people. No man was allowed to ask anything of the gods for himself alone.
Every pious soul was rather to implore blessings for his nation; for was
not each only a part of the whole? and did not each man share in the
blessings granted to the whole kingdom? But especially they were
commanded to pray for the king, in whom the realm was embodied and
shadowed forth. It was this beautiful surrender of self for the public
weal, that had made the Persians great. The doctrines of the Egyptian
priesthood represented the Pharaohs as actual divinities, while the
Persian monarchs were only called "sons of the gods;" yet the power of
the latter was far more absolute and unfettered than that of the former;
the reason for this being that the Persians had been wise enough to free
themselves from priestly domination, while the Pharaohs, as we have seen,
if not entirely under the dominion of the priestly caste, were yet under
its influence in the most important matters.

The Egyptian intolerance of all strange religions was unknown in Asia.
The conquered Babylonians were allowed by Cyrus to retain their own gods,
after their incorporation in the great Asiatic kingdom. The Jews, Ionians
and inhabitants of Asia Minor, in short, the entire mass of nations
subject to Cambyses remained unmolested in possession of their hereditary
religions and customs.

Beside the great altar, therefore, might be seen many a smaller
sacrificial flame, kindled in honor of their own divinities, by the
envoys from the conquered provinces to this great birthday feast.

Viewed from a distance, the immense city looked like a gigantic furnace.
Thick clouds of smoke hovered over its towers, obscuring the light of the
burning May sun.

By the time the king had reached the palace, the multitude who had come
to take part in the festival had formed themselves into a procession of
interminable length, which wandered on through the straight streets of
Babylon towards the royal palace.

Their road was strewn with myrtle and palm-branches, roses, poppy and
oleander-blossoms, and with leaves of the silver poplar, palm and laurel;
the air perfumed with incense, myrrh, and a thousand other sweet odors.
Carpets and flags waved and fluttered from the houses.

Music too was there; the shrill peal of the Median trumpet, and soft tone
of the Phrygian flute; the Jewish cymbal and harp, Paphlagonian
tambourines and the stringed instruments of Ionia; Syrian kettle-drums
and cymbals, the shells and drums of the Arians from the mouth of the
Indus, and the loud notes of the Bactrian battle-trumpets. But above all
these resounded the rejoicing shouts of the Babylonian multitude,
subjugated by the Persians only a few short years before, and yet, like
all Asiatics, wearing their fetters with an air of gladness so long as
the fear of their tyrant was before their eyes.

The fragrant odors, the blaze of color and sparkling of gold and jewels,
the neighing of the horses, and shouts and songs of human beings, all
united to produce a whole, at once bewildering and intoxicating to the
senses and the feelings.

The messengers had not been sent up to Babylon empty-handed. Beautiful
horses, huge elephants and comical monkeys; rhinoceroses and buffaloes
adorned with housings and tassels; double-humped Bactrian camels with
gold collars on their shaggy necks; waggon-loads of rare woods and ivory,
woven goods of exquisite texture, casks of ingots and gold-dust, gold and
silver vessels, rare plants for the royal gardens, and foreign animals
for the preserves, the most remarkable of which were antelopes, zebras,
and rare monkeys and birds, these last being tethered to a tree in full
leaf and fluttering among the branches. Such were the offerings sent to
the great king of Persia.

They were the tribute of the conquered nations and, after having been
shown to the king, were weighed and tested by treasurers and secretaries,
either declared satisfactory, or found wanting and returned, in which
case the niggardly givers were condemned to bring a double tribute later.

[At the time of which we are writing, the kings of Persia taxed
their kingdom at whatever time and to whatever extent seemed good in
their own eyes. Cambyses' successor, Darius, was the first to
introduce a regular system of taxation, in consequence of which he
was nicknamed "the shopkeeper." Up to a much later period it still
remained the duty of certain districts to send natural products to
the court Herod. I. 192. Xenoph. Anab. IV. 5.]

The palace-gates were reached without hindrance, the way being kept clear
by lines of soldiers and whipbearers stationed on either side of the
street.

If the royal progress to the place of sacrifice, when five hundred
richly-caprisoned horses had been led behind the king's chariot, could be
called magnificent, and the march of the envoys a brilliant spectacle,
the great throne-room presented a vision of dazzling and magic beauty.

