woman speak in this way before, except his mother; the clever way in
which Nitetis acknowledged, and laid stress on, his right to command her
every act, was very flattering to his self-love, and her pride found an
echo in his own haughty disposition.  He nodded approvingly and answered:
"You have spoken well.  A separate dwelling shall be appointed you.
I, and no one else, will prescribe your rules of life and conduct.  This
day the pleasant palace on the hanging-gardens shall be prepared for your
reception."

"A thousand, thousand thanks," cried Nitetis.  "You little know the
blessing you are bestowing in this permission.  Again and again I have
begged your brother Bartja to repeat the story of these gardens, and the
love of the king who raised that verdant and blooming hill, pleased us
better than all the other glories of your vast domains."

"To-morrow," answered the king, "you can enter your new abode.  But tell
me now how my messengers pleased you and your countrymen."

"How can you ask?  Who could know the noble Croesus without loving him?
Who could fail to admire the beauty of the young heroes, your friends?
They have all become dear to us, but your handsome brother Bartja
especially, won all hearts.  The Egyptians have no love for strangers,
and yet the gaping crowd would burst into a murmur of admiration, when
his beautiful face appeared among them."

At these words the king's brow darkened; he struck his horse so sharply
that the creature reared, and then turning it quickly round he gallopped
to the front and soon reached the walls of Babylon.

...........................

Though Nitetis had been brought up among the huge temples and palaces of
Egypt, she was still astonished at the size and grandeur of this gigantic
city.

Its walls seemed impregnable; they measured more than seventy-five feet
--[Fifty ells.  The Greek ell is equal to one foot and a half English.]--
in height and their breadth was so great, that two chariots could
conveniently drive abreast upon them.  These mighty defences were crowned
and strengthened by two hundred and fifty high towers, and even these
would have been insufficient, if Babylon had not been protected on one
side by impassable morasses.  The gigantic city lay on both
shores of the Euphrates.  It was more than forty miles in circumference,
and its walls enclosed buildings surpassing in size and grandeur even the
Pyramids and the temples of Thebes.

[These numbers and measurements are taken partly from Herodotus,
partly from Diodorus, Strabo and Arrian.  And even the ruins of this
giant city, writes Lavard, are such as to allow a very fair
conclusion of its enormous size.  Aristotle (Polit. III.  I.) says
Babylon's dimensions were not those of a city, but of a nation.]

The mighty gates of brass, through which the royal train entered the
city, had opened wide to receive this noble company.  This entrance was
defended on each side by a strong tower, and before each of these towers
lay, as warder, a gigantic winged bull carved in stone, with a human
head, bearded and solemn.  Nitetis gazed at these gates in astonishment,
and then a joyful smile lighted up her face, as she looked up the long
broad street so brightly and beautifully decorated to welcome her.

The moment they beheld the king and the gilded carriage, the multitude
burst into loud shouts of joy, but when Bartja, the people's darling,
came in sight, the shouts rose to thunder-peals and shrieks of delight,
which seemed as if they would never end.  It was long since the populace
had seen Cambyses, for in accordance with Median customs the king seldom
appeared in public.  Like the Deity, he was to govern invisibly, and his
occasional appearance before the nation to be looked upon as a festival
and occasion of rejoicing.  Thus all Babylon had come out to-day to look
upon their awful ruler and to welcome their favorite Bartja on his
return.  The windows were crowded with eager, curious women, who threw
flowers before the approaching train, or poured sweet perfumes from above
as they passed by.  The pavement was thickly strewn with myrtle and palm
branches, trees of different kinds had been placed before the house-
doors, carpets and gay cloths hung from the windows, garlands of flowers
were wreathed from house to house, fragrant odors of incense and sandal-
wood perfumed the air, and the way was lined with thousands of gaping
Babylonians dressed in white linen shirts, gaily-colored woollen
petticoats and short cloaks, and carrying long staves headed with
pomegranates, birds, or roses, of gold or silver.

The streets through which the procession moved were broad and straight,
the houses on either side, built of brick, tall and handsome.  Towering
above every thing else, and visible from all points, rose the gigantic
temple of Bel.  Its colossal staircase, like a huge serpent, wound round
and round the ever-diminishing series of stories composing the tower,
until it reached the summit crowned by the sanctuary itself.

