks, maiden,' said he. * You have put new life into a fainting man ; for I have galloped over many a weary league of sand, and scarce drawn bridle since ypsterday at noon.' * The poor horse !' answered the girl, laying a slender hand on Merodach's swelling neck. 'But my lord comes doubtless from the camp, and has joyful tidings to bring, or he had never ridden so far and fast. What of the Great King ? and ! what of Arbaces ? Is he safe ? Is he unhurt ? Is he well?' There was a tremble in her voice that denoted MERODACH. 23 intense anxiety, and tlie pitcher in her hand shook till it overflowed. Sarchedon marked her agitation with a sense of displeasure, unaccountable as it was unjust. * The Great King,' he answered, raising his right hand quickly to mouth and eyes while he named him — 'the Great King has triumphed, as he must ever triumph when he mounts his war-chariot. The captain of the host is well in health, unwounded, though foremost in battle ; — trusted by his lord, feared by the enemy, and honoured of all.' She clasped her pretty hands together in delight, while the pitcher, escaping from her grasp, poured its contents into the thirsty soil and rolled under Merodach's hoofs, eliciting fi'om the horse a pro- longed snort of astonishment and disgust. * You are indeed a messenger of the gods !' said she — ' welcome as the breeze at sundown ; welcome as the rains of spring ; welcome to the Great Queen and her people yonder in the city ; but to none so welcome as you have been to me !' 'Indeed!' he answered in a cold measured voice. ' Have I then brought tidings of one so very dear to you ?' 'None can ever be so dear,' she exclaimed with a 24 SABCHEDON. light laugh, musical and pleasant as the whisper of the rippling fountain — 'none will ever love me so well — none shall I ever love half so dearly in return ! Arhaces is my father, and every day since he mounted his chariot at the head of the Great King's captains have I watched here with my maidens, to catch the first gleam of his armour when he returns, to learn good tidings of him by the first messenger who rides hither from the camp. Not one has yet arrived but yourself, my lord. I say again, may all the host of heaven befriend you, for to me you are welcome as the dawn !' It was unaccountable that his heart should have bounded so lightly at her speech, that his tone should have been so much softer while he replied : * I am bearing tidings from a king to his queen, — from the conqueror of nations to his people in the greatest city of the earth. I have to relate how we slew and spared not, crushing and trampling down the enemy as an ox treads out the ripened corn ; breaking their chariots of iron ; taking their fenced cities by assault ; capturing and bringing away men, women, and children by thousands and tens of thou- sands. All that I have to tell is of honour, glory, and victory. Yet I speak truth when I swear to you, MEEODACH. 25 maiden, by the light of morning, that whatever re- compense it may please the Great Queeij to bestow on the lowest of her servants, to have met you here to- day at the Well of Palms, and to have gladdened you with assurance of my lord your father's welfare, is to me the richest and brightest reward of all.' * You have noble triumphs to report,' she ans- wered hurriedly, and drawing her veil closer, as if he could see the blood rushing to her cheek behind its folds. ' Great victories, but not without fierce war- fare — many a broken shield and shivered spear, and deadly an-ow quivering in its mark ! And you, my lord — have you escaped scatheless ? Has this good horse borne you always unhurt and triumphant in the press of chariots ? — Yes, I know it, in the hottest fore-front of the battle ! 0, it is dreadful to think of! — the wounded, the dying, the fallen steed, the pitiless conqueror — those we love, it may be, gasping out their lives on the trampled plain, and then to watch on the walls of the city, or here by the Well of Palms, for the horseman that never comes ! Pardon me, my lord : I speak too freely. Let me give you to drink once more from the fountain ; then will I gather my maidens about me, and depart in peace.' 26 SAECHEDOX. He took lier hand in his own, nor did she with- draw it. * You are not alone ?' he asked. * The daughter of Arhaces does not travel unattended so much as a howshot from the city walls ?' 'My damsels are in those tents,' she answered, ' my camels are kneeling in the shade. I have no need of guards nor horsemen. Over many a league without the ramparts of Bahylon her father's fame is a tower of defence for the daughter of Arhaces.' * The daughter of Ai'haces!' he repeated. * Maiden, so long as I eat hread and drink water I mil remem- ber her by that name.' *And by her own,' she added hurriedly. ' The servant of my lord is called Ishtar. It was my mother's name, and Arhaces loved her well.' 'Ishtar!' he murmured — and his rich low voice dwelt softly on the syllables — 'Ishtar, the fair pure queen of night ! 'twas well chosen, in good truth ; for the moon shines ever gentle, mild, and gracious, like a true goddess.' 'And changes, my lord, like a true woman!' laughed the girl ; but continued in a graver and more respectful tone : ' The day wears on — he who carries a king's tidings must be diligent on the way. I MERODACH. 27 thank my lord for liis favourable notice of his servant, and I bid him farewell.' Then she gathered her dress about her, recovered the pitcher, and walked away towards her tents, modest, stately, and graceful — a goddess in gesture, as in name. She turned once, nevertheless, when he was busied adjusting the bridle in his horse's mouth, and drew her veil aside while he might have counted ten. The large serious eyes, the perfect oval, the pale delicate beauty of that young face haunted him, even to the towers and ramparts of haughty Babylon, even amidst the shouting crowds who thronged her brazen gate. There is a spirit that, whether for good or evil, when it takes possession of the heart of man, must needs tear and rend, stanch and soothe, torture and perplex, or elevate and encourage, each and all in turn; but, be it a blessing or a curse, it fills the tenement, occupies the whole temple, and when it vanishes, leaves but bare walls and a riven altar to mark the sacred spot that it has scathed and blasted ere it passed away. Merodach galloped on, swift, mettlesome, un- tiring, regardless of the many leagues he had tra- 28 SAKCHEDON. versed, as he was unconscious of the double burden that he bore. Nearing the city, Sarchedon could not but admire the stupendous walls that frowned over him as he rode at a slower pace through scores of tents and lodges of wood or sun-dried bricks scattered through the richly cultivated garden -grounds without the ram- part walls, that, rising to forty cubits in height, were yet so wide as to admit of three chariots being driven abreast along their[summits, flanked with lofty towers standing out in pairs, bluff and bold, like defiant warriors, and utterly impregnable to assault. Be- tween every two of these, large gates of brass, worked in fantastic ornaments representing gods, men, and animals, amongst which the bull was the most con- spicuous, stood open from sunrise to sunset, while through their portals passed and repassed a busy crowd, swarming like bees in and out of the rich and magnificent city, her own especial residence, which the Great Queen had created to be a Wonder of the World. What mattered waste of life and treasure, starving families, fainting peasants, the sinking slave and the task-master's whip? Each countless brick in all those leagues of building might be moistened with tears and cemented with blood, every stone raised MERODACH. 29 on the crushed and mangled corpses of its founders ; masses of marble, slabs of alabaster, roof, tower, and pinnacle, beam of cedar, and parapet of gold, might tell their separate tales of famine, disease, misery, and oppression — what matter ? The Great Queen said, ' Kaise me here a city by the river that shall be worthy of my name !' and straightway upsprang, on either bank of the mighty stream, such structures of pride, splendour, and magnificence, as were not to be surpassed by that very tower of man's defiance to his Maker, about which their foundations were laid. Passing within the walls, a guard of Assyrian bowmen turned out to greet with warlike honours the messenger from their monarch's camp ; their exertions were even required to clear a passage for him as he rode through the crowded streets — men, women, and children thronging and pressing in as he passed on, shouting a thousand cheers and accla- mations, striving with each other to touch his feet, his garments, the horn of his bow, the carved sheath of his sword, the very trappings and accoutrements of his horse. With all his desire for dispatch, it was necessary to rein Merodach back to a foot's-pace ; and many a dainty flower fell whirling down on the young warrior, many a charm and amulet was cast 30 SAKCHEDON. with unerring aim on his knees and saddle-cloth, while he paced forward under stately palaces, solemn temples, or broad terraces glowing like gardens with bright-robed Assyrian women, who flung their veils aside to shower greetings and welcome on the brave. The watchman at the gate had long expected such a one. With the first glint of his armour in the distant waste the news spread like wildfire, and the whole population of the city was astir. So he rode slowly on, the observed of all ; and still, turn which way he would, above that sea of faces, amidst that mass of triumph, splendour, and gorgeous colouring, floated like a star shining through a mist the pale spectral beauty of the gentle girl whom he had left an hour ago at the Well of Palms — even the shouts that rent his ear seemed to reecho from afar in an unearthly whisper, 'Ishtar, Ishtar! pure, sacred, and beautiful queen of night !' The streets were wider, the buildings more mag- nificent, the crowd, if possible, denser, as he pro- ceeded through the city. Presently, reaching a wide flight of low broad marble steps, flanked by those colossal bulls with eagles' wings and human heads, that represented the strength and solidity of the great Assyrian empire, MEEODACH. 31 he halted to dismount ; for a cloth of gold and scarlet had been rolled out from top to bottom, and down these stan-s were marching a body of white -robed priests with slow and solemn gait, their centre figure walking three paces before the rest, and advancing obviously to hold conference with the messenger from the camp. Then the young warrior took a jewelled signet from his breast, and -^"ith a low obeisance pressed it to heart, mouth, and forehead ; while over the eager multitude came unbroken silence, as Sarchedon ten- dered to Assarac, high-priest of Baal, his token from the Great King. CHAPTER in. SEMIRAMIS. The silence lasted but a short space. When his lord, ere he accompanied that priestly escort into the palace, bestowed one parting caress on Merodach, shouts longer and more deafening than ever went up into the sunny sky. The good horse, led away by half a dozen negroes, now seemed to attract universal attention; for Sarchedon had disappeared between the gigantic bulls of stone that guarded each entrance to the royal dwelling. His armour, here and there defaced with sword stroke or spear thrust, his dusty, travel-stained garments, and, notwithstanding bodily strength and warlike training, the weary gait of one who has seen the sun set twice without quitting the saddle, were in marked contrast to the glittering splendour and refined magnificence of all that sur- rounded him. The marble steps, skirted by their SEMIRAMIS. 33 entablatures of gilding and sculpture coloured to the life ; the broad level terrace, glistening and polished like a steel breast-plate inlaid with gold; the regal front of the costly palace itself, with its colossal eagle-headed figures, its winged monsters, couching or erect, its sacred emblems, its strange deities, its mystic forms, tributes of adoration offered to a host of gods, as the long succession of lifeHke carvings on the walls, brought out in high relief with boldness of design and brightness of tint, were memorials of the triumphs won by a line of kings. Here were represented the pleasures of the chase, the vicissitudes of war, the lion, the stag, the boar, the wild bull, beasts, landscapes, rivers, chariots and horsemen, warriors, captives, towers, and towns. Above rose a hundred stately pillars to support their painted chambers roofed mth cedar and other pre- cious wood, inlaid in elaborate and fantastic patterns, brilliant with vermilion or other gaudy colours, and profusely ornamented with gold. Over these lofty rooms rose yet another story, on ivory columns carved with the utmost skill that Indian handicraft could produce and Bactrian triumphs furnish, under a roof of which the very battlements and parapets were plated with silver and gold. VOL. I. D 34 SAECHEDON. High above all towered the sacred structure of cedar, which formed that mysterious retreat, remote from the gaze of man, where none might enter hut the monarch alone when ministering in his holy office, and combining in his own person the sacred cha- racters of priest and king. Assarac left his retinue at the gate of the palace, where stood two pillars of sardonyx to render poison innocuous should it pass through, and over which a gigantic carbuncle flashed its lurid rays, that seemed to shed an angry gleam even in the darkness of night. He bade Sarchedon follow, and the pair strode swiftly on through a cool and spacious hall, propped by as many columns as there were days in the Assyrian year, or furlongs in the circuit of the city walls, till, having thus traversed the palace at its narrowest part, they emerged once more on a paradise or gar- den, where the first object that met their eyes was a wild stag roused from his lair, and scouring with all the freedom of his native mountains to the shelter of a neighbouring thicket. ' She seldom hunts within these gardens now,' was the priest's comment on this startling incident. ' She cares for no tamer pastime than to ride the lion down, and shoot him with bow and arrow when at SEMIRAMIS. 35 bay. There are none left here since my lord the king slew three with his javelin not a bow - shot from where we stand ; so she must away to the desert, or the mountains beyond the great river, for the sport she loves so well. Follow me close ; you might lose yourself in this pleasant labyrinth, and it is death, my friend — by impalement too ! — for any one caught disturbing the game.' He looked keenly in the other's face while he spoke, and seemed gratified to observe that the young soldier received this announcement with perfect un- concern. Notwithstanding the power of an Assyrian sun, its rays could not penetrate to the darkling path by which they now threaded a tangled thicket of verdure — the tender flickering of green leaves above their heads, the sweet carol of song-birds in their ears, and a carpet of velvet turf beneath their steps — while they followed the course of a rip- pling stream, guiding thein by its murmur, rather than its leap and sparkle, back to the light of day. Emerging from this grateful shade, they found a broad sheet of water spread at their feet, its sur- face dotted with wild fowl, its banks fringed with flowers, reflecting in its dazzling mirror a temple of 36 SARCHEDON. silver and ivory raised in honour of Dagon, the fish- god, and much affected by the Great Queen, who, leaving her own especial palace, loved to retire here with her women and wdle away the hottest hours of the summer's day. One of these attendants seemed in expectation of the priest ; for, appearing suddenly in the portico of the temple, she made him a sign to follow, and led the way, wrapping her veil so carelessly about her as to afford ample opportunity for contemplation of her charms. At another time Sarchedon might have ob- served with greater interest the jetty locks and rich Southern colouring of this smiling dame ; but besides his new-born taste for beauty of a fairer, paler, and more gentle type, his heart was beating, as it had never beat in the hurtle of chariots and press of horsemen, at the thought that he was about to enter her presence with whose name the whole world rang. Immediately within the entrance of this temple hung a curtain of crimson silk embroidered in lotus- flowers of gold. Assarac raised the hangings, and stepping quickly aside, gave place while he let them fall behind his comrade. Sarchedon, prostrating his forehead till it touched the cool shining floor, found himself alone with the Great Queen. SEMIRAMIS. 37 The temple was circular, paved, panelled, vaulted, in ivory and silver, the latter wrought and frosted with exceeding taste and skill, the former carved into a thousand fantastic patterns, delicate and elaborate as needle-work. In the midst, a fountain threw its jets of silver to the roof, falling back in silvery showers to an ivory basin, of which the sparkling waters were thus continually moved with a re- freshing drip and murmur. "WTiite doves flitted about the building, or cooed their drowsy love- song, perched peacefully on pinnacle and shaft. An odour of some subtle perfume, like incense mingled with the scent of flowers, stole on Sarchedon's senses ; while he became aware of a figure reclining on the couch of silver and ivory over against the entrance. He dared not raise his eyes, and it was but the hem of her garment that he looked on, while he heard the low musical tones of that enchantress who was des- tined to subjugate the world. 'Rise, trusty messenger,' said Semiramis; 'fear not to tell me your tidings for good or evil, and speak with me face to face. He must needs be welcome who carries a token from my lord the king.' Sarchedon sprang to his feet at her bidding, and stood before the queen, as fair a specimen of youth, 38 SAKCHEDON. manhood, and warlike grace as could have been selected from the countless myriads that formed her husband's hosts. He averted his eyes, neverthe- less, and kept his head bent down while, plucking from his breast the jewel that had already gained him admission, he replied : ' The light of the queen's countenance dazzles the eyes of her servant. Let him take courage to look but once, and be blind for evermore !' While he spoke he laid the signet on a silken cushion under her feet. She glanced at it carelessly enough, and bent her eyes on the young warrior with a smile, half soft, half scornful. ^ Am I then so dangerous to look upon ?' said she ; ' the face of a queen should be gracious to a faithful servant. I say to you, Look and live !' A thrill of intense triumph and pleasure shot through him with her words. He took courage to scan the form and features of that celebrated woman, whose intellect and beauty had already made her mistress of the mightiest nation in the East. She was beautiful no doubt, in the nameless beauty that wins, no less than in the lofty beauty that compels. Her form was matchless in symmetry, so that her every gesture, in the saddle or on the SEMIRAMIS. 39 throne, was womanly, dignified, and graceful, while each dress she wore, from royal robe and jewelled tiara to steel breastplate and golden headpiece, seemed that in which she looked her best. ^Yith a man's strength of body, she possessed more than a man's power of mind and force of will. A shrewd observer would have detected in those bright eyes, despite their thick lashes and loving glance, the genius that can command an army and found an empire ; in that delicate, exquisitely chiselled face, the lines that tell of tameless pride and unbending reso- lution ; in the full curves of that rosy mouth, in the clean-cut jaw and prominence of the beautifully- moulded chin, a cold recklessness that could harden on occasion to pitiless cruelty — stern, impracticable, immovable as fate. But Sarchedon only saw a lovely woman of queenly bearing, glancing approval on his glowing face. His Southern nature seemed to expand Hke a flower in the sunshine of her smiles. His looks could not fail to express admiration, and she, who might have been satiated with homage, seemed well pleased to accept as much as he had to offer. Bending towards him with a gesture of conde- 40 SAECHEDON. scension, that was almost a caress, she bade him advance yet nearer to her couch. * And now,' said she, 'that you have looked on this terrible face of mine without perdition, tell me your tidings from the camp. What of the war? what of the host ? what of my lord the king ?' ' The war is ended,' he answered briefly ; ' the host is victorious. My lord the king will return in triumph ere another day be past.' She started, but controlled herself with an effort. 'Enough,' she answered haughtily and coldly; ' you have done your duty — you are dismissed !' Then she clapped her hands, and from behind the silken hangings appeared the woman who had guided Sarchedon into the temple. *Kalmim,' said the queen, still in the same con- strained voice, ' take this messenger to Assarac with- out delay ; bid the priest report to me, at sunset, all the details he can learn from him regarding the host. But stay' — her tone changed to one of winning sweetness, soft, sad, and irresistible — ' not till he has had food and rest. You have ridden day and night through the desert; you have looked on your queen's face and lived. Take courage, you may live to look on it again.' SEMTRAMIS. 41 With the last words she turned on him one of her rare intoxicating smiles, and the strong soldier left her presence helpless, confused, staggering like a man who wakes out of a dream. Within the gardens, or Paradise, belonging to the royal palace stood a vast pile of building, dedicated to the worship of Baal, and surrounding the lofty tower of Belus, raised on the same site, and nearly to the same altitude, as that by which human rebellion presumed to offend after the Flood. Here, at the head of a thousand priests, dwelt Assarac in solemn state and splendour, officiating daily in sacrifices offered to the gods of Assyria, and their numerous satellites — Assarac, who combined in his own person the leadership of religion and of politics ; for, during the absence of Ninus on his Egyptian ex- pedition, it had been the ambitious eunuch's aim to share, if he could not guide, the queen's counsels, and, as far as he dared, to centre in his own person the executive of government. Sarchedon found himself, therefore, again thread- ing the shady paths by which he had come, but on this occasion under the conduct of a guide less swift of foot than the priest but, as became her sex, more nimble of tongue. Kalmim made no scruple of un- 42 SARCHEDON. veiling, to aflford her companion the whole benefit of her charms. 'A good beginning indeed,' said this saucy dame, with a smile that did justice to the reddest lips and wickedest eyes in Babylon ; ' you are in favour, my young lord, I can tell you. To have seen her face to face is no small boast; but that she should take thought of your food and rest, and bid me charge myseK with your guidance through this deserted wil- derness ! why, I cannot remember her so gracious to any one since — well — since the last of them — there, you needn't look so bold at an unveiled woman — I ought never to have brought you here alone !' It was almost a challenge ; but he was busy with his own thoughts, and made no reply. Kalmim, un- accustomed to neglect, attributed his silence, not unnaturally, to exhaustion and fatigue. ' You are weary,' said she kindly ; ' faint, doubt- less, from lack of food, and would not confess it to save your life ? 0, you men, how your pride keeps you up ! and why are you only ashamed of those things in which there is no disgrace ?' He compelled himself to answer, though his thoughts were far away. ' I am not ashamed to be faint and athirst. I SEMIRAinS. 43 have ridden two nights and a day, and drank water hut once — at the Well of Palms.' ' The Well of Palms !' she repeated, her woman's wit marking his abstraction, and assigning to it a woman's cause. ' It is the sweetest water in all the land of Shinar. It would taste none the worse when drawn for you by the daughter of Arbaces.' 'Ishtar!' he exclaimed, while his whole face brightened. ' You have seen her — you know her ! Is she not beautiful ?' Kalmim laughed scornfully. 'Beautiful !' she echoed, 'with a poor thin face, white as ivory, and solemn as Dagon's yonder, in the fishing-temple ! Well, well ! then she is beautiful, if you like ; and we shall learn next that she is good as weU as fair !' ' What do you mean ?' he asked, stopping short to look his companion in the face. Kalmim burst into another laugh. ' I mean nothing, innocent youth ! — for strangely innocent you are, though the beard is budding on 3'our chin. And a modest maiden means nothing, I suppose, who frequents the well at which every tra- veller from the desert must needs halt — who draws water for warriors to drink, and unveils for a stranger 44 SABCHEDON. she never saw before ! Yes, I am unveiled too, I know ; but it is different here. The queen's palace has its privileges ; and, believe me, they are some- times sadly abused !' ' Not by one who has just left the light of her presence,' answered Sarchedon, angered to the core, though he scarce knew why. ' I have never been taught to offend against the majesty of a king's house — to believe a fenced city taken because a bank is cast against it, nor a woman my lawful prize be- cause she lifts her veil.' Next to making love, Kalmim enjoyed quarrel- ling. To tease, irritate, and perplex a man, was sport only second to that of seeing him at her feet. She clapped her hands mischievously, and exclaimed, ^You are bewitched, my lord! Confess, now. She unveiled to turn her eyes on you before you got to horse and went your way. Is it possible you do not know who and what she is ?' ' Good or evil,' he answered, 'tell me the truth.' * She bears her mother's name,' replied Kalmim ; ' and, like her mother, the blood that flows in her veins is mingled with the fire that glitters in the stars of heaven — a fire affording neither light nor heat, serving only to dazzle and bewilder the children SEMIRAMIS. 45 of earth. Arbaces took a wife from that race whom, far off in the northern mountains, the daughters of men bare to the spirits of the stars, tempting them down from their golden thrones with song and spell and all the wiles of grosser earth-born beauty; — deceiving, debasing the Sons of Light, to be by them deceived and deserted in turn, left to sorrow through long years of hopeless solitude and remorse. Old people yet speak of some who had themselves heard the voice of mourning on those mountains in the still sad night — the shriek of woman wailing for the lost lover, in whose bright face she might never look again ! Ishtar, the wife of Ai'baces, possessed her share of the unearthly influence hereditary in her race. Her husband became a slave. He loved the very print of her feet on the sand. Travelling here from Nineveh, while this great city was building, he halted in the desert, and Ishtar walked out from her tent into the cool starlight night. They say he fol- lowed a few paces off. Suddenly she stopped, and stretched her hands towards the sky, like one in dis- tress or pain. Rushing forward to take her in his arms, she vanished out of his very grasp. At sun- rise a camel-driver found Arbaces senseless on the plain, and Ishtar was seen no more in tent or palace. 46 SARCHEDON. But all the love he bore the mother seemed hence- forth transferred to the child. Doubtless she has bewitched him too. Beware, my lord — beware ! I have heard of men leaving real springs in the desert for shining rivers and broad glittering lakes, that faded always before them into the hot interminable waste. I am but a woman ; yet, had I your chance of fortune, I would think twice before I bartered it away for a draught of water and an empty dream !' He seemed very sad and thoughtful, but they had now reached the temple, and he made no reply. A white-robed priest received the young warrior at its portal with every mark of respect, and ushered him into the cool and lofty building, where bath, raiment, food, and wine, he said, were already prepared, cast- ing a look of intelligence at Kalmim, who answered with as meaning a glance, and one of her brightest smiles. Then dropping her "veil, since nobody was there to see her handsome face, she tripped back a good deal faster than she had come to her duties about the person of the Great Queen. CHAPTER lY. THE TEMPLE OF HIS GOD. In the hierarchy of Baal, as in other religious orders, false and true, it was deemed but right that the priests should want for nothing, while the altar was well supplied with offerings. To one who had dis- mounted from a two nights' ride, such luxuries as were scattered profusely about the temple of the great Assyrian god formed a pleasing contrast to camp lodging and camp fare. If Sarchedon, weary and travel-stained, was yet of so comely and fair a countenance as to extort ap- proval from the queen herself, Sarchedon, bathed, refreshed, unarmed, clad in silken garments, and vdih a cup of gold in his hand, was simply beautiful. Assarac the priest, sitting over against him, could not but triumph in the sparkle of that bauble by which he hoped to divert and dull the only intellect 48 SARCHEDON. in the Eastern world that he believed could rival his own. The servant of Ninus and the servant of Baal sat together on the roof of a lower story of the temple ; below them the pillars and porticoes of the outer court, behind them vast piles of building, vague, gloomy, and imposing in the shades of coming night. High over their heads rose the tower of Belus, point- ing to the sky, and many a fathom down beneath their feet the stir and turmoil of the great city came up, terrace by terrace, till it died to a faint drowsy murmur like the hum of bees in a bed of flowers. The sun was sinking in uninterrupted splendour behind the level sky-Hne of the desert, and already a cool breeze stole over the plains from the hills be- yond the marshes, to stir the priest's white garments and lift the locks on Sarchedon's glossy head, while for each it enhanced the flavour and fragrance of their rich Damascus wine, bubbling and blushing in its vase of gold. Between them stood a table, also of gold, studded with amethysts, while the liquor in their golden cups was yet more precious than the metal and brighter than the gem. Something to this effect said Sarchedon, after a draught almost as welcome and invigorating as THE TEMPLE OF HIS GOD. 49 that wliicli lie had drained in the morning at the Well of Palms ; while, with a sigh of extreme re-, pose and content, he turned his handsome face to the breeze. 'It is so,' answered Assarac ; 'and who more worthy to drink it than the warrior whose bow and spear keep for us sheep - fold and vineyard — who watches under arms by night, and bears his life in his hand by day, that our oxen may tread the thresh- ing-floor, and our peasants press out their grapes in peace ? I empty this cup to Ninus, the Great King, yonder in the camp, in love, fear, and reverence, as I would pour out a drink-offering from the summit of that tower to Ashtaroth, Queen of Heaven.' * And the Great King w^ould dip his royal beard in it willingly enough, were it set before him,' ans- wered the light-hearted warrior. ' I saw him myself come down from his chariot when we crossed the Nile, and drink from the hollow of his buckler mouth- ful after mouthful of the sweet vapid water ; but he swore by the Seven Stars he would have given his best horse had it been the roughest of country wine ; and he bade us ever spare the vineyards, though we were ordered to lay waste corn-land and millet-ground, to level fruit-trees, break down water- VOL. I. E 50 SARCHEDON. sluices, burn, spoil, ravage, and destroy. Who is like the Great King — so fierce, so terrible? Most terrible, I think, when he smiles and pulls his long white beard; for then our captains know that his wi-ath is kindled, and can only be appeased wdth blood. I had rather turn my naked breast to all Pharaoh's bowmen than face the Great King's smile.' Assarac was deep in thought, though his coun- tenance wore but the expression of a courteous host. * He is the Idng of warriors,' said the priest care- lessly — 'drink, I pray you, yet once more to his captains — and beloved, no doubt, as he is feared among the host.' ' Nay, naj^,' answered the other laughing, for the good wine had somewhat loosened his tongue, while it removed the traces of fatigue from his frame. ^Feared, if you "wdll. Is he not descended from Nimrod and the Thirteen Gods ? Brave, indeed, as his mighty ancestors, but pitiless and unsparing as Ashur himself.' 'Hush!' exclaimed the priest, looking round. ' What mean you ?' 'I have not counted twenty sunsets,' answered the other, * since I saw the Great King's arrow fly through buckler and breast - plate, ay, and a brave THE TEMPLE OF HIS GOD. 51 Assyrian heart too, ere it stuck in the ground a spear's length farther on. He has a strong arm, I can bear witness, and the man fell dead under his very chariot ; but it should not have been one of his own royal guard that he thus slew in the mere wan- tonness of wrath. Sataspes, the son of Sargon, had better have died in Egypt, where he fought so bravely, than here, under an Assyrian sky, within a few days' march of home.' 'Sataspes!' repeated the other; 'and what said his father ? It is not Sargon's nature to be patient under injury or insult.' 'His dark face grew black as night,' answered Sarchedon, ' and the javelin he held splintered in his grasp ; but he bowed himself to the ground, and said only, "My lord draws a stiff bow, and the king's arrow never yet missed its mark.'" 'It was a heavy punishment,' observed Assarac thoughtfully. 'And for a light offence,' answered the other. ' Sataspes did but lift her veil to look on the face of a virgin in a drove of captives who had not yet defiled by the Great King's chariot. She cried out, half in wrath, half in fear ; and ere the veil fell back on her bosom, the offender was a dead man.' LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 52 SARCHEDON. ' Did the Great King look favourably on the vir- gin ?' asked Assarac. * A woman must needs be fair to warrant the taking of a brave man's life.' * I scarce heeded her,' answered Sarchedon. ' She came of a captive race, whom the Egyptians hold in bondage down yonder, imposing on them servile offices and many hard tasks — a race that seem to mix neither with their conquerors nor with strangers. They have peculiar laws and customs in their houses and families, giving their daughters in marriage only to their kindred, and arraying their whole people like an army, in hosts and companies. I used to see them at work for their taskmasters, moving with as much order and precision as the archers and spear- men of the Great King.' *I have heard of them,' said Assarac; 'I have heard too that their increasing numbers gave no small disquiet to the last Pharaoh, who was wiser than his successor. Will they not rise at some future time, and cast off the Egyptian yoke ?' * Never!' answered the warrior scornfully. 'It presses hard and heavy, but this people will never strike a blow in self-defence : they are a nation of slaves, of shepherds and herdsmen. Not a man have I seen amongst them who could draw a bow, nor so THE TEilPLE OF HIS GOD. 53 much as sling a stone. Where are they to find a leader ? If such a one rose up, how are they to follow him ? They are utterly unwarlike and weak of heart ; they have no arms, no horses, and scarcely any gods.' Assarac smiled with the good-humoured supe- riority of an adept condescending to the crude intel- ligence of a neophyte. Did he not believe that through the very exercise of his profession he had sounded the depths of all faith, here and hereafter — in the earth, in the skies, in the infinite — above all, in himself and his own destiny ? ' Their worship is not so unlike our own as you, who are outside the temple, might believe,' said he, pointing upwards to the glowing spark on the summit of the tower of Belus, which was never extinguished night or day. ' I have learned in our traditions, handed down, word for word, from priest to priest, since the first family of man peopled the earth after the subsiding of the waters, that they too worship the sacred element which constitutes the essence and spirit of the universe. If they have no images, nor outward symbols of their faith, it is because their deity is impalpable, invisible, as the principle of heat which generates flame. If they turn from the Seven 54 SAKCHEDON. Stars with scorn, if they pour out no drink-offering, make no obeisance to the Queen of Heaven, it is be- cause they look yet higher, to that mystic property from which Baalim and Ashtaroth draw light and life and dominion over us poor children of darkness down here below. Their great patriarch and leader came out of this very land ; and there is Assyrian blood, though I think shame to confess it, in the veins of that captive people subject now to our hereditary enemies in the South.' * The men are well enough to look on,' ans- wered Sarchedon, ' but, to my thinking, their women are not so fair as the women of the plain between the rivers; not to be spoken of with the Great Queen's retinue here, nor the mountain maids who come down from the north to gladden old Nineveh like sweet herbs and wild flowers growing in the crevices of a ruined wall. If this people are of our lineage, they have fallen away sadly from the parent stock.' * What I tell you is truth,' replied Assarac ; ' and I, sitting by you here to-night, have spoken with men whose fathers remembered those that in their boyhood had seen the great founder of our nation — old, wrinkled, with a white beard descending to his feet, but lofty still, and mighty as the tower of de- THE TEIIPLE OF HIS GOD. 55 fiance he reared to heaven, though sufi'ering daily from torment unendurable ; and why ? Because of the patriarch and chief of the nation you despise.' Through all the Assyrian people, but especially amongst the hosts of the Great King, to believe in Ximrod was to believe in Baal, in Ashur, in their re- ligion, their national existence, their very identity. The colour rose to Sarchedon's brow as he passed his hand over his lips, scarcely yet darkened with a beard, while he answered haughtily, * Ximrod was lord of earth by right of bow and spear. No man living, backed Ijy all the gods of all the stars in heaven, would have dared to dispute his word, nor so much as look him in his lion-like face !' * And yet did this old man, lord only in his own family — chief of a tribe scarce numbering a thousand bowmen — beard the lion -king in the city he had founded, in the palace where he reigned, in the very temple of his worship. The patriarch reasoned with him on the multitude of his gods; and Nimrod ans- wered proudly, he could make as many as he would, but that while they emanated from himself they had supreme dominion on earth and over all in heaven, save only the Seven Stars and the Twenty-four Judges of the World. Then the patriarch took the king's 56 SAECHEDON. molten images out of the temple, kindled a great furnace in the centre of the city, and in the presence of all Nineveh, cast them into the midst.' Sarchedon started to his feet. *And the king did not hew him in pieces with his own hand where he stood!' exclaimed he. 