In the background, raised on six steps, each of which was guarded, as it
were, by two golden clogs, stood the throne of gold; above it, supported
by four golden pillars studded with precious stones, was a purple canopy,
on which appeared two winged discs, the king's Feruer.

[The Feruer or Ferwer is the spiritual part of every man-his soul
and reason. It was in existence before the man was horn, joins him
at his birth and departs at his death. The Ferwer keeps up a war
with the Diws or evil spirits, and is the element of man's
preservation in life. The moment he departs, the body returns to
its original elements. After death he becomes immortal if he has
done well, but if his deeds have been evil he is cast into hell. It
is right to call upon the Ferwer and entreat his help. He will
bring the prayer before God and on this account is represented as a
winged disc.]

Fan-bearers, high in office at the court, stood behind the throne, and,
on either side, those who sat at the king's table, his relations and
friends, and the most important among the officers of state, the priestly
caste and the eunuchs.

The walls and ceiling of the entire hall were covered with plates of
burnished gold, and the floor with purple carpets.

Before the silver gates lay winged bulls, and the king's body-guard-their
dress consisting of a gold cuirass under a purple overcoat, and the high
Persian cap, their swords in golden scabbards glittering with jewels, and
their lances ornamented with gold and silver apples, were stationed in
the court of the palace. Among them the band of the "Immortals" was
easily to be distinguished by their stately forms and dauntless bearing.

Officers, whose duty consisted in announcing and presenting strangers,
and who carried short ivory staves, led the deputies into the hall, and
up to the throne, where they cast themselves on the ground as though they
would kiss the earth, concealing their hands in the sleeves of their
robes. A cloth was bound over the mouth of every man before he was
allowed to answer the king's questions, lest the pure person of the king
should be polluted by the breath of common men.

Cambyses' severity or mildness towards the deputations with whose chiefs
he spoke, was proportioned to the obedience of their province and the
munificence of their tribute-offerings. Near the end of the train
appeared an embassy from the Jews, led by two grave men with sharply-cut
features and long beards. Cambyses called on them in a friendly tone to
stop.

The first of these men was dressed in the fashion of the Babylonian
aristocracy. The other wore a purple robe woven without seam, trimmed
with bells and tassels, and held in at the waist by a girdle of blue, red
and white. A blue garment was thrown over his shoulders and a little bag
suspended around his neck containing the sacred lots, the Urim and
Thummin, adorned with twelve precious stones set in gold, and bearing the
names of the tribes of Israel. The high-priest's brow was grave and
thoughtful. A white cloth was wound round his head, the ends of which
hung down to the shoulders.

"I rejoice to behold you once more, Belteshazzar," exclaimed the king to
the former of the two men. "Since the death of my father you have not
been seen at my gate."

The man thus addressed bowed humbly and answered: "The favor of the king
rejoices his servant! If it seem good unto thee, to cause the sun of thy
favor to shine on me, thine unworthy servant, so hearken unto my petition
for my nation, which thy great father caused to return unto the land of
their fathers' sepulchres. This old man at my side, Joshua, the
high-priest of our God, hath not feared the long journey to Babylon, that
he might bring his request before thy face. Let his speech be pleasing in
thine ears and his words bring forth fruit in thine heart."

"I foresee what ye desire of me," cried the king. "Am I wrong, priest, in
supposing that your petition refers to the building of the temple in your
native land?"

"Nothing can be hidden from the eyes of my lord," answered the priest,
bowing low. "Thy servants in Jerusalem desire to behold the face of their
ruler, and beseech thee by my mouth to visit the land of their fathers,
and to grant them permission to set forward the work of the temple,
concerning which thine illustrious father (the favor of our God rest upon
him), made a decree."

The king answered with a smile: "You have the craft of your nation, and
understand how to choose the right time and words for your petition. On
my birthday it is difficult for me to refuse my faithful people even one
request. I promise you, therefore, so soon as possible to visit Jerusalem
and the land of your fathers."