[This temple of Bel, which many consider may have been the tower of
Babel of Genesis XI., is mentioned by Herodotus I.  181. 182. 183.
Diodorus II. 8. 9.  (Ktesias), Strabo 738 and many other ancient
writers.  The people living in its neighborhood now call the ruins
Birs Nimrod, the castle of Nimrod.  In the text we have
reconstructed it as far as possible from the accounts of classical
writers.  The first story, which is still standing, in the midst of
a heap of ruins, is 260 feet high.  The walls surrounding the tower
are said to be still clearly recognizable, and were 4000 feet long
and 3000 broad. ]

The procession approached the royal palace.  This corresponded in its
enormous size to the rest of the vast city.  The walls surrounding it
were covered with gaily-colored and glazed representations of strange
figures made up of human beings, birds, quadrupeds and fishes; hunting-
scenes, battles and solemn processions.  By the side of the river towards
the north, rose the hanging-gardens, and the smaller palace lay toward
the east on the other bank of the Euphrates, connected with the larger
one by the wondrous erection, a firm bridge of stone.

Our train passed on through the brazen gates of three of the walls
surrounding the palace, and then halted.  Nitetis was lifted from her
carriage by bearers; she was at last in her new home, and soon after in
the apartments of the women's house assigned to her temporary use.

Cambyses, Bartja and their friends already known to us, were still
standing in the gaily-carpeted court of the palace, surrounded by at
least a hundred splendid dignitaries in magnificent dresses, when
suddenly a sound of loud female voices was heard, and a lovely Persian
girl richly dressed, her thick fair hair profusely wreathed with pearls,
rushed into the court, pursued by several women older than herself.  She
ran up to the group of men; Cambyses with a smile placed himself in her
path, but the impetuous girl slipped adroitly past him, and in another
moment was hanging on Bartja's neck, crying and laughing by turns.

The attendants in pursuit prostrated themselves at a respectful distance,
but Cambyses, on seeing the caresses lavished by the young girl on her
newly-returned brother, cried: "For shame, Atossa!  remember that since
you began to wear ear-rings you have ceased to be a child!

[Ear-rings were given to the Persian girls in their fifteenth year,
the marriageable age.  Vendid.  Farlard XIV. 66.  At this age too
boys as well as girls were obliged to wear the sacred cord, Kuctl or
Kosti as a girdle; and were only allowed to unloose it in the night.
The making of this cord is attended with many ceremonies, even among
the Persians of our own day.  Seventy-two threads must be employed,
but black wool is prohibited.]

It is right that you should rejoice to see your brother again, but a
king's daughter must never forget what is due to her rank, even in her
greatest joy.  Go back to your mother directly.  I see your attendants
waiting yonder.  Go and tell them, that as this is a day of rejoicing I
will allow your heedless conduct to pass unpunished, but the next time
you appear unbidden in these apartments, which none may enter without
permission, I shall tell Boges to keep you twelve days in confinement.
Remember this, thoughtless child, and tell our mother, Bartja and I are
coming to visit her.  Now give me a kiss.  You will not?  We shall see,
capricious little one!"  And so saying the king sprang towards his
refractory little sister, and seizing both her hands in one of his own,
bent back her charming head with the other and kissed her in spite of
her resistance.  She screamed from the violence of his grasp, and ran
away crying to her attendants, who took her back to her apartments.

When Atossa had disappeared, Bartja said; "You were too rough with the
little one, Cambyses.  She screamed with pain!"

Once more the king's face clouded, but suppressing the harsh words which
trembled on his lips, he only answered, turning towards the house: "Let
us come to our mother now; she begged me to bring you as soon as you
arrived.  The women, as usual, are all impatience.  Nitetis told me your
rosy cheeks and fair curls had bewitched the Egyptian women too.  I would
advise you to pray betimes to Mithras  for eternal youth, and for his
protection against the wrinkles of age!"

"Do you mean to imply by these words that I have no virtues which could
make an old age beautiful?"  asked Bartja.

"I explain my words to no one.  Come."

"But I ask for an opportunity of proving, that I am inferior to none of
my nation in manly qualities."

"For that matter, the shouts of the Babylonians today will have been
proof enough, that deeds are not wanted from you, in order to win their
admiration."

"Cambyses!"

"Now come!  We are just on the eve of a war with the Massagetae; there
you will have a good opportunity of proving what you are worth."