'It is impossible ! It is contrary to all reason and ex- perience !' * The king could scarce believe his eyes,' con- tinued Assarac, smothering a smile, 'when he saw his sacred images crumbling down and stealing away in streams of molten gold. It is even said that he uttered a great cry of lamentation and sat on the ground a whole night, with his garments rent, fasting, and in sore distress. This I scarcely think was the fashion of the mighty hunter ; what I do believe is, that he sent a company of bowmen after the offender with orders to bring him back into his presence, alive or dead. They pursued the patriarch through the Valley of Siddim, till they came to the bitter waters ; and here' — Assarac put his goblet with something of embarrassment to his lips — 'here the stars in their courses must have fought against Assyria ; for our warriors turned and fled in some confusion, so that the daring son of Terah escaped. Then it is said THE te:\iple of his god. 57 that he prayed to his God for vengeance against our lion-king, entreating that he who had been conqueror of the mightiest men and slayer of the fiercest beasts on earth, should be punished by the smallest and humblest of that animal creation it had been his chief pleasure to persecute and destroy. His God answered his prayer, though he raised no temples, made no golden images of man, beast, bird, nor monster, and sacrificed but a lamb or a kid in burnt- offering on an altar of unhewn stones in the plain. 'A tiny gnat was sent to plague great Ximrod, as the sand-fly of the wilderness maddens the lion in his lair. Under helm or diadem — in purple robe or steel harness — at board and bed — in saddle, bath, and war chariot, the lord of all the earth was goaded into a ceaseless encounter where there was no ad- versary, and exhausted by perpetual flight where none pursued. ' Then he sent for cunning artificers, who made for him a chamber of glass, impervious even to the air of heaven, so that the king entered it well pleased; for he said, " Now shall I have ease from my tor- mentor, to eat bread and drink wine, and be refreshed with sleep." * But while he spoke the gnat was in his ear, and 58 SAKCHEDON. soon it ascended, and began to feed on his brain. Then the king's agony was greater than he could bear, and he cried aloud to his servants, bidding them beat on his head with a hammer, to ease the pain. So he endured for four hundred years ; and then he — then he went home to his father Ashur ; and when the Seven Stars shine out in the Northern sky, he looks down, well pleased, from his throne of light, on the city that his children have built, and the statue of gold they have raised to his name.' * And this is true T exclaimed Sarchedon, whose love of the marvellous could not but be gratified by the priest's narrative. * True as our traditions,' answered Assarac, with something like a sneer ; ' true as our worship, true as our reason and intellect, true as the lessons we have learned to read in the stars themselves. What can be truer ? except labour, sorrow, pain, and the insufficiency of man !' 'Every one to his own duty,' replied the young warrior. ' Slingers and bowmen in advance, spears and chariots in the centre, horsemen on the wings. It is your business to guess where the shaft falls ; mine is but to fit the arrow and draw the bow. I am glad of it. I never could see much in the stars but THE TEMPLE OF HIS GOD. 59 a scatter of lamps to help a night march, when no brighter light was to be had. The moon has been a better friend to me ere now than all the host of heaven. Tell me, Assarac, can you not read on her fair open face when I shall be made captain of the guard to the Great King ?' *What you ask in jest,' said the other, smiling, ' I -vvill hereafter answer in sober earnest. I go hence to the summit of that high tower, and all night long must I read on those scrolls of fire above us a future which they alone can tell — the destiny of nations, the fate of a line of kings, nay, the fortunes of a young warrior whom the queen delighteth to honour, and who may well deserve to sleep to-night while others take their turn to watch.' Thus speaking, he spread his mantle over a heap of silken cushions, disposed at the foot of the stairs leading to the tower of Belus so as to form a tempt- ing couch, in the cool night air, for one who had ridden so far through the heat of an Assyrian day. He had not ascended three steps towards the tower, ere Sarchedon, overcome with fatigue, excite- ment, and Damascus wine, laid his head amongst the cushions and fell into a deep sound sleep. CHAPTER V. THE STARS IN THEIR COURSES. Casting his eye on tlie fire of fragrant wood that burned in its brazen tripod at the summit of the tower, passing his fingers, as it seemed, mechanic- ally through its flame, and with the same uncon- scious gesture touching his right eyebrow, Assarac leaned his massive figure against the parapet, plunged in a train of deep engrossing thought. The tapering structure he had ascended was built, as his traditions taught him to believe, for purposes of astral worship and observation. It afi'orded, therefore, a standing-point from which, on all sides, an uninterrupted view of the heavens could be obtained down to the horizon ; yet the eyes of Assarac were fixed steadfastly on the great city sleeping at his feet, and it was of earthly interests, earthly destinies, that he pondered, rather than THE STARS IN THEIR COURSES. 61 those spheres of light, hanging unmarked above him in the golden-studded sky. A soft but measured step, the rustle of a woman's garment, caused him to turn with a start. He pros- trated himself till his brow touched the brick-work at her feet, and then, resuming an erect position, looked his visitor proudly in the face, like a teacher with his pupil, rather than a subject before his queen. * Assarac,' said Semiramis, ' I have trusted you with a royal and unreserved confidence to-night. I do not say, deserve it, because your life is in my hand, but because our wishes, our interests, and the very object we aim at, are the same. Many have served me in slavish subjection through fear. Do you serve me with loyal regard as a friend.' She laid her white hand frankly on his arm, and he, priest, man of science, as he was, ambitious, isolated, above and below the strongest impulses of humanity, felt the blood mount to his brain, the colour to his cheek, at that thrilling touch. ' Your servant's life,' he answered, ' and the lives of a thousand priests of Baal, are in the queen's hand to-night ; for doth she not hold the signet of my lord the king, sent with Sarchedon from the 62 SAKCHEDON. camp in token of victory ? And more than my life, — my art, my skill, the lore by which I have learned to compel those gods above us, are but precious in my sight so far as they can advantage the Great Queen.' 'You will unfold the mysteries of the sky,' she replied eagerly. * You will bid Baalim, Ashtaroth, and all the host of heaven speak with me face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. If you will answer for the gods up yonder,' she added with a touch of sarcasm on her sweet proud lip, ' I will take upon myself to order the actions of men below.' ' Something of this I can do,' said he gravely, * or I have watched here night by night, and fasted, and prayed, and cut myself with knives before the altar of Baal, in vain. But, first, I must ask of the queen, doth she believe in the power of the gods ? Doth she trust her servant to interpret truly the characters of fire engraved by them on the dark tablet of night ?' She scanned him with a searching look. ' I believe,' she said, 'thus far — that man makes for him- self the destiny to which hereafter he must submit. I believe the gods can foretell that destiny, and I would fain believe, if I had proof, that you, Assarac, THE STARS IN THEIR COURSES. 63 their faithful servant, possess power to read up yonder the counsels of the Thirteen, and all their satellites.' * TVTiat proof does my queen desire ?' asked the priest. * Shall I read off to her from those shining tables the plastic mouldings of the future, or the deep indelible engravings of the past ?' The queen pondered. ' Of the future,' she re- plied, 'I cannot judge whether they speak true or false. Were they to tell me of a past known only to myself and one long since gone from earth' — she sighed while she spoke — ' I might gixe credit to their intelligence, and shape my course by those silent witnesses, as men do in the desert or at sea.' ' Look upward, my queen,' answered Assarac, ^and mark where the belt of the Great Hunter points to that distant cluster of stars, like the dia- monds on your own royal tiara. Faintest and farthest shines one that records her past history, as yonder golden planet, glowing low down by the horizon, fortells her future destiny.' He stopped, and from a vase of wine that stood near the sacred fire, sprinkled a few drops to the four quarters of the sky. *I pour this drink-offer- ing,' he said, ' to Ashtaroth, Queen of Heaven ! 64 SARCHEDON. Shall I tell the Queen of Earth a tale I read in those stars forming the symbol which, rightly in- terpreted, contains the name of Semiramis ?' The queen nodded assent, turning her beautiful face upward to the sky. ' Could it all be true ?' was the wild thought that fleeted for an instant through his brain, ' and had not Ashtaroth herself come down from heaven to look on her adoring votary ?' "With a glance almost of awe into the queen's upturned countenance, Assarac proceeded: ' I read there of a city in the South, a city beyond the desert, pleasant and beautiful in the waving of palms, the music of rushing waters, built on the margin of a lake, where leaping fish at sundown dot the glistening surface, countless as rain-drops in a shower. On its bank stands a temple to that god- dess who, like Dagon, bears half a human form, terminating in the scales and body of a fish. Yery fair is Derceta to the girdle, and, womanlike, fanci- ful as she is fair. Near her temple dwelt a young fisherman, comely, ruddy, of exceeding beauty and manhood, so that the goddess did not scorn to love him with all the ardour of her double nature, only too well. THE ST-UIS IN THEIR COURSES. 65 •'Yet it shamed her of her human attributes when she gave birth to a chiki, though the stars tell me, queen, that never was seen so beautiful a babe, even amongst those borne by the daughters of men to the host of heaven. ' Nevertheless, a foul wound festers equally be- neath silk and sackcloth; so that the goddess, in wrath and shame, carried her infant into the wilder- ness, and left it there to die. * Behold how Ashtaroth glows and brightens in the darkening night. Surely it was the Queen of Heaven who sent fair doves to pity, succour, and X^reserve that child of light, tender as a flower, and beautiful as a star. Day by day the fond birds brought her fruits and sustenance, till certain peas- ants, observing their continual flight in the same direction, followed their guidance, and found by a rill of water the laughing infant, bearing even then a promise of beauty to be unequalled hereafter in the whole world.' There was pride and sorrow in the queen's deep eyes as she fixed them on the seer, and whis- pered, ' Ask, then, if it had not been better to have left the child there to die.' VOL. I. p 6G SAECHEDON. * The stars acknowledge no pity,' was liis answer. ' It is the first of human weaknesses cast off by those who rule in earth or heaven. Had they not written the destiny of that babe by the desert spring in the same characters I read up there to-night ? They tell me how, in her earliest womanhood, she was seen by Menon, governor of ten provinces under my lord the Idng. They tell me how Menon made her his wife. They tell me, too, of an amulet graven with a dove on the wing, which that maiden w^ore hidden in her bosom when she came veiled into the presence of her lord.' The queen started. ' How know you this ?' she exclaimed almost angrily. ' I have never yet shown it even to my d the king.' *I do but read that which is written,' he answered. ' They tell me also how, when she shall part with that amulet, it vrill |)urcliase for her the dearest vdsh of her heart at the sacrifice of all its powers here- after. Its charm will then be broken, its virtue departed. She never showed it man save Menon ; for the governor of those wide provinces stretching to the Southern sea would have gone ragged and barefoot, vrould have given rank, riches, honours, life THE STAKS IX THEIR COURSES. 67 itself, for but one smile from the loveliest face that ever laughed behind a veil.' ' They speak truth,' murmured the queen ; ' he loved me only too well.' *It was written in heaven,' continued Assarac, ' that the servant must yield to his master, and that a jewel too precious for Menon was to blaze in the diadem of the Great King. I read now of a fenced city, frowning and threatening, far off in an Eastern land ; of a bank cast against its ramparts, and mighty engines smiting hard at its gates; of archers, spears, slingers, and horsemen ; of the king of nations seated on his chariot in the midst, pulling his gray beard in anger because of the tower of strength he could in no wise lay waste and level with the ground. But for Menon and his skill in warfare, the be- siegers must have fled from before it in disorder and dismay. One morning at sunrise there were heard strange tidings in the camp. Men asked each other who was the youth who had ridden to Menon's tent in shining apparel, devoid of helm and buckler, but armed with bow and spear — beautiful as Shamash the God of Light, so that human eyes were dazzled, looking steadfastly on his face. * Ere set of sun the Great Kin.G: had himself taken 68 SARCHEDON. counsel witli this blooming warrior ; ere it had risen twice, Menon was made captain of the host, and the work of slaughter commenced; for the proud city had fallen, and the gods of Assyria were set up in its holy places, to be appeased with blood and suffer- ing and spoil. ' "\Mien the host returned in triumph, they left a mighty warrior dead in his tent over against the ruins of the smoking town. No meaner hand could have sufficed to lay him ^low, and none but Menon took Menon's life, because — Shall I read on?' A faint moan caused him to stop and scan the queen's face. It was fixed and rigid as marble, pale too with an unearthly whiteness beneath that starlit sky; but there was neither pity for herself nor others in the calm distinct articulation with which she sj'llabled her answer in his own words — ^Eead on!' * They teach me,' he continued, ' that Menon could not bear his loss, after she had left his tent whose place was on the loftiest throne the earth has ever seen. When the triumph returned to Nineveh, there sat by the Great King's side, in male attire, the fairest woman under heaven. She guided his wisest THE STABS IN THEIR COURSES. 69 counsels ; she won for him his greatest victories ; she raised his noblest city ; she became the light of his eyes, the glory of his manhood, the treasure of his heart, mother of kings and mistress of the world ; but she had never yet parted with her amulet to living man. All this is surely true ; for it is written in those symbols of fire that cannot lie, and that trace the history of the Great Queen.' Semiramis turned her eyes on him with a look that seemed to read his very heart. The priest bore that searching glance in austere composure, credit- able to his nerve and coolness; though these were enhanced by a vague conviction of his own prophetic powers, the result, no doubt, of a certain exaltation of mind, consequent on his previous fasts, his studies, and his long hours of brooding over deep ambitious schemes. After a protracted silence, she sighed like one who shakes off a heavy burden of memories ; and, giving her companion the benefit of her brightest smile, asked him the pertinent question : ' Is it the amulet that controls the destiny, or the destiny that gives a value to the amulet? Do the stars shed lustre on the woman, or is it the woman's fame that adds a glory to her star ?' For answer he pointed to a ruby in her bracelet, 70 SAECHEDON. sparkling and glowing in the light of the mystic flame. * That gem/ said he, * was heyond price in the rayless cavern of its birth. Nevertheless, behold how its brilliancy is enhanced by the gleams it catches from the sacred fire. The stars shine dow^n on a beautiful woman, and they make of her an all-power- ful queen.' 'All-powerful!' repeated Semiramis. 'None is all-powerful but my lord the king. To be second in place is to be little less a slave than the meanest subject in his dominions.' He took no heed of her words. He seemed not to hear, so engrossed was he with his studies of the heavens, so awe-struck and preoccupied was the voice in which he declaimed his testimony, like a man reading from a sacred book. ' She whose counsels have won battles shall lead armies in person ; she who has reached her hand to touch a sceptre shall lift her arm to take a diadem ; she who has built a city shall found an empire. Walls and ramparts must hem in the one ; but of the other brave men's weapons alone constitute the frontier : as much as they win with sw^ord and spear so much do they possess. The dove is the bird of THE STAPcS IN THEIK COURSES. 71 peace ; and for lier whom doves nourislied at lier birth there shall be peace in her womanhood, because none will be left to contend with the conqueror and mistress of the world.' He fell back against the parapet of the tower, pale, gasping, as if faint and exhausted from the effects of the inspiration that had passed away ; but beneath those half- closed lids not a shade on the queen's brow, not a movement of her frame, escaped his penetrating eves. He could read that fair proud face with far more certainty than the lustrous pages of heaven. Perhaps he experienced a vague con- sciousness that here on these delicate features were written the characters of fate, rather than yonder above him in the fathomless inscrutable sky. She seemed to have forgotten his presence. She was looldng far out into the night, towards that quarter of the desert over which Sarchedon had ridden from the camp, where an arrow from her own quiver lay under the bleaching bones of the dead lion. Her eyes were fierce, and her countenance bore a rigid expression, bright, cold, unearthly, 3'et not devoid of triumph, like one who defies and subdues mortal pain. Such a glare had he seen in the cj^es of the Great 72 SAECHEDON. King when he awarded death to some shaking cul- jirit — such a look on the victim's fixed face, ere it was covered, while they dragged him away. It was well, thought Assarac, for men w^ho dealt with kings and queens to have no sj^mpathies, no aflfectious, none of the softer emotions and weak- nesses of our nature. The tools of ambition are sharp and double-edged ; the staff on which it leans too often breaks beneath it, and pierces to the bone. Moreover, it would have been wiser and safer to commit himself to the mercy of winds and waves than to depend on the wilfulness of a woman, even though she wore a crown. Already the queen's mood had changed : her face had resumed its habitual ex- pression of calm, indolent, and somewhat voluptuous repose. 'No more to-night,' she said with a gracious gesture, as of thanks and dismissal. ' There is much to be done before the return in triumph of my lord the king. To-morrow you will carry my commands to the captains within the city, bidding them have all their preparations made for the reception of the conquerors. Let them assemble their companies under shield ; let the chariots and horsemen be drawn up in the great square over against the palace; THE STARS IX THEIR COURSES. 73 and let the archers look that then- bows have new strings. Yon can answer for your own people here ?' ' For every hand that bears a lotus in temple, palace, or streets — two thousand in all, without counting the prophets of the grove, and the priests of Baal, outside the walls.' * Enough,' said the queen ; ' you have done well. I, too, can read in the future more and mightier things than you have imparted to me to-night.' She wrapped her mantle round her to depart, not suffering Assarac to attend her one step on her way. Kalmim, she said, was waiting in the garden, and would accompany her to the palace. So she walked slowly down the winding staircase, grave, abstracted, as though revolving some weighty purpose in her mind. At its foot she started to see the recumbent figure of Sarchedon buried in profound sleep. "Was it a fatality of the stars ? "Was it an impulse of womanhood ? She bent over that beautiful un- conscious face till her breath stirred the curls on its comely brow, then, with a gesture almost fierce in its passionate energy, snatched the famous amulet from her neck, and laid it on his breast. ' It is a rash purchase,' she muttered ; ' but I am willing to pay the price.' CHAPTER YI. A drea:\ier of dreams. He was sleeping, jet not so sound but tliat liis rest was visited by a strange and terrifying dream. He thought he was in the desert, galloping his good horse in pursuit of an ostrich, winged with plumes worthy to tuft the spears that guarded the Great King's tent. But for all his efforts of voice, hand, and frame, Merodach laboured strangely in the deep sand, of which the long-legged bird threw back such volumes as to choke his lips and nostrils, v>Tap- ping him in a dim revolving cloud, that whirled and towered to the sky. Like a stab came the conviction that he was in the midst of the pitiless simoon, and he must die. Once more he strove to rouse Mero- dach with heel and bridle ; but the horse seemed turned to stone, till, plunging wildly, he struggled forward, only to sink under his rider and disappear beneath the sand. Then the cloud burst asunder A DRE AIMER OF DREA^IS. 75 to reveal tlie glories of a dying sunset, fading into the purple sea. He was on foot in the desert, fainting, weary, and sore athirst; but he heard the night-breeze sighing through palms and whispering in lofty poplars ; he heard the cool ripple of water against the shore, and the pleasant welcome of a stream, singing in starts of broken melody as it danced down to meet the waves ; then he saw a yoke of oxen, a camel at rest, a few huts, and a boat drawn up high and dry on the beach. He was no longer a warrior in the armies of the Great King, but a rude fisherman amongst fisher- men. He ate of their bread, he drank from their pitcher; yet was he still hungry and athirst, still wore a sword at his girdle and carried a bow in his hand. He took his share of their labour; he drevr in their nets. It seemed to him he had seen their faces before, though they knevr him not ; but he marvelled why they moved so slowly, and neither spoke nor smiled. While he helped them, too, it was as if the whole weight of rope and meshes hung on his arm alone. So night fell ; and they took him into a hut, pointing to a cruse of water and a mantle 76 SAriCHEDOX. spread in the corner, but withdrawing in the same sad silence, cahn and grave, like those who mourn for the dead. He could not sleep. The moon rose and shone in on him where he lay. After long hours of tossing troubled waking, a figure blocked the window where her rays streamed in on his couch. Then a great horror came over him without cause or reason, and tugging hard to draw his sword, he found it fastened in the sheath. Solemnly, slowly the figure signed to follow. Leaving his couch, he felt his heart leap, for it resembled Ishtar ! But in the porch of the hut he seemed to recognise the clear proud features of the queen. Nevertheless, when its face was turned to the moonlight, he knew it was Assarac under the garb of a fisherman, but bearing the lotus -flower always in his hand. Without exchanging word or look, with averted ejes and stealthy steps, these two set the little bark afloat and took the oars. Then at last was broken the long weary silence, by a voice that came up from the deep, saying, ' Ferrymen, bring over your dead !' Light, buoyant, and high in the water, the boat had danced like a sea-bird on the surface ; but now, though never a form was seen nor sound heard, she A DEEAMEPw OF DREAMS. 77 began to sink — deeper, deeper, so that tlie waves seemed to peer over lier sides, leaping and sporting about her in cruel mockery, as though eager to break in and send her down. It was a hard task to row that hea\-y freight out to sea. Weary and horror-stricken he tugged at his oar till the sweat dropped from his brow. The moon went down, and a great darkness settled on the waters — the thick clogging waters, through which their oars passed so heavily. Was it the sea of the plain whereon they were embarked ? Yes, surely, it must be the sea of the plain, the Dead Sea. Was he never to approach the term of this numb- ing oppressive labour ? Must he row on for ever and ever, without pause or respite, having bid his last farewell to the shores of earth and the light of day ? Thus thinking, he felt the boat's keel grate against the bottom, while the oar started from his hand. He took courage to look about him ; but mortal eye could not pierce that thick darkness ; and though the toil awhile ago had been so severe, a chill air curdled his blood, and crept into his very heart. Still and silent as the grave seemed that shadowy land, till the same voice he had heard on the other shore called out the name of one he knew well and 78 SArtCHEDOX. loved with a brother's love. There was no answer ; hut the boat lightened perceptihl}', and her keel no longer touched the shingle. Another name was called, and yet another, always in the same calm passionless accents, always ^nth the same strange solemn result. At every summons the boat rose higher in the water. "When Sataspes was called, she swung to the flow and wash of the sluggish wave against her sides ; at the name of Ninus, the Great King, she floated free and unencumbered as before she put out on her mysterious voyage. With a heart lightened as was the boat that bore him, he pushed her off to return ; for something warned him that now his task was done. He would fain have spoken with Assarac ; but the surrounding gloom seemed so to oppress his lungs and chest, that the words formed by his tongue could not find vent through his lips. Once more he was bending to the oar, when, as it were out of his own heart, came a voice whisper- ing his name, ' Sarchedon ! Sarchedon !' in low sweet tones, which yet he knew vibrated with the sentence of his doom. An unseen power raised him to his feet, and A DPvEA:.IErt OF DREAIMS. 79 # would have lifted liim to shore, hut that the priest held him back Ly his coarse fisher's garmeut, which dragged on chest and throat till he was fairly choked. Then, in extremity of fear and agony, he found his voice to call on Assarac for help at the moment when his vesture, pelding to the strain laid on it, parted asunder to let the cold night au* in on his naked breast. So he awoke, scared, trembling, panting for breath, and even in his waking seemed still wi-apped in the gloom of that Isle of Shadows — seemed still to catch the tread of muffled footsteps, the breath of airy whispers, faint echoes from another world. In that age, and amongst a people ever striving after a mystic ideal, yearning for communion with a higher world, dreams, and the interpretations thereof, were held of no small account. Sarchedon, warrior though he was, and, like his great chief, little imbued with the superstitions of his time and country, could not yet pass over such a scene as his imagination had even now pictured Avithout much cogitation and concern. He sat up and considered it in no small perplexity, inclining to regard the vision now as an omen of fortune, anon as a warning of fate. In his suffocating strug- 80 SAKCHEDON. gles to wake, liis liands had been pressed close against his breast ; a few moments elapsed ere he became conscious that he held in them a jewel he had never seen before. Eising from his couch at the foot of the tower, he hastened to examine it by starlight under the open sk}'. It consisted of an emerald, on which was cut the figure of a dove with out- spread wings, following, as it seemed, the course of an arrow flying upward through the air. That it had come to him by supernatural influences during his sleep, he never doubted, and interpreted it, as men always do interpret the inexplicable, in the manner most agreeable to his own wishes. This dove, he said to himself, must mean the girl he had so lately seen at the Well of Palms ; for what could be more dove-like than the maiden sweetness and innocent bearing of Ishtar ? The arrow doubtless signified, in its upward flight, his own future career. He would become illustrious as a warrior, and Ishtar would follow him in his brilliant course to fame. Was it an arrow, or the initial of a name ? He was forced to confess, from its shape and direction, that it seemed intended to represent the vreapon itself, and not the letter of which he would fain consider it a symbol. Nevertheless, it must be a sign that A DREAMER OF DREAMS. 81 the gods intended him for great things, and it should he no fault of his if the only woman who had yet touched his heart did not share mth him the good fortune thus promised hy the stars. Meantime it wanted many hours of da^^-n ; so he returned to his cushions and mantle for the re- mainder of his night's rest, stopping hy the tahle at which he had sat with Assarac in the evening for a pull at the golden flagon, not yet emptied of its good Damascus wine. Nevertheless, long hefore sunrise, he awoke re- freshed, invigorated, happy ; feeling the amulet rest- ing on his hreast, he accepted its presence for a fortunate omen ; and ere daylight paled the heacon- fire on the tower of Belus, was galloping Merodach through the desert on his way to the Well of Palms. * Surely,' thought this dreamer, ' she will he watching there for the first glitter of spears that shall give token of her father's return ? Then will I tell her when to expect the host, and how to dis- tinguish between its vanguard and the spearmen of its strength, having Arhaces at their head, who march with the chariot of the Great King. She will give me to drink, and I will say unto her, Maiden, as this draught of water to one athirst and stifled VOL. I. G 82 SAP.CHEDON. with the desert sand, so is a whisper from the lips and a glance from the eyes of the fairest damsel in all the land of Shinar to him who has ridden from the great city only to look on her face ere he de- parts to see her no more. Then she cannot hut lift her veil, and speak kindly to me, bidding me tarry hut a few moments while she dravrs water for my horse. So will I tell her the whole tale ; and hereafter, when my lord the king has rewarded his warriors for service done with bow and spear, I will take to Arbaces a score of camels, a hundred sheep, and a talent of gold, together with the armour I won of that swarthy giant beyond the sweet river ; and how shall he say me nay ? So will I lead her home to my tent, and then shall I have attained full happiness, and need ask for nothing more on earth.' Thus it fell out that Kalmim, arriving in the temple of Baal soon after daybreak, missed both the object of her real and her fictitious search. The queen, after a heated restless night, bade her chief tiring-woman seek in that edifice for an amulet, which Semiramis affirmed she could only have dropped at the foot of the tower of Belus, where some one, she added, was sleeping, who must be brought to her A DLEAMEPt OF DPtEAMS. 83 and interrogated forthwitli. Kalmim's experience, in her own person and that of her mistress, led her at once to guess the truth ; therefore she hurried off to apprise Sarchedon he was wanted without delay in the royal palace. On her arrival, it might be said that she found the nest still warm, though the bird had flown ; for a priest was carrying away the cloak and cushions that had formed the young man's couch, and his dark eyes glittered with a roguish smile while he peered into the flagon of Damascus, to find little left in it but dregs. * These warriors seem to know the use of good wine when they can get it,' said he, ' and I doubt not it sings and mantles under helm of steel no less than linen tiara or fillet of gold ; but they clasp bovr and spear through many a long night for one that they spend with goblet of Ophir in hand. Men sleep little in the camp too, and feed sparingly, they tell me, nor day after day must they be cheered by the sight of a woman's veil or the sound of a woman's voice. To say nothing of a fierce enemy and a place in the fore-front of the battle between two hosts in array, where it is scarcely more dangerous to fight than to fly. Truly it is better to be a servant of Baal than of the Great King.' 84 SAECHEDON. * It is better to be a boar in the marshes than a lion in the mountain !' retorted Kalmim with high disdain ; ' a vulture battening on a dead camel than an eagle striking the wild goat from its rock! Con- quering or conquered, up or down, a warrior is at least a maJi, and a match for men !' ' While a priest is a match for women,' answered the other, laughing. ' Is that what you would say ? Nevertheless, Kalmim, it must be a priest who will serve your turn this morning, for there are here a thousand in the temple, and never a hand among us to draw bow-string or close round the shaft of a spear.' * There was a warrior in the porch even now,' replied Kalmim ; * a goodly young warrior with dark flowing locks, and a chin nearly as smooth, Beladon, as your own. What have you done with him ? He bore hither the Great King's signet, and if he has come by harm, not all the gods of all your temples will shield you from the fair face that never looked on man in anger but he was consumed.' Beladon, a handsome young priest, with bright roguish eyes and swarthy complexion, turned pale while she spoke — pale even through the rich crim- son of his cheek and the blue tint of lips and chin. A DREAMER OF DREAMS. 85 where his beard ^Yas close-shaven, and rubbed down with pumice-stone in imitation of Assarac's smooth unmanly face. ' The youth lay here scarce an hour ago,' said he, trembling. ' He mounted the noblest steed that ever wore a bridle — a white horse, with eyes of fire — and rode off through the Great Brazen Gate into the desert like an arrow from a bow. Surely he will return.' Kalmim burst out laughing at his discomposure. ^ Surely he will return !' she repeated ; ' and when he does return, surely you will bring him to me by the path through the great paradise without delay. Semiramis hath been dealing justice amongst the people since sunrise, but she will pass the heat of the day as usual in the fishing temple, and you will find me in its porch. You do not fear to pre- sent yourself before Dagon ? His worship requires no sacrifice of sheep nor oxen, no blood of priests to flow from the gashes they cut in their naked flesh, before his altar.' She spoke in a jesting tone ill befitting the so- lemnity of the subject, and he answered in the same vein. ' The sheep and oxen we ofter are consumed mth- SG SArvCHEDON. out doubt by Baal himself, while his servants live miraculously on the light of his countenance and the fragments that he leaves ! Touching our self- in- flicted wounds, notwithstanding all the blood spilt before the people, we scarcely feel the pain; and this too cannot but be by a miracle of the god. I make no secret with you of our mysteries. Tell me, in return, what mean these warlike preparations that have set the whole city astir to-day ?' Her tone was still of banter and sarcasm. ' Would 3-0U wish the Great lung to be received,' said she, ' with no more ceremony than a shepherd bringing a stray lamb in from the wilderness on his shoulders ? AYhen he returns a conqueror, shall not the triumph be worthy of the victory V' ' But if every man who can bear arms is to stand forth in array wath bow and spear ; if the women and children, on pain of death, are not to come down into the streets ; if the priests of Baal and the pro- l)hets of the grove are to be marshalled like war- riors, with knives unsheathed and sacrificing wea- pons in hand, our welcome will seem to Ninus more like the assault of a fenced city than the return of my lord the king to his home !' * So be it,' answered Kalmim. ' It is not the A DEE.UIER OF DEEA3IS. 87 flash of a blade nor the gleam of a spear that will frighten the old king. By the serpent of Ashtar- oth, he fears neither man nor demon ; and when his queen raised a temple in Bactria to Ahitur of the Mountains, he profaned his altar and defied the Chief of the Devils in sight of our whole army. It angered her, and she hath not forgotten it. Why, men say, he believes no more in Baal than — than you do yourselves !' He looked about him in alarm. 'Hush!' said he. 