"By so doing thou wilt make glad the hearts of thy servants," answered
the priest; "our vines and olives will bear more fruit at thine approach,
our gates will lift up their heads to receive thee, and Israel rejoice
with shouts to meet his lord doubly blessed if as lord of the building--"

"Enough, priest, enough!" cried Cambyses. "Your first petition, I have
said it, shall not remain unfulfilled; for I have long desired to visit
the wealthy city of Tyre, the golden Sidon, and Jerusalem with its
strange superstitions; but were I to give permission for the building
now, what would remain for me to grant you in the coming year?"

"Thy servants will no more molest thee by their petitions, if thou grant
unto them this one, to finish the temple of the Lord their God," answered
the priest.

"Strange beings, these men of Palestine!" exclaimed Cambyses. "I have
heard it said that ye believe in one God alone, who can be represented by
no likeness, and is a spirit. Think ye then that this omnipresent Being
requires a house? Verily, your great spirit can be but a weak and
miserable creature, if he need a covering from the wind and rain, and a
shelter from the heat which he himself has created. If your God be like
ours, omnipresent, fall down before him and worship as we do, in every
place, and feel certain that everywhere ye will be heard of him!"

"The God of Israel hears his people in every place," exclaimed the
high-priest. "He heard us when we pined in captivity under the Pharaohs
far from our land; he heard us weeping by the rivers of Babylon. He chose
thy father to be the instrument of our deliverance, and will hear my
prayer this day and soften thine heart like wise. O mighty king, grant
unto thy servants a common place of sacrifice, whither our twelve tribes
may repair, an altar on the steps of which they can pray together, a
house in which to keep their holy feasts! For this permission we will
call down the blessing of God upon thine head and his curse upon thine
enemies."

"Grant unto my brethren the permission to build their temple!" added
Belteshazzar, who was the richest and most honorable and respected of the
Jews yet remaining in Babylon; a man whom Cyrus had treated with much
consideration, and of whom he had even taken counsel from time to time.

"Will ye then be peaceable, if I grant your petition?" asked the king.
"My father allowed you to begin the work and granted the means for its
completion. Of one mind, happy and content, ye returned to your native
land, but while pursuing your work strife and contention entered among
you. Cyrus was assailed by repeated letters, signed by the chief men of
Syria, entreating him to forbid the work, and I also have been lately
besought to do the same. Worship your God when and where ye will, but
just because I desire your welfare, I cannot consent to the prosecution
of a work which kindles discord among you."

"And is it then thy pleasure on this day to take back a favor, which thy
father made sure unto us by a written decree?" asked Belteshazzar.

"A written decree?"

"Which will surely be found even to this day laid up in the archives of
thy kingdom."

"Find this decree and show it me, and I will not only allow the building
to be continued, but will promote the same," answered the king; "for my
father's will is as sacred to me as the commands of the gods."

"Wilt thou allow search to be made in the house of the rolls at
Ecbatana?" asked Belteshazzar. "The decree will surely be found there."

"I consent, but I fear ye will find none. Tell thy nation, priest, that I
am content with the equipment of the men of war they have sent to take
the field against the Massagetae. My general Megabyzus commends their
looks and bearing. May thy people prove as valiant now as in the wars of
my father! You, Belteshazzar, I bid to my marriage feast, and charge you
to tell your fellows, Meshach and Abednego, next unto you the highest in
the city of Babylon, that I expect them this evening at my table."

"The God of my people Israel grant thee blessing and happiness," answered
Belteshazzar bowing low before the king.

"A wish which I accept!" answered the king, "for I do not despise the
power of your wonder-working great Spirit. But one word more,
Belteshazzar. Many Jews have lately been punished for reviling the gods
of the Babylonians. Warn your people! They bring down hatred on
themselves by their stiff-necked superstition, and the pride with which
they declare their own great spirit to be the only true God. Take example
by us; we are content with our own faith and leave others to enjoy theirs
in peace. Cease to look upon yourselves as better than the rest of the
world. I wish you well, for a pride founded on self-respect is pleasing
in mine eyes; but take heed lest pride degenerate into vainglory.
Farewell! rest assured of my favor."

The Jews then departed. They were disappointed, but not hopeless; for
Belteshazzar knew well that the decree, relative to the building of the
temple, must be in the archives at Ecbatana.