A few minutes later, and Bartja was in the arms of his blind mother.
She had been waiting for her darling's arrival with a beating heart, and
in the joy of hearing his voice once more, and of being able to lay her
hands again on that beloved head, she forgot everything else--even her
first-born son who stood by smiling bitterly, as he watched the rich and
boundless stream of a mother's love flowing out to his younger brother.

Cambyses had been spoiled from his earliest infancy.  Every wish had been
fulfilled, every look regarded as a command; and thus he grew up totally
unable to brook contradiction, giving way to the most violent anger if
any of his subjects (and he knew no human beings who were not his
subjects) dared to oppose him.

His father Cyrus, conqueror of half the world--the man whose genius had
raised Persia from a small nation to the summit of earthly greatness--who
had secured for himself the reverence and admiration of countless
subjugated tribes--this great king was incapable of carrying out in his
own small family-circle the system of education he had so successfully
adopted towards entire countries.  He could see nought else in Cambyses
but the future king of Persia, and commanded his subjects to pay him an
unquestioning obedience, entirely forgetful of the fact that he who is to
govern well must begin by learning to obey.

Cambyses had been the first-born son of Kassandane, the wife whom Cyrus
had loved and married young; three daughters followed, and at last,
fifteen years later, Bartja had come into the world.  Their eldest son
had already outgrown his parents' caresses, when this little child
appeared to engross all their care and love.  His gentle, affectionate
and clinging nature made him the darling of both father and mother:
Cambyses was treated with consideration by his parents, but their love
was for Bartja.  Cambyses was brave; he distinguished himself often in
the field, but his disposition was haughty and imperious; men served him
with fear and trembling, while Bartja, ever sociable and sympathizing,
converted all his companions into loving friends.  As to the mass of
the people, they feared the king, and trembled when he drew near,
notwithstanding the lavish manner in which he showered rich gifts around
him; but they loved Bartja, and believed they saw in him the image of the
great Cyrus the "Father of his people."

Cambyses knew well that all this love, so freely given to Bartja, was not
to be bought.  He did not hate his younger brother, but he felt annoyed
that a youth who had as yet done nothing to distinguish himself, should
be honored and revered as if he were already a hero and public
benefactor.  Whatever annoyed or displeased him he considered must be
wrong; where he disapproved he did not spare his censures, and from his
very childhood, Cambyses' reproofs had been dreaded even by the mighty.

The enthusiastic shouts of the populace, the overflowing love of his
mother and sister, and above all, the warm encomiums expressed by
Nitetis, had excited a jealousy which his pride had never allowed
hitherto.  Nitetis had taken his fancy in a remarkable degree.  This
daughter of a powerful monarch, like himself disdaining everything mean
and inferior, had yet acknowledged him to be her superior, and to win his
favor had not shrunk from the laborious task of mastering his native
language.  These qualities, added to her peculiar style of beauty, which
excited his admiration from its rare novelty, half Egyptian half Greek,
(her mother having been a Greek), had not failed to make a deep
impression on him.  But she had been liberal in her praise of Bartja;
that was enough to disturb Cambyses' mind and prepare the way for
jealousy.

As he and his brother were leaving the women's apartments, Cambyses
adopted a hasty resolution and exclaimed: "You asked me just now for an
opportunity of proving your courage.  I will not refuse.  The Tapuri have
risen; I have sent troops to the frontier.  Go to Rhagae, take the
command and show what you are worth."

"Thanks, brother," cried Bartja.  "May I take my friends, Darius, Gyges
and Zopyrus with me?"

"That favor shall be granted too.  I hope you will all do your duty
bravely and promptly, that you may be back in three months to join the
main army in the expedition of revenge on the Massagetae.  It will take
place in spring."

"I will start to-morrow."

"Then farewell."

"If Auramazda should spare my life and I should return victorious, will
you promise to grant me one favor?"

"Yes, I will."

"Now, then, I feel confident of victory, even if I should have to stand
with a thousand men against ten thousand of the enemy."  Bartja's eyes
sparkled, he was thinking of Sappho.

"Well," answered his brother, "I shall be very glad if your actions bear
out these glowing words.  But stop; I have something more to say.  You
are now twenty years of age; you must marry.  Roxana, daughter of the
noble Hydarnes, is marriageable, and is said to be beautiful.  Her birth
makes her a fitting bride for you."

"Oh!  brother, do not speak of marriage; I .  .  ."  "You must marry, for
I have no children."

"But you are still young; you will not remain childless.  Besides, I do
not say that I will never marry.  Do not be angry, but just now, when I
am to prove my courage, I would rather hear nothing about women."

