diff options
| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:19:57 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:19:57 -0700 |
| commit | 727c4a97f1f072afd2d134d97c7dd9d7323fd295 (patch) | |
| tree | ac1a16c9a5fbd8a8f3847282adb1607c5ad9ba16 | |
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 2855-0.txt | 6251 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 2855-0.zip | bin | 0 -> 119642 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 2855-h.zip | bin | 0 -> 123316 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 2855-h/2855-h.htm | 8397 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/2855-8.txt | 6184 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/2855-8.zip | bin | 0 -> 118862 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/2855-h.htm.2021-01-27 | 7365 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/2855.txt | 6184 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/2855.zip | bin | 0 -> 118825 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/lissa10.txt | 6229 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/lissa10.zip | bin | 0 -> 117171 bytes |
14 files changed, 40626 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/2855-0.txt b/2855-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..990fd93 --- /dev/null +++ b/2855-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6251 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook of Elissa, by H. Rider Haggard + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you +will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before +using this eBook. + +Title: Elissa + +Author: H. Rider Haggard + +Release Date: October, 2001 [eBook #2855] +[Most recently updated: May 28, 2021] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +Produced by: John Bickers, Dagny and David Widger + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ELISSA *** + + + + +Elissa + +OR THE DOOM OF ZIMBABWE + +by H. Rider Haggard + + +Contents + + DEDICATION + AUTHOR’S NOTE + NOTE + + CHAPTER I. THE CARAVAN + CHAPTER II. THE GROVE OF BAALTIS + CHAPTER III. ITHOBAL THE KING + CHAPTER IV. THE DREAM OF ISSACHAR + CHAPTER V. THE PLACE OF SACRIFICE + CHAPTER VI. THE HALL OF AUDIENCE + CHAPTER VII. THE BLACK DWARF + CHAPTER VIII. AZIEL PLIGHTS HIS TROTH + CHAPTER IX. GREETING TO THE BAALTIS + CHAPTER X. THE EMBASSY + CHAPTER XI. METEM SELLS IMAGES + CHAPTER XII. THE TRYST + CHAPTER XIII. THE SACRILEGE OF AZIEL + CHAPTER XIV. THE MARTYRDOM OF ISSACHAR + CHAPTER XV. ELISSA TAKES SANCTUARY + CHAPTER XVI. THE CAGE OF DEATH + CHAPTER XVII. “THERE IS HOPE” + + + + +DEDICATION + + +To the Memory of the Child +Nada Burnham, + +who “bound all to her” and, while her father cut his way through the +hordes of the Ingobo Regiment, perished of the hardships of war at +Buluwao on 19th May, 1896, I dedicate these tales—and more particularly +the last, that of a Faith which triumphed over savagery and death. + +H. Rider Haggard. + +Ditchingham. + + + + +AUTHOR’S NOTE + + +Of the three stories that comprise this volume[*], one, “The Wizard,” a +tale of victorious faith, first appeared some years ago as a Christmas +Annual. Another, “Elissa,” is an attempt, difficult enough owing to the +scantiness of the material left to us by time, to recreate the life of +the ancient Phœnician Zimbabwe, whose ruins still stand in Rhodesia, +and, with the addition of the necessary love story, to suggest +circumstances such as might have brought about or accompanied its fall +at the hands of the surrounding savage tribes. The third, “Black Heart +and White Heart,” is a story of the courtship, trials and final union +of a pair of Zulu lovers in the time of King Cetywayo. + +[*] This text was prepared from a volume published in 1900 titled +“Black Heart and White Heart, and Other Stories.”— JB. + + + + +NOTE + + +The world is full of ruins, but few of them have an origin so utterly +lost in mystery as those of Zimbabwe in South Central Africa. Who built +them? What purpose did they serve? These are questions that must have +perplexed many generations, and many different races of men. + +The researches of Mr. Wilmot prove to us indeed that in the Middle Ages +Zimbabwe or Zimboe was the seat of a barbarous empire, whose ruler was +named the Emperor of Monomotapa, also that for some years the Jesuits +ministered in a Christian church built beneath the shadow of its +ancient towers. But of the original purpose of those towers, and of the +race that reared them, the inhabitants of mediæval Monomotapa, it is +probable, knew less even than we know to-day. The labours and skilled +observation of the late Mr. Theodore Bent, whose death is so great a +loss to all interested in such matters, have shown almost beyond +question that Zimbabwe was once an inland Phœnician city, or at the +least a city whose inhabitants were of a race which practised Phœnician +customs and worshipped the Phœnician deities. Beyond this all is +conjecture. How it happened that a trading town, protected by vast +fortifications and adorned with temples dedicated to the worship of the +gods of the Sidonians—or rather trading towns, for Zimbabwe is only one +of a group of ruins—were built by civilised men in the heart of Africa +perhaps we shall never learn with certainty, though the discovery of +the burying-places of their inhabitants might throw some light upon the +problem. + +But if actual proof is lacking, it is scarcely to be doubted—for the +numerous old workings in Rhodesia tell their own tale—that it was the +presence of payable gold reefs worked by slave labour which tempted the +Phœnician merchants and chapmen, contrary to their custom, to travel so +far from the sea and establish themselves inland. Perhaps the city +Zimboe was the Ophir spoken of in the first Book of Kings. At least, it +is almost certain that its principal industries were the smelting and +the sale of gold, also it seems probable that expeditions travelling by +sea and land would have occupied quite three years of time in reaching +it from Jerusalem and returning thither laden with the gold and +precious stones, the ivory and the almug trees (1 Kings x.). Journeying +in Africa must have been slow in those days; that it was also dangerous +is testified by the ruins of the ancient forts built to protect the +route between the gold towns and the sea. + +However these things may be, there remains ample room for speculation +both as to the dim beginnings of the ancient city and its still dimmer +end, whereof we can guess only, when it became weakened by luxury and +the mixture of races, that hordes of invading savages stamped it out of +existence beneath their blood-stained feet, as, in after ages, they +stamped out the Empire of Monomotapa. In the following romantic sketch +the writer has ventured—no easy task—to suggest incidents such as might +have accompanied this first extinction of the Phœnician Zimbabwe. The +pursuit indeed is one in which he can only hope to fill the place of a +humble pioneer, since it is certain that in times to come the dead +fortress-temples of South Africa will occupy the pens of many +generations of the writers of romance who, as he hopes, may have more +ascertained facts to build upon than are available to-day. + + + + +ELISSA + + + + +CHAPTER I +THE CARAVAN + + +The sun, which shone upon a day that was gathered to the past some +three thousand years ago, was setting in full glory over the expanses +of south-eastern Africa—the Libya of the ancients. Its last burning +rays fell upon a cavalcade of weary men, who, together with long +strings of camels, asses and oxen, after much toil had struggled to the +crest of a line of stony hills, where they were halted to recover +breath. Before them lay a plain, clothed with sere yellow grass—for the +season was winter—and bounded by mountains of no great height, upon +whose slopes stood the city which they had travelled far to seek. It +was the ancient city of Zimboe, whereof the lonely ruins are known to +us moderns as Zimbabwe. + +At the sight of its flat-roofed houses of sun-dried brick, set upon the +side of the opposing hill, and dominated by a huge circular building of +dark stone, the caravan raised a great shout of joy. It shouted in +several tongues, in the tongues of Phœnicia, of Egypt, of the Hebrews, +of Arabia, and of the coasts of Africa, for all these peoples were +represented amongst its numbers. Well might the wanderers cry out in +their delight, seeing that at length, after eight months of perilous +travelling from the coast, they beheld the walls of their city of rest, +of the golden Ophir of the Bible. Their company had started from the +eastern port, numbering fifteen hundred men, besides women and +children, and of those not more than half were left alive. Once a +savage tribe had ambushed them, killing many. Once the pestilential +fever of the low lands had taken them so that they died of it by +scores. Twice also had they suffered heavily through hunger and thirst, +to say nothing of their losses by the fangs of lions, crocodiles, and +other wild beasts which with the country swarmed. Now their toils were +over; and for six months, or perhaps a year, they might rest and trade +in the Great City, enjoying its wealth, its flesh-pots, and the unholy +orgies which, among people of the Phœnician race, were dignified by the +name of the worship of the gods of heaven. + +Soon the clamour died away, and although no command was given, the +caravan started on at speed. All weariness faded from the faces of the +wayworn travellers, even the very camels and asses, shrunk, as most of +them were, to mere skeletons, seemed to understand that labour and +blows were done with, and forgetting their loads, shambled unurged down +the stony path. One man lingered, however. Clearly he was a person of +rank, for eight or ten attendants surrounded him. + +“Go,” said he, “I wish to be alone, and will follow presently.” So they +bowed to the earth, and went. + +The man was young, perhaps six or eight and twenty years of age. His +dark skin, burnt almost to blackness by the heat of the sun, together +with the fashion of his short, square-cut beard and of his garments, +proclaimed him of Jewish or Egyptian blood, while the gold collar about +his neck and the gold graven ring upon his hand showed that his rank +was high. Indeed this wanderer was none other than the prince Aziel, +nick-named the Ever-living, because of a curious mole upon his shoulder +bearing a resemblance to the _crux ansata_, the symbol of life eternal +among the Egyptians. By blood he was a grandson of Solomon, the mighty +king of Israel, and born of a royal mother, a princess of Egypt. + +In stature Aziel was tall, but somewhat slimly made, having small +bones. His face was oval in shape, the features, especially the mouth, +being fine and sensitive; the eyes were large, dark, and full of +thought—the eyes of a man with a destiny. For the most part, indeed, +they were sombre and over-full of thought, but at times they could +light up with a strange fire. + +Aziel the prince placed his hand against his forehead in such fashion +as to shade his face from the rays of the setting sun, and from beneath +its shadow gazed long and earnestly at the city of the hill. + +“At length I behold thee, thanks be to God,” he murmured, for he was a +worshipper of Jehovah, and not of his mother’s deities, “and it is +time, since, to speak the truth, I am weary of this travelling. Now +what fortune shall I find within thy walls, O City of Gold and +devil-servers?” + +“Who can tell?” said a quiet voice at his elbow. “Perhaps, Prince, you +will find a wife, or a throne, or—a grave.” + +Aziel started, and turned to see a man standing at his side, clothed in +robes that had been rich, but were now torn and stained with travel, +and wearing on his head a black cap in shape not unlike the fez that is +common in the East to-day. The man was past middle age, having a +grizzled beard, sharp, hard features and quick eyes, which withal were +not unkindly. He was a Phœnician merchant, much trusted by Hiram, the +King of Tyre, who had made him captain of the merchandise of this +expedition. + +“Ah! is it you, Metem?” said Aziel. “Why do you leave your charge to +return to me?” + +“That I may guard a more precious charge—yourself, Prince,” replied the +merchant courteously. “Having brought the child of Israel so far in +safety, I desire to hand him safely to the governor of yonder city. +Your servants told me that by your command they had left you alone, so +I returned to bear you company, for after nightfall robbers and savages +wander without these walls.” + +“I thank you for your care, Metem, though I think there is little +danger, and at the worst I can defend myself.” + +“Do not thank me, Prince; I am a merchant, and now, as in the past, I +protect you, knowing that for it I shall be paid. The governor will +give me a rich reward when I lead you to him safely, and when in years +to come I return with you still safe to the court of Jerusalem, then +the great king will fill my ship’s hold with gifts.” + +“That depends, Metem,” replied the prince. “If my grandfather still +reigns it may be so, but he is very old, and if my uncle wears his +crown, then I am not sure. Truly you Phœnicians love money. Would you, +then, sell me for gold also, Metem?” + +“I said not so, Prince, though even friendship has its price——” + +“Among your people, Metem?” + +“Among all people, Prince. You reproach us with loving money; well, we +do, since money gives everything for which men strive—honour, and +place, and comfort, and the friendship of kings.” + +“It cannot give you love, Metem.” + +The Phœnician laughed contemptuously. “Love! with gold I will buy as +much of it as I need. Are there no slaves upon the market, and no free +women who desire ornaments and ease and the purple of Tyre? You are +young, Prince, to say that gold cannot buy us love.” + +“And you, Metem, who are growing old, do not understand what I mean by +love, nor will I stay to explain it to you, for were my words as wise +as Solomon’s, still you would not understand. At the least your money +cannot bring you the blessing of Heaven, nor the welfare of your spirit +in the eternal life that is to come.” + +“The welfare of my spirit, Prince? No, it cannot, since I do not +believe that I have a spirit. When I die, I die, and there is an end. +But the blessing of Heaven, ah! that can be bought, as I have proved +once and again, if not with gold, then otherwise. Did I not in bygone +years pass the first son of my manhood through the fire to Baal-Sidon? +Nay, shrink not from me; it cost me dear, but my fortune was at stake, +and better that the boy should die than that all of us should live on +in penury and bonds. Know you not, Prince, that the gods must have the +gifts of the best, gifts of blood and virtue, or they will curse us and +torment us?” + +“I do not know it, Metem, for such gods are no gods, but devils, +children of Beelzebub, who has no power over the righteous. Truly I +would have none of your two gods, Phœnician; upon earth the god of +gold, and in heaven the devil of slaughter.” + +“Speak no ill of him, Prince,” answered Metem solemnly, “for here you +are not in the courts of Jehovah, but in his land, and he may chance to +prove his power on you. For the rest, I had sooner follow after gold +than the folly of a drunken spirit which you name Love, seeing that it +works its votary less mischief. Say now, it was a woman and her love +that drove you hither to this wild land, was it not, Prince? Well, be +careful lest a woman and her love should keep you here.” + +“The sun sets,” said Aziel coldly; “let us go forward.” + +With a bow and a murmured salute, for his quick courtier instinct told +him that he had spoken too freely, Metem took the bridle of the +prince’s mule, holding the stirrup while he mounted. Then he turned to +seek his own, but the animal had wandered, and a full half hour went by +before it could be captured. + +By now the sun had set, and as there is little or no twilight in +Southern Africa it became difficult for the two travellers to find +their way down the rough hill path. Still they stumbled on, till +presently the long dead grass brushing against their knees told them +that they had lost the road, although they knew that they were riding +in the right direction, for the watch-fires burning on the city walls +were a guide to them. Soon, however, they lost sight of these fires, +the boughs of a grove of thickly-leaved trees hiding them from view, +and in trying to push their way through the wood Metem’s mule stumbled +against a root and fell. + +“Now there is but one thing to be done,” said the Phœnician, as he +dragged the animal from the ground, “and it is to stay here till the +moon rises, which should be within an hour. It would have been wiser, +Prince, if we had waited to discuss love and the gods till we were safe +within the walls of the city, for the end of it is that we have fallen +into the hands of king Darkness, and he is the father of many evil +things.” + +“That is so, Metem,” answered the prince, “and I am to blame. Let us +bide here in patience, since we must.” + +So, holding their mules by the bridles, they sat down upon the ground +and waited in silence, for each of them was lost in his own thoughts. + + + + +CHAPTER II +THE GROVE OF BAALTIS + + +At length, as the two men sat thus silently, for the place and its +gloom oppressed them, a sound broke upon the quiet of the night, that +beginning with a low wail such as might come from the lips of a +mourner, ended in a chant or song. The voice, which seemed close at +hand, was low, rich and passionate. At times it sank almost to a sob, +and at times, taking a higher note, it thrilled upon the air in tones +that would have been shrill were they not so sweet. + +“Who is it that sings?” said Aziel to Metem. + +“Be silent, I pray you,” whispered the other in his ear; “we have +wandered into one of the sacred groves of Baaltis, which it is death +for men to enter save at the appointed festivals, and a priestess of +the grove chants her prayer to the goddess.” + +“We did not come of our own will, so doubtless we shall be forgiven,” +answered Aziel indifferently; “but that song moves me. Tell me the +words of it, which I can scarcely follow, for her accent is strange to +me.” + +“Prince, they seem to be holy words to which I have little right to +hearken. The priestess sings an ancient hallowed chant of life and +death, and she prays that the goddess may touch her soul with the wing +of fire and make her great and give her vision of things that have been +and that shall be. More I dare not tell you now; indeed I can barely +hear, and the song is hard to understand. Crouch down, for the moon +rises, and pray that the mules may not stir. Presently she will go, and +we can fly the holy place.” + +The Israelite obeyed and waited, searching the darkness with eager +eyes. + +Now the edge of the great moon appeared upon the horizon, and by +degrees her white rays of light revealed a strange scene to the +watchers. About an open space of ground, some eighty paces in diameter, +grew seven huge and ancient baobab trees, so ancient indeed that they +must have been planted by the primæval hand of nature rather than by +that of man. Aziel and his companion were hidden with their mules +behind the trunk of one of these trees, and looking round it they +perceived that the open space beyond the shadow of the branches was not +empty. In the centre of this space stood an altar, and by it was placed +the rude figure of a divinity carved in wood and painted. On the head +of this figure rose a crescent symbolical of the moon, and round its +neck hung a chain of wooden stars. It had four wings but no hands, and +of these wings two were out-spread and two clasped a shapeless object +to its breast, intended, apparently, to represent a child. By these +symbols Aziel knew that before him was an effigy sacred to the goddess +of the Phœnicians, who in different countries passed by the various +names of Astarte, or Ashtoreth, or Baaltis, and who in their coarse +worship was at once the personification of the moon and the emblem of +fertility. + +Standing before this rude fetish, between it and the altar, whereon lay +some flowers, and in such fashion that the moonlight struck full upon +her, was a white-robed woman. She was young and very beautiful both in +shape and feature, and though her black hair streaming almost to the +knees took from her height, she still seemed tall. Her rounded arms +were outstretched; her sweet and passionate face was upturned towards +the sky, and even at that distance the watchers could see her deep eyes +shining in the moonlight. The sacred song of the priestess was +finished. Now she was praying aloud, slowly, and in a clear voice, so +that Aziel could hear and understand her; praying from her very heart, +not to the idol before her, however, but to the moon above. + +“O Queen of Heaven,” she said, “thou whose throne I see but whose face +I cannot see, hear the prayer of thy priestess, and protect me from the +fate I fear, and rid me of him I hate. Safe let me dwell and pure, and +as thou fillest the night with light, so fill the darkness of my soul +with the wisdom that I crave. O whisper into my ears and let me hear +the voice of heaven, teaching me that which I would know. Read me the +riddle of my life, and let me learn wherefore I am not as my sisters +are; why feasts and offerings delight me not; why I thirst for +knowledge and not for wealth, and why I crave such love as here I +cannot win. Satisfy my being with thy immortal lore and a love that +does not fail or die, and if thou wilt, then take my life in payment. +Speak to me from the heaven above, O Baaltis, or show me some sign upon +the earth beneath; fill up the vessel of my thirsty soul and satisfy +the hunger of my spirit. Oh! thou that art the goddess, thou that hast +the gift of power, give me, thy servant, of thy power, of thy godhead, +and of thy peace. Hear me, O Heaven-born, hear me, Elissa, the daughter +of Sakon, the dedicate of thee. Hear, hear, and answer now in the +secret holy hour, answer by voice, by wonder, or by symbol.” + +The woman paused as though exhausted with the passion of her prayer, +hiding her face in her hands, and as she stood thus silent and +expectant, the sign came, or at least that chanced which for a while +she believed to have been an answer to her invocation. Her face was +hidden, so she could not see, and fascinated by her beauty as it +appeared to them in that unhallowed spot, and by the depth and dignity +of her wild prayer, the two watchers had eyes for her alone. Therefore +it happened that not until his arm was about to drag her away, did +either of them perceive a huge man, black as ebony in colour, clad in a +cloak of leopard skins and carrying in his right hand a broad-bladed +spear who, following the shadow of the trees, had crept upon the +priestess from the farther side of the glade. + +With a guttural exclamation of triumph he gripped her in his left arm, +and, despite her struggles and her shrill cry for help, began half to +drag and half to carry her towards the deep shade of the baobab grove. +Instantly Aziel and Metem sprang up and rushed forward, drawing their +bronze swords as they ran. As it chanced, however, the Israelite caught +his foot in one of the numerous tree-roots, which stood above the +surface of the ground and fell heavily upon his face. In a few seconds, +twenty perhaps, he found his breath and feet again, to see that Metem +had come up with the black giant who, hearing his approach, suddenly +wheeled round to meet him, still holding the struggling priestess in +his grasp. Now the Phœnician was so close upon him that the savage +could find no time to shift the grip upon his spear, but drove at him +with the knobbed end of its handle, striking him full upon the forehead +and felling him as a butcher fells an ox. Then once more he turned to +fly with his captive, but before he had covered ten yards the sound of +Aziel’s approaching footsteps caused him to wheel round again. + +At sight of the Israelite advancing upon him with drawn sword, the +great barbarian freed himself from the burden of the girl by throwing +her heavily to the ground, where she lay, for the breath was shaken out +of her. Then snatching the cloak from his throat he wound it over his +left arm to serve as a shield, and with a savage yell, rushed straight +at Aziel, purposing to transfix him with the broad-headed spear. + +Well was it for the prince that he had been trained in sword-play from +his youth, also, notwithstanding his slight build, that he was strong +and active as a leopard. To await the onslaught would be to die, for +the spear must pierce him before ever he could reach the attacker’s +body with his short sword. Therefore, as the weapon flashed upward he +sprang aside, avoiding it, at the same time, with one swift sweep of +his sword, slashing its holder across the back as he passed him. + +With a howl of pain and rage the savage sprang round and charged him a +second time. Again Aziel leapt to one side, but now he struck with all +his force at the spear shaft which his assailant lifted to guard his +head. So strong was the blow and so sharp the heavy sword, that it +shore through the wood, severing the handle from the spear, which fell +to the ground. Casting away the useless shaft, the warrior drew a long +knife from his girdle, and before Aziel could strike again faced him +for the third time. But he no longer rushed onward like a bull, for he +had learnt caution; he stood still, holding the skin cloak before him +shield fashion, and peering at his adversary from over its edge. + +Now it was Aziel’s turn to take the offensive, and slowly he circled +round the huge barbarian, watching his opportunity. At length it came. +In answer to a feint of his the protecting cloak was dropped a little, +enabling him to prick its bearer in the neck, but only with the point +of his sword. The thrust delivered, he leapt back, and not too soon, +for forgetting his caution in his fury, the savage charged straight at +him with a roar like that of a lion. So swift and terrible was his +onset that Aziel, having no time to spring aside, did the only thing +possible. Gripping the ground with his feet, he bent his body forward, +and with outstretched arm and sword, braced up his muscles to receive +the charge. Another instant, and the leopard skin cloak fluttered +before him. With a quick movement of his left arm he swept it aside; +then there came a sudden pressure upon his sword ending in a jarring +shock, a flash of steel above his head, and down he went to the ground +beneath the weight of the black giant. + +“Now there is an end,” he thought; “Heaven receive my spirit.” And his +senses left him. + +When they returned again, Aziel perceived dimly that a white-draped +figure bent over him, dragging at something black which crushed his +breast, who, as she dragged, sobbed in her grief and fear. Then he +remembered, and with an effort sat up, rolling from him the corpse of +his foe, for his sword had pierced the barbarian through breast and +heart and back. At this sight the woman ceased her sobbing, and said in +the Phœnician tongue:— + +“Sir, do you indeed live? Then the protecting gods be thanked, and to +Baaltis the Mother I vow a gift of this hair of mine in gratitude.” + +“Nay, lady,” he answered faintly, for he was much shaken, “that would +be a pity; also, if any, it is my hair which should be vowed.” + +“You bleed from the head,” she broke in; “say, stranger, are you deeply +wounded.” + +“I will tell you nothing of my head,” he replied, with a smile, “unless +you promise that you will not offer up your hair.” + +“So be it, stranger, since I must; I will give the goddess this gold +chain instead; it is of more worth.” + +“You would do better, lady,” said the shrill voice of Metem, who by now +had found his wits again, “to give the gold chain to me whose scalp has +been broken in rescuing you from that black thief.” + +“Sir,” she answered, “I am grateful to you from my heart, but it is +this young lord who killed the man and saved me from slavery worse than +death, and he shall be rewarded by my father.” + +“Listen to her,” grumbled Metem. “Did I not rush in first in my folly +and receive what I deserved for my pains? But am I to have neither +thanks nor pay, who am but an old merchant; they are for the young +prince who came after. Well, so it ever was; the thanks I can spare, +and the reward I shall claim from the treasury of the goddess. + +“Now, Prince, let me see your hurt. Ah! a cut on the ear, no more, and +thank your natal star that it is so, for another inch and the great +vein of the neck would have been severed. Prince, if you are able, draw +out your sword from the carcase of that brute, for I have tried and +cannot loosen the blade. Then perhaps this lady will guide us to the +city before his fellows come to seek him, seeing that for one night I +have had a stomach full of fighting.” + +“Sirs, I will indeed. It is close at hand, and my father will thank you +there; but if it is your pleasure, tell me by what names I shall make +known to him you whose rank seems to be so high?” + +“Lady, I am Metem the Phœnician, captain of the merchandise of the +caravan of Hiram, King of Tyre, and this lord who slew the thief is +none other than the prince Aziel, the twice royal, for he is grandson +to the glorious King of Israel, and through his mother of the blood of +the Pharaohs of Egypt.” + +“And yet he risked his life to save me,” the girl murmured astonished; +then dropping to her knees before Aziel, she touched the ground with +her forehead in obeisance, giving him thanks, and praising him after +the fashion of the East. + +“Rise, lady,” he broke in, “because I chance to be a prince I have not +ceased to be a man, and no man could have seen you in such a plight +without striking a blow on your behalf.” + +“No,” added Metem, “none; that is, as you happen to be noble and young +and lovely. Had you been old and ugly and humble, then the black man +might have carried you from here to Tyre ere I risked my neck to stop +him, or for the matter of that, although he will deny it, the prince +either.” + +“Men do not often show their hearts so clearly,” she answered with +sarcasm. “But now, lords, I will guide you to the city before more harm +befalls us, for this dead man may have companions.” + +“Our mules are here, lady; will you not ride mine?” asked Aziel. + +“I thank you, Prince, but my feet will carry me.” + +“And so will mine,” said Aziel, ceasing from a prolonged and fruitless +effort to loosen his sword from the breast-bone of the savage, “on such +paths they are safer than any beasts. Friend, will you lead my mule +with yours?” + +“Ay, Prince,” grumbled Metem, “for so the world goes with the old; you +take the fair lady for company and I a she-ass. Well, of the two give +me the ass which is more safe and does not chatter.” + +Then they started, Aziel leaving his short sword in the keeping of the +dead man. + +“How are you named, lady?” he said presently, adding “or rather I need +not ask; you are Elissa, the daughter of Sakon, Governor of Zimboe, are +you not?” + +“I am so called, though how you know it I cannot guess.” + +“I heard you name yourself, lady, in the prayer you made before the +altar.” + +“You heard my prayer, Prince?” she said starting. “Do you not know that +it is death to that man who hearkens to the prayer of a priestess of +Baaltis, uttered in her holy grove? Still, none know it save the +goddess, who sees all, therefore I beseech you for your own sake and +the sake of your companion, say nothing of it in the city, lest it +should come to the ears of the priests of El.” + +“Certainly it would have been death to you had I _not_ chanced to hear +it, having lost my way in the darkness,” answered the prince laughing. +“Well, since I did hear it I will add that it was a beautiful prayer, +revealing a heart high and pure, though I grieve that it should have +been offered to one whom I hold to be a demon.” + +“I am honoured,” she answered coldly; “but, Prince, you forget that +though you, being a Hebrew, worship Him they call Jehovah, or so I have +been told, I, being of the blood of the Sidonians, worship the lady +Baaltis, the Queen of Heaven the holy one of whom I am a priestess.” + +“So it is, alas!” he said, with a sigh, adding:— + +“Well, let us not dispute of these matters, though, if you wish, the +prophet Issachar, the Levite who accompanies me, can explain the truth +of them to you.” + +Elissa made no reply, and for a while they walked on in silence. + +“Who was that black robber whom I slew?” Aziel asked presently. + +“I am not sure, Prince,” she answered, hesitating, “but savages such as +he haunt the outskirts of the city seeking to steal white women to be +their wives. Doubtless he watched my steps, following me into the holy +place.” + +“Why, then, did you venture there alone, lady?” + +“Because, to be heard, such prayers as mine must be offered in solitude +in the consecrated grove, and at the hour of the rising of the moon. +Moreover, cannot Baaltis protect her priestess, Priest, and did she not +protect her?” + +“I thought, lady, that I had something to do with the matter,” he +answered. + +“Ay, Prince, it was your hand that struck the blow which killed the +thief, but Baaltis, and no other, led you to the place to rescue me.” + +“I understand, lady. To save you, Baaltis, laying aside her own power, +led a mortal man to the grove, which it is death that mortal man should +violate.” + +“Who can fathom the way of the gods?” she replied with passion, then +added, as though reasoning with a new-born doubt, “Did not the goddess +hear my prayer and answer it?” + +“In truth, lady, I cannot say. Let me think. If I understood you +rightly, you prayed for heavenly wisdom, but whether or not you have +gained it within this last hour, I do not know. And then you prayed for +love, an immortal love. O, maiden, has it come to you since yonder moon +appeared upon the sky? And you prayed——” + +“Peace!” she broke in, “peace and mock me not, or, prince that you are, +I will publish your crime of spying upon the prayer of a priestess of +Baaltis. I tell you that I prayed for a symbol and a sign, and the +prayer was answered. + +“Did not the black giant spring upon me to bear me away to be his +slave—his, or another’s? And is he not a symbol of the evil and the +ignorance which are on the earth and that seek to drag down the beauty +and the wisdom of the earth to their own level? Then the Phœnician ran +to rescue me and was defeated, since the spirit of Mammon cannot +overcome the black powers of ill. Next you came and fought hard and +long, till in the end you slew the mighty foe, you a Prince born of the +royal blood of the world——” and she ceased. + +“You have a pretty gift of parable, lady, as it should be with one who +interprets the oracles of a goddess. But you have not told me of what +I, your servant, am the symbol.” + +She stopped in her walk and looked him full in the face. + +“I never heard,” she said, “that either the Jews or the Egyptians, +being instructed, were blind to the reading of an allegory. But, +Prince, if you cannot read this one it is not for me, who am but a +woman, to set it out to you.” + +Just then their glances met, and in the clear moonlight Aziel saw a +wave of doubt sweep over his companion’s dark and beautiful eyes, and a +faint flush appear upon her brow. He saw, and something stirred at his +heart that till this hour he had never felt, something which even now +he knew it would trouble him greatly to escape. + +“Tell me, lady,” he asked, his voice sinking almost to a whisper, “in +this fable of yours am I even for an hour deemed worthy to play the +part of that immortal love embodied which you sought so earnestly a +while ago?” + +“Immortal love, Prince,” she answered, in a new voice, a voice low and +deep, “is not for one hour, but for all hours that are and are to be. +You, and you alone, can know if you would dare to play such a part as +this—even in a fable.” + +“Perchance, lady, there lives a woman for whom it might be dared.” + +“Prince, no such woman lives, since immortal love must deal, not with +the flesh, but with the spirit. If a spirit worthy to be thus loved and +worshipped now wanders in earthly shape upon the world, seeking its +counterpart and its completion, I cannot tell. Yet were it so, and +should they chance to meet, it might be happy for such brave spirits, +for then the answer to the great riddle would be theirs.” + +Wondering what this riddle might be, Aziel bent towards her to reply, +when suddenly round a bend in the path but a few paces from them came a +body of soldiers and attendants, headed by a man clad in a white robe +and walking with a staff. This man was grey-headed and keen-eyed, thin +in face and ascetic in appearance, with a brow of power and a bearing +of dignity. At the sight of the pair he halted, looking at them in +question, and with disapproval. + +“Our search is ended,” he said in Hebrew, “for here is he whom we seek, +and alone with him a heathen woman, robed like a priestess of the +Groves.” + +“Whom do you seek, Issachar?” asked Aziel hurriedly, for the sudden +appearance of the Levite disturbed him. + +“Yourself, Prince. Surely you can guess that your absence has been +noted. We feared lest harm should have come to you, or that you had +lost your path, but it seems that you have found a guide,” and he +stared at his companion sternly. + +“That guide, Issachar,” answered Aziel, “being none other than the lady +Elissa, daughter of Sakon, governor of this city, and our host, whom it +has been my good fortune to rescue from a woman-stealer yonder in the +grove of the goddess Baaltis.” + +“And whom it was my bad fortune to try to rescue in the said grove, as +my broken head bears witness,” added Metem, who by now had come up, +dragging the two mules after him. + +“In the grove of the goddess Baaltis!” broke in the Levite with a +kindling eye, and striking the ground with his staff to emphasise his +words. “You, a Prince of Israel, alone in the high place of abomination +with the priestess of a fiend? Fie upon you, fie upon you! Would you +also walk in the sin of your forefathers, Aziel, and so soon?” + +“Peace!” said Aziel in a voice of command; “I was not in the grove +alone or by my own will, and this is no time or place for insults and +wrangling.” + +“Between me and those who seek after false gods, or the women who +worship them, there is no peace,” replied the old priest fiercely. + +Then, followed by all the company, he turned and strode towards the +gates of the city. + + + + +CHAPTER III +ITHOBAL THE KING + + +Two hours had gone by, and the prince Aziel, together with his retinue, +the officers of the caravan, and many other guests, were seated at a +great feast made in their honour, by Sakon, the governor of the city. +This feast was held in the large pillared hall of Sakon’s house, built +beneath the northern wall of the temple fortress, and not more than a +few paces from its narrow entrance, through which in case of alarm the +inhabitants of the palace could fly for safety. All down this chamber +were placed tables, accommodating more than two hundred feasters, but +the principal guests were seated by themselves upon a raised daïs at +the head of the hall. Among them sat Sakon himself, a middle-aged man +stout in build, and thoughtful of face, his daughter Elissa, some other +noble ladies, and a score or more of the notables of the city and its +surrounding territories. + +One of these strangers immediately attracted the attention of Aziel, +who was seated in the place of honour at the right of Sakon, between +him and the lady Elissa. This man was of large stature, and about forty +years of age; the magnificence of his apparel and the great gold chain +set with rough diamonds which hung about his neck showing him to be a +person of importance. His tawny complexion marked him of mixed race. +This conclusion his features did not belie, for the brow, nose, and +cheek-bones were Semitic in outline, while the full, prominent eyes, +and thick, sensuous lips could with equal certainty be attributed to +the Negroid stock. In fact, he was the son of a native African queen, +or chieftainess, and a noble Phœnician, and his rank no less than that +of absolute king and hereditary chief of a vast and undefined territory +which lay around the trading cities of the white men, whereof Zimboe +was the head and largest. Aziel noticed that this king, who was named +Ithobal, seemed angry and ill at ease, whether because he was not +satisfied with the place which had been allotted to him at the table, +or for other reasons, he could not at the time determine. + +When the meats had been removed, and the goblets were filled with wine, +men began to talk, till presently Sakon called for silence, and rising, +addressed Aziel:— + +“Prince,” he said, “in the name of this great and free city—for free it +is, though we acknowledge the king of Tyre as our suzerain—I give you +welcome within our gates. Here, far in the heart of Libya, we have +heard of the glorious and wise king, your grandfather, and of the +mighty Pharaoh of Egypt, whose blood runs also within your veins. +Prince, we are honoured in your coming, and for the asking, whatever +this land of gold can boast is yours. Long may you live; may the favour +of those gods you worship attend you, and in the pursuit of wisdom, of +wealth, of war, and of love, may the good grain of all be garnered in +your bosom, and the wind of prosperity winnow out the chaff of them to +fall beneath your feet. Prince, I have greeted you as it behoves me to +greet the blood of Solomon and Pharaoh; now I add a word. Now I greet +you as a father greets the man who has saved his only and beloved +daughter from death, or shameful bondage. Know you, friends, what this +stranger did since to-night’s moonrise? My daughter was at worship +alone yonder without the walls, and a great savage set on her, +purposing to bear her away captive. Ay, and he would have done it had +not the prince Aziel here given him battle, and, after a fierce fight, +slain him.” + +“No great deed to kill a single savage,” broke in the king Ithobal, who +had been listening with impatience to Sakon’s praises of this high-born +stranger. + +“No great deed you say, King,” answered Sakon. “Guards, bring in the +body of the man and set it before us.” + +There was a pause, till presently six men staggered up the hall bearing +between them the corpse of the barbarian, which, still covered with the +leopard skin mantle, they threw down on the edge of the daïs. + +“See!” said one of the bearers, withdrawing the cloak from the huge +body. Then pointing to the sword which still transfixed it, he added, +“and learn what strength heaven gives to the arms of princes.” + +Such of the guests as were near enough rose to look at the grizzly +sight, then turned to offer their congratulations to the conqueror, but +there was one of them—the king Ithobal—who offered none; indeed, as his +eyes fell upon the face of the corpse, they grew alight with rage. + +“What ails you, King? Are you jealous of such a blow?” asked Sakon, +watching him curiously. + +“Speak no more of that thrust, I pray you,” said Aziel, “for it was due +to the weight of the man rushing on the sword, which after he was dead +I could not find the power to loosen from his breast-bone.” + +“Then I will do you that service, Prince,” sneered Ithobal, and, +setting his foot upon the breast of the corpse, with a sudden effort of +his great frame, he plucked out the sword and cast it down upon the +table. + +“Now, one might think,” said Aziel, flushing with anger, “that you, +King, who do a courtesy to a man of smaller strength, mean a challenge. +Doubtless, however, I am mistaken, who do not understand the manners of +this country.” + +“Think what you will, Prince,” answered the chieftain, “but learn that +he who lies dead before us by your hand—as you say—was no slave to be +killed at pleasure, but a man of rank, none other, indeed, than the son +of my mother’s sister.” + +“Is it so?” replied Aziel, “then surely, King, you are well rid of a +cousin, however highly born, who made it his business to ravish maidens +from their homes.” + +By way of answer to these words Ithobal sprang from his seat again, +laying hand upon his sword. But before he could speak or draw it, the +governor Sakon addressed him in a cold and meaning voice:— + +“Of your courtesy, King,” he said, “remember that the prince here is my +guest, as you are, and give us peace. If that dead man was your cousin, +at least he well deserved to die, not at the hand of one of royal +blood, but by that of the executioner, for he was the worst of +thieves—a thief of women. Now tell me, King, I pray you, how came your +cousin here, so far from home, since he was not numbered in your +retinue?” + +“I do not know, Sakon,” answered Ithobal, “and if I knew I would not +say. You tell me that my dead kinsman was a thief of women, which, in +Phœnician eyes, must be a crime indeed. So be it; but thief or no +thief, I say that there is a blood feud between me and the man who slew +him, and were he great Solomon himself, instead of one of fifty +princelets of his line, he should pay bitterly for the deed. To-morrow, +Sakon, I will meet you before I leave for my own land, for I have words +to speak to you. Till then, farewell!”—and rising, he strode down the +hall, followed by his officers and guard. + + +The sudden departure of king Ithobal in anger was the signal for the +breaking up of the feast. + +“Why is that half-bred chief so wrath with me?” asked Aziel in a low +voice of Elissa as they followed Sakon to another chamber. + +“Because—if you would know the truth—he set his dead cousin to kidnap +me, and you thwarted him,” she answered, looking straight before her. + +Aziel made no reply, for at that moment Sakon turned to speak with him, +and his face was anxious. + +“I crave your pardon, Prince,” he said, drawing him aside, “that you +should have met with such insults at my board. Had it been any other +man who spoke thus to you, by now he had rued his words, but this +Ithobal is the terror of our city, for if he chooses he can bring a +hundred thousand savages upon us, shutting us within our walls to +starve, and cutting us off from the working of the mines whence we win +gold. Therefore, in this way or that, he must be humoured, as indeed we +have humoured him and his father for years, though now,” he added, his +brow darkening, “he demands a price that I am loth to pay,” and he +glanced towards his daughter, who stood watching them at a little +distance, looking most beautiful in her white robes and ornaments of +gold. + +“Can you not make war upon him, and break his power?” asked Aziel, with +a strange anxiety, guessing that this price demanded by Ithobal was +none other than Elissa, the woman whom he had rescued, and whose wisdom +and beauty had stirred his heart. + +“It might be done, Prince, but the risk would be great, and we are here +to work the mines and grow rich in trade—not to make war. The policy of +Zimboe has always been a policy of peace.” + +“I have a better and cheaper plan,” said a calm voice at his elbow—that +of Metem. “It is this: Slip a bow-string over the brute’s head as he +lies snoring, and pull it tight. An eagle in a cage is easy to deal +with, but once on the wing the matter is different.” + +“There is wisdom in your counsel,” said Sakon, in a hesitating voice. + +“Wisdom!” broke in Aziel; “ay, the wisdom of the assassin. What, noble +Sakon, would you murder a sleeping guest?” + +“No, Prince, I would not,” he answered hastily; “also, such a deed +would bring the Tribes upon us.” + +“Then, Sakon, you are more foolish than you used to be,” said Metem +laughing. “A man who will not despatch a foe, whenever he can catch +him, by means fair or foul, is not the man to govern a rich city set in +the heart of a barbarous land, and so I shall tell Hiram, our king, if +ever I live to see Tyre again. As for you, most high Prince, forgive +the humblest of your servants if he tells you that the tenderness of +your heart and the nobility of your sentiments will, I think, bring you +to an early and evil end;” and, glancing towards Elissa as though to +put a point upon his words, Metem smiled sarcastically and withdrew. + +At this moment a messenger, whose long white hair, wild eyes and red +robe announced him to be a priest of El, by which name the people of +Zimboe worshipped Baal, entered the room, and whispered something into +the ear of Sakon which seemed to disturb him much. + +“Pardon me, Prince, and you, my guests, if I leave you,” said the +governor, “but I have evil tidings that call me to the temple. The lady +Baaltis is seized with the black fever, and I must visit her. For an +hour, farewell.” + +This news caused consternation among the company, and in the general +confusion that followed its announcement Aziel joined Elissa, who had +passed on to the balcony of the house, and was seated there alone, +looking out over the moonlit city and the plains beyond. At his +approach she rose in token of respect, then sat herself down again, +motioning him to do likewise. + +“Give me of your wisdom, lady,” he said. “I thought that Baaltis was +the goddess whom I heard you worshipping yonder in the grove; how, +then, can she be stricken with a fever?” + +“She is the goddess,” Elissa answered smiling; “but the _lady_ Baaltis +is a woman whom we revere as the incarnation of that goddess upon +earth, and being but a woman in her hour she must die.” + +“Then, what becomes of the incarnation of the goddess?” + +“Another is chosen by the college of the priests of El, and the company +of the priestesses of Baaltis. If that lady Baaltis who is dead chances +to leave a daughter, it is usual for the lot to fall upon her; if not, +upon such one of the noble maidens as may be chosen.” + +“Does the lady Baaltis marry, then?” + +“Yes, Prince, within a year of her consecration, she must choose +herself a husband, and he may be whom she will, provided only that he +is of white blood, and does public sacrifice to El and Baaltis. Then +after she has named him, this husband takes the title of Shadid, and +for so long as his wife shall live he is the high priest of the god El, +and clothed with the majesty of the god, as his wife is clothed with +the majesty of Baaltis. But should she die, another wins his place.” + +“It is a strange faith,” said Aziel, “which teaches that the Lord of +Heaven can find a home in mortal breasts. But, lady, it is yours, so of +it I say no more. Now tell me, if you will, what did you mean when you +said that this barbarian king, Ithobal, set the savage whom I slew to +kidnap you? Do you know this, or do you suspect it only?” + +“I suspected it from the first, Prince, and for good reasons; moreover, +I read it in the king’s face as he looked upon the corpse, and when he +perceived me among the feasters.” + +“And why should he wish to carry you away this brutally, lady, when he +is at peace with the great city?” + +“Perchance, Prince, after what passed to-night you can guess,” she +answered lowering her eyes. + +“Yes, lady, I can guess, and though it is shameful that such an one +should dare to think of you, still, since he is a man, I cannot blame +him overmuch. But why should he press his suit in this rough and secret +fashion instead of openly as a king might do?” + +“He may have pressed it openly and been repulsed,” she replied in a low +voice. “But if he could have carried me to some far fortress, how +should I flout him there, that is, if I still lived? There, with no +price to pay in gold or lands or power, he would have been my master, +and I should have been his slave till such time as he wearied of me. +That is the fate from which you have saved me, Prince, or rather from +death, for I am not one who could bear such shame at the hands of a man +I hate.” + +“Lady,” he said bowing, “I think that perhaps for the first time in my +life I am glad to-night that I was born.” + +“And I,” she answered, “who am but a Phœnician maiden, am glad that I +should have lived to hear one who is as royal in thought and soul as he +is in rank speak thus to me. Oh! Prince,” she added, clasping her +hands, “if your words are not those of empty courtesy alone, hear me, +for you are great, a Lord of the Earth whom none refuse, and it may be +in your power to give me aid. Prince, I am in a sore strait, for that +danger from which I prayed to be delivered this night presses me hard. +Prince, it is true that Ithobal has been refused my hand, both by +myself and by my father, and therefore it was that he strove to steal +me away. But the evil is not done with, for the great nobles of the +city and the chief priests of El came to my father at sunset and prayed +him that he would let Ithobal take me, seeing that otherwise in his +rage he will make war upon Zimboe. When a man placed as is my father +must choose between the safety of thousands and the honour and +happiness of one poor girl, what will his answer be, think you?” + +“Now,” said Aziel, “save that no wrong can right a wrong, I almost +grieve that I cried shame upon the counsel of Metem. Sweet lady, be +sure of this, that I will give all I have, even to my life, to protect +you from the vile fate you dread—yes, all I have—except my soul.” + +“Ah!” she cried with a sudden flash of her dark eyes, “all except your +soul. If we women could find the man who would risk both life and soul +for us, then, were he but a slave, we would worship him as never man +was worshipped since Baaltis mounted her heavenly throne.” + +“Were I not a Hebrew you would tempt me, lady,” Aziel answered smiling, +“but being one I may not risk my soul even were such a prize within my +reach.” + +“Nay, Prince,” she broke in, “I did but jest; forget my words, for they +were wrung from a heart torn with fears. Oh! did you know the terror of +this half-savage Ithobal which oppresses me, you would forgive me all—a +terror that to-night lies upon me with a tenfold weight.” + +“Why so, lady?” + +“Doubtless because it is nearer,” Elissa whispered, but her beautiful +pleading eyes and quivering lips seemed to belie her words and say, +“because _you_ are near, and a change has come upon me.” + +For the second time that day Aziel’s glance met hers, and for the +second time a strange new pang that was more pain than joy, and yet +half-divine, snatched at his heart-strings, for a while numbing his +reason and taking from him the power of speech. + +“What was it?” he wondered vaguely. He had seen many lovely faces, and +many noble women had shown him favour, but why had none of them stirred +him thus? Could it be that this stranger Gentile maiden was his +soul-mate—she whom he was destined to love above all upon the earth, +nay, whom he did already love, and so soon? + +“Lady,” he said, taking a step towards her, “lady——” and he paused. + +Elissa bowed her dark head till her gold-bedecked and scented hair +almost fell upon his feet, but she made no answer. + +Then another voice broke upon the silence, a clear, strident voice that +said:— + +“Prince, forgive me, if for the second time to-day I disturb you; but +the guests have gone; your chamber is made ready, and, not knowing the +customs of the women of this country, I sought you, little guessing +that, at such an hour, I should find you alone with one of them.” + +Aziel looked up, although there was no need for him to do so, for he +knew that voice well, to see the tall form of the Levite Issachar +standing before them, a cold light of anger shining in his eyes. + +Elissa saw also, and, with some murmured words of farewell, she turned +and went, leaving them together. + + + + +CHAPTER IV +THE DREAM OF ISSACHAR + + +For a moment there was silence, which Aziel broke, saying:— + +“It seems to me, Issachar, that you are somewhat over zealous for my +welfare.” + +“I think otherwise, Prince,” replied the Levite sternly. “Did not your +grandsire give you into my keeping, and shall I not be faithful to my +trust, and to a higher duty than any which he could lay upon me?” + +“Your meaning, Issachar?” + +“It is plain, Prince; but I will set it out. The great king said to me +yonder in the hall of his golden palace at Jerusalem, ‘To others, men +of war, I have given charge of the body of my grandson to keep him +safe. To you, Issachar the Levite, who have fostered him, I give charge +over his soul to keep it safe—a higher task, and more difficult. Guard +him, Issachar, from the temptation of strange doctrines and the +whisperings of strange gods, but guard him most of all from the wiles +of strange women who bow the knee to Baal, for such are the gate of +Gehenna upon earth, and those who enter by it shall find their place in +Tophet.’” + +“Truly my grandsire speaks wisely on this matter as on all others,” +answered Aziel, “but still I do not understand.” + +“Then I will be more clear, Prince. How comes it that I find you alone +with this beautiful sorceress, this worshipper of the she-devil, +Baaltis, with whom you should scorn even to speak, except such words as +courtesy demands?” + +“Is it then forbidden to me,” asked Aziel angrily, “to talk with the +daughter of my host, a lady whom I chanced to save from death, of the +customs of her country and the mysteries of worship?” + +“The mysteries of worship!” answered Issachar scornfully. “Ay! the +mysteries of the worship of that fair body of hers, that ivory chalice +filled with foulness—whereof, if a man drink, his faith shall be rotted +and his soul poisoned. The mysteries of that worship was it, Prince, +that caused you but now to lean towards this woman as though to embrace +her, with words of love burning in your heart if not between your lips? +Ah! these witches of Baaltis know their trade well; they are full of +evil gifts, and of the wisdom given to them by the fiend they serve. +With touch and sigh and look they can stir the blood of youth, having +much practice in the art, till it seethes within the veins and drowns +conscience in its flood. + +“Nay, Prince, hear the truth,” continued Issachar. “Till moonrise you +had never seen this woman, and now your quick blood is aflame, and you +love her. Deny it if you can—deny it on your honour and I will believe +you, for you are no liar.” + +Aziel thought for a moment and answered:— + +“Issachar, you have no right to question me on this matter, yet since +you have adjured me by my honour, I will be open with you. I do not +know if I love this woman, who, as you say, is a stranger to me, but it +is true that my heart turns towards her like flowers to the sun. Till +to-day I had never seen her, yet when my eyes first fell upon her face +yonder in that accursed grove, it seemed to me that I had been born +only that I might find her. It seemed to me even that for ages I had +known her, that for ever she was mine and that I was hers. Read me the +riddle, Issachar? Is this but passion born of youth and the sudden +sight of a fair woman? That cannot be, for I have known others as fair, +and have passed through some such fires. Tell me, Issachar, you who are +old and wise and have seen much of the hearts of men, what is this wave +that overwhelms me?” + +“What is it, Prince? It is witchery; it is the wile of Beelzebub +waiting to snatch your soul, and if you hearken to it you shall pass +through the fire—through the fire to Moloch, if not in the flesh, then +in the spirit, which is to all eternity. Oh! not in vain do I fear for +you, my son, and not without reason was I warned in a dream. Listen: +Last night, as I lay in my tent yonder upon the plain, I dreamed that +some danger overshadowed you, and in my sleep I prayed that your +destiny might be revealed to me. As I prayed thus, I heard a voice +saying, ‘Issachar, you seek to learn the future; know then that he who +is dear to you shall be tried in the furnace indeed. Yes, because of +his great love and pity, he shall forswear his faith, and with death +and sorrow he shall pay the price of his sin.’ + +“Then I was troubled and besought Heaven that you, my son, might be +saved from this unknown temptation, but the voice answered me:— + +“‘Of their own will only can they who were one from the beginning be +held apart. Through good and ill let them work each other’s woe or +weal. The goal is sure, but they must choose the road.’ + +“Now as I wondered what these dark sayings might mean, the gloom opened +and I saw you, Aziel, standing in a grove of trees, while towards you +with outstretched hands drew a veiled woman who bore upon her brow the +golden bow of Baaltis. Then fire raged about you, and in the fire I +beheld many things which I have forgotten, and moving through it was +the Prince of Death, who slew and slew and spared not. So I awoke heavy +at heart, knowing that there had fallen on me who love you a shadow of +doom to come.” + +In these latter days any educated man would set aside Issachar’s wild +vision as the vapourings of a mind distraught. But Aziel lived in the +time of Solomon, when men of his nation guided their steps by the light +of prophecy, and believed that it was the Divine pleasure, by means of +dreams and wonders and through the mouths of chosen seers, to declare +the will of Jehovah upon earth. To this faith, indeed, we still hold +fast, at least so far as that period and people are concerned, seeing +that we acknowledge Isaiah, David, and their company, to have been +inspired from above. Of that company Issachar the Levite was one, for +to him, from his youth up, voices had spoken in the watches of the +night, and often he had poured his warnings and denunciations into the +ears of kings and peoples, telling them with no uncertain voice of the +consequences of sin and idolatry, and of punishment to come. This +Aziel, who had been his ward and pupil, knew well, and therefore he did +not mock at the priest’s dream or set it aside as naught, but bowed his +head and listened. + +“I am honoured indeed,” he said with humility, “that the destiny of my +poor soul and body should be a thing of weight to those on high.” + +“Of your poor soul, Aziel?” broke in Issachar. “That soul of yours, of +which you speak so lightly, is of as great value in the eyes of Heaven +as that of any cherubim within its gates. The angels who fell were the +first and chiefest of the angels, and though now we are clad with +mortal shape in punishment of our sins, again redeemed and glorified we +can become among the mightiest of their hosts. Oh! my son, I beseech +you, turn from this woman while there yet is time, lest to you her lips +should be a cup of woe and your soul shall pay the price of them, +sharing the hell of the worshippers of Ashtoreth.” + +“It may be so,” said Aziel; “but, Issachar, what said the voice? That +this, the woman of your dream and I were one from the beginning? +Issachar, you believe that the lady Elissa is she of whom the voice +spoke in your sleep and you bid me turn from her because she will bring +me sin and punishment. In truth, if I can, I will obey you, since +rather than forswear my faith, as your dream foretold, I would die a +hundred deaths. Nor do I believe that for any bribe of woman’s love I +shall forswear it in act or thought. Yet if such things come about it +is fate that drives me on, not my will—and what man can flee his fate? +But even though this lady be she whom I am doomed to love, you say that +because she is heathen I must reject her. Shame upon the thought, for +if she is heathen it is through ignorance, and it may be mine to change +her heart. Because I stand in danger shall I suffer her who, as you +tell me, was one with me from the beginning, to be lost in that hell of +Baal of which you speak? Nay, your dream is false. I will not renounce +my faith, but rather will win her to share it, and together we shall +triumph, and that I swear to you, Issachar.” + +“Truly the evil one has many wiles,” answered the Levite, “and I did +ill to tell you of my dream, seeing that it can be twisted to serve the +purpose of your madness. Have your will, Aziel, and reap the fruit of +it, but of this I warn you—that while I can find a way to thwart it, +never, Prince, shall you take that witch to your bosom to be the ruin +of your life and soul.” + +“Then, Issachar, on this matter there may be war between us!” + +“Ay! there is war,” said the Levite, and left him. + + +The sun was already high in the heavens when Aziel awoke from the deep +and dreamless sleep which followed on the excitements and exhaustion of +the previous day. After his servants had waited upon him and robed him, +bringing him milk and fruit to eat, he dismissed them, and sat himself +down by the casement of his chamber to think a while. + +Below him lay the city of flat-roofed houses enclosed with a double +wall, without the ring of which were thousands of straw huts, shaped +like bee-hives, wherein dwelt natives of the country, slaves or +servants of the occupying Phœnician race. To Aziel’s right, and not +more than a hundred paces from the governor’s house in which he was, +rose the round and mighty battlements of the temple, where the +followers of El and Baaltis worshipped, and the gold refiners carried +on their business. At intervals on its flat-topped walls stood towers +of observation, alternating with pointed monoliths of granite and +soapstone columns supporting vultures, rudely carved emblems of +Baaltis. Between these towers armed soldiers walked continually, +watching the city below and the plain beyond, for though the mission of +the Phœnicians here was one of peaceful gain it was evident that they +considered it necessary to be always prepared for war. On the hillside +above the great temple towered another fortress of stone—a citadel +deemed to be impregnable even should the temple fall into the hands of +an enemy—while on the crest of the precipitous slope, stretching as far +to right and left as the eye could reach, were many smaller detached +strongholds. + +The scene that Aziel saw from his window was a busy one, for beneath +him a market was being held in an open square in the city. Here, +sheltered from the sun by grass-thatched booths, the Phœnician +merchants who had been his companions in their long and perilous +journey from the coast were already in treaty with numerous customers, +hoping, not in vain, to recoup themselves amply for the toils and +dangers which they had survived. Beneath these booths were spread their +goods; silks from Cos, bronze weapons and copper rods, or ingots from +the rich mines of Cyprus, linens and muslins from Egypt; beads, idols, +carven bowls, knives, glass ware, pottery in all shapes, and charms +made of glazed faience or Egyptian stone; bales of the famous purple +cloth of Tyre; surgical instruments, jewellery, and objects of toilet; +scents, pots of rouge, and other unguents for the use of ladies in +little alabaster and earthenware vases; bags of refined salt, and a +thousand other articles of commerce produced or stored in the workshops +of Phœnicia. These the chapmen bartered for raw gold by weight, tusks +of ivory, ostrich feathers, and girls of approved beauty, slaves taken +in war, or in some instances maidens whom their unnatural parents or +relatives did not scruple to sell into bondage. + +In another portion of the square, provisions and stock, alive and dead, +were being offered for sale, for the most part by natives of the +country. Here were piles of vegetables and fruits grown in the gardens, +sacks of various sorts of grain, bundles of green forage from the +irrigated lands without the walls, calabashes full of curdled milk, +thick native beer and trusses of reed for thatching. Here again were +oxen, mules and asses, or great bucks such as we now know as eland or +kudoo, carried in on rough litters of boughs to be disposed of by +parties of savage huntsmen who had shot them with arrows or trapped +them in pitfalls. Every Eastern tribe and nation seemed to be +represented in the motley crowd. Yonder stalked savages, naked except +for their girdles, and armed with huge spears, who gazed with +bewilderment on the wonders of this mart of the white man; there moved +grave, long-bearded Arab merchants or Phœnicians in their pointed caps, +or bare-headed white-robed Egyptians, or half-bred mercenaries clad in +mail. Their variety was without end, while from them came a very babel +of different tongues as they cried their wares, bargained and +quarrelled. + +Aziel gazed at this novel sight with interest, till, as he was +beginning to weary of it, the crowd parted to right and left, leaving a +clear lane across the market-place to the narrow gate of the temple. +Along this lane advanced a procession of the priests of El clad in red +robes, with tall red caps upon their heads, beneath which their +straight hair hung down to their shoulders. In their hands were gilded +rods, and round their necks hung golden chains, to which were attached +emblems of the god they worshipped. They walked two-and-two to the +number of fifty, chanting a melancholy dirge, one hand of each priest +resting upon his fellow’s shoulder, and as they passed, with the +exception of certain Jews, all the spectators uncovered, while some of +the more pious of them even fell upon their knees. + +After the priests came a second procession, that of the priestesses of +Baaltis. These women, who numbered at least a hundred, were clad in +white, and wore upon their heads a gauze-like veil that fell to the +knees, and was held in place by a golden fillet surmounted with the +symbol of a crescent moon. Instead of the golden rods, however, each of +them held in her left hand a growing stalk of maize, from the sheathed +cob of which hung the bright tassel of its bloom. On her right wrist, +moreover, a milk-white dove was fastened by a wire, both corn and dove +being tokens of that fertility which, under various guises, was the +real object of worship of these people. The sight of these white-veiled +women about whose crescent-decked brows the doves fluttered, wildly +striving to be free, was very strange and beautiful as they advanced +also singing a low and melancholy chant. Aziel searched their faces +with his eyes while they passed slowly towards him, and presently his +heart bounded, for there among them, clasping the dove she bore to her +breast, as though to still its frightened strugglings, was the Lady +Elissa. He noticed, too, that as she went beneath the palace walls, she +glanced at the window-place of his chamber, but without seeing him for +he was seated in the shadow. + +Presently the long line of priestesses, followed by hundreds of +worshippers, had vanished through the tortuous and narrow entrance of +the temple, and Aziel leaned back to think. + +There, among the principal votaries of a goddess, the wickedness of +whose worship was a scandal and a by-word even in the ancient world, +walked the woman to whom he felt so strangely drawn and with whom, if +there were any truth in the visions of Issachar and the mysterious +warnings of his own soul, his fate was intertwined. As he thought of it +a sudden revulsion filled his heart. She was wise and beautiful, and +she seemed innocent, but Issachar was right; this girl was the minister +of an abominable creed; nay, for aught he knew, she was herself defiled +with its abominations, and her wisdom but an evil gift from the evil +powers she served. Could he, a prince of the royal blood of the House +of Israel and of the ancient Pharaohs of Khem, desire to have anything +to do with such an one, he a child of the Chosen People, a worshipper +of the true and only God? Yesterday she had thrown a spell upon him, a +spell of black magic, or the spell of her imperial beauty, which, it +mattered not, but to-day he was the lord of his own mind, and would +shake himself free of it and her. + + +In the market-place below, the Levite Issachar also had watched the +passing of the priests and priestesses of El and Baaltis. + +“Tell me, Metem,” he asked of the Phœnician who stood beside him, his +head respectfully uncovered, “what mummery is this?” + +“It is no mummery, worthy Issachar, but a ceremony of public sacrifice, +which is to be offered in the temple yonder, for the recovery from her +sickness of the Lady Baaltis, the high-priestess.” + +“Where then is the offering. I see none, unless it be those doves that +are tied to the wrists of the women?” + +“Nay, Issachar,” answered Metem smiling darkly, “the gods ask nobler +blood than that of doves. The offering is within, and it is the +first-born child of a priestess of Baaltis.” + +“O Lord of Heaven!” said Issachar lifting up his eyes, “how long will +you suffer that this murderous and accursed race should defile the face +of earth?” + +“Softly, friend,” broke in Metem, “I have read your Scriptures, and is +it not set out in them that your great forefather was commanded to +offer up his first-born in such a sacrifice?” + +“Blaspheme not,” answered the Jew. “He was commanded indeed, that his +heart might be proved, but his hand was stayed. He Whom I worship +delights not in the blood of children.” + +Here Issachar broke off, suddenly recognising the lady Elissa among the +white-robed priestesses. Watching her, he noted her glance at the +window of Aziel’s chamber, and saw what she could not see, that the +prince was seated there. “This daughter of Satan spreads her nets,” he +muttered between his teeth. Then a thought struck him, and he added +aloud, “Say, Metem, is it permitted to strangers to witness the rites +in yonder temple?” + +“Surely,” answered the Phœnician; “that is, if they guard their +tongues, and do nothing to offend.” + +“Then I desire to see them, Metem, and so doubtless does the prince +Aziel. Therefore, if it is your will, do me the service to enter his +chamber in the palace where he is sitting, and bid him to a great +ceremony that goes forward in the temple. And, Metem, if he asks what +that ceremony is, I charge you, say only that a dove is to be +sacrificed. + +“I will wait for you at the gate of the temple, but do not tell him +that I send you on this errand. Metem, you love gain; remember that if +you humour me in this and other matters which may arise, doing my +bidding faithfully, I have the treasury of Jerusalem to draw upon.” + +“No ill paymaster,” replied Metem cheerfully. “Certainly I will obey +you in all things, holy Issachar, as the king commanded me yonder in +Judea.” + +“Now,” he reflected to himself, as he went upon his message, “I see how +the bird flies. The prince Aziel is in love with the lady Elissa, or +far upon the road to it, as at his age it is right and proper that he +should be, after a twelve months’ journey by sea and land with never a +pretty face to sigh for. The holy Issachar, on the other hand, is +minded that his charge shall have naught to do with a priestess of +Baaltis, as, his age and calling considered, is also right and proper. +Then there is that black savage Ithobal, who wishes to win the girl, +and the girl herself, who after the fashion of her sex, will probably +play them all off one against the other. Well, so much the better for +me, since I shall be a richer man even than I am before this affair is +done with. I have two hands, and gold is gold whoever be the giver,” +and smiling craftily to himself Metem passed into the palace. + + + + +CHAPTER V +THE PLACE OF SACRIFICE + + +Suddenly Aziel, looking up from his reverie, saw the Phœnician bowing +before him, cap in hand. + +“May the Prince live for ever,” he said, “yet if he suffer melancholy +to overcome him thus, his life, however long, will be but sad.” + +“I was only thinking, Metem,” answered Aziel with a start. + +“Of the lady Elissa, whom you rescued, Prince? Ah! I guessed as much. +She is beautiful, is she not—I have never seen the equal of those +dreamy eyes and that mysterious smile—and learned also, though myself, +in a woman I prefer the beauty without the learning. It is a pity now +that she should chance to be a priestess of our worship, for that will +not please the holy Issachar whom, I fear, Prince, you find a stern +guide for the feet of youth.” + +“Your business, merchant?” broke in Aziel. + +“I crave your pardon, Prince,” answered the Phœnician, spreading out +his hands in deprecation. “I struck a good bargain for my wares this +morning, and drank wine to seal it, therefore, let me be forgiven if I +have spoken too freely in your presence, Prince. This is my business: +Yonder in the temple they celebrate a service which it is lawful for +strangers to witness, and as the opportunity is rare, I thought that, +having heard something of our mysteries in the grove last night, you +might wish to see the office. If this be so, I am come to guide you.” + +“Aziel’s first impulse was to refuse to go; indeed, the words of +dismissal were on his lips when another purpose entered his mind. For +this once he would look upon these abominations and learn what part +Elissa played in them, and thus be cured for ever of the longings that +had seized him. + +“What is the ceremony?” he asked. + +“A sacrifice for the recovery of the lady Baaltis who is sick, Prince.” + +“And what is the sacrifice?” asked Aziel. + +“A dove, as I am told,” was the indifferent answer. + +“I will come with you, Metem.” + +“So be it, Prince. Your retinue awaits you at the gate.” + +At the main entrance to the palace Aziel found his guard and other +servants gathered there to escort him. With them was Issachar, whom he +greeted, asking him if he knew the errand upon which they were bent. + +“I do, Prince; it is to witness the abomination of a sacrifice of these +heathens.” + +“Will you then accompany me there, Issachar?” + +“Where my lord goes I go,” answered the Levite gravely. “Moreover, +Prince, if you have your reasons for wishing to see this devil-worship, +I may have mine.” + +Then they set out, Metem guiding them. At the north gate of the temple, +which was not more than a yard in width, the Phœnician spoke to the +guards on duty, who drew back to let them pass. In single file, for the +passages were too narrow to allow of any other means of progression, +they threaded the tortuous and mazy paths of the great building, +passing between huge walls built of granite blocks laid without mortar, +till at length they reached a large open space. Here the ceremony had +already begun. Almost in the centre of this space, which was paved with +blocks of granite, stood two conical towers, the larger of which +measured thirty feet in height and the smaller about half as much. +These towers, also built of blocks of stone, were, as Metem informed +them, sacred to and emblematical of the gods El and Baaltis. In front +of them was a platform surmounted by a stone altar, and between them, +built in a pit in the ground, burned a great furnace of wood. All the +centre of the enclosure was occupied by the marshalled ranks of the +priests and priestesses. Without this sacred ring stood the closely +packed masses of spectators, amongst whom Aziel and his following were +given place, though some of the more pious worshippers murmured audibly +at the admission of these Jews. + +When they entered, the companies of priests and priestesses were +finishing a prayer, the sentences of which they chanted alternately +with strange effect. In part it was formal, and in part an improvised +supplication to the protecting gods to restore health to that woman or +high-priestess who was known as the lady Baaltis. The prayer ended, a +beautiful bold-faced girl advanced to an open space in front of the +altar, and with a sudden movement threw off her white robe, revealing +herself to the spectators in a many-coloured garment of gauze, through +which her fair flesh gleamed. + +The black hair of this woman was adorned with a coronet of scarlet +flowers and hung loose about her; her feet and arms were naked, and in +each hand she held a knife of bronze. Very slowly she began to dance, +her painted lips parted as though to speak, and her eyes, brightened +with pigments, turned up to heaven. By degrees her movements grew more +rapid, till at length, as she whirled round, her long locks streamed +out straight upon the air and the crown of flowers looked like a +scarlet ring. Suddenly the bronze knife in her right hand flashed, and +a spot of red appeared above her left breast; then the knife in the +left hand flashed, and another spot appeared over the right breast. At +each stroke the multitude cried, “_Ah!_” as with one voice, and then +were silent. + +Now the maddened dancer, ceasing her whirlings, leapt high into the +air, clashing the knives above her head and crying, “Hear me, hear me, +Baaltis!” + +Again she leapt, and this time the answer that came from her lips was +spoken in another voice, which said, “I am present. What seek you?” + +A third time the priestess leapt, replying in her own voice, “Health +for thy servant who is sick.” Then came the answer in the second +voice—“I hear you, but I see no sacrifice.” + +“What sacrifice would’st thou, O Queen? A dove?” + +“Nay.” + +“What then, Queen?” + +“One only, the first-born child of a woman.” + +As this command, which they supposed to be divine and from above, +issued out of the lips of the gashed and bleeding Pythoness, the +multitude that hitherto had listened in perfect silence, shouted aloud, +while the girl herself, utterly exhausted, fell to the earth swooning. + +Now the high priest of El, who was named the Shadid, none other indeed +than the husband of her who lay sick, sprang upon the platform and +cried:— + +“The goddess has spoken by the mouth of her oracle. She who is the +mother of all demands one life out of the many she has given, that the +Lady Baaltis, who is her priestess upon earth, may be recovered of her +sickness. Say, who will lay down a life for the honour of the goddess, +and that her regent in this land may be saved alive?” + +Now—for all this scene had been carefully prepared—a woman stepped +forward, wearing the robe of a priestess, who bore in her arms a +drugged and sleeping child. + +“I, father,” she cried in a shrill, hard voice, though her lips +trembled as she spoke. “Let the goddess take this child, the +first-fruit of my body, that our mother the Lady Baaltis may be cured +of her sickness, and that I, her daughter, may be blessed by the +goddess, and through me, all we who worship her.” And she held out the +little victim towards him. + +The Shadid stretched out his arms to take it, but he never did take it, +for at that moment appeared upon the platform the tall and bearded +figure of Issachar clad in his white robes. + +“Hold!” he cried in a loud, clear voice, “and touch not the innocent +child. Spawn of Satan, would you do murder to appease the devils whom +you worship? Well shall they repay you, people of Zimboe. Oh! mine eyes +are open and I see,” he went on, shaking his thin arms above his head +in a prophetic frenzy. “I see the sword of the true God, and it flames +above this city of idolaters and abominations. I see this place of +sacrifice, and I tell you that before the moon is young again it shall +run red with the blood of you, idol worshippers, and of you, women of +the groves. The heathen is at your gates, ye followers of demons, and +my God sends them as He sends the locusts of the north wind to devour +you like grass, to sweep you away like the dust of the desert. Cry then +upon El and Baaltis, and let El and Baaltis save you if they can. Doom +is upon you; Azrael, angel of death, writes his name upon your +foreheads, every one of you, giving your city to the owls, your bodies +to the jackals, and your souls to Satan——” + +Thus far the priests and the spectators had listened to Issachar’s +denunciations in bewildered amazement not unmixed with fear. Now with a +roar of wrath they awoke, and suddenly he was dragged from the platform +by a score of hands and struck down with many blows. Indeed, he would +then and there have been torn to pieces had not a guard of soldiers, +knowing that he was Sakon’s guest and in the train of the prince Aziel, +snatched him from the maddened multitude, and borne him swiftly to a +place of safety without the enclosure. + +While the tumult was at its height, a Phœnician, who had arrived in the +temple breathless with haste, might have been seen to pluck Metem by +the sleeve. + +“What is it?” Metem asked of the man, who was his servant. + +“This: the lady Baaltis is dead. I watched as you bade me, and, as she +had promised to do, in token of the end, her woman waved a napkin from +the casement of that tower where she lies.” + +“Do any know of this?” + +“None.” + +“Then say no word of it,” and Metem hurried off in search of Aziel. + +Presently he found him seeking for Issachar in company with his guards. + +“Have no fear, Prince,” Metem said, in answer to his eager questions, +“he is safe enough, for the soldiers have borne the fool away. Pardon +me that I should speak thus of a holy man, but he has put all our lives +in danger.” + +“I do not pardon you,” answered Aziel hotly, “and I honour Issachar for +his act and words. Let us begone from this accursed place whither you +entrapped me.” + +Before Metem could reply a voice cried, “Close the doors of the +sanctuary, so that none can pass in or go out, and let the sacrifice be +offered.” + +“Listen, Prince,” said Metem, “you must stay here till the ceremony is +done.” + +“Then I tell you, Phœnician,” answered Aziel, “that rather than suffer +that luckless child to be butchered before my eyes I will cut my way to +it with my guards, and rescue it alive.” + +“To leave yourself dead in place of it,” answered Metem sarcastically; +“but, see, a woman desires to speak with you,” and he pointed to a girl +in the robe of a priestess, whose face was hidden with a veil, and who, +in the tumult and confusion, had worked her way to Aziel. + +“Prince,” whispered the veiled form, “I am Elissa. For your life’s sake +keep still and silent, or you will be stabbed, for your words have been +overheard, and the priests are mad at the insult that has been put upon +them.” + +“Away with you, woman,” answered Aziel; “what have I to do with a girl +of the groves and a murderess of children?” + +She winced at his bitter words, but said quietly:— + +“Then on your own head be your blood, Prince, which I have risked much +to keep unshed. But before you die, learn that I knew nothing of this +foul sacrifice, and that gladly would I give my own life to save that +of yonder child.” + +“Save it, and I will believe you,” answered the prince, turning from +her. + +Elissa slipped away, for she saw that the priestesses, her companions, +were reforming their ranks, and that she must not tarry. When she had +gone a few yards, a hand caught her by the sleeve, and the voice of +Metem, who had overheard something of this talk, whispered in her ear:— + +“Daughter of Sakon, what will you give me if I show you a way to save +the life of the child, and with it that of the prince, and at the same +time to make him think well of you again?” + +“All my jewels and ornaments of gold, and they are many,” she answered +eagerly. + +“Good; it is a bargain. Now listen: The lady Baaltis is dead; she died +a few minutes since, and none here know it save myself and one other, +my servant, nor can any learn it, for the gates are shut. Do you be, +therefore, suddenly inspired—of the gods—and say so, for then the +sacrifice must cease, seeing that she for whom it was to be offered is +dead. Do you understand?” + +“I understand,” she answered, “and though the blasphemy bring on me the +vengeance of Baaltis, yet it shall be dared. Fear not, your pay is +good,” and she pressed forward to her place, keeping the veil wrapped +about her head till she reached it unobserved, for in the general +confusion none had noticed her movements. + +When the noise of shouting and angry voices had at length died away, +and the spectators were driven back outside the sacred circle, the +priest upon the platform cried:— + +“Now that the Jew blasphemer has gone, let the sacrifice be offered, as +is decreed.” + +“Yea, let the sacrifice be offered,” answered the multitude, and once +more the woman with the sleeping child stepped forward. But before the +priest could take it another figure approached him, that of Elissa, +with arms outstretched and eyes upturned. + +“Hold, O priest!” she said, “for the goddess, breathing on my brow, +inspires me, and I have a message from the goddess.” + +“Draw near, daughter, and speak it in the ears of men,” the priest +answered wondering, for he found it hard to believe in such +inspiration, and indeed would have denied her a hearing had he dared. + +So Elissa climbed the platform, and standing upon it still with +outstretched hands and upturned face, she said in a clear voice:— + +“The goddess refuses the sacrifice, since she has taken to herself her +for whom it was to have been offered—the Lady Baaltis is dead.” + +At this tidings a groan went up from the people, partly of grief for +the loss of a spiritual dignitary who was popular, and partly of +disappointment because now the sacrifice could not be offered. For the +Phœnicians loved these horrible spectacles, which were not, however, +commonly celebrated by daylight and in the presence of the people. + +“It is a lie,” cried a voice, “but now the Lady Baaltis was living.” + +“Let the gates be opened, and send to see whether or no I lie,” said +Elissa, quietly. + +Then for a while there was silence while a priest went upon the errand. +At length he was seen returning. Pushing his way through the crowd, he +mounted the platform, and said:— + +“The daughter of Sakon speaks truth; alas! the lady Baaltis is dead.” + +Elissa sighed in relief, for had her tidings proved false she could +scarcely have hoped to escape the fury of the crowd. + +“Ay!” she cried, “she is dead, as I told you, and because of your sin, +who would have offered human sacrifice in public, against the custom of +our faith and city and without the command of the goddess.” + + +Then in sullen silence the priests and priestesses reformed their +ranks, and departed from the sanctuary, whence they were followed by +the spectators, the most of them in no good mood, for they had been +baulked of the promised spectacle. + + + + +CHAPTER VI +THE HALL OF AUDIENCE + + +When Elissa reached her chamber after the break up of the procession, +she threw herself upon her couch, and burst into a passion of tears. +Well might she weep, for she had been false to her oath as a priestess, +uttering as a message from the goddess that which she had learnt from +the lips of man. More, she could not rid herself of the remembrance of +the scorn and loathing with which the Prince Aziel had looked upon her, +or of the bitter insult of his words when he called her, “a girl of the +groves, and a murderess of children.” + +It chanced that, so far as Elissa was concerned, these charges were +utterly untrue. None could throw a slur upon her, and as for these rare +human sacrifices, she loathed the very name of them, nor, unless forced +to it, would she have been present had she guessed that any such +offering was intended. + +Like most of the ancient religions, that of the Phœnicians had two +sides to it—a spiritual and a material side. The spiritual side was a +worship of the far-off unknown divinity, symbolised by the sun, moon +and planets, and visible only in their majestic movements, and in the +forces of nature. To this Elissa clung, knowing no truer god, and from +those forces she strove to wring their secret, for her heart was deep. +Lonely invocations to the goddess beneath the light of the moon +appealed to her, for from them she seemed to draw strength and comfort, +but the outward ceremonies of her faith, or the more secret and darker +of them, of which in practice she knew little, were already an +abomination in her eyes. And now what if the Jew prophet spoke truly? +What if this creed of hers were a lie, root and branch, and there did +lie in the heavens above a Lord and Father who heard and answered the +prayers of men, and who did not seek of them the blood of the children +He had given? + +A great doubt took hold of Elissa and shook her being, and with the +doubt came hope. How was it—if her faith were true—that when she took +the name of the goddess in vain, nothing had befallen her? She desired +to learn more of this matter, but who was to teach her? The Levite +turned from her with loathing as from a thing unclean, and there +remained, therefore, but the prince Aziel, who had put her from him +with those bitter words of scorn. Ah! why did they pain her so, +piercing her heart as with a spear? Was it because—because—he had grown +dear to her? Yes, that was the truth. She had learned it even as he +cursed her; all her quick southern blood was alight with a new fire, +the like of which she had never known before. And not her blood only, +it was her spirit—her spirit that yearned to his. Had it not leapt +within her at the first sight of him as to one most dear, one long-lost +and found again? She loved him, and he loathed her, and oh! her lot was +hard. + +As Elissa lay brooding thus in her pain, the door opened and Sakon, her +father, hurried into the chamber. + +“What is it that chanced yonder?” he asked, for he had not been present +in the sanctuary, “and, daughter, why do you weep?” + +“I weep, father, because your guest, the prince Aziel, has called me ‘a +girl of the groves, and a murderess of children,’” she replied. + +“Then, by my head, prince that he is, he shall answer for it to me,” +said Sakon, grasping at his sword-hilt. + +“Nay, father, since to him I must have seemed to deserve the words. +Listen.” And she told him all that had passed, hiding nothing. + +“Now it seems that trouble is heaped upon trouble,” said the Phœnician +when she had finished, “and they were mad who suffered the prince and +that fierce Issachar to be present at the sacrifice. Daughter, I tell +you this: though I am a worshipper of El and Baaltis, as my fathers +were before me, I know that Jehovah of the Jews is a great and powerful +Lord, and that His prophets do not prophesy falsely, for I have seen it +in my youth, yonder in the coasts of Sidon. What did Issachar say? That +before the moon was young again, this temple should run red with blood? +Well, so it may happen, for Ithobal threatens war against us, and for +your sake, my daughter.” + +“How for my sake, father?” she asked heavily, as one who knew what the +answer would be. + +“You know well, girl. Ever since you danced before him at the great +welcoming feast I made in his honour a month ago the man is besotted of +you; moreover, he is mad with jealousy of this new-comer, the prince +Aziel. He has demanded public audience of me this afternoon, and I have +it privately that then he will formally ask you in marriage before the +people, and if he is refused will declare war upon the city, with which +he has many an ancient quarrel. Yes, yes, king Ithobal is that sword of +God which the Jew said he saw hanging over us, and should it fall it +will be because of you, Elissa.” + +“The Jew did not say that, father; he said it would be because of the +sins of the people and their idolatries.” + +“What does it matter what he said?” broke in Sakon hastily. “How shall +I answer Ithobal?” + +“Tell him,” she replied with a strange smile, “that he does wisely to +be jealous of the prince Aziel.” + +“What! Of the stranger who this very day reviled you in words of such +shame, and so soon?” asked her father astonished. + +Elissa did not speak in answer; she only looked straight before her, +and nodded her head. + +“Had ever man such a daughter?” Sakon went on in petulant dismay. +“Truly it is a wise saying which tells that women love those best who +beat them, be it with the tongue or with the fist. Not but what I would +gladly see you wedded to a prince of Israel and of Egypt rather than of +this half-bred barbarian, but the legions of Solomon and of Pharaoh are +far away, whereas Ithobal has a hundred thousand spears almost at our +gate.” + +“There is no need to speak of such things, father,” she said, turning +aside, “since, even were I willing, the prince would have nought to do +with me, who am a priestess of Baaltis.” + +“The matter of religion might be overcome,” suggested Sakon; “but, no, +for many reasons it is impossible. Well, this being so, daughter, I may +answer Ithobal that you will wed him.” + +“I!” she said; “I wed that black-hearted savage? My father, you may +answer what you will, but of this be sure, that I will go to my grave +before I pass as wife to the board of Ithobal.” + +“Oh! my daughter,” pleaded Sakon, “think before you say it. As his wife +at least you, who are not of royal blood, will be a queen, and the +mother of kings. But if you refuse, then either I must force you, which +is hateful to me, or there will be such a war as the city has not known +for generations, for Ithobal and his tribes have many grievances +against us. By the gift of yourself, for a while, at any rate, you can, +as it chances, make peace between us, but if that is withheld, then +blood will run in rivers, and perhaps this city, with all who live in +it, will be destroyed, or at the least its trade must be ruined and its +wealth stolen away.” + +“If it is decreed that all these things are to be, they will be,” +answered Elissa calmly, “seeing that this war has threatened us for +many years, and that a woman must think of herself first, and of the +fate of cities afterwards. Of my own free will I shall never take +Ithobal for husband. Father, I have said.” + +“Of the fate of cities, yes; but how of my fate, and that of those we +love? Are we all to be ruined, and perhaps slaughtered, to satisfy your +whim, girl?” + +“I did not say so, father. I said that of my own free will I would not +wed Ithobal. If you choose to give me to him you have the right to do +it, but know then that you give me to my death. Perhaps it is best that +it should be thus.” + +Sakon knew his daughter well, and it did not need that he should glance +at her face to learn that she meant her words. Also he loved her, his +only child, more dearly than anything on earth. + +“In truth my strait is hard, and I know not which way to turn,” he +said, covering his face with his hand. + +“Father,” she replied, laying her fingers lightly on his shoulder, +“what need is there to answer him at once? Take a month, or if he will +not give it, a week. Much may happen in that time.” + +“The counsel is wise,” he said, catching at this straw. “Daughter, be +in the great hall of audience with your attendants three hours after +noon, for then we must receive Ithobal boldly in all pomp, and deal +with him as best we may. And now I go to ask peace for the Levite from +the priests of El, and to discover whom the sacred colleges desire to +nominate as the new Baaltis. Doubtless it will be Mesa, the daughter of +her who is dead, though many are against her. Oh! if there were no +priests and no women, this city would be easier to govern,” and with an +impatient gesture Sakon left the room. + + +It was three o’clock in the afternoon, and the great hall of audience +in Zimboe was crowded with a brilliant assemblage. There sat Sakon, the +governor, and with him his council of the notables of the city; there +were prince Aziel and among his retinue, Issachar the prophet, +fierce-eyed as ever, though hardly recovered from the rough handling he +had experienced in the temple. There were representatives of the +college of the priests of El. There were many ladies, wives and +daughters of dignitaries and wealthy citizens, and with them a great +crowd of spectators of all classes gathered in the lower part of the +hall, for a rumour had spread about that the farewell audience given by +Sakon to King Ithobal was likely to be stormy. + +When all were gathered, a herald announced that Ithobal, King of the +Tribes, waited to take his leave of Sakon, Governor of Zimboe, before +departing to his own land on the morrow. + +“Let him be admitted,” said Sakon, who looked weary and ill at ease. +Then as the herald bowed and left, he turned and whispered something +into the ear of his daughter Elissa, who stood behind his chair, her +face immovable as that of an Egyptian Sphinx, but magnificently +apparelled in gleaming robes and jewelled ornaments—which Metem, +looking on them, reflected with satisfaction were now his property. + +Presently, preceded by a burst of savage music, Ithobal entered. He was +gorgeously arrayed in a purple Tyrian robe decked with golden chains, +while on the brow, in token of his royalty, he wore a golden circlet in +which was set a single blood-red stone. Before him walked a +sword-bearer carrying a sword of ceremony, a magnificent ivory-handled +weapon encrusted with rough gems and inlaid with gold, while behind +him, clad in barbaric pomp, marched a number of counsellors and +attendants, huge and half-savage men who glared wonderingly at the +splendour of the place and its occupants. As the king came, Sakon rose +from his chair of state and, advancing down the hall, took him by the +hand and led him to a similar chair placed at a little distance. + +Ithobal seated himself and looked around the hall. Presently his glance +fell upon Aziel, and he scowled. + +“Is it common, Sakon,” he asked, “that the seat of a prince should be +set higher than that of a crowned king?” And he pointed to the chair of +Aziel, which was placed a little above his own upon the daïs. + +The governor was about to answer when Aziel said coldly:— + +“Where it was pointed out to me that I should sit, there I sat, though, +for aught I care, the king Ithobal may take my place. The grandson of +Pharaoh and of Solomon does not need to dispute for precedence with the +savage ruler of savage tribes.” + +Ithobal sprang to his feet and cried, grasping his sword:— + +“By my father’s soul, you shall answer for this, Princelet.” + +“You should have sworn by your mother’s soul, King Ithobal,” replied +Aziel quietly, “for doubtless it is the black blood in your veins that +causes you to forget your courtesy. For the rest, I answer to no man +save to my king.” + +“Yet there is one other who will make you answer,” replied Ithobal, in +a voice thick with rage, “and here he is,” and he drew his sword and +flashed it before the prince’s eyes. “Or if you fear to face him, then +the wands of my slaves shall cause you to cry me pardon.” + +“If you desire to challenge me to combat, king Ithobal, for this +purpose only I am your servant, though the fashion of your challenging +is not that of any nation which I know.” + +Before Ithobal could reply, Sakon cried out in a loud voice:— + +“Enough, enough! Is this a place for brawling, king Ithobal, and would +you seek to fix a quarrel upon my guest, the prince Aziel, here in my +council chamber, and to bring upon me the wrath of Israel, of Tyre, and +of Egypt? Be sure that the prince shall cross no swords with you; no, +not if I have to set him under guard to keep him safe. To your +business, king Ithobal, or I break up this assembly and send you under +escort to our gates.” + +Now his counsellors plucked Ithobal by the sleeve and whispered to him +some advice, which at last he seemed to take with an ill grace, for, +turning, he said, “So be it. This is my business, Sakon: For many years +I and the countless tribes whom I rule have suffered much at the hands +of you Phœnicians, who centuries ago settled here in my country as +traders. That you should trade we are content, but not that you should +establish yourselves as a sovereign power, pretending to be my equals +who are my servants. Therefore, in the name of my nation, I demand that +the tribute which you pay to me for the use of the mines of gold shall +henceforth be doubled; that the defences of this city be thrown down; +and that you cease to enslave the natives of the land to labour in your +service. I have spoken.” + +Now as these arrogant demands reached their ears, the company assembled +in the hall murmured with anger and astonishment, then turned to wait +for Sakon’s answer. + +“And if we refuse these small requests of yours, O King?” asked the +governor sarcastically, “what then? Will you make war upon us?” + +“First tell me, Sakon, if you do refuse them?” + +“In the name of the cities of Tyre and Sidon whom I serve, and of Hiram +my master, I refuse them one and all,” answered Sakon with dignity. + +“Then, Sakon, I am minded to bring up a hundred thousand men against +you and to sweep you and your city from the face of earth,” said +Ithobal. “Yet I remember that I also have Phœnician blood in my veins +mixed with the nobler and more ancient blood at which yonder upstart +jeers, and therefore I would spare you. I remember also that for +generations there has been peace and amity between my forefathers and +the Council of this city, and therefore I would spare you. Behold, +then, I build a bridge whereby you may escape, asking but one little +thing of you in proof that you are indeed my friend, and it is that you +give me your daughter, the lady Elissa, whom I seek to make my queen. +Think well before you answer, remembering that upon this answer may +hang the lives of all who listen to you, ay, and of many thousand +others.” + +For a while there was silence in the assemblage, and every eye was +fixed upon Elissa, who stood neither moving nor speaking, her face +still set like that of a Sphinx, and almost as unreadable. Aziel gazed +at her with the rest, and his eyes she felt alone of all the hundreds +that were bent upon her. Indeed, so strongly did they draw her, that +against her own will she turned her head and met them. Then remembering +what had passed between herself and the prince that very day, she +coloured faintly and looked down, neither the glance nor the blush +escaping the watchful Ithobal. + +Presently Sakon spoke:— + +“King Ithobal,” he said, “I am honoured indeed that you should seek my +daughter as your queen, but she is my only child, whom I love, and I +have sworn to her that I will not force her to marry against her will, +whoever be the suitor. Therefore, King, take your answer from her own +lips, for whatever it be it is my answer.” + +“Lady,” said Ithobal, “you have heard your father’s words; be pleased +to say that you look with favour upon my suit, and that you will deign +to share my throne and power.” + +Elissa took a step forward on the daïs and curtseyed low before the +king. + +“O King!” she said, “I am your handmaid, and great indeed is the favour +that you would do your servant. Yet, King, I pray of you search out +some fairer woman of a more royal rank to share your crown and sceptre, +for I am all unworthy of them, and to those words on this matter which +I have spoken in past days I have none to add.” Then again she +curtseyed, adding, “King, I am your servant.” + +Now a murmur of astonishment went up from the audience, for few of them +thought it possible that Elissa, who, however beautiful, was but the +daughter of a noble, could refuse to become the wife of a king. Ithobal +alone did not seem to be astonished, for he had expected this answer. + +“Lady,” he said, repressing with an effort the passions which were +surging within him, “I think that I have something to offer to the +woman of my choice, and yet you put me aside as lightly as though I had +neither name, nor power, nor station. This, as it seems to me, can be +read in one way only, that your heart is given elsewhere.” + +“Have it as you will, King,” answered Elissa, “my heart is given +elsewhere.” + +“And yet, lady, not four suns gone you swore to me that you loved no +man. Since then it seems that you have learned to love, and swiftly, +and it is yonder Jew whom you have chosen.” And he pointed to the +prince Aziel. + +Again Elissa coloured, this time to the eyes, but she showed no other +sign of confusion. + +“May the king pardon me,” she said, “and may the prince Aziel, whose +name has thus been coupled with mine, pardon me. I said indeed that my +heart was given elsewhere, but I did not say it was given to any man. +May not the heart of a mortal maid-priestess be given to the +Ever-living?” + +Now for a moment the king was silenced, while a murmur of applause at +her ready wit went round the audience. But before it died away a voice +at the far end of the hall called out:— + +“Perchance the lady does not know that yonder in Egypt, and in +Jerusalem also, prince Aziel is named the Ever-living.” + +Now it was Elissa’s turn to be overcome. + +“Nay, I knew it not,” she said; “how should I know it? I spoke of that +Dweller in the heavens whom I worship——” + +“And behold, the title fits a dweller on the earth whom you must also +worship, for such omens do not come by chance,” cried the same voice, +but from another quarter of the crowded hall. + +“I ask pardon,” broke in Aziel, “and leave to speak. It is true that +owing to a certain birth-mark which I bear, among the Egyptians I have +been given the bye-name of the Ever-living, but it is one which this +lady can scarcely have heard, therefore jest no more upon a chance +accident of words. Moreover, if you be men, cease to heap insult upon a +woman. I who am almost a stranger here have not dared to ask the lady +Elissa for her favour.” + +“Ay, but you will ask and she will grant,” answered the same voice, the +owner of which none could discover—for he seemed to speak from every +part of the chamber. + +“Indeed,” went on Aziel, not heeding the interruption, “the last words +between us were words of anger, for we quarrelled on a matter of +religion.” + +“What of that?” cried the voice; “love is the highest of religions, for +do not the Phœnicians worship it?” + +“Seize yonder knave,” shouted Sakon, and search was made but without +avail. Afterwards, however, Aziel remembered that once, when they were +weather-bound on their journey from the coast, Metem had amused them by +making his voice sound from various quarters of the hut in which they +lay. Then Ithobal rose and said:— + +“Enough of this folly; I am not here to juggle with words, or to listen +to such play. Whether the lady Elissa spoke of the gods she serves or +of a man is one to me. I care not of whom she spoke, but for her words +I do care. Now hearken, you city of traders: If this is to be thy +answer, then I break down that bridge which I have built, and it is war +between you and my Tribes, war to the end. But let her change her +words, and whether she loves me or loves me not, come to be my wife, +and, for my day, the bridge shall stand; for once that we are wed I can +surely teach her love, or if I cannot, at least it is she I seek with +or without her love. Reflect then, lady, and reply again, remembering +how much hangs upon your lips.” + +“Do you think, king Ithobal,” Elissa answered, looking at him with +angry eyes, “that a woman such as I am can be won by threats? I have +spoken, king Ithobal.” + +“I know not,” he replied; “but I do know that she can be won by force, +and then surely, lady, your pride shall pay the price, for you shall be +mine, but not my queen.” + +Now one of the council rose and said:— + +“It seems, Sakon, that there is more in this matter than whether or no +the king Ithobal pleases your daughter. Is the city then to be plunged +into a great war, of which none can see the end, because one woman +looks askance upon a man? Better that a thousand girls should be wedded +where they would not than that such a thing should happen. Sakon, +according to our ancient law you have the right to give your daughter +in marriage where and when you will. We demand, therefore, that for the +good of the commonwealth, you should exercise this right, and hand over +the lady Elissa to king Ithobal.” + +This speech was received with loud and general shouts of approval, for +no Phœnician audience would have been willing to sacrifice its +interests for a thing so trivial as the happiness of a woman. + +“Between the desire of a beloved daughter to whom I have pledged my +word and my duty to the great city over which I rule, my strait is hard +indeed,” answered Sakon. “Hearken, king Ithobal, I must have time. Give +me eight days from now in which to answer you, for if you will not, I +deny your suit.” + +Ithobal seemed about to refuse the demand of Sakon. Then once more his +counsellors plucked him by the sleeve, pointing out to him that if he +did this, it was likely that none of them would leave the city alive. +At some sign from the governor, they whispered, the captains of the +guard were already hastening from the hall. + +“So be it, Sakon,” he said. “To-night I camp without your walls, which +are no longer safe for one who has threatened war against them, and on +the eighth day from this see to it that your heralds being me the Lady +Elissa and peace—or I make good my threat. Till then, farewell.” And +placing himself in the midst of his company king Ithobal left the hall. + + + + +CHAPTER VII +THE BLACK DWARF + + +Some two hours had passed since the break-up of the assembly in the +great hall. Prince Aziel was seated in his chamber, when the keeper of +the door announced that a woman was without who desired to speak with +him. He gave orders that she should be admitted, and presently a veiled +figure entered the room and bowed before him. + +“Be pleased to unveil, and to tell me your business,” he said. + +With some reluctance his visitor withdrew the wrapping from her head, +revealing a face which Aziel recognised as one that he had seen among +the waiting women who attended on Elissa. + +“My message is for your ear, Prince,” she said, glancing at the man who +had ushered her into the chamber. + +“It is not my custom to receive strangers thus alone,” said the prince; +“but be it as you will,” and he motioned to the servant to retire +without the door. “I await your pleasure,” he added, when the man had +gone. + +“It is here,” she answered, and drew from her bosom a little papyrus +roll. + +“Who wrote this?” he asked. + +“I know not, Prince; it was given to me to pass on to you.” + +Then he opened the roll and read. It ran thus: “Though we parted with +bitter words, still in my sore distress I crave the comfort of your +counsel. Therefore, since I am forbidden to speak with you openly, meet +me, I beseech you, at moonrise in the palace garden under the shade of +the great fig tree with five roots, where I shall be accompanied only +by one I trust. Bring no man with you for my safety’s sake.—Elissa.” + +Aziel thrust the scroll into his robe, and thought awhile. Then he gave +the waiting lady a piece of gold and said:— + +“Tell her who sent you that I obey her words. Farewell.” + +This message seemed to puzzle the woman, who opened her lips to speak. +Then, changing her mind, she turned and went. + +Scarcely had she gone when the Phœnician, Metem, was ushered into the +room. + +“O Prince,” he said maliciously, “pardon me if I caution you. Yet in +truth if veiled ladies flit thus through your apartments in the light +of day, it will reach the ears of the holy but violent Issachar, of +whose doings I come to speak. Then, Prince, I tremble for you.” + +Aziel made a movement half-impatient and half-contemptuous. “The woman +is a serving-maid,” he said, “who brought me a message that I +understand but little. Tell me, Metem, for you know this place of old, +does there stand in the palace garden a great fig tree with five +roots?” + +“Yes, Prince; at least such a tree used to grow there when last I +visited this country. It was one of the wonders of the town, because of +its size. What of it?” + +“Little, except that I must be under it at moonrise. See and read, +since whatever you may say of yourself, you are, I think, no traitor.” + +“Not if I am well paid to keep counsel, Prince,” Metem answered with a +smile. Then he read the scroll. + +“I am glad that the noble lady brings an attendant with her,” he said +as he returned it, with a bow. “The gossips of Zimboe are censorious, +and might misinterpret this moonlight meeting, as indeed would Sakon +and Issachar. Well, doves will coo and maids will woo, and unless I can +make money out of it the affair is none of mine.” + +“Have I not told you that there is no question of wooing?” asked the +prince angrily. “I go only to give her what counsel I can in the matter +of the suit of this savage, Ithobal. The lady Elissa and I have +quarrelled beyond repair over that accursed sacrifice——” + +“Which her ready wit prevented,” put in Metem. + +“But I promised last night that I would help her if I could,” the +prince went on, “and I always keep my word.” + +“I understand, Prince. Well, since you turn from the lady, whose name +with yours is so much in men’s mouths just now, doubtless you will give +her wise counsel, namely, to wed Ithobal, and lift the shadow of war +from this city. Then, indeed, we shall all be grateful to you, for it +seems that no one else can move her stubbornness. And, by the way: If, +when she has listened to your wisdom, the daughter of Sakon should +chance to explain to you that the sight of this day’s attempted +sacrifice filled her with horror, and that she parted with every jewel +she owns to put an end to it—well, her words will be true. But, since +you have quarrelled, they will have no more interest for you, Prince, +than has my talk about them. So now to other matters.” And Metem began +to speak of the conduct of Issachar in the sanctuary, and of the +necessity of guarding him against assassination at the hands of the +priests of El as a consequence of his religious zeal. Presently he was +gone, leaving Aziel somewhat bewildered. + +Could it be true, as she herself had told him, and as Metem now +asserted, that Elissa had not participated willingly in the dark rites +in the temple? If so he had misjudged her and been unjust; indeed, what +atonement could suffice for such words as he had used towards her? +Well, to some extent she must have understood and forgiven them, +otherwise she would scarcely have sought his aid, though he knew not +how he could help her in her distress. + + +When Elissa returned from the assembly, she laid herself down to rest, +worn out in mind and body. Soon sleep came to her, and with the sleep +dreams. At first these were vague and shadowy, then they grew more +clear. She dreamed that she saw a dim and moonlit garden, and in it a +vast tree with twisted roots that seemed familiar to her. Something +moving among the branches of this tree attracted her attention, but for +a long while she watched it without being able to discover what it was. +Now she saw. The moving thing was a hideous black dwarf with beady +eyes, who held in his hand a little ivory tipped bow, on the string of +which was set an arrow. Her consciousness concentrated itself upon this +arrow, and though she knew not how, she became aware that it was +poisoned. What was the dwarf doing in the tree with a bow and poisoned +arrow, she wondered? Suddenly a sound seemed to strike her ear, the +sound of a man’s footsteps walking over grass, and she perceived that +the figure of the dwarf, crouched upon the bough, became tense and +alert, and that his fingers tightened upon the bow-string until the +blood was driven from their yellow tips. Following the glance of his +wicked black eyes, she saw advancing through the shadow a tall man clad +in a dark robe. Now he emerged into a patch of moonlight and stood +looking around him as though he were searching for some one. Then the +dwarf raised himself to his knees upon the bough, and, aiming at the +bare throat of the man, drew the bow-string to his ear. At this moment +the victim turned his head and the moonlight shone full upon his face. +It was that of the prince Aziel. + + +Elissa awoke from her vision with a little cry, then rose trembling, +and strove to comfort herself in the thought that although it was so +very vivid she had dreamed but a dream. Still shaken and unnerved, she +passed into another chamber, and made pretence to eat of the meal that +was made ready for her, for it was now the hour of sunset. While she +was thus employed, it was announced that the Phœnician, Metem, desired +to speak with her, and she commanded that he should be admitted. + +“Lady,” he said bowing, so soon as her attendants had withdrawn to the +farther end of the chamber, “you can guess my errand. This morning I +gave you certain tidings which proved both true and useful, and for +those tidings you promised a reward.” + +“It is so,” she said, and going to a chest she drew from it an ivory +casket full of ornaments of gold and among them necklaces and other +objects set with uncut precious stones. “Take them,” she said, “they +are yours; that is, save this gold chain alone, for it is vowed to +Baaltis.” + +“But lady,” he asked, “how can you appear before Ithobal the king thus +robbed of all your ornaments?” + +“I shall not appear before Ithobal the king,” she answered sharply. + +“You say so! Then what will the prince Aziel think of you when he sees +you thus unadorned?” + +“My beauty is my adornment,” she replied, “not these gems and gold. +Moreover, it is nought to me what he thinks, for he hates me, and has +reviled me.” + +Metem lifted his eyebrows incredulously and went on: “Still, I will not +deprive you of this woman’s gear. Look now, I value it, and at no high +figure,” and drawing out his writer’s palette and a slip of papyrus, he +wrote upon it an acknowledgment of debt, which he asked her to sign. + +“This document, lady,” he said, “I will present to your father—or your +husband—at a convenient season, nor do I fear that either of them will +refuse to honour it. And now I take my leave, for you—have an +appointment to keep—and,” he added with emphasis, “the time of moonrise +is at hand.” + +“Your meaning, I pray you?” she asked. “I have no appointment at +moonrise, or at any other hour.” + +Metem bowed politely, but in a fashion which showed that he put no +faith in her words. + +“Again I ask your meaning, merchant,” she said, “for your dark hintings +are scarcely to be borne.” + +The Phœnician looked at her; there was a ring of truth in her voice. + +“Lady,” he said, “will you indeed deny, after I have seen it written by +yourself, that within some few minutes you meet the prince Aziel +beneath a great tree in the palace gardens, there—so said the scroll—to +ask his aid in this matter of the suit of Ithobal?” + +“Written by myself?” she said wonderingly. “Meet the prince Aziel +beneath a tree in the palace gardens? Never have I thought of it.” + +“Yet, lady, the scroll I saw purported to be written by you, and your +own woman bore it to the prince. As I think, she sits yonder at the end +of the chamber, for I know her shape.” + +“Come hither,” called Elissa, addressing the woman. “Now tell me, what +scroll was this that you carried to-day to the prince Aziel, saying +that I sent you?” + +“Lady,” answered the girl confusedly, “I never told the prince Aziel +that you sent him the scroll.” + +“The truth, woman, the truth,” said her mistress. “Lie not, or it will +be the worse for you.” + +“Lady, this is the truth. As I was walking through the market-place an +old black woman met me, and offered me a piece of gold if I would +deliver a letter into the hand of the prince Aziel. The gold tempted +me, for I had need of it, and I consented; but of who wrote the letter +I know nothing, nor have I ever seen the woman before.” + +“You have done wrong, girl,” said Elissa, “but I believe your tale. Now +go.” + +When she had gone, Elissa stood for a while thinking; and, as she +thought, Metem saw a look of fear gather on her face. + +“Say,” she asked him, “is there anything strange about the tree of +which the scroll tells?” + +“Its size is strange,” he answered, “and it has five roots that stand +above the ground.” + +As he spoke Elissa uttered a little cry. + +“Ah!” she said, “it is the tree of my dream. Now—now I understand. +Swift, oh! come with me swiftly, for see, the moon rises,” and she +sprang to the door followed by the amazed Metem. + +Another minute, and they were speeding down the narrow street so fast +that those who loitered there turned their heads and laughed, for they +thought that a jealous husband pursued his wife. As Elissa fumbled at +the hasp of the door of the garden, Metem overtook her. + +“What means this hunt?” he gasped. + +“That they have decoyed the prince here to murder him,” she answered, +and sped through the gateway. + +“Therefore we must be murdered also. A woman’s logic,” the Phœnician +reflected to himself as he panted after her. + +Swiftly as Elissa had run down the street, here she redoubled her +speed, flitting through the glades like some white spirit, and so +rapidly that her companion found it difficult to keep her in view. At +length they came to a large open space of ground where played the level +beams of the rising moon, striking upon the dense green foliage of an +immense tree that grew there. Round this tree Elissa ran, glancing +about her wildly, so that for a few seconds Metem lost sight of her, +for its mass was between them. When he saw her again she was speeding +towards the figure of a man who stood in the open, about ten paces from +the outer boughs of the tree. To this she pointed as she came, crying +out aloud, “Beware! Beware!” + +Another moment and she had almost reached the man, and still pointing +began to gasp some broken words. Then, suddenly in the bright +moonlight, Metem saw a shining point of light flash towards the pair +from the darkness of the tree. It would seem that Elissa saw it also; +at least, she leapt from the ground, her arm lifted above her head as +though to catch the object. Then as her feet once more touched the +earth her knees gave way, and she fell down with a moan of pain. Metem +running on towards her, as he went perceived a shape, which looked like +that of a black dwarf, slip from the shadow of the tree into some +bushes beyond where it was lost. Now he was there, to find Elissa +half-seated, half-lying on the ground, the prince Aziel bending over +her, and fixed through the palm of her right hand, which she held up +piteously, a little ivory-pointed arrow. + +“Draw it out from the wound,” he panted. + +“It will not help me,” she answered; “the arrow is poisoned.” + +With an exclamation, Metem knelt beside her, and, not heeding her +groans of pain, drew the dart through the pierced palm. Then he tore a +strip of linen from his robe, and knotting it round Elissa’s wrist, he +took a broken stick that lay near and twisted the linen till it almost +cut into her flesh. + +“Now, Prince,” he said, “suck the wound, for I have no breath for it. +Fear not, lady, I know an antidote for this arrow poison, and presently +I will be back with the salve. Till then, if you would live, do not +suffer that bandage to be loosed, however much it pains you,” and he +departed swiftly. + +Aziel put his lips to the hurt to draw out the poison. + +“Nay,” she said faintly, trying to pull away her hand, “it is not +fitting, the venom may kill you.” + +“It seems that it was meant for me,” he answered, “so at the worst I do +take but my own.” + +Presently, directing Elissa to hold her hand above her head, he put his +arms about her and carried her a hundred paces or more into the open +glade. + +“Why do you move me?” she asked, her head resting on his shoulder. + +“Because whoever it was that shot the arrow may return to try his +fortune a second time, and here in the open his darts cannot reach us.” +Then he set her down upon the grass and stood looking at her. + +“Listen, prince Aziel,” Elissa said after a while, “the venom with +which these black men soak their weapons is very strong, and unless +Metem’s salve be good, it may well chance that I shall die. Therefore +before I die I wish to say a word to you. What brought you to this +place to-night?” + +“A letter from yourself, lady.” + +“I know it,” she said, “but I did not write that letter; it was a +snare, set, as I think, by the king Ithobal, who would do you to death +in this way or in that. A messenger of his bribed my waiting-maid to +deliver it, and afterwards I learnt the tale from Metem. Then, guessing +all, I came hither to try to save you.” + +“But how could you guess all, lady?” + +“In a strange fashion, Prince.” And in a few words she told him her +dream. + +“This is marvellous indeed, that you should be warned of my danger by +visions,” he said wondering, and half-doubtingly. + +“So marvellous, Prince, that you do not believe me,” Elissa answered. +“I know well what you think. You think that a woman to whom this very +morning you spoke such words as women cannot well forgive, being +revengeful laid a plot to murder you, and then, being a woman, changed +her mind. Well, it is not so; Metem can prove it to you!” + +“Lady, I believe you,” he said, “without needing the testimony of +Metem. But now the story grows still more strange, for if you had done +me no wrong, how comes it that to preserve me from harm you set your +tender flesh between the arrow and one who had reviled you?” + +“It was by chance,” she answered faintly. “I learnt the truth and ran +to warn you. Then I saw the arrow fly towards your heart, and strove to +grasp it, and it pierced me. It was by chance, by such a chance as made +me dream your danger.” And she fainted. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII +AZIEL PLIGHTS HIS TROTH + + +At first Aziel feared that the poison had done its work, and that +Elissa was dead, till placing his hand upon her heart he felt it +beating faintly, and knew that she did but swoon. To leave her to seek +water or assistance was impossible, since he dared not loose his hold +of the bandage about her wrist. So, patiently as he might, he knelt at +her side awaiting the return of Metem. + +How beautiful her pale face seemed there in the moonlight, set in its +frame of dusky hair. And how strange was this tale of hers, of a dream +that she had dreamed, a dream which, to save his own, led her to offer +her life to the murderer’s arrow. Many would not believe it, but he +felt that it was true; he felt that even if she wished it she could not +lie to him, for as he had known since first they met, their souls were +open to each other. Yes, having thus been warned of his danger, she had +offered her life for him—for him who that morning had called her, +unjustly so Metem said, “a girl of the groves and a murderess.” How +came it that she had done this, unless indeed she loved him as—he loved +her? + +Aziel could no longer palter with himself, it was the truth. Last night +when Issachar accused him, he had felt this, although then he would not +admit it altogether, and now to-night he knew that his fate had found +him. They would say that, after the common fashion of men, he had been +conquered by a lovely face and form and a brave deed of devotion. But +it was not so. Something beyond the flesh and its works and attributes +drew him towards this woman, something that he could neither understand +nor define (unless, indeed, the vision of Issachar defined it), but of +which he had been conscious since first he set eyes upon her face. It +was possible, it was even probable, that before another hour had gone +by she would have passed beyond his reach, into the deeps of death, +whither for a while he could not follow her. Yet he knew that the +knowledge that she never could be his would not affect the love of her +which burnt in him, for his desire towards her was not altogether a +desire of the earth. + +Aziel bent down over the swooning girl, looking into her pale face, +till her lips almost touched his own, and his breath beating on her +brow seemed to give her life again. Now she stirred, and now she opened +her eyes and gazed back at him a while, deeply and with meaning, even +as he gazed at her. + +He spoke no word, for his lips seemed to be smitten with silence, but +his heart said, “I love you, I love you,” and her heart heard it, for +she whispered back:— + +“Bethink you who and what I am.” + +“It matters not, for we are one,” he replied. + +“Bethink you,” she said again, “that soon I may be dead and lost to +you.” + +“It cannot be, for we are one,” he replied. “One we have been, one we +are to-day, and one we shall be through all the length of life and +death.” + +“Prince,” she said again, “once more and for the last time I say: +Bethink you well, for it comes upon me that your words are true, and +that if I take that which to-night you offer, it will be for ever and +for aye.” + +“For ever and aye, let it be,” Aziel said, leaning towards her. + +“For ever and for aye, let it be,” she repeated, holding up her lips to +his. + +And thus in the silent moonlit garden they plighted their strange +troth. + + +“Lady,” said a voice in their ears, the voice of Metem, “I pray you let +me dress your hand, for there is no time to lose.” + +Aziel looked up to see the Phœnician bending over them with a sardonic +smile, and behind him the tall form of Issachar, who stood regarding +them, his arms folded on his breast. + +“Holy Issachar,” went on Metem with malice, “be pleased to hold this +lady’s hand, since it seems that the prince here can only tend her +lips.” + +“Nay,” answered the Levite, “what have I to do with this daughter of +Baaltis? Cure her if you can, or if you cannot, let her die, for so +shall a stone of stumbling be removed from the feet of the foolish.” +And he glanced indignantly at Aziel. + +“Had it not been for this same stone at least the feet of the foolish +by now would have pointed skywards. The gods send me such a stone if +ever a black dwarf draws a poisoned arrow at me,” answered Metem, as he +busied himself with his drugs. Then he added, “Nay, Prince, do not stop +to answer him, but hold the lady’s hand to the light.” + +Aziel obeyed, and having washed out the wound with water, Metem rubbed +ointment into it which burnt Elissa so sorely that she groaned aloud. + +“Be patient beneath the pain, lady,” he said, “for if it has not +already passed into your blood, this salve will eat away the poison of +the arrow.” + +Then half-leading and half-carrying her, they brought her back to the +palace. Here Metem gave her over into the care of her father, telling +him as much of the story as he thought wise, and cautioning him to keep +silent concerning what had happened. + +At the door of the palace Issachar spoke to Aziel. + +“Did I dream, Prince,” he said, “or did my ears indeed hear you tell +that idolatress that you loved her for ever, and did my eyes see you +kiss her on the lips?” + +“It seems that you saw and heard these things, Issachar,” said Aziel, +setting his face sternly. “Now hear this further, and then I pray you +give me peace on this matter of the lady Elissa: If in any way it is +possible, I shall make her my wife, and if it be not possible, then for +so long as she may live at least I will look upon no other woman.” + +“Then that is good news, Prince, to me, who am charged with your +welfare, for be sure, if I can prevent you, you shall never mix your +life with that of this heathen sorceress.” + +“Issachar,” the prince replied, “I have borne much from you because I +know well that you love me, and have stood to me in the place of a +father. But now, in my turn, I warn you, do not seek to work harm to +the lady Elissa, for in striking her you strike me, and such blows may +bring my vengeance after them.” + +“Vengeance?” mocked the Levite. “I fear but one vengeance, and it is +not yours, nor do I listen to the whisperings of love when duty points +the path. Rather would I see you dead, prince Aziel, then lured down to +hell by the wiles of yonder witch.” + +Then before Aziel could answer he turned and left him. + + +As Issachar went to his own chamber full of bitterness and indignation, +he passed the door of Elissa’s apartments, and came face to face with +Metem issuing from them. + +“Will the woman live?” he asked of him. + +“Be comforted, worthy Issachar. I think so; that is, if the bandage +does not slip. I go to tell the prince.” + +“Gladly would I give a hundred golden shekels to him who brought me +tidings that it had slipped and the woman with it, down to the arms of +her father Beelzebub,” broke in the Levite passionately. + +“Pretty words for a holy man,” said Metem, feigning amazement. “Well, +Issachar, I will do most things for good money, but to shift that +bandage would be but murder, and this I cannot work even for the gold +and to win your favour.” + +“Fool,” answered Issachar, “did I ask you to do murder? I do not fight +with such weapons; let the woman live or die as it is decreed. Nay, +enter my chamber, for I would speak with you, who are a cunning man +versed in the craft of courts. Listen now: I love this prince Aziel, +for I have reared him from his childhood, and he has been a son to me +who have none. More, I am sent hither to this hateful land to watch him +and hold him from harm, and for all that chances to him I must account. +And now, what has chanced? This woman, Elissa, by her witcheries——” + +“Softly, Issachar; what witcheries does she need beyond those lips and +form and eyes?” + +“By her witcheries, I tell you, has ensnared him so that now he swears +that he will wed her.” + +“What of it, Issachar? He might travel far to find a lovelier woman.” + +“What of it, do you ask, remembering who he is? What of it, when you +know his faith, and that this fair idolater will sap it, and cause him +to cast away his soul? What of it, when with your own ears you heard +him swear to love her through all the deeps of life and death? Man, are +you mad?” + +“No, but some might say that you are, holy father, who forget that I am +also of this religion which you revile. But for good or ill, so the +matter stands; and now what is it that you wish of me?” + +“I wish that you should make it impossible that the prince Aziel should +take this woman to wife. Not by murder, indeed, for ‘thou shalt not +kill,’ saith the law, but by bringing it about that she should marry +the king Ithobal, or if that fail, in any other fashion which seems +good to you.” + +“‘Thou shalt not kill,’ saith your law; tell me then, Issachar, does it +say also that thou shalt hand over a woman to a fate that she chances +to hold to be worse than death? Doubtless it is foolish of her, and we +should not heed such woman’s folly. Yet this one has a certain strength +of will, and I question if all the elders of the city will bring her +living to the arms of Ithobal.” + +“It is nought to me, Metem, if she weds Ithobal, or weds him not, save +that I do not love this heathen man, and surely her temper and her +witcheries would bring ruin on him. What I would have you do is to +prevent her from marrying Aziel; the way I leave to you.” + +“And what should I be paid for this service, holy Issachar?” + +The Jew thought and answered, “A hundred golden shekels.” + +“Two hundred gold shekels,” replied Metem reflectively, “nay, I am sure +you said _two_ hundred, Issachar. At least, I do not work for less, and +it is a small sum enough, seeing that to earn it I must take upon +myself the guilt of severing two loving hearts. But I know well that +you are right, and that this would be an evil marriage for the prince +Aziel, and also for the lady Elissa, who then day by day and year by +year must bear the scourge of your reproaches, Issachar. Therefore I +will do my best, not for the money indeed, but because I see herein a +righteous duty. And now here is parchment, give me the lamp that I may +prepare the bond.” + +“My word is my bond, Phœnician,” answered the Levite haughtily. + +Metem looked at him. “Doubtless,” he said, “but you are old, and this +is—a rough country where accidents chance at times. Still, the thing +would read very ill, and, as you say, your word is your bond. Only +remember, Issachar, two hundred shekels, bearing interest at two +shekels a month. And now you are weary, holy Issachar, with plotting +for the welfare of others, and so am I. Farewell, and good dreams to +you.” + +The Levite watched him go, muttering to himself, “Alas that I should +have fallen to such traffic with a knave, but it is for your sake and +for your soul’s sake, O Aziel my son. I pray that Fate be not too +strong for me and you.” + + +For two days from this night Elissa lay almost senseless, and by many +it was thought that she would die. But when Metem saw her on the +morning after she had been wounded, and noted that her arm was but +little swollen, and had not turned black, he announced that she would +certainly live, whatever the doctors of the city might declare. Thereon +Sakon, her father, and Aziel blessed him, but Issachar said nothing. + +As the Phœnician was walking through the market-place early on the next +day an aged black woman, whom he did not know, accosted him, saying +that she had a message for his ear from the king Ithobal who was camped +without the city and who desired to see the merchandise that he had +brought with him from the coasts of Tyre. Now Metem had already sold +all his wares at a great advantage; still, as he would not neglect this +opportunity of trade, he purchased others from his fellow merchants, +and loading two camels with them, set out for the camp of Ithobal, +riding on a mule. By midday he had reached it. The camp was pitched +near water in a pleasant grove of trees, and on one of these not far +from the tent of Ithobal Metem noted that there hung the body of a +black dwarf. + +“Behold the fate of him who shoots at the buck and hits the doe. Well, +I have always said that murder is a dangerous game, since blood calls +out for blood,” thought Metem as he rode towards the tent. + +At its door stood king Ithobal looking very huge and sullen in the +sunlight. Metem dismounted and prostrated himself obsequiously. + +“May the King live for ever,” he said, “the great King, the King to +whom all the other kings of the earth are as the little gods to Baal, +or the faint stars to the sun.” + +“Rise, and cease from flatteries,” said Ithobal shortly; “I may be +greater than the other kings, but at least you do not think it.” + +“If the king says so, so let it be,” replied Metem calmly. “A woman +yonder in the market-place told me that the king wished to trade for my +merchandise. So I have brought the best of it; priceless goods that +which much toil I have carried hither from Tyre,” and he pointed to the +two camels laden with the inferior articles which he had purchased, and +began to read the number and description of the goods from his tablets. + +“What value do you set upon the whole of them, merchant?” asked +Ithobal. + +“To the traders of the country so much, but to you, O King, so much +only,” and he named a sum twice that which he had paid in the city. + +“So be it,” assented Ithobal indifferently; “I do not haggle over +wares. Though your price is large, presently my treasurer shall weigh +you out the gold.” + +There was a moment’s pause, then Metem said:— + +“The trees in this camp of yours bear evil fruit, O King. If I might +ask, why does that little black monkey hang yonder.” + +“Because he tried to do murder with his poisoned arrows,” answered +Ithobal sullenly. + +“And failed? Well, it must comfort you to think that he did fail if he +was of the number of your servants. It is strange now that some knave +unknown attempted murder last night in the palace gardens, also with +poisoned arrows. I say attempted, but as yet I cannot be sure that he +did not succeed.” + +“What!” exclaimed Ithobal, “was——” and he stopped. + +“No, King, prince Aziel was not hit; the Lady Elissa took that shaft +through her hand, and lies between life and death. I am doctoring her, +and had it not been for my skill she would now be stiff and black—as +the rogue who shot the arrow.” + +“Save her,” said Ithobal hoarsely, “and I will pay you a doctor’s fee +of a hundred ounces of pure gold. Oh! had I but known, the clumsy fool +should not have died so easily.” + +Metem took out his tablets and made a note of the amount. + +“Take comfort, King,” he said, “I think that I shall earn the fee. But +to speak truth, this matter looks somewhat ugly, and your name is +mentioned in it. Also it is said that your cousin, the great man whom +the prince Aziel slew, was charged to abduct a certain lady by your +order.” + +“Then false tales are told in Zimboe, and not for the first time,” +answered Ithobal coldly. “Listen, merchant, I have a question to ask of +you. Will the prince Aziel meet me in single combat with whatever +weapons he may choose?” + +“Doubtless, and—pardon me if I say it—slay you as he slew your cousin, +for he is a fine swordsman, who has studied the art in Egypt, where it +is understood, and your strength would not avail against him. But your +question is already answered, for though the prince would be glad +enough to fight you, Sakon will have none of it. Have you nothing else +to ask me, King?” + +Ithobal nodded and said:— + +“Listen, merchant. I know your repute of old, that you love money and +will do much to gain it, and that you are craftier than any hill-side +jackal. Now, if you can do my will, you will have more wealth than ever +you won in your life before.” + +“The offer sounds good in a poor man’s ears, King, but it depends upon +what is your will.” + +Ithobal went to the door of the tent, and commanded the sentries who +stood without to suffer none to disturb him or draw near. Then he +returned and said:— + +“I will tell you, but beware that you do not betray my counsels in this +or in any other matter, for I have sharp ears and a long arm. You know +how things are between me and the lady Elissa and her father Sakon and +the city which he governs. They stand thus: Unless within eight days +she is given to me in marriage, I have sworn that I will make war upon +Zimboe. Ay, and I will make it, for, filled with hate for the white +man, already the great tribes are gathering to my banners in ten +armies, each of them ten thousand strong. Once let them march beneath +yonder walls, and before they leave it Zimboe, city of gold, shall be +nothing but a heap of ruins, and a habitation of the dead. Such shall +be my vengeance; but I seek love more than vengeance, for what will it +avail me to butcher all that people of traders if—as well may chance in +the accidents of war—I lose her whom I desire, whose beauty shall be my +crown of crowns, and whose mind shall make me great indeed? + +“Therefore, Metem, if may be, I would win her without war; let the war +come afterwards, as come it must, for the time is ripe. And though she +turned from me, this I should have done, had it not been for yonder +prince Aziel, whom she met in a strange fashion, and straightway +learned to love. Now the thing is more difficult. Nay, while the prince +Aziel can take her to wife it is well-nigh impossible, since no threats +of war or ruin can turn a woman’s heart from him she seeks—to him she +flies. Therefore, I ask you——” + +“Your pardon, King,” Metem broke in, “I see that you, like your rival, +are so besotted with the beauty of this girl, that in all with which +she has to do you have lost the rule of your own reason. I would save +you perchance from saying words to which I do not wish to listen, and +when you find a quiet mind again, that you may regret having spoken. If +you were about to require of me that I should cause or be privy to the +death of the prince Aziel, you would require it in vain; yes, even if +you were willing to pay me gold in mountains, and gems in camel loads. +With murder I will have nothing to do; moreover, the prince, your +rival, is my friend and master, and I will not harm him. Further, I may +tell you that after the adventure of last night none will be able to +come near him to hurt a hair of his head, seeing that through daylight +and through darkness he is guarded by two men.” + +“With a woman’s body to set before him as a shield,” said Ithobal +bitterly. “But you speak too fast; I was not about to ask you to kill +this man, or even to procure his death, because I know it would be +useless, but rather that you should so contrive that he cannot take +Elissa. How you contrive it I care nothing, so that she is not harmed. +You may kidnap him, or stir up the city against him, as one destined to +be the source of war, and cause him to be despatched back to the great +sea, or bribe the priests of El to hide him away, or what you will, if +only you separate him from this woman for ever. Say, merchant, are you +willing to undertake the task, or must my good gold go elsewhere?” + +Metem pondered awhile and answered:— + +“I think that I will undertake it, King; that is, if we come to terms, +though whether I shall succeed is another matter. I will undertake it +not only because I seek to enrich myself, but because I and others who +serve him think it is a very evil thing that this prince, Aziel, whose +blood is the most royal in the whole world, without the consent of the +great king of Israel, his grandfather, should wed the daughter of a +Phœnician officer, however beautiful and loving she may be. Also I love +yonder city, which I have known for forty years, and would not see it +plunged in a bloody war and perhaps destroyed because a certain man +desires to call a certain girl his sweetheart. And now if I succeed in +this, what will you give me?” + +Ithobal named a great sum. + +“King,” replied Metem, “you must double it, for that amount you speak +of I shall be forced to spend in bribes. More; you must give me the +gold now, before I leave your camp, or I will do nothing.” + +“That you may steal it—and do nothing,” laughed Ithobal angrily. + +“As you will, King. Such are my terms; if they do not please you, well, +let me go. But if you accept them, I will sign a bond under which if +within eight days I do not make it impossible for the prince Aziel to +marry the lady Elissa, you may reclaim so much of the gold as I do not +prove to you to have been spent upon your service, and no bond of Metem +the Phœnician was ever yet dishonoured. No, on second thought I will +learn wisdom from Issachar the Levite and put my hand to no writing +which it would pain me that some should read. King, my sworn word must +content you. Another thing, soon war may break out, or I may be forced +to fly. Therefore, I demand of you a pass sealed with your seal that +will enable me to ride with twenty men and all my goods and treasure, +even through the midst of your armies. Moreover you shall swear the +great oath to me that notice of this pass will be given to your +generals and that it shall be respected to the letter. Do you consent +to these terms?” + +“I consent,” said the king presently. + + +That evening Metem returned to the city of Zimboe, but those who led +his two camels little guessed that now they were laden, not with +merchandise, but with treasure. + + + + +CHAPTER IX +GREETING TO THE BAALTIS + + +When Metem accepted bribes from Issachar and from Ithobal, in +consideration of his finding means to make the union of Aziel and +Elissa impossible, he had already thought out his scheme. It was one +which, while promoting, as he considered, the true welfare of the +lovers, if successful would separate them effectually and for ever. + +It will be remembered that Elissa had explained to the prince how, on +the death of the lady Baaltis, another woman was elected by the +colleges of the priests and priestesses to fill her place. This lady +could marry, indeed she was expected to do so, but her husband must +take the title of Shadid, and for her lifetime act as high-priest of +El. Therefore, thought Metem, if it could be brought about that Elissa +should be chosen as the new Baaltis, it was obvious that there would be +an end of the possibility of her marriage to Aziel. Then, in order to +wed her, he must renounce his own religion—a thing which no Jew would +do—and pose as the earthly incarnation of one whom he considered a +false divinity or a devil. + +Indeed, not only marriage, but any further intimacy between the pair +would be rendered impracticable, for upon this point the religious law, +lax enough in many particulars, was very strict. In fact, so strict was +it that for the lady Baaltis of the day to be found alone with any man +meant death to her and him. The reason of this severity was that she +was supposed to represent the goddess; and her husband, the Shadid, a +god, so that any questionable behaviour on her part became an insult to +the most powerful divinities of Heaven, which could only be atoned by +the death of their unworthy incarnations. That these laws were actual +and not formal only was proved by the instance that within the hundred +years before the birth of Elissa, a lady Baaltis had been executed for +some such offence, having been hurled indeed from the topmost pinnacle +of the fortress above the temple to the foot of the precipice beneath. + +All these sacerdotal customs were familiar to Metem, who argued from +them that to procure the nomination of Elissa as the Baaltis would be +to build an impassable wall between her and the prince Aziel. Also, by +way of compensation, that office would confer upon her the highest +dignity and honour which could be attained by any woman in the city. +Moreover, her election would place her beyond the reach of the +persecutions of Ithobal, since as lady Baaltis she was entitled to +choose her own husband without hindrance or appeal, provided only that +he was of pure white blood, which Ithobal was not. + +Having thought the matter out, and convinced himself that such a course +would not only benefit his own pocket, but prove to the lasting +advantage of all concerned, Metem, filled with a glow of righteous +zeal, set about his task with the promptitude and cunning of his race. +It was not an easy task, for although she had enemies and rivals, the +daughter of the dead Baaltis, Mesa by name, was considered to be +certain of election at the poll of the priests and priestesses. This +ceremony was to take place within two days. Nothing discouraged, +however, by the scant time at his disposal or other difficulties, +without her knowledge or that of her father, Metem began his canvass on +behalf of Elissa. + +First with a great sum of gold he bought over the ex-Shadid, the +husband of the late lady Baaltis. As it chanced, this worthy had +quarrelled with his daughter. Therefore it followed that he would +prefer to see some stranger chosen in her place in the hope that, +notwithstanding his years, by choosing him in marriage she might +confirm him in his position of spouse to the goddess. + +All Metem’s further negotiations need not be followed: money played a +part in most of them; jealousy and dislike in some. A few there were +also whom he won over by urging the beauty and wisdom of Elissa, and +her extraordinary fitness for the post, as evinced by her recent +inspiration in the temple! He found his most powerful allies, however, +among the members of the council of the city. To these grandees he +pointed out that Elissa was a woman of great strength of character, who +would certainly never consent to be forced into a marriage with +Ithobal, although her refusal should mean a desperate war, and that her +father was so much under her influence that he could not be brought to +put pressure upon her. Therefore it was obvious that the only way out +of the difficulty was her election as Baaltis. This must prove a +perfect answer to the suit of the savage king, since the goddess could +not be compelled, and even Ithobal, fearing the vengeance of Heaven, +would shrink from offering her violence. + +Their support gained, having first sworn him to secrecy, he attacked +Sakon himself, using similar arguments with him. He pointed out, in +addition, that if the governor hoped to see his daughter married to +prince Aziel, who was in love with her, however dazzling might be the +prospects of such a match, it would certainly bring upon him the +present wrath of Ithobal, and, in all probability, future trouble with +the Courts of Egypt, of Israel, and through them, of Tyre. Thus working +in many ways, Metem laboured incessantly to win his end, so that when +at last the hour of election came he awaited its issue, fairly +confident of success. + +It was on this same afternoon that for the first time since she had +received the arrow which was meant for his heart, Aziel was admitted to +see Elissa. Now at length her recovery was certain, although she had +not shaken off her weakness, and her right arm and wrist were still +stiff and swollen. Except for two or three of her women, who were +seated at their work behind a screen near the far end of the great +chamber, she was alone, lying upon a couch in the recess of the +window-place. Advancing to her, Aziel bent down to kiss her wounded +hand. + +“Nay,” said Elissa, hiding it beneath the folds of her robe, “it is +still black and unsightly with the poison.” + +“The more reason that I should kiss it, seeing how the stain came +there,” he answered. + +Her eyes met his, and she whispered, “Not my hand, but my brow, Prince, +for so I shall be crowned.” + +He pressed his lips upon her forehead, and replied:— + +“Queen of my heart you are already, and though the throne be humble it +is sure. The life you saved is yours, and no other’s.” + +“I did but repay a debt,” she answered; “but speak of it no more. +Gladly would I have died to save you; should such choice arise, would +you do so for me, I wonder?” + +“There is little need to ask such a question, lady; for your sake I +would not only die, I would even endure shame—that is worse than +death.” + +“Sweet words, Aziel,” she answered, smiling, “of which we shall learn +the value when the hour of trial comes, as come, I think, it will. You +told me but now that you were mine, and no other’s; but is it so? I +have heard the story of a certain princess of Khem with whom your name +was mingled. Tell me, if you will, what was it that set you journeying +to this far city of ours?” + +“The desire to find you,” he answered smiling; then seeing that she +still looked at him with questioning eyes, he added, “Nay, this is the +truth, if you seek truth. Indeed, it is the best that I should tell +you, since it seems that already you have heard something of the tale. +A while ago I was sent to the Court of the Pharaoh of Egypt, by the +will of my grandsire, the king of Israel, upon an embassy of +friendship, and to escort thence a certain beautiful princess, my +cousin, who was affianced by treaty to an uncle of mine, a great prince +of Israel. This I did, showing to the lady courtesy, and no more. But +the end of the matter was that when we came to Jerusalem the princess +refused to be married to my uncle, to whom she was betrothed——” and he +hesitated. + +“Nay, be not timid, Prince,” said Elissa sharply; “continue, I pray +you. I have heard that the lady added somewhat to her refusal.” + +“That is so, Elissa. She declared before the king that she would wed no +man except myself only, whereon my uncle was very angry, and accused me +of playing him false, which, indeed, I had not done.” + +“Although the lady was so fair, Aziel? But what said the great king?” + +“He said that never having seen him to whom she was affianced, he would +not suffer that she should be forced into marriage with him against her +will. Yet that her will might be uninfluenced, he commanded that I +should be sent upon a long journey. That was his judgment, lady.” + +“Yes, but not all of it; surely he added other words?” she broke in +eagerly. + +“He added,” continued Aziel, with some reluctance, “that if while I was +on this journey the princess changed her mind, and chose to wed my +uncle, it would be well. But, when I returned from it, if she had not +changed her mind, and chose—to marry me—then it would be well also, +and, though he was little pleased, with this saying my uncle must be +satisfied.” + +“It does not satisfy me, prince Aziel,” Elissa answered, the tears +starting to her dark eyes. “I know full well that the lady will not +change her mind, and take a man who is in years, and whom she hates, in +place of one who is young, and whom she loves. Therefore, when you +return hence to Jerusalem, by the king’s command you will wed her.” + +“Nay, Elissa; if I am already married that cannot be,” he said. + +“In Judea, Prince, I am told that men take more wives than one; also, +they divorce them,” she replied; then added, “Oh, return not there +where I shall lose you. If, indeed, you love me, I pray you return not +there.” + +Before he could answer, a sound of singing and of all sorts of music +caught Aziel’s ear. Looking through the casement, he saw a great +procession of the priests and priestesses of El and Baaltis clad in +their festal robes and accompanied by many dignitaries of the city, a +multitude of people and bands of musicians, advancing across the square +towards the door of the palace. + +“Why, what passes?” he exclaimed. As he spoke the door opened and two +richly arrayed heralds, wands of office in their hands, entered and +prostrated themselves before Elissa. + +“Greeting to you, most noble and blessed lady, the chosen of the gods!” +they cried with one voice. “Prepare, we beseech you, to hear glad +tidings, and to receive those who are sent to tell them.” + +“Glad tidings?” said Elissa. “Has Ithobal then withdrawn his suit?” + +“Nay, lady; it is not of Ithobal that the messengers come to speak.” + +“Then I cannot receive them,” she said, sinking back in apprehension. +“I am still ill and weak, and I pray to be excused.” + +“Nay, lady,” answered the herald, “that which they have to tell will +cure your sickness.” + +Again Elissa protested. Before the words had left her lips there +appeared in the doorway he who had been husband of the dead Baaltis, +followed by priests and priestesses, by Sakon her father, with whom was +Metem, and many other nobles and dignitaries. + +“All hail, lady!” they cried, prostrating themselves before her. “All +hail, lady, chosen of the gods!” + +Elissa looked at them bewildered. + +“Your pardon,” she said, “I do not understand.” + +Then, rising from his knees, he who was still the Shadid until his +successor was appointed, addressed her as spokesman. + +“Listen,” he said, “and learn, lady, the great thing that has befallen +you. Know, O divine One, that by the inspiration of El and Baaltis, +rulers of the heavens, the colleges of the priests and priestesses of +the city, following the voice of the oracles and the pointing of the +omens, have set you in that high place which death has emptied. +Greeting to you, holder of the spirit of the goddess! Greeting to the +Baaltis!” + +“I did not seek this honour,” she murmured in the silence that +followed, “and I refuse it. The throne of the goddess is Mesa’s right; +let her take it, or if she will not, then find some other woman who is +more worthy.” + +“Lady,” said the Shadid, “these words become you well, but it has +pleased the gods to choose you and not my daughter, the lady Mesa, or +any other woman, and the choice of the gods may not be set aside. Till +death shall take you, you and you alone are the lady Baaltis whom we +obey.” + +“Must I then be made divine against my will,” she pleaded, and turned +to Aziel as though for counsel. + +“Be pleased to stand back, prince Aziel,” said the stern voice of the +Shadid, interposing. “Remember that henceforth no man may speak to the +Baaltis save he whom she names with the name of Shadid to be her +husband. Henceforward you are parted, since to seek her company would +be to cause her death.” + +Now understanding that the doom of life-long separation had fallen upon +them like the sudden sword of fate, Aziel and Elissa gazed at each +other in despair. Then, before either of them could speak a word, at a +sign from the Shadid, the priestesses closed round Elissa. Throwing a +white veil over her head, they broke into a joyful pæan of song, and +half-led, half-carried her from the chamber to enthrone her in the +palace of the goddess, which was henceforth to be her home. + +Presently all the company, including the waiting women, having joined +the procession, the chamber was empty, with the exception of Aziel, +Metem and Issachar the Levite, who, drawn by the sound of singing, had +entered the place unnoticed. + +“Take comfort, Prince,” said the Phœnician in a half-bantering voice, +“if you and the lady Baaltis are truly dear to each other she may still +be yours, for you have but to bow the knee to El, and she will name you +Shadid and husband.” + +“Blaspheme not,” cried Issachar sternly. “Shall a worshipper of the God +of Israel do sacrifice to a demon to win a woman’s smile?” + +“That time will prove,” answered Metem, shrugging his shoulders; “at +least it is certain that he will win it in no other way. Prince,” he +added, changing his tone, “if you have any such thoughts, abandon them, +I pray of you, for on this matter the law may not be broken. The man +spoke truth, moreover, when he told you that should you be found with +the Baaltis, not being her husband, you would cause her death.” + +Aziel took no notice of his words, but turning to the Levite, he asked +in a quiet voice:— + +“Did you plot this to separate us, Issachar? If so, you shall live to +mourn the deed.” + +“Listen, Prince,” broke in Metem, “it was not Issachar who plotted that +the lady Elissa should be chosen Baaltis, but I, or at least I helped +the plot. Shall I tell you why I did this? It was to save you and her, +and if possible to prevent a great war also. You could not wed this +woman who is not of your race, or rank, or religion; and if you could, +it would bring about a struggle that must cost thousands their lives, +and this city its wealth. Nor could you make of her less than a wife, +seeing that she is well-born and that you are her father’s guest. +Therefore for your own sake it is best that she should be placed beyond +your reach. For her sake also it is best, since she is ambitious and +born to rule, who henceforth will be clothed with power for all her +days. Moreover, had it been otherwise, in the end she must have passed +to that savage Ithobal, whom she hates. Now this is scarcely possible, +for the lady Baaltis can wed no man who is not of pure white blood, and +whom she does not choose of her own free will. That is a decree which +may not be broken even by Ithobal. So revile me not, but thank me, +though for a little while your heart be sore.” + +“My heart is sore indeed,” answered Aziel, “and if you think your words +be wise, their medicine does not soothe, Phœnician. You may have +laboured for my welfare and for that of the lady Elissa, or, like the +huckster that you are, for your own advantage, or for both—I know not, +and do not care to know. But this I know, that you, and Issachar also, +are striving to snare Fate in a web of sand, and that Fate will be too +strong for it and you. I love this woman and she loves me, because such +is our destiny, and no barriers which man may build can serve to +separate us. Also of this I am assured, that by your plots you draw the +evils you would ward away upon the heads of us all, for from them shall +spring war, and deaths, and misery. + +“For the rest, do not think, Metem and Issachar, that I, whom you +betrayed, and the woman you have ruined with a crown of greatness she +did not seek, are clay to be moulded at your will. It is another hand +than yours which fashioned the vessel of our destiny; nor can you stay +our lips from drinking of the pure wine that fills it. Farewell,” and +with a grave inclination of the head he left the room. + +Metem watched him go, then he turned to Issachar and said:— + +“I have earned my hire well, and you must pay the price, but now it +troubles me to think that I touched this business. Why it is I cannot +say, but it comes upon me that the prince speaks truth, and that no +plot of ours can avail to separate these two who were born to each +other, although it well may happen that we shall unite them in death +alone. Issachar,” he added with fierce conviction, “I will not take +your gold, for it is the price of blood! I tell you it is the price of +blood!” + +“Take it or no, as you will, Phœnician,” answered the Levite; “at least +I am well pleased that the promise of it bought your service. Even +should the prince Aziel discharge this day’s work with his young life, +it is better that he should perish in the body than that he should lose +his soul for the bribe of a woman’s passing beauty. Whatever else be +lost, that is saved to him, since those sorceress lips of hers are set +beyond his reach. An Israelite cannot mate with the oracle of Baaltis, +Metem.” + +“You say so, Issachar, but I have seen men climb high to pluck such +fruit. Yes, I have seen them climb even when they knew that they must +fall before the fruit was reached.” + +Then he went also, leaving Issachar alone and oppressed with a dread of +the future which was none the less real because it could not be +defined. + + + + +CHAPTER X +THE EMBASSY + + +Weak as she was still with recent illness, half-fainting also from the +shock of the terrible and unexpected fate which had overtaken her, +Elissa was borne in triumph to the palace that now was hers. Around her +gilded litter priestesses danced and sang their wild chants, +half-bacchanalian and half-religious; before it marched the priests of +El, clashing cymbals and crying, “Make way, make way for the new-born +goddess! Make way for her whose throne is upon the horned moon!” while +all about the multitude of spectators prostrated themselves in worship. + +Elissa was borne in triumph. Vaguely she heard the shouts and music, +dimly she saw the dancing-girls and the bowing crowds. But all the +while her heart was alive with pain and her brain, crushed beneath the +menace of this misery, could grasp nothing clearly save the +completeness of her loss. Loss! Yes, she was lost indeed. One short +hour ago and she was rejoicing in the presence of the man she loved, +and who, as she believed, loved her, while in her mind rose visions of +some happy life with him far away from this city and the dark rites of +the worshippers of Baal. And now she found herself the chief priestess +of that worship which already she had learned to fear if not to hate. +More, as its priestess, till death should come to comfort her, she was +cut off for ever from him whom she adored, cut off also from the hope +of that new spiritual light which had begun to dawn upon her soul. + +Elissa looked upon the beautiful women who leapt and sang about her +litter, listening to the clash of their ornaments of gold, and as she +listened and looked her eyes seemed to gain power to behold the spirits +within them. Surely she could see these, dark and hideous things, with +shifting countenances, terrible to look on, and themselves wearing in +their eyes of flame a stamp of eternal terror, while in her ears the +music of their golden necklaces was changed to a clank as of fetters +and of instruments of torment. Yes; and there before the dancers in the +red cloud of dust which rose from their beating feet, floated the dim +shape of that demon of whom she had been chosen the high-priestess. + +Look at her mocking, inhuman countenance, and her bent brow of power! +Look at her spread and flaming hair and her hundred hands outstretched +to grasp the souls of men! Hark! the clamour of the cymbals and the cry +of the dancers blended together and became her voice, a dreadful voice +that gave greeting to her princess, promising her pride of place and +life-long power in payment for her service. + +“I desire none of these,” her heart seemed to answer; “I desire him +only whom I have lost.” + +“Is it so?” replied the Voice. “Then bid him burn incense upon my altar +and take him to yourself. Have I not given you enough of beauty to +snare a single soul from among the servants of my enemy the God of the +Jews?” + +“Nay, nay!” her heart cried; “I will not tempt him to do this evil +thing.” + +“Yea, yea!” mocked the phantom Voice; “for your sake he shall burn +incense upon my altar.” + + +The phantasy passed, and now the golden gates of the palace of Baaltis +rolled open before Elissa. Now, too, the priestesses bore her to the +golden throne shaped like a crescent moon, and threw over her a black +veil spangled with stars, symbol of the night. Then having shut out the +uninitiated, they worshipped her after their secret fashion till she +sank down upon the throne overcome with fear and weariness. Then at +last they carried her to that wonder of workmanship and allegorical +art, the ivory bed of Baaltis, and laid her down to sleep. + + +At dawn upon the following day an embassy, headed by Sakon, governor of +the city, in whose train were Metem and Aziel, went to the camp of +Ithobal. The mission of these envoys was to give the king answer to his +suit, for he refused to come to Zimboe unless he were allowed to bring +a larger force than it was thought prudent to admit into the city +gates. At some distance from the tents they halted, while messengers +were sent forward inviting Ithobal to a conference on the plain, as it +seemed scarcely safe to trust themselves within the stout thorn fence +which had been built about the camp. Metem, who said that he had no +fear of the king, went with these men, and on reaching the _zeriba_ was +at once bidden to the pavilion of Ithobal. He found the great man +pacing its length sullenly. + +“What seek you here, Phœnician?” he asked, glancing at him over his +shoulder. + +“My fee, King. The king was pleased to promise me a hundred ounces of +gold if I saved the life of the Lady Elissa. I come, therefore, to +assure him that my skill has prevailed against the poisoned arrow of +that treacherous dog of the desert, which pierced her hand as she spoke +with the prince Aziel the other night, and to claim my reward. Here is +a note of the amount,” and he produced his tablets. + +“If half of what I hear is true, rogue,” answered Ithobal savagely, +“the tormentor and the headsman alone could satisfy all my debt to you. +Say, merchant, what return have you made me for that sackful of gold +which you bore hence some few days gone?” + +“The best of all returns, King,” answered Metem cheerfully, although in +truth he began to feel afraid. “I have kept my word, and fulfilled the +command of the king. I have made it impossible that the prince Aziel +should wed the daughter of Sakon.” + +“Yes, rogue, you have made it impossible by causing her to be +consecrated Baaltis, and thus building a barrier which even I shall +find too hard to climb. It is scarcely to be hoped that now she will +choose me of her own will, and to offer violence to the Baaltis is a +sacrilege from which any man—yes, even a king—may shrink, for such +deeds draw the curse of Heaven. Know that for this service I am minded +to settle my account with you in a fashion of which you have not +thought. Have you heard, Phœnician, that the chiefs of certain of my +tribes love to decorate their spear-shafts with the hide of white men, +and to bray their flesh into a medicine which gives courage to its +eater?” + +With this pleasing and suggestive query Ithobal paused, and looked +towards the door of the tent as though he were about to call his guard. + +Now Metem’s blood ran cold, for he knew that this royal savage was not +one who uttered idle threats. Yet the coolness and cunning which had so +often served him well did not fail him in his need. + +“I have heard that your people have strange customs,” he answered with +a laugh, “but I think that even a spear-shaft would scarcely gain +beauty from my wrinkled hide, and if anything, the eating of my flesh +would make tradesmen and not warriors of your chiefs. Well, let the +jest pass, and listen. King, in all my schemings one thought never +crossed my mind, namely, that you were a man to suffer scruples to +stand between you and the woman you would win. You think that now she +is a goddess? Well, if that be so—and it is not for me to say—who could +be a fitter mate for the greatest king upon the earth than a goddess +from the heavens? Take her, king Ithobal, take her, and this I promise +you, that when your armies are encamped without the walls, the priests +of El will absolve you of the crime of aspiring to the fair lips of +Baaltis.” + +“The lips of Baaltis,” broke in Ithobal; “do you think that I shall +find them sweet when another man has rifled them? Secret chambers are +many yonder in the palace of the gods, and doubtless the Jew will find +his way there.” + +“Nay, King, for between these two I have indeed built a wall which +cannot be climbed. The worshipper of the Lord of Israel may not traffic +with the high-priestess of Ashtoreth. Moreover, I shall bring it about +that ere long Prince Aziel’s face is set seawards.” + +“Do that, and I will believe you, merchant, though it would be better +if you could bring it about that his face was set earthwards, as I will +if I can. Well, this time I spare you, though be sure that if aught +miscarry, you shall pay the price, how, I have told you. Now I go to +talk with these traders, these outlanders, of Zimboe. Why do you wait? +You are dismissed and—alive.” + +Metem looked steadily at the tablets which he still held in his hand. + +“I have heard,” he said humbly, “that the king Ithobal, the great king, +always pays his debts, and as I—an outlander—shall be leaving Zimboe +shortly under his safe conduct, I desire to close this small account.” + +Ithobal went to the door of his tent and commanded that his treasurer +should attend him, bringing money. Presently he came, and at his lord’s +bidding weighed out one hundred ounces of gold. + +“You are right, Phœnician,” said Ithobal; “I always pay my debts, +sometimes in gold and sometimes in iron. Be careful that I owe you no +more, lest you who to-day are paid in gold, to-morrow may receive the +iron, weighed out in the fashion of which I have spoken. Now, begone.” + +Metem gathered up the treasure, and hiding it in his ample robe, bowed +himself from the royal presence and out of the thorn-hedged camp. + +“Without doubt I have been in danger,” he said to himself, wiping his +brow, “since at one time that black brute, disregarding the sanctity of +an envoy, had it in his mind to torture and to kill me. So, so, king +Ithobal, Metem the Phœnician is also an honest merchant who ‘always +pays his debts,’ as you may learn in the market-places of Jerusalem, of +Sidon and of Zimboe, and I owe you a heavy bill for the fright you have +given me to-day. Little of Elissa’s company shall you have if I can +help it; she is too good for a cross-bred savage, and if before I go +from these barbarian lands I can set a drop of medicine in your wine, +or an arrow in your gizzard, upon the word of Metem the Phœnician, it +shall be done, king Ithobal.” + + +When Metem reached Sakon and the envoys, he found that a message had +already been sent to them announcing that Ithobal would meet them +presently upon the plain outside his camp. But still the king did not +come; indeed, it was not until Sakon had despatched another messenger, +saying that he was about to return to the city, that at length Ithobal +appeared at the head of a bodyguard of black troops. Arranging these in +line in front of the camp, he came forward, attended by twelve or +fourteen counsellors and generals, all of them unarmed. Half-way +between his own line and that of the Phœnicians, but out of bowshot of +either, he halted. + +Thereon Sakon, accompanied by a similar number of priests and nobles, +among whom were Aziel and Metem, all of them also unarmed, except for +the knives in their girdles, marched out to meet him. Their escort they +left drawn up upon the hillside. + +“Let us to business, King,” said Sakon, when the formal words of +salutation had passed. “We have waited long upon your pleasure, and +already troops move out from the city to learn what has befallen us.” + +“Do they then fear that I should ambush ambassadors?” asked Ithobal +hotly. “For the rest, is it not right that servants should bide at the +door of their king till it is his pleasure to open?” + +“I know not what they fear,” answered Sakon, “but at least we fear +nothing, for we are too many,” and he glanced at his soldiers, a +thousand strong, upon the hillside. “Nor are the citizens of Zimboe the +servants of any man unless he be the king of Tyre.” + +“That we shall put to proof, Sakon,” said Ithobal; “but say, what does +the Jew with you?” and he pointed to Aziel. “Is he also an envoy from +Zimboe?” + +“Nay, King,” answered the prince laughing, “but my grandsire, the +mighty ruler of Israel, charged me always to take note of the ways of +savages in peace and war, that I might learn how to deal with them. +Therefore, I sought leave to accompany Sakon upon this embassy.” + +“Peace, peace!” broke in Sakon. “This is no time for gibes. King +Ithobal, since you did not dare to venture yourself again within the +walls of our city, we have come to answer the demands you made upon us +in the Hall of Audience. You demanded that our fortifications should be +thrown down, and this we refuse, since we do not court destruction. You +demanded that we should cease to enslave men to labour in the mines, +and to this we answer that for every man we take we will pay a tax to +his lawful chief, or to you as king. You demanded that the ancient +tribute should be doubled. To this, out of love and friendship, and not +from fear, we assent, if you will enter into a bond of lasting peace, +since it is peace we seek, and not war. King, you have our answer.” + +“Not all of it, Sakon. How of that first condition—that Lady Elissa the +fair, your daughter, should be given me to wife?” + +“King, it cannot be, for the gods of heaven have taken this matter from +our hands, anointing the lady Elissa their high-priestess.” + +“Then as I live,” answered Ithobal with fury, “I will take her from the +hands of the gods and anoint her my dancing-woman. Do you think to make +a mock of me, you people of Zimboe, whom I have honoured by desiring +one of your daughters in marriage? You seek to trick me with your +priests’ juggling that you may keep her to be the toy of yonder +princeling? So be it, but I tell you that I will tear your city stone +from stone, and anoint its ruins with your blood. Yes, your young men +shall labour in the mines for me, and your high-born maidens shall wait +upon my queens. Listen you,”—and he turned to his generals—“let the +messengers who are ready start east and west, and north and south, to +the chiefs whose names you have, bidding them to meet me with their +tribesmen, at the time and place appointed. When next I speak with you, +Elders of Zimboe, it shall be at the head of a hundred thousand +warriors.” + +“Then, King, on your hands be all the innocent lives that these words +of yours have doomed, and may the weight of their wasted blood press +you down to ruin and death.” + +Thus answered Sakon proudly, but with pale lips, for do what they would +to hide it, something of the fear they felt for the issue of this war +was written on the faces of all his company. + +Ithobal turned upon his heel, deigning no reply, but as he went he +whispered a word into the ear of two of his captains, great men of war, +who stayed behind the rest of his party searching for something upon +the ground. Sakon and his counsellors also turned, walking towards +their escort, but Aziel lingered a little, fearing no danger, and being +curious to learn what the men sought. + +“What do you seek, captains?” he asked courteously. + +“A gold armlet that one of us has lost,” they answered. + +Aziel let his eyes wander on the ground, and not far away perceived the +armlet half-hidden in a tussock of dry grass, where, indeed, it had +been placed. + +“Is this the ring?” he asked, lifting it and holding it towards them. + +“It is, and we thank you,” they answered, advancing to take the +ornament. + +The next moment, before Aziel even guessed their purpose, the captains +had gripped him by either arm and were dragging him at full speed +towards their camp. Understanding their treachery and the greatness of +his danger, he cried aloud for help. Then throwing himself swiftly to +the ground, he set his feet against a stone that chanced to lie in +their path in such fashion that the sudden weight tore his right arm +from the grip of the man that held him. Now, quick as thought, Aziel +drew the dagger from his girdle, and, still lying upon his back, +plunged it into the shoulder of the