They were followed by a deputation from Syria, and by the Greeks of
Ionia; and then, winding up the long train, appeared a band of
wild-looking men, dressed in the skins of animals, whose features bespoke
them foreigners in Babylon. They wore girdles and shoulderbands of solid,
unwrought gold; and of the same precious metal were their bow-cases,
axes, lance-points, and the ornaments on their high fur caps. They were
preceded by a man in Persian dress, whose features proved him, however,
to be of the same race as his followers.

The king gazed at first on these envoys with wonder; then his brow
darkened, and beckoning the officer whose duty it was to present
strangers, he exclaimed "What can these men have to crave of me? If I
mistake not they belong to the Massagetae, to that people who are so soon
to tremble before my vengeance. Tell them, Gobryas, that an armed host is
standing on the Median plains ready to answer their demands with the
sword."

Gobryas answered, bowing low: "These men arrived this morning during the
sacrifice bringing huge burdens of the purest gold to purchase your
forbearance. When they heard that a great festival was being celebrated
in your honor, they urgently besought to be admitted into your presence,
that they might declare the message entrusted to them by their country."

The king's brow cleared and, after sharply scrutinizing the tall, bearded
Massageta, he said: "Let them come nearer. I am curious to know what
proposals my father's murderers are about to make me."

Gobryas made a sign, and the tallest and eldest of the Massagetae came up
close to the throne and began to speak loudly in his native tongue. He
was accompanied by the man in a Persian dress, who, as one of Cyrus'
prisoners of war, had learnt the Persian language, and now interpreted
one by one the sentences uttered by the spokesman of this wandering
tribe.

"We know," began the latter, "that thou, great king, art wroth with the
Massagetae because thy father fell in war with our tribe--a war which he
alone had provoked with a people who had done naught to offend him."

"My father was justified in punishing your nation," interrupted the king.
"Your Queen Tomyris had dared to refuse him her hand in marriage."

"Be not wroth, O King," answered the Massagetan, "when I tell thee that
our entire nation approved of that act. Even a child could see that the
great Cyrus only desired to add our queen to the number of his wives,
hoping, in his insatiable thirst for more territories, to gain our land
with her."

Cambyses was silent and the envoy went on. "Cyrus caused a bridge to be
made over our boundary river, the Araxes. We were not dismayed at this,
and Tomyris sent word that he might save himself this trouble, for that
the Massagetae were willing either to await him quietly in their own
land, leaving the passage of the river free, or to meet him in his. Cyrus
decided, by the advice of the dethroned king of Lydia, (as we learnt
afterwards, through some prisoners of war) on meeting us in our own land
and defeating us by a stratagem. With this intention he sent at first
only a small body of troops, which could be easily dispersed and
destroyed by our arrows and lances, and allowed us to seize his camp
without striking a blow. Believing we had defeated this insatiable
conqueror, we feasted on his abundant stores, and, poisoned by the sweet
unknown drink which you call wine, fell into a stupefied slumber, during
which his soldiers fell upon us, murdered the greater number of our
warriors and took many captives. Among the latter was the brave, young
Spargapises, our queen's son.

"Hearing in his captivity, that his mother was willing to conclude peace
with your nation as the price of his liberty, he asked to have his chains
taken off. The request was granted, and on obtaining the use of his hands
he seized a sword and stabbed himself, exclaiming: 'I sacrifice my life
for the freedom of my nation.'"

"No sooner did we hear the news that the young prince we loved so well
had died thus, than we assembled all the forces yet left to us from your
swords and fetters. Even old men and boys flew to arms to revenge our
noble Spargapises, and sacrifice themselves, after his example, for
Massagetaen freedom. Our armies met; ye were worsted and Cyrus fell. When
Tomyris found his body lying in a pool of human blood, she cried:
'Methinks, insatiable conqueror, thou art at last sated with blood!' The
troop, composed of the flower of your nobility, which you call the
Immortals, drove us back and carried your father's dead body forth from
our closest ranks. You led them on, fighting like a lion. I know you
well, and that wound across your manly face, which adorns it like a
purple badge of honor, was made by the sword now hanging at my side."