"Well, then, you must marry Roxana when you return from the North.  But I
should advise you to take her with you to the field.  A Persian generally
fights better if he knows that, beside his most precious treasures, he
has a beautiful woman in his tent to defend."

"Spare me this one command, my brother.  I conjure thee, by the soul of
our father, not to inflict on me a wife of whom I know nothing, and never
wish to know.  Give Roxana to Zopyrus, who is so fond of women, or to
Darius or Bessus, who are related to her father Hydarnes.  I cannot love
her, and should be miserable .  .  ."

Cambyses interrupted him with a laugh, exclaiming: "Did you learn these
notions in Egypt, where it is the custom to be contented with one wife?
In truth, I have long repented having sent a boy like you abroad.  I am
not accustomed to bear contradiction, and shall listen to no excuses
after the war.  This once I will allow you to go to the field without a
wife.  I will not force you to do what, in your opinion, might endanger
your valor.  But it seems to me that you have other and more secret
reasons for refusing my brotherly proposal.  If that is the case, I am
sorry for you.  However, for the present, you can depart, but after the
war I will hear no remonstrances.  You know me."

"Perhaps after the war I may ask for the very thing, which I am refusing
now--but never for Roxana!  It is just as unwise to try to make a man
happy by force as it is wicked to compel him to be unhappy, and I thank
you for granting my request."

"Don't try my powers of yielding too often!--How happy you look!
I really believe you are in love with some one woman by whose side all
the others have lost their charms."

Bartja blushed to his temples, and seizing his brother's hand, exclaimed:
"Ask no further now, accept my thanks once more, and farewell.  May I bid
Nitetis farewell too, when I have taken leave of our mother and Atossa?"

Cambyses bit his lip, looked searchingly into Bartja's face, and finding
that the boy grew uneasy under his glance, exclaimed abruptly and
angrily: "Your first business is to hasten to the Tapuri.  My wife needs
your care no longer; she has other protectors now."  So saying he turned
his back on his brother and passed on into the great hall, blazing with
gold, purple and jewels, where the chiefs of the army, satraps, judges,
treasurers, secretaries, counsellors, eunuchs, door-keepers, introducers
of strangers, chamberlains, keepers of the wardrobe, dressers, cup-
bearers, equerries, masters of the chase, physicians, eyes and ears of
the king, ambassadors and plenipotentiaries of all descriptions--were in
waiting for him.

[The "eyes and ears" of the king may be compared to our police-
ministers.  Darius may have borrowed the name from Egypt, where such
titles as "the 2 eyes of the king for Upper Egypt, the 2 ears of the
king for Lower Egypt" are to be found on the earlier monuments, for
instance in the tomb of Amen en, heb at Abd el Qurnah.  And in
Herodotus II. 114.  the boy Cyrus calls one of his playfellows "the
eye of the king,"  Herod.  (I, 100.)]

The king was preceded by heralds bearing staves, and followed by a host
of fan, sedan and footstool-bearers, men carrying carpets, and
secretaries who the moment he uttered a command, or even indicated a
concession, a punishment or a reward, hastened to note it down and at
once hand it over to the officials empowered to execute his decrees.

In the middle of the brilliantly-lighted hall stood a gilded table, which
looked as if it must give way beneath the mass of gold and silver
vessels, plates, cups and bowls which were arranged with great order upon
it.  The king's private table, the service on which was of immense worth
and beauty, was placed in an apartment opening out of the large hall, and
separated from it by purple hangings.  These concealed him from the gaze
of the revellers, but did not prevent their every movement from being
watched by his eye.  It was an object of the highest ambition to be one
of those who ate at the king's table, and even he to whom a portion was
sent might deem himself a highly-favored man.

As Cambyses entered the hall, nearly every one present prostrated
themselves before him; his relations alone, distinguished by the blue and
white fillet on the tiara, contented themselves with a deferential
obeisance.

After the king had seated himself in his private apartment, the rest of
the company took their places, and then a tremendous revel began.
Animals, roasted whole, were placed on the table, and, when hunger was
appeased, several courses of the rarest delicacies followed, celebrated
in later times even among the Greeks under the name of "Persian dessert."

[Herodotus (I. 133.) writes that the Persians fancied the Greeks'
hunger was never satisfied, because nothing special was brought to
the table at the end of the meal.]