'It is not for me to judge between my gods and my lord the king. The divining cup of Assarac has not failed to tell him that Xinus shall one day take his place with the Thirteen Gods. It may be that he knows the golden throne is waiting for him even now.' He scrutinised her face narrowly, but saw on it only a light and careless smile. ' ^Yere I the queen, I'd have a younger one next time,' was her reply. ' Of your years, say you "? Xo, thank you, Beladon — not for me. "Well, you may come with me to the Jaspar Gate and as far as the outer court ; I dare not pass alone through all those oxen, lowing, poor things, as if they knew not one of them would be left alive to-day at noon.' CHAPTER YII. THE KING OF NATIONS. Leaning on liis spear within a day's marcli of the Great City, the tall figure of a warrior loomed massive and indistinct in the early light of morning breaking on the Assyrian camp. Line by line, shade by shade, as dawn stole slowly upward, his form came out in bolder relief. Presently a dark blurred mass, some few paces off, took the shape of a sleeping camel; soon shadowy tents, dusky banners, spoil, arms, accoutrements, all the encumbrances of an army on the march, grew into their real outline, filled with their respective colours ; and the man's features, under his steel head-piece, became plainly visible in the light of day. He was arrayed in the utmost splendour of armour and apparel. The former, inlaid throughout with gold, shone bright and polished like a mirror, though the goodly silks and heavy embroidery that formed THE KING OF NATIONS. 89 the latter were sadly rent and frayed by the press of many a hot encounter, the wear and tear of many a weary march. He wore in his girdle a short straight sword with jewelled hilt and ornamented scabbard, carried a bow and quiver of arrows at his back, and a shield studded with precious stones on his arm. From his shoulders hung an ample mantle of crim- son silk, bordered with deep fringes of gold ; while the head of the spear, or rather javelin, on which he rested, though broad, sharp, and hea\^^, was plated and ornamented with the same costly metal. In such an arm it seemed no doubt a formidable weapon ; for the man's square frame and weighty limbs denoted great personal strength ; while his marked features wore an expression of habitual fierce- ness, in accordance with a swarthy complexion, thick black brows, and ample curling beard. He was buried in thought of no pleasing nature, to judge by the working of his lips and the scowling glances he directed towards a tent standing apart, of which two upright spears tufted with ostrich-plumes marked, and seemed to guard, the entrance. As morning brightened, the Avhole camp came into view from the mound where he kept guard, and whereon the Great King's tent was pitched — a camp 90 SAr.CIIEDOX. of many sleeping thousands, ranged in warlike order under a hundred banners drooping heavily in the still clear air. Suddenly the warrior started from his listless atti- tude into life and action ; for a light step was ap- proaching, and a figure advanced to the tufted spears that denoted the abode of royalty. ' Stand !' he exclaimed in threatening accents, advancing his shield and raising the javelin to strike. *Nay, pass, Sethos,' he added with a scornful laugh. 'I have no orders to stop the king's cup-bearer; but you are on foot betimes this mornino:, thou<]:h you vrot vrell the old lion stirs not before break of day.' Sethos patted the wine -skin under his arm — a homely vessel enough, though its contents were to be poured into a jewelled cup. ' The old lion laps ever at sunrise,' said he ; ' and the hunter who brings him to drink need not fear to enter his lair.' ' Fear !' repeated the other with an accent of con- tempt. ' He who deals with lions must forget the meaning of the word. 'Tis thus, man, they are trapped and tamed.' ' Of a truth,' answered Sethos, ' I once believed THE KING OF NATIONS. 91 that in all the hosts of Assyria or of Egj^pt was to be found no frovrn so dark as gathers on the brows of the Great King when he is angered. By the beard of Ashur, Sargon, I have seen a fiercer look of late on the face of one who used to be ready v/ith smile and wine-cup as v/ith bow and spear ; and it comes from under the helmet, my friend, that keeps your head.' ' Have I not cause ?' muttered the other, speak- ing below his breath in the quick concentrated accents of intense feeling. * When the host marches into Babylon, and the women come out with song and timbrel to welcome the conquerors ; when each man makes his boast, showing his treasure, his spoil, and the captives of his bov/ and spear; v;hen my lord the king rewards his servants, giving gifts — to this a dress of honour, to that a beautiful slave, to another a talent of gold and spoil of household stuff — what shall be done for Sargon, the king's shield -bearer, returning childless and bereaved by the king's own hand? Boy, it is well I hold not your place. I might be tempted to mix that in the cup which should cause Ninus to pour out his next drink-offer- ing amongst a host of heaven in whom he professes to have no belief.' 92 SAKCHEDON. * Dangerous words/ answered Sethos, ' and empty- as they are rash. Why, man, you yourself cover him in battle with his shield. It is hut lowering your arm a cubit, and the king's life is in your hand.' ' I could not do it,' said Sargon, drawing himself proudly up. ' It shall never be said that the great Assyrian fell to point of Egyptian arrow, or gash of Bactrian steel. Nay; though the fire on Sargon's hearth may be quenched, his name extinct, let Ninus fulfil his destiny, and sit amongst the gods like his forefathers. It may be they are waiting for him even now. Listen, Sethos ; he calls from his tent. Hie thee into the lion's den, and pour him out such a morning's draught as shall keep him fasting from blood at least till noon.' Sethos — a handsome light-hearted youth, who as the king's cup-bearer enjoyed many privileges and immunities, of which he availed himself to the utmost — passed swiftly between the tufted spears, and with a low prostration raised its curtain, to enter the tent of the oldest and mightiest warrior in the world. Ninus, half risen from his couch, ruder and simpler than that of any captain in his host, stretched his long gaunt arm with impatience for the wine he THE KING OF NATIONS. 93 SO cravecl, to replenish the exhausted energies and wasting powers of extreme old age. The Great King's face was pale and sunken ; his eyes, deep in their sockets, were dull and dim ; while his thin scattered locks, shaggy brows, and long flowing beard had turned white as snow. Nevertheless, the wreck of that mighty frame, like some hoary fortress crum- bling and tottering into ruin, still showed the remnant of such grand proportions, such fabulous strength as was allotted to the men of olden time, when earth was new and nature inexhaustible. Yet was it whispered through the host, that as their fiercest champion would have seemed a mere child by the side of their king in his prime, so was Xinus but as a babe compared with great Ximrod, his ancestor, the god of their idolatry, and mighty founder of their race. Sethos tendered the wine-cup as in duty bound, then stood with hands crossed before him, and looks bent lowly on the earth. The king drained his morning draught to the dregs ; and for a moment there rose a faint flush on the ashen features, a lurid glow in the wan weaiy eyes — but only to fade as quickly ; and it was a sadly tremulous hand, though so broad and sine-u-y, that grasped his wine - cup ; 94 SARCHEDON. while tlie deep voice came very lioarse and broken in whicli lie asked Setlios, ' AVlio waits outside ? Is it near sunrise ?' * Sargon, the roj'al shield-bearer,' was the answer, * has been on guard since cock-crow ; and Shamash, Prince of Light, will doubtless show himself above the horizon so soon as my lord the king appears at the door of his tent.' Ninus bent his shaggy brows in displeasure on the volubility of his servant. ' Halt !' said he. ' Rein in thy tongue, lest the dogs have their share of it without the camp. Fill yet again ; and let me hear no more of this endless jargon about the gods.' It was death to laugh in the king's presence; but Sethos, replenishing the goblet to its brim, did not repress a smile. The old vrarrior's second draught seemed somewhat to renew his strength. ' Reach me that gown,' said he — ' the heavy one ; and the girdle yonder. Fool ! that in which hangs the sword — my good old svrord ! Ha! if Baal and Ashtaroth had done for me but one half the service of horse and weapon, they might take their share of the spoil, and welcome. By the belt of Nimrod, they shall not have one shekel more than a tenth THE KING OF NATIONS. 95 tliis time ! Thirteen gods, by my beard, and every god a thousand priests ! Why, it is enough to ruin the richest king that ever built treasure-house. I must reduce them. I will about it at once, when the people are bus}^ v.ith the triumph. I wonder what slic vrill say — my beautiful ! I angered her long ago, when I refused to worship Satan up yonder in the mountains. I would be loath to anger her again, though I will worship nothing but the eyes that are vratching fondly for my return.' Old, exhausted, weary as he was, there came a gentle look over his grim war-worn face while he thought of the woman he loved so fondly, whom it had cost him so much of crime and cruelty to possess. But the passion of acquisition, almost inseparable from age, was strong in the king's heart ; and it chafed him to think the votaries of Baal should so largely share in the fruits of this his last and most successful expedition beyond the Xile. Sethos, standing before him in the prescribed attitude of respect, marked every shade of his lord's countenance, drawing his own conclusions, and pre- serving his usual air of imperturbable good humour and self-conceit. The early flush of sunrise now stole under the 96 SAECHEDON. hangings of the tent, crimsoning the cup-bearer's feet where he stood, so that his sandals looked as if they had been dipped in blood. ' Bid them sound trumpets,' said the king. ' Go tell Arbaces that the vanguard must set themselves in array at once. "VMiere is Ninyas? He should have been waiting before his father's tent ere now. Wine, sloth, and pleasure — he loves them all too well. Yet the boy drew a good bow in his first battle, and rode through Pharaoh's horsemen, deal- ing about him like Nimrod himself. Gro, bring him hither; and, Sethos, as you pass through the camp, order the captain of the night to call in the watches. So soon as the camels are loaded I shall march.' A warrior to the very marrow, Ninus loved such minute details as the marshalling of a vanguard, or the ordering of an encampment, better than all the pomp of royalty; and felt more at ease in steel harness, on the back of a good steed, than seated in purple and gold, with the royal parasol over head, the royal sceptre in hand, an object of worship to adoring crowds in ancient Nineveh, or even great Babylon itself. His son Ninyas, on the contrary, though scarcely yet verging on manhood, was already steeped in THE KING OF NATIONS. 97 sensuality, and a slave to that reckless indulgence of the appetites which so soon degenerates from pleasure into vice. His grim father perhaps would have been less patient of excesses and outbreaks in camp and city but for the lad's exceeding beauty and likeness to his mother, Semiramis, whose rare and womanly graces were reproduced with startling fidelity in those delicate boyish features, that lithe symmetry of form. Sethos was a prime favourite with the prince, who approached his father's tent, leaning on the cup-bearer's shoulder, in respectful haste, denoted by his flushed face and disordered apparel. Though careless of the displeasure with which Ninus visited such unwarlike negligence, as he was of everything save the folly of the moment, he had put on neither harness nor head-piece, had neither taken a spear in his hand nor girt a sword upon his thigh. The old king's shaggy brows lowered till they almost hid his dull stern eyes. • 'What maiden is this,' said he, 'who comes thus unveiled into the camp of warriors? Go, take needle in hand, and busy them with cunning em- broidery if those unmanly fingers be too dainty to bear the weight of heavier steel.' VOL. I. H 98 SARCHEDON. It was death to laugh in the king's presence, death to assume any other than the prescribed atti- tude with bowed head and crossed hands ; never- theless a merry peal rang through the tent, the boy tossed the king's goblet in the air, and caught it again, while his fresh young voice answered lightly, ^ There is a season for all things, father, and I like fighting at the proper time as well as old Nim- rod himself. But this is a day of victory and re- joicing. I begin it with a drink-offering to my lord the king.' He held the cup to Sethos while he spoke, laugh- ing to see how little of the generous fluid was left in the wine-skin. His mirth was contagious, and the old lion smiled a grim smile while he laid his large wrinkled hand on the lad's shoulder, with a kindly gesture that was in itself a caress. * Begone with you!' said he, 'and if proven harness be too heavy for those young bones, at least take bow and spear in hand. It was thus your mo- ther came riding into camp the first time I ever saw those arched brows of hers. You have her fair face, lad, and something of her proud spirit and wilful heart.' THE KING OF NATIONS. 99 He looked after the boy sadly and with a wistful shake of his head ; but just then a trumpet sounded, and the old warrior's eye gleamed, his features as- sumed their usual fierce and even savage expression, while he summoned his armour-bearer to rivet har- ness on his back, and the captains of his host to take their short stern orders for the day. And now the whole camp was astir. Tents were struck and camels loaded with a rapidity only ac- quired by the daily repetition of such duties under the eye of discipline and in presence of an enemy. Ere long, where horses and beasts of burden had been loosely picketed, or wandering half tethered amongst bundles of unbound forage, between the lines of dusky weather-stained tents — where spears had been piled in sheaves, amongst cooking utensils and drinking vessels — where bow and arrow, sword and shield, helm and habergeon, had been tossed indiscriminately on war-chariots, horse furniture, or scattered heaps of spoil — where the movable city had seemed but a confused and disorganised mass, was fairly marshalled the flower of an Assyrian army, perfect in formation, splendid in equipment, and no less formidable, thus disposed in its smooth motion- less concentration, like a snake prepared to strike. 100 SARCHEDON. than when drawn out in winding shining lines to encircle and annihilate its foe. Even the captives had their allotted station, and Tvdth the spoil were disposed in mathematical regu- larity, to be guarded by a chosen band of spears. These prisoners were of two kinds, separate and dis- tinct in every detail of feature, form, and bearing. The darker portion, some of whom were so swarthy that their colour looked like bronze, scowled with peculiar hatred on their conquerors, and, as it seemed, with the more reason that several bore such wounds and injuries as showed they had fought hard before they were taken alive ; while a whiter-skinned and better-favoured race, with flowing beards, high features, and stately bearing, w4io kept entirely apart and to themselves, seemed to accept the proceedings of their captors in the forbearance of conscious superiority, not without a certain sympathy, as of those who have interests and traditions in common with their masters. The admiration of all, however, was compelled by the imposing appearance of those war-chariots and horsemen that formed the strength and pride of an Assyrian army. As the old king, tottering somewhat under the THE KING OF NATIONS. 101 weight of his harness, appeared at the door of his tent, the entire host was set in motion — bowmen and sHngers in front, followed by a body of horse- men gHttering in scarlet and gold, raising clouds of dust, while their trumpets sounded aboTe the neigh and trample of those horses of the desert that knew neither fatigue nor fear; then, with stately even tread, marched a dark serried column of spears, bearded, curled, and stalwart warriors, every man with shield on arm, sword on thigh, and lance in hand ; next, the war-chariots, thousands in number, with a roll like distant thunder, as they came on in a solid mass of moving iron, tipped with steel. After these a few priests of Baal, weary and dejected, walking with but little assumption of sacred dignity, bore the image of a bull and a few other idols small and portable, but formed of molten gold. These hurried on, as if they feared to be ridden down by the king's body-guard who succeeded them, picked champions, every one of whom must have slain an enemy outright with his own hand, mounted on white steeds, and glistening with shields and hel- mets of gold. In their rear rode Ai-baces, the cap- tain of the host, and immediately behind him came the chariot and led horse of the monarch himself. 102 SAECHEDON. As these reached the mound on which the roj'al tent was pitched, the whole force halted, and a shiver of steel ran like the ripple of a wave along their ranks, while every man brandished his weapon over his head, and shouted the name of the Great King. Ninus stood unmoved, though for an instant the wi-inkles seemed less furrowed on his brow. They gathered, however, deeper than ever, when his quick eye caught sight of Ninyas reclining in his chariot, with his favourite Sethos beside him, and a cup of wine half-emptied in his hand. The king's own chariot was in waiting ; but he caused it to pass on, and bade them bring his war- horse, a fiery animal, that came up curvetting and champing at its bit. Sargon, with the same scowl that had never left his face, went down on hands and knees for his lord to mount with greater advantage from off his back, and Xinus, settling himself in the saddle, while the war-horse plunged with a force that would have unseated many a younger rider, looked his son fixedly in the face, observing in a tone cf marked reproach, * Couches for women ! chariots for eunuchs ! May you never learn to your cost, boy, that his good THE KING OF NATIONS. 103 horse is the only secure throne for an Assyrian king!' Then he signed with his hand, and while trum- pets rang out, and warriors recovered their weapons, a globe of crystal, emblematic of the sun, and sus- pended above the royal tent, was illumined by a priest with sacred fire. As it flashed and kindled, the whole army set itself in motion, and the King of Nations was once more on the march towards his last triumph, after his last campaign. ^6 <®'^ ®U-f% ^m CHAPTEK VIII. THE LUST OF THE EYE. Babylon the Great had pranked herself out in holi- day attire, like some loyal and splendid dame ar- rayed to welcome her lord. From the Gates of Brass in her southern wall to the temple of Baal towering in her centre, squares, streets, and terraces were hung with scarlet, hlazing Avith gold, and strewed knee -deep in flowers. Her population were shouting by tens of thousands on either bank of the Euphrates, which ran through the heart of the city, while even the broad river was dotted with boats of every shape and colour, fantastic, gaudy, and beautiful as the exotics on the tanks of those paradises or gardens which formed her distinguishing characteristic and her pride. Myriads of women waved their veils and scarfs from roof and balcony in endless perspective, THE LUST OF THE EYE. 105 while countless children added a shriller echo to every cry of welcome as it rose. It was remarkable, however, that, contrary to custom on similar occasions, none of the weaker sex were to be seen in the streets. Such had been the decree of the Great Queen ; a decree enforced by the presence of so strong an array of warriors as denoted the mighty resources of an empire, which could thus furnish a formidable army at home to receive an army of comrades returning from the frontier. Besides these champions of bow and spear, masses of white-robed priests occupied the porches of every temple and every open space dedicated to sacrifice throughout the city; while others, chosen from the servants of Baal, and therefore under the immediate influence of Assarac, were scattered through the crowd, conspicuous amongst the gay dresses and glittering arms of their countrymen by their linen garments and the lotus-flowers in their hands. Of these, Beladon seemed the busiest and most voluble, gliding from group to group with plausible words and impressive gestures, which nevertheless left on his listeners a nameless sense of dissatisfac- tion in the pageant, the victory, and general results of the Egyptian campaign. 106 SARCHEDON. Amongst the warriors perhaps this discontent was most apparent, amounting indeed to a sentiment of insubordination, which lost nothing in strength and bitterness from the observations of the priest. ' A feeble war,' said he, addressing himself to the captain of a band of spearmen who occupied one of the Brazen Gates — ' a distant country and a doubtful success. Few captives, I have heard, little spoil, and the frontier remains where it was.' ^Not much to boast in the way of fighting,' ans- wered the other, a stalwart warrior curled and bearded to the eyes. ' Look at the vanguard passing even now. Scarcely a dinted shield or a torn gar- ment in their ranks ; every bowman with a whole skin and a quiver full of arrows at his back. It was not thus we marched in from Bactria, when I myself could count three scars on my breast, and one on my face that you may see there even now ; ay ! and bore on my spear the head of a giant whom I slew in sight of both armies with my own hand. Ninus laughed, and swore I hewed at him like a wood- cutter at a broad-leafed oak in the northern hills. I wonder if he will remember me to-day.' * The Great King hath forgotten many a stout blow and faithful service since then,' answered Bela- THE LUST OF THE EYE. 107 clon. ' The lion grows old now, his teeth are gone, and his claws worn down. Ere long he will take his seat amongst the Thirteen Gods, my friend, and Ninyas, his son, will reign in his stead.' 'He is a leader of promise, I have heard,' said the other, ' who can set the battle in array ; ay, and strike hard in the fore-front too, despite his slender body and winsome woman's face.' 'Winsome indeed,' replied Beladon, pointing upward to where the queen sat in state on the wall amidst her people. ' Is he not his mother's son ? and has he not inherited her very eyes and smile ?' ' She would make the noblest leader of the three,' swore the captain of spears. 'By the serpent of Ashtaroth, she has more skill of warfare than the Great King himself ; and I have seen the Bactrians lay down their arms and surrender without a blow, when she drove her war-horse into their ranks. You are a priest, and priests are learned in such matters. Have you never heard that she is something more than woman ?' ' The gods will take her to dwell with them in their own good time,' answered Beladon gravely, but smothering a smile as he reflected on sundry femi- 108 SARCHEDON. nine weaknesses and caprices of the Great Queen, freely discussed by the priests of the inner circle in the temple of Baal. ' More than woman, he muttered, moving away to another group of spectators — ' more than woman in cunning, more than man in foresight, more than the lion in courage, more than a goddess in beauty ! The day must come when she will rule the world! Assarac is her chief adviser — Beladon is high in the counsels of Assarac — and so, what matters a gash or so before an altar, a little reserve amongst the people, compared with the prospect that opens before us, if only we were rid of this fierce old unbeliever, who fears neither gods above nor men below ?' Then he moved a few paces on, and bade a list- ener mark how the queen had turned the course of a stream out of her gardens round the royal palace to fill the fountains of the city, wondering in the same breath how Ninus would relish the alteration — Ninus, who a few years back had levelled walls, streets, and temples to enlarge the borders of a paradise for his game. This observation having won sufficient attention from the crowd, he proceeded to discuss the value of provisions, a subject of interest to all, re- minding them that grain had been strangely cheap THE LUST OF THE EYE. 100 during the king's absence from his dominions, and marvelling why millet should have gone up in price as the conquering army advanced nearer and nearer home. Were they better or worse for the Great King's presence, he wanted to know ; had they been athirst or an-hungered while Ninus was far away making war on the frontier ; and why was it that now. on the day of his return in triumph, they began to feel scarcity and to be sparing of the children's bread? Men looked blankly in each other's faces, and shook their heads for a reply ; but such seed is never sown on barren ground, and it dawned on many minds that their city, which after all was not of his own founding, but his queen's, would have been none the worse had the Great King never come back from the war at all. A hundred priests prating to the same effect in a hundred quarters produced no contemptible result. Discontent soon grew to disloyalty, and men who at daybreak would have asked no better than to fling themselves in adoration under the king's chariot- wheels were now prepared to receive him in sullen displeasure, and, as far as they dared, with outward demonstrations of ill-will. Yet, like clouds before the northern breeze, all 110 SAKCHEDON. these sj^mptoms of disaffection were swept away by the first glitter of spears in the desert, the first trumpet-blast without the walls giving notice of his approach — to return, when the triumph and the pageant should be over, when the shouting and the excitement should have died away. There was one, however, who watched the alter- nations of temper in the multitude as a steersman in shoal water watches the ebb and flow of the tide. Assarac's keen intellect penetrated the wavering feel- ings of the people, while his daring ambition aimed even at the overthrow of a dynasty for the gratifica- tion of its pride. He had long dreaded the return of Ninus as a check to his own power over the populace and paramount influence with the queen. The old lion loved neither priests nor priestcraft, and would have had small scruple in putting all the servants of Baal to the sword, if he suspected them of treachery or revolt. Had the army marched back from Egypt weakened and disorganised by the fatigues of its campaign ; had the numerous force within the walls showed stronger symptoms of impatience and dis- content ; in short, had his- materials seemed but in- flammable enough to take fire at a moment's notice, Assarac would not have hesitated that one moment THE LUST OF THE EYE. Ill in applying a torch to set the whole Assyrian empire in a blaze. But the priest, though swift to strike his blow, was also patient to abide his time. The Great Con- queror's army marched home as it had marched out, strong in numbers, in courage, in supplies — flushed moreover with an easy victory and a sufficiency of spoil. Warlike enthusiasm is of all excitement the most catching, and the hosts within the city were fain to greet their brethren-in-arms with at least the sem- blance of cordiality and good-will. Not thus on the day of his triumph was the old lion to be taken in the toils. Assarac, in his place of honour as high- priest, standing near the queen, watched every turn of her countenance, and bethought him that the stars in their courses afi'orded no such difficult page to read as the text of a woman's heart. Semiramis was attired with a magnificence that, enhancing her own unrivalled beauty, seemed to en- velop her in splendour more than human. When she raised her veil to look down on the crowd, an awe came over the people, so that they forbore even to shout. It seemed as if Ashtaroth, Queen of Heaven, had descended in their midst ; but a single voice finding vent at last, such a pent-up burst o^ 112 SARCHEDON. cheers rose to the sky, that her fair face turned a shade paler, and to him who was scanning it with eager gaze of curiosity and admiration, it seemed as if a moisture rose in her deep dark eyes. The shouts of the people were caught up again and again. Clad in a rohe of golden tissue, crowned with a diadem of ruhies and diamonds set in gold, wearing the star-shaped ornaments round her neck that denoted her divine origin, and on her hreast the most precious jewel in the empire, representing a cock and a crescent-moon, emblems of that homage to the Evil Principle which she had herself incul- cated on the nation ; wrapped besides in the halo of her own surpassing beaut}", it was scarce possible to believe she was only a woman after all, of the same mould, the same nature, the same passions, with the drudges they had left pounding corn and drawing water at home. From gilded warrior to naked slave, from the captain in his chariot to the leper at the way-side, not a man, as he looked on that lovely face, but would have felt death cheaply purchased by a kind word or a smile. And these were lavished on one who was asked to encounter no danger — scarcely to perform an act of homage in return. Sarchedon, flushed, dazzled, bewildered by the THE LUST OF THE EYE. 113 position, found himself installed at her right hand, chief officer and prime favourite, placed there osten- sibly as bearer from the camp of the Great King's signet ; in reality, something whispered to his asto- nished senses, because he had pleased the eye and taken captive the fancy of the queen. Many a stolen look had he intercepted that could but be interpreted as of high favour and approval. Once she fixed her eyes on the amulet, which, in ignorance of its ownership, he wore openly round his neck, and seemed about to speak, but checked herself, sighing languidly, and turning with impa- tience to Assarac ; while she questioned him about the details of the pageant, wondering why the van- guard, already marching in, should be thus far in advance of the main body and the Great King. ' Was the army so encumbered with spoil ? Had they so many captives ? Were there beautiful wo- men among them ? She had heard much concerning the daughters of the South — Sarchedon could tell them — was it true the women of Egypt were so dangerously fair ?' Once more she bent her eyes on the young warrior, and was not displeased to mark the colour deepen on VOL. I. I 114 SARCHEDON. his cheek, while howing low he answered, with his looks averted from her face, * I thought so till I returned to Bahylon from the host. But a man who has once seen the glitter of a diamond is hlind thenceforth to the lustre of meaner gems.' ' Your eyes must have been strangely dazzled,' replied Semiramis with exceeding graciousness; ' and the diamond that so bewildered you — was it rough from the mine, or cut and set in gold ? Did it sparkle in the zone of a maiden, or in the diadem of a — ' She stopped short with a faint laugh, add- ing, in a more reserved tone, ' She was no Egyptian, then, but one of our own people, whose beauty thus reached the heart at which Pharaoh's bowmen have been aiming in vain ? Shall I press- him to name this victorious archer ? Kalmim, do you plead guilty? Is it you ? or you ? or you ?' She looked round amongst her women while she spoke, and one after another, trying hard to blush, bowed her modest disclaimer with glances of admiration, not unmarked by the queen, at the warrior's handsome face and figure, set off by the splendid armour and apparel in which he stood. Even Semiramis, proud, conquering, almost omnipotent, liked him none the worse that THE LUST OF THE EYE. 115 it was obvious the other women would have liked him too, if they dared. But Assarac, ever watchful, ever jealous of his own interests, which centred in the dignity of the Great Queen, now interposed. ' The land of Shinar has been the land of beauty ever since the sons of heaven came down to woo her daughters on the mountains beyond the two rivers,' said the priest. ' Even before the days of the Great Queen, has not Ashtaroth the beautiful reigned ever goddess of the Assyrians? Ashtaroth, with her golden crown, enrobed in streams of light!' ^ Ashtaroth trampling the lion beneath her feet ! ' added Semiramis, with a curl on her lip and a dan- gerous glitter in her eyes. ' Ashtaroth with the serpent in her hand,' re- torted Assarac, lowering his voice to a meaning whisper. ' The emblem of cunning, stratagem, and true wisdom. Think not it is her star-like beauty, her golden crown, her lustrous robes, that dominate the world. No ; it is the counsel of the serpent she carries in her hand !' The queen flung up her head. ' I require no counsels,' said she, ' from priest or serpent. When I spear the wild bull, I ride my horse freely against his front. When I shoot the lion, I aim mine arrow 116 SARCHEDON. straight at his heart. Warriors bolder than the wild bull, fiercer than the lion, must needs go down be- fore the weapons of Semiramis !' It had been an ungraceful boast, but for the sweet smile, the soft glance, that accompanied her words, causing them to convey a loving invitation rather than a warlike defiance. Sarchedon's heart was thrilling and his brain burning. The sweet intoxication of vanity possessed the one, the fiery spark of ambition kindled in the other. He muttered low, that ' to be slain and tram- pled under foot by the Great Queen was a nobler lot than to drive a war-chariot over prostrate nations,' and was raising his eyes to learn how the humility of such an avowal would be received, when his face turned pale, and he started like a man who leaps to his feet at the approach of danger. Not half a bow-shot off, looking fixedly towards him, was the gentle troubled face of Ishtar, on the terrace of her father's palace, watching for the chief captain's return. The queen did not fail to detect his agitation and its cause. Her eyes flashed, her delicate mouth shut close on the instant as if with a clasp, her features set themselves like a mask, a beautiful mask, but of THE LUST OF THE EYE. 117 the hardest steel. So looked she when she rode the Hon down and pierced him to the heart ; so looked she when she urged her chariot through the ranks of an enemy, over heaps of slain ; so looked she when she administered justice from the Great King's tri- bunal, and turned pitiless from a suppliant pleadinj:^ hard for life. The glance she shot at the daughter of Arbaces was that of an unhooded falcon eyeing the gazelle upon the plains. And at the same moment glances, pleading, pas- sionate, longing, as of that same gazelle when she nears the desert-spring, were directed towards Ishtar from a gorgeous chariot passing slowly in pompous march of triumph through the Brazen Gate, while veils were waved, steel brandished, and the acclama- tions of ten thousand voices rose higher and higher ; for in that chariot stood their future king, the young Ninyas, a living reflection of his mother, bright, de- licate, and beautiful as the queen herself. She marked her son's admiration of the pale fair girl ; she marked Sarchedon's uneasiness ; but what- ever thoughts were busy in her royal and lovely head, she looked abroad into the desert and held her peace. CHAPTEE IX. THE PRIDE OF LIFE. As the glittering procession defiled in proud arrsLj through the gates of that imperial city, Babylon might well be proud of her children. The most war- like nation on earth had assembled to greet the flower of its army returning from conquest ; and the war- riors of the old king bore themselves like men who are conscious they deserve the meed of triumph ac- corded to their fellows. Each black-browed spearman, so bold of feature, so open-eyed, so curled and bearded, stalwart of limb and stately of gesture, marched with haughty step and head erect, as though he felt him- self the picked and chosen champion of a host. Archers and slingers assumed the staid dignity of veteran captains, while the very horses that drew the war- chariots champed, snorted, and swelled their crests THE PRIDE OF LIFE. 119 as if they too were conscious of the reputation it be- hoved them to uphold. Far as stretched the triumph — so far indeed that its van had already reached the temple of Baal, while its rear-guard was yet below the sky-line of the desert — every link in that chain of victory afforded some ob- ject of interest, admiration, or pride to the spectators. These were the bows that had been bent to such pur- pose in their first pitched battle with the ancient enemy, when Egypt was worsted and driven back upon the Nile. Those strong and stately spearmen, so bronzed, so scarred, so splendid in dress and armour, were the very warriors who had withstood the fury of all Pharaoh's chariots and horsemen, nor yielded one cubit of ground, though sore out-num- bered and beset, while they covered the Great King's passage of that famous river. Close in their rear, with clang of trumpet, clash of steel, and ring of bridle, came trampling four abreast the famous horse- men of Assyria ; and men told each other, with kind- ling eyes and eager gestures, how the steeds that drank from the Tigris and the Euphrates had charged to the gates of Memphis and been stabled in the tem- ples of the Stork. Next, with horses gorgeously caparisoned, trapped. 