A movement passed through the listening crowd; they trembled for the bold
speaker's life. Cambyses, however, looked pleased, nodded approvingly to
the man and answered: "Yes, I recognize you too now; you rode a red horse
with golden trappings. You shall see that the Persians know how to honor
courage. Bow down before this man, my friends, for never did I see a
sharper sword nor a more unwearied arm than his; and such heroic courage
deserves honor from the brave, whether shown by friend or foe. As for
you, Massagetae, I would advise you to go home quickly and prepare for
war; the mere recollection of your strength and courage increases my
longing to test it once more. A brave foe, by Mithras, is far better than
a feeble friend. You shall be allowed to return home in peace; but beware
of remaining too long within my reach, lest the thought of the vengeance
I owe my father's soul should rouse my anger, and your end draw suddenly
nigh."

A bitter smile played round the bearded mouth of the warrior as he made
answer to this speech. "The Massagetae deem your father's soul too well
avenged already. The only son of our queen, his people's pride, and in no
way inferior to Cyrus, has bled for him. The shores of the Araxes have
been fertilized by the bodies of fifty thousand of my countrymen, slain
as offerings for your dead king, while only thirty thousand fell there on
your own side. We fought as bravely as you, but your armor is better able
to resist the arrows which pierce our clothing of skins. And lastly, as
the most cruel blow of all, ye slew our queen."

"Tomyris is dead?" exclaimed Cambyses interrupting him. "You mean to tell
me that the Persians have killed a woman? Answer at once, what has
happened to your queen?"

"Tomyris died ten months ago of grief for the loss of her only son, and I
have therefore a right to say that she too fell a sacrifice to the war
with Persia and to your father's spirit."

"She was a great woman," murmured Cambyses, his voice unsteady from
emotion. "Verily, I begin to think that the gods themselves have
undertaken to revenge my father's blood on your nation. Yet I tell you
that, heavy as your losses may seem, Spargapises, Tomyris and fifty
thousand Massagetae can never outweigh the spirit of one king of Persia,
least of all of a Cyrus."

"In our country," answered the envoy, "death makes all men equal. The
spirits of the king and the slave are of equal worth. Your father was a
great man, but we have undergone awful sufferings for his sake. My tale
is not yet ended. After the death of Tomyris discord broke out among the
Massagetae. Two claimants for the crown appeared; half our nation fought
for the one, half for the other, and our hosts were thinned, first by
this fearful civil war and then by the pestilence which followed in its
track. We can no longer resist your power, and therefore come with heavy
loads of pure gold as the price of peace."

"Ye submit then without striking a blow?" asked Cambyses. "Verily, I had
expected something else from such heroes; the numbers of my host, which
waits assembled on the plains of Media, will prove that. We cannot go to
battle without an enemy. I will dismiss my troops and send a satrap. Be
welcome as new subjects of my realm."

The red blood mounted into the cheeks of the Massagetan warrior on
hearing these words, and he answered in a voice trembling with
excitement: "You err, O King, if you imagine that we have lost our old
courage, or learnt to long for slavery. But we know your strength; we
know that the small remnant of our nation, which war and pestilence have
spared, cannot resist your vast and well-armed hosts. This we admit,
freely and honestly as is the manner of the Massagetae, declaring however
at the same time, that we are determined to govern ourselves as of yore,
and will never receive laws or ordinances from a Persian satrap. You are
wroth, but I can bear your angry gaze and yet repeat my declaration."

"And my answer," cried Cambyses, "is this: Ye have but one choice: either
to submit to my sceptre, become united to the kingdom of Persia under the
name of the Massagetan province, and receive a satrap as my
representative with due reverence, or to look upon yourselves as my
enemies, in which case you will be forced by arms to conform to those
conditions which I now offer you in good part. To-day you could secure a
ruler well-affected to your cause, later you will find in me only a
conqueror and avenger. Consider well before you answer."

"We have already weighed and considered all," answered the warrior, "and,
as free sons of the desert, prefer death to bondage. Hear what the
council of our old men has sent me to declare to you:--The Massageta;
have become too weak to oppose the Persians, not through their own fault,
but through the heavy visitation of our god, the sun. We know that you
have armed a vast host against us, and we are ready to buy peace and
liberty by a yearly tribute. But if you persist in compelling us to
submit by force of arms, you can only bring great damage on yourselves.
The moment your army nears the Araxes, we shall depart with our wives and
children and seek another home, for we have no fixed dwellings like
yours, but are accustomed to rove at will on our swift horses, and to
rest in tents. Our gold we shall take with us, and shall fill up,
destroy, and conceal the pits in which you could find new treasures. We
know every spot where gold is to be found, and can give it in abundance,
if you grant us peace and leave us our liberty; but, if you venture to
invade our territory, you win nothing but an empty desert and an enemy
always beyond your reach,--an enemy who may become formidable, when he
has had time to recover from the heavy losses which have thinned his
ranks. Leave us in peace and freedom and we are ready to give every year
five thousand swift horses of the desert, besides the yearly tribute of
gold; we will also come to the help of the Persian nation when threatened
by any serious danger."