Slaves then entered to remove the remains of the food.  Others brought in
immense jugs of wine, the king left his own apartment, took his seat at
the head of the table, numerous cup-bearers filled the golden drinking-
cups in the most graceful manner, first tasting the wine to prove that it
was free from poison, and soon one of those drinking-bouts had begun
under the best auspices, at which, a century or two later, Alexander the
Great, forgot not only moderation but even friendship itself.

Cambyses was unwontedly silent.  The suspicion had entered his mind, that
Bartja loved Nitetis.  Why had he, contrary to all custom, so decidedly
refused to marry a noble and beautiful girl, when his brother's
childlessness rendered marriage an evident and urgent duty for him?  Why
had he wished to see the Egyptian princess again before leaving Babylon?
and blushed as he expressed that wish? and why had she, almost without
being asked, praised him so warmly?

It is well that he is going, thought the king; at least he shall not rob
me of her love.  If he were not my brother I would send him to a place
from whence none can return.

After midnight he broke up the banquet.  Boges appeared to conduct him to
the Harem, which he was accustomed to visit at this hour, when
sufficiently sober.

"Phaedime awaits you with impatience," said the eunuch.

"Let her wait!"  was the king's answer.  "Have you given orders that the
palace on the hanging-gardens shall be set in order?"

"It will be ready for occupation to-morrow."

"What apartments have been assigned to the Egyptian Princess?"

"Those formerly occupied by the second wife of your father Cyrus, the
deceased Amytis."

"That is well.  Nitetis is to be treated with the greatest respect, and
to receive no commands even from yourself, but such as I give you for
her."

Boges bowed low.

"See that no one, not even Croesus, has admission to her before my.....
before I give further orders."

"Croesus was with her this evening."

"What may have been his business with my wife?"

"I do not know, for I do not understand the Greek language, but I heard
the name of Bartja several times, and it seemed to me that the Egyptian
had received sorrowful intelligence.  She was looking very sad when I
came, after Croesus had left, to inquire if she had any commands for me."

"May Ahriman blast thy tongue," muttered the king, and then turning his
back on the eunuch he followed the torch-bearers and attendants, who were
in waiting to disrobe him, to his own private apartments.

At noon on the following clay, Bartja, accompanied by his friends and a
troop of attendants, started on horseback for the frontier.  Croesus went
with the young warriors as far as the city gates, and as their last
farewells and embraces were being exchanged, Bartja whispered to his old
friend: "If the messenger from Egypt should have a letter for me in his
bag, will you send it on?"

"Shall you be able to decipher the Greek writing?"

"Gyges and love will help me!"

"When I told Nitetis of your departure she begged me to wish you
farewell, and tell you not to forget Egypt."

"I am not likely to do that."

"The gods take thee into their care, my son.  Be prudent, do not risk
your life heedlessly, but remember that it is no longer only your own.
Exercise the gentleness of a father towards the rebels; they did not rise
in mere self-will, but to gain their freedom, the most precious
possession of mankind.  Remember, too, that to shew mercy is better than
to shed blood; the sword killeth, but the favor of the ruler bringeth joy
and happiness.  Conclude the war as speedily as possible, for war is a
perversion of nature; in peace the sons outlive the fathers, but in war
the fathers live to mourn for their slain sons.  Farewell, my young
heroes, go forward and conquer!"




CHAPTER XIII.

Cambyses passed a sleepless night.  The feeling of jealousy, so totally
new to him, increased his desire to possess Nitetis, but he dared not
take her as his wife yet, as the Persian law forbade the king to marry a
foreign wife, until she had become familiar with the customs of Iran and
confessed herself a disciple of Zoroaster.

[Zoroaster, really Zarathustra or Zerethoschtro, was one of the
`greatest among founders of new religions and lawgivers.  His name
signified "golden star" according to Anquetil du Perron.  But this
interpretation is as doubtful, as the many others which have been
attempted.  An appropriate one is given in the essay by Kern quoted
below, from zara golden, and thwistra glittering; thus "the gold
glittering one."  It is uncertain whether he was born in Bactria,
Media or Persia, Anquetil thinks in Urmi, a town in Aderbaijan.  His
father's name was Porosehasp, his mother's Dogdo, and his family
boasted of royal descent.  The time of his birth is very,--Spiegel
says "hopelessly"--dark.  Anquetil, and many other scholars would
place it in the reign of Darius, a view which has been proved to be
incorrect by Spiegel, Duncker and v. Schack in his introduction.]