120 SARCHEDON. plumed, and stepping daintily under the rein, rolled on the terrible war-chariots of iron, that, with their scythes of steel, mowed down the ranks of an enemy in broad swathes of slaughter where they passed. Each car, besides its charioteer, held a heavily-armed warrior under shield, with bow and arrows, sword and spear ; three horses plunged abreast, two of which were harnessed to the chariot, while a third, linked only with its fellows to the bridle, was driven along- side in readiness to replace a maimed or fallen steed. This formidable array, which struck with awe even the accustomed senses of the bystanders, was com- pared by them to the chest and body of the army, while the horsemen represented its limbs and feet. Immediately in rear of that moving mass of metal rode the captain of the host, less distinguished for splendour of array than personal dignity of bearing and such a noble face as must have been beautiful in youth. To please his fierce old master, he followed the example of Ninus, and abandoned his chariot for the back of so goodly a steed as could only have been bred in the plain between the rivers. If a thousand acclamations rent the air while this stately veteran came galloping on, managing his war-horse with all the grace and pliancy of youth, they were increased THE PRIDE OF LIFE. 121 tenfold when he drew rein beneath the terrace where stood Ishtar and her maidens, halting for a moment, while he looked fondly upward at his daughter and his home. With the gesture of a child, she stretched out her arms towards him, as if she would fain have leaped down into his embrace. Sarchedon, looking on her from the wall, was but one of many thousands who felt her innocent beauty thrill to his very heart. Nevertheless, Assarac, narrowly watching Semiramis, observed her cheek turn a shade paler, while the hard pitiless expression came back to the queen's unrivalled face. Arbaces made no long delay. "Wa^^ing his hand towards his daughter, and glancing proudly round on his applauding countrymen, he paced slowly on, while a whisper ran through the crowd : ' Stand close — here they come ! Welcome to the golden helmets ! Honour to the guards of the Great King!' Two by two, mounted on white horses with scarlet trappings, arrayed in silks of white and scarlet, with shields and helmets of burnished gold, came flashing on this picked and chosen body — every man of whom, selected for strength and beauty, must also have 122 SARCHEDON. distinguished himself by an attested act of daring in the field. In their centre floated their standard, likewise of scarlet, and on its folds was embroidered in gold the figure of Merodach, god of war, standing on a bull with a drawn bow in his hand. The arms of these champions were bare to the elbow, their legs to the knee; but their persons were otherwise de- fended by close scale -armour, thickly inlaid with gold ; precious jewels studded the belt and pommel of each man's sword, and the shaft of his spear ; the fringes of their gowns were inordinately long, their beards and hair elaborately curled and perfumed. It was evident that these guards of royalty esteemed themselves no less ornaments than champions of the Assyrian host. Sarchedon's eyes flashed, and his cheek glowed with pleasure while they passed. He was proud to think that these were his own special comrades and brethren - in - arms ; that it was from their glittering ranks he had been detached with the royal signet and tidings of the Great King's return. The queen marked his enthusiasm; and, bending kindly towards him, demanded in a soft voice, scarce above a whisper : ' Who are these, Sarchedon ? To my eye, they THE PRIDE OF LIFE. 123 seem the goodliest and best-favoured men in tlie armies of Assyria.' 'They are my comrades,' he answered proudly ; ' the guards of the Great King : the meanest of us holds himself equal to a leader of ten thousand. Ar- haces Tartan* is our captain, as he is captain of the host.' 'And Sarchedon would look nobly at their head,' she answered, with one of her bewildering smiles. ' It may come to pass yet for him who knows when to strike and when to forbear. Hush ! there are higher destinies written in the stars than the posting of a few tinselled spearmen to watch the slumbers of a king ! ' He was equal to the occasion. 0, heart of man ! so strong and bold when beset by danger or privation, so weak and untenable when assailed on the side of vanity! He replied in a low and trembling voice, ' It is honour enough for me. Yet is there one post I would rather hold — one watch I would give my life to keep, if only for a day !' ' You shall not pay so dear a price !' she ans- wered gently. ' Take a lesson from the amulet on your own breast. See how that loving bird follows '-'■'■ Tartan, the general in command. 124 SAKCHEDON. the arrow's flight. So long as her career is upward, the shaft can never pierce her heart. 'Tis a fair and precious jewel — let no temptation lead you to part from it. I will examine it more closely hereafter.' 'It is my queen's!' he exclaimed. 'As is my life, and all I have.' ' Keep it till I require it of you,' was the answer. ' And now tell me, Sarchedon, amongst these goodly warriors, whom think you the fairest and the come- liest ?' ' There are none in all the host to be compared with him now passing beneath us in his chariot,' said Sarchedon boldly. ' None other face of man or woman half so fair — but one !' Such words conveyed no mental reservation — though his own heart told him he had overshot the truth. But punishment for his duplicity followed quickly on the offence. Another of those rare smiles stole over the queen's face, as the acclamations of the multitude rose higher than before to greet him who must hereafter be their king ; and Ninyas, reclining in his chariot, accepted with indolent good-humour that loud and boisterous welcome. His shield and spear were laid aside — his bow and quiver hung at the back of the chariot. On THE PRIDE OF LIFE. 125 his head, from which the dark curls were combed back so daintily, he wore no helmet of defence — only a light linen tiara bound by a circlet of gold. Robes of violet silk floated loosely round his exquisite shape and womanly roundness of limb, while he carried a jewelled drinking - cup, long since emptied, in his hand. It was the attire — the attitude — the appear- ance of a votary of pleasure hastening to the banquet, rather than of a tried warrior returning from the field. Nevertheless, it may be that a character for prowess, cheaply earned enough by a king's son in battle, lost nothing of its value among the thought- less crowd, for an affectation of effeminacy, only excusable in one of such youth, beauty, and reputed valour. The queen, looking down on him well-pleased, could not refrain from exclaiming : ' My son is indeed comely ! Yet is it the come- liness of a woman rather than a man.' 'There is but one woman on earth more fair,' whispered Assarac in her ear. ' Nevertheless, were she down yonder in male attire on a war-chariot, and he sitting amongst us here in the royal robes of a queen, I doubt if the change would be suspected by one of all that countless multitude now gazing in admiration on both.' 126 SAECHEDON. She started, not expecting to receive her answer from the priest, and bent her brows in deep thought, mingled with displeasure, as she observed the un- easiness of Sarchedon, eagerly watching certain move- ments going on below. Guiding the horses, by the side of Ninyas, sat Sethos, the king's eup-bearer, who being in high favour with his young lord usually accompanied him in his chariot, both to battle and to the chase. Per- haps not entirely without a purpose, he drew rein immediately under the terrace where stood Ishtar and her maidens, at the instant when a posy of flowers, projected innocently enough by the damsel herself, came whii-ling down at the feet of her future king. Ninyas looked up quickly; and even in that mo- ment of vexation Sarchedon could not but remark the winning smile, that, brightening all his face, enhanced her son's extraordinary resemblance to Semiramis. The young prince lifted the flowers and put them to his lips with a graceful salutation. Then he bent his head to Sethos, and the latter, taking the cup from his lord's hand, flung it deftly upward so as to light on the terrace within a cubit of where the dam- sel stood. 'Keep it for the sake of Ninyas,' called out the THE PRIDE OF LIFE. 127 giver, as he bowed his head once more; whispering in the ear of Sethos, while the chariot moved slowly on, ' That comely maiden, pale and tender like a lily in a paradise, is better worth the taking than all the beauty of Egypt, captives of our bow and spear.' * And my lord has won her with an empty cup,' answered laughing Sethos. ' When he flings aside the maiden, like the goblet, may I be there to catch her ere she falls !' Though the populace applauded loudly, as it was natural they should applaud such an action of min- gled gallantry, condescension, and insolence, a shud- der crept over Ishtar from head to heel, and she moved the skirt of her garment to avoid touching that gift of a future monarch, as if it had been some noxious reptile in her path. Semiramis did not fail to note how the daughter of Arbaces shot more than one imploring glance at Sarchedon, that seemed to deprecate a jealousy of which she was aware, while conscious of not being answerable for its cause. It was perhaps more in character with the spite of a woman than the dignity of a queen that she should have leant towards the young warrior, and addressed him with such marked demonstrations of favour as could not fail to be ob- 128 SAECHEDON. served by Islitar, whose perceptions and feelings were now strung to their highest pitch. She might even have shown him greater conde- scension than was either royal or prudent, but for the renewed intervention of Assarac, who once more took possession of her ear, speaking so as to be heard by the queen alone. * My directions have been carried out,' he whis- pered, ' and of every hundred men assembled in the streets, ten are warriors and four are priests. The people admire, but partake not in the triumph ; they shout, but their hearts go forth less freely than their voices. There is discontent abroad, and even displeasure, relating to this conquest of my lord the king. The men-of-war who have gone down with him to battle are like to be ill- satisfied with their share of spoil. Those who have remained within the walls already jeer and point the finger at the unbacked armour and whole skins of their returning comrades. Our own followers, servants of Baal and prophets of the grove, whisper strange auguries, and the stars themselves declare that Ninus is destined ere long to take his place among the gods. Caution, Great Queen ! caution ! I must away on the instant, to be in readiness at the THE PRIDE OF LIFE. 129 head of a thousand priests who will receive the king on the steps hefore the temple. He loves not such receptions, and holds hut little with offerings and sacrifices to the gods; nevertheless even Xinus must not, dare not, heard the whole host of heaven in this their very stronghold. He will make the ceremony short and simple as he can, however, and every priest that ever laid knife to his own flesh before an altar will feel outraged and aggrieved. You have the Great King's signet. Keep it safely. That jewelled toy is worth ten thousand chariots of iron and as many horsemen. Behold, the guards have now passed on. See what a handful of priests are pacing with his chariot — an empty chariot, too ; and look how few in number and scant in metal are the molten gods that go before him to battle. He comes. I say again, Caution, Great Queen ! caution ! and for a space forbear !' Pointing his warning with an expressive glance towards Sarchedon, Assarac bowed reverently and withdrew. Semiramis turned a shade paler, and for one moment a shudder seemed to creep from her brow even to her feet. The next she stood forth to mark her lord's approach, erect and beautiful, the state- VOL. I. K 130 SARCHEDON. liest queen, as she was the fairest woman, in the world. Immediately in rear of the royal standard passed on the war chariot of the Great King, containing his charioteer and shield-bearer. Sargon's lowering brow was black as night, and to the vociferous greetings of his countrj'men he returned but a silent scowl. In the brief space that had elapsed since the cruel slaughter of his son, the man's nature seemed wholly changed. His very beard, formerly so black and glossy, was streaked with gray, and the dark e3-es now dull and downcast, glowed with lurid light as though from some inner fire. Few, however, re- marked this alteration in the aspect of the shield- bearer ; for with the first glimpse of Ninus, shouts of jubilee rose once more from the people, and in that moment of enthusiasm, assembled Babylon could not have afi'orded a fuller, fairer welcome to mighty Nimrod himself. The Great King came on at a foot's pace, reining his steed with that craft of practised horsemanship which outlasts failing sight, lost activity, and bodily powers impaired by age. His large gaunt frame, though bowed and tottering, swayed easily to every motion of his steed ; his broad loose hands, though THE PRIDE OF LIFE. 131 numbed and stiff, closed with unimpaired skill on spear and bridle ; while ever and anon, with some vociferous cheer or stirring trumpet-call, the droop- ing head went up, the dim eve sparkled, and for a space in which bow might have been drawn or sword- blow stricken, Ninus looked again the champion warrior of the world. The king had abstained from all outward pomp of attire or panoply ; he wore neither diadem nor tiara, but a steel helmet, much dinted and battered, guarded his brow. Save for the lion's head em- bossed in its centre, his shield was the plainest, as it was the most defaced, that passed into Babylon that day ; while neither his horse's trappings nor his own accoutrements could compare in splendour with those of his guards who preceded him on the march. But his sword was a span longer, his spear some shekels heavier, than any other in the vrhole Assyrian host, and none, looking on that renowned conqueror, so formidable even in decay, but would have recognised him for the bravest and mightiest fighter of his time. Slowly, sternly he came on, receiving the homage and acclamations of his people with a royal indiffe- rence not far removed from scorn. The press of chariots, the clash of steel, all the wild tumult and 132 SARCHEDON. fierce music of battle, could scarcely now call the light to liis eye, the colour to his visage. "What was a mere peaceful triumph but an unmeaning pageant, a protracted and somewhat wearisome dream ? His grim old features sank and lowered till it seemed to the nearer bystanders that they were looking on a corpse in mail. But once the Great King's face brightened, the blood rushed redly to his cheek, and his strong hand shook so on the bridle, that his good horse, accept- ing the signal, bounded freely in the air. Then he turned ghastly pale, drawing his breath hard, and trembling like a maiden or a child. Beaming down on him from the wall with her own bright smile, he saw the face that had haunted him in those long night-watches for many a weary month — the face that, of all on earth, had alone made itself a home in his fierce old heart. The wild joy of battle was indeed over, but for him the calm of peace had come at last. From his saddle where he sat to the wall whence she smiled down on him, not a score of spear-lengths divided him from Semiramis, looking fonder and more beau- tiful than she had ever appeared even in his lonely dreams. CHAPTEE X. A BANQUET OF WINE. On the first night of his return from conquest, it was customary for an AssjTian king, his captains, and chief officers of state to be received by his consort with a banquet, offered to their special entertainment. The stars were ah-eady out, the moon was rising from the desert, when a thousand torches, flaring on the summer night, lit up the central court of the royal residence with a fierce red glow, vivid as the light of day. It brought out in strange grotesque relief the gigantic sculptures on the wall, till winged bull, man- faced lion, and eagle-headed deity seemed but fleeting flickering shadows, that moved, threatened, and re- tired, as the night breeze rose and fell. It played in variegated hues on the columns of poi-phyiy and jas- par that supported the upper stoiy, blackening the remote recesses of its lofty chambers, while marble 134 SAECHEDON. pillar, shaft of alabaster, carving, cornice, and capital blushed in crimson flame. It shed a ruddier lustre on wine, fruit, and flowers, the rich profusion of a royal table, glittering from massive chalice and ancient flagon, blazing in jewelled cup and vase of burnished gold. The brilliant gems, the costly robes, the stately figures of those noble guests, were enhanced tenfold by its power ; while the king's wan face showed paler, fiercer, ghastlier than ever, in that strong searching glare. The procession had been long, the triumph pro- tracted and wearisome ; sacrifices ofi'ered, not un- grudgingly, to the gods, had delayed him with ob- servances he loathed, ceremonials he despised; and Ninus had been in the saddle since daybreak. It was not strange then that Arbaces, his chief captain, sitting over against him, should have felt his heart sink while he looked on the ashy war-worn face, from which he had so often gathered counsel and resource, picturing to himself that he saw a dead monarch pre- siding, stark and grim, at his own funeral feast. The king sat for a while with his head sunk on his breast, to all appearance thoroughly out-wearied and overcome ; but after Sethos had filled his cup more than once, a feeble light came into his eyes, A BANQUET OF -^'INE. 135 while he glared around with a haughty air of inquiry, that seemed rather to threaten the absent than wel- come those who were present at his festival. He looked sternly satisfied, however, with the number and importance of his guests — men who formed the props of his throne and the very bulwarks of his em- pire. There was Arbaces, captain of the host, firm in position as in character, a sage counsellor, a skilful leader, and a stout man of war in close fight, hand to hand; there was Sargon, his shield-bearer, who slew before the gates of Memphis, in single combat, seven Egyptian champions, one by one, and vowed in the hearing of both armies, that as he had sacrificed these to the Seven Stars, so would he take life after life from the host of Pharaoh till the Consulting Gods, the Judges of the World, and each of the Assyrian deities, had been propitiated with a victim. Scowling and silent, Sargon sat apart at the banquet; and a keen eye, scanning him warily and by stealth, noted the seal of murder set upon his brow. There was Assarac too, the scheming priest, un- warlike indeed in form and nature, yet owning a more daring spirit, a more enduring courage, than the fiercest archer who ever drew bow from a war- chariot — Assarac, present in virtue of his ofiice to 136 SAKCHEDON. pour out drink - offerings, to peer into the divining cup if required, above all, to watch with jealous su- pervision the temper and opinions of those who sur- rounded the king. Though aware that Ninus disliked, suspected, and would have put him to death without scruple, his eye never quailed, nor did his speech falter; and when he raised his goblet, filled to its brim, the eunuch's hand was firm and steady as a rock. These last-named persons, with the older leaders and captains of ten thousand, were placed near the king ; but scores of younger warriors, rising in fame, comely in person, and splendid in apparel, thronged the lower and more noisy extremity of the board. Over these, amongst whom Sarchedon was not the least remarkable, presided Ninyas, distinguished no less for his beautiful face and magnificent attire than for his deep draughts, reckless hilarity, and boisterous freedom of discourse. ' Once more in Babylon,' said he, ' after months of toil and heat, and worst of all, that torturing thirst ! After those weary marches by day, those endless watches by night, welcome to the land of palm and pomegranate, peace and plenty, women and wine ! What say you, Sarchedon ? Well, I trow A BANQUET OF \^1XE. 137 that, being of liis guard, your duty bids you echo the Great King. The old lion cannot hear you where you sit ; you may speak the truth freely as if you were reading the Seven Stars. Confess, now. None but a fool would go forth in warfare who could stay to revel and sleep at home.' Sarchedon, though familiar with camps, was also no stranger to the usages of a palace. ' My lord did not seem of so peaceful a mind,' he answered, * while he drove his war-chariot through the archers who lined her vineyards when we invested the city of Pasht, or it had cost us a weary siege ere we broke in pieces the idols of the Cat !' 'Well said, Sarchedon!' was the vain-glorious reply. * Why did we not push on, as I advised ? By the gods of my fathers, I swear to you, that if Ninyas had been your leader but for one week, rather than the Great King, he would have left the Ethiopians to lose themselves amongst the marshes in our rear, fought a pitched battle on the plain by the sweet river, and you and I would have been drinking wine of Eshcol in the palace of Pharaoh at this moment.' It may be that Sarchedon had his own opinion of the strategj which should have conduced to so tri- umphant a result. He answered gravely enough : 138 SARCHEDOX. *My lord confessed even now that lie was far better in the palaces of Babylon. Is he not satisfied with the spoil, the captives, and the cheers of the people ? They lifted up their voices when he passed to-day as it had been great Nimrod himself.' * The lazy drones!' laughed his well-pleased lis- tener. ' When I come to rule, they shall have some- thing more to do than shout, I promise them. Keach me that flagon, I pray you — nay, hold ! I am like my scoffing old sire, in one respect at least — I pour all drink-offerings down my own throat ! No ; what pleased me best to-day was neither spoil nor glory nor the voices of fools. It was the face of a maiden sweeter than the honeysuckle and fairer than the rose. Did you not mark her, Sarchedon ? or were you so busy in attendance on the queen, my mother, that you had eyes for none beside ?' Stifling the hideous misgivings that rose like a flood in his heart, Sarchedon answered with forced calmness : *My lord must have passed to-day under the glances of a thousand damsels, and every one his handmaid. The comeliest of aU were standing behind Kalmim, in attendance on the Great Queen.' * You are blind ! by the beak of Nisroch, you must A BAXQUET Or ^YIXE. 16. J he blind !' exclaimed the excitable young prince. * Take Kalmim herself — for when she has tired her head and painted her eves she is the best of them, since the queen loves not too much beauty so near her own — but take Kalmim, I say, and tell me whe- ther she shows not like a camel beside a courser when you compare her with the daughter of Arbaces. ! never bend your brows and look so scared to- wards the chief captain. He cannot hear us up there ; and, by the belt of Ashur, the king's voice raised in anger is enough to deafen a man in both ears ! AMiat can have chafed the old lion to make him roar so fiercely, even over his food '?' In truth, the deep harsh tones of Xinus, loud and overbearing, were heard above the ring of flagons, the clatter of tongues, all the din that accompanies a feast — even above the vibration of the lyre, the roll of the drum, the soft sweet music floating on the night air from an unseen gallery, far off amongst the pillared corridors that surrounded the open court. Like the lion to which his graceless son compared him, Ninus was lashing himself into rage. His theme was the rapacity of priests, and, to use his own words, the extortions of the gods. *Ten thousand of you!' roared the old warrior, 140 SARCHEDON. turning fiercely on Assarac, of wliom lie had asked a question relating to certain details of the day's pa- geant. ' Ten thousand demons ! and for Baal alone. By the beard of Nimrod, he should be better served than any of us his descendants, who must needs feed the hungry swarming brood. And you would have me believe that there are gods as many as stars in heaven ? Hear him, Arbaces ! You and I have set armies in array ere this, so strong that our trum- pets in the centre carried no sound to the horsemen on the wings ; but if we are to have a thousand gods, and every god ten thousand priests, it will pass your skill and mine to devise how such a multitude may be ranged in order of battle. And one company of my bowmen would put them all to flight ere you could ride a furlong ! Ten thousand priests of Baal ! Ten thousand vultures tearing at a dead carcass ! I trow there will be little left for the desert-falcon that struck the prey. You read the stars, forsooth, and can foretell the future easily as I can forget the past ! Go to ! Will you compute me the share of spoil I am likely to assign to-morrow for your entertainment and the altars of your gods ?' Without compromising one jot of his own dig- A BANQUET OF "WINE. 141 nity, the wily eunuch's answer was yet temperate and respectful to the Great King. * My lord is himself the child of Ashur and of Baal — the father gives freely to the son, requiring only honour and reverence in return.' ^Fill my cup!' thundered the king to Sethos, who ministered hastily to his wants. ' I have not found it so,' he continued, harping still on the theme that thus chafed him. ' The honour and reverence I pay them willingly, though they keep me standing long enough in their temples, and, perhaps hecause they sit so far off, it seems hard to make them hear. But if honour and reverence are to signify, sheep and oxen, wine, jewels, raiment of needlework, and heaps of treasure, they have had their share from Ninus — henceforth I will follow the example of those poor slaves we found in Egypt, the captives of our captives, who worship but one God, and ofier him neither silver nor gold !' * Therefore are they but servants to the servants of my lord the king,' replied Assarac, unabashed by the frown of Ninus and the open derision of certain veterans, who took their creed from their leader, as they took their orders — without comment or inquiry. 'Prate not to me!' was the angry answer; *I 142 SARCHEDON. have scores of tliem down yonder bound in the outer court amongst my Egyptian captives. I cannot tell, Arbaces, what hinders me now, this moment, from sending you with a handful of spearmen to clear his temple of its white-robed locusts, and drive in these strangers, Egyptians and all, to worship Baal in their stead.' The chief captain, who to certain scruples of re- ligion added those of custom, policy, and propriety, would have ventured on expostulation ; but Assarac interposed. * The gods, thy fathers, who look upon us to- night !' said he, in a stern loud voice, that awed even Ninyas and the j'ounger revellers into attention, while he pointed gravely upward where the stars were shin- ing down in their eternal splendour on all the royal magnificence and glittering profusion of that feast in the open court. At the same moment, sweeping round the outer walls of the palace, vibrating through its long cor- ridors and lofty painted chambers, there rose a cry, so wild, so pitiful, so unearthl}^, that it arrested the goblet in each man's hand, froze the jest on his lip, and curdling the blood in his veins, caused him to sit mute and petrified, as if turned to stone. A BANQUET OF WINE. 143 The Great King started, and bade Arbaces sum- mon up his guard; but Assarac's voice was beard once more, solemn and majestic in its notes of warning and reproach. ' The gods, thy fathers !' he repeated, looking Ninus sternly in the face, * who have spared the blas- phemer, but visited his sin on the innocent cause thereof. Hear those Egyptian prisoners mourning for a comrade this moment passed away, wearied and out-worn by a toilsome march to the house of his captivity, stricken and thrust through by the iron that has entered into his soul !' It was indeed such a wail of bereavement and de- spair as was to rise hereafter through all its length and breadth in the land of the South, because of the terrible punishment that visited her people, ' from Pharaoh that sat on the throne to the captive that was in the dungeon' — on that awful night, the climax of successive judgments, when ^ there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead.' As these long-drawn notes of woe swelled, sank, and swelled again, the king's first emotions of horror were succeeded by a fresh outbreak of wrath. It might have gone hard with the sorrowing herd of 144 SARCHEDON. captives, and perhaps not one had been left to mourn for another, but that the old lion's fury, redoubled by- its momentary check, was at this juncture wholly di- verted and appeased. A burst of music, so loud, so full, so jubilant, that it drowned all other noises in its grand triumphant swell, announced the entrance of Semiramis ; and like the Queen of Heaven rising from the dark back-ground of night, this Queen of Assyria, blazing in jewels, and robed in the light of her incomparable beauty, stood forth a shining vision from the black shadows of the gateway, to move with stately step and slow through long lines of admiring revellers, ere she made her royal obeisance before the throne of gold, where sat the Great 'King, While she traversed the lower end of the court, Assyria's chosen warriors, the goodliest men of all the East, rose from the board and bent them low in courtly re- verence, like a bed of garden-flowers doing homage to the south wind as it passes by. With a mother's love and a queen's dignity, she laid her hand on the shoulder of her son Ninyas, while he bowed himself before her ; but it was a feeling stronger than the one, and but little in accordance with the other, that bade her pause by the side of Sarchedon, and whisper tenderly in his ear. A BANQUET OF WIXE. 145 He started, colouring to his temples — two or three young warriors glanced enviously at their favoured comrade ; but it was dangerous to observe too nar- rowly the motions of royalty, and each man fixed his eyes in deep humility on the hem of her garment as Semiramis moved proudly on. Ninus stirred uneasily where he sat. He would fain have risen to meet his queen, and taken her in his gaunt embrace to the fierce old heart that loiew no other want ; but such an innovation was not to be thought of even by the conqueror of the East, and he could only reach towards her the golden sceptre that lay on a cushion at his feet. While she pressed it to her fair white brow, there came a light in the old king's haggard face that told of the loving spark too often kindled but to be quenched in sorrow, the blind trust born to be be- trayed, the fond unreasoning pride in another that ^oeth before a fall. This final ceremony broke up the banquet. With loud peals of music, the king and queen, waited on by their personal attendants, betook them to their re- spective dwellings, between which ran the Euphrates, though under the broad river a tunnelled passage afforded free communication from one to the other. VOL. I. L 146 SAr.CHEDOX. Arbaces and Sargon followed closely beliind their lord, as Kalmim and her group of women accom- j)anied the queen. Ninyas, pushing round a mighty flagon, called Sethos to his side, and swore he would not stir till midnight ; an intention loudly applauded by many of the younger revellers, who gathered joy- ously round their prince. In the change of places that ensued, Sarchedon made his escape from the banquet, hastening through the outer gates to cool his brow^ in the night air, while he communed with his own perplexed aspiring heart. The queen's soft breath seemed still upon his neck, her whisper thrilling in his ear. What could she mean ? ' Follow the shaft ! Fly on, fly upward !* Was it possible ? Could the stars have written for him such a destiny as these words seemed to imply, or was he deceiving himself like a fool ? And how was this upward flight to be accomplished ? A thou- sand wild impossible longings and fancies filled his brain, but shining calmly through them all, like the moon amidst clouds and storm-wrack veiling a trou- bled sea, rose the gentle image of the girl he really loved. Could he give her up ? Must it so soon come to an end, this dream, so short, so sweet, so cruel in its hour of waking ? At any risk he was resolved to A BANQUET OF WINE. 147 see lier once again ; that very night, that very hour, before the gods had time to cast his lot for him with- out recall. He hurried, like a ghost, through the shadows of the silent courts towards the palace of Arbaces. But Ninyas, while he filled cup and emptied fla- gon, by no means lost sight of those interests and pleasures which, in his royal opinion, constituted the chief advantages of his station as a prince. Sarche- don had not moved ten paces from his seat to leave the revellers, ere the king's son whispered to the king's cup-bearer, * Follow him, Sethos. A wise hunter never loses sight of his hound till he pulls down the deer.' CHAPTER XI. LIKE TO LIKE. Deep iu liis own thoughts, and vrholly unconscious he was ^Yatched, Sarchedon hurried through the out- skirts of the palace, traversing, with one passing glance of curiosity and compassion, an open space in which the Israelitish and Egyptian captives lay bound. The voice of mourning was hushed at last amongst these sufferers, save where some weeping woman, waking, as it were, to a sense of intolerable misery, pressed both hands against her throat, and thus enhanced the long vibrations of that dismal wail — so piteous, so keen, so thrilling, that it stirred the very jackal in his lair amongst the vineyards without the city walls. Groups of these prisoners sat or grovelled on the ground, in attitudes expressive of the utmost sorrow and desolation. Here was a wounded archer, one of LIKE TO LIKE. 149 Pharaoli's clioicest marksmen, gnawing liis bonds in impotent rage and sliame, while lie cursed the javelin that disabled him — the comrades who had fled and abandoned him to be taken captive — the gods in all their different earthly shapes of goose, bull, falcon, stork, and locust, whom he had worshipped faith- fully by the Nile, that they might leave him here in Babylon to die. There was a cluster of children, the elder sleeping the calm lovely sleep of youth, the youngest prattling, laughing, stretching its little arms towards the stars. And beside them, on her knees, their tawny mother, with head bowed down, dark eyes fixed, dim but tearless, and thoughts far away in the South, by a rude hut raised on props above the river, where last she saw him stark, mo- tionless, and gashed from brow to breastplate, the lover of her girlhood, the husband of her heart, the father of those dear ones, dragged, without hope of return, into the land of their captivity. "Wherever grieved a dark-sldnned mourner, from brawny warrio r to tender maiden, there seemed to be embodied th c yery abandonment of woe ; while a few Ethiopians, surprised by hazard amongst Pharaoh's auxiliaries, before they had time to run away, wept and b e- moane d themselves, with a force of lungs and vehc- 150 SARCHEDON. mence of gesture, so unbridled as to border on the grotesque. But somewhat apart, treated, as it would seem, b}' their Assyrian conquerors with less rigour than the rest, a handful of prisoners had disposed them- selves, with scrupulous attention to decency of atti- tude and bearing. Conversing little, and only to each other, their low tones were forcible and expressive; their demeanour, grave and gentle, was marked with a certain sad dignity and grace. Though dark of beard and hair, they were far less swarthy in com- plexion than their fellow^ sufferers, and while nobler of stature and fuller of limb, lacked the sinuous ease and pliancy of movement so remarkable in the slen- der Egyptian. Their high features, kindling eyes, and curved nostrils partook of the peculiar beauty general amongst their present masters ; but they showed none of the haughty self-assertion, the lofty warlike bearing, of the fierce Assyrian race. Such kin they seemed to their conquerors as the dog to the wolf, the ossifrage to the eagle, the patient ox in the furrow to the fiery wild-bull of the fell. Presently silence came over them, and taking ad- vantage of the laxity of their fetters, one and all rose to their feet and stood erect. Then he who seemed LIKE TO LIKE. 151 eldest and gravest spoke a few words iu a loud so- lemn voice, to wliicli tlie others listened attentively, responding at intervals, with heads sunk on their breasts. Sarchedon, hastening past, had yet time to observe their motions, and marvelled, in his own mind, if this could be a religious ceremonial, thus divested of all pomp and outward form ; no sacrifice of blood, nor drink-offering poured out, nor altar raised, — only deep awe and reverence impressed on every face, courage, love, and trust beaming in each worshipper's eyes. The white robe of a priest of Baal flitted through the darkness round the circle ; but Sarchedon' s heart was filled with a sentiment that left no room for interest or curiosity, save on one subject, and he sped towards his goal, longing only for the moment that should bring him face to face with her he loved. The moon was low in the sky, yet gave light enough to have guided him on his way, even had not every step of it been familiar as the handle of his sword. Was it strange he should have found so readily a path that led to the home of Ishtar ? that he should have had access to the roof of a dwelling adjoining the palace of Arbaces ? that the girl herself should have been restless, unable to sleep, 152 BAPvCHEDOX. and fevered with a desire to spread lier carpets and cushions under the sky in the cool night air by the parapet of her father's house ? No, it was not strange ; and the reason seemed simple enough as explained in a low measured chant, by a rich sweet voice — richer and sweeter that it was toned down and suppressed — vrhich thrilled and scorched through every fibre of the young girl's being, while Sarchedon poured forth his heart in passionate pleading conveyed through the fanciful imagery of the East. ' I pass'd AA-itliout the city-gate, I liuger'd by the way ; The pahu was bending to her mate, And thus I heard her say, " The arrow to the quiver, And the wild-bird to the tree ; The stream to meet the liver. And the river to the sea. The waves are wedded on the beach, The shadows on the lea ; And lihe to lilie, and each to each. And I to thee. The cedar on the moimtain, And the bramble in the brake ; The willow b}' the fountam, And the lily on the lake ; The sei-pent coiling in its laii*, The eagle soaring fi-ee, Draw kin to kin, and pair to pah, And I to thee. LIKE TO LIKE. lOtS For every tiling created In the bounds of earth and sky. Hath such longing to be mated, It must coui^le, or must die. The Trind of heaven beguiles the leaf, The rose invites the bee ; The sickle hugs the barley-sheaf, And I love thee. By night and day, in joy and giief. Do thou love me ?" The palm was bending to her mate, I markd her meaning well ; And passd within the city-gate, The fond old tale to teU.' "V^'lien he ceased, she rose on him like a ghost, from behind the parapet. In another moment her veil vi-as up, her sweet lips parted in a greeting that vras rather breathed than spoken, and both hands were abandoned to the caresses of her lover. 'Ishtar,' he murmured, ^ queen of my heart! I scarcely dared to hope, and yet I kneic I should find you here.' ' I thought not you would come,' she whispered, for a girl's modesty thinks no shame to veil with in- genuous falsehood the truth of which she is reallj* proud. * But I could not sleep — I could not rest under a roof — the war is over — my own dear father has returned safe. Sarchedon ! this has been such a happy day.' 154 SARCHEDON. It was the first time slie had called him by his name, and the endearing syllables dropped like honey from her lips. It was no more to be ^ noble damsel/ * my lord's handmaiden,' but 'Ishtar,' and * Sar- chedon,' because they knew they loved each other with all the rich warmth, the stormy passion of their race and climate. 