The envoy ceased speaking. Cambyses did not answer at once; his eyes were
fixed on the ground in deep thought. At last he said, rising at the same
time from his throne: "We will take counsel on this matter over the wine
to-night, and to-morrow you shall hear what answer you can bring to your
people. Gobryas, see that these men are well cared for, and send the
Massagetan, who wounded me in battle, a portion of the best dishes from
my own table."




CHAPTER XV.

During these events Nitetis had been sitting alone in her house on the
hanging-gardens, absorbed in the saddest thoughts. To-day, for the first
time, she had taken part in the general sacrifice made by the king's
wives, and had tried to pray to her new gods in the open air, before the
fire-altars and amidst the sound of religious songs strange to her ears.

Most of the inhabitants of the harem saw her to-day for the first time,
and instead of raising their eyes to heaven, had fixed them on her during
the ceremony. The inquisitive, malevolent gaze of her rivals, and the
loud music resounding from the city, disquieted and distracted her mind.
Her thoughts reverted painfully to the solemn, sultry stillness of the
gigantic temples in her native land where she had worshipped the gods of
her childhood so earnestly at the side of her mother and sister; and much
as she longed, just on this day, to pray for blessings on her beloved
king, all her efforts were in vain; she could arouse no devotional
feeling. Kassandane and Atossa knelt at her side, joining heartily in the
very hymns which to Nitetis were an empty sound.

It cannot be denied, that many parts of these hymns contain true poetry;
but they become wearisome through the constant repetition and invocation
of the names of good and bad spirits. The Persian women had been taught
from childhood, to look upon these religious songs as higher and holier
than any other poetry. Their earliest prayers had been accompanied by
such hymns, and, like everything else which has come down to us from our
fathers, and which we have been told in the impressionable time of
childhood is divine and worthy of our reverence, they were still sacred
and dear to them and stirred their most devotional feelings.

But for Nitetis, who had been spoilt for such things by an intimate
acquaintance with the best Greek poets, they could have but little charm.
What she had lately been learning in Persia with difficulty had not yet
become a part of herself, and so, while Kassandane and Atossa went
through all the outward rites as things of course and perfectly natural
to them, Nitetis could only prevent herself from forgetting the
prescribed ceremonials by a great mental effort, and dreaded lest she
should expose her ignorance to the jealous, watchful gaze of her rivals.

And then, too, only a few minutes before the sacrifice, she had received
her first letter from Egypt. It lay unread on her dressing-table, and
came into her mind whenever she attempted to pray. She could not help
wondering what news it might bring her. How were her parents? and how had
Tachot borne the parting from herself, and from the prince she loved so
well?

The ceremony over, Nitetis embraced Kassandane and Atossa, and drew a
long, deep breath, as if delivered from some threatening danger. Then
ordering her litter, she was carried back to her dwelling, and hastened
eagerly to the table where her letter lay. Her principal attendant, the
young girl who on the journey had dressed her in her first Persian robes,
received her with a smile full of meaning and promise, which changed
however, into a look of astonishment, on seeing her mistress seize the
letter, without even glancing at the articles of dress and jewelery which
lay on the table.