According to this law a whole year must pass before Nitetis could become
the wife of a Persian monarch? but what was the law to Cambyses?  In his
eyes the law was embodied in his own person, and in his opinion three
months would be amply sufficient to initiate Nitetis in the Magian
mysteries, after which process she could become his bride.

To-day his other wives seemed hateful, even loathsome, to him.  From
Cambyses' earliest youth his house had been carefully provided with
women.  Beautiful girls from all parts of Asia, black-eyed Armenians,
dazzlingly fair maidens from the Caucasus, delicate girls from the shores
of the Ganges, luxurious Babylonian women, golden-haired Persians and the
effeminate daughters of the Median plains; indeed many of the noblest
Achaemenidae had given him their daughters in marriage.

Phaedime, the daughter of Otanes, and niece of his own mother Kassandane,
had been Cambyses' favorite wife hitherto, or at least the only one of
whom it could be said that she was more to him than a purchased slave
would have been.  But even she, in his present sated and disgusted state
of feeling, seemed vulgar and contemptible, especially when he thought of
Nitetis.

The Egyptian seemed formed of nobler, better stuff than they all.  They
were flattering, coaxing girls; Nitetis was a queen.  They humbled
themselves in the dust at his feet; but when he thought of Nitetis, he
beheld her erect, standing before him, on the same proud level as
himself.  He determined that from henceforth she should not only occupy
Phaedime's place, but should be to him what Kassandane had been to his
father Cyrus.

She was the only one of his wives who could assist him by her knowledge
and advice; the others were all like children, ignorant, and caring for
nothing but dress and finery: living only for petty intrigues and useless
trifles.  This Egyptian girl would be obliged to love him, for he would
be her protector, her lord, her father and brother in this foreign land.

"She must," he said to himself, and to this despot to wish for a thing
and to possess it seemed one and the same.  "Bartja had better take
care," he murmured, "or he shall know what fate awaits the man who dares
to cross my path."

Nitetis too had passed a restless night.

The common apartment of the women was next to her own, and the noise and
singing there had not ceased until nearly midnight.  She could often
distinguish the shrill voice of Boges joking and laughing with these
women, who were under his charge.  At last all was quiet in the wide
palace halls and then her thoughts turned to her distant home and her
poor sister Tachot, longing for her and for the beautiful Bartja, who,
Croesus had told her, was going to-morrow to the war and possibly to
death.  At last she fell asleep, overcome by the fatigue of the journey
and dreaming of her future husband.  She saw him on his black charger.
The foaming animal shied at Bartja who was lying in the road, threw his
rider and dragged him into the Nile, whose waves became blood-red.  In
her terror she screamed for help; her cries were echoed back from the
Pyramids in such loud and fearful tones that she awoke.

But hark! what could that be?  That wailing, shrill cry which she had
heard in her dream,--she could hear it still.

Hastily drawing aside the shutters from one of the openings which served
as windows, she looked out.  A large and beautiful garden, laid out with
fountains and shady avenues, lay before her, glittering with the early
dew.

[The Persian gardens were celebrated throughout the old world, and
seem to have been laid out much less stiffly than the Egyptian.
Even the kings of Persia did not consider horticulture beneath their
notice, and the highest among the Achaemenidae took an especial
pleasure in laying out parks, called in Persian Paradises.  Their
admiration for well-grown trees went so far, that Xerxes, finding on
his way to Greece a singularly beautiful tree, hung ornaments of
gold upon its branches.  Firdusi, the great Persian epic poet,
compares human beauty to the growth of the cypress, as the highest
praise he can give.  Indeed some trees were worshipped by the
Persians; and as the tree of life in the Hebrew and Egyptian, so we
find sacred trees in their Paradise.]

No sound was to be heard except the one which had alarmed her, and this
too died away at last on the morning breeze.  After a few minutes she
heard cries and noise in the distance, then the great city awaking to its
daily work, which soon settled down into a deep, dull murmur like the
roaring of the sea.

Nitetis was by this time so thoroughly awakened from the effect of the
fresh morning air, that she did not care to lie down again.  She went
once more to the window and perceived two figures coming out of the
house.  One she recognized as the eunuch Boges; he was talking to a
beautiful Persian woman carelessly dressed.  They approached her window.
Nitetis hid herself behind the half-opened shutter and listened, for she
fancied she heard her own name.