'A happy day!' he repeated, rather bitterly; * and a day of victory for the fairest maiden in the land of Shinar ! Think jon it was such a happj' mo- ment for me, Ishtar, when I saw the love-gift hurled from our prince's chariot to your feet ?' She had not been a woman, could she have quite suppressed a double sense of triumph — of vanity gratified by the homage of a prince, and, sweeter far, of pride in his own avowal that she could excite the jealousy of him she loved. Yery tender was her smile, very soft and land her glance, while she replied : * You may judge how I value the gift when I tell you the handmaidens are shredding herbs in it even now. Y^et is he a goodly j-outh, our young lord, and a comely — fair he must surely seem in your eyes, Sarchedon, for is he not the very picture of his mother? and yon of all men would be loath to dispute the beauty of the Great Queen.' LIKE TO LIKE. 155 It was a feminine thrust, and planted fairly home ; but here in Ishtar's presence it rather roused in him a feeling of alarm, lest he should lose the blossom in his hand, than any wish to reach the riper and costlier fruit hanging above his head. 'Beloved!' he answered gravel}^, 'the desire of queens and princes is like the hot wind of the desert, that blasts and scorches where it strikes. It matters little what befalls Sarchedon, if he loses her who has become the jewel of his treasure-house, and the light of his path. With the j^oung prince, to see is too often to covet, and to covet, too surely to possess ! It may be, that ere the days of triumph are over, he will have asked you of Arbaces in marriage, and whither shall I go for comfort then, if I am to look nevermore on the only face I love ?' That face showed strangely pale in the wan light of the stars and crescent moon. There was a thrill of deadly fear in the whisper that appealed so piteously for succour and protection. * Save me, Sarchedon, save me ! It would be worse than death. What shall I do ? What shall I do?' He pondered, pressing the hand he held fondly to his eyes and forehead. 156 SARCHEDON. * Arbaccs avouIcI not barter jou away for treasure, like a herd of camels or a drove of captives ?' lie asked, after a pause. * My father loves me dearly,' she answered. ' I know he fears to lose me; for he has often said, if I were to vanish from his side, like my mother, he would never wish to come out of his war-chariot alive.* ' She v;as a daughter of the stars,' said Sarchedon abstractedly ; ' their love is fatal to mortal men ! You see, I have learned it all, and yet I care not — I have but you in the world !' The daughter of the stars, he thought, had surely transmitted her celestial beauty to the girl who now bent fondly over him, and shook her head. * They say so !' she answered. 'But Arbaces is loath to be questioned, and I know not what to think. She may have been the child of a priestess of Baal, espoused to the god. I cannot believe that the stars have come down from their thrones for the love of women in these later days, since the plague of waters in the olden time, before the great tower of Belus was built. I only know I would I had my mother's beauty and my father's fame, and the wealth of the Great Queen, that I might bestow it all on the man I LIIIE TO LIKE. 157 love. You would be ricli, Sarchedon, and of liigh repute; while I should be very, very happy !' * Then, if Ninj-as sent to ask you of your father,' -whispered the young warrior, * you would be loath to go and rule over him and his in a palace of gold ?' ' Better to serve Sarchedon in a tent of goat's- hair,' was the answer; 'better by far draw water at the Well of Palms for your herds, your camels, and the fair horse you rode that happy morning ; better to be the meanest and lowest of your slaves, than never see 3'our kind face again !' Yanity, pride, ambition — the dazzling career open to him — the lustrous beauty of the queen : what were they to such love as this, but the flash and glitter of tinsel, compared to the ray of a real dia- mond ? If a thought of Semiramis and her fatal favour crossed his brain, it did but spur him on to secure his happiness ere she could thwart it, to remove Ishtar, ere it was too late, from the sphere of the queen's displeasure, and the still more dan- gerous admiration of her son. ' Then I will ask you of your father before an- other day has gone down!' exclaimed Sarchedon, steal- ing his arm round that lithe slender figure, leaning over the parapet, like the palm-tree bending to meet 158 SARCHEDON. her mate. ' To-morrow will I send into the court below a score of camels and a hundred sheep, with a suit of the truest armour that ever brought the cap- tain of a host unwounded out of battle, and my young men shall say to Arbaces — *'they seek but Ishtar in return." ' ^ So my father will summon me from amongst my maidens, to know ifperadventure his daughter's heart hath gone forth to him who is so lavish of sheep and camels, so skilled in choice of armour, and what shall I say then ?' Only from the depths of a young girl's heart, happy and triumphant in her honest love, could have risen the smile that beamed on Ishtar's face. It was reflected in Sarchedon's eyes, while he answered : ' The daughter of Arbaces will tell him, that where her heart has gone forth, thither must Ishtar needs follow, and she will be mine !' * And she will be yours !' repeated the girl, with a great sob of womanly happiness, tempered by maiden shame, the blood rushing to her face, while she hid it on her lover's breast. Fast as her heart was beating, it had scarce counted a score of pulsations ere tramp of horses, call of servants, and flash of torches in the court be- LIKE TO LIKE. 159 low, announced tlie return of Arbaces from his duties about the Great Eang. No sooner had he dismounted at the porch of his palace than the fond familiar voice was heard, asking loudly for his daughter ; and gliding like a shadow from the embrace of Sarchedon, she was gone. Yet even in that brief moment during which her brow was pressed against his bosom, she had dis- covered the amulet he wore, and knew, as women only do know such things, that it was not there when she saw him last. Perhaps to an impulse of female tenderness was added the stimulant of female curiosity, when she whispered, even in the act of escape : ' To-morrow, beloved one, at the same hour. You will tell me then whence comes that jewel, and — and — if it was given you by the queen !' Turning stealthily to depai-t, with his hand on the amulet, doubtful whether he would not tear it from his neck and trample it under foot, but in the mean time lea^-ing it where it was, Sarchedon felt conscious of a strange depression, of vague misgivings, as though some future evil were casting its shadow about him ere it came. The air felt heavy, the night 160 SARCHEDON. was darker, tlie stars had become dim. It seemed a different world as he passed along the silent streets towards his'home, and those keen senses of his, quick- ened by the practice of war, must have been strangely blunted, that he neither saw the form nor heard the footsteps of one who had watched his interview with Ishtar from first to last. Sethos, no less nimble of foot than he was light of hand and heart, made such good haste in return- ing to the queen's palace, that he found Ninyas still seated at the banquet, flushed with wine, and more reckless, more impetuous, as he was more beautiful, for the excess. * You are a trusty hunter,' laughed the prince, steadjdng his uncertain steps as he rose with a hand on his favourite's shoulder, ' and you followed the good hound bravely to the thicket where lies the deer ? What think you ? Is she worth the bending of a bow ?' ' My lord had already wounded her with a random shaft,' answered the cup-bearer. ' It is the daughter of Arbaces, who flung him the posy of flowers as his chariot passed beneath her in our triumph.' The intelligence seemed to sober Ninyas on the instant. LIKE TO LIKE. 161 'And it is Sarchedon -^aIio contends with me,' said he, pondering. ' By the brows of Ashtaroth, the sport grows to earnest now, and the prize will bo won by him who can strike first !' YOL. I. CHAPTER XII. THE GODS OF THE HEATHEN. Hastening from the queen's palace towards liis sto- len interview with Ishtar, Sarchedon had not failed to observe the white robe of a priest in the neigh- bourhood of the Israelitish exiles, though his pre- occupation forbade his identifying the person to whom it belonged. Sethos, on the contrary, whose wits were more at their master's service, had no difficulty in recognising Assarac, and marvelled in his own mind what interests could exist in common between the haughty servant of the Assyrian god, and this fettered prisoner, a captive even amongst the cap- tives of the Great King's bow and spear. Could he have overheard their conversation, his curiosity w^ould indeed have been sharpened, but any ideas he might have prcviousl}^ conceived regarding superna- THE GODS OF THE HEATHEN. 163 tural influences must have sustained a shock ver}' confusing to his understanding and his faith. His interests, however, were of the earth, earthy, and he left to such aspiring spirits as the high priest of Baal those ahstruse speculations which would fain penetrate the mysteries of another world. Assarac only waited till the last of the revellers had departed, the last of the thousand torches flaring in the palace court had heen extinguished, to glide through the band of captives and lay his hand on the shoulder of him who seemed chief amongst the Israelites. 'Arise,' said he, 'my brother. Comfort your heart, I pray you, with a morsel of bread and a draught of wine, while your servant spreads his man- tle for your ease, and loosens the fetters on your limbs.' He took the cloak from his own shoulders while he spoke, and folded it round the prisoner, releasing him at the same time from the chain that clanked and rung with every movement of wrist or ankle. The Israelite accepted these good offices with the imperturbable demeanour he had preserved through all the incidents of his captivity. Standing erect by the priest of Baal, he seemed to look on his liberator 164 SAKCHEDON. with a mild and condescending pity not far removed from contempt. Scanning liim warily and closely in the dubious starlight, Assarac could not but admire the lofty bearing and personal dignity of this chief amongst a nation of bondsmen. His marked features, dark piercing eyes, ample beard, and venerable aspect denoted the sage and counsellor, while his well-pro- portioned figure, with its shapely limbs, inferred an amount of physical strength and activity not always accompanying the nobler qualities of the mind. There was a strange contrast between the eunuch's shifting restless glances, his looks of eager curiosity, half doubtful, half scornful, altogether suspicious and dissatisfied, with the expression of quiet supe- riority and contented confidence that glorified the Israelite's face, imparting to it a calm majesty like the light of sunset on a mountain. 'You ofier bread,' said he, 'and pour out wine unto him who hath neither cornland nor vineyard. Therefore shall your harvest and your grapes return you an hundredfold.' *Baal will not suff'er me to want,' replied the other. ' Shall I, then, see my brother hunger and thirst, while I have enough and to spare ? Are you THE GODS OF THE HEATHEN. 165 not of our race and kindred'? Are not your op- pressors our ancient enemies ? Do we not come of one lineage and worship the same God ?' The Israelite pointed upward to the stars, and shook his head. ' Our fathers have taught us otherwise,' said he solemnly ; ' and I, Sadoc the son of Azael, standing here in the honds of my captivity, protest against your idols, your temples and your worship, your gashes and drink-offerings, your winged monsters, your sacred tree, and all the thousand unworthy forms to which you degrade the majesty of the Omni- potent and the Infinite !' Assarac smiled with the frank liberality of a dis- putant who in admitting his adversary's premises narrows, as it were, the field in which to do battle. * Symbols,' he answered, 'symbols; the mere outward efforts of that inner spirit of worship which must find vent, like the mind of man, through the senses. He can see but with the eye, he can hear but with the ear, he can impart his thoughts only in those forms of speech that his tongue has learned to frame, and his fellows have skill to comprehend. How shall you express the principle of heat but by fire? How shall 3'ou comprehend the majesty of 166 SAKCHEDOX. light but through the sun ? How can you form a nobler ideal of spirits, gods, and departed heroes than in those serene and silent witnesses who nevet* weary of their endless vratches in the unfathomable night ?' ' So you send a thousand labourers to the moun- tain,' replied Sadoc, pointing scornfully at the sculp- tures on the palace wall, ' and bid them rend the granite from its unyielding sides till they have hewn out a creature such as was never seen in earth or sea or sky — a creature of make and qualities in direct defiance to that nature you profess to reverence — winged like a bird, headed like a man, limbed like a bull — a monster, grotesque, impossible, imposing only from its gigantic size and truthful outline. You rear it up at a prince's doorway, and call on men to fall down and worship before the hoofs of that which is lower than the lowest of the brutes in the system of creation!' * Are 3^ou a priest among your people ?' asked Assarac quicldy. ' Every head of a family is the priest of his own household,' was the dignified reply. ' There need no mysteries for a worship sublime as the eternal hea- vens, and clear as the light of day.' THE GODS OF THE HEATHEN. 167 ' Yet surely you cannot move the multitude with- out extraneous influences stronger and more tangi- ble than those truths of the inner shrine which we the initiated know and accept at their real value,' argued Assarac. ' That very figure which you scorn speaks to the senses of the Assyrian nation far more forcibly than all the promptings from within that ever moved a prophet to leap and howl and gash himself with knives before an altar, while he foretold great actions and mighty events that should never come to pass. Not a spearman in the Great King's host but, when he looks on these carven blocks of granite, walks with a prouder step and shakes his weapon in a stronger hand. He sees in that mighty frame the overpowering forces that have made his race con- querors of the world ; in that majestic face, calm and indomitable, the true spirit of victory marching unmoved over the ruins of an empire as over the ashes of a peasant's hearth ; in those unfurled wings, the ubiquity of a dominion that can command ships for the sea, camels for the desert, and horsemen swarming like locusts to overrun the fertile plain. It is no representation of mere nature evoked by the toil, sldll, and indeed the sufferings of countless labourers, but of that spirit which dominates and 168 SARCHEDON. subdues nature for its own aggrandisement and fame. Where is the type of godlike dominion to be found, if not here, in this impersonation of conquest: strength, intellect, and audacity combined ?' Sadoc pointed to an Egyptian child sleeping a few paces off with a wild-flower grasped in its little hand. * Is there less of the godlike power,' said he, * in the skill that put together leaf and blossom for the delight of that poor infant, who has no other joy nor comfort ?' Assarac pondered. 'There must be gods,' he replied, 'as there are stars, differing in magnitude and glory. Dagon hath dominion on the waters, Anu and Abitur in the mountain, Merodach raging in battle is yet subject to Ashur, and even that monarch of the mighty circle yields to his irresistible superior, and bows before the sentence of Nisroch with the eagle's head.' ' And your Nisroch,' continued the Israelite; 'hath he not also a master at whose word he spreads his wings and flies to the uttermost parts of the desert ? Whence comes he ? Who gave him his eagle's head and his feathered shoulders ? If he is substantial, THE GODS OF THE HEATHEN. 1G9 lie must be perishable ; and when be has passed away, Tvbo will make another god for the land of Shinar, and what shall he be called ?' ' You speak with reason/ replied the priest of Baal, * and you speak to one who has watched many a long night from the summit of the tower above us, and pored on those star-wi-itten scrolls till his brain reeled, to learn that mystery which rules the heavens, and apply it to the government of men below. You speak -wisely indeed. \slio shall make a god for the land of Shinar ? He it is who shall bring the whole Eastern world beneath his feet.' *I speak not of gods made by men's hands,' ans- wered Sadoc. ' The time must surely come ere long when there will be one worship of the true God through all the earth, as there is one sun that shines over the vrhole heaven. Clouds may obscure it for a season, but no less doth it exist in its warmth and splendour, giving vitality to creation and light to day.' * When there is but one worship, there will be but one dominion,' argued Assarac. ' The altar and the temple vri]l then become the judgment - seat and throne, while the high-priest -will be the true monarch 170 SARCHEDON. and ruler over all. Listen, my brother; for indeed here in the house of your captivity you have found a friend. I am a priest of Baal, as you behold ; but in truth I am no hot-brained votary who mistakes his own intoxicated frenzy for the inspiration of a god. My subordinates may gird their loins to leap and run and gesticulate, shedding their own blood the while in crimson streams. Such extravagances are foreign to my nature, and below the dignity of my worship. I am a priest of Baal, but I am also an Assyrian descended from a line of warriors, and to me the greatness of my country is the paramount object and interest of life. What else have such as I, who are severed, without being alienated, from their kind ? To extend an empire founded by our father Nimrod from the Bactrian mountains to the Southern sea, to behold the standards of Merodach waving on the confines of Armenia and over the gates of Mem- phis, while conscious that I, Assarac the priest, had set in motion the armies of victory and guided the march of triumph, were worth all the fire-worshipper's dreams of luminous immortality, all the starry thrones of the gods who are supposed to be looking down in judgment on us even now.' * And when your wishes have been fulfilled,' said THE GODS OF THE HEATHEN. 171 Sadoc quietly — ' "uislies only to be accomplislied through much bloodshed, cruelty, and sin — you ^vill not be one whit happier than now.' The other laughed in scorn. * Is fame nothing ?' he asked. ' Is power no- thing ? Is it nothing to cast down the mighty from their golden thrones, and to raise the lowly, as I have raised you to-night, from fetters of iron and a bed on the cold earth ? Teach me the lore of your worship, as I will impart to you my own secrets of priestcraft, and hereafter — ay, sooner than you may think — I will set you in judgment over a score of nations, in a purple robe, with a sceptre in your hand.' ^ Mij lore!' repeated Sadoc, with a sad smile. ' You would deem it beneath your understanding, as it would be above your practice. It is but to da justice and to love mercy, dealing with man as be- fore the face of God.' * But surely you have learned important secrets amongst the Egyptians ?' urged Assarac, somewhat disappointed with this eiiposition of the Israelites' simple creed. ' Surely they have taught you mys- teries of magic and the art of divination, in which they boast their proficiency, handed down, as they 172 SAECHEDON. profess, through scores of dynasties and hundreds of successive generations. Or is it true that your nation have been the teachers, and Egypt, with all her pride, is but the pupil of a people who took with them from this very land the art that we, its present inhabitants, have lost, the spells that compel gigantic spirits to work out their behests — rearing colossal buildings, causing wide tracts of desert to blossom like the rose, bidding the very waters of the great deep to subside and overflow at their will ?' * You know not our nation,' answered Sadoc, ' nor have you felt the iron hand of our oppressors, who practise the forbidden arts of which you speak, but with no result that hath ever spared groan or stripe to a single captive. The Israelite must toil under the scourge for his scanty morsel of bread. The great river indeed rises and falls at the com- mand of one who is mightier than our task-masters, and who will not surely forget his people for ever in their bonds ; but for the huge shapeless struc- tures — the gigantic monster idols of the South — they are reared by a magic of which blood, sweat, and hunger constitute the spells, under the fierce eye that never sleeps, the cruel hand that is never raised but to urge, and smite, and destroy. Yet THE GODS OF THE HEATHEN. 173 when our fathers were driven by famine into Egypt they found there one of their own people, reigning wisely over a prosperous nation, and second only to Pharaoh on the throne ; they found themselves honoured guests where now they are degraded pri- soners, friends and allies where now they are hated and despised, masters, in truth, where they are slaves ! And slaves to those who are themselves sunk in the degradation of a vile and brutal idolatry.' His eye blazed, and his very beard seemed to bristle with anger, while he spoke. It was in such flashes of indignation or excitement that the likeness of kindred races vras to be noted on the features of Israelite and Assyrian. 'You scorn the gods of Ximrod,' replied Assarac, with a sneer ; ' but the fathers from whom we claim a common descent have taught us, at least, a nobler impersonation of our worship than the goose, the serpent, the stork, the locust, and the cat ! If we choose the lotus, the fir-cone, or the beetle to con- vey an idea of that reproductive power in nature, always existing even when dormant, as the flower in the bud, or the blade in the seed, at least we do not hang our temples with carvings of the humblest animals, the most loathsome reptiles, and the mean- 174 SARCHEDON. est utensils of our daily life ! It is baser, I grant you, to adore tlie stars than the principle which gives them light, baser to kneel before the sculp- tured image than the god it represents ; but basest surely of all worship is that practised by the cruel Egj'ptian, the enemy whom 7ce have humbled, the master who is grinding your people into dust !' * Our God will surely free us,' said Sadoc, in a low mournful tone. * It cannot be that we, the lineal descendants of his favoured servant, are to remain for ever in the house of bondage, eating the bitter morsel of slavery, weeping tears of blood under the task-master's lash ! But we have neither arms nor leaders ; there is no proven harness in our dwellings, nor sword, nor shield, nor spear. How are we to go out from our enemies in the garb of peace, \sith our wives and children in our hands ? And yet, I pray that it may come to this — I, for one, would inarch out fearlessly to die in the wilderness rather than gather another armful of straw, bake one more brick for the useless structures that only bear wit- ness to our sorrows and our shame.' The pride of race, the intense consciousness of a peculiar destiny, in all ages an inheritance of the sons of Abraham, gave to the words of Sadoc a truth THE GODS OF THE HEATHEN. 175 and bitterness, marked with no slight satisfaction by the scheming priest of Baal. 'Hands that have toiled so skilfully for their task-masters,' said he, ' can surely strike a blow in their own behalf. Courage that has borne long years of suffering and privation will not fail at the moment of liberation and revenge. You and yours are of our blood and lineage. You shall be no cap- tives in Babylon, as you have been in Eg}-pt. This very night I will take order for your food and lodg- ing — nay, fear not, they shall be found 3-ou with- out the temple, if indeed you entertain any scruples as to entering the abode of Baal — and you shall re- turn to your ovm people in safety and honour, as a son returns to the dwelling of his father with a gift in his hand. You will tell them that here, in the great city, our warhke AssjTians look on the Israel- ites as their kinsmen and friends ; that when the oppressed rises against the oppressor, and the chil- dren of Terah resolve once for all to throw off the Egyptian yoke, they will see a cloud rising out of the desert from the trampling of horses, countless as locusts in a west wind — they will hear a thousand trumpets sounding far and wide from the hosts of the Great King !' 176 SARCHEDON. The Israelite's eye sparkled and his cheek glowed, but he answered solemnly, 'It must be a mightier king than yours, who leads us forth into the wilderness out of the house of our captivity.' CH^lPTEPt xin. MOTHER AND SON. XoT the least sumptuous range of lialls and cliam- bers in the queen's palace had been devoted, from his boyhood, to the accommodation of her son. Here, surrounded by his own servants, he had lived ever since he could walk alone in princely state and mag- nificence, imitating, though on a less extended scale, the splendour of the Great Iiing's court, and exact- ing from his attendants those ceremonious observ- ances which somewhat chafed his father's spirit, causing the fiery old warrior to break out in words and gestures savouring rather of the swordsman's impatience than the monarch's dignity. Here too he had been trained under the queen's own eye iu manly exercises befitting his rank, practising mimic w^arfare on the wide terraces of the royal dwelling, VOL. I. N 178 SARCHEDON. and even hunting the lion in dangerous earnest through its spacious paradise, a "wilderness in the heart of the swarming ciij. It had heen the policy of Semiramis, as it was her pleasure, to keep the future monarch under her own eye and within her immediate influence, teach- ing him to depend on her alone for all his occupa- tions and amusements, thus ohtaining an ascendancy over his young mind, which daily custom rendered so easy and natural, that he never attempted to shake it off. Arrogant at the feast, valorous in the fray, reck- less and unscrupulous in the gratification of every jmssing desire, every whim of the moment, he was yet in his mother's presence the same loving way- ward child, who, though wilful and petulant, had ever looked to her alone for succour and encourage- ment, had run to her knee with a hruised skin or a tear-stained face, and would have hegged of her, with equal confidence, a hunch of grapes and a string of pearls worth a king's ransom. It was not strange then, that, waking from his heavy slumbers after the banquet, with a vague im- pression of some unfulfilled desire burning at his heart, his first wish was for his mother's presence. MOTHER AND SOX. 179 even before lie remembered the 2:)urpose for whicli lie wanted her assistance and advice. Semiramis, on this the morning after his return from a campaign in which her boy had won no slight reputation as a warrior, passing into his chamber according to custom, found him, as she had often found him before, tossing, heated, and restless on his couch, pushing his soft dishevelled locks off his brow, while he turned on her a glance, half mirth- ful, half imploring, from eyes deep liquid and beau- tiful as her own. The queen's head was tired, her dress arranged with the utmost skill and care, while in her gait and bearing there was a dignity of repose no less graceful than becoming; but if her dark locks had been unbound, her robes shaken into disorder, and her fair face heated with the flush of mirth, plea- sure, or excitement, surely never had been seen so wondrous a resemblance as existed between that unquiet youth on the couch and the beautiful wo- man who bent over him to lay her hand against his hot forehead with a gesture of endearment and caress. * What ails my boy ?' asked Semiramis, looking fondly down on her graceless offspring. *Was the 180 SARCHEDOX. triumph yesterday so long and wearisome ? the wine of Eshcol kst night so rough and new ? Or has he left his heart among the daughters of Eg}^')t, in exchange for the fame and high repute of valour he has brought with him from the Nile ?' ' I wish I had never gone there !' answered Ninyas petulantly. ' I wish the reins had rotted in his hand who turned my chariot from the Gates of Brass to leave Babylon and all the pleasures it contained !' ' It would not have been like your father's child,' said the queen, ' to have forborne going forth to war- fare with the host. You would not be my son,' she added more tenderly, ' did not your heart leap to the rattle of a quiver and the roll of a chariot, wheeling at a gallop amongst the spearmen. Think you it vras no pain to me when I sent you down yonder to learn your first lesson in war, under the eye of my lord the king ? But you have made yourself a name for valour, and I am content.' * Valour !' repeated Ninyas. ' Men have a strange Avay of computing courage and portioning out the fame, which is indeed of small value when you have got it. Is it such a great deed to be driven under shield in a chariot of iron through ranks of half- armed wretches flying for their lives ? I saw one MOTHER AND SOX. 181 of our bowmen stand his ground in a vineyard, when we passed the Nile, having three arrows in his limbs and a spear through his bod}'. But Arbaces scarce cast an eye on him as he drove by in hot haste to bring up the rearguard of spears ; and I thought, if a man would be accounted mighty, it were well to be born a king's son. Yalour indeed ! That very day, an hour later, I would have bartered all the valour and all the fame of the Assyrian army for a cup of the roughest wine that ever burst a skin. I love pleasure, for my part ; and whosoever will have it is welcome to my share of hunger and thirst, long marches, weary sieges, heat, privation, night-watches, and all the troubles of war.' The queen smiled, well pleased, as it would seem, with this frank confession of opinions, in which of all women on earth she was the least inclined to share. Had she been a man, she thought, the saddle should have been her only home, the spear never out of her hand. Xot even Ninus, with his insatiable desire for fame, should have flaunted so far and wide the banners of Assyria, so pushed the conquests of the mighty line founded by Nimrod the Great. And 3'et here was one of her own blood, her very counterpart, who, being of the stronger and nobler sex, could sit 182 - SABCHEDOX. calmly down in the flush of his youth to scoff at war- like honours, to confess his unworthy preference of inglorious ease and material pleasures to the immor- tality of a hero. ' For one so young,' said she, ' you have already attained to high dignity. Even my lord the king has spoken of you as a judicious leader and a man of valour in fight. Arbaces himself was obliged to admit, — my son, you are ill at ease, — Arbaces, I say, though so devoted to the king's interests that he seems to look with an evil eye on the king's suc- cessor, could not but acknowledge that on the field you were a worthy descendant of the line of Ashur ; though in camp, he added, the example of one prince was more injurious to the discipline of armies than the taking often towns by assault, with all the license and outrao-es of a storm.' o There was enough of his father's nature in the lion's cub to bring the flash to his eye, the scowl to his brow, while he listened. ' Arbaces dared to speak thus of me /' he ex- claimed, springing to his feet, and grasping instinct- ively at a gilded javelin standing against the wall. ' He must be a bold man, this chief captain of the Assyrian host.' MOTHER AND SON. * 183 * He must be a bold man,' repeated the queen, ^ since he is your enemy and mineJ' * Let him beware !' said the prince. ' I can take up my mother's quarrel as heartily as my own. He will have no vroman to deal with if he crosses mc. And yet,' he added, sinking back on the couch, and turning his head aside amongst its cushions, ' there is not in the wliole empire one whom I would so gladly call my friend.' A shade of perplexity crossed the queen's brow ; but she forced a careless laugh while she asked, * What have you, the future ruler of all the earth, to gain from this' war-worn spearman, whose very existence hangs on the breath of your father, my lord the king '?' He turned to her with one of the caressing gestures of his childhood ; and even the queen's steadfast heart wavered for a moment in the merci- less prosecution of her schemes. * Mother,' he said, * you have never denied me from my youth upward what I asked. Give me now the daughter of Arbaces, and I am content. If she be withheld from me, I care not to look on an un- veiled woman again.' As the light of morning creeps over a fair land- 184 SARCHEDOX. scape, the queen's smile brightened her face into matchless beauty; as the summer sky is mirrored in the lake, that smile was reflected on the glowing features of her son. Again how comely they were, and how alike ! 'Is she then so fair,' asked Semiramis, ' this pale slender girl, to whom you flung a cup of gold yester- day from your chariot in return for a posy of flowers ? Such exchanges, my son, are made every day in follies like yours ; but I did not believe that a bow drawn thus at random could have sent its shaft so deftly through the joints of your harness. Is there magic about the girl, that she draws men to her feet with a mere look and sign ? I have heard that her mother was a daughter of the stars.' * The daughters of earth are good enough for me,' replied the prince. * But if this one comes not into my tent, I will never look in the face of woman again.' * The tent is not to be despised,' answered Semi- ramis, glancing round the gilding and vermilion, the beams of cedar, the inlaid flooring, the purple hang- ings, of that painted chamber. ' And she must be dijB&cult to please, if she find fault with its lord. Nevertheless, there are obstacles in our wa}*. Ar- :\IOTHER AND SOX. 185 baces would surely neither wish nor dare to oppose us, and, if he did, could be silenced or removed. But how shall we set aside the opposition of my lord the king?' ' He would never consent,' said Ninyas ; ' I know it too well. The mill-stone is not harder than the heart of the Great King. May he live for ever !' * May he live for ever!' repeated the queen. ' Those of Nimrod's race are indeed immortal ; and you have little to hope from the lapse of time. Tell me, my son — do you really love this girl so much ?' *I would give my whole life afterwards,' he ans- wered passionately, ' to bring her here into my dwell- ing for a year and a day.' At the moment, no doubt, he spoke truth. The stream of a passing inclination, stemmed by opposi- tion and difficulty, had swelled into a torrent of de- sire he had neither power nor inclination to control. ' And if you mi^i^ht take this fair dove to vour bosom,' continued the queen, 'would you consent to forego Babylon and its pleasures ? Would you make your escape in secret, and remain for a season in seclusion, until the wrath of the Great Iving was overpast ?' ' I am ready to go now,' answered the impetuous 186 SARCHEDON. boy. * My horses are of the purest breed in all the land of Shinar. I v/ill fly with her to the ends of the earth.' * You need not go farther than Ascalon/ replied his mother with a smile. ' In mine ancient strong- hold, rude and timeworn though it be, I can still €Ount many a friend who would beard Ninus and all his line at my lightest word. And the common multitude are devoted to my service far more than in Nineveh, or even here in Babylon, which but for me would still have been a mere hamlet of huts in a marsh. My son, if ever you come to rule, trust no longer to the people's gratitude than while you liave benefits to confer : the loyalty of a nation is seldom proof against a rise in the price of corn. Nevertheless, in lofty Ascalon you may be safe and secret enough, until time and my constant entreaties shall have softened the resentment of my lord the king. The girl is willing, of course,' continued the queen, tenderly and in a half- sorrowful tone ; ' for such faces as yours are made to be the ruin of all who look on them too freely.' No woman, she was thinking, could resist that smile of her boy's — so fond, so winning, so like her own. MOTHER AND SON. 187 Xinvas hesitated ; and once more liis hand stole towards the javelin by the wall. ^ There must he neither delay,' said he, ' nor hesitation. The girl would love me well enough without doubt; hut — hut — ' here the blood flew to his temples and the angry light to his eye — ' another has seen her, and would fain make her his own : one who brought here tidings from the camp before the host marched in — a goodly youth and a brave war- rior. Nevertheless, he must die.' ^ Not so,' exclaimed the queen, turning pale. ' Believe me, this is a matter to be carried through by the fine wit of woman, rather than the strong hand of man. You must abide wholly by my counsel. I have never failed you, my son. Shall I fail you now in this your great need ?' It is possible that, had he trusted implicitly to his mother's guidance, her heart might have been softened and her purpose set aside even now ; but he flung his head up impatiently, and threatened where he should have confided or cajoled. 