Nitetis broke the seal quickly and was sitting down, in order to begin
the difficult work of reading her letter, when the girl came up, and with
clasped hands, exclaimed: "By Mithras, my mistress, I cannot understand
you. Either you are ill, or that ugly bit of grey stuff must contain some
magic which makes you blind to everything else. Put that roll away and
look at the splendid presents that the great king (Auramazda grant him
victory!) has sent while you were at the sacrifice. Look at this
wonderful purple robe with the white stripe and the rich silver
embroidery; and then the tiara with the royal diamonds! Do not you know
the high meaning of these gifts? Cambyses begs, (the messenger said
'begs,' not 'commands') you to wear these splendid ornaments at the
banquet to-day. How angry Phaedime will be! and how the others will look,
for they have never received such presents. Till now only Kassandane has
had a right to wear the purple and diamonds; so by sending you these
gifts, Cambyses places you on a level with his mother, and chooses you to
be his favorite wife before the whole world.' O pray allow me to dress
you in these new and beautiful things. How lovely you will look! How
angry and envious the others will feel! If I could only be there when you
enter the hall! Come, my mistress, let me take off your simple dress, and
array you, (only as a trial you know,) in the robes that as the new queen
you ought to wear."

Nitetis listened in silence to the chattering girl, and admired the gifts
with a quiet smile. She was woman enough to rejoice at the sight, for he,
whom she loved better than life itself, had sent them; and they were a
proof that she was more to the king than all his other wives;--that
Cambyses really loved her. The long wished-for letter fell unread to the
ground, the girl's wish to dress her was granted without a word, and in a
short time the splendid toilette was completed. The royal purple added to
her beauty, the high flashing tiara made her slender, perfect figure seem
taller than it really was, and when, in the metal mirror which lay on her
dressing table, she beheld herself for the first time in the glorious
likeness of a queen, a new expression dawned on her features. It seemed
as if a portion of her lord's pride were reflected there. The frivolous
waiting-woman sank involuntarily on her knees, as her eyes, full of
smiling admiration, met the radiant glance of Nitetis,--of the woman who
was beloved by the most powerful of men.

For a few moments Nitetis gazed on the girl, lying in the dust at her
feet; but soon shook her beautiful head, and blushing for shame, raised
her kindly, kissed her forehead, gave her a gold bracelet, and then,
perceiving her letter on the ground, told her she wished to be alone.
Mandane ran, rather than walked, out of the room in her eagerness to show
the splendid present she had just received to the inferior attendants and
slaves; and Nitetis, her eyes glistening and her heart beating with
excess of happiness, threw herself on to the ivory chair which stood
before her dressing-table, uttered a short prayer of thanksgiving to her
favorite Egyptian goddess, the beautiful Hathor, kissed the gold chain
which Cambyses had given her after plunging into the water for her ball,
then her letter from home, and rendered almost over-confident by her
great happiness, began to unroll it, slowly sinking back into the purple
cushions as she did so and murmuring: "How very, very happy I am! Poor
letter, I am sure your writer never thought Nitetis would leave you a
quarter of an hour on the ground unread."

In this happy mood she began to read, but her face soon grew serious and
when she had finished, the letter fell once more to the ground.

Her eyes, whose proud glance had brought the waiting-maid to her feet,
were dimmed by tears; her head, carried so proudly but a few minutes
before, now lay on the jewels which covered the table. Tears rolled down
among the pearls and diamonds, as strange a contrast as the proud tiara
and its unhappy, fainting wearer.

The letter read as follows:

"Ladice the wife of Amasis and Queen of Upper and Lower Egypt, to her
daughter Nitetis, consort of the great King of Persia.

"It has not been our fault, my beloved daughter, that you have remained
so long without news from home. The trireme by which we sent our letters
for you to AEgae was detained by Samian ships of war, or rather pirate
vessels, and towed into the harbor of Astypalaea.

"Polykrates' presumption increases with the continual success of his
undertakings, and since his victory over the Lesbians and Milesians, who
endeavored to put a stop to his depredations, not a ship is safe from the
attacks of his pirate vessels.

"Pisistratus is dead," but his sons are friendly to Polykrates. Lygdamis
is under obligations to him, and cannot hold his own in Naxos without
Samian help. He has won over the Amphiktyonic council to his side by
presenting the Apollo of Delos with the neighboring island of Rhenea. His
fifty-oared vessels, requiring to be manned by twenty-thousand men, do
immense damage to all the seafaring nations; yet not one dares to attack
him, as the fortifications of his citadel and his splendid harbor are
almost impregnable, and he himself always surrounded by a well-drilled
body-guard.

"Through the traders, who followed the fortunate Kolxus to the far west,
and these pirate ships, Samos will become the richest of islands and
Polykrates the most powerful of men, unless, as your father says, the
gods become envious of such unchanging good fortune and prepare him a
sudden and speedy downfall.