second man so that he loosed him in +his pain. Next he sprang to his feet, and, leaping to one side to +escape the rush of his captors, ran like a deer towards the party of +Sakon, who had wheeled round at the sound of his cry. + +Ithobal and his men had turned also and sped towards them, but at a +little distance they halted, the king shouting aloud:— + +“I desired to hold this foreigner, who is the cause of war between us, +hostage for your daughter’s sake, Sakon, but this time he has escaped +me. Well, it matters nothing, for soon my turn will come. Therefore, if +you and he are wise, you will send him back to the sea, for thither +alone I promise him safe conduct.” + +Then without more words he walked to his camp, the gates of which were +closed behind him. + + +“Prince Aziel,” said Sakon, as they went towards the city, “it is ill +to speak such words to an honoured guest, but it cannot be denied that +you bring much trouble on my head. Twice now you have nearly perished +at the hands of Ithobal, and should that chance, doubtless I must earn +the wrath of Israel. On your behalf, also, the city of Zimboe is this +day plunged into a war that well may be her last, since it is because +you have grown suddenly dear to her that my daughter has continued to +refuse the suit of Ithobal, and because of his outraged pride at this +refusal that he has raised up the nations against us. Prince, while you +remain in this city there is no hope of peace. Do not, therefore, hate +me, your servant, if I pray of you to leave us while there is yet +time.” + +“Sakon,” answered Aziel, “I thank you for your open speech, and will +pay you back in words as honest as your own. Gladly would I go, for +here nothing but sorrow has befallen me, were it not for one thing +which to you may seem little, but to me, and perhaps to another, is all +in all. I love your daughter as I have never loved a woman before, and +as my mind is to hers, so is hers to mine. How, then, can I go hence +when the going means that I must part from her for ever?” + +“How can you stay here, Prince, when the staying means that you must +bring her to shame and death, and yourself with her? Say now, are you +prepared, for the sake of this maiden, to abandon the worship of your +fathers and to become the servant of El and Baaltis?” + +“You know well that I am not so prepared, Sakon. For nothing that the +world could give me would I do this sin.” + +“Then, Prince, it is best that you should go, for that and no other is +the price you must pay if you would win my daughter Elissa. Should you +seek to do so by other means, I tell you that neither your high rank +nor the power of my rule and friendship, nor pity for your youth and +hers, can save you both from death, since to forgive you then would be +to bring down the wrath of its outraged gods upon Zimboe. Oh! Prince, +for your own sake and for the sake of her whom both you and I love thus +dearly, linger no longer in temptation, but turn your back upon it as a +brave man should, for so shall my blessing follow you to the grave and +your years be filled with honour.” + +Aziel covered his eyes with his hand, and thought a while; then he +answered:— + +“Be it as you will, friend. I go, but I go broken-hearted.” + + + + +CHAPTER XI +METEM SELLS IMAGES + + +Upon reaching the palace, Aziel went to the apartments of Issachar. +Finding no keeper at the door, he entered, to discover the old priest +kneeling in prayer at the window, which faced towards Jerusalem. So +absorbed was he in his devotions that it was not until he had ended +them and risen that Issachar saw Aziel standing in the chamber. + +“Behold, an answer to my prayer,” he said. “My son, they told me that +some fresh danger had overtaken you, though none knew its issue. +Therefore it was that I prayed, and now I see you unharmed.” And taking +him in his arms, he embraced him. + +“It is true that I have been in danger, father,” answered Aziel, and he +told him the story of his escape from Ithobal. + +“Did I not pray thee not to accompany this embassy?” + +“Yes, father, yet I have returned in safety. Listen: I come with +tidings which you will think good. Not an hour ago I promised Sakon +that I would leave Zimboe, where it seems my presence breeds much +trouble.” + +“Good tidings, indeed!” exclaimed Issachar, “and never shall I know a +peaceful hour until we have seen the last of the towers of this doomed +city and its accursed people of devil-worshippers.” + +“Yes, good for you, father, but for me most ill, for here I shall leave +my youth and happiness. Nay, I know what you think; that this is but +some passing fancy bred of the pleasant beauty of a woman, but it is +not so. I say that from the moment when first I saw Elissa, she became +life of my life, and soul of my soul and that I go hence beggared of +joy and hope, and carrying with me a cankering memory which shall eat +my heart away. You deem her a witch, one to whom Baaltis has given +power to drag the minds of men to their destruction, but I tell you +that her only spell is the spell of her love for me, also that she whom +you named so grossly is no longer the servant of the demon Baaltis.” + +“Elissa not the servant of Baaltis? How comes she then to be her +high-priestess? Aziel, your passion has made you mad.” + +“She is high-priestess because Metem and others brought about her +election without her will, urged on to it by I know not whom.” And he +looked hard at Issachar, who turned away. “But what matters it who did +the ill deed,” he continued, “since this, at least, is certain, that +here my presence breeds sorrow and bloodshed, and therefore I must go +as I have promised.” + +“When do we depart, Prince?” queried Issachar. + +“I know not, it is naught to me. Here comes Metem, ask of him.” + +“Metem,” said the Levite, “the prince desires to leave Zimboe and march +to the coast, there to take ship to Tyre. When can your caravan be +ready?” + +“So I have heard, Issachar, for Sakon tells me that he has come to an +agreement with the prince upon this matter. Well, I am glad to learn +it, for troubles thicken here, and I think that the woe you prophesied +is not far from this city of Zimboe where every man seeks to serve his +own hand, and is ready to sell his neighbour. When can the caravan be +got ready? Well, the night after next; at least, we can start that +night. To-morrow evening, so soon as the sun is down, I will send on +the camels by ones and twos, and with them the baggage and treasure, to +a secret place I know of in the mountains, where we and the prince’s +guard can follow upon the mules and join them. As it chances, I have a +safe conduct from Ithobal. Still I should not wish to put his troops +into temptation by marching through them with twenty laden camels, or +to lose certain earnings of my own that will be hidden in the baggage. +Moreover, if our departure becomes known, half the city would wish to +join us, having no love of soldiering, and misdoubting them much of the +issue of this war with Ithobal.” + +“As you will,” said Issachar, “you are captain of the caravan, and +charged with the safety of the prince upon his journeyings. I am ready +whenever you appoint, and the quicker that hour comes, the more praise +you will have from me.” + +“Come with me, I wish to speak with you,” said Aziel to the Phœnician +as they left the presence of Issachar. “Listen,” he added, when they +had reached his chamber, “we leave this city soon, and I have farewells +to make.” + +“To the Baaltis?” suggested Metem. + +“To the lady Elissa. I desire to send her a letter of farewell; can you +deliver it into her own hand?” + +“It may be managed, Prince, at a price—nay, from you I ask no price. I +have still some images that I wish to sell, and we merchants go +everywhere, even into the presence of the Baaltis if it pleases her to +admit them. Write your scroll and I will take it, though, to be plain, +it is not a task which I should have sought.” + +So Aziel wrote slowly and with care. Then having sealed the writing he +gave it to Metem. + +“Your face is sad, Prince,” he said, as he hid it in his robe, “but, +believe me, you are doing what is right and wise.” + +“It may be so,” answered Aziel, “yet I would rather die than do it, and +may my curse lie heavy upon the heads of those who have so wrought that +it must be done. Now, I pray you, deliver this scroll into the hands of +her you know, and bring me the answer if there be any, betraying it to +none, for I will double whatever sum is offered for that treachery.” + +“Have no fear, Prince,” said Metem quietly, but without taking offence, +“this errand is undertaken for friendship, not for profit. The risk is +mine alone; the gain—or loss—is yours.” + + +An hour later the Phœnician stood in the palace of the gods, demanding, +under permit from Sakon, governor of the city, to be admitted into the +presence of the Baaltis, to whom he desired to sell certain sacred +images cunningly fashioned in gold. Presently it was announced that he +was allowed to approach, and the officers of the temple led him through +guarded passages, to the private chambers of the priestesses. Here he +found Elissa in a long, low hall, sweet with scented woods, rich with +gold, and supported by pillars of cedar. + +She was seated alone at the far end of this hall, beneath the +window-plate, clad in her white robes of office, richly broidered with +emblems of the moon. Her women, most of whom were employed in +needle-work, though some whispered idly to each other, were gathered at +the lower end of the hall near to its door. + +Metem saluted them as he entered, and they detained him, answering his +greeting by requests for news and with jests, not too refined, or by +demands for presents of jewels, in return for which they promised him +the blessings of the goddess. To each he made some apt reply, for even +the priestesses of Baaltis could not abash Metem. But while he bandied +words, his quick eyes noted one of their number who did not join in +this play. She was a spare, thin-lipped woman whom he knew for Mesa, +the daughter of the dead Baaltis, who had been a rival candidate for +the throne of the high-priestess when Elissa was chosen in her place. + +When he entered the hall Mesa was seated upon a canvas stool, a little +apart from the others, her chin resting upon her hand, staring with an +evil look towards the place where Elissa was enthroned. Nor did her +face grow more gentle at the sight of the cunning merchant, for she +knew well it was through his plots and bribery that she had been ousted +from her mother’s place. + +“A woman to be feared,” thought Metem to himself as, shaking off the +priestesses, he passed her upon his way up the long chamber. Presently +he had reached the end of it, and was saluting the presence of the +Baaltis by kneeling and touching the carpet with his brow. + +“Rise, Metem,” said Elissa, “and set out your business, for the hour of +the sunset prayer is at hand, and I cannot talk long with you.” + +So he rose, and, looking at her while he laid out his store of images, +saw that her face was sad, and that her eyes were full of a strange +fear. + +“Lady,” he said, “on the second night from now I depart from this city +of yours, and glad shall I be to leave it living. Therefore I have +brought you these four priceless images of the most splendid +workmanship of Tyre, thinking that it might please you to purchase them +for the service of the goddess.” + +“You depart,” she whispered; “alone?” + +“No lady, not alone; the holy Issachar goes with me, also the escort of +the prince Aziel—and the prince himself, whose presence is no longer +desired in Zimboe.” Here he stopped, for he saw that Elissa was about +to betray her agitation, and whispered, “Be not foolish, for you are +watched; I have a letter for you. Lady,” he continued in a louder +voice, “if it will please you to examine this precious image in the +light, you will no longer hesitate or think the price too high,” and +bowing low he led the way behind the throne, whither Elissa followed +him. + +Now they were standing beneath the window-place, which they faced, and +hidden from the gaze of the women by the gilded back of the high seat. + +“Here,” he said, thrusting the parchment into her hand, “read quickly, +and return it to me.” + +She snatched the roll from him, and as her eyes devoured the lines, her +face fell in, and her lips grew pale with anguish. + +“Be brave,” murmured Metem, for his heart was stirred to pity; “it is +best for all that he should go.” + +“For him, perchance it is best,” she answered; as with an unwilling +hand she gave him back the letter which she dared not keep, “but what +of me? Oh! Metem, what of me?” + +“Lady,” he said sadly, “I have no words to soothe your sorrow save that +the gods have willed it thus.” + +“What gods?” she asked fiercely; “not those they bid me worship.” She +shuddered, then went on, “Metem, be pitiful! Oh! if ever you have loved +a woman, or have been loved of one, for her sake be pitiful. I must see +him for the last time in farewell, and you can help me to it.” + +“I! In the name of Baal, how?” + +“When do you have to leave the city, Metem?” + +“At moonrise on the night after next.” + +“Then an hour before moonrise I will be in the temple, whither I can +come by the secret way that leads thither from this palace, and he can +enter there, for the little gate shall be left unbarred. Pray him to +meet me, then—for the last time.” + +“Lady,” he urged, “this is but madness, and I refuse. You must find +another messenger.” + +“Madness or not it is my will, and beware how you thwart me in it, +Metem, for at least I am the Lady Baaltis, and have power to kill +without question. I swear to you that if I do not see him, you shall +never leave this city living.” + +“A shrewd argument, and to the point,” said Metem reflectively. “Well, +I have prepared myself a rock-hewn tomb at Tyre, and do not wish that +my graven sarcophagus of best Egyptian alabaster should be wasted, or +sold to some upstart for a song.” + +“As assuredly it will be, if you do not obey me in this matter, Metem. +Remember—an hour before moonrise, at the foot of the pillar of El in +the inner court of the temple.” + +As she spoke Metem started, for his quick ears had caught a sound. + +“O Queen divine,” he said in a loud voice, as he led the way to the +front of the throne, “you are a hard bargainer! Were there many such, a +poor trader could not make a living. Ah! here is one who knows the +value of such priceless works of art,” and he pointed to Mesa, who, +with folded arms and downcast eyes, stood within five paces of the +throne, as near, indeed, as custom allowed her to approach. “Lady,” he +went on addressing you, “you will have heard the price I asked; say, +now, is it too much?” + +“I have heard nothing, sir. I stand here, waiting the return of my holy +mistress that I may remind her that the hour of sunset prayer is at +hand.” + +“Would that I had so fair a mentor,” exclaimed Metem, “for then I +should lose less time.” But to himself he said, “She _has_ heard +something, though I think but little,” then added aloud: “Well judge +between us, lady. Is fifty golden shekels too much for these images +which have been blessed and sprinkled with the blood of children by the +high priest of Baal at Sidon?” + +Mesa lifted her cold eyes and looked at them. “I think it too much,” +she said, “but it is for the lady Baaltis to judge. Who am I that I +should open my lips in the presence of the lady Baaltis?” + +“I have appealed to the oracle, and it has spoken against me,” said +Metem, wringing his hands in affected dismay. “Well, I abide the +result. Queen, you offered me forty shekels and for forty you shall +take them, for the honour of the holy gods, though in truth I lose ten +shekels by the bargain. Give your order to the treasurer, and he will +pay me to-morrow. So now farewell,” and bowing till his forehead +touched the ground, he kissed the hem of her robe. + +Elissa bent her head in acknowledgment of the salute, and as he rose +her eyes met his. In them was written a warning which he could not fail +to understand, and although she did not speak, her lips seemed to shape +the word, “Remember.” + +Ten minutes later Metem stood in the chamber of Aziel. + +“Has she seen the letter, and what did she answer?” asked the prince, +springing up almost as he passed the threshold. + +“In the name of all the gods of all the nations I pray you not to speak +so loud,” answered Metem when he had closed the door and looked +suspiciously about him. “Oh! if ever I find myself safe in Tyre again, +I vow a gift, and no mean one, to each of them that has a temple there, +and they are many; for no single god is strong enough to bring me safe +out of this trouble. Have I seen the lady Elissa? Oh, yes, I have seen +her. And what think you that this innocent lamb, this undefiled dove of +yours, threatens me with now? Death! nothing less than death, if I will +not carry out her foolish wishes. More, she means the threat, and has +the strength to fulfil it, for to the lady Baaltis is given power over +the lives of men, or at the least, if she takes life none question the +authority of the goddess. Unless I do her will I am a dead man, and +that is the reward I get for mixing myself up in your mad love +affairs.” + +“Hold!” broke in Aziel, “and tell me, man, what is her will?” + +“Her will is—what do you think? To meet you in farewell an hour before +you leave this city. Well, as my throat is at stake, by Baal! it shall +be gratified if I can find the means, though I tell you that it is +madness and nothing else. But listen to the story——” and he repeated +all that had passed. “Now,” he added, “are you ready to take the risk, +Prince?” + +“I should be a coward indeed if I did not,” answered Aziel, “when she, +a woman, dares a heavier.” + +“And I am a coward, that is why I take it, for otherwise I also must +dare a heavier. But what of Issachar? This meeting can scarcely be kept +a secret from him.” + +Aziel thought awhile and said:— + +“Go fetch him here.” So Metem went, to return presently with the +Levite, to whom, without further ado, the prince told all, hiding +nothing. + +Issachar listened in silence. When both Aziel and Metem had done +speaking, he said:— + +“At least, I thank you, Prince, for being open with me; and now without +more words I pray you to abandon this rash plan, which can end only in +pain, and perhaps in death.” + +“Abandon it not, Prince,” interrupted Metem, “seeing that if you do it +will certainly end in my death, for the girl is mad, and will have her +way. Or if she does not, then I must pay the price.” + +“Have no fear,” answered Aziel smiling. “Issachar, this must be done +or——” + +“Or what, Prince?” + +“I will not leave the city. It is true that Sakon may thrust me from +it, but it shall be as a dead man. Nay, waste no words, since she +desires it; I must and will meet the Lady Elissa for the last time, not +as lover meets lover, but as those meet who part for ever in the +world.” + +“You say so, Prince; then have I your permission to accompany you?” + +“Yes, if you wish it, Issachar; but there is danger.” + +“Danger! What care I for danger? The will of Heaven be done to me. So +be it, we will go together, but the end of it is not with us.” + + + + +CHAPTER XII +THE TRYST + + +Two days had gone by, and at the appointed hour three figures, wrapped +in dark cloaks, might have been seen walking swiftly towards the little +entrance of the temple fortress. Although it was near to midnight the +city was still astir with men, for this very evening news had reached +it that Ithobal was advancing at the head of tens of thousands of the +warriors of the Tribes. More, it was rumoured freely that within the +next few days the siege of Zimboe would begin. Late as it was, the +council had been just summoned to the palace of Sakon to consider the +conduct of the defence, while in every street stood knots of men +engaged in anxious discussion, and from many a smithy rose the sound of +armourers at their work. Here marched parties of soldiers of various +races, there came long strings of mules laden with dried flesh and +grain; yonder a woman beat her breast, and wept loudly because her +three sons had been impressed by order of the council, two of them to +serve as archers and the third to carry blocks of stone for the +fortifications. + +Passing unnoticed through all this crowd and tumult, Aziel, Issachar +and Metem entered a winding passage in the temple wall, and came to the +little gate. Metem tried it, and whispered:— + +“She has kept her word; it is unlocked. Now enter to your love-tryst, +holy Issachar.” + +“Do you not come with us?” asked the Levite. + +“No, I am too old for such adventures. Listen, I go to make ready. +Within an hour the mules with the prince’s bodyguard will stand in the +archway near the small gate of the palace, for by now the baggage and +its escort await us a day’s march from this accursed city. Will you +meet me there? No; I think it is best that I should come to your +chambers to fetch you, and, I pray you, let there be no delay, for it +is dangerous in many ways. When once the prince has done with his +tender interview, and wiped away his tears, there should be nothing to +stay him, since the farewell cup with Sakon has been already drunk. +Enter now swiftly before some prowling priest happens upon you, and +pray that you may come out as sound as you go in. Oh! what a sight! A +prince of Israel and an aged Levite of established reputation going to +keep a tryst at midnight with the high-priestess of Baaltis in the +sanctuary of her god! Nay, answer not; there is no time”—and he was +gone. + + +Having passed the gate, Aziel and Issachar crept down the winding +passages of stone, groping their path by such light as fell from the +narrow line of sky above them, till at length they reached the court of +the sanctuary. Here the place was as silent as death, for the noise +from the city without could not pierce its towering walls of massive +granite. + +“It is the very pit of Tophet,” murmured Issachar, peering through the +dense shadows, “the house of Beelzebub, where his presence dwells. +Whither now, Aziel?” + +The prince pointed to two objects that were visible in the starlight, +and answered:— + +“Thither, at the foot of the pillar of El.” + +“Ah! I remember,” said Issachar, “where the accursed woman would have +offered sacrifice, and the priests struck me down because I prophesied +to them of the wrath to come, and that is now at hand. An ill-omened +spot, indeed, and an ill-omened tryst with the fiends for witnesses. +Well, lead on, and I pray you to be brief as may be, for this place +weighs down my soul, and I feel danger in it—danger to the body and the +spirit.” + +So they went forward. “Be careful,” whispered Aziel presently. “The pit +of sacrifice is at your feet.” + +“Yes, yes,” he answered, “we walk upon the edge of the pit, and, in +truth, I grow fearful, for at the threshold of such places the angel of +the Lord deserts us.” + +“There is nothing to fear,” said Aziel. But even as he spoke, although +he could not see it, a white face rose above the edge of the pit, like +that of some ghost struggling from the tomb, watched them a moment with +cold eyes, then disappeared again. + +Now they were near the greater pillar, and now from its shadow glided a +black-veiled shape. + +“Elissa?” murmured Aziel. + +“It is I,” whispered a soft voice; “but who comes with you?” + +“I, Issachar,” said the Levite, “who would not suffer that he of whom I +am given charge should seek such company alone. Now, priestess, say +your say with the prince yonder and let us be gone swiftly from this +blood-stained place.” + +“You speak harsh words to me, Issachar,” she said gently, “yet I am +most glad that you have come, for, believe me, I sought no lovers’ +meeting with the prince Aziel. Listen, both of you: you know that they +have consecrated me high-priestess of Baaltis against my will. Now, I +tell you, Issachar, what I have already told the prince Aziel—that I am +no longer a worshipper of Baaltis. Yes, here in her very temple I +renounce her, even though she takes my life in vengeance. Oh! since +they made me priestess I have been forced to learn all her worship, +which before I never even guessed, and to see sights that would chill +your blood to hear of them. Now I tell you, prince Aziel and Issachar, +that I will bear no more. From El and Baaltis I turn to Him you +worship, though, alas! little time is left to me in which to plead for +pardon.” + +“Why is little time left?” broke in Aziel. + +“Because my death is very near me, Prince, for if I live, see what a +fate is mine. Either I must remain high-priestess of Baaltis and to her +day by day bow the knee, and month by month make sacrifice—of what +think you? Well, to be plain, of the blood of maids and children. Or, +perhaps, should their fears overcome their scruples, I shall be given +by the council as a peace-offering to Ithobal. + +“I say that I will bear neither of these burdens of blood or shame; +they are too heavy for me. Prince, so soon as you are gone I too shall +leave this city, not in the body, but in the spirit, searching for +peace or sleep. It was for this reason that I sought to speak with you +in farewell, since in my weakness I desired that you should learn the +truth of the cause and manner of my end. + +“Now you know all, and as for me there is no escape, farewell for ever, +prince Aziel, whom I have loved, and whom I can scarcely hope to meet +again, even beyond the grave.” Then with a little despairing motion of +her hand she turned to go. + +“Stay,” said Aziel hoarsely, “we cannot be parted thus; since by your +own act you can dare to leave the world, will you not dare to fly this +place with me?” + +“Perhaps, Prince,” she answered with a little laugh, “but would you +dare to take me, and if so, would Issachar here suffer it? No, no; go +your own path in life, and leave me death—it is the easier way.” + +“In this matter I am master and not Issachar,” said Aziel, “though it +be true that should it please him, he can warn the priests of El. +Listen, Elissa: either you leave this city with me, or I stay in it +with you. You hear me, Issachar?” + +“I hear you,” said the Levite, “but perchance before you throw more +sharp words at my head, you will suffer me to speak. Self-murder is a +crime, yet I honour this woman who would shed her own blood, rather +than the blood of the innocent in sacrifice to Baal, and who refuses to +be given in marriage to one she hates; who, moreover, has found +strength and grace to trample on her devil-worship, if so in truth she +has. If therefore she will come with us and we can escape with her, +why, let her come. Only swear to me, Aziel, that you will make no wife +of her till the king, your grandsire, has heard this tale and given +judgment on it.” + +“That I will swear for him,” exclaimed Elissa; “is it not so, Aziel?” + +“As you will, lady,” he answered. “Issachar, you have my word that +until then she shall be as my sister, and no more.” + +“I hear and I believe you,” said Issachar, adding: “And now, lady, we +go at once, so if you desire to accompany us, come.” + +“I am ready,” she replied, “and the hour is well chosen for I shall not +be missed till dawn.” + +So they turned and left the temple. None stayed or hindered them, yet +although they reached the chambers of Aziel in safety, their hearts, +which should have been light, were still heavy with the presage of new +sorrow to come. + +Scarcely could they have been heavier, indeed, had they seen a +white-faced woman creep from the pit of death and follow them +stealthily till they had passed from the temple into the palace doors, +then turn and run at full speed towards the college of the priests of +El. + +In the chamber of Aziel they found Metem. + +“I rejoice to see you back again in safety, since it is more than I +thought to do,” he said, while they entered, adding, as the +black-veiled shape of Elissa followed them into the room, “but who is +the third? Ah! I see, the lady Elissa. Does the Baaltis accompany us +upon our journey?” + +“Yes,” answered Aziel shortly. + +“Then with her high Grace on the one side and the holy Issachar on the +other it should not lack for blessings. Surely that evil must be great +from which, separately or together, they are unable to defend us. But, +lady, if I may ask it, have you bid farewell to your most honoured +father?” + +“Torment me not,” murmured Elissa. + +“Indeed, I did not wish to, though you may remember that not so long +ago you threatened to silence me for ever. Well, doubtless your +departure is too hurried for farewells, and, fortunately, foreseeing +it, I have provided spare mules. So my deeds are kinder than my words. +I go to see that all is prepared. Now eat before you start; presently I +will return for you,” and he left the chamber. + +When he had gone they gathered round the table on which stood food, but +could touch little of it; for the hearts of all three of them were +filled with sad forebodings. Soon they heard a noise as of people +talking excitedly outside the palace gates. + +“It is Metem with the mules,” said Aziel. + +“I hope so,” answered Elissa. + +Again there was silence, which, after a while, was broken by a loud +knocking at the door. + +“Rise,” said Aziel, “Metem comes for us.” + +“No, no,” cried Elissa, “it is Doom that knocks, not Metem.” + +As the words passed her lips the door was burst open, and through it +poured a mob of armed priests, at the head of whom marched the Shadid. +By his side was his daughter Mesa, in whose pale face the eyes burned +like torches in a wind. + +“Did I not tell you so?” she said in a shrill voice, pointing at the +three. “Behold the Lady Baaltis and her lover, and with them that +priest of a false faith who called down curses upon our city.” + +“You told us indeed, daughter,” answered the Shadid; “pardon us if we +were loth to believe that such a thing could be.” Then with a cry of +rage he added, “Take them.” + +Now Aziel drew his sword, and sprang in front of Elissa to protect her, +but before he could strike a blow it was seized from behind, and he was +gripped by many hands, gagged, bound and blindfolded. Then like a man +in a dream he felt himself carried away through long passages, till at +length he reached an airless place, where the gag and bandages were +removed. + +“Where am I?” Aziel asked. + +“In the vaults of the temple,” answered the priests as they left the +prison, barring its great door behind them. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII +THE SACRILEGE OF AZIEL + + +How long he lay in his dungeon, lost in bitter thought and tormented by +fears for Elissa, Aziel could not tell, for no light came there to mark +the passage of the hours. In the tumult of his mind, one terrible +thought grew clear and ever clearer; he and Elissa had been taken +red-handed, and must pay the price of their sin against the religious +customs of the city. For the Baaltis to be found with any man who was +not her husband meant death to him and her, a doom from which there was +little chance of escape. + +Well, to his own fate he was almost indifferent, but for Elissa and +Issachar he mourned bitterly. Truly the Levite and Metem had been wise +when they cautioned him, for her sake and his own, to have nothing to +do with a priestess of Baal. But he had not listened; his heart would +not let him listen—and now, unless they were saved by a miracle—or +Metem—in the fulness of their youth and love, the lives of both of them +were forfeited. + +Worn out with sore fears and vain regrets Aziel fell at length into a +heavy sleep. He was awakened by the opening of the door of his dungeon, +and the entry of priests—grim, silent men who seized and blindfolded +him. Then they led him away up many stairs, and along paths so steep +that from time to time they paused to rest, till at length he knew, by +the sound of voices, that he had reached some place where people were +assembled. Here the bandage was removed from his eyes. He stepped +backwards, recoiling involuntarily at the glare of light that poured +upon him from the setting sun, whereon, uttering an exclamation, those +who stood near seized and held him. Presently he saw the reason. He was +standing on the brink of a precipice at the back of and dominating the +dim and shadow-clad city, while far beneath him lay a gloomy rift along +which ran the trade road to the coast. + +Here in this dizzy spot was a wide space of rock, walled in upon three +sides. The precipice formed the fourth side of its square, in which, +seated upon stones that seemed to have been set there in semi-circles +to serve as judgment chairs, were gathered the head priests and +priestesses of El and Baaltis, clad in their sacerdotal robes. To the +right and left of these stood knots of favoured spectators, among whom +Aziel recognised Metem and Sakon, while at his side, but separated from +him by armed priests, were Elissa herself, wrapped in a dark veil, and +Issachar. Lastly, in front of him, a fire flickered upon a little +altar, and behind the altar stood a shrine containing a symbolical +effigy of Baaltis fashioned of gold, ivory and wood to the shape of a +woman with a hundred breasts. + +Seeing all this, Aziel understood that they three had been brought here +for trial, and that the priests and priestesses before him were their +judges. Indeed, he remembered that the place had been pointed out to +him as one where those who had offended against the gods were carried +for judgment. Thence, if found guilty, such unfortunates were hurled +down the face of the precipice and left, a shapeless mass of broken +bone, to crumble on the roadway at its foot. + +After a long and solemn pause, at a sign from the Shadid, he who had +been the husband of the dead Baaltis, the veil was removed from Elissa. +At once she turned, looked at Aziel, and smiled sadly. + +“Do you know the fate that waits us?” the prince asked of Issachar in +Hebrew. + +“I know, and I am ready,” answered the old Levite, “for since my soul +is safe I care little what these dogs may do to my body. But, oh! my +son, I weep for you, and cursed be the hour when first you saw that +woman’s face.” + +“Spare to reproach me in my misfortune,” murmured Elissa; “have I not +enough to bear, knowing that I have brought death upon him I love? Oh! +curse me not, but pray that my sins may be forgiven me.” + +“That I will do gladly, daughter,” replied Issachar more gently, “the +more so that, although you seem to be the cause of them, these things +can have happened only by the will of Heaven. Therefore I was wrong to +revile you, and I ask your pardon.” + +Before she could answer the Shadid commanded silence. At the same +moment the woman Mesa stepped from behind the effigy of the goddess on +the shrine. + +“Who are you and what do you here?” asked the Shadid, as though he did +not know her. + +“I am Mesa, the daughter of her who was the lady Baaltis,” she +answered, “and my rank is that of Mother of the priestesses of Baaltis. +I appear to give true evidence against her, who is the anointed +Baaltis, against the Israelitish stranger named Aziel, and the priest +of the Lord of the Jews.” + +“Lay your hand upon the altar and speak, but beware what you speak,” +said the Shadid. + +Mesa bowed her head, took the oath of truth by touching the altar with +her fingers, and began:— + +“From the time that she was appointed I have been suspicious of the +lady Baaltis.” + +“Why were you suspicious?” asked the Shadid. + +The witness let her eyes wander towards Metem, then hesitated. +Evidently for some reason of her own she did not wish to implicate him. + +“I was suspicious,” she answered, “because of certain words that came +from the lips of the Baaltis, when she had been thrown into the holy +trance before the fire of sacrifice. As is my accustomed part, I bent +over her to hear and to announce the message of the gods, but in place +of the hallowed words there issued babblings about this Hebrew stranger +and of a meeting to be held with him at one hour before moonrise by the +pillar of El in the courtyard of the temple. Thereafter for several +nights as was my duty I hid myself in the pit of offerings in the +courtyard and watched. Last night at an hour before the moonrise the +Lady Baaltis came disguised by the secret way and waited at the pillar, +where presently she was joined by the Jew Aziel and the Levite, who +spoke with her. + +“What they said I could not hear, because they were too far from me, +but at length they left the temple and I traced them to the chambers of +the Jew Aziel, in the palace of Sakon. Then, Shadid, I warned you, and +the priests and you accompanied me and took them. Now, as Mother of the +priestesses, I demand that justice be done upon these wicked ones, +according to the ancient custom, lest the curse of Baaltis should fall +upon this city.” + +When she had finished her evidence, with a cold stare of triumphant +hate at her rival, Mesa stepped to one side. + +“You have heard,” said the Shadid addressing his fellow-judges. “Do you +need further testimony? If so, it must be brief, for the sun sinks.” + +“Nay,” answered the spokesman, “for with you we took the three of them +together in the chamber of the prince Aziel. Set out the law of this +matter, O Judge, and let justice be done according to the strict letter +of the law—justice without fear or favour.” + +“Hearken,” said the Shadid. “Last night this woman Elissa, the daughter +of Sakon, being the lady Baaltis duly elected, met men secretly in the +courts of the temple and accompanied them, or one of them, to the +chamber of Aziel, a prince of Israel, the guest of Sakon. Whether or no +she was about to fly with him from the city which he should have left +last night, we cannot tell, and it is needless to inquire, at least she +was with him. This, however, is sure, that they did not sin in +ignorance of our law, since with my own mouth I warned them both that +if the lady Baaltis consorts with any man not her husband duly named by +her according to her right, she must die and her accomplice with her. +Therefore, Aziel the Israelite, we give you to death, dooming you +presently to be hurled from the edge of yonder precipice.” + +“I am in your power,” said the prince proudly, “and you can murder if +you will, because, forsooth, I have offended against some law of Baal, +but I tell you, priest, that there are kings in Jerusalem and Egypt who +will demand my blood at your hands. I have nothing more to say except +to beseech you to spare the life of the lady Elissa, since the fault of +the meeting was not hers, but mine.” + +“Prince,” answered the Shadid gravely, “we know your rank and we know +also that your blood will be required at our hands, but we who serve +our gods, whose vengeance is so swift and terrible, cannot betray their +law for the fear of any earthly kings. Yet, thus says this same law, it +is not needful that you should die since for you there is a way of +escape that leads to safety and great honour, and she who was the cause +of your sin is the mistress of its gate. Elissa, holder of the spirit +of Baaltis upon earth, if it be your pleasure to name this man husband +before us all, then as the spouse of Baaltis he goes free, for he whom +the Baaltis chooses cannot refuse her gift of love, but for so long as +she shall live must rule with her as Shadid of El. But if you name him +not, then as I have said, he must die, and now. Speak.” + +“It seems that my choice is small,” said Elissa with a faint smile. +“Praying you to pardon me for the deed, to save your life, prince +Aziel, according to the ancient custom and privilege of the Baaltis, I +name you consort and husband.” + +Now Aziel was about to answer her when the Shadid broke in hurriedly, +“So be it,” he said. “Lady, we hear your choice, and we accept it as we +must, but not yet, prince Aziel, can you take your wife and with her my +place and power. Your life is safe indeed, for since the Baaltis, being +unwed, names you as her mate, you have done no sin. Yet she has sinned +and doom awaits her, for against the law she has chosen as husband one +who worships a strange god, and of all crimes that is the greatest. +Therefore, either you must take incense and before us all make offering +to El and Baaltis upon yonder altar, thus renouncing your faith and +entering into ours, or she must die and you, your rank having passed +from you with her breath, will be expelled from the city.” + +Now Aziel understood the trap that had been laid for him, and saw in it +the handiwork of Sakon and Metem. Elissa having flagrantly violated the +religious law, and he, being the cause of her crime, even the authority +of the governor of the city could not prevent his daughter and his +guest from being put upon their trial. Therefore, they had arranged +this farce, for so it would seem to them, whereby both the offenders +might escape the legal consequences of their offence, trusting, +doubtless, to accident and the future to unravel this web of forced +marriage, and to free Aziel from a priestly rank which he had not +sought. It was only necessary that Elissa should formally choose him as +her husband, and that Aziel should go through the rite of throwing a +few grains of incense upon an altar, and, the law satisfied, they would +be both free and safe. What Metem, and those who worked with him, had +forgotten was, that this offering of incense to Baal would be the most +deadly of crimes in the eyes of any faithful Jew—one, indeed, which, +were he alone concerned, he would die rather than commit. + +When the prince heard this decree, and the full terror of the choice +came home to his mind, his blood turned cold, and for a while his +senses were bewildered. There was no escape for him; either he must +abjure his faith at the price of his own soul, or, because of it, the +woman whom he loved, now, before his eyes, must suffer a most horrible +and sudden death. It was hideous to think of, and yet how could he do +this sin in the face of heaven and of these ministers of Satan? + +The moment was at hand; a priest held out to him a bowl of incense, a +golden bowl, he noticed idly, with handles of green stone fashioned in +the likeness of Baaltis, whose servant he was asked to declare himself. +He, Aziel of the royal house of Israel, a servant of Baal and Baaltis, +nay, a high-priest of their worship! It was monstrous, it might not be. +But Elissa? Well, she must die—if this was not a farce, and in truth +they meant to murder her; her life could not be bought at such a price. + +“I cannot do it,” he gasped with dry lips, thrusting aside the bowl. + +Now all looked astonished, for his refusal had not been foreseen. There +was a pause, and once more the woman Mesa, in her character of +prosecutrix on behalf of the outraged gods, appeared before the altar, +and said in her cold voice: + +“The Jew whom the lady Baaltis has chosen as husband will not do homage +to her gods. Therefore, as Mother of the priestesses and Advocate of +Baaltis, I demand that Elissa, daughter of Sakon, be put to death, and +the throne of Baaltis be purged of one who has defiled it, lest the +swift and terrible vengeance of the goddess should fall upon this +city.” + +The Shadid motioned to her to be silent, and addressed Aziel:— + +“We pray you to think a while,” he said, “before you give one to death +whose only sin is that, being the high-priestess of our worship, she +has named an unbeliever to fill the throne of El and be her husband. +Out of pity for her fate we give you time to think.” + +Now Sakon, taking advantage of the pause, rushed forward, and throwing +his arms about Aziel’s knees, implored him in heart-breaking accents to +preserve his only child from so horrible a doom. He said that did he +refuse to save her because of his religious scruples, he would be a dog +and a coward, and the scorn of all honest men for ever. It was for love +of him that she had broken the priestly law, to violate which was +death, and although he had been warned of her danger, yet in his +wickedness and folly he had brought her to this pass. Would he then +desert her now? + +But Issachar thrust him aside, and broke in with fiery words:— + +“Hearken not to this man, Aziel,” he said, “who strives to work upon +your weakness to the ruin of your soul. What! To save the life of one +woman, whose fair face has brought so much trouble upon us all, would +you deny your Lord and become the thrall of Baal and Ashtoreth? Let her +die since die she must, and keep your own heart pure, for be assured, +should you do otherwise, Jehovah, whom you renounce, will swiftly be +avenged on you and her. At the beginning I warned you, and you would +not listen. Now, Aziel, I warn you again, and woe! woe! woe! to you +should you shut your ears to my message.” Then lifting his hands +towards the skies, he began to pray aloud that Aziel might be constant +in his trial. + +Meanwhile, Metem, who had drawn near, spoke in a low voice:— + +“Prince,” he said, “I am not chicken-hearted, and there are so many +young women in the world that one more or less can scarcely matter; +still, although she threatened to murder me three days ago, I cannot +bear to see this one come to so dreadful a death. Prince, do not heed +the howlings of that old fanatic, but remember that after all you are +the cause of this lady’s plight, and play the part of a man. Can you +for the sake of your own scruples, however worthy, or of your own soul +even, however valuable to yourself, doom the fair body of a woman who +risked all for you to such an end as that?” And shuddering he nodded +towards the gloomy precipice. + +“Is there no other way?” Aziel asked him. + +“None, I swear it. They did not wish to kill her, except that wild-cat +Mesa who seeks her place, but having put her on her public trial, if +you persist—they must. + +“This is one of the few laws which cannot be broken for favour or for +gold, since the people, who are already half-mad with fear of Ithobal, +believe that to break it would bring the curses of heaven upon their +city. Perhaps we might have found some other plan, but none of us even +dreamed that you would refuse so small a thing for the sake of a woman +whom you swore you loved.” + +“A small thing!” broke in Aziel. + +“Yes, Prince, a very small thing. Remember, this offering of incense is +but a form to which you are forced against your will—you can do penance +for it afterwards when I have arranged for both of you to escape the +city. If your God can be angry with you for burning a pinch of dust to +save a woman, who at the least has dared much for you, then give me +Baal, for he is less cruel.” + +Now Aziel looked towards him who held the bowl of incense. But Elissa +who all this while had stood silent, stepped forward and spoke:— + +“Prince Aziel,” she said in a calm and quiet voice, “I named you +husband to save your life, but with all my strength I pray of you, do +not this thing to save mine, which is of little value and perhaps best +ended. Remember, prince Aziel, that being what you are, a Jew, this act +of offering, however small it seems, is yet the greatest of sins, and +one with which you should not dare to stain your soul for the sake of a +woman, who has chanced to love you to your sorrow. Be guided, +therefore, by the true wisdom of Issachar and by my humble prayer. Make +an end of your doubts and let me die, knowing that we do but part a +while, since in the Gate of Death I shall wait for you, prince Aziel.” + +Before Aziel could answer, the Shadid, either because his patience was +outworn, or because he wished to put him to a sharper trial, uttered a +command. “Be it done to her as she desires.” + +Thereon four priests seized Elissa by the wrists and ankles. Carrying +her to the edge of the precipice, they thrust her back till she hung +over it, her long hair streaming downwards, and the red light of the +sunset shining upon her upturned ghastly face. Then they paused, +waiting for the signal to let her go. The Shadid raised his wand and +said:— + +“Is it your pleasure that this woman should die or live, prince Aziel? +Decide swiftly, for my arm is weak, and when the wand falls opportunity +for choice will have passed from you.” + +Now all eyes were fixed upon the wand, and the intense silence was only +broken by Sakon’s cry of despair. Metem wrung his hands in grief; even +Issachar veiled his eyes with his robe, to shut out the sight of dread, +and the priest, who bore the bowl of incense, thrust it towards Aziel +imploringly. + +For some seconds, three perhaps, though to him they seemed an age, the +heart of Aziel was racked and torn in this terrific contest. Then he +glanced at the agonized face of the doomed woman, and just as the wand +began to bend, his human love and pity conquered. + +“May He Whom I blaspheme forgive me,” he murmured, adding aloud, “I +will do sacrifice.” Taking the incense in his hand now he cast it into +the flames upon the altar, repeating mechanically after the Shadid: “By +this sacrifice and homage, body and soul I give myself to you and +worship you, El and Baaltis, the only true gods.” + + +The echo of Aziel’s voice died away, and the fumes of the incense rose +in a straight dense column upon that quiet air. To his tormented mind, +it seemed as though its smoke took the form of an avenging angel, +holding in the hand a sword of flame, wherewith to drive away his +perjured soul from Heaven, as our first forefathers were driven from +the shining gates of paradise. Yes, and they were not human, those +spectators who, in the intense glow of the sunset, stood in their still +ranks and stared at him with wide and eager eyes. Surely they were +fiends red with the blood of men, fiends gathered from the Pit to bear +everlasting witness to the unpardonable sin of his apostasy. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV +THE MARTYRDOM OF ISSACHAR + + +It was done, and from the mouths of the circle of priests and +priestesses leapt a shrill and sudden cry of triumph. For had not their +gods conquered? Had not this high-placed servant of the hated Lord of +Israel been caught by the bait of a priestess of Baaltis, and seduced +by her distress to deny and reject Him? Was not evil once more +triumphant, and must not they, its ministers, rejoice? + +Again the Shadid raised his wand and they were silent. + +“Brother you have, indeed, done well and wisely,” he said, addressing +Aziel. “Now take to wife the divine lady who has chosen you,” and he +pointed to Elissa, who lay prostrated on the rock. “Yes, take her and +be happy in her love, sitting in my seat, which henceforth is yours, as +ruler of the priests of El and master of their mysteries, forgetting +the follies of your former faith, and spitting on its altars. Hail to +you, Shadid, Lord of the Baaltis and chosen of El! Take him, you +priests, and with him the divine lady, his wife, to bear them in +triumph to their high house.” + +“What of the Levite?” asked the woman Mesa. + +The Shadid glanced at Issachar, who all this while had stood like one +stricken to the soul, woe stamped upon his face, and a stare of horror +in his eyes. “Jew,” he said, “I had forgotten you, but you also are on +your trial, who dared against the law to hold secret meeting with the +lady Baaltis. For this sin the punishment is death, nor, as I think, +would any woman name you husband to save you. Still in this hour of joy +we will be merciful; therefore do as your master did, cast incense on +the altar, uttering the appointed words, and go your way.” + +“Before I make my offering on yonder altar according to your command, I +have indeed some words to say, O priest of El,” answered Issachar +quietly, but in a voice that chilled the blood of those who listened. + +“First, I address myself to you, Aziel, and to you, woman,” and he +pointed to Elissa, who had risen, and leaned, trembling, upon her +father. “My dream is fulfilled. Aziel, you have sinned indeed, and must +bear the appointed punishment of your sin. Yet hear a message of mercy +spoken through my lips: Because you have sinned through love and pity, +your offence is not unto death. Still shall you sorrow for it all your +life’s days, and in desolation of heart and bitterness of soul shall +creep back to the feet of Him you have forsworn. + +“Woman, your spirit is noble and your feet are set in the way of +righteousness, yet through you has this offence come. Therefore your +love shall bear no fruit, nor shall the blasphemy of your beloved save +your flesh from doom. Upon this earth there is no hope for you, +daughter of Sakon; set your eyes beyond it, for there alone is hope. + +“Yonder she stands who swore our lives away?” and he fixed his burning +gaze on Mesa. “Priestess, you plotted this that you might succeed to +the throne of Baaltis; now hear your fate: You shall live to sweep the +huts and bear the babes of savages. You, priest,” and he pointed to the +Shadid, “I read your heart; you design to murder this apostate whom you +greet as your successor that you may usurp his place. I show you yours: +it lies in the bellies of the jackals of the desert. + +“For you priests and priestesses of El and Baaltis, think of my words, +and raise the loud song of triumph to your gods when you yourselves are +their offering, and the red flame of the fire burns you up, all of you +save your sins, which are immortal. O citizens of an accursed city, +look on the hill-top yonder and tell me, what do you see in the light +of the dying day? A sheen of spears, is it not? They draw near to your +hearts, you whose day is done indeed, citizens of an accursed city +whereof the very name shall be forgotten, and the naked towers shall +become but a source of wonder to men unborn. + +“And now, O priest, having said my say, as you bid me, I make my +offering upon your altar.” + +Then, while all stood fearful and amazed, Issachar the Levite sprang +forward, and seizing the ancient image of Baaltis, he spat upon it and +dashed the priceless consecrated thing down upon the altar, where it +broke into fragments, and was burned with the fire. + +“My offering is made,” he said; “may He whom I serve accept it. Now +after the offering comes the sacrifice; son Aziel, fare you well.” + + +For a few moments a silence of horror and dismay fell upon the assembly +as they gazed at the shattered and burning fragments of their holy +image. Then moved by a common impulse, with curses and yells of fury, +the priests and priestesses sprang from their seats and hurled +themselves upon Issachar, who stood awaiting them with folded arms. +They smote him with their ivory rods, they rent and tore him with their +hands and teeth, worrying him as dogs worry a fox of the hills, till at +length the life was beaten and trampled out of him and he lay dead. + +Thus terribly, but yet by such a death of martyrdom as he would have +chosen, perished Issachar the Levite. + +Unarmed though he was, Aziel had sprung to his aid, but Metem and +Sakon, knowing that he would but bring about his own destruction, flung +themselves upon him and held him back. Whilst he was still struggling +with them the end came, and Issachar grew still for ever. Then, as the +sun sank and the darkness fell, Aziel’s strength left him, and +presently he slipped to the ground senseless. + + +Thereafter it seemed to Aziel that he was plunged in an endless and +dreadful dream, and that through its turmoil and shifting visions, he +could see continually the dreadful death of Issachar, and hear his +stern accents prophesying woe to him who renounces the God of his +forefathers to bow the knee to Baal. + +At length he awoke from that horror-haunted sleep to find himself lying +in a strange chamber. It was night, and lamps burned in the chamber, +and by their light he saw a man whose face he knew mixing a draught in +a glass phial. So weak was he that at first he could not remember the +man’s name, then by slow degrees it came to him. + +“Metem,” he said, “where am I?” + +The Phœnician looked up from his task, smiled, and answered:— + +“Where you should be, Prince, in your own house, the palace of the +Shadid. But you must not speak, for you have been ill; drink this and +sleep.” + +Aziel swallowed the draught and was instantly overcome by slumber. When +he awoke the sun was shining brightly through the window place, and its +rays fell upon the shrewd, kindly face of Metem, who, seated on a +stool, watched him, his chin resting in his hand. + +“Tell me all that has befallen, friend,” said Aziel presently, +“since——” and he shuddered. + +“Since you were married after a new fashion and that bigoted but most +honourable fool, Issachar, went to his reward. Well, I will when you +have eaten,” answered Metem as he gave him food. “First,” he said, +after a while, “you have lain here for three days raving in a fever, +nursed by myself and visited by your wife the lady Baaltis, whenever +she could escape from her religious duties——” + +“Elissa! Has she been here?” asked Aziel. + +“Calm yourself, Prince, certainly she has, and, what is more, she will +be back soon. Secondly: Ithobal has been as good as his word, and +invests the city with a vast army, cutting off all supplies and +possibilities of escape. It is believed that he will try an assault +within the next week, which many think may be successful. Thirdly: to +avoid this risk it is rumoured that the priests and priestesses, at the +instance of the council, are discussing the wisdom of giving over to +the king the person of the daughter of Sakon. This, it is said, could +be done on the plea that her election as the lady Baaltis was brought +about with bribery, and is, therefore, void, as she was not chosen by +the pure and unassisted will of the goddess.” + +“But,” said Aziel, “she is my wife according to their religious law; +how then can she be given in marriage to another?” + +“Nay, Prince, if she is not the lady Baaltis your husbandship falls to +the ground with the rest, for you are not the Shadid, an office with +which perchance you can dispense. But all this priestly juggling means +little, the truth being that the city in its terror is ready to throw +her—or for the matter of that, Baaltis herself if they could lay hands +on her—as a sop to Ithobal, hoping thereby to appease his rage. The +lady Elissa knows her danger—but here she comes to speak for herself.” + +As he spoke the curtains at the end of the chamber were drawn, and +through them came Elissa, clad in her splendid robes of office and +wearing upon her brow the golden crescent of the moon. + +“How goes it with the prince, Metem?” she asked in her soft voice, +glancing anxiously towards the couch which was half-hidden in the +shadow of the wall. + +“Look for yourself, lady,” answered the Phœnician bowing before her. + +“Elissa, Elissa!” cried Aziel, raising himself and opening his arms. + +She saw and heard, then, with a low cry, she ran swiftly to him and was +wrapped in his embrace. Thus they stayed a while, murmuring words of +love and greeting. + +“Is it your pleasure that I should leave you?” asked Metem presently. +“No? Then, Prince, I would have you remember that you are still very +weak and should not give way to violent emotions.” + +“Listen, Aziel,” said Elissa, untwining his arms from about her neck, +“there is no time for tenderness; moreover, you should show none to one +who, in name at least, is still the high-priestess of Baaltis, though +in truth she worships her no longer. It was noble of you indeed to +offer incense upon the altar of El that my life might be saved. But +when I prayed you not, I spoke from the heart, and bitterly, bitterly +do I grieve that for my sake you should have stained your hands with +such a sin. Moreover, it will avail nothing, for the doom of the +prophet Issachar lies upon us, and I cannot escape from death, neither +can you escape remorse, and as I think, that worst of all desires—the +desire for the dead.” + +“Can we not still flee the city?” asked Aziel. + +“Metem will tell you that it is impossible; day and night I am watched +and guarded, yes, Mesa dogs me from door to door. Also Ithobal holds +Zimboe so firmly in his net that no sparrow could fly out of it and he +not know. And there is worse to tell: Beloved, they purpose to give me +up as a peace-offering to Ithobal. Yes, even my father is of the plot, +for in his despair he thinks it his duty to sacrifice his daughter to +save the town, if, indeed, that will suffice to save us.” + +“But you are the Baaltis and inviolate.” + +“In such a time the goddess herself would not be held inviolate in +Zimboe, much less her priestess, Aziel. I have discovered that this +very night they have laid their plans to seize me. Mesa and others have +been chosen for the deed, and afterwards they think to offer me as a +bribe to Ithobal, who will take no other price.” + +Aziel groaned aloud: “It were better that we should die,” he said. + +She nodded and answered: “It were better that _I_ should die. But hear +me, for I also have a plan, and there is still hope, though very +little. Perhaps, as you drew near to Zimboe by the coast road, you may +have noted three miles or more from the gates of the city, and almost +overhanging the path on which you travelled, a shoulder of the mountain +where the rock is cut away, showing the narrow entrance to a cave +closed with a gate of bronze?” + +“I saw it,” answered Aziel, “and was told that there was the most +sacred