'I will not wait a day!' he exclaimed angrily. * I v.ill not sit still while another is in my place. Sarchedon loves this girl very dearly, and in a few hours I may be too late.' 188 SAKCHEDON. * Sarcliedon does not love her,' hissed the queeu through her clenched teeth, while her face turned white. * Foolish hoy !' she added, recovering her self- command, ' with all your manhood and your valour, 5'ou are as much a child as when you cried on my knee for a lotus-flower or a pomegranate ; and you must even have your toy to-day, at any sacrifice, though you tire of it to-morrow, like the wilful habe you are. * I am satisfied w^hen I have what I want,' ans- wered isinyas. ' Is it not so with us all, from the Great King to the spearman that marches by his chariot ? Even Ninus will chafe and roar and lash himself into rage like the lion of the desert, if the merest trifle runs contrary to his whim. Am I not his son, mother, as well as yours V *You are more easily ruled than your father,' answered the queen. ' And it is well for you, my hoy, that with your mother's form and features you inherit her temperament — ^joyous, placable, and easily moulded to the wishes of those you love.' She spoke in a light bantering tone, not entirely devoid of scorn. ' Carry your toy with you, if so it must be ; but do not murmur at the measures I take for your safety, nor quarrel with the restraint that can alone preserve you from the king's anger, as a 3'oung MOTHER AND SOX. 189 warrior chafes under the weight of that harness which fences death from his heart.' 'I only ask for the daughter of Arhaces,' was his reply. ' Give me the desire of mine eyes, and do with me what you will.' * You shall carry her off from her father's house to-night/ said the queen. 'Follow my counsel, and you shall pounce on the girl, swift and secure as the hawk when she strikes a partridge on the mountain. Eide out of the Great Gates, taking Sethos, or some one attendant whom you can trust, with how and spear, as though you purposed hunting the lion in the desert. Let none see you return, hut steal hack to the city in the darkness of night. I will take order for such a hand of spearmen to he under arms as no single household could attempt to resist, and I will place one at their head who knows neither compunction nor remorse. ATith these you shall force the gate of the chief-captain's palace. "\Mien they have gained possession of the court, I need scarce tell you, my son, so lately returned from war- fare, the rights of those who occupy the stronghold of an enemy — the women's apartments are not far to seek. A shawl may be round her head, and the girl herself on the hack of your best horse or swiftest 190 SARCHEDON. dromedary, in less time than it will take to put to the sword such few servants as Arbaces can muster in the first watch of night. Ere the alarm is sounded and the city in arms, you should be many a furlong off in the desert, galloping towards your place of re- fuge, like a wild stag to the hill.' ' And Arbaces ?' asked Ninyas. ^ He has the cour- age of a lion. He will resist to the death.' * Arbaces will take his chance like another,' ans- wered the queen coldly. * An adversary who stands in the path, my son, must be ridden down, ere we can pass on. Nevertheless, I will not have a hair of your head fall in this business. A few priests of Baal shall accompany the spearmen, wrap one of their linen robes about you, and thus avoid detection as well as danger; but do not neglect to wear jouy armour underneath. Is that a proven harness I see yonder, thrown aside in the corner ?' *It is inlaid .with gold,' answered Ninyas lightly, ' and curiously wrought; but Pharaoh's bowmen have blunted many a shaft on it, and it turns the thrust of a spear as it were a bulrush.' While he spoke, the queen had taken a helmet from amongst the other pieces of armour, and placed it, laughing, on her brows. MOTHER AND SOX. 19 1 * Tliey say I am like my motlier,' exclaimed her sou, 'in face and bearing. By the beauty of Ash- taroth, it must be true ! When Hook at you, I seem to see my 0T\'n image on the march stooping down to drink from a stream !' CHAPTER XIV. STRONG AS DEATH. It is well known that secrets are not to be kept from princes, and that for royal ears ' the bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter,' however scrupulously it may be hidden from curiosity of lower rank. Sarche don's interview with Ishtar had been witnessed by Sethos, who reported it, as in duty bound, to Ninyas ; and although that wilful youth, ignoring, according to custom, everything running counter to her wishes, never mentioned it to his mother, the whole affair came to her knowledge very soon after Semiramis had quitted the apartments of her son. It may be that in Assyrian palaces, below the surface of forms and ceremonies, stole an under-current of interest, intrigue, and license, vrhich, eddying up- ward on occasion, troubled the courtly waters to STRONG AS DEATH. 193 the brim, and those who lived habitually in au atmo- sphere of luxury and magnificence refused to deny themselves certain relaxations of the heart or senses, that relieved the peasant's toil, and sweetened his hard-earned fare. Sethos was a comely youth with laughing eyes Kalmim a black-browed dame, joyous of temperament, and pleasant to look on as a summer's morning. It was natural that the woman's maturer tact and greater experience should lead the Idng's cup-bearer into confidences it had been wiser to withhold ; and whatever Kalmim learned of good or evil, within or without the city walls, she lost no time in imparting to her mistress. Semiramis listened, to all appearance undis- turbed. Only the most practised of tire-women could have marked how the blue veins about her temples traced themselves more distinctly, how the colour turned a shade fainter in her cheek. And yet what rage and self-contempt were tearing at her heart ! That she, whose wishes were daily anticipated almost before they were formed, who, never since she arrived at woman's estate, and suc- ceeded to her royal inheritance of matchless beauty, had left a desire ungratified, should find, here in VOL. I. o 194 SARCHEDON. Babylon, the citadel of her power, the very throne, as it were, of her dominion, a man who could resist the one and undervalue the other, preferring, to the Great Queen's favour, and such a destiny as the mightiest monarch on earth might envy, the smile of a sickly girl, the simple follies of a homely, humble, unpolluted love ! * Tire me nobly, Kalmim,' said she, sitting be- fore a mirror of burnished silver, that reflected her faultless form from head to foot. ' There must be no crevice in mine armour to-day — not a fold must be ruffled, not a plait laid awry, since I go hence straightway into the presence of my lord the king.' Thus to her woman, but to her own heart : ' He will be on duty about the gates. He shall see how^ fair that face is he has dared to despise, and look on the beauty he undervalues, till he turns faint and sick and dizzy in its rays. I will crush him to the earth, and when he sues at my feet for the hope I bade him but yesterday to entertain, I will turn coldly away, and leave him to perish like a trampled worm. But he shall not go to this girl for comfort in his despair — no, he shall die ! I have said it ; he shall die ! Sarchedon, Sarchedon, I could not hate you so bitterly, did I not love you so well !' STRONG AS DEATH. 195 And all the while not a quiver moved her eyelid, nor caused her jewelled hand to shake, while it smoothed the soft dark hair on her brow ; the fair bosom itself, white, smooth, and polished, seemed also hard and motionless as marble. How different, the thought struck her, as she rose to depart — how different was that stately figure sweeping past the mirror from the flushed and panting woman, who, with shining eyes and heated cheeks, and dew}^ lips apart, had bent over the sleeping form of Sarchedon, to drop her love-token in the breast of him on whom she had set her heart ! And yet, could it be because she had lost him, she asked herself, mth fierce rage and longing, that he was a hundred-fold more precious now? There are women whom it is very dangerous to love, as in Eden there stood a tree that it was death to taste. But the forbidden fruit was gathered never- theless; and these beauties seem to allure more than their share of victims, to win more than their natural meed of triumph. Perhaps it is their destiny to avenge on mankind the common wrongs of their sex, and to fall at last by the veiy weapons they have wielded so successfully in their march over a host of slain. 196 SAKCHEDON. The old king's eyes were dim, and liis senses failed liim perceptibly, as life waned gradually, yet surely, like an unfed lamp, or a leaking vessel of wine. The pomp of royalty, the joy of battle, the feast, the pageant, the bright steel quivering in his gi-asp, the good horse bounding between his knees, — ^what were they all now but shadows, memories, vague idle dreams of the past ? Was this the hand, he was fain to ask himself, that drew the heaviest bow in the broad land of Shinar, the arm that could drive a javelin through and through the lion's heart ? Yonder upon the wall was sculptured many a deed of prowess, many a noble triumph of warfare or the chase. Warriors in long array were marching to the battle or the siege ; archers bent their bows, slingers and spearmen smote and slew, and spared not; horsemen galloped, chariots rolled, and vul- tures soared over heaps of corpses. A bank was raised against a city, the battering ram laid to its gates, while amidst a shower of arrows and javelins men were falling headlong from its walls, to feed the fishes in the river below. Again, linked in a cruel chain, the line of cap- tives paced slowly by, bearing on their shoulders STRONG AS DEATH. 197 children, houseliold stuff and goods, equally tlie spoil of their conqueror. The men marched sullenly, with downcast looks ; the women beat their beasts and tore their hair. Here, with hook in his victim's nostrils, or knife to flay his naked flesh, a fierce warrior tor- tured some poor suppliant slave. There, proffering for a tribute the productions of his country — gar- ments, gold, grain, animals wild and tame — some cringing wretch implored mercy at the feet of his executioner. But amongst all these scenes of strife, glory, and rapine, one figure still predominated, tall, fierce, and stately, the high tiara bound about its brows, bow and spear in hand; but, whether career- ing in the war-chariot over prostrate enemies, or sitting on the throne of state under the royal parasol, there was still poised above its head the winged mystery within a circle that heralded the sacred per- son of a king. Could this be the same Ninus, he asked himself, whose limbs, so stiff and aching, now endured his silken, robes with less patience than once they had carried his iron harness, whose head wavered and nodded on the lean neck that was once a tower of strength, proud, erect, colossal, like a column of stone ? 198 SAKCHEDON. And that winged figure in the circle. What was it? Did it really hover over them to protect the race of Nimrod in battle, or was this too a myth, a fable, a mere imposition of the priests ? Should he know when he went to join his ancestors ? and would it be long — how long ! — ere he took his place among the stars ? There was not much to leave, after all ! The wild bull had been driven from the plains, and could be found in no nearer fastness than the northern mountains now. He had himself exterminated the lion within the paradise round his palace, and it was weary work to ride in search of him over the scorch- ing desert. Even the rush of battle was not what it used to be. Where were the men of the olden time, such as the champion he slew in Bactria, who stood two palms' breadths higher than the tallest warrior of either host, leaning on their spears to witness the single combat between a giant and a king ? Or that fierce Ethiopian in the first Egyptian compaign, whom Pharaoh's chief counseller had made captain of his armies for his matchless valour, and whose sturdy assault caused Ninus to reel and stagger where he stood, ere the swarthy swordsman went down under the buffets of the Great King, then in STRONG AS DEATH. 199 the vigour of his prime ? But in his last expedition the armies of Eg}'pt seemed to give way without a struggle hefore his spear, and it was hardly worth while to hid his chariot driver turn his hand into the press of hattle. Even the wine of Eshcol was taste- less now ; the wine of Damascus worse, and the feast had become loathsome to him as the fray. He was weary of it all, could give it up without a regret, hut for the queen. Feeling, in spite of his angry protest against his own misgivings, that the link which hound them together grew slighter every day — that, like a frayed bowstring, it must snap at last, and leave her free, — the love in his fierce old heart began to be tinged with a savage and unreasoning jealousy, such as made him intolerant of every glance she directed at another, of every moment she was absent from his side. He had summoned her to his presence with all those forms and observances, the necessary cere- monial of royalty, which chafed him now more than ever; and in his impatience he bade the light-footed Sethos hurry to and fro to see if the queen and her train of attendants were not yet at the gates, al- though from where he sat in his throne of state he could command a noble approach, some furlongs in 200 SARCHEDON. lengtli, through double lines of colossal monsters, leading to the wide entrance of his palace. A jewelled cup, filled to the brim, stood neglected at his hand. Ever and anon he stormed at Sethos because the wine had lost its flavour, and the queen tarried so long. ' I could put on and prove ten suits of harness,' said the angry old monarch, ' in less time than it takes a woman to tire her head ! And jet one hair of that comely head is surely better worth preserving than the vrhole of this worn-out body of mine, that hath scarce strength left to draw a bow or empty a cup. Saw you not, Sethos, how fair she. looked on the wall above us w^hen we rode in, slender and pliant like a spear bending beneath a truss of forage ? Who was attending her, boy ? My me- mory halts and fails me now worse than a ham- strung steed.' * Kalmim, my lord,' answered the cup - bearer, ' with certain of the women, and Sarchedon.' He was too good a courtier to mention Assarac, dreading the storm a priest's name was likely to bring down in the king's present mood. * Sarchedon,' repeated Ninus — ' one of my own guards. A stout warrior enough, in the boy's play STRONG AS DEATH. 201 we call fighting now, and a comely youth — ruddy and comely as a maid. How came he absent from his duty in the ranks ?' * He had been sent by my lord from the host with the Great King's signet to the queen,' was the reply. 'He has remained in attendance on her ever since.' The old face turned gray with some hidden pang, and the blood-shot eyes rolled savage under their shaggy brows. * By the beard of Ximrod, I will take better order with these golden guards of mine !' exclaimed the king. ' Do they think, because Pharaoh and his bowmen are no longer flying before my chariot, I have beaten my sword into a pruning hook, and have forgotten how to mount a war-chariot or set a com- pany in array? Where is this deserter now ?' ' He is on duty at the great entrance,' was the respectful answer. * My lord the king may see him from where he sits.' Sarchedon, in truth, with a handful of his com- rades, was on guard at the palace gate, conspicuous even amongst those goodly warriors by the beauty of his person and the splendour of his attire. Ere the king could summon him to his presence, 202 SAKCHEDON. his attention was diverted by the approach of his wife, followed by the women of her household ; a fair and fragrant company, that wound through the avenues of winged bulls and colossal monsters, like a growth of wild flowers trailing across the surface of a rock. The king's eyes were not too dim to mark every movement of the woman he loved. His old heart began to beat faster and the blood stirred in his veins. How fair and noble was the bearing of that shapely figure, as it glided on with the measured step that became her so well ! How delicate and beautiful the pale face ! so easily recognised even at a distance from which its features could not be dis- tinguished, and bringing back to him as it was un- veiled now, on entering her husband's dwelling, that well-remembered morning in Bactria, when she rode into the camp serene and radiant, like a star dropped down from heaven. What was this ? He started, and half rose from his throne; for she had paused amongst the guards, and one of them had fallen on his face at her feet. Semiramis, who was above all the forms and ceremonies that trammelled weaker natures, break- ing through them at will in court, camp, or palace, STRONG AS DEATH. 203 had resolved to take signal vengeance on Sarcliedon whenever she should see him, careless alike whether they met in the desert, on the house-top, or here in the formidable presence of the king. She knew how to stab him too, and determined, at whatever cost to her own feelings, she would drive her thrust home. How beautiful he looked, standing there in his golden helmet, with the scarlet-bordered mantle fall- ing from his shoulders, and the white tunic reaching to his knee ! Not Menon, she thought, when he wooed her by the silver lake that mirrored the towers of Ascalon, was half so fair ; but Menon loved her dearly, while this man — well, she would make him eat the hardest morsel, drink the bitterest waters of affliction, and afterward he should die. "VMiat would be left her then ? The love of this old do- tard, the hollow pageantry, the empty pleasures, the heavy magnificence of a court. How she loathed them all ! And what good would it do her even to attain supreme power if she must rule alone, with- out companionship, without sympathy, without love ? She had wavered in her purpose a hundred times ere she stepped as many paces. She was inflexible when she bade Sarchedon come forward from the line of his comrades, irresolute while he advanced 204 SAECHEDON. and pitiless once more as he prostrated himself at her feet. ' You are entitled to ask a request,' said she, very coldly and haughtily, * as having borne hither the signet of my lord the king. It is my part to intercede with him in your favour, and the old cus- tom in our land of Shinar bids him grant your de- sire, even to the half of his kingdom.' His eyes lightened with pleasure, and her heart turned to stone. Yet even in that ;moment she marked that he still wore her amulet round his neck. The name oflshtar was on his lips, but some instinct of the palace — it may be something in the queen's face — forbade him to pronounce it. He had wdt enough to bow his forehead in the dust, and to answer, * I do but desire the light of her countenance, and permission to abide in the service of the Great Queen.' She was not deceived by his submission, though her eyes shone with a softer lustre while she con- tinued, * Is there no treasure you covet, no post of hon- our you desire, no maiden in the whole land of STRONG AS DEATH. 205 Sliiuar you would fain take Lome with you to your tent ?' * I may not lift mine eyes to Ashtaroth,' was his cautious reply. ' If I must needs choose from among the flowers of earth, I would heg of the Great Queen to give me Ishtar, the daughter of Arbaces.' She was ready vrith. her blow. Looking him full in the face, with the calm pitiless smile of one who puts some wounded reptile out of pain — ' It is too late,' she said, in hard cutting ac- cents. 'The damsel has been promised to my son. Even now the prince is lifting her veil to salute his bride!' In his agony he fell forward, grasping the queen's robe wildly in his hand. The Great King sprang to his feet, his beard bristling, his very eyebrows shaking with ungovern- able anger. For a space he could not even find voice to speak. Then he burst out, ' By the blood of Nisroch, it is too much ! He has laid hands on the queen before my very face ! Were he flesh of my loins and bone of my body, he should be consumed to ashes. Ho, guards, away with him ! Cover his face and lead him forth !' A score of hands grasped the offender, a score 206 SARCHEDON. of spears were pointed at liis breast. Though it was her own act, nay, because it was her own act, a strong revulsion of feeling caused the queen's stately form to shake from head to foot; and in that supreme moment she swore to her own turbulent heart that, come what might, even to the fall of the Assyrian empire, Sarchedon should not die ! She passed swiftly to the throne, and lifting the king's sceptre, laid one end of it against her fore- head, while she placed the other in his hand. ' My lord,' she said, ' this is the feast of Baal. It is not lawful to slay an Assyi-ian born during the worship of the great Assyrian god.' There shone a red light in the king's eyes that meant death, and the foam stood on his lip. When he looked thus, it was in vain to sue for pardon. Nevertheless, he passed his wrinkled hand over the fair brow of the woman kneeling at his feet. 'Be it so,' said Ninus. ' To-morrow he shall die at sunrise. The king hath spoken.' Then the guards looked furtively in each other's faces ; for all men knew from such a judgment there was no appeal, in such a sentence no hope of mercy or reprieve. CHAPTER XV. THE queen's petition. Saechedon was hurried away in the custody of his former comrades, who, pitying the fate their experi- ence taught them was inevitable, had yet discretion to take him from the presence of Ninus ere some hideous cruelty or mutilation should be added to his punishment. They were hardly out of the Idng's sight, however, Avhen a priest of Baal, arriving in breathless haste, brought an order from Assarac to deliver up their prisoner in the temple of the god. On the festival of that national deity, unusual re- spect was paid to the sacerdotal character ; and as, even amongst the guards of the Great King, Assarac's policy had taught him to cultivate friendship and acquire influence, the high priest's behest was obeyed readily, as if it had emanated from Arbaces or even Ninus himself. 208 SARCHEDON. Sarcliedon therefore became only so far a pri- soner that he was not permitted to pass the guards at any point of egress from the sacred building, but might roam at large through its spacious chambers, speculating on his chances of escape when night should fall, and he could take advantage of such secret communications as his knowledge of its vota- ries taught him must surely exist between the temple and the town. Meantime, however, he was a caged bird, yearn- ing wildly for freedom because of her whom he dearly loved. The queen's shaft was shot deftly home, and the poison with which it had been tipped did its work as cruelly as the pitiless archer could have de- sired. It was madness to think of Ishtar in the arms of Ninyas ; to feel that, whilst he was a pri- soner here, she might even be struggling for per- sonal freedom, perhaps calling on Jiim to save her in vain. But men trained to warfare acquire the habit of reviewing calmly all sides of a dilemma, neither undervaluing its difficulties nor despairing to van- quish them; especially they take into consideration the bearing of probabilities and the important doc- trine of chance. It was not long before Sarchedon THE queen's petition. 209 reflected he had himself seen Arbaces under shield and helmet within a brief space of the queen's arri- val at her husband's palace ; that if the espousals of his daughter were really taking place vdth. a prince, the chief captain would hardly be absent from such a ceremony ; and that Semiramis might have thought it not below her dignity to tell him an absolute falsehood for reasons of her own — reasons, he sus- pected, that ought to be flattering to his self-love and conducive to the safety of his person. It was impossible to mistake her avowed interest, her ob- vious condescension, her changing moods, and the bitterness with which she accosted him in their late interview under the very eyes of the Great King. If Semiramis loved him, he thought, she would surely provide for his escape ; and the first use he would make of his freedom should be to seek Ishtar and urge her to fly with him at once. Merodach could bear them both far beyond pursuit into the desert, where they would find a hiding-place from the king's merciless hatred and the queen's more cruel love. Sarchedon then, imprisoned in the temple of Baal, was hardly so ill at ease as the wilful impe- VOL. I. p 210 SAKCHEDON. rious woman whose reckless malice liad brouglit him to captivity and shame. The old king scowled at her with fierce jealousy and rage as her ejes followed the retiring form of the culprit, hurried out of the royal presence with judicious promptitude by his comrades; hut from the first moment Ninus ever looked on that win- some face, he had found in it a charm his heart was powerless to resist, and he was half subdued already ere she leaned towards him with tender confiding grace, and crossing her hands over his gaunt arm, rested her brow on them, while she murmured in low soft accents, ' I thank my lord that he has turned no deaf ear to the voice of his handmaiden. But enough of this. It is not well that Ninus should be moved by the misconduct of a thoughtless spearman born under an evil star. I have been summoned hastily to his presence. I feared he w^as ill at ease. Is it over- bold of his loving servant to ask what ails my lord the king ?' 'Nothing ails me,' was the impatient answer; ' nothing but the clamour of women's voices and the senseless outcries of priests. I sent for the queen,' he added more gently, * because she is the THE queen's petition. 211 light of mine eyes and the priceless jewel of my treasure-house.' Semiramis rose erect, and bowing her lovely head, stood with her hands crossed in the prescribed atti- tudes of humility proper for a subject. She knew right well that in no position could she show to more advantage ; the pride of her bear- ing softened, the tender graces of her womanhood enhanced, by its expression of shy compliance, of loving submission to her lord. * His servant hasted hither,' said she, ' on the instant the king's command reached her palace. I had scarce time to tire my head and smooth my robes. Yet I would fain look my best and proudest in the sight of my lord the Idng.' He gazed on her with a fond admiration that was touching to see in that war-worn old face, soften- ing its rugged outlines and bringing into the sunken eyes something of the wistful fidelity with which a dog watches for the smile of its owner. * Tired by a score of handmaidens,' said he, * blazing in a hundred jewels, or dishevelled and disrobed, with her free locks floating to her knees, not the Queen of Heaven herself is to be compared to my queen, fair and matchless to-day as on that 212 SAnCHEDON. bright morning ^Yllcn I saw her ride througli the Ccamp like a vision, bow in hand, and granted her the very first boon she asked me, for love of her sweet face and her soft pleading eyes.' ' And am I still so fair ?' smiled the queen, while a flush of hope, triumph, and pride in conscious beauty deepened the colour on her cheek. ' Nay, I shall scarce be brought to believe he is in earnest unless I can prevail on my lord the king to grant me once again the request I lay at his royal feet. If he loves me, surely he will not refuse ; and — and I think he loves me a little still !' ' I will have him flayed alive who gainsays it !* answered Ninus. ' I have ceased to love most things now, from the roar of battle to the bubble of a wine- cup. But may I burn like a log of cedar in the fire of Belus when I cease to love my queen !' She shot at him one of those glances she could command at will, in which mirth, tenderness, and modesty were blended with the fire of love. 'I be- lieve it,' she murmured gently. ' Such an afi'ection as ours is written in the stars, and kindles into flame at the first meeting of those who are destined for each other. It seems but yesterday that my lord burst on my sight like Shamash, god of day, ris- THE queen's petition. 213 ing iu splendour on the camp, and I turned my head away to bury my blushing face in my hands, because — because, already I loved him only too well.' With the thrill that vibrated in every fibre of the old king's frame arose the invariable accom- paniment of sincere affection — a sense of uncertainty and unworthiness. *I was a stout warrior then,' said he, 'and not so uncomely, for one whose life had been spent in saddle and war-chariot ; but the colour has faded on my cheek now, and worse, the fire has gone from my spirit like the strength from my limbs.' There was a plaintive ring in the deep hoarse voice, that must have touched any heart, save that of a woman with a purpose in view. 'Not so!' she exclaimed, hanging fondly about him. ' Not so, my lord, my love, my hero ! I swear by the host of heaven, that to me you are more noble, more kingly, more beautiful now, in the dignity of your past deeds and mature fame, than in all the vehemence and ardour of your impetuous manhood. Nay, my beloved,' she added half play- fully, half sadly, while clinging yet closer to his side, ' it is not I alone who think so ; there were looks shot at my lord as he rode through the streets from 214 SARCHEDON. the brightest eyes in Bab^'lon, that had I not known full surely I was his only queen and love, would have made me so miserable I had fled straightway to the desert, and never looked on the face of man again.' Is there any age at which the male heart becomes insensible to such flattery? With ebbing life and failing vigour, battered and out-worn by a hundred battles, glorious in the splendour of a hundred vic- tories, the Great King might surely have been above that boyish vanity, which counts for a triumph the empty gain of a woman's fancy; yet Ninus smiled well pleased, and Semiramis felt that her petition was already more than half granted, her game more than half won. * They know a stout spearman when they see one still,' said the old hero proudly, 'and they judge by the ruin, doubtless, what the tower must have been in its prime. Well, well, it stood many an assault in its da}^, and from hosts of many nations, nor thought once of surrender, till m^^ queen here marched in and took possession, with all the honours of war.' ' And she has held it since against every woman in the world !' murmured his wife, with another of those resistless glances, and a bright flush. ' Is it THE queen's petition.' 215 not so ? Keep me not in the agony of suspense. Let me have the king's word for my great happi- ness, and swear, by the head of Xisroch, to grant me my desire !' * I must hear first what it is,' said the old warrior playfully ; but observing the tears start to her eyes, he added in fond haste, *Xay, nay, beloved, the queen's petition shall be granted, whatever it be, even to the half of mine empire.' ' It is more than that !' exclaimed Semiramis, with a smile as ready as her tears. ' It is the whole empire I desire ! I would fain sit in the seat of my lord the king, but only for a day.' Ninus shook his head. ' You are like your boy,' said he fondly. * Do you not remember when we took Xinj'as for the first time to hunt the lion out- side the walls, and the lad must needs ride Samiel, the wild war-horse, that bent to no hand but mine ? By the blood of Merodach, he wept like a maid, and I had not the heart to refuse him ; but when he was fairly in the saddle the tears soon dried on his cheek, for the horse broke away with him like the wind of the desert, from which he took his name. I tell you, while I stood there dismounted, I must have felt what men call fear ! I never knew how I prized 216 SAKCHEDOX. the boy, till my liorse brought him back to me un- hurt. Samiel loved not to be far distant from his lord ; and now Samiel is dead, and his rider worn- out, and the queen — what was it the queen asked ? That she too should ride a steed she cannot control ? Does she know the pride of the Assyrian people, the turbulence of the crowd, the daily clamour for sluices to be opened and granaries unbarred, the craft of the priests, the false witness borne at the seat of judgment, and the weight of the royal word, which may not be recalled ?' But for the last consideration, the heart of Semi- ramis might have been softened towards one who, with all his crimes and cruelties, had yet been tender and loving in his home. The thought, however, of Sarchedon's doom, ratified and rendered inevitable by those fatal words, ' The king hath spoken,' swept all other considerations to the winds, and she never looked truer, fairer, fonder than now, while she answered in a tender whisper : ' My lord granted his request to our son at the sight of his wet eyes. Shall he withhold from the mother her soul's desire, because she cannot weep save when she fears to lose her place in the heart of the Great Kinof ?' THE queen's petition. 217 His head sank on his breast ; he was soou weaiy now, withering, as it seemed, more hopelessly in the confinement of a palace than in the freer atmosphere of a camp. ' Name it,' said he — ' it is granted : the king hath spoken.' Her eyes blazed with triumph, and the rich crimson mantled in her cheek. ' I have in my pos- session the signet of the Great King. I ask to keep it until to-morrow at noon.' ' I have said it,' was the reply. 'But what use will my queen make of a toy that has often cumbered my hand more wearily than ever did bridle, spear, or shield ?' 'I will but use it to my lord's advantage,' ans- wered Semiramis calmly. ' Is not to-day the feast of Baal, and shall not the Great King go up at nightfall into the cedar house on the roof to burn sacrifices, and pour out drink-ofterings before his god ? There will be long procession of priests, much leaping, howling, and gashing of themselves at the altars ; the prophets of the groves too must pass before my lord, bearing earth and water, fir- cones, caskets, gold, franldncense, and gifts. My lord is weary even now. Let him take his rest un- disturbed to strengthen him for the tedious labours 218 SAKCHEDON. of the night. Meanwhile I hold the signet of the Great King and his authority. I will provide for the safety of the nation, and for our own.' He was getting drowsy, and his eyes were already half-closed. * You have my signet,' he murmured. * Send to Arbaces, and advise with the chief captain for setting of the watch. And that presumptuous spearman' — here he blazed up with an expiring flame — * see that he be led forth at dawn. I have spoken, and he who dared to cross the queen's path must die before the rise of another day.' 'Before the rise of another day!' she repeated mechanically; adding, as she gathered her robes about her to depart, *I thank him that his hand- maiden hath found favour in his sight. I cover the feet of my lord the king, and I take my leave.' But she turned at the great gate for one last look at the sleeping form, mighty even in its ruin, and formidable in the abandonment of its repose. Proceeding from the palace, Semiramis paused to whisper a few words in the ear of Arbaces. The chief captain seemed surprised, and even discomposed by the purport of her communication ; but there was no appeal from a command backed by the royal THE queen's petition. 219 signet, and placing lier hand, with the jewel in it, against his forehead, he prostrated himself and with- drew. Had he remained, his discomfiture might have been even greater to observe the queen in deep consultation with Assarac, while Sargon, the king's shield-bearer, remained, as if in waiting, a few paces off. The eunuch's head was erect and his face bright with triumph ; he wore the air of a man on the eve of some great enterprise requiring skill, courage, and intellect, but having at the same time perfect confidence in his own power to carry it through. * Is all ready ?' asked Semiramis in a hollow whisper, while her cheek paled, and a strange fire shone in her dark eyes. ' All is ready,' answered the priest, in composed and measured accents, as of one who states the details of a duty satisfactorily fulfilled. ^Double guards have been placed at the city gates ; fifty thousand archers, and as many spearmen, are mus- tered under arms. Xot a strained shaft nor a frayed bowstring amongst them, and every man with his hand on his weapon, devoted to the queen's in- terest for life and death !' *We shall scarcely need them,' was her reply. 220 S.VRCHEDON. * I have commanded Arbaces to remove his own especial power without the walls. Has my son gone forth, and have jou taken order for bestowing him in safety to-night ?' *A company of spearmen will escort him,' said the eunuch, ' and will guard the child and its new toy on the road to his refuge at Ascalon. The king's signet will insure the obedience of such w^ar- riors as are required to force the palace of Ai'baces, and if the chief captain resists with the strong hand, his blood be on his own head ?' *More slaughter!' exclaimed the queen sorrow- fully. ' 0, that the road to power were not mired so deep with blood ! But it is too late to turn back now. Your life, my own, that poor condemned spear- man of the guard — all are at stake to-night; and we must not, we dare not, stop. Is Sargon to be trusted '? Yonder he stands, waiting for his orders even now.' Assarac glanced to where that warrior was sta- tioned, a few paces off, silent, erect, immovable, with the scowl of undying hatred on his brow. The priest smiled — and the queen thought his smile more fear- ful than the shield-bearer's frown — while he re- plied : THE queen's petition. 221 ' A captive iu the dungeon longs for light, and a gourd in the garden for water; but what is their desire to a father's thirst for vengeance on one who has shed the blood of his child ?' CHAPTER XVI. CRUEL AS THE GRAVE. The queen passed on a few paces without speaking, yet glanced towards Assarac, who walked respect- fully at her side, as though she had something of importance on her mind. At last she observed care- lessly, * That spearman who has incurred the displea- sure of my lord the king. Is it not the messenger who brought me the royal signet from the camp? These guards are all somewhat alike ; yet I seemed to recognise his face as he fell so untowardly at my feet.' * The same,' answered Assarac, in his calm un- meaning tones. ' A goodly youth, and a stout war- rior enough, by name Sarchedon. He has been be- stowed in the temple of Baal under my authority, safe at least till nightfall. Nor can he escape. CRUEL AS THE gea^t:. 