"In this fear Amasis advised Polykrates as his old friend, to put away
from him the thing he held dearest, and in such a manner that he might be
sure of never receiving it again. Polykrates adopted this advice and
threw into the sea, from the top of the round tower on his citadel, his
most valuable signet-ring, an unusually large sardonyx held by two
dolphins. This ring was the work of Theodorus, and a lyre, the symbol of
the ruler, was exquisitely engraved on the stone."

"Six days later, however, the ring was found by Polykrates' cooks in the
body of a fish. He sent us news at once of this strange occurrence, but
instead of rejoicing your father shook his grey head sadly, saying: 'he
saw now it was impossible for any one to avoid his destiny!' On the same
day he renounced the friendship of Polykrates and wrote him word, that he
should endeavor to forget him in order to avoid the grief of seeing his
friend in misfortune.

"Polykrates laughed at this message and returned the letters his pirates
had taken from our trireme, with a derisive greeting. For the future all
your letters will be sent by Syria.

"You will ask me perhaps, why I have told you this long story, which has
so much less interest for you than any other home news. I answer: to
prepare you for your father's state. Would you have recognized the
cheerful, happy, careless Amasis in that gloomy answer to his Samian
friend?

"Alas, my husband has good reason to be sad, and since you left us, my
own eyes have seldom been free from tears. My time is passed either at
the sick-bed of your sister or in comforting your father and guiding his
steps; and though much in need of sleep I am now taking advantage of
night to write these lines.

"Here I was interrupted by the nurses, calling me to your sister Tachot,
your own true friend.

"How often the dear child has called you in her feverish delirium; and
how carefully she treasures your likeness in wax, that wonderful portrait
which bears evidence not only of the height to which Greek art has risen,
but of the master hand of the great Theodorus. To-morrow it will be sent
to AEgina, to be copied in gold, as the soft wax becomes injured from
frequent contact with your sister's burning hands and lips.

"And now, my daughter, you must summon all your courage to hear what I
need all my strength of mind to tell-the sad story of the fate which the
gods have decreed for our house.

"For three days after you left us Tachot wept incessantly. Neither our
comforting words nor your father's good advice--neither offerings nor
prayers--could avail to lessen her grief or divert her mind. At last on
the fourth day she ceased to weep and would answer our questions in a low
voice, as if resigned; but spent the greater part of every day sitting
silently at her wheel. Her fingers, however, which used to be so skilful,
either broke the threads they tried to spin, or lay for hours idle in her
lap, while she was lost in dreams. Your father's jokes, at which she used
to laugh so heartily, made no impression on her, and when I endeavored to
reason with her she listened in anxious suspense.

"If I kissed her forehead and begged her to control herself, she would
spring up, blushing deeply, and throw herself into my arms, then sit down
again to her wheel and begin to pull at the threads with almost frantic
eagerness; but in half an hour her hands would be lying idle in her lap
again and her eyes dreamily fixed, either on the ground, or on some spot
in the air. If we forced her to take part in any entertainment, she would
wander among the guests totally uninterested in everything that was
passing.

"We took her with us on the great pilgrimage to Bubastis, during which
the Egyptians forget their usual gravity, and the shores of the Nile look
like a great stage where the wild games of the satyrs are being performed
by choruses, hurried on in the unrestrained wantonness of intoxication.
When she saw thus for the first time an entire people given up to the
wildest and most unfettered mirth and enjoyment, she woke up from her
silent brooding thoughts and began to weep again, as in the first days
after you went away.

"Sad and perplexed, we brought our poor child back to Sais.

"Her looks were not those of a common mortal. She grew thinner, and we
all fancied, taller; her complexion was white, and almost transparent,
with a tender bloom on her cheek, which I can only liken to a young
rose-leaf or the first faint blush of sunrise. Her eyes are still
wonderfully clear and bright. It always seems to me as if they looked
beyond the heaven and earth which we see.

"As she continued to suffer more and more from heat in the head and
hands, while her tender limbs often shivered with a slight chill, we sent
to Thebes for Thutmes, the most celebrated physician for inward
complaints.

"The experienced priest shook his head on seeing your sister and foretold
a serious illness. He forbade her to spin or to speak much. Potions of