burying-place of the city.” + +“It is the tomb of the high-priestesses of Baaltis,” went on Elissa, +“and this day at sunset I must visit it to lay an offering upon the +shrine of her who was the Baaltis before me, entering alone, and +closing the gate, for it is not lawful that any one should pass in +there with me. Now, the plan is to lay hands on me as I go back from +the tomb to the palace—but I shall not go back. Aziel, I shall stay in +the tomb—nay, do not fear—not dead. I have hidden food and water there, +enough for many days, and there with the departed I shall live—till I +am of their number.” + +“But if so, how can it help you, Elissa, for they will break in the +gates of the place, and drag you away?” + +“Then, Aziel, they will drag away a corpse, and that they will scarcely +care to present to Ithobal. See, I have hidden poison in my breast, and +here at my girdle hangs a dagger; are not the two of them enough to +make an end of one frail life? Should they dare to touch me, I shall +tell them through the bars that most certainly I shall drink the bane, +or use the knife; and when they know it, they will leave me unharmed, +hoping to starve me out, or trusting to chance to snare me living.” + +“You are bold,” murmured Aziel in admiration, “but self-murder is a +sin.” + +“It is a sin that I will dare, beloved, as in past days I would have +dared it for less cause, rather than be given alive into the hands of +Ithobal; for to whoever else I may be false, to you through life and +death I will be true.” + +Now Aziel groaned in his doubt and bitterness of heart; then turning to +Metem, he asked:— + +“Have you anything to say, Metem?” + +“Yes, Prince, two things,” answered the Phœnician. “First, that the +lady Elissa is rash, indeed, to speak so openly before me who might +carry her words to the council or the priests.” + +“Nay, Metem, I am not rash, for I know that, although you love money, +you will not betray me.” + +“You are right, lady, I shall not, for money would be of little service +to me in a city that is about to be taken by storm. Also I hate +Ithobal, who threatened my life—as you did also, by the way—and will do +my best to keep you from his clutches. Now for my second point: it is +that I can see little use in all this because Ithobal, being defrauded +of you, will attack, and then——” + +“And then he may be beaten, Metem, for the citizens will at any rate +fight for their lives, and the Prince Aziel here, who is a general +skilled in war, will fight also if he has recovered strength——” + +“Do not fear, Elissa; give me two days, and I will fight to the death,” +said Aziel. + +“At the least,” she went on, “this scheme gives us breathing time, and +who knows but that fortune will turn. Or if it does not, since it is +impossible for me to escape from the city, I have no better.” + +“No more have I,” said Metem, “for at length the oldest fox comes to +his last double. I could escape from this city, or the prince might +escape, or the lady Elissa even might possibly escape disguised, but I +am sure that all three of us could not escape, seeing that within the +walls we are watched and without them the armies of Ithobal await us. +Oh! prince Aziel, I should have done well to go, as I might have gone +when you and Issachar were taken after that mad meeting in the temple, +from which I never looked for anything but ill; but I grow foolish in +my old age, and thought that I should like to see the last of you. +Well, so far we are all alive, except Issachar, who, although bigoted, +was still the most worthy of us, but how long we shall remain alive I +cannot say. + +“Now our best chance is to defeat Ithobal if we can, and afterwards in +the confusion to fly from Zimboe and join our servants, to whom I have +sent word to await us in a secret place beyond the first range of +hills. If we cannot—why then we must go a little sooner than we +expected to find out who it is that really shapes the destinies of men, +and whether or no the sun and moon are the chariots of El and Baaltis. +But, Prince, you turn pale.” + +“It is nothing,” said Aziel, “bring me some water, the fever still +burns in me.” + +Metem went to seek for water, while Elissa knelt by the couch and +pressed her lover’s hand. + +“I dare stay no longer,” she whispered, “and Aziel, I know not how or +when we shall meet again, but my heart is heavy, for, alas! I think +that doom draws near me. I have brought much sorrow upon you, Aziel, +and yet more upon myself, and I have given you nothing, except that +most common of all things, a woman’s love.” + +“That most perfect of all things,” he answered, “which I am glad to +have lived to win.” + +“Yes, but not at the price that you have paid for it. I know well what +it must have cost you to cast that incense on the flame, and I pray to +your God, who has become my God, to visit the sin of it on my head and +to leave yours unharmed. Aziel, Aziel! woman or spirit, while I have +life and memory, I am yours, and yours only; clean-handed I leave you, +and if we may meet again in this or in any other world, clean and +faithful I shall come to you again. Glad am I to have lived, because in +my life I have known you and you have sworn you love me. Glad shall I +be to live again if again I may know you and hear that oath—if not, it +is sleep I seek; for life without you to me would be a hell. You grow +weak, and I must go. Farewell, and living or dead, forget me not; swear +that you will not forget me.” + +“I swear it,” he answered faintly; “and Heaven grant that I may die for +you, not you for me.” + +“That is no prayer of mine,” she whispered; and, bending, kissed him on +the brow, for he was too weak to lift his lips to hers. + +Then she was gone. + + + + +CHAPTER XV +ELISSA TAKES SANCTUARY + + +Two more hours had passed, and in the evening light a procession of +priestesses might be seen advancing slowly towards the holy tomb along +a narrow road of rock cut in the mountain face. In front of this +procession, wearing a black veil over her broidered robes, walked +Elissa with downcast eyes and hair unbound in token of grief, while +behind her came Mesa and other priestesses bearing in bowls of +alabaster the offerings to the dead, food and wine, and lamps of oil, +and vases filled with perfumes. Behind these again marched the +mourners, women who sang a funeral dirge and from time to time broke +into a wail of simulated grief. Nor, indeed, was their woe as hollow as +might be thought, since from that mountain path they could see the +outposts of the army of Ithobal upon the plain, and note with a shudder +of fear the spear-heads of his countless thousands shining in the +gorges of the opposing heights. It was not for the dead Baaltis that +they mourned this day, but for the fate which overshadowed them and +their city of gold. + +“May the curse of all the gods fall on her,” muttered one of the +priestesses as she toiled forward beneath her load of offerings; +“because she is beautiful and pettish, we must be put to the spear, or +become the wives of savages,” and she pointed with her chin to Elissa, +who walked in front, lost in her own thoughts. + +“Have patience,” answered Mesa at her side, “you know the plan—to-night +that proud girl and false priestess shall sleep in the camp of +Ithobal.” + +“Will he be satisfied with that,” asked the woman, “and leave the city +in peace?” + +“They say so,” answered Mesa with a laugh, “though it is strange that a +king should exchange spoil and glory for one round-eyed, thin-limbed +girl who loves his rival. Well, let us thank the gods that made men +foolish, and gave us women wit to profit by their folly. If he wants +her, let him take her, for few will be poorer by her loss.” + +“You at least will be richer,” said the other woman, “and by the crown +of Baaltis. Well, I do not grudge it you, and as for the daughter of +Sakon, she shall be Ithobal’s if I take her to him limb by limb.” + +“Nay, sister, that is not the bargain; remember she must be delivered +to him without hurt or blemish; otherwise we shall do sacrilege in +vain. Be silent, here is the cave.” + +Reaching the platform in front of the tomb, the procession of mourners +ranged themselves about it in a semi-circle. They stood with their +backs to the edge of a cliff that rose sheer for sixty feet or more +from the plain beneath, across which, but at a little distance from the +foot of the precipice ran the road followed by the caravans of +merchants in their journeys to and from the coast. Then, a hymn having +been sung invoking the blessing of the gods on the dead priestess, +Elissa, as the Baaltis, unlocked the gates of bronze with a golden key +that hung at her girdle, and the bearers of the bowls of offerings +pushed them into the mouth of the tomb, whose threshold they were not +allowed to pass. Next, with bowed heads and hands crossed upon her +breast, Elissa entered the tomb, and locking the bronze gate behind +her, took up two of the bowls and vanished with them into its gloomy +depths. + +“Why did she lock the gates?” asked a priestess of Mesa. “It is not +customary.” + +“Doubtless because it was her pleasure to do so,” answered Mesa +sharply, though she also wondered why Elissa had locked the gate. + +When an hour was gone by and Elissa had not returned, her wonder turned +to fear and doubt. + +“Call to the lady Baaltis,” she said, “for her prayers are long, and I +fear lest she should have come to harm.” + +So they called, setting their lips against the bars of the gate till +presently, Elissa, holding a lamp in her hand, came and stood before +them. + +“Why do you disturb me in the sanctuary?” she asked. + +“Lady, because they set the night watch on the walls,” answered Mesa, +“and it is time to return to the temple.” + +“Return then,” said Elissa, “and leave me in peace. What, you cannot, +Mesa? Nay, and shall I tell you why? Because you had plotted to deliver +me this night to those who should lead me as a peace-offering to +Ithobal, and when you come to them empty-handed they will greet you +with harsh words. Nay, do not trouble to deny it, Mesa. I also have my +spies, and know all the plan; and, therefore, I have taken sanctuary in +this holy place.” + +Now Mesa pressed her thin lips together and answered:— + +“Those who dare to lay hands upon the person of the living Baaltis will +not shrink from seeking her in the company of her dead sisters.” + +“I know it, Mesa; but the gates are barred, and here I have food and +drink in plenty.” + +“Gates, however strong, can be broken,” answered the priestess, “so, +lady, do not wait till you are dragged hence like some discovered +slave.” + +“Ay,” replied Elissa, with a little laugh, “but what if rather than be +thus dishonoured, I should choose to break another gate, that of my own +life? Look, traitress, here is poison and here is bronze, and I swear +to you that should any lay a hand upon me, by one or other of them I +will die before their eyes. Then, if you will, bear these bones to +Ithobal and take his thanks for them. Now, begone, and give this +message to my father and to all those who have plotted with him, that +since they cannot bribe Ithobal with my beauty, they will do well to be +men, and to fight him with their swords.” + +Then she turned and left them, vanishing into the darkness of the tomb. + +Great indeed was the dismay of the councillors of Zimboe and of the +priests who had plotted with them when, an hour later, Mesa came, not +to deliver Elissa into their hands, but to repeat to them her threats +and message. In vain did they appeal to Sakon, who only shook his head +and answered:— + +“Of this I am sure, that what my daughter has threatened that she will +certainly do if you force her to the choice. But if you will not +believe me, go ask her and satisfy yourselves. I know well what she +will answer you, and I hold that this is a judgment upon us, who first +made her Baaltis against her will, then threatened her with death +because of the prince Aziel, and now would do sacrilege to her sacred +office and violence to herself by tearing her from her consecrated +throne, breaking her bond of marriage and delivering her to Ithobal.” + +So the leaders of the councillors visited the holy tomb and reasoned +with Elissa through the bars. But they got no comfort from her, for she +spoke to them with the phial of poison in her bosom and the naked +dagger in her hand, telling them what she had told Mesa—that they had +best give up their plottings and fight Ithobal like men, seeing that +even if she surrendered herself to him, when he grew weary of her the +war must come at last. + +“For a hundred years,” she added, “this storm has gathered, and now it +must burst. When it has rolled away it will be known who is master of +the land—the ancient city of Zimboe, or Ithobal king of the Tribes.” + +So they went back as they had come, and next day at the dawn, with a +bold face but heavy hearts, received the messengers of king Ithobal, +and told them their tale. The messengers heard and laughed. + +“We are glad,” they answered, “since we, who are not in love with the +daughter of Sakon, desire war and not peace, holding as we do that the +time has come when you upstart white men—you outlanders—who have +usurped our country to suck away its wealth should be set beneath our +heel. Nor do we think that the task will be difficult for surely we +have little to fear from a city of low money seekers whose councillors +cannot even conquer the will of a single maid.” + +Then in their despair the elders offered other girls to Ithobal in +marriage, as many as he would, and with them a great bribe in money. +But the envoys took their leave, saying that nothing would avail since +they preferred spear-thrusts to gold, for which they had little use, +and Ithobal, their king, had fixed his fancy on one woman alone. + +So with a heavy and foreboding heart, the city of Zimboe prepared +itself to resist attack, for as they had guessed, when he learned all, +the rage of Ithobal was great. Nor would he listen to any terms that +they could offer save one which they had no power to grant—that Elissa +should be delivered unharmed into his hands. Councils of war were held, +and to these, so soon as he was sufficiently recovered from his +sickness, the prince Aziel was bidden, for he was known to be a skilled +captain; therefore, though he had been the cause of much of their +trouble, they sought his aid. Also, should the struggle be prolonged, +they hoped through him to win Israel, and perhaps Egypt, to their +cause. + +Aziel’s counsel was that they should sally out against the army of +Ithobal by night, since he expected to attack and not to be attacked, +but to that advice they would not listen, for they trusted to their +walls. Indeed, in this Metem supported them, and when the prince argued +with him, he answered:— + +“Your tactics would be good enough, Prince, if you had at your back the +lions of Judah, or the wild Arab horsemen of the desert. But here you +must deal with men of my own breed, and we Phœnicians are traders, not +fighting men. Like rats, we fight only when there is no other chance +for our lives; nor do we strike the first blow. It is true that there +are some good soldiers in the city, but they are foreign mercenaries; +and as for the rest, half-breeds and freed slaves, they belong as much +to Ithobal as to Sakon, and are not to be trusted. No, no; let us stay +behind our walls, for they at least were built when men were honest and +will not betray us.” + +Now in Zimboe were three lines of defence; first, that of a single wall +built about the huts of the slaves upon the plain, then that of a +double wall of stone with a ditch between thrown round the Phœnician +city, and lastly, the great fortress-temple and the rocky heights +above. These, guarded as they were by many strongholds within whose +circle the cattle were herded, as it was thought, could only be taken +with the sword of hunger. + +At last the storm burst, for on the fifth morning after Elissa had +barred herself within the tomb, Ithobal attacked the native town. +Uttering their wild battle-cries, tens of thousands of his savage +warriors, armed with great spears and shields of ox-hide, and wearing +crests of plumes upon their heads, charged down upon the outer wall. +Twice they were driven back, but the work was in bad repair and too +long to defend, so that at the third rush they flowed over it like +lines of marching ants, driving its defenders before them to the inner +gates. In this battle some were killed, but the most of the slaves +threw down their arms and went over to Ithobal, who spared them, +together with their wives and children. + +Through all the night that followed, the generals of Zimboe made ready +for the onslaught which must come. Everywhere within the circuit of the +inner wall troops were stationed, while the double southern gateway, +where prince Aziel was the captain in command, was built up with loose +blocks of stone. + +A while before the dawn, just as the eastern sky grew grey, Aziel, +watching from his post above the gate of the wall, heard the fierce +war-song of the Tribes swell suddenly from fifty thousand throats and +the measured tramp of their innumerable feet. Then the day broke, and +he saw them advancing in three armies towards the three points chosen +for attack, the largest of the armies, headed by Ithobal the king, +directing its march upon the walled gate of which he was in command. + +It was a wondrous and a fearful sight, that of these hordes of plumed +warriors, their broad spears flashing in the sunrise, and their fierce +faces alight with hereditary hate and the lust of slaughter. Never had +Aziel seen such a spectacle, nor could he look upon it without dreading +the issue of the war, for if they were savages, these foes were brave +as the lions of their own plains, and had sworn by the head of their +king to drag down the sheltering walls of Zimboe with their naked +hands, or die to the last man. + +Turning his head with a sigh of doubt, Aziel found Metem standing at +his side. + +“Have you seen her?” he asked eagerly. + +“No, Prince. How could I see her at night when she sits in a tomb like +a fox in his burrow? But I have heard her.” + +“What did she say? Quick man, tell me.” + +“But little, Prince, for the tomb is watched and I dared not stay there +long. She sent you her greetings and would have you know that her heart +will be with you in the battle, and her prayers beseech the throne of +Heaven for your safety. Also she said that she is well, though it is +lonesome there in the grave among the bodies of the dead priestesses of +Baaltis whose spirits, as she vows, haunt her dreams, reviling her +because she desecrates their sepulchre and has renounced their god.” + +“Lonesome, indeed,” said Aziel with a shudder; “but tell me, Metem, had +she no other word?” + +“Yes, Prince, but not of good omen, for now as always she is sure that +her doom is at hand, and that you two will meet no more. Still she bade +me tell you that all your life long her spirit shall companion you +though it be unseen, to receive you at the last on the threshold of the +underworld.” + +Aziel turned his head away, and said presently:— + +“If that be so, may it receive me soon.” + +“Have no fear, Prince,” replied Metem with a grim laugh, “look yonder,” +and he pointed to the advancing hosts. + +“These walls are strong and we shall beat them back,” said Aziel. + +“Nay, Prince, for strong walls do not avail without strong hearts to +guard them, and those of the womanish citizens of Zimboe and their +hired soldiers are white with fear. I tell you that the prophecies of +Issachar the Levite, made yonder in the temple on the day of the +sacrifice, and again in the hour of his death, have taken hold of the +people, and by eating out their valour, fulfil themselves. + +“Men hint at them, the women whisper them in closets, and the very +children cry them in the streets. + +“More—one man last night pointed to the skies and shrieked that in them +he saw that fiery sword of doom of which the prophet spoke hanging +point downwards above the city, whereon all present vowed they saw it +too, though, as I think, it was but a cross of stars. Another tells how +that he met the very spirit of Issachar stalking through the +market-place, and that peering into the eyes of the wraith, as in a +mirror, he saw a great flame wrapping the temple walls, and by the +light of it his own dead body. This man was the priest who first struck +down the holy Levite yonder in the place of judgment. + +“Again, when the lady Mesa did sacrifice last night on behalf of the +Baaltis who has fled, the child they offered, an infant of six months, +stirred on the altar after it was dead and cried with a loud voice that +before three suns had set, its blood should be required at their hands. +That is the story, and if I do not believe it, this at least is true, +that the priestesses fled fast from the secret chamber of death, for I +met them as they ran shrieking in their terror and tearing at their +robes. But what need is there to dwell on omens, true or false, when +cowards man the walls, and the spears of Ithobal shine yonder like all +the stars of heaven? Prince, I tell you that this ancient city is +doomed, and in it, as I fear, we must end our wanderings upon earth.” + +“So be it, if it must be,” answered Aziel, “at the least I will die +fighting.” + +“And I also will die fighting, Prince, not because I love it, but +because it is better than being butchered in cold blood by a savage +with a spear. Oh! why did you ever chance to stumble upon the lady +Elissa making her prayer to Baaltis, and what evil spirit was it which +filled your brains with this sudden madness of love towards each other? +That was the beginning of the trouble, which, but for those eyes of +hers, would have held off long enough to see us safe at Tyre, though +doubtless soon or late it must have come. But see, yonder marches +Ithobal at the head of his guard. Give me a bow, the flight is long, +but perchance I can reach his black heart with an arrow.” + +“Save your strength,” answered Aziel, “the range is too great, and +presently you will have enough of shooting,” and he turned to talk to +the officers of the guard. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI +THE CAGE OF DEATH + + +An hour later the attack commenced at chosen points of the double wall, +one of them being the southern gate. In front of the advancing columns +of savages were driven vast numbers of slaves, many of whom had been +captured, or had surrendered in the outer town. These men were laden +with faggots to fill the ditch, rude ladders wherewith to scale the +walls, and heavy trunks of trees to be used in breaching them. For the +most part, they were unarmed, and protected only by their burdens, +which they held before them as shields, and by the arrows of the +warriors of Ithobal. But these did little harm to the defenders, who +were hidden behind the walls, whereas the shafts of the garrison, +rained on them from above, killed or wounded the slaves by scores, who, +poor creatures, when they turned to fly, were driven onward by the +spear-points of the savages, to be slain in heaps like game in a +pitfall. Still, some of them lived, and running under the shelter of +the wall, began to breach it with the rude battering rams, and to raise +the scaling ladders till death found them, or they were worn out with +excitement, fear and labour. + +Then the real attack began. With fierce yells, the threefold column +rushed at the wall, and began to work the rams and scale the ladders, +while the defenders above showered spears and arrows upon them, or +crushed them with heavy stones, or poured upon their heads boiling +pitch and water, heated in great cauldrons which stood at hand. + +Time after time they were driven back with heavy loss; and, time upon +time, fresh hordes of them advanced to the onslaught. Thrice, at the +southern gate, were the ladders raised, and thrice the stormers +appeared above the level of the wall, to be hurled back, crushed and +bleeding, to the earth beneath. + +Thus the long day wore on and still the defenders held their own. + +“We shall win,” shouted Aziel to Metem, as a fresh ladder was cast down +with its weight of men to the death-strewn plain. + +“Yes, here we shall win because we fight,” answered the Phœnician, “but +elsewhere it may be otherwise.” Indeed for a while the attack upon the +south gate slackened. + +Another hour passed and presently to the left of them rose a wild yell +of triumph, and with it a shout of “Fly to the second wall. The foe is +in the fosse!” + +Metem looked and there, down the great ditch, 300 paces to their left, +a flood of savages poured towards them. “Come,” he said, “the outer +wall is lost.” But as he spoke once more the ladders rose against the +gates and flanking towers and once more Aziel sprang to cast them down. +When the deed was done, he looked behind him to find that he was cut +off and surrounded. Metem and most of his men indeed had gained the +inner wall in safety, while he with twelve only of his bravest +soldiers, Jews of his own following, who had stayed to help him to +throw back the ladders, were left upon the gateway tower. Nor was +escape any longer possible, for both the plain without and the fosse +within were filled with the men of Ithobal who advanced also by +hundreds down the broad coping of the captured wall. + +“Now there is but one thing that we can do,” said Aziel; “fight bravely +till we are slain.” + +As he spoke a javelin cast from the wall beneath struck him upon the +breastplate, and though the bronze turned the iron point, it brought +him to his knees. When he found his feet again, he heard a voice +calling him by name, and looking down, saw Ithobal clad in golden +harness and surrounded by his captains. + +“You cannot escape, prince Aziel,” cried the king; “yield now to my +mercy.” + +Aziel heard, and setting an arrow to his bow, loosed it at Ithobal +beneath. He was a strong and skilful archer, and the heavy shaft +pierced the golden helmet of the king, cutting his scalp down to the +bone. + +“That is my answer,” cried Aziel, as Ithobal rolled upon the ground +beneath the shock of the blow. But very soon the king was up and crying +his commands from behind the shield-hedge of his captains. + +“Let the prince Aziel, and the Jews with him, be taken alive and +brought to me,” he shouted. “I will give a great reward in cattle to +those who capture them unharmed; but if any do them hurt, they +themselves shall be put to death.” + +The captains bowed and issued their orders, and presently Aziel and his +companions saw lines of unarmed men creeping up ladders set at every +side of the lofty tower. Again and again they cast off the ladders, +till at length, being so few, they could stir them no more because of +the weight upon them, but must hack at the heads of the stormers as +they appeared above the parapet, killing them one by one. + +In this fashion they slew many, but their arms grew weary at last, and +ever under the eye of their king, the brave savages crept upward, +heedless of death, till, with a shout, they poured over the battlements +and rushed at the little band of Jews. + +Now rather than be taken, Aziel sought to throw himself from the tower, +but his companions held him, and thus at last it came about that he was +seized and bound. + +As they dragged him to the stairway he looked across the fosse and saw +the mercenaries flying from the inner wall, although it was still +unbreached, and saw the citizens of Zimboe streaming by thousands to +the narrow gateway of the temple fortress. + +Then Aziel groaned in his heart and struggled no more, for he knew that +the fate of the ancient town was sealed, and that the prophecy of +Issachar would be fulfilled. + + +A while later Aziel and those with him, their hands bound behind their +backs, were led by hide ropes tied about their necks through the army +of the Tribes that jeered and spat upon them as they passed, to a tent +of sewn hides on the plain, above which floated the banner of Ithobal. +Into this tent the prince was thrust alone, and there forced upon his +knees by the soldiers who held him. Before him upon a couch covered +with a lion skin lay the great shape of Ithobal, while physicians +washed his wounded scalp. + +“Greeting, son of Israel and Pharaoh,” he said in a mocking voice; +“truly you are wise thus to do homage to the king of the world.” + +“A poor jest,” answered Aziel, glancing at those who held him down; +“true homage is of the heart, king Ithobal.” + +“I know it, Jew, and this also you shall give me when you are humbler. +Who taught you the use of the bow? You shoot well,” and he pointed to +his blood-stained helm, which was still transfixed by the arrow. + +“Nay,” answered Aziel, “I shot but ill, for my arm was weary. When next +I draw a string against your breast, king Ithobal, I promise you a +straighter shaft.” + +“Well said,” answered the king with a laugh, “but know, dog of a Jew, +that now it is my turn to draw the string—how, I will show you +afterwards. Have they told you that the city has fallen, and that my +captains hold the gates, while the cowards of Zimboe are penned like +sheep within the temple and on the cliff-edged height above? They have +fled hither for safety, but I tell you that they would be more safe on +yonder plain, for I have the key of their stronghold, a certain passage +leading from the palace of the Baaltis to the temple; you know of it, I +think. Yes, and if I had not, very soon hunger and thirst would work +for me. + +“Well, Jew, I have won, and with less trouble than I thought, and now I +hold the great city in hostage, to save or to destroy as it shall +please me, though that arrow of yours went near to robbing me of my +crown of victory.” + +“So be it,” answered Aziel, indifferently; “I have played my part, now +things must go as Fate may will.” + +“Yes, Jew, you fought well till they deserted you, and the doom of +cowards is little to a brave man. But what of the lady Elissa? Nay, I +know all; she has taken refuge in the tomb of Baaltis, has she not, +with poison in her bosom and bronze at her girdle to be used against +her own life, should they lay hands on her or give her to me? And all +this she does for the love of you, prince Aziel; for the love of you +she refuses to become my queen, ruling over that city which I have +conquered, and all my unnumbered tribes. + +“Do you guess now why I caused you to be taken living? I will tell you; +that you may be the bait to draw her to me. To kill you would be easy; +but how would that serve, seeing that then she herself would choose to +die? But, perchance, to save your life she will live also—yes, and give +herself to me. At least, I will try it; should the plan fail—then you +can pay the price of her pride with your blood, prince Aziel.” + +“That I would do gladly,” answered Aziel, “but oh! what a cross-bred +hound you are who thus can seek to torture the heart of a helpless +woman! Have you then no manhood that you can stoop to such a coward’s +plot?” + +“Fool! it is because of my manhood that I do stoop to it,” said Ithobal +angrily. “Doubtless you think that a mad fancy and naught else drives +me to the deed, but it is not so, although in truth my heart—like +yours—chooses this woman to be my wife and none other. That fondness I +might conquer, but look you, of all things living this lady alone has +dared to cross my will, so that to-day even the sentries on their +rounds and the savage women in the kraals tell each other of how +Ithobal, the great king of an hundred tribes, has been baffled and +mocked at by a girl who despises him because his blood is not all +white. Thus I am become a laughing-stock, and therefore I will win her, +cost me what it may.” + +“And I, king Ithobal, tell you that you will not win her—no, not if you +torture me to death before her eyes.” + +“That we shall see,” said the king with a sneer. Then he called to his +guard and added, “Let this man and his companions be taken to the place +prepared for them.” + +Now Aziel was dragged from the tent and thrust into a wooden cage, such +as were used for carrying slaves and women from place to place upon the +backs of camels. His soldiers, who had been taken with him, were thrust +also into cages, and, with himself laden upon camels that were waiting, +two cages to each camel. Then a cloth was thrown over them, and, rising +to their feet, the camels began to march. + +When they had covered a league or more of ground Aziel learned from the +motion of the camel upon which he was secured, and the sound of the +repeated blows of its drivers, that they were ascending some steep +place. At length they reached the top of it, and were unloaded from the +beasts like merchandise, but he could see nothing, for by now the night +had fallen. Then, still in the cages, they were carried to a tent, +where food and water were given them through the bars, after which, so +weary was Aziel with war, misery and the remains of recent illness, +that he fell asleep. + +At daybreak he awoke, or rather was awakened, by the sound of a +familiar voice, and, looking through his bars, perceived Metem standing +before them, guarded but unbound, with indignation written on his face, +and tears in his quick eyes. + +“Alas!” he cried, “that I should have lived to see the seed of Israel +and Pharaoh thus fastened like a wild beast in a den, while barbarians +make a mock of him. Oh! Prince, it were better that you should die +rather than endure such shame.” + +“Misfortunes are the master of man, not man of his misfortunes, Metem,” +said Aziel quietly, “and in them is no true disgrace. Even if I had the +means to kill myself, it would be a sin; moreover, it might bring +another to her death. Therefore, I await my doom, whatever it may be, +with such patience as I can, trusting that my sufferings and ignominy +may expiate my crimes in the sight of Him whom I renounced. But how +come you here, Metem?” + +“I came under the safe-conduct of Ithobal who gave me leave to visit +you, doubtless for some ends of his own. Have you heard, Prince, that +he holds the gates of the city, though as yet no harm has been done to +it, and that its inhabitants are crowded within the temple, and upon +the heights above; also that in his despair Sakon has fallen on his +sword and slain himself?” + +“Is it so?” answered Aziel. “Well, Issachar foretold as much. On their +own heads be the doom of these devil-worshippers and cowards. Have you +any tidings of the lady Elissa?” + +“Yes, Prince. She still sits yonder in the tomb, resolute in her +purpose, and giving no answer to those who come to reason with her.” + +As he spoke the guard let fall the front of the tent so that the +sunlight flowed into it, revealing Aziel and his twelve companions, +each fast in his narrow and shameful prison. “See,” said Metem, “do you +know the place?” + +The prince struggled to his knees, and saw that they were set upon the +top of a hill, built up of granite boulders, which rose eighty feet or +more from the surface of the plain. Opposite to them at a distance of +under a hundred paces was a precipice in the face of which could be +seen a cave closed with barred gates of bronze, while between the rocky +hill and the precipice ran a road. + +“I know it, Metem; there runs the path by which we travelled from the +coast, and there is the tomb of Baaltis. Why have we been brought +here?” + +“The lady Elissa sits behind the bars of yonder tomb whence her view of +all that happens upon this mount must be very good indeed,” answered +Metem with meaning. “Now, can you guess why you were brought here, +prince Aziel.” + +“Is it that she may witness our sufferings under torment?” he asked. + +Metem nodded. + +“How will they deal with us, Metem?” + +“Wait and see,” he answered sadly. + +As he spoke Ithobal himself appeared followed by certain evil-looking +savages. Having greeted Metem courteously he turned to the Hebrew +soldiers in the cages and asked them which of their number was most +prepared to die. + +“I, Ithobal, who am their leader,” said Aziel. + +“No, Prince,” replied Ithobal with a cruel smile, “your time is not +yet. Look, there is a man who has been wounded; to put him out of his +pain will be a kindness. Slaves, bear that Jew to the edge of the rock, +and—as the prince will wish to study a new mode of death—bring his cage +also.” + +The order was obeyed, Aziel being set down upon the very verge of the +cliff. Close to him a spur of granite jutted out twenty feet or so from +the edge. At the end of the spur a groove was cut and over this groove, +suspended by a thin chain from a pole, hung a wedge of pure crystal +carefully shaped and polished. While Aziel wondered what evil purpose +this stone might serve, the slaves had fastened a fine rope to the cage +containing the wounded Hebrew soldier and secured its end. Then they +set the rope in the groove of the granite spur, and pushed the cage +over the edge of the cliff, so that it dangled in mid-air. + +“Now I will explain,” said Ithobal. “This is a method of punishment +that I have borrowed from those followers of Baal who worship the sun, +by means of which Baal claims his own sacrifice, and none are guilty of +the victim’s blood. You see yonder crystal—well, at any appointed hour, +for it can be hung as you will, the rays of the sun shining through it +cause the fibres of the grass rope to smoke and smoulder till at length +they part and—Baal takes his sacrifice. Should a cloud hide the sun at +the appointed hour, then, Baal having spared him, the victim is set +free. But, as you will note, at this season of the year there are no +clouds. + +“What, Prince, have you nothing to say?” he went on, for Aziel had +listened in silence to the tale of this devilish device. “Well, learn +that it depends upon the lady Elissa yonder whether or not this fate +shall be yours. Send now and pray her to save you. Think what it will +be to hang as at this moment your servant hangs over that yawning gulf +of space, waiting through the long hours till at last you see the +little wreaths of smoke begin to curl from the tinder of the cord. Why! +before the end found them I have known men go mad, and, like wolves, +tear with their teeth at the wooden bars. + +“You will not. Then, Metem, do you plead for your friend. Bid the +Baaltis look forth at one hour before noon and see the sight of yonder +wretch’s death, remembering that to-morrow this fate shall be her +lover’s unless she foregoes her purpose of self-murder and gives +herself to me. Nay, no words! an escort shall lead you through the +lower city to the gateway of the tomb and there listen to your speech. +See that it does not fail you, merchant, unless you also seek to hang +in yonder cage. Tell the lady Elissa that to-morrow at sunrise I will +come in person for her answer. If she yields, then the prince and his +companions shall be set free and with you, Metem, to guide them, be +mounted on swift camels to carry them unharmed to their retinue beyond +the mountains. But if she will not yield, then—Baal shall take his +sacrifice. Begone.” + +So, having no choice, Metem bowed and went, leaving the caged Aziel +upon the edge of the cliff, and the Hebrew soldier hanging from the +spur of rock. + +Now Aziel roused himself from the horror in which his soul was sunk, +and strove to comfort his doomed comrade, praying with him to Heaven. + +Slowly as they prayed, the hours drew on till at length, upon the +opposite cliff, he saw men whom he knew to be Metem and his escort, +approach the mouth of the tomb, and faintly heard him call through the +bars of the gateway. Turning himself in his cage, Aziel glanced at the +rope, and watched the spot of light born from the burning glass of the +crystal creep to its side. + +Now the fatal moment was at hand, and Aziel saw a little wreath of +smoke rise in the still air and bade his wretched servant close his +eyes. Then came the end. Suddenly the taut rope, eaten through by the +sun’s fire, flew back and the cage with the soldier in it vanished from +his sight, while, from far below, rose the sound of a heavy fall, and +from the tomb of Baaltis rang the echo of a woman’s shriek. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII +“THERE IS HOPE” + + +It was dawn. Ithobal the king stood without the gates of the tomb of +Baaltis, the grey light glimmering faintly on his harness, and knocked +upon the brazen bars with the handle of his sword. + +“Who troubles me now?” said a voice within. + +“Lady, it is I, Ithobal, who, as I promised by Metem the Phœnician, am +come to learn your will as to the fate of my prisoner, the Prince +Aziel. Already he hangs above the gulf, and within one short hour, if +you so decree it, he will fall and be dashed to pieces. Or, if you so +decree it, he will be set free to return to his own land.” + +“At what price will he be set free, king Ithobal?” + +“Lady, you know the price; it is yourself. Oh! I beseech you, be wise! +spare his life and your own. Listen: spare his life, and I will spare +this city which lies in the hollow of my hand, and you shall rule it +with me.” + +“You cannot bribe me thus, king Ithobal. My father whom I loved is +dead, and shall I give myself to you for the sake of a city and a Faith +that would have betrayed me into your hands?” + +“Nay, but for the sake of the man to whom you are dear, you shall do +even this, Elissa. Think: if you refuse, his blood will be upon your +head, and what will you have gained?” + +“Death, which I seek, for I weary of the struggle of my days.” + +“Then end it in my arms, lady. Soon this fancy will escape your mind, +and you will remain one of the mightiest queens of men.” + +Elissa returned no answer, and for a while there was silence. + +“Lady,” said Ithobal at length, “the sun rises and my servants yonder +await a signal.” + +Then she spoke like one who hesitates. + +“Are you not afraid, king Ithobal, to trust your life to a woman won in +such a fashion?” + +“Nay,” answered Ithobal, “for though you say that their fate does not +concern you, the lives of all those penned-up thousands are hostages +for my own. Should you by chance find a means to stab me unawares, then +to-night fire and sword would rage through the city of Zimboe. Nor do I +fear the future, since I know well that you who think you hate me now, +very soon will learn to love me.” + +“You promise, king Ithobal, that if I yield myself you will set the +prince Aziel free; but how can I believe you who twice have tried to +murder him?” + +“Doubt me if you will, Elissa, at least, you cannot doubt your own +eyes. Look, his road to the sea runs beneath this rock. Come from the +tomb and take your stand upon it and you shall see him pass; yes, and +should you wish, speak with him in farewell that you may be sure that +it is he and alive. Further, I swear to you by my head and honour, that +no finger shall be laid upon you till he is gone by, and that no +pursuit of him shall be attempted. Now choose.” + +Again there was silence for a while. Then Elissa spoke in a broken +voice. + +“King Ithobal, I have chosen. Trusting to your royal word I will stand +upon the rock and when I have seen the prince Aziel go by in safety, +then, since you desire it, you shall put your arms about me and bear me +whither you will. You have conquered me, king Ithobal! Henceforward +these lips of mine are yours and no other man’s. Give the signal, I +pray you, and I will cast aside the dagger and the poison and come out +living from this tomb.” + +Aziel hung in his cage over the abyss of air, awaiting death, and glad +to die, because now he was sure that Elissa had refused to purchase his +life at the expense of her own surrender. There he hung, dizzy and sick +at heart, making his prayer to heaven and waiting the end, while the +eagles that would prey upon his shattered flesh swept past him. + +Presently, from the opposing cliff, came the sound of a horn blown +thrice. Then, while Aziel wondered what this might mean, the cage in +which he lay was drawn in gently over the edge of the precipice, and +carried down the steeps of the granite hill as it had been carried up +them. + +At the foot of the hill its covering was torn aside, and he saw before +him a caravan of camels, and seated on each camel a comrade of his own. +But one camel had no rider, and Metem led it by a rope. + +The servants of Ithobal took him from the cage and set him upon this +camel, though they did not loosen the bonds about the wrists. + +“This is the command of the king,” said the captain to Metem “that the +arms of the prince Aziel shall remain bound until you have travelled +for six hours. Begone in safety, fearing nothing.” + + +“What happens now, Metem,” asked Aziel, as the camels strode forward, +“and why am I set free who was expecting death? Is this some new +artifice of yours, or has the lady Elissa——” and he ceased. + +“Upon the word of an honest merchant I cannot tell you, Prince. +Yesterday, as I was forced, I gave the message of king Ithobal to the +lady Elissa yonder in the tomb. She would answer me only one thing, +which she whispered in my ear through the bars of the holy tomb; that +if we could escape we should do so, moreover that you must have no fear +for her since she also had found a means of escape from Ithobal, and +would certainly join us upon the road.” + +As Metem spoke, the camels passed round the little hill on to the path +that ran beneath the tomb of Baaltis. There, standing upon the rock +some fifty feet above them, was Elissa, and with her, but at a +distance, Ithobal the king. + +“Halt, prince Aziel,” she called in a clear voice, “and hearken to my +farewell. I have bought your life, and the lives of your companions, +and you are free, for the road is clear and nothing can overtake the +twelve swiftest camels in Zimboe. Go, therefore, and be happy, +forgetting no word that has passed my lips. For all my words are true, +even to a certain promise which I made you lately by the mouth of +Metem, and which I now fulfil—that I would join you on your road lest +you should deem me faithless to the troth which I have so often sworn +to you. + +“King Ithobal, this shape is yours; come now and take your prize. +Prince Aziel, my soul is yours, in life it shall companion you, and in +death await you. Prince Aziel, I come to you.” Then, before he could +answer a single word, with one swift and sudden spring she hurled +herself from the cliff edge to fall crushed upon the road beneath. + +Aziel saw. In his agony he strained so fiercely at the bonds which held +him that they burst like rushes. He leapt from the camel and knelt +beside Elissa. She was not yet dead, for her eyes were open and her +lips stirred. + +“I have kept faith, keep it also, Aziel! the story is not yet done,” +she gasped. Then her life flickered out, and her spirit passed. + +Aziel rose from beside the corpse and looked upward. There upon the +edge of the rock above him, leaning forward, his eyes blind with +horror, stood Ithobal the king. Aziel saw him, and a fury entered into +his heart because this man, whose jealous rage and evil doing had bred +such woe and caused the death of his beloved still lived upon the +earth. By the prince was Metem, who, for once, had no words, and from +his hand he snatched a bow, set an arrow on the string and loosed. + +The shaft rushed upwards, it smote Ithobal between the joints of his +harness so that the point of it sunk through his neck. + +“This gift, king Ithobal, from Aziel the Israelite,” he cried, as the +arrow sped. + +For a moment the great man stood still, then he opened his arms wide +and of a sudden plunged downward, falling with a crash on the roadway, +where he lay dead at the side of dead Elissa. + + +“The play is played, and the fate fulfilled,” cried Metem. “See, the +servants of the king speed yonder with their evil tidings; let us away +lest we bide here with these two for ever.” + +“That is my desire,” said Aziel. + +“A desire which may not be fulfilled,” answered Metem. “Come, Prince, +since we cannot go without you. Surely you do not wish to sacrifice the +lives of all of us as an offering to the great spirit of the lady who +is dead. It is one that she would not seek.” + +Then Aziel knelt down and kissed the brow of the dead Elissa, and went +his way, saying no word. + + +That night, when the darkness fell, the sky behind these travellers +grew red with fire. + +“Behold the end of the golden city!” said Metem. “Zimboe is food for +flames and its children for the sword. Issachar was a prophet indeed, +who foretold that it should be so.” + +Aziel bowed his head, remembering that Issachar had foretold also that +for Elissa and for him there was hope beyond the grave. As he thought +it, a wind beat upon his brow and through it a soft voice seemed to +murmur to his heart:— + +“Be of good courage: Beloved, _there is hope_.” + + +So, turning from the death behind him, this far away forgotten lover +set his face to the sea of Life and passed it, and long ago, at his +appointed hour, gained its further shore, to be welcomed there by her +who watched for him. + +And thus, because of the fateful and predestined loves of Aziel the +prince, and Elissa the priestess and daughter of Sakon, three thousand +years and more ago, the ancient city of Zimboe fell at the hand of king +Ithobal and his Tribes, so that to-day there remain of it nothing but a +desolate grey tower of stone, and beneath, the crumbling bones of men. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ELISSA *** + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the +United States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part +of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, +and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following +the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use +of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for +copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very +easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation +of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project +Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away--you may +do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected +by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark +license, especially commercial redistribution. + +START: FULL LICENSE + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full +Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at +www.gutenberg.org/license. + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or +destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your +possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a +Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound +by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the +person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph +1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this +agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the +Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection +of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual +works in the collection are in the public domain in the United +States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the +United States and you are located in the United States, we do not +claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, +displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as +all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope +that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting +free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm +works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the +Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily +comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the +same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when +you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are +in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, +check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this +agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, +distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any +other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no +representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any +country other than the United States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other +immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear +prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work +on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, +performed, viewed, copied or distributed: + + This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and + most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no + restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it + under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this + eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the + United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where + you are located before using this eBook. + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is +derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not +contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the +copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in +the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are +redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply +either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or +obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm +trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any +additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms +will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works +posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the +beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including +any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access +to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format +other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official +version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm website +(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense +to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means +of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain +Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the +full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +provided that: + +* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed + to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has + agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid + within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are + legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty + payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in + Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg + Literary Archive Foundation." + +* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all + copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue + all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm + works. + +* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of + any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of + receipt of the work. + +* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than +are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing +from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of +the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the Foundation as set +forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project +Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may +contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate +or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or +other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or +cannot be read by your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium +with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you +with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in +lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person +or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second +opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If +the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing +without further opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO +OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of +damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement +violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the +agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or +limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or +unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the +remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in +accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the +production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, +including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of +the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this +or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or +additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any +Defect you cause. + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of +computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It +exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations +from people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future +generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see +Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at +www.gutenberg.org + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by +U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, +Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up +to date contact information can be found at the Foundation's website +and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without +widespread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND +DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular +state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To +donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project +Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be +freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and +distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of +volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in +the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not +necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper +edition. + +Most people start at our website which has the main PG search +facility: www.gutenberg.org + +This website includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + + diff --git a/2855-0.zip b/2855-0.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ca69f95 --- /dev/null +++ b/2855-0.zip diff --git a/2855-h.zip b/2855-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..39d6fa6 --- /dev/null +++ b/2855-h.zip diff --git a/2855-h/2855-h.htm b/2855-h/2855-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2ff05ee --- /dev/null +++ b/2855-h/2855-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,8397 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" +"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Elissa, by H. Rider Haggard</title> + +<style type="text/css"> + +body { margin-left: 20%; + margin-right: 20%; + text-align: justify; } + +h1, h2, h3, h4, h5 {text-align: center; font-style: normal; font-weight: +normal; line-height: 1.5; margin-top: .5em; margin-bottom: .5em;} + +h1 {font-size: 300%; + margin-top: 0.6em; + margin-bottom: 0.6em; + letter-spacing: 0.12em; + word-spacing: 0.2em; + text-indent: 0em;} +h2 {font-size: 150%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} +h3 {font-size: 130%; margin-top: 1em;} +h4 {font-size: 120%;} +h5 {font-size: 110%;} + +.no-break {page-break-before: avoid;} /* for epubs */ + +div.chapter {page-break-before: always; margin-top: 4em;} + +hr {width: 80%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;} + +p {text-indent: 1em; + margin-top: 0.25em; + margin-bottom: 0.25em; } + +p.letter {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +p.center {text-align: center; + text-indent: 0em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.right {text-align: right; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.footnote {font-size: 90%; + text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +a:link {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:visited {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:hover {color:red} + +</style> + +</head> + +<body> + +<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Elissa, by H. Rider Haggard</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online +at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you +are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the +country where you are located before using this eBook. +</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Elissa</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: H. Rider Haggard</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: October, 2001 [eBook #2855]<br /> +[Most recently updated: May 28, 2021]</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: John Bickers, Dagny and David Widger</div> +<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ELISSA ***</div> + +<h1>Elissa</h1> + +<h3>OR THE DOOM OF ZIMBABWE </h3> + +<h2 class="no-break">by H. Rider Haggard</h2> + +<hr /> + +<h2>Contents</h2> + +<table summary="" style=""> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#pref01">DEDICATION</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#pref02">AUTHOR’S NOTE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#pref03">NOTE</a><br /><br /></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap01">CHAPTER I. THE CARAVAN</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap02">CHAPTER II. THE GROVE OF BAALTIS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap03">CHAPTER III. ITHOBAL THE KING</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap04">CHAPTER IV. THE DREAM OF ISSACHAR</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap05">CHAPTER V. THE PLACE OF SACRIFICE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap06">CHAPTER VI. THE HALL OF AUDIENCE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap07">CHAPTER VII. THE BLACK DWARF</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap08">CHAPTER VIII. AZIEL PLIGHTS HIS TROTH</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap09">CHAPTER IX. GREETING TO THE BAALTIS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap10">CHAPTER X. THE EMBASSY</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap11">CHAPTER XI. METEM SELLS IMAGES</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap12">CHAPTER XII. THE TRYST</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap13">CHAPTER XIII. THE SACRILEGE OF AZIEL</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap14">CHAPTER XIV. THE MARTYRDOM OF ISSACHAR</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap15">CHAPTER XV. ELISSA TAKES SANCTUARY</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap16">CHAPTER XVI. THE CAGE OF DEATH</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap17">CHAPTER XVII. “THERE IS HOPE”</a></td> +</tr> + + +</table> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="pref01"></a>DEDICATION</h2> + +<p class="center"> +To the Memory of the Child<br /> +Nada Burnham, +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +who “bound all to her” and, while her father cut his way through +the hordes of the Ingobo Regiment, perished of the hardships of war at Buluwao +on 19th May, 1896, I dedicate these tales—and more particularly the last, +that of a Faith which triumphed over savagery and death. +</p> + +<p class="right"> +H. Rider Haggard. +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +Ditchingham. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="pref02"></a> +AUTHOR’S NOTE</h2> + +<p> +Of the three stories that comprise this volume[*], one, “The +Wizard,” a tale of victorious faith, first appeared some years ago as a +Christmas Annual. Another, “Elissa,” is an attempt, difficult +enough owing to the scantiness of the material left to us by time, to recreate +the life of the ancient Phœnician Zimbabwe, whose ruins still stand in +Rhodesia, and, with the addition of the necessary love story, to suggest +circumstances such as might have brought about or accompanied its fall at the +hands of the surrounding savage tribes. The third, “Black Heart and White +Heart,” is a story of the courtship, trials and final union of a pair of +Zulu lovers in the time of King Cetywayo. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +[*] This text was prepared from a volume published in 1900 titled “Black +Heart and White Heart, and Other Stories.”— JB. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="pref03"></a> +NOTE</h2> + +<p> +The world is full of ruins, but few of them have an origin so utterly lost in +mystery as those of Zimbabwe in South Central Africa. Who built them? What +purpose did they serve? These are questions that must have perplexed many +generations, and many different races of men. +</p> + +<p> +The researches of Mr. Wilmot prove to us indeed that in the Middle Ages +Zimbabwe or Zimboe was the seat of a barbarous empire, whose ruler was named +the Emperor of Monomotapa, also that for some years the Jesuits ministered in a +Christian church built beneath the shadow of its ancient towers. But of the +original purpose of those towers, and of the race that reared them, the +inhabitants of mediæval Monomotapa, it is probable, knew less even than we know +to-day. The labours and skilled observation of the late Mr. Theodore Bent, +whose death is so great a loss to all interested in such matters, have shown +almost beyond question that Zimbabwe was once an inland Phœnician city, or at +the least a city whose inhabitants were of a race which practised Phœnician +customs and worshipped the Phœnician deities. Beyond this all is conjecture. +How it happened that a trading town, protected by vast fortifications and +adorned with temples dedicated to the worship of the gods of the +Sidonians—or rather trading towns, for Zimbabwe is only one of a group of +ruins—were built by civilised men in the heart of Africa perhaps we shall +never learn with certainty, though the discovery of the burying-places of their +inhabitants might throw some light upon the problem. +</p> + +<p> +But if actual proof is lacking, it is scarcely to be doubted—for the +numerous old workings in Rhodesia tell their own tale—that it was the +presence of payable gold reefs worked by slave labour which tempted the +Phœnician merchants and chapmen, contrary to their custom, to travel so far +from the sea and establish themselves inland. Perhaps the city Zimboe was the +Ophir spoken of in the first Book of Kings. At least, it is almost certain that +its principal industries were the smelting and the sale of gold, also it seems +probable that expeditions travelling by sea and land would have occupied quite +three years of time in reaching it from Jerusalem and returning thither laden +with the gold and precious stones, the ivory and the almug trees (1 Kings x.). +Journeying in Africa must have been slow in those days; that it was also +dangerous is testified by the ruins of the ancient forts built to protect the +route between the gold towns and the sea. +</p> + +<p> +However these things may be, there remains ample room for speculation both as +to the dim beginnings of the ancient city and its still dimmer end, whereof we +can guess only, when it became weakened by luxury and the mixture of races, +that hordes of invading savages stamped it out of existence beneath their +blood-stained feet, as, in after ages, they stamped out the Empire of +Monomotapa. In the following romantic sketch the writer has ventured—no +easy task—to suggest incidents such as might have accompanied this first +extinction of the Phœnician Zimbabwe. The pursuit indeed is one in which he +can only hope to fill the place of a humble pioneer, since it is certain that +in times to come the dead fortress-temples of South Africa will occupy the pens +of many generations of the writers of romance who, as he hopes, may have more +ascertained facts to build upon than are available to-day. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>ELISSA</h2> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap01"></a>CHAPTER I<br /> +THE CARAVAN</h2> + +<p> +The sun, which shone upon a day that was gathered to the past some three +thousand years ago, was setting in full glory over the expanses of +south-eastern Africa—the Libya of the ancients. Its last burning rays +fell upon a cavalcade of weary men, who, together with long strings of camels, +asses and oxen, after much toil had struggled to the crest of a line of stony +hills, where they were halted to recover breath. Before them lay a plain, +clothed with sere yellow grass—for the season was winter—and +bounded by mountains of no great height, upon whose slopes stood the city which +they had travelled far to seek. It was the ancient city of Zimboe, whereof the +lonely ruins are known to us moderns as Zimbabwe. +</p> + +<p> +At the sight of its flat-roofed houses of sun-dried brick, set upon the side of +the opposing hill, and dominated by a huge circular building of dark stone, the +caravan raised a great shout of joy. It shouted in several tongues, in the +tongues of Phœnicia, of Egypt, of the Hebrews, of Arabia, and of the coasts of +Africa, for all these peoples were represented amongst its numbers. Well might +the wanderers cry out in their delight, seeing that at length, after eight +months of perilous travelling from the coast, they beheld the walls of their +city of rest, of the golden Ophir of the Bible. Their company had started from +the eastern port, numbering fifteen hundred men, besides women and children, +and of those not more than half were left alive. Once a savage tribe had +ambushed them, killing many. Once the pestilential fever of the low lands had +taken them so that they died of it by scores. Twice also had they suffered +heavily through hunger and thirst, to say nothing of their losses by the fangs +of lions, crocodiles, and other wild beasts which with the country swarmed. Now +their toils were over; and for six months, or perhaps a year, they might rest +and trade in the Great City, enjoying its wealth, its flesh-pots, and the +unholy orgies which, among people of the Phœnician race, were dignified by the +name of the worship of the gods of heaven. +</p> + +<p> +Soon the clamour died away, and although no command was given, the caravan +started on at speed. All weariness faded from the faces of the wayworn +travellers, even the very camels and asses, shrunk, as most of them were, to +mere skeletons, seemed to understand that labour and blows were done with, and +forgetting their loads, shambled unurged down the stony path. One man lingered, +however. Clearly he was a person of rank, for eight or ten attendants +surrounded him. +</p> + +<p> +“Go,” said he, “I wish to be alone, and will follow +presently.” So they bowed to the earth, and went. +</p> + +<p> +The man was young, perhaps six or eight and twenty years of age. His dark skin, +burnt almost to blackness by the heat of the sun, together with the fashion of +his short, square-cut beard and of his garments, proclaimed him of Jewish or +Egyptian blood, while the gold collar about his neck and the gold graven ring +upon his hand showed that his rank was high. Indeed this wanderer was none +other than the prince Aziel, nick-named the Ever-living, because of a curious +mole upon his shoulder bearing a resemblance to the <i>crux ansata</i>, the +symbol of life eternal among the Egyptians. By blood he was a grandson of +Solomon, the mighty king of Israel, and born of a royal mother, a princess of +Egypt. +</p> + +<p> +In stature Aziel was tall, but somewhat slimly made, having small bones. His +face was oval in shape, the features, especially the mouth, being fine and +sensitive; the eyes were large, dark, and full of thought—the eyes of a +man with a destiny. For the most part, indeed, they were sombre and over-full +of thought, but at times they could light up with a strange fire. +</p> + +<p> +Aziel the prince placed his hand against his forehead in such fashion as to +shade his face from the rays of the setting sun, and from beneath its shadow +gazed long and earnestly at the city of the hill. +</p> + +<p> +“At length I behold thee, thanks be to God,” he murmured, for he +was a worshipper of Jehovah, and not of his mother’s deities, “and +it is time, since, to speak the truth, I am weary of this travelling. Now what +fortune shall I find within thy walls, O City of Gold and devil-servers?” +</p> + +<p> +“Who can tell?” said a quiet voice at his elbow. “Perhaps, +Prince, you will find a wife, or a throne, or—a grave.” +</p> + +<p> +Aziel started, and turned to see a man standing at his side, clothed in robes +that had been rich, but were now torn and stained with travel, and wearing on +his head a black cap in shape not unlike the fez that is common in the East +to-day. The man was past middle age, having a grizzled beard, sharp, hard +features and quick eyes, which withal were not unkindly. He was a Phœnician +merchant, much trusted by Hiram, the King of Tyre, who had made him captain of +the merchandise of this expedition. +</p> + +<p> +“Ah! is it you, Metem?” said Aziel. “Why do you leave your +charge to return to me?” +</p> + +<p> +“That I may guard a more precious charge—yourself, Prince,” +replied the merchant courteously. “Having brought the child of Israel so +far in safety, I desire to hand him safely to the governor of yonder city. Your +servants told me that by your command they had left you alone, so I returned to +bear you company, for after nightfall robbers and savages wander without these +walls.” +</p> + +<p> +“I thank you for your care, Metem, though I think there is little danger, +and at the worst I can defend myself.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do not thank me, Prince; I am a merchant, and now, as in the past, I +protect you, knowing that for it I shall be paid. The governor will give me a +rich reward when I lead you to him safely, and when in years to come I return +with you still safe to the court of Jerusalem, then the great king will fill my +ship’s hold with gifts.” +</p> + +<p> +“That depends, Metem,” replied the prince. “If my grandfather +still reigns it may be so, but he is very old, and if my uncle wears his crown, +then I am not sure. Truly you Phœnicians love money. Would you, then, sell me +for gold also, Metem?” +</p> + +<p> +“I said not so, Prince, though even friendship has its +price——” +</p> + +<p> +“Among your people, Metem?” +</p> + +<p> +“Among all people, Prince. You reproach us with loving money; well, we +do, since money gives everything for which men strive—honour, and place, +and comfort, and the friendship of kings.” +</p> + +<p> +“It cannot give you love, Metem.” +</p> + +<p> +The Phœnician laughed contemptuously. “Love! with gold I will buy as +much of it as I need. Are there no slaves upon the market, and no free women +who desire ornaments and ease and the purple of Tyre? You are young, Prince, to +say that gold cannot buy us love.” +</p> + +<p> +“And you, Metem, who are growing old, do not understand what I mean by +love, nor will I stay to explain it to you, for were my words as wise as +Solomon’s, still you would not understand. At the least your money cannot +bring you the blessing of Heaven, nor the welfare of your spirit in the eternal +life that is to come.” +</p> + +<p> +“The welfare of my spirit, Prince? No, it cannot, since I do not believe +that I have a spirit. When I die, I die, and there is an end. But the blessing +of Heaven, ah! that can be bought, as I have proved once and again, if not with +gold, then otherwise. Did I not in bygone years pass the first son of my +manhood through the fire to Baal-Sidon? Nay, shrink not from me; it cost me +dear, but my fortune was at stake, and better that the boy should die than that +all of us should live on in penury and bonds. Know you not, Prince, that the +gods must have the gifts of the best, gifts of blood and virtue, or they will +curse us and torment us?” +</p> + +<p> +“I do not know it, Metem, for such gods are no gods, but devils, children +of Beelzebub, who has no power over the righteous. Truly I would have none of +your two gods, Phœnician; upon earth the god of gold, and in heaven the devil +of slaughter.” +</p> + +<p> +“Speak no ill of him, Prince,” answered Metem solemnly, “for +here you are not in the courts of Jehovah, but in his land, and he may chance +to prove his power on you. For the rest, I had sooner follow after gold than +the folly of a drunken spirit which you name Love, seeing that it works its +votary less mischief. Say now, it was a woman and her love that drove you +hither to this wild land, was it not, Prince? Well, be careful lest a woman and +her love should keep you here.” +</p> + +<p> +“The sun sets,” said Aziel coldly; “let us go forward.” +</p> + +<p> +With a bow and a murmured salute, for his quick courtier instinct told him that +he had spoken too freely, Metem took the bridle of the prince’s mule, +holding the stirrup while he mounted. Then he turned to seek his own, but the +animal had wandered, and a full half hour went by before it could be captured. +</p> + +<p> +By now the sun had set, and as there is little or no twilight in Southern +Africa it became difficult for the two travellers to find their way down the +rough hill path. Still they stumbled on, till presently the long dead grass +brushing against their knees told them that they had lost the road, although +they knew that they were riding in the right direction, for the watch-fires +burning on the city walls were a guide to them. Soon, however, they lost sight +of these fires, the boughs of a grove of thickly-leaved trees hiding them from +view, and in trying to push their way through the wood Metem’s mule +stumbled against a root and fell. +</p> + +<p> +“Now there is but one thing to be done,” said the Phœnician, as he +dragged the animal from the ground, “and it is to stay here till the moon +rises, which should be within an hour. It would have been wiser, Prince, if we +had waited to discuss love and the gods till we were safe within the walls of +the city, for the end of it is that we have fallen into the hands of king +Darkness, and he is the father of many evil things.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is so, Metem,” answered the prince, “and I am to blame. +Let us bide here in patience, since we must.” +</p> + +<p> +So, holding their mules by the bridles, they sat down upon the ground and +waited in silence, for each of them was lost in his own thoughts. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap02"></a>CHAPTER II<br /> +THE GROVE OF BAALTIS</h2> + +<p> +At length, as the two men sat thus silently, for the place and its gloom +oppressed them, a sound broke upon the quiet of the night, that beginning with +a low wail such as might come from the lips of a mourner, ended in a chant or +song. The voice, which seemed close at hand, was low, rich and passionate. At +times it sank almost to a sob, and at times, taking a higher note, it thrilled +upon the air in tones that would have been shrill were they not so sweet. +</p> + +<p> +“Who is it that sings?” said Aziel to Metem. +</p> + +<p> +“Be silent, I pray you,” whispered the other in his ear; “we +have wandered into one of the sacred groves of Baaltis, which it is death for +men to enter save at the appointed festivals, and a priestess of the grove +chants her prayer to the goddess.” +</p> + +<p> +“We did not come of our own will, so doubtless we shall be +forgiven,” answered Aziel indifferently; “but that song moves me. +Tell me the words of it, which I can scarcely follow, for her accent is strange +to me.” +</p> + +<p> +“Prince, they seem to be holy words to which I have little right to +hearken. The priestess sings an ancient hallowed chant of life and death, and +she prays that the goddess may touch her soul with the wing of fire and make +her great and give her vision of things that have been and that shall be. More +I dare not tell you now; indeed I can barely hear, and the song is hard to +understand. Crouch down, for the moon rises, and pray that the mules may not +stir. Presently she will go, and we can fly the holy place.” +</p> + +<p> +The Israelite obeyed and waited, searching the darkness with eager eyes. +</p> + +<p> +Now the edge of the great moon appeared upon the horizon, and by degrees her +white rays of light revealed a strange scene to the watchers. About an open +space of ground, some eighty paces in diameter, grew seven huge and ancient +baobab trees, so ancient indeed that they must have been planted by the +primæval hand of nature rather than by that of man. Aziel and his companion +were hidden with their mules behind the trunk of one of these trees, and +looking round it they perceived that the open space beyond the shadow of the +branches was not empty. In the centre of this space stood an altar, and by it +was placed the rude figure of a divinity carved in wood and painted. On the +head of this figure rose a crescent symbolical of the moon, and round its neck +hung a chain of wooden stars. It had four wings but no hands, and of these +wings two were out-spread and two clasped a shapeless object to its breast, +intended, apparently, to represent a child. By these symbols Aziel knew that +before him was an effigy sacred to the goddess of the Phœnicians, who in +different countries passed by the various names of Astarte, or Ashtoreth, or +Baaltis, and who in their coarse worship was at once the personification of the +moon and the emblem of fertility. +</p> + +<p> +Standing before this rude fetish, between it and the altar, whereon lay some +flowers, and in such fashion that the moonlight struck full upon her, was a +white-robed woman. She was young and very beautiful both in shape and feature, +and though her black hair streaming almost to the knees took from her height, +she still seemed tall. Her rounded arms were outstretched; her sweet and +passionate face was upturned towards the sky, and even at that distance the +watchers could see her deep eyes shining in the moonlight. The sacred song of +the priestess was finished. Now she was praying aloud, slowly, and in a clear +voice, so that Aziel could hear and understand her; praying from her very +heart, not to the idol before her, however, but to the moon above. +</p> + +<p> +“O Queen of Heaven,” she said, “thou whose throne I see but +whose face I cannot see, hear the prayer of thy priestess, and protect me from +the fate I fear, and rid me of him I hate. Safe let me dwell and pure, and as +thou fillest the night with light, so fill the darkness of my soul with the +wisdom that I crave. O whisper into my ears and let me hear the voice of +heaven, teaching me that which I would know. Read me the riddle of my life, and +let me learn wherefore I am not as my sisters are; why feasts and offerings +delight me not; why I thirst for knowledge and not for wealth, and why I crave +such love as here I cannot win. Satisfy my being with thy immortal lore and a +love that does not fail or die, and if thou wilt, then take my life in payment. +Speak to me from the heaven above, O Baaltis, or show me some sign upon the +earth beneath; fill up the vessel of my thirsty soul and satisfy the hunger of +my spirit. Oh! thou that art the goddess, thou that hast the gift of power, +give me, thy servant, of thy power, of thy godhead, and of thy peace. Hear me, +O Heaven-born, hear me, Elissa, the daughter of Sakon, the dedicate of thee. +Hear, hear, and answer now in the secret holy hour, answer by voice, by wonder, +or by symbol.” +</p> + +<p> +The woman paused as though exhausted with the passion of her prayer, hiding her +face in her hands, and as she stood thus silent and expectant, the sign came, +or at least that chanced which for a while she believed to have been an answer +to her invocation. Her face was hidden, so she could not see, and fascinated by +her beauty as it appeared to them in that unhallowed spot, and by the depth and +dignity of her wild prayer, the two watchers had eyes for her alone. Therefore +it happened that not until his arm was about to drag her away, did either of +them perceive a huge man, black as ebony in colour, clad in a cloak of leopard +skins and carrying in his right hand a broad-bladed spear who, following the +shadow of the trees, had crept upon the priestess from the farther side of the +glade. +</p> + +<p> +With a guttural exclamation of triumph he gripped her in his left arm, and, +despite her struggles and her shrill cry for help, began half to drag and half +to carry her towards the deep shade of the baobab grove. Instantly Aziel and +Metem sprang up and rushed forward, drawing their bronze swords as they ran. As +it chanced, however, the Israelite caught his foot in one of the numerous +tree-roots, which stood above the surface of the ground and fell heavily upon +his face. In a few seconds, twenty perhaps, he found his breath and feet again, +to see that Metem had come up with the black giant who, hearing his approach, +suddenly wheeled round to meet him, still holding the struggling priestess in +his grasp. Now the Phœnician was so close upon him that the savage could find +no time to shift the grip upon his spear, but drove at him with the knobbed end +of its handle, striking him full upon the forehead and felling him as a butcher +fells an ox. Then once more he turned to fly with his captive, but before he +had covered ten yards the sound of Aziel’s approaching footsteps caused +him to wheel round again. +</p> + +<p> +At sight of the Israelite advancing upon him with drawn sword, the great +barbarian freed himself from the burden of the girl by throwing her heavily to +the ground, where she lay, for the breath was shaken out of her. Then snatching +the cloak from his throat he wound it over his left arm to serve as a shield, +and with a savage yell, rushed straight at Aziel, purposing to transfix him +with the broad-headed spear. +</p> + +<p> +Well was it for the prince that he had been trained in sword-play from his +youth, also, notwithstanding his slight build, that he was strong and active as +a leopard. To await the onslaught would be to die, for the spear must pierce +him before ever he could reach the attacker’s body with his short sword. +Therefore, as the weapon flashed upward he sprang aside, avoiding it, at the +same time, with one swift sweep of his sword, slashing its holder across the +back as he passed him. +</p> + +<p> +With a howl of pain and rage the savage sprang round and charged him a second +time. Again Aziel leapt to one side, but now he struck with all his force at +the spear shaft which his assailant lifted to guard his head. So strong was the +blow and so sharp the heavy sword, that it shore through the wood, severing the +handle from the spear, which fell to the ground. Casting away the useless +shaft, the warrior drew a long knife from his girdle, and before Aziel could +strike again faced him for the third time. But he no longer rushed onward like +a bull, for he had learnt caution; he stood still, holding the skin cloak +before him shield fashion, and peering at his adversary from over its edge. +</p> + +<p> +Now it was Aziel’s turn to take the offensive, and slowly he circled +round the huge barbarian, watching his opportunity. At length it came. In +answer to a feint of his the protecting cloak was dropped a little, enabling +him to prick its bearer in the neck, but only with the point of his sword. The +thrust delivered, he leapt back, and not too soon, for forgetting his caution +in his fury, the savage charged straight at him with a roar like that of a +lion. So swift and terrible was his onset that Aziel, having no time to spring +aside, did the only thing possible. Gripping the ground with his feet, he bent +his body forward, and with outstretched arm and sword, braced up his muscles to +receive the charge. Another instant, and the leopard skin cloak fluttered +before him. With a quick movement of his left arm he swept it aside; then there +came a sudden pressure upon his sword ending in a jarring shock, a flash of +steel above his head, and down he went to the ground beneath the weight of the +black giant. +</p> + +<p> +“Now there is an end,” he thought; “Heaven receive my +spirit.” And his senses left him. +</p> + +<p> +When they returned again, Aziel perceived dimly that a white-draped figure bent +over him, dragging at something black which crushed his breast, who, as she +dragged, sobbed in her grief and fear. Then he remembered, and with an effort +sat up, rolling from him the corpse of his foe, for his sword had pierced the +barbarian through breast and heart and back. At this sight the woman ceased her +sobbing, and said in the Phœnician tongue:— +</p> + +<p> +“Sir, do you indeed live? Then the protecting gods be thanked, and to +Baaltis the Mother I vow a gift of this hair of mine in gratitude.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, lady,” he answered faintly, for he was much shaken, +“that would be a pity; also, if any, it is my hair which should be +vowed.” +</p> + +<p> +“You bleed from the head,” she broke in; “say, stranger, are +you deeply wounded.” +</p> + +<p> +“I will tell you nothing of my head,” he replied, with a smile, +“unless you promise that you will not offer up your hair.” +</p> + +<p> +“So be it, stranger, since I must; I will give the goddess this gold +chain instead; it is of more worth.” +</p> + +<p> +“You would do better, lady,” said the shrill voice of Metem, who by +now had found his wits again, “to give the gold chain to me whose scalp +has been broken in rescuing you from that black thief.” +</p> + +<p> +“Sir,” she answered, “I am grateful to you from my heart, but +it is this young lord who killed the man and saved me from slavery worse than +death, and he shall be rewarded by my father.” +</p> + +<p> +“Listen to her,” grumbled Metem. “Did I not rush in first in +my folly and receive what I deserved for my pains? But am I to have neither +thanks nor pay, who am but an old merchant; they are for the young prince who +came after. Well, so it ever was; the thanks I can spare, and the reward I +shall claim from the treasury of the goddess. +</p> + +<p> +“Now, Prince, let me see your hurt. Ah! a cut on the ear, no more, and +thank your natal star that it is so, for another inch and the great vein of the +neck would have been severed. Prince, if you are able, draw out your sword from +the carcase of that brute, for I have tried and cannot loosen the blade. Then +perhaps this lady will guide us to the city before his fellows come to seek +him, seeing that for one night I have had a stomach full of fighting.” +</p> + +<p> +“Sirs, I will indeed. It is close at hand, and my father will thank you +there; but if it is your pleasure, tell me by what names I shall make known to +him you whose rank seems to be so high?” +</p> + +<p> +“Lady, I am Metem the Phœnician, captain of the merchandise of the +caravan of Hiram, King of Tyre, and this lord who slew the thief is none other +than the prince Aziel, the twice royal, for he is grandson to the glorious King +of Israel, and through his mother of the blood of the Pharaohs of Egypt.” +</p> + +<p> +“And yet he risked his life to save me,” the girl murmured +astonished; then dropping to her knees before Aziel, she touched the ground +with her forehead in obeisance, giving him thanks, and praising him after the +fashion of the East. +</p> + +<p> +“Rise, lady,” he broke in, “because I chance to be a prince I +have not ceased to be a man, and no man could have seen you in such a plight +without striking a blow on your behalf.” +</p> + +<p> +“No,” added Metem, “none; that is, as you happen to be noble +and young and lovely. Had you been old and ugly and humble, then the black man +might have carried you from here to Tyre ere I risked my neck to stop him, or +for the matter of that, although he will deny it, the prince either.” +</p> + +<p> +“Men do not often show their hearts so clearly,” she answered with +sarcasm. “But now, lords, I will guide you to the city before more harm +befalls us, for this dead man may have companions.” +</p> + +<p> +“Our mules are here, lady; will you not ride mine?” asked Aziel. +</p> + +<p> +“I thank you, Prince, but my feet will carry me.” +</p> + +<p> +“And so will mine,” said Aziel, ceasing from a prolonged and +fruitless effort to loosen his sword from the breast-bone of the savage, +“on such paths they are safer than any beasts. Friend, will you lead my +mule with yours?” +</p> + +<p> +“Ay, Prince,” grumbled Metem, “for so the world goes with the +old; you take the fair lady for company and I a she-ass. Well, of the two give +me the ass which is more safe and does not chatter.” +</p> + +<p> +Then they started, Aziel leaving his short sword in the keeping of the dead +man. +</p> + +<p> +“How are you named, lady?” he said presently, adding “or +rather I need not ask; you are Elissa, the daughter of Sakon, Governor of +Zimboe, are you not?” +</p> + +<p> +“I am so called, though how you know it I cannot guess.” +</p> + +<p> +“I heard you name yourself, lady, in the prayer you made before the +altar.” +</p> + +<p> +“You heard my prayer, Prince?” she said starting. “Do you not +know that it is death to that man who hearkens to the prayer of a priestess of +Baaltis, uttered in her holy grove? Still, none know it save the goddess, who +sees all, therefore I beseech you for your own sake and the sake of your +companion, say nothing of it in the city, lest it should come to the ears of +the priests of El.” +</p> + +<p> +“Certainly it would have been death to you had I <i>not</i> chanced to +hear it, having lost my way in the darkness,” answered the prince +laughing. “Well, since I did hear it I will add that it was a beautiful +prayer, revealing a heart high and pure, though I grieve that it should have +been offered to one whom I hold to be a demon.” +</p> + +<p> +“I am honoured,” she answered coldly; “but, Prince, you +forget that though you, being a Hebrew, worship Him they call Jehovah, or so I +have been told, I, being of the blood of the Sidonians, worship the lady +Baaltis, the Queen of Heaven the holy one of whom I am a priestess.” +</p> + +<p> +“So it is, alas!” he said, with a sigh, adding:— +</p> + +<p> +“Well, let us not dispute of these matters, though, if you wish, the +prophet Issachar, the Levite who accompanies me, can explain the truth of them +to you.” +</p> + +<p> +Elissa made no reply, and for a while they walked on in silence. +</p> + +<p> +“Who was that black robber whom I slew?” Aziel asked presently. +</p> + +<p> +“I am not sure, Prince,” she answered, hesitating, “but +savages such as he haunt the outskirts of the city seeking to steal white women +to be their wives. Doubtless he watched my steps, following me into the holy +place.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why, then, did you venture there alone, lady?” +</p> + +<p> +“Because, to be heard, such prayers as mine must be offered in solitude +in the consecrated grove, and at the hour of the rising of the moon. Moreover, +cannot Baaltis protect her priestess, Priest, and did she not protect +her?” +</p> + +<p> +“I thought, lady, that I had something to do with the matter,” he +answered. +</p> + +<p> +“Ay, Prince, it was your hand that struck the blow which killed the +thief, but Baaltis, and no other, led you to the place to rescue me.” +</p> + +<p> +“I understand, lady. To save you, Baaltis, laying aside her own power, +led a mortal man to the grove, which it is death that mortal man should +violate.” +</p> + +<p> +“Who can fathom the way of the gods?” she replied with passion, +then added, as though reasoning with a new-born doubt, “Did not the +goddess hear my prayer and answer it?” +</p> + +<p> +“In truth, lady, I cannot say. Let me think. If I understood you rightly, +you prayed for heavenly wisdom, but whether or not you have gained it within +this last hour, I do not know. And then you prayed for love, an immortal love. +O, maiden, has it come to you since yonder moon appeared upon the sky? And you +prayed——” +</p> + +<p> +“Peace!” she broke in, “peace and mock me not, or, prince +that you are, I will publish your crime of spying upon the prayer of a +priestess of Baaltis. I tell you that I prayed for a symbol and a sign, and the +prayer was answered. +</p> + +<p> +“Did not the black giant spring upon me to bear me away to be his +slave—his, or another’s? And is he not a symbol of the evil and the +ignorance which are on the earth and that seek to drag down the beauty and the +wisdom of the earth to their own level? Then the Phœnician ran to rescue me +and was defeated, since the spirit of Mammon cannot overcome the black powers +of ill. Next you came and fought hard and long, till in the end you slew the +mighty foe, you a Prince born of the royal blood of the +world——” and she ceased. +</p> + +<p> +“You have a pretty gift of parable, lady, as it should be with one who +interprets the oracles of a goddess. But you have not told me of what I, your +servant, am the symbol.” +</p> + +<p> +She stopped in her walk and looked him full in the face. +</p> + +<p> +“I never heard,” she said, “that either the Jews or the +Egyptians, being instructed, were blind to the reading of an allegory. But, +Prince, if you cannot read this one it is not for me, who am but a woman, to +set it out to you.” +</p> + +<p> +Just then their glances met, and in the clear moonlight Aziel saw a wave of +doubt sweep over his companion’s dark and beautiful eyes, and a faint +flush appear upon her brow. He saw, and something stirred at his heart that +till this hour he had never felt, something which even now he knew it would +trouble him greatly to escape. +</p> + +<p> +“Tell me, lady,” he asked, his voice sinking almost to a whisper, +“in this fable of yours am I even for an hour deemed worthy to play the +part of that immortal love embodied which you sought so earnestly a while +ago?” +</p> + +<p> +“Immortal love, Prince,” she answered, in a new voice, a voice low +and deep, “is not for one hour, but for all hours that are and are to be. +You, and you alone, can know if you would dare to play such a part as +this—even in a fable.” +</p> + +<p> +“Perchance, lady, there lives a woman for whom it might be dared.” +</p> + +<p> +“Prince, no such woman lives, since immortal love must deal, not with the +flesh, but with the spirit. If a spirit worthy to be thus loved and worshipped +now wanders in earthly shape upon the world, seeking its counterpart and its +completion, I cannot tell. Yet were it so, and should they chance to meet, it +might be happy for such brave spirits, for then the answer to the great riddle +would be theirs.” +</p> + +<p> +Wondering what this riddle might be, Aziel bent towards her to reply, when +suddenly round a bend in the path but a few paces from them came a body of +soldiers and attendants, headed by a man clad in a white robe and walking with +a staff. This man was grey-headed and keen-eyed, thin in face and ascetic in +appearance, with a brow of power and a bearing of dignity. At the sight of the +pair he halted, looking at them in question, and with disapproval. +</p> + +<p> +“Our search is ended,” he said in Hebrew, “for here is he +whom we seek, and alone with him a heathen woman, robed like a priestess of the +Groves.” +</p> + +<p> +“Whom do you seek, Issachar?” asked Aziel hurriedly, for the sudden +appearance of the Levite disturbed him. +</p> + +<p> +“Yourself, Prince. Surely you can guess that your absence has been noted. +We feared lest harm should have come to you, or that you had lost your path, +but it seems that you have found a guide,” and he stared at his companion +sternly. +</p> + +<p> +“That guide, Issachar,” answered Aziel, “being none other +than the lady Elissa, daughter of Sakon, governor of this city, and our host, +whom it has been my good fortune to rescue from a woman-stealer yonder in the +grove of the goddess Baaltis.” +</p> + +<p> +“And whom it was my bad fortune to try to rescue in the said grove, as my +broken head bears witness,” added Metem, who by now had come up, dragging +the two mules after him. +</p> + +<p> +“In the grove of the goddess Baaltis!” broke in the Levite with a +kindling eye, and striking the ground with his staff to emphasise his words. +“You, a Prince of Israel, alone in the high place of abomination with the +priestess of a fiend? Fie upon you, fie upon you! Would you also walk in the +sin of your forefathers, Aziel, and so soon?” +</p> + +<p> +“Peace!” said Aziel in a voice of command; “I was not in the +grove alone or by my own will, and this is no time or place for insults and +wrangling.” +</p> + +<p> +“Between me and those who seek after false gods, or the women who worship +them, there is no peace,” replied the old priest fiercely. +</p> + +<p> +Then, followed by all the company, he turned and strode towards the gates of +the city. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap03"></a>CHAPTER III<br /> +ITHOBAL THE KING</h2> + +<p> +Two hours had gone by, and the prince Aziel, together with his retinue, the +officers of the caravan, and many other guests, were seated at a great feast +made in their honour, by Sakon, the governor of the city. This feast was held +in the large pillared hall of Sakon’s house, built beneath the northern +wall of the temple fortress, and not more than a few paces from its narrow +entrance, through which in case of alarm the inhabitants of the palace could +fly for safety. All down this chamber were placed tables, accommodating more +than two hundred feasters, but the principal guests were seated by themselves +upon a raised daïs at the head of the hall. Among them sat Sakon himself, a +middle-aged man stout in build, and thoughtful of face, his daughter Elissa, +some other noble ladies, and a score or more of the notables of the city and +its surrounding territories. +</p> + +<p> +One of these strangers immediately attracted the attention of Aziel, who was +seated in the place of honour at the right of Sakon, between him and the lady +Elissa. This man was of large stature, and about forty years of age; the +magnificence of his apparel and the great gold chain set with rough diamonds +which hung about his neck showing him to be a person of importance. His tawny +complexion marked him of mixed race. This conclusion his features did not +belie, for the brow, nose, and cheek-bones were Semitic in outline, while the +full, prominent eyes, and thick, sensuous lips could with equal certainty be +attributed to the Negroid stock. In fact, he was the son of a native African +queen, or chieftainess, and a noble Phœnician, and his rank no less than that +of absolute king and hereditary chief of a vast and undefined territory which +lay around the trading cities of the white men, whereof Zimboe was the head and +largest. Aziel noticed that this king, who was named Ithobal, seemed angry and +ill at ease, whether because he was not satisfied with the place which had been +allotted to him at the table, or for other reasons, he could not at the time +determine. +</p> + +<p> +When the meats had been removed, and the goblets were filled with wine, men +began to talk, till presently Sakon called for silence, and rising, addressed +Aziel:— +</p> + +<p> +“Prince,” he said, “in the name of this great and free +city—for free it is, though we acknowledge the king of Tyre as our +suzerain—I give you welcome within our gates. Here, far in the heart of +Libya, we have heard of the glorious and wise king, your grandfather, and of +the mighty Pharaoh of Egypt, whose blood runs also within your veins. Prince, +we are honoured in your coming, and for the asking, whatever this land of gold +can boast is yours. Long may you live; may the favour of those gods you worship +attend you, and in the pursuit of wisdom, of wealth, of war, and of love, may +the good grain of all be garnered in your bosom, and the wind of prosperity +winnow out the chaff of them to fall beneath your feet. Prince, I have greeted +you as it behoves me to greet the blood of Solomon and Pharaoh; now I add a +word. Now I greet you as a father greets the man who has saved his only and +beloved daughter from death, or shameful bondage. Know you, friends, what this +stranger did since to-night’s moonrise? My daughter was at worship alone +yonder without the walls, and a great savage set on her, purposing to bear her +away captive. Ay, and he would have done it had not the prince Aziel here given +him battle, and, after a fierce fight, slain him.” +</p> + +<p> +“No great deed to kill a single savage,” broke in the king Ithobal, +who had been listening with impatience to Sakon’s praises of this +high-born stranger. +</p> + +<p> +“No great deed you say, King,” answered Sakon. “Guards, bring +in the body of the man and set it before us.” +</p> + +<p> +There was a pause, till presently six men staggered up the hall bearing between +them the corpse of the barbarian, which, still covered with the leopard skin +mantle, they threw down on the edge of the daïs. +</p> + +<p> +“See!” said one of the bearers, withdrawing the cloak from the huge +body. Then pointing to the sword which still transfixed it, he added, +“and learn what strength heaven gives to the arms of princes.” +</p> + +<p> +Such of the guests as were near enough rose to look at the grizzly sight, then +turned to offer their congratulations to the conqueror, but there was one of +them—the king Ithobal—who offered none; indeed, as his eyes fell +upon the face of the corpse, they grew alight with rage. +</p> + +<p> +“What ails you, King? Are you jealous of such a blow?” asked Sakon, +watching him curiously. +</p> + +<p> +“Speak no more of that thrust, I pray you,” said Aziel, “for +it was due to the weight of the man rushing on the sword, which after he was +dead I could not find the power to loosen from his breast-bone.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then I will do you that service, Prince,” sneered Ithobal, and, +setting his foot upon the breast of the corpse, with a sudden effort of his +great frame, he plucked out the sword and cast it down upon the table. +</p> + +<p> +“Now, one might think,” said Aziel, flushing with anger, +“that you, King, who do a courtesy to a man of smaller strength, mean a +challenge. Doubtless, however, I am mistaken, who do not understand the manners +of this country.” +</p> + +<p> +“Think what you will, Prince,” answered the chieftain, “but +learn that he who lies dead before us by your hand—as you say—was +no slave to be killed at pleasure, but a man of rank, none other, indeed, than +the son of my mother’s sister.” +</p> + +<p> +“Is it so?” replied Aziel, “then surely, King, you are well +rid of a cousin, however highly born, who made it his business to ravish +maidens from their homes.” +</p> + +<p> +By way of answer to these words Ithobal sprang from his seat again, laying hand +upon his sword. But before he could speak or draw it, the governor Sakon +addressed him in a cold and meaning voice:— +</p> + +<p> +“Of your courtesy, King,” he said, “remember that the prince +here is my guest, as you are, and give us peace. If that dead man was your +cousin, at least he well deserved to die, not at the hand of one of royal +blood, but by that of the executioner, for he was the worst of thieves—a +thief of women. Now tell me, King, I pray you, how came your cousin here, so +far from home, since he was not numbered in your retinue?” +</p> + +<p> +“I do not know, Sakon,” answered Ithobal, “and if I knew I +would not say. You tell me that my dead kinsman was a thief of women, which, in +Phœnician eyes, must be a crime indeed. So be it; but thief or no thief, I say +that there is a blood feud between me and the man who slew him, and were he +great Solomon himself, instead of one of fifty princelets of his line, he +should pay bitterly for the deed. To-morrow, Sakon, I will meet you before I +leave for my own land, for I have words to speak to you. Till then, +farewell!”—and rising, he strode down the hall, followed by his +officers and guard. +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +The sudden departure of king Ithobal in anger was the signal for the breaking +up of the feast. +</p> + +<p> +“Why is that half-bred chief so wrath with me?” asked Aziel in a +low voice of Elissa as they followed Sakon to another chamber. +</p> + +<p> +“Because—if you would know the truth—he set his dead cousin +to kidnap me, and you thwarted him,” she answered, looking straight +before her. +</p> + +<p> +Aziel made no reply, for at that moment Sakon turned to speak with him, and his +face was anxious. +</p> + +<p> +“I crave your pardon, Prince,” he said, drawing him aside, +“that you should have met with such insults at my board. Had it been any +other man who spoke thus to you, by now he had rued his words, but this Ithobal +is the terror of our city, for if he chooses he can bring a hundred thousand +savages upon us, shutting us within our walls to starve, and cutting us off +from the working of the mines whence we win gold. Therefore, in this way or +that, he must be humoured, as indeed we have humoured him and his father for +years, though now,” he added, his brow darkening, “he demands a +price that I am loth to pay,” and he glanced towards his daughter, who +stood watching them at a little distance, looking most beautiful in her white +robes and ornaments of gold. +</p> + +<p> +“Can you not make war upon him, and break his power?” asked Aziel, +with a strange anxiety, guessing that this price demanded by Ithobal was none +other than Elissa, the woman whom he had rescued, and whose wisdom and beauty +had stirred his heart. +</p> + +<p> +“It might be done, Prince, but the risk would be great, and we are here +to work the mines and grow rich in trade—not to make war. The policy of +Zimboe has always been a policy of peace.” +</p> + +<p> +“I have a better and cheaper plan,” said a calm voice at his +elbow—that of Metem. “It is this: Slip a bow-string over the +brute’s head as he lies snoring, and pull it tight. An eagle in a cage is +easy to deal with, but once on the wing the matter is different.” +</p> + +<p> +“There is wisdom in your counsel,” said Sakon, in a hesitating +voice. +</p> + +<p> +“Wisdom!” broke in Aziel; “ay, the wisdom of the assassin. +What, noble Sakon, would you murder a sleeping guest?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, Prince, I would not,” he answered hastily; “also, such a +deed would bring the Tribes upon us.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then, Sakon, you are more foolish than you used to be,” said Metem +laughing. “A man who will not despatch a foe, whenever he can catch him, +by means fair or foul, is not the man to govern a rich city set in the heart of +a barbarous land, and so I shall tell Hiram, our king, if ever I live to see +Tyre again. As for you, most high Prince, forgive the humblest of your servants +if he tells you that the tenderness of your heart and the nobility of your +sentiments will, I think, bring you to an early and evil end;” and, +glancing towards Elissa as though to put a point upon his words, Metem smiled +sarcastically and withdrew. +</p> + +<p> +At this moment a messenger, whose long white hair, wild eyes and red robe +announced him to be a priest of El, by which name the people of Zimboe +worshipped Baal, entered the room, and whispered something into the ear of +Sakon which seemed to disturb him much. +</p> + +<p> +“Pardon me, Prince, and you, my guests, if I leave you,” said the +governor, “but I have evil tidings that call me to the temple. The lady +Baaltis is seized with the black fever, and I must visit her. For an hour, +farewell.” +</p> + +<p> +This news caused consternation among the company, and in the general confusion +that followed its announcement Aziel joined Elissa, who had passed on to the +balcony of the house, and was seated there alone, looking out over the moonlit +city and the plains beyond. At his approach she rose in token of respect, then +sat herself down again, motioning him to do likewise. +</p> + +<p> +“Give me of your wisdom, lady,” he said. “I thought that +Baaltis was the goddess whom I heard you worshipping yonder in the grove; how, +then, can she be stricken with a fever?” +</p> + +<p> +“She is the goddess,” Elissa answered smiling; “but the +<i>lady</i> Baaltis is a woman whom we revere as the incarnation of that +goddess upon earth, and being but a woman in her hour she must die.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then, what becomes of the incarnation of the goddess?” +</p> + +<p> +“Another is chosen by the college of the priests of El, and the company +of the priestesses of Baaltis. If that lady Baaltis who is dead chances to +leave a daughter, it is usual for the lot to fall upon her; if not, upon such +one of the noble maidens as may be chosen.” +</p> + +<p> +“Does the lady Baaltis marry, then?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Prince, within a year of her consecration, she must choose herself +a husband, and he may be whom she will, provided only that he is of white +blood, and does public sacrifice to El and Baaltis. Then after she has named +him, this husband takes the title of Shadid, and for so long as his wife shall +live he is the high priest of the god El, and clothed with the majesty of the +god, as his wife is clothed with the majesty of Baaltis. But should she die, +another wins his place.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is a strange faith,” said Aziel, “which teaches that the +Lord of Heaven can find a home in mortal breasts. But, lady, it is yours, so of +it I say no more. Now tell me, if you will, what did you mean when you said +that this barbarian king, Ithobal, set the savage whom I slew to kidnap you? Do +you know this, or do you suspect it only?” +</p> + +<p> +“I suspected it from the first, Prince, and for good reasons; moreover, I +read it in the king’s face as he looked upon the corpse, and when he +perceived me among the feasters.” +</p> + +<p> +“And why should he wish to carry you away this brutally, lady, when he is +at peace with the great city?” +</p> + +<p> +“Perchance, Prince, after what passed to-night you can guess,” she +answered lowering her eyes. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, lady, I can guess, and though it is shameful that such an one +should dare to think of you, still, since he is a man, I cannot blame him +overmuch. But why should he press his suit in this rough and secret fashion +instead of openly as a king might do?” +</p> + +<p> +“He may have pressed it openly and been repulsed,” she replied in a +low voice. “But if he could have carried me to some far fortress, how +should I flout him there, that is, if I still lived? There, with no price to +pay in gold or lands or power, he would have been my master, and I should have +been his slave till such time as he wearied of me. That is the fate from which +you have saved me, Prince, or rather from death, for I am not one who could +bear such shame at the hands of a man I hate.” +</p> + +<p> +“Lady,” he said bowing, “I think that perhaps for the first +time in my life I am glad to-night that I was born.” +</p> + +<p> +“And I,” she answered, “who am but a Phœnician maiden, am +glad that I should have lived to hear one who is as royal in thought and soul +as he is in rank speak thus to me. Oh! Prince,” she added, clasping her +hands, “if your words are not those of empty courtesy alone, hear me, for +you are great, a Lord of the Earth whom none refuse, and it may be in your +power to give me aid. Prince, I am in a sore strait, for that danger from which +I prayed to be delivered this night presses me hard. Prince, it is true that +Ithobal has been refused my hand, both by myself and by my father, and +therefore it was that he strove to steal me away. But the evil is not done +with, for the great nobles of the city and the chief priests of El came to my +father at sunset and prayed him that he would let Ithobal take me, seeing that +otherwise in his rage he will make war upon Zimboe. When a man placed as is my +father must choose between the safety of thousands and the honour and happiness +of one poor girl, what will his answer be, think you?” +</p> + +<p> +“Now,” said Aziel, “save that no wrong can right a wrong, I +almost grieve that I cried shame upon the counsel of Metem. Sweet lady, be sure +of this, that I will give all I have, even to my life, to protect you from the +vile fate you dread—yes, all I have—except my soul.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ah!” she cried with a sudden flash of her dark eyes, “all +except your soul. If we women could find the man who would risk both life and +soul for us, then, were he but a slave, we would worship him as never man was +worshipped since Baaltis mounted her heavenly throne.” +</p> + +<p> +“Were I not a Hebrew you would tempt me, lady,” Aziel answered +smiling, “but being one I may not risk my soul even were such a prize +within my reach.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, Prince,” she broke in, “I did but jest; forget my +words, for they were wrung from a heart torn with fears. Oh! did you know the +terror of this half-savage Ithobal which oppresses me, you would forgive me +all—a terror that to-night lies upon me with a tenfold weight.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why so, lady?” +</p> + +<p> +“Doubtless because it is nearer,” Elissa whispered, but her +beautiful pleading eyes and quivering lips seemed to belie her words and say, +“because <i>you</i> are near, and a change has come upon me.” +</p> + +<p> +For the second time that day Aziel’s glance met hers, and for the second +time a strange new pang that was more pain than joy, and yet half-divine, +snatched at his heart-strings, for a while numbing his reason and taking from +him the power of speech. +</p> + +<p> +“What was it?” he wondered vaguely. He had seen many lovely faces, +and many noble women had shown him favour, but why had none of them stirred him +thus? Could it be that this stranger Gentile maiden was his soul-mate—she +whom he was destined to love above all upon the earth, nay, whom he did already +love, and so soon? +</p> + +<p> +“Lady,” he said, taking a step towards her, +“lady——” and he paused. +</p> + +<p> +Elissa bowed her dark head till her gold-bedecked and scented hair almost fell +upon his feet, but she made no answer. +</p> + +<p> +Then another voice broke upon the silence, a clear, strident voice that +said:— +</p> + +<p> +“Prince, forgive me, if for the second time to-day I disturb you; but the +guests have gone; your chamber is made ready, and, not knowing the customs of +the women of this country, I sought you, little guessing that, at such an hour, +I should find you alone with one of them.” +</p> + +<p> +Aziel looked up, although there was no need for him to do so, for he knew that +voice well, to see the tall form of the Levite Issachar standing before them, a +cold light of anger shining in his eyes. +</p> + +<p> +Elissa saw also, and, with some murmured words of farewell, she turned and +went, leaving them together. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap04"></a>CHAPTER IV<br /> +THE DREAM OF ISSACHAR</h2> + +<p> +For a moment there was silence, which Aziel broke, saying:— +</p> + +<p> +“It seems to me, Issachar, that you are somewhat over zealous for my +welfare.” +</p> + +<p> +“I think otherwise, Prince,” replied the Levite sternly. “Did +not your grandsire give you into my keeping, and shall I not be faithful to my +trust, and to a higher duty than any which he could lay upon me?” +</p> + +<p> +“Your meaning, Issachar?” +</p> + +<p> +“It is plain, Prince; but I will set it out. The great king said to me +yonder in the hall of his golden palace at Jerusalem, ‘To others, men of +war, I have given charge of the body of my grandson to keep him safe. To you, +Issachar the Levite, who have fostered him, I give charge over his soul to keep +it safe—a higher task, and more difficult. Guard him, Issachar, from the +temptation of strange doctrines and the whisperings of strange gods, but guard +him most of all from the wiles of strange women who bow the knee to Baal, for +such are the gate of Gehenna upon earth, and those who enter by it shall find +their place in Tophet.’” +</p> + +<p> +“Truly my grandsire speaks wisely on this matter as on all others,” +answered Aziel, “but still I do not understand.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then I will be more clear, Prince. How comes it that I find you alone +with this beautiful sorceress, this worshipper of the she-devil, Baaltis, with +whom you should scorn even to speak, except such words as courtesy +demands?” +</p> + +<p> +“Is it then forbidden to me,” asked Aziel angrily, “to talk +with the daughter of my host, a lady whom I chanced to save from death, of the +customs of her country and the mysteries of worship?” +</p> + +<p> +“The mysteries of worship!” answered Issachar scornfully. +“Ay! the mysteries of the worship of that fair body of hers, that ivory +chalice filled with foulness—whereof, if a man drink, his faith shall be +rotted and his soul poisoned. The mysteries of that worship was it, Prince, +that caused you but now to lean towards this woman as though to embrace her, +with words of love burning in your heart if not between your lips? Ah! these +witches of Baaltis know their trade well; they are full of evil gifts, and of +the wisdom given to them by the fiend they serve. With touch and sigh and look +they can stir the blood of youth, having much practice in the art, till it +seethes within the veins and drowns conscience in its flood. +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, Prince, hear the truth,” continued Issachar. “Till +moonrise you had never seen this woman, and now your quick blood is aflame, and +you love her. Deny it if you can—deny it on your honour and I will +believe you, for you are no liar.” +</p> + +<p> +Aziel thought for a moment and answered:— +</p> + +<p> +“Issachar, you have no right to question me on this matter, yet since you +have adjured me by my honour, I will be open with you. I do not know if I love +this woman, who, as you say, is a stranger to me, but it is true that my heart +turns towards her like flowers to the sun. Till to-day I had never seen her, +yet when my eyes first fell upon her face yonder in that accursed grove, it +seemed to me that I had been born only that I might find her. It seemed to me +even that for ages I had known her, that for ever she was mine and that I was +hers. Read me the riddle, Issachar? Is this but passion born of youth and the +sudden sight of a fair woman? That cannot be, for I have known others as fair, +and have passed through some such fires. Tell me, Issachar, you who are old and +wise and have seen much of the hearts of men, what is this wave that overwhelms +me?” +</p> + +<p> +“What is it, Prince? It is witchery; it is the wile of Beelzebub waiting +to snatch your soul, and if you hearken to it you shall pass through the +fire—through the fire to Moloch, if not in the flesh, then in the spirit, +which is to all eternity. Oh! not in vain do I fear for you, my son, and not +without reason was I warned in a dream. Listen: Last night, as I lay in my tent +yonder upon the plain, I dreamed that some danger overshadowed you, and in my +sleep I prayed that your destiny might be revealed to me. As I prayed thus, I +heard a voice saying, ‘Issachar, you seek to learn the future; know then +that he who is dear to you shall be tried in the furnace indeed. Yes, because +of his great love and pity, he shall forswear his faith, and with death and +sorrow he shall pay the price of his sin.’ +</p> + +<p> +“Then I was troubled and besought Heaven that you, my son, might be saved +from this unknown temptation, but the voice answered me:— +</p> + +<p> +“‘Of their own will only can they who were one from the beginning +be held apart. Through good and ill let them work each other’s woe or +weal. The goal is sure, but they must choose the road.’ +</p> + +<p> +“Now as I wondered what these dark sayings might mean, the gloom opened +and I saw you, Aziel, standing in a grove of trees, while towards you with +outstretched hands drew a veiled woman who bore upon her brow the golden bow of +Baaltis. Then fire raged about you, and in the fire I beheld many things which +I have forgotten, and moving through it was the Prince of Death, who slew and +slew and spared not. So I awoke heavy at heart, knowing that there had fallen +on me who love you a shadow of doom to come.” +</p> + +<p> +In these latter days any educated man would set aside Issachar’s wild +vision as the vapourings of a mind distraught. But Aziel lived in the time of +Solomon, when men of his nation guided their steps by the light of prophecy, +and believed that it was the Divine pleasure, by means of dreams and wonders +and through the mouths of chosen seers, to declare the will of Jehovah upon +earth. To this faith, indeed, we still hold fast, at least so far as that +period and people are concerned, seeing that we acknowledge Isaiah, David, and +their company, to have been inspired from above. Of that company Issachar the +Levite was one, for to him, from his youth up, voices had spoken in the watches +of the night, and often he had poured his warnings and denunciations into the +ears of kings and peoples, telling them with no uncertain voice of the +consequences of sin and idolatry, and of punishment to come. This Aziel, who +had been his ward and pupil, knew well, and therefore he did not mock at the +priest’s dream or set it aside as naught, but bowed his head and +listened. +</p> + +<p> +“I am honoured indeed,” he said with humility, “that the +destiny of my poor soul and body should be a thing of weight to those on +high.” +</p> + +<p> +“Of your poor soul, Aziel?” broke in Issachar. “That soul of +yours, of which you speak so lightly, is of as great value in the eyes of +Heaven as that of any cherubim within its gates. The angels who fell were the +first and chiefest of the angels, and though now we are clad with mortal shape +in punishment of our sins, again redeemed and glorified we can become among the +mightiest of their hosts. Oh! my son, I beseech you, turn from this woman while +there yet is time, lest to you her lips should be a cup of woe and your soul +shall pay the price of them, sharing the hell of the worshippers of +Ashtoreth.” +</p> + +<p> +“It may be so,” said Aziel; “but, Issachar, what said the +voice? That this, the woman of your dream and I were one from the beginning? +Issachar, you believe that the lady Elissa is she of whom the voice spoke in +your sleep and you bid me turn from her because she will bring me sin and +punishment. In truth, if I can, I will obey you, since rather than forswear my +faith, as your dream foretold, I would die a hundred deaths. Nor do I believe +that for any bribe of woman’s love I shall forswear it in act or thought. +Yet if such things come about it is fate that drives me on, not my +will—and what man can flee his fate? But even though this lady be she +whom I am doomed to love, you say that because she is heathen I must reject +her. Shame upon the thought, for if she is heathen it is through ignorance, and +it may be mine to change her heart. Because I stand in danger shall I suffer +her who, as you tell me, was one with me from the beginning, to be lost in that +hell of Baal of which you speak? Nay, your dream is false. I will not renounce +my faith, but rather will win her to share it, and together we shall triumph, +and that I swear to you, Issachar.” +</p> + +<p> +“Truly the evil one has many wiles,” answered the Levite, +“and I did ill to tell you of my dream, seeing that it can be twisted to +serve the purpose of your madness. Have your will, Aziel, and reap the fruit of +it, but of this I warn you—that while I can find a way to thwart it, +never, Prince, shall you take that witch to your bosom to be the ruin of your +life and soul.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then, Issachar, on this matter there may be war between us!” +</p> + +<p> +“Ay! there is war,” said the Levite, and left him. +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +The sun was already high in the heavens when Aziel awoke from the deep and +dreamless sleep which followed on the excitements and exhaustion of the +previous day. After his servants had waited upon him and robed him, bringing +him milk and fruit to eat, he dismissed them, and sat himself down by the +casement of his chamber to think a while. +</p> + +<p> +Below him lay the city of flat-roofed houses enclosed with a double wall, +without the ring of which were thousands of straw huts, shaped like bee-hives, +wherein dwelt natives of the country, slaves or servants of the occupying +Phœnician race. To Aziel’s right, and not more than a hundred paces from +the governor’s house in which he was, rose the round and mighty +battlements of the temple, where the followers of El and Baaltis worshipped, +and the gold refiners carried on their business. At intervals on its +flat-topped walls stood towers of observation, alternating with pointed +monoliths of granite and soapstone columns supporting vultures, rudely carved +emblems of Baaltis. Between these towers armed soldiers walked continually, +watching the city below and the plain beyond, for though the mission of the +Phœnicians here was one of peaceful gain it was evident that they considered +it necessary to be always prepared for war. On the hillside above the great +temple towered another fortress of stone—a citadel deemed to be +impregnable even should the temple fall into the hands of an enemy—while +on the crest of the precipitous slope, stretching as far to right and left as +the eye could reach, were many smaller detached strongholds. +</p> + +<p> +The scene that Aziel saw from his window was a busy one, for beneath him a +market was being held in an open square in the city. Here, sheltered from the +sun by grass-thatched booths, the Phœnician merchants who had been his +companions in their long and perilous journey from the coast were already in +treaty with numerous customers, hoping, not in vain, to recoup themselves amply +for the toils and dangers which they had survived. Beneath these booths were +spread their goods; silks from Cos, bronze weapons and copper rods, or ingots +from the rich mines of Cyprus, linens and muslins from Egypt; beads, idols, +carven bowls, knives, glass ware, pottery in all shapes, and charms made of +glazed faience or Egyptian stone; bales of the famous purple cloth of Tyre; +surgical instruments, jewellery, and objects of toilet; scents, pots of rouge, +and other unguents for the use of ladies in little alabaster and earthenware +vases; bags of refined salt, and a thousand other articles of commerce produced +or stored in the workshops of Phœnicia. These the chapmen bartered for raw +gold by weight, tusks of ivory, ostrich feathers, and girls of approved beauty, +slaves taken in war, or in some instances maidens whom their unnatural parents +or relatives did not scruple to sell into bondage. +</p> + +<p> +In another portion of the square, provisions and stock, alive and dead, were +being offered for sale, for the most part by natives of the country. Here were +piles of vegetables and fruits grown in the gardens, sacks of various sorts of +grain, bundles of green forage from the irrigated lands without the walls, +calabashes full of curdled milk, thick native beer and trusses of reed for +thatching. Here again were oxen, mules and asses, or great bucks such as we now +know as eland or kudoo, carried in on rough litters of boughs to be disposed of +by parties of savage huntsmen who had shot them with arrows or trapped them in +pitfalls. Every Eastern tribe and nation seemed to be represented in the motley +crowd. Yonder stalked savages, naked except for their girdles, and armed with +huge spears, who gazed with bewilderment on the wonders of this mart of the +white man; there moved grave, long-bearded Arab merchants or Phœnicians in +their pointed caps, or bare-headed white-robed Egyptians, or half-bred +mercenaries clad in mail. Their variety was without end, while from them came a +very babel of different tongues as they cried their wares, bargained and +quarrelled. +</p> + +<p> +Aziel gazed at this novel sight with interest, till, as he was beginning to +weary of it, the crowd parted to right and left, leaving a clear lane across +the market-place to the narrow gate of the temple. Along this lane advanced a +procession of the priests of El clad in red robes, with tall red caps upon +their heads, beneath which their straight hair hung down to their shoulders. In +their hands were gilded rods, and round their necks hung golden chains, to +which were attached emblems of the god they worshipped. They walked two-and-two +to the number of fifty, chanting a melancholy dirge, one hand of each priest +resting upon his fellow’s shoulder, and as they passed, with the +exception of certain Jews, all the spectators uncovered, while some of the more +pious of them even fell upon their knees. +</p> + +<p> +After the priests came a second procession, that of the priestesses of Baaltis. +These women, who numbered at least a hundred, were clad in white, and wore upon +their heads a gauze-like veil that fell to the knees, and was held in place by +a golden fillet surmounted with the symbol of a crescent moon. Instead of the +golden rods, however, each of them held in her left hand a growing stalk of +maize, from the sheathed cob of which hung the bright tassel of its bloom. On +her right wrist, moreover, a milk-white dove was fastened by a wire, both corn +and dove being tokens of that fertility which, under various guises, was the +real object of worship of these people. The sight of these white-veiled women +about whose crescent-decked brows the doves fluttered, wildly striving to be +free, was very strange and beautiful as they advanced also singing a low and +melancholy chant. Aziel searched their faces with his eyes while they passed +slowly towards him, and presently his heart bounded, for there among them, +clasping the dove she bore to her breast, as though to still its frightened +strugglings, was the Lady Elissa. He noticed, too, that as she went beneath the +palace walls, she glanced at the window-place of his chamber, but without +seeing him for he was seated in the shadow. +</p> + +<p> +Presently the long line of priestesses, followed by hundreds of worshippers, +had vanished through the tortuous and narrow entrance of the temple, and Aziel +leaned back to think. +</p> + +<p> +There, among the principal votaries of a goddess, the wickedness of whose +worship was a scandal and a by-word even in the ancient world, walked the woman +to whom he felt so strangely drawn and with whom, if there were any truth in +the visions of Issachar and the mysterious warnings of his own soul, his fate +was intertwined. As he thought of it a sudden revulsion filled his heart. She +was wise and beautiful, and she seemed innocent, but Issachar was right; this +girl was the minister of an abominable creed; nay, for aught he knew, she was +herself defiled with its abominations, and her wisdom but an evil gift from the +evil powers she served. Could he, a prince of the royal blood of the House of +Israel and of the ancient Pharaohs of Khem, desire to have anything to do with +such an one, he a child of the Chosen People, a worshipper of the true and only +God? Yesterday she had thrown a spell upon him, a spell of black magic, or the +spell of her imperial beauty, which, it mattered not, but to-day he was the +lord of his own mind, and would shake himself free of it and her. +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +In the market-place below, the Levite Issachar also had watched the passing of +the priests and priestesses of El and Baaltis. +</p> + +<p> +“Tell me, Metem,” he asked of the Phœnician who stood beside him, +his head respectfully uncovered, “what mummery is this?” +</p> + +<p> +“It is no mummery, worthy Issachar, but a ceremony of public sacrifice, +which is to be offered in the temple yonder, for the recovery from her sickness +of the Lady Baaltis, the high-priestess.” +</p> + +<p> +“Where then is the offering. I see none, unless it be those doves that +are tied to the wrists of the women?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, Issachar,” answered Metem smiling darkly, “the gods ask +nobler blood than that of doves. The offering is within, and it is the +first-born child of a priestess of Baaltis.” +</p> + +<p> +“O Lord of Heaven!” said Issachar lifting up his eyes, “how +long will you suffer that this murderous and accursed race should defile the +face of earth?” +</p> + +<p> +“Softly, friend,” broke in Metem, “I have read your +Scriptures, and is it not set out in them that your great forefather was +commanded to offer up his first-born in such a sacrifice?” +</p> + +<p> +“Blaspheme not,” answered the Jew. “He was commanded indeed, +that his heart might be proved, but his hand was stayed. He Whom I worship +delights not in the blood of children.” +</p> + +<p> +Here Issachar broke off, suddenly recognising the lady Elissa among the +white-robed priestesses. Watching her, he noted her glance at the window of +Aziel’s chamber, and saw what she could not see, that the prince was +seated there. “This daughter of Satan spreads her nets,” he +muttered between his teeth. Then a thought struck him, and he added aloud, +“Say, Metem, is it permitted to strangers to witness the rites in yonder +temple?” +</p> + +<p> +“Surely,” answered the Phœnician; “that is, if they guard +their tongues, and do nothing to offend.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then I desire to see them, Metem, and so doubtless does the prince +Aziel. Therefore, if it is your will, do me the service to enter his chamber in +the palace where he is sitting, and bid him to a great ceremony that goes +forward in the temple. And, Metem, if he asks what that ceremony is, I charge +you, say only that a dove is to be sacrificed. +</p> + +<p> +“I will wait for you at the gate of the temple, but do not tell him that +I send you on this errand. Metem, you love gain; remember that if you humour me +in this and other matters which may arise, doing my bidding faithfully, I have +the treasury of Jerusalem to draw upon.” +</p> + +<p> +“No ill paymaster,” replied Metem cheerfully. “Certainly I +will obey you in all things, holy Issachar, as the king commanded me yonder in +Judea.” +</p> + +<p> +“Now,” he reflected to himself, as he went upon his message, +“I see how the bird flies. The prince Aziel is in love with the lady +Elissa, or far upon the road to it, as at his age it is right and proper that +he should be, after a twelve months’ journey by sea and land with never a +pretty face to sigh for. The holy Issachar, on the other hand, is minded that +his charge shall have naught to do with a priestess of Baaltis, as, his age and +calling considered, is also right and proper. Then there is that black savage +Ithobal, who wishes to win the girl, and the girl herself, who after the +fashion of her sex, will probably play them all off one against the other. +Well, so much the better for me, since I shall be a richer man even than I am +before this affair is done with. I have two hands, and gold is gold whoever be +the giver,” and smiling craftily to himself Metem passed into the palace. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap05"></a>CHAPTER V<br /> +THE PLACE OF SACRIFICE</h2> + +<p> +Suddenly Aziel, looking up from his reverie, saw the Phœnician bowing before +him, cap in hand. +</p> + +<p> +“May the Prince live for ever,” he said, “yet if he suffer +melancholy to overcome him thus, his life, however long, will be but +sad.” +</p> + +<p> +“I was only thinking, Metem,” answered Aziel with a start. +</p> + +<p> +“Of the lady Elissa, whom you rescued, Prince? Ah! I guessed as much. She +is beautiful, is she not—I have never seen the equal of those dreamy eyes +and that mysterious smile—and learned also, though myself, in a woman I +prefer the beauty without the learning. It is a pity now that she should chance +to be a priestess of our worship, for that will not please the holy Issachar +whom, I fear, Prince, you find a stern guide for the feet of youth.” +</p> + +<p> +“Your business, merchant?” broke in Aziel. +</p> + +<p> +“I crave your pardon, Prince,” answered the Phœnician, spreading +out his hands in deprecation. “I struck a good bargain for my wares this +morning, and drank wine to seal it, therefore, let me be forgiven if I have +spoken too freely in your presence, Prince. This is my business: Yonder in the +temple they celebrate a service which it is lawful for strangers to witness, +and as the opportunity is rare, I thought that, having heard something of our +mysteries in the grove last night, you might wish to see the office. If this be +so, I am come to guide you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Aziel’s first impulse was to refuse to go; indeed, the words of +dismissal were on his lips when another purpose entered his mind. For this once +he would look upon these abominations and learn what part Elissa played in +them, and thus be cured for ever of the longings that had seized him. +</p> + +<p> +“What is the ceremony?” he asked. +</p> + +<p> +“A sacrifice for the recovery of the lady Baaltis who is sick, +Prince.” +</p> + +<p> +“And what is the sacrifice?” asked Aziel. +</p> + +<p> +“A dove, as I am told,” was the indifferent answer. +</p> + +<p> +“I will come with you, Metem.” +</p> + +<p> +“So be it, Prince. Your retinue awaits you at the gate.” +</p> + +<p> +At the main entrance to the palace Aziel found his guard and other servants +gathered there to escort him. With them was Issachar, whom he greeted, asking +him if he knew the errand upon which they were bent. +</p> + +<p> +“I do, Prince; it is to witness the abomination of a sacrifice of these +heathens.” +</p> + +<p> +“Will you then accompany me there, Issachar?” +</p> + +<p> +“Where my lord goes I go,” answered the Levite gravely. +“Moreover, Prince, if you have your reasons for wishing to see this +devil-worship, I may have mine.” +</p> + +<p> +Then they set out, Metem guiding them. At the north gate of the temple, which +was not more than a yard in width, the Phœnician spoke to the guards on duty, +who drew back to let them pass. In single file, for the passages were too +narrow to allow of any other means of progression, they threaded the tortuous +and mazy paths of the great building, passing between huge walls built of +granite blocks laid without mortar, till at length they reached a large open +space. Here the ceremony had already begun. Almost in the centre of this space, +which was paved with blocks of granite, stood two conical towers, the larger of +which measured thirty feet in height and the smaller about half as much. These +towers, also built of blocks of stone, were, as Metem informed them, sacred to +and emblematical of the gods El and Baaltis. In front of them was a platform +surmounted by a stone altar, and between them, built in a pit in the ground, +burned a great furnace of wood. All the centre of the enclosure was occupied by +the marshalled ranks of the priests and priestesses. Without this sacred ring +stood the closely packed masses of spectators, amongst whom Aziel and his +following were given place, though some of the more pious worshippers murmured +audibly at the admission of these Jews. +</p> + +<p> +When they entered, the companies of priests and priestesses were finishing a +prayer, the sentences of which they chanted alternately with strange effect. In +part it was formal, and in part an improvised supplication to the protecting +gods to restore health to that woman or high-priestess who was known as the +lady Baaltis. The prayer ended, a beautiful bold-faced girl advanced to an open +space in front of the altar, and with a sudden movement threw off her white +robe, revealing herself to the spectators in a many-coloured garment of gauze, +through which her fair flesh gleamed. +</p> + +<p> +The black hair of this woman was adorned with a coronet of scarlet flowers and +hung loose about her; her feet and arms were naked, and in each hand she held a +knife of bronze. Very slowly she began to dance, her painted lips parted as +though to speak, and her eyes, brightened with pigments, turned up to heaven. +By degrees her movements grew more rapid, till at length, as she whirled round, +her long locks streamed out straight upon the air and the crown of flowers +looked like a scarlet ring. Suddenly the bronze knife in her right hand +flashed, and a spot of red appeared above her left breast; then the knife in +the left hand flashed, and another spot appeared over the right breast. At each +stroke the multitude cried, “<i>Ah!</i>” as with one voice, and +then were silent. +</p> + +<p> +Now the maddened dancer, ceasing her whirlings, leapt high into the air, +clashing the knives above her head and crying, “Hear me, hear me, +Baaltis!” +</p> + +<p> +Again she leapt, and this time the answer that came from her lips was spoken in +another voice, which said, “I am present. What seek you?” +</p> + +<p> +A third time the priestess leapt, replying in her own voice, “Health for +thy servant who is sick.” Then came the answer in the second +voice—“I hear you, but I see no sacrifice.” +</p> + +<p> +“What sacrifice would’st thou, O Queen? A dove?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay.” +</p> + +<p> +“What then, Queen?” +</p> + +<p> +“One only, the first-born child of a woman.” +</p> + +<p> +As this command, which they supposed to be divine and from above, issued out of +the lips of the gashed and bleeding Pythoness, the multitude that hitherto had +listened in perfect silence, shouted aloud, while the girl herself, utterly +exhausted, fell to the earth swooning. +</p> + +<p> +Now the high priest of El, who was named the Shadid, none other indeed than the +husband of her who lay sick, sprang upon the platform and cried:— +</p> + +<p> +“The goddess has spoken by the mouth of her oracle. She who is the mother +of all demands one life out of the many she has given, that the Lady Baaltis, +who is her priestess upon earth, may be recovered of her sickness. Say, who +will lay down a life for the honour of the goddess, and that her regent in this +land may be saved alive?” +</p> + +<p> +Now—for all this scene had been carefully prepared—a woman stepped +forward, wearing the robe of a priestess, who bore in her arms a drugged and +sleeping child. +</p> + +<p> +“I, father,” she cried in a shrill, hard voice, though her lips +trembled as she spoke. “Let the goddess take this child, the first-fruit +of my body, that our mother the Lady Baaltis may be cured of her sickness, and +that I, her daughter, may be blessed by the goddess, and through me, all we who +worship her.” And she held out the little victim towards him. +</p> + +<p> +The Shadid stretched out his arms to take it, but he never did take it, for at +that moment appeared upon the platform the tall and bearded figure of Issachar +clad in his white robes. +</p> + +<p> +“Hold!” he cried in a loud, clear voice, “and touch not the +innocent child. Spawn of Satan, would you do murder to appease the devils whom +you worship? Well shall they repay you, people of Zimboe. Oh! mine eyes are +open and I see,” he went on, shaking his thin arms above his head in a +prophetic frenzy. “I see the sword of the true God, and it flames above +this city of idolaters and abominations. I see this place of sacrifice, and I +tell you that before the moon is young again it shall run red with the blood of +you, idol worshippers, and of you, women of the groves. The heathen is at your +gates, ye followers of demons, and my God sends them as He sends the locusts of +the north wind to devour you like grass, to sweep you away like the dust of the +desert. Cry then upon El and Baaltis, and let El and Baaltis save you if they +can. Doom is upon you; Azrael, angel of death, writes his name upon your +foreheads, every one of you, giving your city to the owls, your bodies to the +jackals, and your souls to Satan——” +</p> + +<p> +Thus far the priests and the spectators had listened to Issachar’s +denunciations in bewildered amazement not unmixed with fear. Now with a roar of +wrath they awoke, and suddenly he was dragged from the platform by a score of +hands and struck down with many blows. Indeed, he would then and there have +been torn to pieces had not a guard of soldiers, knowing that he was +Sakon’s guest and in the train of the prince Aziel, snatched him from the +maddened multitude, and borne him swiftly to a place of safety without the +enclosure. +</p> + +<p> +While the tumult was at its height, a Phœnician, who had arrived in the temple +breathless with haste, might have been seen to pluck Metem by the sleeve. +</p> + +<p> +“What is it?” Metem asked of the man, who was his servant. +</p> + +<p> +“This: the lady Baaltis is dead. I watched as you bade me, and, as she +had promised to do, in token of the end, her woman waved a napkin from the +casement of that tower where she lies.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do any know of this?” +</p> + +<p> +“None.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then say no word of it,” and Metem hurried off in search of Aziel. +</p> + +<p> +Presently he found him seeking for Issachar in company with his guards. +</p> + +<p> +“Have no fear, Prince,” Metem said, in answer to his eager +questions, “he is safe enough, for the soldiers have borne the fool away. +Pardon me that I should speak thus of a holy man, but he has put all our lives +in danger.” +</p> + +<p> +“I do not pardon you,” answered Aziel hotly, “and I honour +Issachar for his act and words. Let us begone from this accursed place whither +you entrapped me.” +</p> + +<p> +Before Metem could reply a voice cried, “Close the doors of the +sanctuary, so that none can pass in or go out, and let the sacrifice be +offered.” +</p> + +<p> +“Listen, Prince,” said Metem, “you must stay here till the +ceremony is done.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then I tell you, Phœnician,” answered Aziel, “that rather +than suffer that luckless child to be butchered before my eyes I will cut my +way to it with my guards, and rescue it alive.” +</p> + +<p> +“To leave yourself dead in place of it,” answered Metem +sarcastically; “but, see, a woman desires to speak with you,” and +he pointed to a girl in the robe of a priestess, whose face was hidden with a +veil, and who, in the tumult and confusion, had worked her way to Aziel. +</p> + +<p> +“Prince,” whispered the veiled form, “I am Elissa. For your +life’s sake keep still and silent, or you will be stabbed, for your words +have been overheard, and the priests are mad at the insult that has been put +upon them.” +</p> + +<p> +“Away with you, woman,” answered Aziel; “what have I to do +with a girl of the groves and a murderess of children?” +</p> + +<p> +She winced at his bitter words, but said quietly:— +</p> + +<p> +“Then on your own head be your blood, Prince, which I have risked much to +keep unshed. But before you die, learn that I knew nothing of this foul +sacrifice, and that gladly would I give my own life to save that of yonder +child.” +</p> + +<p> +“Save it, and I will believe you,” answered the prince, turning +from her. +</p> + +<p> +Elissa slipped away, for she saw that the priestesses, her companions, were +reforming their ranks, and that she must not tarry. When she had gone a few +yards, a hand caught her by the sleeve, and the voice of Metem, who had +overheard something of this talk, whispered in her ear:— +</p> + +<p> +“Daughter of Sakon, what will you give me if I show you a way to save the +life of the child, and with it that of the prince, and at the same time to make +him think well of you again?” +</p> + +<p> +“All my jewels and ornaments of gold, and they are many,” she +answered eagerly. +</p> + +<p> +“Good; it is a bargain. Now listen: The lady Baaltis is dead; she died a +few minutes since, and none here know it save myself and one other, my servant, +nor can any learn it, for the gates are shut. Do you be, therefore, suddenly +inspired—of the gods—and say so, for then the sacrifice must cease, +seeing that she for whom it was to be offered is dead. Do you +understand?” +</p> + +<p> +“I understand,” she answered, “and though the blasphemy bring +on me the vengeance of Baaltis, yet it shall be dared. Fear not, your pay is +good,” and she pressed forward to her place, keeping the veil wrapped +about her head till she reached it unobserved, for in the general confusion +none had noticed her movements. +</p> + +<p> +When the noise of shouting and angry voices had at length died away, and the +spectators were driven back outside the sacred circle, the priest upon the +platform cried:— +</p> + +<p> +“Now that the Jew blasphemer has gone, let the sacrifice be offered, as +is decreed.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yea, let the sacrifice be offered,” answered the multitude, and +once more the woman with the sleeping child stepped forward. But before the +priest could take it another figure approached him, that of Elissa, with arms +outstretched and eyes upturned. +</p> + +<p> +“Hold, O priest!” she said, “for the goddess, breathing on my +brow, inspires me, and I have a message from the goddess.” +</p> + +<p> +“Draw near, daughter, and speak it in the ears of men,” the priest +answered wondering, for he found it hard to believe in such inspiration, and +indeed would have denied her a hearing had he dared. +</p> + +<p> +So Elissa climbed the platform, and standing upon it still with outstretched +hands and upturned face, she said in a clear voice:— +</p> + +<p> +“The goddess refuses the sacrifice, since she has taken to herself her +for whom it was to have been offered—the Lady Baaltis is dead.” +</p> + +<p> +At this tidings a groan went up from the people, partly of grief for the loss +of a spiritual dignitary who was popular, and partly of disappointment because +now the sacrifice could not be offered. For the Phœnicians loved these +horrible spectacles, which were not, however, commonly celebrated by daylight +and in the presence of the people. +</p> + +<p> +“It is a lie,” cried a voice, “but now the Lady Baaltis was +living.” +</p> + +<p> +“Let the gates be opened, and send to see whether or no I lie,” +said Elissa, quietly. +</p> + +<p> +Then for a while there was silence while a priest went upon the errand. At +length he was seen returning. Pushing his way through the crowd, he mounted the +platform, and said:— +</p> + +<p> +“The daughter of Sakon speaks truth; alas! the lady Baaltis is +dead.” +</p> + +<p> +Elissa sighed in relief, for had her tidings proved false she could scarcely +have hoped to escape the fury of the crowd. +</p> + +<p> +“Ay!” she cried, “she is dead, as I told you, and because of +your sin, who would have offered human sacrifice in public, against the custom +of our faith and city and without the command of the goddess.” +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +Then in sullen silence the priests and priestesses reformed their ranks, and +departed from the sanctuary, whence they were followed by the spectators, the +most of them in no good mood, for they had been baulked of the promised +spectacle. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap06"></a>CHAPTER VI<br /> +THE HALL OF AUDIENCE</h2> + +<p> +When Elissa reached her chamber after the break up of the procession, she threw +herself upon her couch, and burst into a passion of tears. Well might she weep, +for she had been false to her oath as a priestess, uttering as a message from +the goddess that which she had learnt from the lips of man. More, she could not +rid herself of the remembrance of the scorn and loathing with which the Prince +Aziel had looked upon her, or of the bitter insult of his words when he called +her, “a girl of the groves, and a murderess of children.” +</p> + +<p> +It chanced that, so far as Elissa was concerned, these charges were utterly +untrue. None could throw a slur upon her, and as for these rare human +sacrifices, she loathed the very name of them, nor, unless forced to it, would +she have been present had she guessed that any such offering was intended. +</p> + +<p> +Like most of the ancient religions, that of the Phœnicians had two sides to +it—a spiritual and a material side. The spiritual side was a worship of +the far-off unknown divinity, symbolised by the sun, moon and planets, and +visible only in their majestic movements, and in the forces of nature. To this +Elissa clung, knowing no truer god, and from those forces she strove to wring +their secret, for her heart was deep. Lonely invocations to the goddess beneath +the light of the moon appealed to her, for from them she seemed to draw +strength and comfort, but the outward ceremonies of her faith, or the more +secret and darker of them, of which in practice she knew little, were already +an abomination in her eyes. And now what if the Jew prophet spoke truly? What +if this creed of hers were a lie, root and branch, and there did lie in the +heavens above a Lord and Father who heard and answered the prayers of men, and +who did not seek of them the blood of the children He had given? +</p> + +<p> +A great doubt took hold of Elissa and shook her being, and with the doubt came +hope. How was it—if her faith were true—that when she took the name +of the goddess in vain, nothing had befallen her? She desired to learn more of +this matter, but who was to teach her? The Levite turned from her with loathing +as from a thing unclean, and there remained, therefore, but the prince Aziel, +who had put her from him with those bitter words of scorn. Ah! why did they +pain her so, piercing her heart as with a spear? Was it +because—because—he had grown dear to her? Yes, that was the truth. +She had learned it even as he cursed her; all her quick southern blood was +alight with a new fire, the like of which she had never known before. And not +her blood only, it was her spirit—her spirit that yearned to his. Had it +not leapt within her at the first sight of him as to one most dear, one +long-lost and found again? She loved him, and he loathed her, and oh! her lot +was hard. +</p> + +<p> +As Elissa lay brooding thus in her pain, the door opened and Sakon, her father, +hurried into the chamber. +</p> + +<p> +“What is it that chanced yonder?” he asked, for he had not been +present in the sanctuary, “and, daughter, why do you weep?” +</p> + +<p> +“I weep, father, because your guest, the prince Aziel, has called me +‘a girl of the groves, and a murderess of children,’” she +replied. +</p> + +<p> +“Then, by my head, prince that he is, he shall answer for it to +me,” said Sakon, grasping at his sword-hilt. +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, father, since to him I must have seemed to deserve the words. +Listen.” And she told him all that had passed, hiding nothing. +</p> + +<p> +“Now it seems that trouble is heaped upon trouble,” said the +Phœnician when she had finished, “and they were mad who suffered the +prince and that fierce Issachar to be present at the sacrifice. Daughter, I +tell you this: though I am a worshipper of El and Baaltis, as my fathers were +before me, I know that Jehovah of the Jews is a great and powerful Lord, and +that His prophets do not prophesy falsely, for I have seen it in my youth, +yonder in the coasts of Sidon. What did Issachar say? That before the moon was +young again, this temple should run red with blood? Well, so it may happen, for +Ithobal threatens war against us, and for your sake, my daughter.” +</p> + +<p> +“How for my sake, father?” she asked heavily, as one who knew what +the answer would be. +</p> + +<p> +“You know well, girl. Ever since you danced before him at the great +welcoming feast I made in his honour a month ago the man is besotted of you; +moreover, he is mad with jealousy of this new-comer, the prince Aziel. He has +demanded public audience of me this afternoon, and I have it privately that +then he will formally ask you in marriage before the people, and if he is +refused will declare war upon the city, with which he has many an ancient +quarrel. Yes, yes, king Ithobal is that sword of God which the Jew said he saw +hanging over us, and should it fall it will be because of you, Elissa.” +</p> + +<p> +“The Jew did not say that, father; he said it would be because of the +sins of the people and their idolatries.” +</p> + +<p> +“What does it matter what he said?” broke in Sakon hastily. +“How shall I answer Ithobal?” +</p> + +<p> +“Tell him,” she replied with a strange smile, “that he does +wisely to be jealous of the prince Aziel.” +</p> + +<p> +“What! Of the stranger who this very day reviled you in words of such +shame, and so soon?” asked her father astonished. +</p> + +<p> +Elissa did not speak in answer; she only looked straight before her, and nodded +her head. +</p> + +<p> +“Had ever man such a daughter?” Sakon went on in petulant dismay. +“Truly it is a wise saying which tells that women love those best who +beat them, be it with the tongue or with the fist. Not but what I would gladly +see you wedded to a prince of Israel and of Egypt rather than of this half-bred +barbarian, but the legions of Solomon and of Pharaoh are far away, whereas +Ithobal has a hundred thousand spears almost at our gate.” +</p> + +<p> +“There is no need to speak of such things, father,” she said, +turning aside, “since, even were I willing, the prince would have nought +to do with me, who am a priestess of Baaltis.” +</p> + +<p> +“The matter of religion might be overcome,” suggested Sakon; +“but, no, for many reasons it is impossible. Well, this being so, +daughter, I may answer Ithobal that you will wed him.” +</p> + +<p> +“I!” she said; “I wed that black-hearted savage? My father, +you may answer what you will, but of this be sure, that I will go to my grave +before I pass as wife to the board of Ithobal.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh! my daughter,” pleaded Sakon, “think before you say it. +As his wife at least you, who are not of royal blood, will be a queen, and the +mother of kings. But if you refuse, then either I must force you, which is +hateful to me, or there will be such a war as the city has not known for +generations, for Ithobal and his tribes have many grievances against us. By the +gift of yourself, for a while, at any rate, you can, as it chances, make peace +between us, but if that is withheld, then blood will run in rivers, and perhaps +this city, with all who live in it, will be destroyed, or at the least its +trade must be ruined and its wealth stolen away.” +</p> + +<p> +“If it is decreed that all these things are to be, they will be,” +answered Elissa calmly, “seeing that this war has threatened us for many +years, and that a woman must think of herself first, and of the fate of cities +afterwards. Of my own free will I shall never take Ithobal for husband. Father, +I have said.” +</p> + +<p> +“Of the fate of cities, yes; but how of my fate, and that of those we +love? Are we all to be ruined, and perhaps slaughtered, to satisfy your whim, +girl?” +</p> + +<p> +“I did not say so, father. I said that of my own free will I would not +wed Ithobal. If you choose to give me to him you have the right to do it, but +know then that you give me to my death. Perhaps it is best that it should be +thus.” +</p> + +<p> +Sakon knew his daughter well, and it did not need that he should glance at her +face to learn that she meant her words. Also he loved her, his only child, more +dearly than anything on earth. +</p> + +<p> +“In truth my strait is hard, and I know not which way to turn,” he +said, covering his face with his hand. +</p> + +<p> +“Father,” she replied, laying her fingers lightly on his shoulder, +“what need is there to answer him at once? Take a month, or if he will +not give it, a week. Much may happen in that time.” +</p> + +<p> +“The counsel is wise,” he said, catching at this straw. +“Daughter, be in the great hall of audience with your attendants three +hours after noon, for then we must receive Ithobal boldly in all pomp, and deal +with him as best we may. And now I go to ask peace for the Levite from the +priests of El, and to discover whom the sacred colleges desire to nominate as +the new Baaltis. Doubtless it will be Mesa, the daughter of her who is dead, +though many are against her. Oh! if there were no priests and no women, this +city would be easier to govern,” and with an impatient gesture Sakon left +the room. +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +It was three o’clock in the afternoon, and the great hall of audience in +Zimboe was crowded with a brilliant assemblage. There sat Sakon, the governor, +and with him his council of the notables of the city; there were prince Aziel +and among his retinue, Issachar the prophet, fierce-eyed as ever, though hardly +recovered from the rough handling he had experienced in the temple. There were +representatives of the college of the priests of El. There were many ladies, +wives and daughters of dignitaries and wealthy citizens, and with them a great +crowd of spectators of all classes gathered in the lower part of the hall, for +a rumour had spread about that the farewell audience given by Sakon to King +Ithobal was likely to be stormy. +</p> + +<p> +When all were gathered, a herald announced that Ithobal, King of the Tribes, +waited to take his leave of Sakon, Governor of Zimboe, before departing to his +own land on the morrow. +</p> + +<p> +“Let him be admitted,” said Sakon, who looked weary and ill at +ease. Then as the herald bowed and left, he turned and whispered something into +the ear of his daughter Elissa, who stood behind his chair, her face immovable +as that of an Egyptian Sphinx, but magnificently apparelled in gleaming robes +and jewelled ornaments—which Metem, looking on them, reflected with +satisfaction were now his property. +</p> + +<p> +Presently, preceded by a burst of savage music, Ithobal entered. He was +gorgeously arrayed in a purple Tyrian robe decked with golden chains, while on +the brow, in token of his royalty, he wore a golden circlet in which was set a +single blood-red stone. Before him walked a sword-bearer carrying a sword of +ceremony, a magnificent ivory-handled weapon encrusted with rough gems and +inlaid with gold, while behind him, clad in barbaric pomp, marched a number of +counsellors and attendants, huge and half-savage men who glared wonderingly at +the splendour of the place and its occupants. As the king came, Sakon rose from +his chair of state and, advancing down the hall, took him by the hand and led +him to a similar chair placed at a little distance. +</p> + +<p> +Ithobal seated himself and looked around the hall. Presently his glance fell +upon Aziel, and he scowled. +</p> + +<p> +“Is it common, Sakon,” he asked, “that the seat of a prince +should be set higher than that of a crowned king?” And he pointed to the +chair of Aziel, which was placed a little above his own upon the daïs. +</p> + +<p> +The governor was about to answer when Aziel said coldly:— +</p> + +<p> +“Where it was pointed out to me that I should sit, there I sat, though, +for aught I care, the king Ithobal may take my place. The grandson of Pharaoh +and of Solomon does not need to dispute for precedence with the savage ruler of +savage tribes.” +</p> + +<p> +Ithobal sprang to his feet and cried, grasping his sword:— +</p> + +<p> +“By my father’s soul, you shall answer for this, Princelet.” +</p> + +<p> +“You should have sworn by your mother’s soul, King Ithobal,” +replied Aziel quietly, “for doubtless it is the black blood in your veins +that causes you to forget your courtesy. For the rest, I answer to no man save +to my king.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet there is one other who will make you answer,” replied Ithobal, +in a voice thick with rage, “and here he is,” and he drew his sword +and flashed it before the prince’s eyes. “Or if you fear to face +him, then the wands of my slaves shall cause you to cry me pardon.” +</p> + +<p> +“If you desire to challenge me to combat, king Ithobal, for this purpose +only I am your servant, though the fashion of your challenging is not that of +any nation which I know.” +</p> + +<p> +Before Ithobal could reply, Sakon cried out in a loud voice:— +</p> + +<p> +“Enough, enough! Is this a place for brawling, king Ithobal, and would +you seek to fix a quarrel upon my guest, the prince Aziel, here in my council +chamber, and to bring upon me the wrath of Israel, of Tyre, and of Egypt? Be +sure that the prince shall cross no swords with you; no, not if I have to set +him under guard to keep him safe. To your business, king Ithobal, or I break up +this assembly and send you under escort to our gates.” +</p> + +<p> +Now his counsellors plucked Ithobal by the sleeve and whispered to him some +advice, which at last he seemed to take with an ill grace, for, turning, he +said, “So be it. This is my business, Sakon: For many years I and the +countless tribes whom I rule have suffered much at the hands of you +Phœnicians, who centuries ago settled here in my country as traders. That you +should trade we are content, but not that you should establish yourselves as a +sovereign power, pretending to be my equals who are my servants. Therefore, in +the name of my nation, I demand that the tribute which you pay to me for the +use of the mines of gold shall henceforth be doubled; that the defences of this +city be thrown down; and that you cease to enslave the natives of the land to +labour in your service. I have spoken.” +</p> + +<p> +Now as these arrogant demands reached their ears, the company assembled in the +hall murmured with anger and astonishment, then turned to wait for +Sakon’s answer. +</p> + +<p> +“And if we refuse these small requests of yours, O King?” asked the +governor sarcastically, “what then? Will you make war upon us?” +</p> + +<p> +“First tell me, Sakon, if you do refuse them?” +</p> + +<p> +“In the name of the cities of Tyre and Sidon whom I serve, and of Hiram +my master, I refuse them one and all,” answered Sakon with dignity. +</p> + +<p> +“Then, Sakon, I am minded to bring up a hundred thousand men against you +and to sweep you and your city from the face of earth,” said Ithobal. +“Yet I remember that I also have Phœnician blood in my veins mixed with +the nobler and more ancient blood at which yonder upstart jeers, and therefore +I would spare you. I remember also that for generations there has been peace +and amity between my forefathers and the Council of this city, and therefore I +would spare you. Behold, then, I build a bridge whereby you may escape, asking +but one little thing of you in proof that you are indeed my friend, and it is +that you give me your daughter, the lady Elissa, whom I seek to make my queen. +Think well before you answer, remembering that upon this answer may hang the +lives of all who listen to you, ay, and of many thousand others.” +</p> + +<p> +For a while there was silence in the assemblage, and every eye was fixed upon +Elissa, who stood neither moving nor speaking, her face still set like that of +a Sphinx, and almost as unreadable. Aziel gazed at her with the rest, and his +eyes she felt alone of all the hundreds that were bent upon her. Indeed, so +strongly did they draw her, that against her own will she turned her head and +met them. Then remembering what had passed between herself and the prince that +very day, she coloured faintly and looked down, neither the glance nor the +blush escaping the watchful Ithobal. +</p> + +<p> +Presently Sakon spoke:— +</p> + +<p> +“King Ithobal,” he said, “I am honoured indeed that you +should seek my daughter as your queen, but she is my only child, whom I love, +and I have sworn to her that I will not force her to marry against her will, +whoever be the suitor. Therefore, King, take your answer from her own lips, for +whatever it be it is my answer.” +</p> + +<p> +“Lady,” said Ithobal, “you have heard your father’s +words; be pleased to say that you look with favour upon my suit, and that you +will deign to share my throne and power.” +</p> + +<p> +Elissa took a step forward on the daïs and curtseyed low before the king. +</p> + +<p> +“O King!” she said, “I am your handmaid, and great indeed is +the favour that you would do your servant. Yet, King, I pray of you search out +some fairer woman of a more royal rank to share your crown and sceptre, for I +am all unworthy of them, and to those words on this matter which I have spoken +in past days I have none to add.” Then again she curtseyed, adding, +“King, I am your servant.” +</p> + +<p> +Now a murmur of astonishment went up from the audience, for few of them thought +it possible that Elissa, who, however beautiful, was but the daughter of a +noble, could refuse to become the wife of a king. Ithobal alone did not seem to +be astonished, for he had expected this answer. +</p> + +<p> +“Lady,” he said, repressing with an effort the passions which were +surging within him, “I think that I have something to offer to the woman +of my choice, and yet you put me aside as lightly as though I had neither name, +nor power, nor station. This, as it seems to me, can be read in one way only, +that your heart is given elsewhere.” +</p> + +<p> +“Have it as you will, King,” answered Elissa, “my heart is +given elsewhere.” +</p> + +<p> +“And yet, lady, not four suns gone you swore to me that you loved no man. +Since then it seems that you have learned to love, and swiftly, and it is +yonder Jew whom you have chosen.” And he pointed to the prince Aziel. +</p> + +<p> +Again Elissa coloured, this time to the eyes, but she showed no other sign of +confusion. +</p> + +<p> +“May the king pardon me,” she said, “and may the prince +Aziel, whose name has thus been coupled with mine, pardon me. I said indeed +that my heart was given elsewhere, but I did not say it was given to any man. +May not the heart of a mortal maid-priestess be given to the +Ever-living?” +</p> + +<p> +Now for a moment the king was silenced, while a murmur of applause at her ready +wit went round the audience. But before it died away a voice at the far end of +the hall called out:— +</p> + +<p> +“Perchance the lady does not know that yonder in Egypt, and in Jerusalem +also, prince Aziel is named the Ever-living.” +</p> + +<p> +Now it was Elissa’s turn to be overcome. +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, I knew it not,” she said; “how should I know it? I +spoke of that Dweller in the heavens whom I worship——” +</p> + +<p> +“And behold, the title fits a dweller on the earth whom you must also +worship, for such omens do not come by chance,” cried the same voice, but +from another quarter of the crowded hall. +</p> + +<p> +“I ask pardon,” broke in Aziel, “and leave to speak. It is +true that owing to a certain birth-mark which I bear, among the Egyptians I +have been given the bye-name of the Ever-living, but it is one which this lady +can scarcely have heard, therefore jest no more upon a chance accident of +words. Moreover, if you be men, cease to heap insult upon a woman. I who am +almost a stranger here have not dared to ask the lady Elissa for her +favour.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ay, but you will ask and she will grant,” answered the same voice, +the owner of which none could discover—for he seemed to speak from every +part of the chamber. +</p> + +<p> +“Indeed,” went on Aziel, not heeding the interruption, “the +last words between us were words of anger, for we quarrelled on a matter of +religion.” +</p> + +<p> +“What of that?” cried the voice; “love is the highest of +religions, for do not the Phœnicians worship it?” +</p> + +<p> +“Seize yonder knave,” shouted Sakon, and search was made but +without avail. Afterwards, however, Aziel remembered that once, when they were +weather-bound on their journey from the coast, Metem had amused them by making +his voice sound from various quarters of the hut in which they lay. Then +Ithobal rose and said:— +</p> + +<p> +“Enough of this folly; I am not here to juggle with words, or to listen +to such play. Whether the lady Elissa spoke of the gods she serves or of a man +is one to me. I care not of whom she spoke, but for her words I do care. Now +hearken, you city of traders: If this is to be thy answer, then I break down +that bridge which I have built, and it is war between you and my Tribes, war to +the end. But let her change her words, and whether she loves me or loves me +not, come to be my wife, and, for my day, the bridge shall stand; for once that +we are wed I can surely teach her love, or if I cannot, at least it is she I +seek with or without her love. Reflect then, lady, and reply again, remembering +how much hangs upon your lips.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do you think, king Ithobal,” Elissa answered, looking at him with +angry eyes, “that a woman such as I am can be won by threats? I have +spoken, king Ithobal.” +</p> + +<p> +“I know not,” he replied; “but I do know that she can be won +by force, and then surely, lady, your pride shall pay the price, for you shall +be mine, but not my queen.” +</p> + +<p> +Now one of the council rose and said:— +</p> + +<p> +“It seems, Sakon, that there is more in this matter than whether or no +the king Ithobal pleases your daughter. Is the city then to be plunged into a +great war, of which none can see the end, because one woman looks askance upon +a man? Better that a thousand girls should be wedded where they would not than +that such a thing should happen. Sakon, according to our ancient law you have +the right to give your daughter in marriage where and when you will. We demand, +therefore, that for the good of the commonwealth, you should exercise this +right, and hand over the lady Elissa to king Ithobal.” +</p> + +<p> +This speech was received with loud and general shouts of approval, for no +Phœnician audience would have been willing to sacrifice its interests for a +thing so trivial as the happiness of a woman. +</p> + +<p> +“Between the desire of a beloved daughter to whom I have pledged my word +and my duty to the great city over which I rule, my strait is hard +indeed,” answered Sakon. “Hearken, king Ithobal, I must have time. +Give me eight days from now in which to answer you, for if you will not, I deny +your suit.” +</p> + +<p> +Ithobal seemed about to refuse the demand of Sakon. Then once more his +counsellors plucked him by the sleeve, pointing out to him that if he did this, +it was likely that none of them would leave the city alive. At some sign from +the governor, they whispered, the captains of the guard were already hastening +from the hall. +</p> + +<p> +“So be it, Sakon,” he said. “To-night I camp without your +walls, which are no longer safe for one who has threatened war against them, +and on the eighth day from this see to it that your heralds being me the Lady +Elissa and peace—or I make good my threat. Till then, farewell.” +And placing himself in the midst of his company king Ithobal left the hall. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap07"></a>CHAPTER VII<br /> +THE BLACK DWARF</h2> + +<p> +Some two hours had passed since the break-up of the assembly in the great hall. +Prince Aziel was seated in his chamber, when the keeper of the door announced +that a woman was without who desired to speak with him. He gave orders that she +should be admitted, and presently a veiled figure entered the room and bowed +before him. +</p> + +<p> +“Be pleased to unveil, and to tell me your business,” he said. +</p> + +<p> +With some reluctance his visitor withdrew the wrapping from her head, revealing +a face which Aziel recognised as one that he had seen among the waiting women +who attended on Elissa. +</p> + +<p> +“My message is for your ear, Prince,” she said, glancing at the man +who had ushered her into the chamber. +</p> + +<p> +“It is not my custom to receive strangers thus alone,” said the +prince; “but be it as you will,” and he motioned to the servant to +retire without the door. “I await your pleasure,” he added, when +the man had gone. +</p> + +<p> +“It is here,” she answered, and drew from her bosom a little +papyrus roll. +</p> + +<p> +“Who wrote this?” he asked. +</p> + +<p> +“I know not, Prince; it was given to me to pass on to you.” +</p> + +<p> +Then he opened the roll and read. It ran thus: “Though we parted with +bitter words, still in my sore distress I crave the comfort of your counsel. +Therefore, since I am forbidden to speak with you openly, meet me, I beseech +you, at moonrise in the palace garden under the shade of the great fig tree +with five roots, where I shall be accompanied only by one I trust. Bring no man +with you for my safety’s sake.—Elissa.” +</p> + +<p> +Aziel thrust the scroll into his robe, and thought awhile. Then he gave the +waiting lady a piece of gold and said:— +</p> + +<p> +“Tell her who sent you that I obey her words. Farewell.” +</p> + +<p> +This message seemed to puzzle the woman, who opened her lips to speak. Then, +changing her mind, she turned and went. +</p> + +<p> +Scarcely had she gone when the Phœnician, Metem, was ushered into the room. +</p> + +<p> +“O Prince,” he said maliciously, “pardon me if I caution you. +Yet in truth if veiled ladies flit thus through your apartments in the light of +day, it will reach the ears of the holy but violent Issachar, of whose doings I +come to speak. Then, Prince, I tremble for you.” +</p> + +<p> +Aziel made a movement half-impatient and half-contemptuous. “The woman is +a serving-maid,” he said, “who brought me a message that I +understand but little. Tell me, Metem, for you know this place of old, does +there stand in the palace garden a great fig tree with five roots?