223 thougli guard and priest are out of call ; for tliere is no egress from tlie last chamber in the painted gallery on the upper story where I have placed him, and whence he could scarcely fly were he to borrow all the wings of Nisroch, whose image stands over against the entrance to his stronghold. But it is not of him I would speak,' continued the priest, keenly noting, though he never seemed to raise his eyes above the hem of her garment, the queen's burning cheeks and air of breathless interest. * From sunset to sunrise have I watched and waited for the decree of the Seven Stars, poring over the scroll of fire they unrolled for me, till my brain was giddy and mine eyes were dim. Great Queen, there are no secrets in the future for him who has learned to read the book of heaven. It teaches me that in the darkness of this night shall dawn unclouded glory for the land of Shinar, and supreme empire for her who is fairest and bravest among women. As the goddess Ashtaroth is Queen of Heaven above, so shall the great Semiramis be Queen of Earth below. The Seven Stars have spoken it, and they cannot lie !' He wondered at her pre -occupation, contrasting with the attention she had lately shown her present 224 SARCHEDON. listlessness and apparent indifference to the splendid destiny thus prophesied. Something almost of scorn passed over his brow, while he reflected, that if the mighty engine of ambition failed to move her intel- lect, he had yet a subtler instrument with which to touch her heart. Presently she roused herself to ask, *Did the stars promise only that I should be great, or will they permit me also to be happy ?' ' The queen's greatness,' answered Assarac, ' like her beauty, is inseparable from her very being. Her happiness, like the robe that covers it, can be put on or off at will.' 'You are right,' she exclaimed, while the reso- lute look he knew so well passed over her beautiful face down to the very chin. ' And she who stands panting at a fountain were indeed a fool not to stoop and drink. Tell me, then, their behests. What the stars bid me, that will I do.' ' The Great Queen cannot read from the book of heaven so readily as a humble priest, the lowest of her slaves, though this lore, too, will I aspire to tea^ch her at some future time; but there lies in the temple, fairly writ out in the Assyrian character and plain as the flight of an arrow through the air, a scroll CEUEL AS THE GEAYE. 225 that teaches us poor servants of Baal the rudiments of those mysteries into which the ruler of a mighty empire must needs inquire. It is to be found in a secure chamber of the painted gallery under the winged image of Nisroch our god.' While he spoke, not the slightest curl of his lip, the faintest inflection of his voice, betrayed a hidden motive, another meaning from that which the plain straightforward words seemed to convey. Yet the queen glanced very keenly in his face, while she stopped short in her walk and turned towards the temple, observing only, * It is not 3'et near sunset. I shall have light to read the scroll.' Then she dismissed Kalmim and her women, desiring that she might be attended only by the priest of Baal, in whose steps, nevertheless, Sargon followed like his shadow. Arrived within the porch of the temple, she gave a great sigh of relief, as though she luxuriated in the refreshing coolness of those spacious halls, with their smooth shining floors, their countless columns, their vast shadowy recesses, that spoke of calm and secrecy and repose. She had not gone far, ere As- sarac stopped and prostrated himself at her feet. VOL. I. Q 226 SARCHEDON. ' Let not the queen be wroth with the lowest of her servants,' said the wily eunuch, *if he ask per- mission to he relieved for a brief space from atten- dance on her person. There is so much to be pre- pared for the feast of Baal, so many details to ar- range for the sacrifice of to-night, that I must neg- lect my duties no longer. The scroll lies where all who pass may read, and when the Great Queen has studied it enough, if, standing in this spot, she will but clap her hands thus, those shall be within call who can summon me to her presence without delay.' Semiramis frowned, though the frown did but mask a smile. *It is scarce a royal reception,' said she ; ' never- theless, be it so. I am content to breathe this cool and grateful air for a space, ere I return with Kalmim and the women to my palace across the river. You are dismissed.' He rose and retired, making a sign to Sargon, who watched his every movement, that caused the shield-bearer to follow him forthwith. Clear of the queen's presence, Assarac pointed to a table on which stood a golden flagon and drinking- cups of the same metal. CRUEL AS THE GRAVE. 227 ' Not even to-day ?' said he, while the other shook his head in token of dissent. ' Trust me, Sargon, you will be faint and athirst before all is done.' *Not a drop of wine shall cross my lips,' answered the shield-bearer in a fierce determined whisper, * till I have dipped my hands in the blood of him who has injured me. I have sworn it by the splen- dour of Nisroch. It is the oath of the Great King !' ' Is your vengeance, then, so deadly ?' asked the eunuch, in a tone of pity that obviously chafed and aggravated the passion it seemed to commiserate. ' Surely ten score of sheep, five yoke of oxen, a hun- dred camel-loads of barley, or a talent of gold should absolve the shedder of blood from farther reparation. In our land of Shinar the laws are merciful, and do not exact life for life.' ' There is a law in man's heart,' replied Sargon, still in the same low concentrated accents, ' that sets aside the law of nations and the artificial ordinances of priests. See here,' he continued, plucking from his girdle a knotted bow-string, limp and frayed, which he put in the other's hand ; ' a reader of the stars should be able to teU a simple spearman how many knots on that bit of twisted silk go to a score.' 228 SARCHEDON. * It needs no great study to perceive that but one is left here now,' answered Assarac with an inquiring look into the other's face. * The bow from which I took that string had been bent many a time in the Great King's service/ was the reply; 'and a shaft it sped but seldom missed its mark. I have covered Ninus under shield, and de- fended him with my body, when arrows and javelins were flying thick as the sands of the desert before a south wind. I have waged my life, poured out my blood freely for my lord, and he has rewarded me with his own royal hand.' *He is lavish enough,' observed Assarac, * be it gold or stripes, honours or death, that he awards. May the king live for ever !' * May the king live for ever !' repeated his shield- bearer, * a god among gods, a star in the host of hea- ven. If an empty throne be waiting for him up yonder, may it soon be filled ! When I saw my boy fall stark dead, the blood gushing from his mouth and nostrils, I prostrated myself and did obeisance to the Great King ; but I drew that string from my bow, and in it I tied a score of knots, swearing with each a deadly oath, that by the splendour of Nisroch I would be avenged ere the twentieth was undone. CKUEL AS THE GRA^'E. 229 Since tlien I have loosed a knot with every sunrise ; and, lo, a priest of Baal counts, and tells me there is but one left ! ' Beneath its sallow skin a terrible smile rounded the jfleshy outlines of the eunuch's face. His voice, however, remained firm while he whispered : *We understand each other, and there must be no wavering — no escape — no mercy !' Between his clenched teeth the shield-bearer's answer came in single syllables, hissing like drops of blood on a burning hearth : * Such wavering as stayed the cruel hand, the deadly bow ! Such escape as was afforded that light- footed youth, whom only an arrow's flight could over- take ! Such mercy as he showed my boy !' ' Come with me,' was the high -priest's reply ; and the two ascended a spiral staircase of carved and polished wood-work, leading to the Talar or cedar- chamber on the roof of the temple, where at night- fall sacrifice was to be offered, and drink-offerings poured out in person by the Great King to his As- syrian god. Here they drew from a store-chamber within the wall several bundles of reeds, which they strewed in profusion over the wooden floor of the cedar-house, and which Assarac sprinkled assiduously 230 SAKCHEDON. with a certain fluid from a phial he had kept hidden beneath his gown. ' Every precaution must be taken,' obserred the priest with another hideous smile. ' But if it be the will of his ancestor Ashur to descend for him in a chariot of fire, and these reeds thus saturated should catch the flame, then must the Great Bang, if he be not overcome with wine and sleep, escape by yonder narrow staircase. His shield-bearer will lie in wait there to help him down.' Sargon nodded, and his white teeth gleamed be- tween the curls of his jetty beard. * It is a faithful servant who thus risks life with his master,' continued the priest. ' When a subject approaches the king in his sacred office, the punish- ment is death.' 'Death!' repeated Sargon, and his hand stole to the haft of his two-edged sword, while he burst into a mocking laugh. Semiramis meantime, left to her own devices, strolled through the long corridors and lofty halls of the temple with wavering steps, and slow, that yet bore her nearer and nearer the chamber at the end of the painted gallery, where Sarchedon was lodged. Opposite its entrance stood an eagle-headed figure of CRUEL AS THE GRAVE. 231 Nisroch, with beak and wings of gold. On this the prisoner's eyes were fixed, as he watched the lapse of time by the fading sunlight on its burnished edges, and, looking only for deliyerance in the carelessness of the priests, longed for darkness, that he might ex- plore the temple and find for himself some secret passage through which to gain the town. Thus gazing, it was with no assumed start of surprise that he marked the queen's beautiful figure and shining raiment emerge like a vision from under the very shadow of the god ; and while he prostrated himself at her feet, he could not forbear covering his eyes with his hands in honest doubt whether he were face to face with a woman of real flesh and blood, or with some illusive creation of his own excited fancy. Per- haps no intentional flattery could have been so grate- ful to the queen, whose daring nature was yet suffi- ciently feminine to be tempered with a certain reserve and restraint in the presence of a man she loved. Semiramis looked tenderly do^-n on the kneeling form at her feet, leaning towards it with the graceful pliancy of the palm-tree as she bends in the evening breeze. ' RLse, Sarchedon,' she whispered, dwelling fondly on every syllable of his name as it passed her trem- 232 SARCHEDON. bling lips ; ' this is no time for empty homage and unmeaning form. Know you not that you are to die with to-morrow's dawn T Even that hideous prospect, even love for another woman burning at his heart, could not veil the pas- sionate admiration that blazed from his eyes while he looked up in the fairest face beneath the sky. Meeting his glances, her own kindled into fire. She laid her white hand on his shoulder with a ges- ture that was almost a caress. But the hand, so firm to draw a bow, to grasp a sceptre, to record a doom, shook like a leaf of the great tamarisk- tree in her own gardens. 'I have come to save you,' she continued in a voice that sank lower and lower with her failing breath. * Was I not the cause of your ofi'ence ? Do I not share your crime ? I cannot let you die !' He scarcely believed his senses. Could this be the royal lady who had ruled so calmly half the nations of the East — this panting, trembling, eager woman, changing colour, mood, and bearing with every throb of her beating heart ? It was hard to find voice for the conventional declaration, that 'he was the lowest of her servants, and his life lay in the hand of the Great Queen !' CRUEL AS THE GRAVE. 233 * Your life, Sarchedon,' she murmured. ' If your life be indeed mine, what more can I desire ? See, you shall take it back. It is a free gift ; and again I am all alone. A queen, forsooth ! Who would be a queen, to burn like Ashtaroth in heaven with fire kindled in her own heart, having none to counsel, none to cherish, none to love ?' He had sprung to his feet. He looked on the beau- tiful woman standing beside him, and every manly instinct of his nature rose to answer her appeal, so touching, so bewildering, and so fond. The very contrast of her flushed temples and disordered looks with those royal robes of state might have turned a cooler brain, and no consideration of danger or duty could have caused him to forbear exclaiming, * I have but one desire on earth — to live and die at the queen's feet !' Never had she bestowed on Ninus, perhaps never even on Menon, the husband of her youth, such a smile as now beamed from eyes and lips and brow on the impulsive warrior, who had scarcely spoken ere something in his inmost heart bade him wish his words unsaid. Her lithe and shapely figure swayed towards him, as if, but for his outstretched arms, it must have fallen. The perfume of her hair surrounded 234 SARCHEDON. and intoxicated his senses; her hreath was on his cheek, her sweet lips scarce a palm's-hreadth from his ear, while in gasping hroken syllables she mur- mured, ' Not at her feet, Sarchedon, but at her heart ! Nay, more, you shall — ' Had Nisroch descended bodily from his pedestal, or Ninus started up like a ghost from the gaping floor, Semiramis could scarcely have changed so suddenly to the cold impassive rigidity of marble. Following the direction of her stony gaze, Sarchedon beheld, emerging, as it were, from the very panneling of the chamber, a dark face and armed figure he re- cognised as those of the shield-bearer. Sargon, re- turning by a secret passage from strewing reeds on the floor above, had thus unwillingly interrupted an interview which his own instincts told him it was very dangerous to have witnessed. With oriental readiness, indeed, his countenance assumed an ex- pression of unconscious stolidity ; but in his heart he knew that the queen's eye had identified him. And it was too late. Sarchedon, though without a weapon, would have sprung at the intruder, but the queen laid her hand, firm enough now, on his arm. ' It is not time,' she said in accents so unmoved, CRUEL AS THE GRAVE. 235 SO pitiless, tliat they made his blood run cold. ' To- morrow, Sarchedon, we meet again here, at the same hour.' Then changing her tone to one of the deepest tenderness, added, ' I will claim that amulet you wear before the whole of Babylon;' and so, whispering * farewell,' was gone. When she vanished from his sight, Sarchedon could almost have beHeved he was mocked by the illusions of a dream. Ere she left the temple, Semiramis did not fail to clap her hands, and summon Assarac to her pres- ence. With more than usual graciousness, she bade him attend her to the gate, and when beyond the hearing of certain priests who were busied about their usual offices, asked, with a smile, ' that shield- bearer, Sargon, is a stout warrior, I have heard. Can you depend on him ?' 'To the death!' answered the eunuch. 'Less will not serve him. He requires blood for blood.' * If the flames do their work, there need be no bloodshed,' was the reply. ' But of course he must never leave the temple alive.' ' Of course,' assented Assarac ; and so the Great Queen passed calmly on to her own royal dwelling beyond the river. CHAPTEE XVII. THE DIVINING CUP. His queen's command, backed by tlie signet of tbe Great Bang himself, was a matter that brooked neither hesitation nor delay ; and Arbaces, retiring from the royal presence, reflected with considerable apprehension on the order he had received from Semiramis. Like many other veterans in the Assy- rian army, he was devoted, body and soul, to Ninus, reverencing him perhaps less as a monarch than as the famous warrior who had led armies to victory again and again. There is no bond so close as that which is drawn by companionship in privation, dan- ger, and adventure — by a share, however small, in that military glory, before which all other fame pales to a wan and feeble light. But between his tried captains and a despotic leader of whose authority there can be no jealousy, as there can be no cavil at THE DIVINING CUP. 237 liis command, exists the community of interests, the mutual and reciprocal confidence of hounds with their huntsman, the wild deer in the mountain with the hroad-fronted master-stag of the herd. Arbaces, riding slowly towards his palace, while a score of bearded retainers paced beside his steed, shook his head in grievous doubt and perplexity as to his duty in the present crisis. ' To move without the walls at an hour's notice,' thought the old warrior, ' that tried host, which has even now marched in, triumphant and well-found in every detail, from a successful campaign ; the veterans of Ninus, trained under his own eye in the field, on every man of whom I could depend as on myself, that he would shed his last drop of blood for the glory of the Great ELing — to leave Babylon at the mercy of the priests and that gilded army, which professes al- legiance only to the queen — thus to place ourselves, weakened and defenceless, in the hands of such men as Assarac and Beladon, crafty intriguers who would shrink from no secret crime, though they would tremble like girls to set a company in array against an open foe — is it right ? Is it wise ? Is it for the safety of the Great King ? It is on my head. I must obey. Yet will I make one effort to save him 238 SARCHEDON. from himself, even though he consume me in his -svrath while I speak with him face to face.' Drawing rein as he came to this conclusion, Ar- haces dispatched messengers to the captains of the host, summoning them to meet at his own dwelling with the utmost promptitude ; and, turning his horse, rode off at speed towards the palace of the Great King. As he galloped through the wide streets, sitting erect and fair, his golden armour gleaming in the sun, his long heard waving in the wind, many an eye looked after him Tvith glances of respect, admiration, and even regard for the successful warrior, the noted captain, the right hand and counsellor of Ninus him- self. Stalwart water-carriers staggering between their jars — tawny fruit-sellers sitting amongst their gourds under booths at the street side — the very leper, grovelling and scraping himself in the dust, had heard of his achievements, and envied rather than grudged him his horses, his wealth, his splendour, his beautiful daughter, and his warlike fame. How could they tell he was risking all these with every stride of his good steed, from a sense of un- questioning loyalty to the grim old monarch, who THE DIVINING CUP. 239 might put him to death on the spot for entering his presence unrequired ? Ninus in the camp was to be accosted by the meanest soldier ; Xinus on the seat of judgment turned a willing ear to the lowest of his subjects ; but to intrude on Xinus in the palace was a capital of- fence by royal decree, by the custom of the olden time, and by the laws of the land of Shinar. Nevertheless, Arbaces waited for no announce- ment, but flinging his horse's rein to be held by a captain of ten thousand on duty at the gate, strode swiftly through vast halls and shining corridors till he reached the summer chamber of the old monarch's privacy. Two stalwart spearmen at the entrance, guards of his own selection, made way for him with looks of wonder and awe, while the chief captain, desperate as though leaping with lowered point and raised buckler to the breach of a fenced city, dashed headlong into the presence of the Great King. Ninus sprang to his feet, and once again the light of battle gleamed in his eyes. * Welcome,' he exclaimed, * my trusty servant ! — welcome, as the sound of trumpets that bids Assyria charge with chariots and horsemen along the whole line ! It can be no light matter, by the beard of 240 SAKCHEDON. Ashur, that brings you thus into my presence. Reach your hand to the sceptre, and out with it, man. Is the city in revolt ? Hath Armenia sent us a de- fiance? Are the rebels of Philistia swarming at the gate ? 0, I am weary, weary to madness of this drowsy inaction ! Tell me it is something that shall force me to saddle and war-chariot. Bid me shake a spear under shield once again, or you had better have leaped into the air from the tower of Belus, rather than flown here thus, quivering and aimless, like a random shaft from a wet bow-string !' Little reassured by the alternative, Arbaces has- tened at least to take hold of the royal sceptre, and thus secure himself against the worst consequences of his indiscretion; for pardon was invariably ac- corded to him for whom the king extended that emblem of sovereignty with his own hand ; but he dreaded the old warrior's disappointment to learn there seemed no excuse for a recommencement of the game he loved so well, and it was only be- cause he was a brave man to the core that he looked his lord steadily in the face while he said firmly, but respectfully, ' king, live for ever ! I speak not as the lowest of slaves to the highest of masters; I speak as warrior to warrior, as man to THE DIVINING CUP. 241 man. Arbaces asks Ninus if he has ever deceived him in council, or failed him in the field/ * Never!' exclaimed the king, on whose kindi-ed spirit the other's manly bearing produced such an effect as might have been expected. * Never,' he repeated, sitting down again, while the weary look crept over his gray old face. ' You have been true to me as the buckle of my belt, the handle of my blade. Old servant, old friend, old comrade, some- thing tells me I shall never tighten one nor draw the other again.' Arbaces burst into tears. The practised warrior, who had seen towns sacked, foes slain, and captives flayed alive without a quiver of sympathy, a throb of pity, was not proof against this unaccustomed mood in his stern old master. Slave as he really was, slave in presence of a fierce and u-responsible despot, his heart filled with a painful, piteous sympathy that unmanned him, and he wept. The king's harsh laugh, covering, it may be, some kinder sentiment than derision, and hoarse with other weakness besides the cough of age, recalled him to himself. ' Go, get a spindle !' exclaimed Ninus. ' Surely, but for that rugged face and grizzled beard, I had VOL. I. R 242 SAKCHEDON. believed it was an old woman standing at my foot- stool with wet eyes to pray for her son's rekase out of the clutches of Arbaces, rather than the Tartan himself, whom I have seen many a time in haste, anger, and pei-plexity, but never in sorrow nor in fear.' The other's face brightened with joy and pride ; but he had a duty to perform, and neither exultation in his lord's approval, nor dread of his displeasure, would prevent his carrying it out to the end. Assuming the usual attitude of respect, and thus dropping, as it were, to his proper level of humility, the chief captain demanded meekly, ' Is it the king's pleasure to hearken, while the lowest of his servants makes report concerning the ordering of the host, and setting of the night-watches as in the day of battle ?' ^ "VMiat have I to do with the day of battle ?' answered the king testily. ' This is the day of priests and prophets, sacrifice and drink-offering, waste of time, treasure, and good wine. May Nis- roch consume them all to ashes ! Day of battle ! — by the beard of Nimrod, day of folly rather^ and weari- ness and shame ! Thou too must needs come prat- ing about it. Well, say on.' THE DIVINING CUP. 243 ' The whole army of Egypt has been commanded to encamp without the walls,' observed the other curtly. ' Is this the pleasure of my lord the king?' * Without the walls !' repeated his angry master. ' Who dared give such a fool's order af such a time ? And you too : have you thus disposed the host, scat- tered from their centre, and incapable of concentra- tion or movement ? By the belt of Ashur, you are a bolder man than I thought, to come and tell me this!' ' I took my orders from the Great Queen,' ans- wered Arbaces, * and she delivered them with the royal signet in her hand.' Ninus calmed down at once, while on his face came the smile that was never seen there, but in the presence of Semiramis, or at the mention of her name. *It is well,' he said. 'Had it been any other man in the host but yourself, who came here unbid- den to question such an authority, his face had been covered and his place should have known him no more. The king hath spoken !' His old heart thrilled while he thought how this unmilitary disposition of his army was but an- other instance of the queen's love and care ; another 244 SARCHEDON. proof of her confidence and affection. She would spare him all incitement to exertion by thus with- drawing for a time his favourite occupation, would exact a proof of his trust in thus confiding his per- sonal safety and his kingdom to those who were avowedly at her own disposal. Well, he might not have many more opportunities to please her. Let the queen's fancy be indulged unquestioned, and her commands obeyed. While he dismissed Arbaces, rudely enough it may be, according to his wont, there was yet a rough kindliness underlying the haughty manner and fierce peremptory tones, that caused the chief captain's heart to sink with a sense of depression, a vague foreshadowing of evil he had never felt before. As the subject raised his head after the usual prostra- tion on leaving his king's presence, the eyes of master and servant met. At the same moment, the same thought seemed to fall like ice on the heart of each, that henceforth neither should look in the other's face again. Wearily and slowly the chief captain paced back towards his home, the good horse under him partak- ing, as it seemed, in his rider's discomfiture. It was a sore and saddened heart, contrasting painfully with THE DinXING CUP. 245 his elation on the day of triumph, when he rode so proudly beneath its walls, that he now carried through the lofty portals of his palace. He had, however, one consolation left in the presence of his daughter. So long as she remained under his roof, it seemed to her father there was still peace and rest and tranquil happiness at home. * The girl,' said he, with his Oriental turn of thought and expression, ' is like a light in the dwell- ing, a lily in the garden, a fountain in the court.' But his apprehensions were not destined to be relieved by the return of those whom he had sent to summon the principal captains of the host. "With the first who prostrated himself before the Tartan while he dismounted came evil tidings, which each successive messenger arrived only to aggravate and confirm. Ispabara, chief of the spearmen, a tried warrior and leader of repute, had been removed from his command and cast into prison. Even now the force that hitherto acknowledged his authority was defil- ing through the great gate to quit the town under another captain. Scarcely was this startling an- nouncement digested when a second breathless run- ner appeared to say that Sabacon, the captain of the 246 SARCHEDON. chariots, had been summoned hastily to the presence of the Great Queen, and had not since been heard of. Meantime, the whole strength of the chariots of iron were already massed in the plain by the Well of Palms. ' What of Belasys and his trusty bowmen ? ' ex- claimed Arbaces in deep concern and perplexity, while a third light-footed youth laid his forehead to the ground ere he made his ill-omened report. * Let not my lord be wroth,' was the deprecating reply. 'Belasys cannot be found. The bowmen are in confusion, but Taracus has received orders to command them under the signet of my lord the king, and has marched them out by companies through the different gates of the city. The men of Nineveh refused to move, and were scattered like chaff before the wind by the horsemen of the Great Queen. Dagon ! how the blue mantles rode through and through their ranks, piercing, hewing, trampling them down and sparing none ! Men say their bow- strings had been cut when they encamped last night by the temple of Baal. The women of Nineveh shall look from their walls in vain, for by the Thirteen Gods I think not a score of that northern band can have escaped alive !' THE DmNING CUP. 247 * And air this on the feast-day,' muttered Arbaces, turning into his house with a heavy heart. It was obvious that some deadly plot had been contrived — some fearful catastrophe was imminent. It needed but little of his warlike experience to re- mind him that an army thus scattered, while dis- organised by a change of leaders, would be useless for all purposes of resistance or offence. Of the queen's object he could form but vague speculations ; for the means she had employed to carry it out, he could not repress a sentiment of ad- miration, considerably dashed with fear. That the authority which devolved on her with the royal signet had been employed to place the city of Baby- lon, and with it the great Assyrian empire, at her mercy was too apparent; but he hesitated to believe she would use the power she thus owed to his affec- tion, for the destruction of her husband and her king. Arbaces was a man of energy and action, accus- tomed to sudden peril, fertile in the resources by which it should be met. But he was also supersti- tious and a fatalist. It is possible that he might have organised some scheme for the defence of his old master, made some effort to avert the storm that 248 SARCHEDON. was gathering over the royal head, had it not been for one of those trifling events on which the fate of an empire has sometimes been known to turn. Exhausted and perplexed, he called for wine al- most as he left the saddle. Ishtar, who had been watching for her father's arrival, sprang joyfully for- ward and ministered to his wants, bringing him the restoring draught in a golden cup, beautifully carved, chased, and set with precious stones. The girl's step was free and buoyant ; her bearing joyous, her sweet face radiant in the light that once in a lifetime glorifies every child of earth with a ray direct from heaven. The sun was setting, and a stream of crimson from its level beams crossed the shining floor be- neath her feet. Suddenly she stopped, and looking wildly into the cup, turned pale — pale even in that rich glow of evening tinging hands and robe and hair with red. ' 0, father !' she said, ' do not drink. It looks like blood !' He set the wine down untasted, and covered his eyes with his hands. * Enough!' he muttered. * Who shall strive against Nisroch, or flee from him who hath the four THE DIYIXrS'G CUP. 249 winds of heaven for his wings ? The Seven Stars have spoken, and it is well I' Then there came on him a great trembling and fear; for he looked on his daughter, and wondered who should protect her when he was gone. His own head, the life of the Great King, the fate of the empire, seemed as nothing compared to the safety of that beloved being — the child of his bosom — the one ewe lamb of his fold ! It was the divining cup of his race from which Ishtar had unwittingly been about to give him to drink, and he would have been as loath to defile his father's tomb, or question his father's honour, as to doubt its gift of prophecy, or make light of the warn- ing it proclaimed. He believed firmly enough that a pure maiden, looking into this mysterious vessel at any crisis of her fate, would there behold reflected, as in a mirror, a presentiment of that good or evil which the future held for her in store. And what had she seen now ? By her own confession, to her obvious dismay, a hideous sea of blood ! He dismissed her from his presence gently, kindly, yet with a stern sorrow that forbade her to remonstrate or disobey. Then, alone at last, in the 250 SARCHEDON. hall of his stately palace, he rent his mantle from hem to hem with a great cry of anguish, and sat down on the bare floor, unnerved, unmanned, in a paroxysm of horror and despair. Above him, grand and imposing in the shadows of coming night, loomed his own sculptured image on the wall — proud, erect, triumphant — driving at speed in his war-chariot over a field of slain. So darkness gathered round original and likeness : the fierce conqueror helmed and plated, bow in hand — the prostrate figure, with rent garments, bowed in misery to the dust. And the stars came out in golden lustre — mellow, benignant, radiant — smiling down, as it would seem, in peace and good-will on the sleep of Babylon the Great. ^^m^ CHAPTEE XVm. A LYING SPIRIT. In the mean time, not only to his temple had been confined the preparations of his servants for celebrat- ing the festival of the great Assyrian god. Through- out the city, wherever shrine was sculptured or altar reared, garlands had been woven, drink- ofi'erings pre- pared, droves of animals made ready for sacrifice, and trenches even dug to carry off the blood that was to flow like water with the fall of night. The priests of Baal swarmed in every open space, singing, shout- ing, gesticulating with frantic leaps, and bare knives brandished to threaten their own naked breasts. No- thing was left undone that could excite the fana- ticism of the multitude, and their hot Assyrian blood soon rose to boiling pitch under the wild excitement of the hour. Men's eyes flashed, their cheeks glowed, while they rent the air with cries in honour of their 252 SARCHEDON. deity, and troops of women, with dishevelled hair and unveiled faces, might be seen beating their breasts, waving their arms, even dancing in grotesque unison with the mystic transports of the priests. The prophets of the grove, too, had taken posses- sion of every eminence that might boast a leaf of ver- dure, every green and wooded spot, both vsdthin and without the walls, for their comprehensive worship of the host of heaven, figured as it would seem by the countless blossoms and perennial vitality of their sacred tree — tj'pical, it may be, of that which long ago in Eden ' stood in the midst of the garden, good for food, pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise ;' or that of which he must eat who would live for ever, and which seems to have pro- mised, far back in the buried ages, yet another tree of expiation and suffering, on which the Great Sacri- fice was to be offered — the Great Sacrifice of immea- surable love and pity, that the sense of man cannot fathom, nor his words describe, nor his narrow heart conceive. In all idolatry, in the darkness of every supersti- tion, however foul and debasing, is there not some faint reflection of that true dawn which shall here- after brighten into perfect day ? A LYING SPIKIT. 253 Amongst the crowds that surged and swayed in the main streets of the city, carried away by present enthusiasm, and agape for fresh excitement, might be seen many a proud dark face, with black curled beard and hair, looking calmly, triumphantly, it may be even scornfully, on the seething shifting throng. These faces all bore the same impress of quiet daring and prompt resolve, satisfied to bide the right time patiently, yet ready at any moment to strike the fatal blow. Their haughty looks and stern self-con- fidence disclosed the temper of that army which, having been left at home to protect the empire during the last campaign, had assumed to itself the title of the Great Queen's host, affecting to take its orders directly from Semiramis, to be at her especial service, and devoted primarily to her interest or person, rather than to the empire or the king. It needed less knowledge of human nature than was possessed by Assarac to foresee that such a dis- tinction between two such forces, as had now en- titled themselves respectively the armies of Egypt and Assyria, was likely to produce feelings of jealousy and rancour, ready at any moment to break out in open hostility. The eunuch, despite attentive study of the stars, had not failed to read that book dili- 254 SARCHEDON. gently which closes every page with every passing day, sealed to the curiosity that is fain to anticipate its coming chapters, but standing fairly open for those who would learn the probabilities of the future from the records of the past. He judged men's thoughts less by their deeds than their inclinations, and calculated their future conduct rather from their passions than their interests. It was through his advice that the army of Egypt had been scattered over the surrounding country, and that of Assyria, or the queen's host, concentrated in the city, by timely use of the Great King's signet. With mili- tary decision, unexpected perhaps in one whose avo- cations seemed unwarlike, as his character might have been thought unmanly, he had seized, and caused to be securely guarded, the principal gates of the city, the sluices that dammed its stream, even the tunnel under the great river, which afforded communication between the palaces of the king and queen. He had neglected no precaution ; had pro- vided for every emergency; had corrupted one army, disorganised another, maddened the priests, inflamed the multitude, set his snares in the very path of the noble prey he had determined to destroy ; and calmly awaited the result. A LYING SPIRIT. 255 Beladon looked on his chief with the admiration of a neophyte for some grand professor of his art. It seemed strange to see one on whom the fate of an empire depended, whose slightest hesitation might involve with his own the ruin of all his supporters, so calm, so confident, so unmoved. Not the careless pleasure-seeking Sethos, whose only business in life was to fill the king's cup, as his chief recreation was to sun himself in Kalmim's eyes, could have seemed less interested in the mighty preparations going for- ward than was the prime mover and origin of all. Nay, that thoughtless youth did wear some slight air of perplexity on his brow while he crossed the open space between the temple and the royal palace, on his way from the apartments of the prince. 'What is this cloud coming up from the desert now ?' said the cup-bearer to the priest, as they met under shadow of the sacred building, and observed, by such of its graduated steps as w^ere still exposed to the scorching glare, that not many hours had yet to pass before night. ' The Great King covers his feet in his summer-chamber ; the queen tans her fair face and heats her Southern blood hurrying to and fro, from palace to temple, from hall to gallery, from the prince's apartments to the royal judgment-seat. 256 SARCHEDON. Kalmin keeps silence, which is in itself a marvel, shaking her head, as if she knew more than she would tell ; while in the midst of these signs and wonders, Ninyas sends and bids me ride with him into the desert in this stifling heat, as a man would say to his friend, " Brother, you are athirst and an hungered. Here is a melon and a water-jar. I pray \'0U eat and drink." ^ATiat does it all mean, I say? The desert forsooth ! By the light of Ashtaroth, I never wish to travel the desert again, after the toil and thirst and suffocation of that endless cam- paign !' ' The prince means to hunt the lion, no doubt,' answered Beladon, ' under the eyes of Ishtar, or to speak plain, in the light of the rising moon.' Sethos pondered. *A lion at bay is no pleasant companion,' said he, ' by moonlight or daylight either. It is not the smile of a fair woman he puts on, I can tell you, when your horse comes up with him, and he begins to look you in the face.' *I know which is most dangerous,' replied the priest ; * but I doubt if Ninyas feels a wise man's fear for either one or other. Nevertheless, the hunter at night may be a prey before dawn ; and the child that A LYING SPIEIT. 