"The Egyptian is still asleep."  said Boges.  "She must be much fatigued
by the journey.  I see too that one of her windows is still firmly
closed."

"Then tell me quickly," said the Persian.  "Do you really think that this
stranger's coming can injure me in any way?"

"Certainly, I do, my pretty one."

"But what leads you to suppose this?"

"She is only to obey the king's commands, not mine."

"Is that all?"

"No, my treasure.  I know the king.  I can read his features as the Magi
read the sacred books."

"Then we must ruin her."

"More easily said than done, my little bird."

"Leave me alone!  you are insolent."

"Well, but nobody can see us, and you know you can do nothing without my
help."

"Very well then, I don't care.  But tell me quickly what we can do."

"Thanks, my sweet Phaedime.  Well, for the present we must be patient
and wait our time.  That detestable hypocrite Croesus seems to have
established himself as protector of the Egyptian; when he is away, we
must set our snares."

The speakers were by this time at such a distance, that Nitetis could not
understand what they said.  In silent indignation she closed the shutter,
and called her maidens to dress her.  She knew her enemies now--she knew
that a thousand dangers surrounded her, and yet she felt proud and happy,
for was she not chosen to be the real wife of Cambyses?  Her own worth
seemed clearer to her than ever before, from a comparison with these
miserable creatures, and a wonderful certainty of ultimate victory stole
into her heart, for Nitetis was a firm believer in the magic power of
virtue.

"What was that dreadful sound I heard so early?"  she asked of her
principal waiting-woman, who was arranging her hair.

"Do you mean the sounding brass, lady?"

"Scarcely two hours ago I was awakened by a strange and frightful sound."

"That was the sounding brass, lady.  It is used to awaken the young sons
of the Persian nobles, who are brought up at the gate of the king.  You
will soon become accustomed to it.  We have long ceased even to hear it,
and indeed on great festivals, when it is not sounded, we awake from the
unaccustomed stillness.  From the hanging-gardens you will be able to see
how the boys are taken to bathe every morning, whatever the weather may
be.  The poor little ones are taken from their mothers when they are six
years old, to be brought up with the other boys of their own rank under
the king's eye."

"Are they to begin learning the luxurious manners of the court so early?"

"Oh no! the poor boys lead a terrible life.  They are obliged to sleep on
the hard ground, to rise before the sun.  Their food is bread and water,
with very little meat, and they are never allowed to taste wine or
vegetables.  Indeed at times they are deprived of food and drink for some
days, simply to accustom them to privations.  When the court is at
Ecbatana or Pasargadae, and the weather is bitterly cold, they are sure
to be taken out to bathe, and here in Susa, the hotter the sun, the
longer and more difficult the marches they are compelled to take."

[The summer residences of the kings cf Persia, where it is sometimes
very cold.  Ecbatana lies at the foot of the high Elburs (Orontes)
range of mountains in the neighborhood of the modern Hamadan;
Pasargadae not far from Rachmet in the highlands of Iran]

"And these boys, so simply and severely brought up, become in after life
such luxurious men?"

"Yes, that is always the case.  A meal that has been waited for is all
the more relished when it comes.  These boys see splendor and
magnificence around them daily; they know how rich they are in reality,
and yet have to suffer from hunger and privation.  Who can wonder, if,
when at last they gain their liberty, they plunge into the pleasures of
life with a tenfold eagerness?  But on the other hand, in time of war, or
when going to the chase, they never murmur at hunger or thirst, spring
with a laugh into the mud regardless of their thin boots and purple
trousers, and sleep as soundly on a rock as on their beds of delicate
Arabian wool.  You must see the feats these boys perform, especially when
the king is watching them!  Cambyses will certainly take you if you ask
him."

"I know those exercises already.  In Egypt the girls as well as the boys
are kept to such gymnastic exercises.  My limbs were trained to
flexibility by running, postures, and games with hoops and balls.

"How strange!  Here, we women grow up just as we please, and are taught
nothing but a little spinning and weaving.  Is it true that most of the
Egyptian women can read and write?"

"Yes, nearly all."

"By Mithras, you must be a clever people!  Scarcely any of the Persians,
except the Magi and the scribes, learn these difficult arts.  The sons of
the nobles are taught to speak the truth, to be courageous, obedient, and
to reverence the gods; to hunt, ride, plant trees and discern between
herbs; but whoever, like the noble Darius, wishes to learn the art of
writing, must apply to the Magi.  Women are forbidden to turn their minds