257 cries to its mother for the moon must be pacified ere it wake the household.' * You speak in parables,' answered Sethos, yawn- ing, ' and during the heat of the day too ! I cannot interpret parables, nor do I believe much in priests. Well, at least I am free of the palace for to-night, and have done with the Great King till to-morrow at dawn.' 'Till to-morrow at dawn,' repeated the other, adding, in a tone of light yet meaning banter : * When the lion turns to bay, Sethos, what is the hunter to do then ?' ' He must drive an arrow through the wild-beast's heart,' was the reply, ' unless he likes to sleep in the desert with nothing on but his bones. There is no compromise with the lion : if you slay not liim, he will surely slay you.* ' He will surely slay you,' repeated the other in the same tone. ' It is a wise saying, though spoken by the king's cup-bearer. Nay, be not wroth with me, Hethos. I love you well, partly, I think, because you are not over-wise nor thoughtful, and a man may speak with you freely, not stopping to pick his words as if the plain truth would burn his lips. Take my advice : ride your best horse to-day, and water him VOL. I. s 258 SARCHEDON. freely before you mount. When Ninyas comes back from hunting, turn into the desert and gallop for your life.' ' "VMiere must I gallop ?' asked Sethos, in some natural anxiety and alarm. * Where ?' repeated the priest. ' Anywhere but back to Babylon. Ascalon,' he added thoughtfully ; 'per- haps it would be the safest refuge, after all. If you go by the way of the Dark Yalley and the Bitter Waters, you might reach it well enough.' ' And the Great King's draught at sunrise ?' said the cup-bearer, reverting to the first duty of his daily life. ' The Great King's draught is provided for,' was the answer. ' See, Assarac ascends the steps of the temple. I must prate here no longer. Do as I warned you. Farewell, I am loath to part, for I think we shall never meet again.' Little reassured by so ominous a leave-taking, Sethos hastened to make ready for the expedition to which he had been summoned by the prince. Though greatly perplexed and at a loss how to act, he decided so far to follow his friend's counsel as to select a true- bred steed of the plains on which to accompany Ninyas, permitting the good horse to drink its fill A LYING SPIRIT. 259 ere the bridle was put in its mouth. He slung also a little bag, containing a handful or two of dates, to his saddle-cloth, and might have completed farther preparations but that he was sent for to attend on his future monarch without delay. Ninyas was already mounted and impatient to be off. His beautiful young face glowed with excite- ment, and a fever of longing shone in his eager eyes. Somewhat to the cup-bearer's dismay, he found that he alone was to accompany the prince, thougbr^e latter muttered a few indistinct sentences about at- tendants on foot and horseback, who had been directed to meet them outside the walls; but it struck Sethos, himself no inexperienced hunter, that for one who intended to make war on the king of beasts in his native fastnesses, it would have been well to carry a few more arrows in the quiver, a somewhat stiffer and heavier javelin in the hand. With his unusual comeliness and graceful bear- ing, the person of Xinyas was as well known in the streets of Babylon as that of the mother to whom he bore so marvellous a likeness. Recognised and greeted with enthusiastic acclamations as he passed on, his progress through the city was one continued ovation. And Sethos wondered more and more to \ 260 SARCHEDON. observe that his young lord selected the most public thoroughfares for their ride, although the absence of his usual guards, the waiving of all state or ceremony, seemed to infer that he wished to depart unnoticed and unknown. More thoughtful than he had ever been in his life, the cup-bearer followed close on the prince's heels, anxious, silent, and sadly embarrassed by the warning he had lately received. Ninyas, on the con- trary, laughed and jested with the crowd, breaking through the habitual reserve that existed between his father's subjects and the royal descendant of the gods with a joj^ous freedom that sat gracefully enough on one so young, so renowned, and, above all, so fair. In an open space not a furlong from the gate by which they were about to leave the city, the multi- tude seemed at its thickest. The prince's horse could scarcely move in a foot's pace, although those against whom it pressed prostrated themselves to the ground, kissing the body or trappings of the animal, and even the feet of its rider. Much excitement had been caused here by a huge altar of turf raised to Baal, gay in a profusion of flowers, girt with the usual trench, and surrounded by a numerous circle of priests, leaping, shouting, waving their arms in A LYING SPIRIT. 261 paroxysms of an excitement too unbridled to be wholly feigned. As Ninyas came to a halt almost in their midst, one of these, springing frantically in the air, caught hold of the prince's bridle, and brandish- ing a broad ourved knife, laid his own breast open with a wild flourish that cut, however, little more than skin-deep. It was a startling figure, standing there so tall and lean, naked to the waist, and bleeding freely from its tawny sinewy chest. The thick black hair and beard were matted together in foul disorder, the piercing eyes rolled and glittered with the light of madness, while a long-drawn howl of mingled agony and triumph denoted that the votary was under the inspiration of his god. Sethos trembled, the horse of Ninyas pawed and snorted while his rider smiled in scorn; but the crowd, swaying to and fro, caught the excitement of the moment, and a whisper running from lip to lip like wildfire rose to a shout of ' Prophesy, prophesy ! He foams, he writhes ! Baal has come down on him ! Prophesy, prophesy!' Another gash, a hideous laugh, a long-drawn dismal wail, and that unearthly figure, towering above the rest, hovering as it were with arms extended 262 SAKCHEDON. towards the prince, took up its parable in raving in- coherent utterance, while the gleaming teeth and restless features worked in frightful jerks, like the contortions of a man in a fit. ' I am Nerig ! I am Zachiah ! I am Abitur of the Mountains ! I have fought with Merodach, and lain with Ashtaroth, and spoken with Baal face to face ! Mine eyes are opened, and I, even I, behold the things of earth and heaven. I am no man, not I, to be born of woman, scorched with fire, slain with steel. I am three devils in one — Nerig, Zachiah, and Abitur of the Mountains — three devils, and jet I cannot lie, for it is not I who speak, but Baal ! Baal has come down on me, and cast out the devils, and hereafter will I write them a bill of divorce, that they know me no more; and the voice of Baal cries, "0 king, live forever !" and the finger of Baal points to this goodly youth, and bids him reach his hand to take the sceptre, draw his girdle to wear the sword ; and the fire of Baal falls on my heart and consumes me, con- straining me to cry without ceasing, " To-morrow, and to-morrow, and yet to-morrow !" It is spoke be- low ; it is writ above ! king, live for ever !' Then the foam flew from his mouth, and he fell on his face, stark and senseless, under the very feet A LYING SPIRIT. 263 of the prince's horse. Swerving aside in terror, the animal's hoof struck sharp on his defenceless head, and he lay there to all appearance a dead man. But neither amongst his comrades nor the by- standers was an eye turned on him in pity, nor an arm stretched to raise him from the earth. The looks of all were bent on their future monarch and favourite, now hastening to depart. As Ninyas disappeared through the city gate, once more a shout went up into the sky ; and like the countless birds of morning, with their various notes of welcome to the rising sun, all these voices had but one burden, one chorus, and thus it ran : ' The gods cannot lie ! Baal hath spoken. king, live for ever !' ^s=^ CHAPTER XIX. THE FEAST OF BAAL. With the last rays of the sinking sun, as its crim- son disk went down into the desert, there rose from the echoing temple such a clang of cymbals, such a bray of trumpets, such a wild burst of loud triumphant music, as caused to ring again her hundred brazen gates, and warned Great Babylon, through all her countless palaces, that the sacrifice by fire -we now to be perfected before their god, and the sacred feast of Baal consummated with the close of day. At this given signal, thousands of torches flared out on balcony and terrace, innumerable lamps gleamed and twinkled in bower, grove, and garden ; while from the beacon-fire that crowned the tower of Belus a thin red flame shot up into the night, like the tongue of an angry serpent reared on end to strike. Far below, in street and square, were massed the eager expectant multitude, their white garments THE FEAST OF BAAL. 265 and dark faces brought into strong relief under that fitful glare ; while above them, in grand imposing perspective, loomed long avenues of the mighty bulls of granite, with wings unfurled and stately human mien, calm, stern, colossal, t^-pes of majesty and strength. Not a warrior was to be seen ; not a bow nor spear, nor so much as the glitter of a headpiece; but every tower at every gate, every stronghold and place of concealment within the walls, swarmed with armed men; while in the paradise that surrounded the palace of the Great Queen was arrayed such a force as would have suf&ced to sack the whole city in an hour. Semiramis, dressed in royal robes, with the royal tiara on her head, saw them served with food and wine ere she went down their ranks in person ; while every captain of a thousand, for himself and his com- mand, swore fidelity to the queen, to Ninus, to the dynasty of Nimrod, especially to the young prince, who was destined hereafter for the throne of the Great King. In all her varying moods, the present seemed to suit her best; and many a fierce bowman remem- bered afterwards how lovely the queen had looked 266 SAKCHEDON. under the shade, as of coming sorrow, that clouded her gentle hrow — with how tender a grace she seemed to take leave of each man individually, as if some- thing warned her she was hidding them a last fare- well. When she retired into her palace, not one but looked on its walls with something of that sweet sad longing which thrills a lover's heart who gazes on the dwelling of his mistress, on the casket that contains his priceless pearl. But it was whispered in the ranks that she had been seen afterwards in the direction of the temple, disguised and unattended, desirous perhaps of wit- nessing unrecognised the i)rocession and ceremonies in which her sex forbade her to take part. The pageant began on the very threshold of the Great King's palace, from which Ninus emerged at sundown, arrayed in his royal robes, with the royal tiara round his brows, the royal parasol held above his head. He wore a long flo^^ing garment of silk reaching to his ankles, embroidered in mystic charac- ters, edged with fringes and tassels of gold. Over this a second robe or mantle, trailing behind him, of the sacred violet colour, open in front, and bor- dered, a palm's -breadth deep, with an edging of gold. His long gaunt arms were bare, save for the THE FEAST OF BAAL. 267 shining bracelets that t\Wned like serpents round his mighty wrists. He wore his sword also and two daggers, being the only man aiTQed in the whole procession, except his shield-bearer, who, on the pre- sent occasion, in right of his office, bore the state parasol even at night, and was bound to attend his king as far as the upper story of the temple, on which the Talar was reared, but not a step farther for his life. Those of his friends who were near enough to observe Sargon's face hardly recognised him. Usually so swarthy, he had now turned deadly pale, and the strong warrior's limbs dragged under him, as if he too, like his worn old master, were closely approach- ing the end. Though men cast down their eyes before his splendour, appearing only to study the hem of his garment, they yet knew that the Great King looked very sad and weary ; that his feet bore with difficulty that towering frame, which was still so massive a ruin ; that the brave old face had grown wofully livid and sunken, the fierce eyes dull and tame and dim. Even the martial spirit of his race seemed to have died within him. But it blazed up yet once more ere it went out 268 SA.RCHEDON. for ever. When Assarac, at the head of twenty thousand priests, prostrated himself in the entrance of the temple, with a welcome, as it were, to his royal visitor, there passed over the Great King's face a light of sudden wrath and scorn. * To-morrow!' he muttered. 'To-morrow! When a fire hath licked up the locusts, mine oxen shall tread out the corn ! ' And Assarac, hending low in deepest reverence, heard the implacable threat, accepting it calmly, without a quiver of pity, remorse, or fear. Shouts louder than any that had preceded them rose from his people as the Assyrian king went up into the temple of his god. He never turned to mark it. The dull listless apathy had come over him again, as if some instinct told him that not thus, amongst odours of incense and oblations, sounds of harp and tabor, lute and viol, in the mel- low lustre of festive lamps, gaudy with blazing gems and robes of shining silk, bearing peaceful oiOferings, surrounded by white -robed priests, should a war- rior-king look his last on the nation of warriors he had ruled ! At this point the cymbals clashed in a yet wilder burst of melody ; a chant, sweet, measured, and THE FEAST OF BAAL. 269 monotonous, was taken up by a thousand practised voices ; while in every part of Babylon, where shrine had been adorned or altar raised, torch was laid to fagot, steel to victim ; streams of blood filled the new-cut trenches, fumes of sacrifice rose on the even- ing breeze, loud shrieks and jells went up from his maddened worshippers, while, leaping like demons in the fire and smoke, naked priests of Baal raved and writhed and cut themselves with knives in hon- our of their god. One man alone stood looking on unmoved. He was dressed as if for a journey, with a long stafT in his hand. His attendants, much interested in the proceedings, held a few asses, large powerful ani- mals of their kind, at a short distance off. It was the Israelite out of the land of Egypt, whom Assarac had released from his bonds, at liberty, and about to depart. He looked very sad and thoughtful ; there was less of scorn and pity in his eye, though once, roused, as it appeared, by some unusually intemperate outbreak, a cloud of resentment passed over his face, and he muttered, * Infinite mercy ! Infinite patience ! How long, Lord, how long ?' Then he withdrew from the crowd to place him- 270 SAKCHEDON. self in the centre of his little Land, where, formally and solemnly, he shook the dust from ofi' his feet ere he mounted an ass; and so, followed by his handful of countrymen, proceeded gravely through the Southern Gate, outward to the desert. Within the wide area that encircled the temple of Baal, his priests, though so numerous, were drawn out in orderly array that must have gratified the military eye of the Great King. Terrace by terrace the long lines of white stretched in endless perspec- tive, every votary, from bearded patriarch to boy- faced eunuch, with a lotus-flower in his hand. To the image of each deity in turn, as it was borne before the monarch, they prostrated themselves with devout obeisance; while at every prostration clouds of smoke ascended from the altars, golden cups were emptied in drink-offerings, and blood spouted from the throats of fresh victims as sheep and oxen fell prostrate at the propitious moment under one well- directed blow. Shamash passed on — the god of light, with his burnished disk representing the sun's dazzling sur- face, and identifying that statue of solid gold, under the weight of which its bearers, tall stalwart priests, seemed to fail and labour ; Ishtar too, with her pale THE FEAST OF BAAL. 271 reflected beauty, like the moon she typified, gentle sister to the Lord of Day; and Bar and Nebo, ver- satile, pliant, representations of progress, improve- ment, human intelligence and skill ; Merodach, king of battles, bold, defiant, standing on the lion's back bending his bow; and Ashtaroth, spirit of beauty, love, and light, peerless, radiant, alluring, with the bright star on her forehead and the serpent in her hand. Other images followed, of different minor in- fluences : winged monsters threatening man, or coerced in turn by some superior spirit — the beetle, the scorpion, lions with human faces, wild bulls fighting head to head, or flying from each other heel to heel; Dagon, with more than human beauty to the girdle, foul, hideous in fins and scales below ; Ashur too, monarch of the godlike circle ; and Baal himself; Nisroch with the eagle's head, the burnished pinions, supreme, all-powerful, immutable, the Des- tiny from whose award there was no appeal, from whose vengeance no escape. Lastly, the symbolical and mystic representation of some power that must yet be superior even to Fate, some abstract essence, some intelligence infinite, inconceivable, expressed, vaguely enough, by a circle of gold encompassing a wheel of wings. liTti SARCHEDON. Onl}^ on such solemn occasions as the present was this emblem carried in the place of honour, im- mediately preceding the monarch, when he officiated in the sacred capacity of priest as well as king. It seemed to be regarded with an awe-struck reverence by all ; and even Ninus, impatient as he was of such ceremonies, believing in little but his queen and his sword, could not forbear a gesture of respect while he passed beneath it, at the lowest of the steps he was about to ascend into the secluded precincts of the Talar. Here Assarac, with another prostration, laid at the royal feet a square casket of gold, and a repre- sentation of the fir-cone, worked in the same metal, emblematic, as it were, of the two elements, fire and water; the inflammable properties of the fir-cone, with its reproductive vitality, representing the gene- rative powers of heat ; while the golden vessel seemed suggestive of that fluid which, pervading all nature and embracing the whole earth, tempering and allay- ing the ardour of its opposite, may be considered as the feminine influence in creation. Thus flung down before him, these offerings sig- nified that the Great King in his present capacity assumed vicariously the attributes of Ashur, or even THE FEAST OF BAAL. 27o Baal himself. Assarac, with considerable ceremony, now presented a cup of wine, for his sovereign to pour out in drink-offering to the host of heaven so soon as he should have reached the summit of the temple. While Ninus took it from the high-priest's hand another look of immeasurable scorn passed over the. old lion face— a look that seemed lost on the eunuch, whose final prostration expressed the deepest homage, the 'utmost devotion, that could be rendered by a subject to his king. The Southern night had fallen ; the stars came out by countless thousands in the calm fathomless sky. Once more, high above trumpet-peal and clash of cymbal, lute and viol, harp and tabor, rose a deafening heart-stirring shout — irrepressible tribute of honour and admiration for the greatest warrior of a great warlike line. It was the farewell of his Assy- rian people to their Assyrian king. While it rang in his dull old ears, and brought the light back to his dim old eyes, the heavy folds of a curtain hanging at the foot of that sacred stair- case he alone was privileged to ascend, parted, to close again for ever on the grand old form, noble even in its last decline, and majestic in the very ruin of its decay. VOL. I. T 274 SARCHEDON. Assarac drew a long breath of relief; and Bela- don, at the extremity of one of the lower terraces, whispered to the priest standing next him, * What think you, brother — will they come down for him to-night in chariots of fire, as it is written in the stars ?' To which the other replied : ' Sacrifices and drink-offerings have been ren- dered, enough to propitiate a thousand gods; and surely, brother, the stars cannot lie.' But on the face of his people, from which he had never turned in fear nor scorn, it was the Great King's destiny to look no more. Ascending into the seclusion of the Talar, he had no sooner entered its cedar-house than a strange lethargy and drowsiness enwrapped his senses. Ere he could pour out his drink-offering to the four quarters of heaven, his eyes grew heavy, his perceptions failed, his feet seemed glued amidst the rushes, strewed ankle-deep on the wooden floor, and he sank wearily into the throne prepared for him, like a man overcome with sleep. He must have been dreaming surely, when in a corner of that chamber, at the level of his feet, he saw a dark face, brought out by a sudden glare of light — a face of which the stern lineaments, familiar THE FEAST OF BAAL. 275 surely, yet now so distorted as to be unrecognised, denoted some set purpose inassailable by pity or re- morse. In the gleaming eyes, fixed steadfastly on liis own, he read a horror that seemed to freeze his blood ; but even then in his ghastly trance the stout old heart laughed -within him, to acknowledge no sense of fear. Yes ; he must be dreaming. ^Miat else could mean these gathering shadows that oppressed his lungs, that smarted in his eyes, that numbed his faculties ? He was in a glow of torpid warmth now, conscious but of a heavy drowsiness, broken by leap- ing flashes of light ; while there passed before him, like a spirit floating across a sea of fire, the delicate head, the pale proud face, the matchless beauty of his queen. He stretched his gaunt old arms, he strove to rise, to cry out ; but his limbs failed him, his head drooped, his tongue clove to his mouth. 'A dream,' he thought again ; ' surely a dream.' But it was the last dream of the Great King, falling into that sleep from which he never woke on earth again. CHAPTER XX. GONE TO THE STARS. Bowed in the dust, his heart torn with anguish, as his mantle was rent from hem to hem, Arbaces gro- velled on his chamber floor, blind to the shades of coming night, deaf to the sounds of sacred riot and religious festivity that rang through all the city round. He was like a man in a trance ; and yet, though such noises were powerless to rouse his facul- ties, they woke at once to a distant echo, that his practised ear knew for the tramp of an armed party, to a faint familiar music his fighting instincts warned him was the clink of steel. With one spring he leaped to his feet, snatched spear and shield from the wall, drew his sword-belt tighter round his loins ; and so, with prospect of danger and necessity for action, felt he was a man again. GONE TO THE STABS. 277 Brave and wary, he ran on to a terrace of his palace which overlooked the court. His heart sank to perceive that it was already filled with spearmen, amongst whom two or three white -rohed priests of Baal were conspicuous. Something told him then that his enemies were upon him. Eemembering his fidelity to his old warrior lord, and the hostility he had never shrunk from provoking in that monarch's service, he knew, even while he recognised the spear- men as belonging to the queen's army, that some powerful conspiracy was in the ascendant, and he must die. At the same instant came across him the warning that Ishtar had read in his divining cup, under the semblance of blood. They were in the court ; they were crowding to the staircase. The only chance of saving his daugh- ter was to make such a desperate stand before the women's apartments as should give her time to escape by the terrace on the roof to an adjoining dwelling, and thence fly to take refuge. Where ? Not in the temple of Baal ; not in the palace of Semiramis. No, the last hope of safety must lie under the roof of the Great King. Most of the retainers were absent, partaking in the festivities of the night. Half a score or so 278 SARCHEDON. gathered round liim on the stairs, and of these he must dispatch one to warn Ishtar that they were assailed. Even in that anxious moment he remembered how, long ago, he had held a pass in Bactria, though sore outnumbered, and the Great King said it was well and bravely done. They called on him to surrender. They must search his palace, said their leader — one who had formerly been under his own command, whom he recognised as a bold, remorseless, and desperate man. 'You have no authority,' replied Arbaces, eager but to gain time, minute by minute. ' I am chief captain of all his hosts, under my lord the king.' The other was prompt and resolute enough. * May the king live for ever !' said he mechani- cally; adding, in short sharp tones, 'Open out, spear- men ! Advance, archers, and bend your bows !' The front rank of spears stepped aside, unmask- ing a line of bowmen, with every weapon drawn to the arrow's head. To pause was instant death. Arbaces raised his buckler, leaped down the staircase, and dashed into their midst. At first, archers and spearmen gave way before GONE TO THE STARS. 279 the assault of that practised warrior ; but what was one in the midst of scores who had sworn to put him to death ? With a gash from temple to chin, with a spear head in his body, a javelin through his thigh, he fell where he had been lying when they roused him, under the very feet of his own image, sculptured on the wall to celebrate his fame. An arm was raised to' strike, the angry steel quivered above his head ; nevertheless that threaten- ing spearman had followed Arbaces to victory more than once, and he would have forborne to slay his old leader, had he dared. But a hoarse voice rose, fierce and savage, above the din. ' Strike,' it said, ' and spare not ! Baal hath spoken, and the stars cannot lie !' The pitiless words came from a priest whose white robes hovered on the skirts of the encounter . They were followed by a downward thrust, a gush of blood, and a hollow groan. Turning on his face to die, Arbaces gasped a few broken syllables. The spearman who slew him, less remorseful now, like a wild-beast that has tasted blood, heard them many a night afterwards in his dreams, though they only murmured, ' The king hath spoken. king, live for ever ! ' 280 SAKCHEDON. Panting, pale, beside herself with fear, Ishtar had taken refuge, as her father bade, on the roof of the palace, with the intention of escaping thence into the street. At the very spot where she had met Sarchedon, watched a cloaked figure, and her heart leapt for one wild moment with the thought that the man she loved had dropped from the skies to save her at her need. Ere she could perceive he was not unattended, almost before she was conscious of her illusion, she found her arms pinioned, a shawl cast over her head, and herself borne forcibly away on stalwart shoulders, while a sweet soft voice whis- pering terms of passionate endearment in her ears, left no doubt as to the object and results of the out- rage to which she was exposed. Blindfold, gagged, half- stifled, she scarcely felt she was carried rapidly down several steps into the street ere she became unconscious. With the fresh air outside the walls, her senses returned, and she knew by its sidelong pace and the rate at which it travelled that she was riding a powerful dromedary, docile as an ox, swift as a courser, and to all appear- ance no more sensible of fatigue than a boat. Then a horror of despair came over her ; for she felt that those two she loved best in the world must GONE TO THE STARS. 281 be lost to her for eyer. Had Ai-baces been alive be would have rescued her. In such a captivity as seemed imminent, bow was she ever to set eyes on Sarcbedon again ? Tbe sbawl was still round her head; but its folds had been loosened, so that she might breathe more freely; and she could perceive the soft surface of the desert sand passing beneath her, as she glided on smooth and noiseless like a ghost. Utterly broken down, she bowed her head on her knees in an agony of despair; and still that whisper stole into her ear at intervals, with its hate- ful protestations of a love she loathed and an ad- miration she despised. So she journeyed into the desert, while her father lay dead in the court of his palace, and her lover sought her wildly, hurrying to and fro in a paroxysm of grief and fear. Once, in an early stage of her fearful journey, she was conscious that the dromedary had been urged to its utmost speed. She fancied, too, that she could distinguish shouts, and other sounds of strife. Muf- fled and confused, it was fortunate for her that she did not know their cause. With tbe first shades of evening, Sarcbedon had taken advantage of the darkness to escape. He had 282 SARCHEDON. no difficulty in finding an egress from the temple of Baal ; nor did he meet with any interruption from the priests, who, husied in their several offices, bore mthout exception an air of considerable excitement and preoccupation. One figure indeed he passed, wrapped in a mantle that completely shrouded face and form, of which there was something feminine in the graceful outlines, though the height was as the height of a man. It never moved, nor seemed aware of his presence, when he glided by, remaining in an attitude of profound meditation, conscious only of its own engrossing train of thought. Could he have seen the beautiful face, so fixed and rigid, behind that veil, could he have read the purpose burning under that gentle brow, he would have fled from the Great Queen in horror and loathing, faster even than he hurried towards Ishtar in anxiety and hope. No sooner was he clear of the temple than his spirits rose, his energy returned, and his project of escaping from Babylon with her he loved while there was yet time grew to a fierce over-mastering desire, like that of a man who is sufi'ocating for the air which is his life. Hastening to his home, he made ready Merodach for a journey, and bridled the good horse with his GONE TO THE STARS. 283 own hands ; then took his way through the city, now ahlaze with innumerable torches and ringing with sounds of festival, towards the palace of Arbaces. But the streets swarmed with revellers, and his progress was necessarily slow. Allien he arrived at the well-known dwelling, it was too late. The dead body of the chief captain lay stark and grim where it had fallen. The servants had fled, the place was empty, and Ishtar nowhere to be found. In such a catastrophe the first impulse of a brave man seems to be one of resistance and defiance, as though his combative instincts were aroused, and he could face his fate more calmly because he feels the worst has come at last. Cool and collected, Sarche- don soon satisfied himself that the woman he loved had been carried away by force from her father's dwelling ; and a few cautious questions in the streets enabled him to discover the gate by which she had left the to\Mi. Little by little he learned the maddening truth, and traced her through the gardens and vineyards that surrounded the city walls into the desert. Once on the sand, with a rising moon to help him, he could track the footmarks of her dromedary surely as 284 SARCHEDON. tlie bloodliouncl tracks a wounded deer. He had not travelled many furlongs ere he came up with a small band of wayfarers, plodding on their patient asses into the wilderness, and recognised the Israel- ite whom Assarac had released, and to whom, during his captivity in the camp of the Assyrians, Sarchedon had himself done more than one slight service. He reined in his horse, and learnt that a party such as he was in search of had passed them not long before. There were scarce half a score ; they were armed ; they travelled fast ; their horses were of the noblest breed, and the dromedary in their midst seemed to have the wings of the desert wind. Had he not better tarry with his informants where they meant to encamp till morning ? He would never overtake those whom he pursued. Tor the first time that night he smiled while he patted Merodach's neck, and put the good horse into a gallop once more. Stretching on with that long untiring stride, he was aware of a solitary horseman wandering aimlessly towards him, and riding at a foot's pace. For all ages it has been a true saying, that he whom one meets in the desert must be friend or foe. Sarchedon bore down on the other, and halting in front of GOXE TO THE STARS. 285 him, discovered, to his great surprise, that it was Sethos. The cup-bearer, who accompanied Ninyas on his fictitious lion-hunt outside the walls, had taken the earliest opportunity of leaving his young prince, when the latter rode back at sun-down to the city. Impressed by the vague warning of Beladon, he had followed as far as he could the advice it accompanied, and turned his horse's head towards the desert, as directed by his friend. But it was not in the nature of Sethos to perse- vere for any length of time in a course requiring sus- tained energy or self-denial. The fatigue of the long ride before him soon suggested itself painfully to his mind. Babylon with all her charms allured him irresistibly, now that he had really turned his back on her temptations ; Kalmim's dark eyes seemed to plead with his ovra inclinations against an abandon- ment of courtly life, an exchange of luxury and plea- sure for hardship and privation. It was not long before he guided his willing horse back towards the city, and so, pacing leisurely through the cool night air, came against his friend, galloping in fiery haste on his errand of life and death. 286 SAKCHEDON. * Have you seen them ?' exclaimed Sarchedon, pale, fierce, and breathless. * Shall I catch them ? How long have they gone past ?' ' Seen what ?' asked Sethos in turn, marvelling at the other's disturbed looks and wild imploring eyes. In a hoarse whisper, in the low quick accents of a desperate man, Sarchedon briefly described the party of which he was in pursuit. ' If it was daylight, they would be in sight even now,' replied the other ; and was entering into a long description of the dromedary's extraordinary speed and powers, which he had not failed to observe, although the little band had passed him at a pace which forbade his identifying those who composed it, when Sarchedon, giving his bridle - reins a shake, went away again in more furious haste than before, neither wishing him farewell, nor thanking him for tidings that seemed so welcome and yet so sad. * A woman,' thought Sethos, nodding sagely, and thinking he would be back with Kalmim by to-mor- row's dawn — ' a woman must needs be the cause of all this turmoil. Surely there is wormwood with the honey, and a two-edged sword in the scabbard of velvet and gold.' But when did such pithy saws ever preserve a GONE TO THE STARS. 287 man from foolish deeds ? Or where is the armour of proof to fence his heart from a pair of soft eyes, the mantle of wisdom that is not shrivelled to shreds in the hreath of a burning sigh ? Sethos rode steadily back to Babylon, and Sarchedon galloped on into the desert, like a falcon stooping for its prey. Piercing as were his eager eyes, sharpened of love and hate and fear, he was aware, by the swelling of Merodach's proud neck and the horse's voluntary increase of speed, that they were nearing the object of pursuit long ere his sight could distinguish cer- tain dusky shadows flying like vapours before him, but looming larger as his gallant war-horse gained on them with every stride. 'Merodach,' he muttered, 'king of horses, you are worthy of your name !' Then, in husky frantic tones, he shrieked out : * Stand, cowards, stand !' They were within ear- shot, and the dromedary was forced to its utmost speed; but a horseman wheeled round, and halted not a bow-shot from his approaching enemy, supported by a follower, who bore his shield. *It is a spirit,' said the latter; 'it is Abitur of the Mountains !' ' Fool, keep your arm down and cover me,' re- 288 SARCHEDON. plied the other, while, bending his bow behind the buckler, he took a long steady aim. Swift and straight as Sarchedon dashed in, the arrow flew swifter, straighter yet. It pierced through steel and silk and gold - embroidered baldrick; the very feathers that winged it were draggled red in blood. Faint, sick, and dizzy, the stricken man lowered himself on his horse's neck, while stars and moon and desert sand spun round him like a w^heel. Had not Merodach's instincts taught him to obey its moYements, balancing himself as it were under the swaying body, his rider must have fallen headlong to the earth. So while the successful archer and his shield- bearer followed their party well pleased, Sarchedon, helpless, senseless, yet cleaving still to the saddle, was carried back at a gallop towards Babylon, over the same ground that he had traversed so- gallantly when he bore the signet of Ninus to his queen. Once more the good horse snorted at an object in his path — snorted and swerved aside, casting his rider heavily to the sand, where lay a framework of gaunt white ribs, with a strip or two of putrid flesh, black and festering on the bones. GONE TO THE STARS. 289 For a moment the shock brought him to life. While his horse scoured away riderless, Sarchedon was aware, as if in a trance, that he had fallen across a splintered arrow bearing the same mark as that which was drinking his own life-blood : a royal tiara, and the symbol of Semiramis the queen. Ere he closed his eyes again, he saw a sheet of flame quiver in the sky. It flared above the city where his gods had come down in chariots of fire to take back with them the person of the Great King. END OF VOL. I. LOlTDOJi: BCLfoS AJfD SONS, PBtXTEES, PAXCBAfl BOAD, N.V rr UNIVERSITY OF ILLIN0I9-URBANA 3 0112 056541227 ^'^-^^ ^ l^Wl -n- ■ A :^ik . --^ i--'^.f^^i i ^ A ♦.