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Prince; at least such a tree used to grow there when last I visited +this country. It was one of the wonders of the town, because of its size. What +of it?” +</p> + +<p> +“Little, except that I must be under it at moonrise. See and read, since +whatever you may say of yourself, you are, I think, no traitor.” +</p> + +<p> +“Not if I am well paid to keep counsel, Prince,” Metem answered +with a smile. Then he read the scroll. +</p> + +<p> +“I am glad that the noble lady brings an attendant with her,” he +said as he returned it, with a bow. “The gossips of Zimboe are +censorious, and might misinterpret this moonlight meeting, as indeed would +Sakon and Issachar. Well, doves will coo and maids will woo, and unless I can +make money out of it the affair is none of mine.” +</p> + +<p> +“Have I not told you that there is no question of wooing?” asked +the prince angrily. “I go only to give her what counsel I can in the +matter of the suit of this savage, Ithobal. The lady Elissa and I have +quarrelled beyond repair over that accursed sacrifice——” +</p> + +<p> +“Which her ready wit prevented,” put in Metem. +</p> + +<p> +“But I promised last night that I would help her if I could,” the +prince went on, “and I always keep my word.” +</p> + +<p> +“I understand, Prince. Well, since you turn from the lady, whose name +with yours is so much in men’s mouths just now, doubtless you will give +her wise counsel, namely, to wed Ithobal, and lift the shadow of war from this +city. Then, indeed, we shall all be grateful to you, for it seems that no one +else can move her stubbornness. And, by the way: If, when she has listened to +your wisdom, the daughter of Sakon should chance to explain to you that the +sight of this day’s attempted sacrifice filled her with horror, and that +she parted with every jewel she owns to put an end to it—well, her words +will be true. But, since you have quarrelled, they will have no more interest +for you, Prince, than has my talk about them. So now to other matters.” +And Metem began to speak of the conduct of Issachar in the sanctuary, and of +the necessity of guarding him against assassination at the hands of the priests +of El as a consequence of his religious zeal. Presently he was gone, leaving +Aziel somewhat bewildered. +</p> + +<p> +Could it be true, as she herself had told him, and as Metem now asserted, that +Elissa had not participated willingly in the dark rites in the temple? If so he +had misjudged her and been unjust; indeed, what atonement could suffice for +such words as he had used towards her? Well, to some extent she must have +understood and forgiven them, otherwise she would scarcely have sought his aid, +though he knew not how he could help her in her distress. +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +When Elissa returned from the assembly, she laid herself down to rest, worn out +in mind and body. Soon sleep came to her, and with the sleep dreams. At first +these were vague and shadowy, then they grew more clear. She dreamed that she +saw a dim and moonlit garden, and in it a vast tree with twisted roots that +seemed familiar to her. Something moving among the branches of this tree +attracted her attention, but for a long while she watched it without being able +to discover what it was. Now she saw. The moving thing was a hideous black +dwarf with beady eyes, who held in his hand a little ivory tipped bow, on the +string of which was set an arrow. Her consciousness concentrated itself upon +this arrow, and though she knew not how, she became aware that it was poisoned. +What was the dwarf doing in the tree with a bow and poisoned arrow, she +wondered? Suddenly a sound seemed to strike her ear, the sound of a man’s +footsteps walking over grass, and she perceived that the figure of the dwarf, +crouched upon the bough, became tense and alert, and that his fingers tightened +upon the bow-string until the blood was driven from their yellow tips. +Following the glance of his wicked black eyes, she saw advancing through the +shadow a tall man clad in a dark robe. Now he emerged into a patch of moonlight +and stood looking around him as though he were searching for some one. Then the +dwarf raised himself to his knees upon the bough, and, aiming at the bare +throat of the man, drew the bow-string to his ear. At this moment the victim +turned his head and the moonlight shone full upon his face. It was that of the +prince Aziel. +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +Elissa awoke from her vision with a little cry, then rose trembling, and strove +to comfort herself in the thought that although it was so very vivid she had +dreamed but a dream. Still shaken and unnerved, she passed into another +chamber, and made pretence to eat of the meal that was made ready for her, for +it was now the hour of sunset. While she was thus employed, it was announced +that the Phœnician, Metem, desired to speak with her, and she commanded that +he should be admitted. +</p> + +<p> +“Lady,” he said bowing, so soon as her attendants had withdrawn to +the farther end of the chamber, “you can guess my errand. This morning I +gave you certain tidings which proved both true and useful, and for those +tidings you promised a reward.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is so,” she said, and going to a chest she drew from it an +ivory casket full of ornaments of gold and among them necklaces and other +objects set with uncut precious stones. “Take them,” she said, +“they are yours; that is, save this gold chain alone, for it is vowed to +Baaltis.” +</p> + +<p> +“But lady,” he asked, “how can you appear before Ithobal the +king thus robbed of all your ornaments?” +</p> + +<p> +“I shall not appear before Ithobal the king,” she answered sharply. +</p> + +<p> +“You say so! Then what will the prince Aziel think of you when he sees +you thus unadorned?” +</p> + +<p> +“My beauty is my adornment,” she replied, “not these gems and +gold. Moreover, it is nought to me what he thinks, for he hates me, and has +reviled me.” +</p> + +<p> +Metem lifted his eyebrows incredulously and went on: “Still, I will not +deprive you of this woman’s gear. Look now, I value it, and at no high +figure,” and drawing out his writer’s palette and a slip of +papyrus, he wrote upon it an acknowledgment of debt, which he asked her to +sign. +</p> + +<p> +“This document, lady,” he said, “I will present to your +father—or your husband—at a convenient season, nor do I fear that +either of them will refuse to honour it. And now I take my leave, for +you—have an appointment to keep—and,” he added with emphasis, +“the time of moonrise is at hand.” +</p> + +<p> +“Your meaning, I pray you?” she asked. “I have no appointment +at moonrise, or at any other hour.” +</p> + +<p> +Metem bowed politely, but in a fashion which showed that he put no faith in her +words. +</p> + +<p> +“Again I ask your meaning, merchant,” she said, “for your +dark hintings are scarcely to be borne.” +</p> + +<p> +The Phœnician looked at her; there was a ring of truth in her voice. +</p> + +<p> +“Lady,” he said, “will you indeed deny, after I have seen it +written by yourself, that within some few minutes you meet the prince Aziel +beneath a great tree in the palace gardens, there—so said the +scroll—to ask his aid in this matter of the suit of Ithobal?” +</p> + +<p> +“Written by myself?” she said wonderingly. “Meet the prince +Aziel beneath a tree in the palace gardens? Never have I thought of it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet, lady, the scroll I saw purported to be written by you, and your own +woman bore it to the prince. As I think, she sits yonder at the end of the +chamber, for I know her shape.” +</p> + +<p> +“Come hither,” called Elissa, addressing the woman. “Now tell +me, what scroll was this that you carried to-day to the prince Aziel, saying +that I sent you?” +</p> + +<p> +“Lady,” answered the girl confusedly, “I never told the +prince Aziel that you sent him the scroll.” +</p> + +<p> +“The truth, woman, the truth,” said her mistress. “Lie not, +or it will be the worse for you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Lady, this is the truth. As I was walking through the market-place an +old black woman met me, and offered me a piece of gold if I would deliver a +letter into the hand of the prince Aziel. The gold tempted me, for I had need +of it, and I consented; but of who wrote the letter I know nothing, nor have I +ever seen the woman before.” +</p> + +<p> +“You have done wrong, girl,” said Elissa, “but I believe your +tale. Now go.” +</p> + +<p> +When she had gone, Elissa stood for a while thinking; and, as she thought, +Metem saw a look of fear gather on her face. +</p> + +<p> +“Say,” she asked him, “is there anything strange about the +tree of which the scroll tells?” +</p> + +<p> +“Its size is strange,” he answered, “and it has five roots +that stand above the ground.” +</p> + +<p> +As he spoke Elissa uttered a little cry. +</p> + +<p> +“Ah!” she said, “it is the tree of my dream. Now—now I +understand. Swift, oh! come with me swiftly, for see, the moon rises,” +and she sprang to the door followed by the amazed Metem. +</p> + +<p> +Another minute, and they were speeding down the narrow street so fast that +those who loitered there turned their heads and laughed, for they thought that +a jealous husband pursued his wife. As Elissa fumbled at the hasp of the door +of the garden, Metem overtook her. +</p> + +<p> +“What means this hunt?” he gasped. +</p> + +<p> +“That they have decoyed the prince here to murder him,” she +answered, and sped through the gateway. +</p> + +<p> +“Therefore we must be murdered also. A woman’s logic,” the +Phœnician reflected to himself as he panted after her. +</p> + +<p> +Swiftly as Elissa had run down the street, here she redoubled her speed, +flitting through the glades like some white spirit, and so rapidly that her +companion found it difficult to keep her in view. At length they came to a +large open space of ground where played the level beams of the rising moon, +striking upon the dense green foliage of an immense tree that grew there. Round +this tree Elissa ran, glancing about her wildly, so that for a few seconds +Metem lost sight of her, for its mass was between them. When he saw her again +she was speeding towards the figure of a man who stood in the open, about ten +paces from the outer boughs of the tree. To this she pointed as she came, +crying out aloud, “Beware! Beware!” +</p> + +<p> +Another moment and she had almost reached the man, and still pointing began to +gasp some broken words. Then, suddenly in the bright moonlight, Metem saw a +shining point of light flash towards the pair from the darkness of the tree. It +would seem that Elissa saw it also; at least, she leapt from the ground, her +arm lifted above her head as though to catch the object. Then as her feet once +more touched the earth her knees gave way, and she fell down with a moan of +pain. Metem running on towards her, as he went perceived a shape, which looked +like that of a black dwarf, slip from the shadow of the tree into some bushes +beyond where it was lost. Now he was there, to find Elissa half-seated, +half-lying on the ground, the prince Aziel bending over her, and fixed through +the palm of her right hand, which she held up piteously, a little ivory-pointed +arrow. +</p> + +<p> +“Draw it out from the wound,” he panted. +</p> + +<p> +“It will not help me,” she answered; “the arrow is +poisoned.” +</p> + +<p> +With an exclamation, Metem knelt beside her, and, not heeding her groans of +pain, drew the dart through the pierced palm. Then he tore a strip of linen +from his robe, and knotting it round Elissa’s wrist, he took a broken +stick that lay near and twisted the linen till it almost cut into her flesh. +</p> + +<p> +“Now, Prince,” he said, “suck the wound, for I have no breath +for it. Fear not, lady, I know an antidote for this arrow poison, and presently +I will be back with the salve. Till then, if you would live, do not suffer that +bandage to be loosed, however much it pains you,” and he departed +swiftly. +</p> + +<p> +Aziel put his lips to the hurt to draw out the poison. +</p> + +<p> +“Nay,” she said faintly, trying to pull away her hand, “it is +not fitting, the venom may kill you.” +</p> + +<p> +“It seems that it was meant for me,” he answered, “so at the +worst I do take but my own.” +</p> + +<p> +Presently, directing Elissa to hold her hand above her head, he put his arms +about her and carried her a hundred paces or more into the open glade. +</p> + +<p> +“Why do you move me?” she asked, her head resting on his shoulder. +</p> + +<p> +“Because whoever it was that shot the arrow may return to try his fortune +a second time, and here in the open his darts cannot reach us.” Then he +set her down upon the grass and stood looking at her. +</p> + +<p> +“Listen, prince Aziel,” Elissa said after a while, “the venom +with which these black men soak their weapons is very strong, and unless +Metem’s salve be good, it may well chance that I shall die. Therefore +before I die I wish to say a word to you. What brought you to this place +to-night?” +</p> + +<p> +“A letter from yourself, lady.” +</p> + +<p> +“I know it,” she said, “but I did not write that letter; it +was a snare, set, as I think, by the king Ithobal, who would do you to death in +this way or in that. A messenger of his bribed my waiting-maid to deliver it, +and afterwards I learnt the tale from Metem. Then, guessing all, I came hither +to try to save you.” +</p> + +<p> +“But how could you guess all, lady?” +</p> + +<p> +“In a strange fashion, Prince.” And in a few words she told him her +dream. +</p> + +<p> +“This is marvellous indeed, that you should be warned of my danger by +visions,” he said wondering, and half-doubtingly. +</p> + +<p> +“So marvellous, Prince, that you do not believe me,” Elissa +answered. “I know well what you think. You think that a woman to whom +this very morning you spoke such words as women cannot well forgive, being +revengeful laid a plot to murder you, and then, being a woman, changed her +mind. Well, it is not so; Metem can prove it to you!” +</p> + +<p> +“Lady, I believe you,” he said, “without needing the +testimony of Metem. But now the story grows still more strange, for if you had +done me no wrong, how comes it that to preserve me from harm you set your +tender flesh between the arrow and one who had reviled you?” +</p> + +<p> +“It was by chance,” she answered faintly. “I learnt the truth +and ran to warn you. Then I saw the arrow fly towards your heart, and strove to +grasp it, and it pierced me. It was by chance, by such a chance as made me +dream your danger.” And she fainted. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap08"></a>CHAPTER VIII<br /> +AZIEL PLIGHTS HIS TROTH</h2> + +<p> +At first Aziel feared that the poison had done its work, and that Elissa was +dead, till placing his hand upon her heart he felt it beating faintly, and knew +that she did but swoon. To leave her to seek water or assistance was +impossible, since he dared not loose his hold of the bandage about her wrist. +So, patiently as he might, he knelt at her side awaiting the return of Metem. +</p> + +<p> +How beautiful her pale face seemed there in the moonlight, set in its frame of +dusky hair. And how strange was this tale of hers, of a dream that she had +dreamed, a dream which, to save his own, led her to offer her life to the +murderer’s arrow. Many would not believe it, but he felt that it was +true; he felt that even if she wished it she could not lie to him, for as he +had known since first they met, their souls were open to each other. Yes, +having thus been warned of his danger, she had offered her life for +him—for him who that morning had called her, unjustly so Metem said, +“a girl of the groves and a murderess.” How came it that she had +done this, unless indeed she loved him as—he loved her? +</p> + +<p> +Aziel could no longer palter with himself, it was the truth. Last night when +Issachar accused him, he had felt this, although then he would not admit it +altogether, and now to-night he knew that his fate had found him. They would +say that, after the common fashion of men, he had been conquered by a lovely +face and form and a brave deed of devotion. But it was not so. Something beyond +the flesh and its works and attributes drew him towards this woman, something +that he could neither understand nor define (unless, indeed, the vision of +Issachar defined it), but of which he had been conscious since first he set +eyes upon her face. It was possible, it was even probable, that before another +hour had gone by she would have passed beyond his reach, into the deeps of +death, whither for a while he could not follow her. Yet he knew that the +knowledge that she never could be his would not affect the love of her which +burnt in him, for his desire towards her was not altogether a desire of the +earth. +</p> + +<p> +Aziel bent down over the swooning girl, looking into her pale face, till her +lips almost touched his own, and his breath beating on her brow seemed to give +her life again. Now she stirred, and now she opened her eyes and gazed back at +him a while, deeply and with meaning, even as he gazed at her. +</p> + +<p> +He spoke no word, for his lips seemed to be smitten with silence, but his heart +said, “I love you, I love you,” and her heart heard it, for she +whispered back:— +</p> + +<p> +“Bethink you who and what I am.” +</p> + +<p> +“It matters not, for we are one,” he replied. +</p> + +<p> +“Bethink you,” she said again, “that soon I may be dead and +lost to you.” +</p> + +<p> +“It cannot be, for we are one,” he replied. “One we have +been, one we are to-day, and one we shall be through all the length of life and +death.” +</p> + +<p> +“Prince,” she said again, “once more and for the last time I +say: Bethink you well, for it comes upon me that your words are true, and that +if I take that which to-night you offer, it will be for ever and for +aye.” +</p> + +<p> +“For ever and aye, let it be,” Aziel said, leaning towards her. +</p> + +<p> +“For ever and for aye, let it be,” she repeated, holding up her +lips to his. +</p> + +<p> +And thus in the silent moonlit garden they plighted their strange troth. +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +“Lady,” said a voice in their ears, the voice of Metem, “I +pray you let me dress your hand, for there is no time to lose.” +</p> + +<p> +Aziel looked up to see the Phœnician bending over them with a sardonic smile, +and behind him the tall form of Issachar, who stood regarding them, his arms +folded on his breast. +</p> + +<p> +“Holy Issachar,” went on Metem with malice, “be pleased to +hold this lady’s hand, since it seems that the prince here can only tend +her lips.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay,” answered the Levite, “what have I to do with this +daughter of Baaltis? Cure her if you can, or if you cannot, let her die, for so +shall a stone of stumbling be removed from the feet of the foolish.” And +he glanced indignantly at Aziel. +</p> + +<p> +“Had it not been for this same stone at least the feet of the foolish by +now would have pointed skywards. The gods send me such a stone if ever a black +dwarf draws a poisoned arrow at me,” answered Metem, as he busied himself +with his drugs. Then he added, “Nay, Prince, do not stop to answer him, +but hold the lady’s hand to the light.” +</p> + +<p> +Aziel obeyed, and having washed out the wound with water, Metem rubbed ointment +into it which burnt Elissa so sorely that she groaned aloud. +</p> + +<p> +“Be patient beneath the pain, lady,” he said, “for if it has +not already passed into your blood, this salve will eat away the poison of the +arrow.” +</p> + +<p> +Then half-leading and half-carrying her, they brought her back to the palace. +Here Metem gave her over into the care of her father, telling him as much of +the story as he thought wise, and cautioning him to keep silent concerning what +had happened. +</p> + +<p> +At the door of the palace Issachar spoke to Aziel. +</p> + +<p> +“Did I dream, Prince,” he said, “or did my ears indeed hear +you tell that idolatress that you loved her for ever, and did my eyes see you +kiss her on the lips?” +</p> + +<p> +“It seems that you saw and heard these things, Issachar,” said +Aziel, setting his face sternly. “Now hear this further, and then I pray +you give me peace on this matter of the lady Elissa: If in any way it is +possible, I shall make her my wife, and if it be not possible, then for so long +as she may live at least I will look upon no other woman.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then that is good news, Prince, to me, who am charged with your welfare, +for be sure, if I can prevent you, you shall never mix your life with that of +this heathen sorceress.” +</p> + +<p> +“Issachar,” the prince replied, “I have borne much from you +because I know well that you love me, and have stood to me in the place of a +father. But now, in my turn, I warn you, do not seek to work harm to the lady +Elissa, for in striking her you strike me, and such blows may bring my +vengeance after them.” +</p> + +<p> +“Vengeance?” mocked the Levite. “I fear but one vengeance, +and it is not yours, nor do I listen to the whisperings of love when duty +points the path. Rather would I see you dead, prince Aziel, then lured down to +hell by the wiles of yonder witch.” +</p> + +<p> +Then before Aziel could answer he turned and left him. +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +As Issachar went to his own chamber full of bitterness and indignation, he +passed the door of Elissa’s apartments, and came face to face with Metem +issuing from them. +</p> + +<p> +“Will the woman live?” he asked of him. +</p> + +<p> +“Be comforted, worthy Issachar. I think so; that is, if the bandage does +not slip. I go to tell the prince.” +</p> + +<p> +“Gladly would I give a hundred golden shekels to him who brought me +tidings that it had slipped and the woman with it, down to the arms of her +father Beelzebub,” broke in the Levite passionately. +</p> + +<p> +“Pretty words for a holy man,” said Metem, feigning amazement. +“Well, Issachar, I will do most things for good money, but to shift that +bandage would be but murder, and this I cannot work even for the gold and to +win your favour.” +</p> + +<p> +“Fool,” answered Issachar, “did I ask you to do murder? I do +not fight with such weapons; let the woman live or die as it is decreed. Nay, +enter my chamber, for I would speak with you, who are a cunning man versed in +the craft of courts. Listen now: I love this prince Aziel, for I have reared +him from his childhood, and he has been a son to me who have none. More, I am +sent hither to this hateful land to watch him and hold him from harm, and for +all that chances to him I must account. And now, what has chanced? This woman, +Elissa, by her witcheries——” +</p> + +<p> +“Softly, Issachar; what witcheries does she need beyond those lips and +form and eyes?” +</p> + +<p> +“By her witcheries, I tell you, has ensnared him so that now he swears +that he will wed her.” +</p> + +<p> +“What of it, Issachar? He might travel far to find a lovelier +woman.” +</p> + +<p> +“What of it, do you ask, remembering who he is? What of it, when you know +his faith, and that this fair idolater will sap it, and cause him to cast away +his soul? What of it, when with your own ears you heard him swear to love her +through all the deeps of life and death? Man, are you mad?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, but some might say that you are, holy father, who forget that I am +also of this religion which you revile. But for good or ill, so the matter +stands; and now what is it that you wish of me?” +</p> + +<p> +“I wish that you should make it impossible that the prince Aziel should +take this woman to wife. Not by murder, indeed, for ‘thou shalt not +kill,’ saith the law, but by bringing it about that she should marry the +king Ithobal, or if that fail, in any other fashion which seems good to +you.” +</p> + +<p> +“‘Thou shalt not kill,’ saith your law; tell me then, +Issachar, does it say also that thou shalt hand over a woman to a fate that she +chances to hold to be worse than death? Doubtless it is foolish of her, and we +should not heed such woman’s folly. Yet this one has a certain strength +of will, and I question if all the elders of the city will bring her living to +the arms of Ithobal.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is nought to me, Metem, if she weds Ithobal, or weds him not, save +that I do not love this heathen man, and surely her temper and her witcheries +would bring ruin on him. What I would have you do is to prevent her from +marrying Aziel; the way I leave to you.” +</p> + +<p> +“And what should I be paid for this service, holy Issachar?” +</p> + +<p> +The Jew thought and answered, “A hundred golden shekels.” +</p> + +<p> +“Two hundred gold shekels,” replied Metem reflectively, “nay, +I am sure you said <i>two</i> hundred, Issachar. At least, I do not work for +less, and it is a small sum enough, seeing that to earn it I must take upon +myself the guilt of severing two loving hearts. But I know well that you are +right, and that this would be an evil marriage for the prince Aziel, and also +for the lady Elissa, who then day by day and year by year must bear the scourge +of your reproaches, Issachar. Therefore I will do my best, not for the money +indeed, but because I see herein a righteous duty. And now here is parchment, +give me the lamp that I may prepare the bond.” +</p> + +<p> +“My word is my bond, Phœnician,” answered the Levite haughtily. +</p> + +<p> +Metem looked at him. “Doubtless,” he said, “but you are old, +and this is—a rough country where accidents chance at times. Still, the +thing would read very ill, and, as you say, your word is your bond. Only +remember, Issachar, two hundred shekels, bearing interest at two shekels a +month. And now you are weary, holy Issachar, with plotting for the welfare of +others, and so am I. Farewell, and good dreams to you.” +</p> + +<p> +The Levite watched him go, muttering to himself, “Alas that I should have +fallen to such traffic with a knave, but it is for your sake and for your +soul’s sake, O Aziel my son. I pray that Fate be not too strong for me +and you.” +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +For two days from this night Elissa lay almost senseless, and by many it was +thought that she would die. But when Metem saw her on the morning after she had +been wounded, and noted that her arm was but little swollen, and had not turned +black, he announced that she would certainly live, whatever the doctors of the +city might declare. Thereon Sakon, her father, and Aziel blessed him, but +Issachar said nothing. +</p> + +<p> +As the Phœnician was walking through the market-place early on the next day an +aged black woman, whom he did not know, accosted him, saying that she had a +message for his ear from the king Ithobal who was camped without the city and +who desired to see the merchandise that he had brought with him from the coasts +of Tyre. Now Metem had already sold all his wares at a great advantage; still, +as he would not neglect this opportunity of trade, he purchased others from his +fellow merchants, and loading two camels with them, set out for the camp of +Ithobal, riding on a mule. By midday he had reached it. The camp was pitched +near water in a pleasant grove of trees, and on one of these not far from the +tent of Ithobal Metem noted that there hung the body of a black dwarf. +</p> + +<p> +“Behold the fate of him who shoots at the buck and hits the doe. Well, I +have always said that murder is a dangerous game, since blood calls out for +blood,” thought Metem as he rode towards the tent. +</p> + +<p> +At its door stood king Ithobal looking very huge and sullen in the sunlight. +Metem dismounted and prostrated himself obsequiously. +</p> + +<p> +“May the King live for ever,” he said, “the great King, the +King to whom all the other kings of the earth are as the little gods to Baal, +or the faint stars to the sun.” +</p> + +<p> +“Rise, and cease from flatteries,” said Ithobal shortly; “I +may be greater than the other kings, but at least you do not think it.” +</p> + +<p> +“If the king says so, so let it be,” replied Metem calmly. “A +woman yonder in the market-place told me that the king wished to trade for my +merchandise. So I have brought the best of it; priceless goods that which much +toil I have carried hither from Tyre,” and he pointed to the two camels +laden with the inferior articles which he had purchased, and began to read the +number and description of the goods from his tablets. +</p> + +<p> +“What value do you set upon the whole of them, merchant?” asked +Ithobal. +</p> + +<p> +“To the traders of the country so much, but to you, O King, so much +only,” and he named a sum twice that which he had paid in the city. +</p> + +<p> +“So be it,” assented Ithobal indifferently; “I do not haggle +over wares. Though your price is large, presently my treasurer shall weigh you +out the gold.” +</p> + +<p> +There was a moment’s pause, then Metem said:— +</p> + +<p> +“The trees in this camp of yours bear evil fruit, O King. If I might ask, +why does that little black monkey hang yonder.” +</p> + +<p> +“Because he tried to do murder with his poisoned arrows,” answered +Ithobal sullenly. +</p> + +<p> +“And failed? Well, it must comfort you to think that he did fail if he +was of the number of your servants. It is strange now that some knave unknown +attempted murder last night in the palace gardens, also with poisoned arrows. I +say attempted, but as yet I cannot be sure that he did not succeed.” +</p> + +<p> +“What!” exclaimed Ithobal, “was——” and he +stopped. +</p> + +<p> +“No, King, prince Aziel was not hit; the Lady Elissa took that shaft +through her hand, and lies between life and death. I am doctoring her, and had +it not been for my skill she would now be stiff and black—as the rogue +who shot the arrow.” +</p> + +<p> +“Save her,” said Ithobal hoarsely, “and I will pay you a +doctor’s fee of a hundred ounces of pure gold. Oh! had I but known, the +clumsy fool should not have died so easily.” +</p> + +<p> +Metem took out his tablets and made a note of the amount. +</p> + +<p> +“Take comfort, King,” he said, “I think that I shall earn the +fee. But to speak truth, this matter looks somewhat ugly, and your name is +mentioned in it. Also it is said that your cousin, the great man whom the +prince Aziel slew, was charged to abduct a certain lady by your order.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then false tales are told in Zimboe, and not for the first time,” +answered Ithobal coldly. “Listen, merchant, I have a question to ask of +you. Will the prince Aziel meet me in single combat with whatever weapons he +may choose?” +</p> + +<p> +“Doubtless, and—pardon me if I say it—slay you as he slew +your cousin, for he is a fine swordsman, who has studied the art in Egypt, +where it is understood, and your strength would not avail against him. But your +question is already answered, for though the prince would be glad enough to +fight you, Sakon will have none of it. Have you nothing else to ask me, +King?” +</p> + +<p> +Ithobal nodded and said:— +</p> + +<p> +“Listen, merchant. I know your repute of old, that you love money and +will do much to gain it, and that you are craftier than any hill-side jackal. +Now, if you can do my will, you will have more wealth than ever you won in your +life before.” +</p> + +<p> +“The offer sounds good in a poor man’s ears, King, but it depends +upon what is your will.” +</p> + +<p> +Ithobal went to the door of the tent, and commanded the sentries who stood +without to suffer none to disturb him or draw near. Then he returned and +said:— +</p> + +<p> +“I will tell you, but beware that you do not betray my counsels in this +or in any other matter, for I have sharp ears and a long arm. You know how +things are between me and the lady Elissa and her father Sakon and the city +which he governs. They stand thus: Unless within eight days she is given to me +in marriage, I have sworn that I will make war upon Zimboe. Ay, and I will make +it, for, filled with hate for the white man, already the great tribes are +gathering to my banners in ten armies, each of them ten thousand strong. Once +let them march beneath yonder walls, and before they leave it Zimboe, city of +gold, shall be nothing but a heap of ruins, and a habitation of the dead. Such +shall be my vengeance; but I seek love more than vengeance, for what will it +avail me to butcher all that people of traders if—as well may chance in +the accidents of war—I lose her whom I desire, whose beauty shall be my +crown of crowns, and whose mind shall make me great indeed? +</p> + +<p> +“Therefore, Metem, if may be, I would win her without war; let the war +come afterwards, as come it must, for the time is ripe. And though she turned +from me, this I should have done, had it not been for yonder prince Aziel, whom +she met in a strange fashion, and straightway learned to love. Now the thing is +more difficult. Nay, while the prince Aziel can take her to wife it is +well-nigh impossible, since no threats of war or ruin can turn a woman’s +heart from him she seeks—to him she flies. Therefore, I ask +you——” +</p> + +<p> +“Your pardon, King,” Metem broke in, “I see that you, like +your rival, are so besotted with the beauty of this girl, that in all with +which she has to do you have lost the rule of your own reason. I would save you +perchance from saying words to which I do not wish to listen, and when you find +a quiet mind again, that you may regret having spoken. If you were about to +require of me that I should cause or be privy to the death of the prince Aziel, +you would require it in vain; yes, even if you were willing to pay me gold in +mountains, and gems in camel loads. With murder I will have nothing to do; +moreover, the prince, your rival, is my friend and master, and I will not harm +him. Further, I may tell you that after the adventure of last night none will +be able to come near him to hurt a hair of his head, seeing that through +daylight and through darkness he is guarded by two men.” +</p> + +<p> +“With a woman’s body to set before him as a shield,” said +Ithobal bitterly. “But you speak too fast; I was not about to ask you to +kill this man, or even to procure his death, because I know it would be +useless, but rather that you should so contrive that he cannot take Elissa. How +you contrive it I care nothing, so that she is not harmed. You may kidnap him, +or stir up the city against him, as one destined to be the source of war, and +cause him to be despatched back to the great sea, or bribe the priests of El to +hide him away, or what you will, if only you separate him from this woman for +ever. Say, merchant, are you willing to undertake the task, or must my good +gold go elsewhere?” +</p> + +<p> +Metem pondered awhile and answered:— +</p> + +<p> +“I think that I will undertake it, King; that is, if we come to terms, +though whether I shall succeed is another matter. I will undertake it not only +because I seek to enrich myself, but because I and others who serve him think +it is a very evil thing that this prince, Aziel, whose blood is the most royal +in the whole world, without the consent of the great king of Israel, his +grandfather, should wed the daughter of a Phœnician officer, however beautiful +and loving she may be. Also I love yonder city, which I have known for forty +years, and would not see it plunged in a bloody war and perhaps destroyed +because a certain man desires to call a certain girl his sweetheart. And now if +I succeed in this, what will you give me?” +</p> + +<p> +Ithobal named a great sum. +</p> + +<p> +“King,” replied Metem, “you must double it, for that amount +you speak of I shall be forced to spend in bribes. More; you must give me the +gold now, before I leave your camp, or I will do nothing.” +</p> + +<p> +“That you may steal it—and do nothing,” laughed Ithobal +angrily. +</p> + +<p> +“As you will, King. Such are my terms; if they do not please you, well, +let me go. But if you accept them, I will sign a bond under which if within +eight days I do not make it impossible for the prince Aziel to marry the lady +Elissa, you may reclaim so much of the gold as I do not prove to you to have +been spent upon your service, and no bond of Metem the Phœnician was ever yet +dishonoured. No, on second thought I will learn wisdom from Issachar the Levite +and put my hand to no writing which it would pain me that some should read. +King, my sworn word must content you. Another thing, soon war may break out, or +I may be forced to fly. Therefore, I demand of you a pass sealed with your seal +that will enable me to ride with twenty men and all my goods and treasure, even +through the midst of your armies. Moreover you shall swear the great oath to me +that notice of this pass will be given to your generals and that it shall be +respected to the letter. Do you consent to these terms?” +</p> + +<p> +“I consent,” said the king presently. +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +That evening Metem returned to the city of Zimboe, but those who led his two +camels little guessed that now they were laden, not with merchandise, but with +treasure. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap09"></a>CHAPTER IX<br /> +GREETING TO THE BAALTIS</h2> + +<p> +When Metem accepted bribes from Issachar and from Ithobal, in consideration of +his finding means to make the union of Aziel and Elissa impossible, he had +already thought out his scheme. It was one which, while promoting, as he +considered, the true welfare of the lovers, if successful would separate them +effectually and for ever. +</p> + +<p> +It will be remembered that Elissa had explained to the prince how, on the death +of the lady Baaltis, another woman was elected by the colleges of the priests +and priestesses to fill her place. This lady could marry, indeed she was +expected to do so, but her husband must take the title of Shadid, and for her +lifetime act as high-priest of El. Therefore, thought Metem, if it could be +brought about that Elissa should be chosen as the new Baaltis, it was obvious +that there would be an end of the possibility of her marriage to Aziel. Then, +in order to wed her, he must renounce his own religion—a thing which no +Jew would do—and pose as the earthly incarnation of one whom he +considered a false divinity or a devil. +</p> + +<p> +Indeed, not only marriage, but any further intimacy between the pair would be +rendered impracticable, for upon this point the religious law, lax enough in +many particulars, was very strict. In fact, so strict was it that for the lady +Baaltis of the day to be found alone with any man meant death to her and him. +The reason of this severity was that she was supposed to represent the goddess; +and her husband, the Shadid, a god, so that any questionable behaviour on her +part became an insult to the most powerful divinities of Heaven, which could +only be atoned by the death of their unworthy incarnations. That these laws +were actual and not formal only was proved by the instance that within the +hundred years before the birth of Elissa, a lady Baaltis had been executed for +some such offence, having been hurled indeed from the topmost pinnacle of the +fortress above the temple to the foot of the precipice beneath. +</p> + +<p> +All these sacerdotal customs were familiar to Metem, who argued from them that +to procure the nomination of Elissa as the Baaltis would be to build an +impassable wall between her and the prince Aziel. Also, by way of compensation, +that office would confer upon her the highest dignity and honour which could be +attained by any woman in the city. Moreover, her election would place her +beyond the reach of the persecutions of Ithobal, since as lady Baaltis she was +entitled to choose her own husband without hindrance or appeal, provided only +that he was of pure white blood, which Ithobal was not. +</p> + +<p> +Having thought the matter out, and convinced himself that such a course would +not only benefit his own pocket, but prove to the lasting advantage of all +concerned, Metem, filled with a glow of righteous zeal, set about his task with +the promptitude and cunning of his race. It was not an easy task, for although +she had enemies and rivals, the daughter of the dead Baaltis, Mesa by name, was +considered to be certain of election at the poll of the priests and +priestesses. This ceremony was to take place within two days. Nothing +discouraged, however, by the scant time at his disposal or other difficulties, +without her knowledge or that of her father, Metem began his canvass on behalf +of Elissa. +</p> + +<p> +First with a great sum of gold he bought over the ex-Shadid, the husband of the +late lady Baaltis. As it chanced, this worthy had quarrelled with his daughter. +Therefore it followed that he would prefer to see some stranger chosen in her +place in the hope that, notwithstanding his years, by choosing him in marriage +she might confirm him in his position of spouse to the goddess. +</p> + +<p> +All Metem’s further negotiations need not be followed: money played a +part in most of them; jealousy and dislike in some. A few there were also whom +he won over by urging the beauty and wisdom of Elissa, and her extraordinary +fitness for the post, as evinced by her recent inspiration in the temple! He +found his most powerful allies, however, among the members of the council of +the city. To these grandees he pointed out that Elissa was a woman of great +strength of character, who would certainly never consent to be forced into a +marriage with Ithobal, although her refusal should mean a desperate war, and +that her father was so much under her influence that he could not be brought to +put pressure upon her. Therefore it was obvious that the only way out of the +difficulty was her election as Baaltis. This must prove a perfect answer to the +suit of the savage king, since the goddess could not be compelled, and even +Ithobal, fearing the vengeance of Heaven, would shrink from offering her +violence. +</p> + +<p> +Their support gained, having first sworn him to secrecy, he attacked Sakon +himself, using similar arguments with him. He pointed out, in addition, that if +the governor hoped to see his daughter married to prince Aziel, who was in love +with her, however dazzling might be the prospects of such a match, it would +certainly bring upon him the present wrath of Ithobal, and, in all probability, +future trouble with the Courts of Egypt, of Israel, and through them, of Tyre. +Thus working in many ways, Metem laboured incessantly to win his end, so that +when at last the hour of election came he awaited its issue, fairly confident +of success. +</p> + +<p> +It was on this same afternoon that for the first time since she had received +the arrow which was meant for his heart, Aziel was admitted to see Elissa. Now +at length her recovery was certain, although she had not shaken off her +weakness, and her right arm and wrist were still stiff and swollen. Except for +two or three of her women, who were seated at their work behind a screen near +the far end of the great chamber, she was alone, lying upon a couch in the +recess of the window-place. Advancing to her, Aziel bent down to kiss her +wounded hand. +</p> + +<p> +“Nay,” said Elissa, hiding it beneath the folds of her robe, +“it is still black and unsightly with the poison.” +</p> + +<p> +“The more reason that I should kiss it, seeing how the stain came +there,” he answered. +</p> + +<p> +Her eyes met his, and she whispered, “Not my hand, but my brow, Prince, +for so I shall be crowned.” +</p> + +<p> +He pressed his lips upon her forehead, and replied:— +</p> + +<p> +“Queen of my heart you are already, and though the throne be humble it is +sure. The life you saved is yours, and no other’s.” +</p> + +<p> +“I did but repay a debt,” she answered; “but speak of it no +more. Gladly would I have died to save you; should such choice arise, would you +do so for me, I wonder?” +</p> + +<p> +“There is little need to ask such a question, lady; for your sake I would +not only die, I would even endure shame—that is worse than death.” +</p> + +<p> +“Sweet words, Aziel,” she answered, smiling, “of which we +shall learn the value when the hour of trial comes, as come, I think, it will. +You told me but now that you were mine, and no other’s; but is it so? I +have heard the story of a certain princess of Khem with whom your name was +mingled. Tell me, if you will, what was it that set you journeying to this far +city of ours?” +</p> + +<p> +“The desire to find you,” he answered smiling; then seeing that she +still looked at him with questioning eyes, he added, “Nay, this is the +truth, if you seek truth. Indeed, it is the best that I should tell you, since +it seems that already you have heard something of the tale. A while ago I was +sent to the Court of the Pharaoh of Egypt, by the will of my grandsire, the +king of Israel, upon an embassy of friendship, and to escort thence a certain +beautiful princess, my cousin, who was affianced by treaty to an uncle of mine, +a great prince of Israel. This I did, showing to the lady courtesy, and no +more. But the end of the matter was that when we came to Jerusalem the princess +refused to be married to my uncle, to whom she was +betrothed——” and he hesitated. +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, be not timid, Prince,” said Elissa sharply; “continue, +I pray you. I have heard that the lady added somewhat to her refusal.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is so, Elissa. She declared before the king that she would wed no +man except myself only, whereon my uncle was very angry, and accused me of +playing him false, which, indeed, I had not done.” +</p> + +<p> +“Although the lady was so fair, Aziel? But what said the great +king?” +</p> + +<p> +“He said that never having seen him to whom she was affianced, he would +not suffer that she should be forced into marriage with him against her will. +Yet that her will might be uninfluenced, he commanded that I should be sent +upon a long journey. That was his judgment, lady.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, but not all of it; surely he added other words?” she broke in +eagerly. +</p> + +<p> +“He added,” continued Aziel, with some reluctance, “that if +while I was on this journey the princess changed her mind, and chose to wed my +uncle, it would be well. But, when I returned from it, if she had not changed +her mind, and chose—to marry me—then it would be well also, and, +though he was little pleased, with this saying my uncle must be +satisfied.” +</p> + +<p> +“It does not satisfy me, prince Aziel,” Elissa answered, the tears +starting to her dark eyes. “I know full well that the lady will not +change her mind, and take a man who is in years, and whom she hates, in place +of one who is young, and whom she loves. Therefore, when you return hence to +Jerusalem, by the king’s command you will wed her.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, Elissa; if I am already married that cannot be,” he said. +</p> + +<p> +“In Judea, Prince, I am told that men take more wives than one; also, +they divorce them,” she replied; then added, “Oh, return not there +where I shall lose you. If, indeed, you love me, I pray you return not +there.” +</p> + +<p> +Before he could answer, a sound of singing and of all sorts of music caught +Aziel’s ear. Looking through the casement, he saw a great procession of +the priests and priestesses of El and Baaltis clad in their festal robes and +accompanied by many dignitaries of the city, a multitude of people and bands of +musicians, advancing across the square towards the door of the palace. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, what passes?” he exclaimed. As he spoke the door opened and +two richly arrayed heralds, wands of office in their hands, entered and +prostrated themselves before Elissa. +</p> + +<p> +“Greeting to you, most noble and blessed lady, the chosen of the +gods!” they cried with one voice. “Prepare, we beseech you, to hear +glad tidings, and to receive those who are sent to tell them.” +</p> + +<p> +“Glad tidings?” said Elissa. “Has Ithobal then withdrawn his +suit?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, lady; it is not of Ithobal that the messengers come to +speak.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then I cannot receive them,” she said, sinking back in +apprehension. “I am still ill and weak, and I pray to be excused.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, lady,” answered the herald, “that which they have to +tell will cure your sickness.” +</p> + +<p> +Again Elissa protested. Before the words had left her lips there appeared in +the doorway he who had been husband of the dead Baaltis, followed by priests +and priestesses, by Sakon her father, with whom was Metem, and many other +nobles and dignitaries. +</p> + +<p> +“All hail, lady!” they cried, prostrating themselves before her. +“All hail, lady, chosen of the gods!” +</p> + +<p> +Elissa looked at them bewildered. +</p> + +<p> +“Your pardon,” she said, “I do not understand.” +</p> + +<p> +Then, rising from his knees, he who was still the Shadid until his successor +was appointed, addressed her as spokesman. +</p> + +<p> +“Listen,” he said, “and learn, lady, the great thing that has +befallen you. Know, O divine One, that by the inspiration of El and Baaltis, +rulers of the heavens, the colleges of the priests and priestesses of the city, +following the voice of the oracles and the pointing of the omens, have set you +in that high place which death has emptied. Greeting to you, holder of the +spirit of the goddess! Greeting to the Baaltis!” +</p> + +<p> +“I did not seek this honour,” she murmured in the silence that +followed, “and I refuse it. The throne of the goddess is Mesa’s +right; let her take it, or if she will not, then find some other woman who is +more worthy.” +</p> + +<p> +“Lady,” said the Shadid, “these words become you well, but it +has pleased the gods to choose you and not my daughter, the lady Mesa, or any +other woman, and the choice of the gods may not be set aside. Till death shall +take you, you and you alone are the lady Baaltis whom we obey.” +</p> + +<p> +“Must I then be made divine against my will,” she pleaded, and +turned to Aziel as though for counsel. +</p> + +<p> +“Be pleased to stand back, prince Aziel,” said the stern voice of +the Shadid, interposing. “Remember that henceforth no man may speak to +the Baaltis save he whom she names with the name of Shadid to be her husband. +Henceforward you are parted, since to seek her company would be to cause her +death.” +</p> + +<p> +Now understanding that the doom of life-long separation had fallen upon them +like the sudden sword of fate, Aziel and Elissa gazed at each other in despair. +Then, before either of them could speak a word, at a sign from the Shadid, the +priestesses closed round Elissa. Throwing a white veil over her head, they +broke into a joyful pæan of song, and half-led, half-carried her from the +chamber to enthrone her in the palace of the goddess, which was henceforth to +be her home. +</p> + +<p> +Presently all the company, including the waiting women, having joined the +procession, the chamber was empty, with the exception of Aziel, Metem and +Issachar the Levite, who, drawn by the sound of singing, had entered the place +unnoticed. +</p> + +<p> +“Take comfort, Prince,” said the Phœnician in a half-bantering +voice, “if you and the lady Baaltis are truly dear to each other she may +still be yours, for you have but to bow the knee to El, and she will name you +Shadid and husband.” +</p> + +<p> +“Blaspheme not,” cried Issachar sternly. “Shall a worshipper +of the God of Israel do sacrifice to a demon to win a woman’s +smile?” +</p> + +<p> +“That time will prove,” answered Metem, shrugging his shoulders; +“at least it is certain that he will win it in no other way. +Prince,” he added, changing his tone, “if you have any such +thoughts, abandon them, I pray of you, for on this matter the law may not be +broken. The man spoke truth, moreover, when he told you that should you be +found with the Baaltis, not being her husband, you would cause her +death.” +</p> + +<p> +Aziel took no notice of his words, but turning to the Levite, he asked in a +quiet voice:— +</p> + +<p> +“Did you plot this to separate us, Issachar? If so, you shall live to +mourn the deed.” +</p> + +<p> +“Listen, Prince,” broke in Metem, “it was not Issachar who +plotted that the lady Elissa should be chosen Baaltis, but I, or at least I +helped the plot. Shall I tell you why I did this? It was to save you and her, +and if possible to prevent a great war also. You could not wed this woman who +is not of your race, or rank, or religion; and if you could, it would bring +about a struggle that must cost thousands their lives, and this city its +wealth. Nor could you make of her less than a wife, seeing that she is +well-born and that you are her father’s guest. Therefore for your own +sake it is best that she should be placed beyond your reach. For her sake also +it is best, since she is ambitious and born to rule, who henceforth will be +clothed with power for all her days. Moreover, had it been otherwise, in the +end she must have passed to that savage Ithobal, whom she hates. Now this is +scarcely possible, for the lady Baaltis can wed no man who is not of pure white +blood, and whom she does not choose of her own free will. That is a decree +which may not be broken even by Ithobal. So revile me not, but thank me, though +for a little while your heart be sore.” +</p> + +<p> +“My heart is sore indeed,” answered Aziel, “and if you think +your words be wise, their medicine does not soothe, Phœnician. You may have +laboured for my welfare and for that of the lady Elissa, or, like the huckster +that you are, for your own advantage, or for both—I know not, and do not +care to know. But this I know, that you, and Issachar also, are striving to +snare Fate in a web of sand, and that Fate will be too strong for it and you. I +love this woman and she loves me, because such is our destiny, and no barriers +which man may build can serve to separate us. Also of this I am assured, that +by your plots you draw the evils you would ward away upon the heads of us all, +for from them shall spring war, and deaths, and misery. +</p> + +<p> +“For the rest, do not think, Metem and Issachar, that I, whom you +betrayed, and the woman you have ruined with a crown of greatness she did not +seek, are clay to be moulded at your will. It is another hand than yours which +fashioned the vessel of our destiny; nor can you stay our lips from drinking of +the pure wine that fills it. Farewell,” and with a grave inclination of +the head he left the room. +</p> + +<p> +Metem watched him go, then he turned to Issachar and said:— +</p> + +<p> +“I have earned my hire well, and you must pay the price, but now it +troubles me to think that I touched this business. Why it is I cannot say, but +it comes upon me that the prince speaks truth, and that no plot of ours can +avail to separate these two who were born to each other, although it well may +happen that we shall unite them in death alone. Issachar,” he added with +fierce conviction, “I will not take your gold, for it is the price of +blood! I tell you it is the price of blood!” +</p> + +<p> +“Take it or no, as you will, Phœnician,” answered the Levite; +“at least I am well pleased that the promise of it bought your service. +Even should the prince Aziel discharge this day’s work with his young +life, it is better that he should perish in the body than that he should lose +his soul for the bribe of a woman’s passing beauty. Whatever else be +lost, that is saved to him, since those sorceress lips of hers are set beyond +his reach. An Israelite cannot mate with the oracle of Baaltis, Metem.” +</p> + +<p> +“You say so, Issachar, but I have seen men climb high to pluck such +fruit. Yes, I have seen them climb even when they knew that they must fall +before the fruit was reached.” +</p> + +<p> +Then he went also, leaving Issachar alone and oppressed with a dread of the +future which was none the less real because it could not be defined. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap10"></a>CHAPTER X<br /> +THE EMBASSY</h2> + +<p> +Weak as she was still with recent illness, half-fainting also from the shock of +the terrible and unexpected fate which had overtaken her, Elissa was borne in +triumph to the palace that now was hers. Around her gilded litter priestesses +danced and sang their wild chants, half-bacchanalian and half-religious; before +it marched the priests of El, clashing cymbals and crying, “Make way, +make way for the new-born goddess! Make way for her whose throne is upon the +horned moon!” while all about the multitude of spectators prostrated +themselves in worship. +</p> + +<p> +Elissa was borne in triumph. Vaguely she heard the shouts and music, dimly she +saw the dancing-girls and the bowing crowds. But all the while her heart was +alive with pain and her brain, crushed beneath the menace of this misery, could +grasp nothing clearly save the completeness of her loss. Loss! Yes, she was +lost indeed. One short hour ago and she was rejoicing in the presence of the +man she loved, and who, as she believed, loved her, while in her mind rose +visions of some happy life with him far away from this city and the dark rites +of the worshippers of Baal. And now she found herself the chief priestess of +that worship which already she had learned to fear if not to hate. More, as its +priestess, till death should come to comfort her, she was cut off for ever from +him whom she adored, cut off also from the hope of that new spiritual light +which had begun to dawn upon her soul. +</p> + +<p> +Elissa looked upon the beautiful women who leapt and sang about her litter, +listening to the clash of their ornaments of gold, and as she listened and +looked her eyes seemed to gain power to behold the spirits within them. Surely +she could see these, dark and hideous things, with shifting countenances, +terrible to look on, and themselves wearing in their eyes of flame a stamp of +eternal terror, while in her ears the music of their golden necklaces was +changed to a clank as of fetters and of instruments of torment. Yes; and there +before the dancers in the red cloud of dust which rose from their beating feet, +floated the dim shape of that demon of whom she had been chosen the +high-priestess. +</p> + +<p> +Look at her mocking, inhuman countenance, and her bent brow of power! Look at +her spread and flaming hair and her hundred hands outstretched to grasp the +souls of men! Hark! the clamour of the cymbals and the cry of the dancers +blended together and became her voice, a dreadful voice that gave greeting to +her princess, promising her pride of place and life-long power in payment for +her service. +</p> + +<p> +“I desire none of these,” her heart seemed to answer; “I +desire him only whom I have lost.” +</p> + +<p> +“Is it so?” replied the Voice. “Then bid him burn incense +upon my altar and take him to yourself. Have I not given you enough of beauty +to snare a single soul from among the servants of my enemy the God of the +Jews?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, nay!” her heart cried; “I will not tempt him to do this +evil thing.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yea, yea!” mocked the phantom Voice; “for your sake he shall +burn incense upon my altar.” +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +The phantasy passed, and now the golden gates of the palace of Baaltis rolled +open before Elissa. Now, too, the priestesses bore her to the golden throne +shaped like a crescent moon, and threw over her a black veil spangled with +stars, symbol of the night. Then having shut out the uninitiated, they +worshipped her after their secret fashion till she sank down upon the throne +overcome with fear and weariness. Then at last they carried her to that wonder +of workmanship and allegorical art, the ivory bed of Baaltis, and laid her down +to sleep. +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +At dawn upon the following day an embassy, headed by Sakon, governor of the +city, in whose train were Metem and Aziel, went to the camp of Ithobal. The +mission of these envoys was to give the king answer to his suit, for he refused +to come to Zimboe unless he were allowed to bring a larger force than it was +thought prudent to admit into the city gates. At some distance from the tents +they halted, while messengers were sent forward inviting Ithobal to a +conference on the plain, as it seemed scarcely safe to trust themselves within +the stout thorn fence which had been built about the camp. Metem, who said that +he had no fear of the king, went with these men, and on reaching the +<i>zeriba</i> was at once bidden to the pavilion of Ithobal. He found the great +man pacing its length sullenly. +</p> + +<p> +“What seek you here, Phœnician?” he asked, glancing at him over +his shoulder. +</p> + +<p> +“My fee, King. The king was pleased to promise me a hundred ounces of +gold if I saved the life of the Lady Elissa. I come, therefore, to assure him +that my skill has prevailed against the poisoned arrow of that treacherous dog +of the desert, which pierced her hand as she spoke with the prince Aziel the +other night, and to claim my reward. Here is a note of the amount,” and +he produced his tablets. +</p> + +<p> +“If half of what I hear is true, rogue,” answered Ithobal savagely, +“the tormentor and the headsman alone could satisfy all my debt to you. +Say, merchant, what return have you made me for that sackful of gold which you +bore hence some few days gone?” +</p> + +<p> +“The best of all returns, King,” answered Metem cheerfully, +although in truth he began to feel afraid. “I have kept my word, and +fulfilled the command of the king. I have made it impossible that the prince +Aziel should wed the daughter of Sakon.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, rogue, you have made it impossible by causing her to be consecrated +Baaltis, and thus building a barrier which even I shall find too hard to climb. +It is scarcely to be hoped that now she will choose me of her own will, and to +offer violence to the Baaltis is a sacrilege from which any man—yes, even +a king—may shrink, for such deeds draw the curse of Heaven. Know that for +this service I am minded to settle my account with you in a fashion of which +you have not thought. Have you heard, Phœnician, that the chiefs of certain of +my tribes love to decorate their spear-shafts with the hide of white men, and +to bray their flesh into a medicine which gives courage to its eater?” +</p> + +<p> +With this pleasing and suggestive query Ithobal paused, and looked towards the +door of the tent as though he were about to call his guard. +</p> + +<p> +Now Metem’s blood ran cold, for he knew that this royal savage was not +one who uttered idle threats. Yet the coolness and cunning which had so often +served him well did not fail him in his need. +</p> + +<p> +“I have heard that your people have strange customs,” he answered +with a laugh, “but I think that even a spear-shaft would scarcely gain +beauty from my wrinkled hide, and if anything, the eating of my flesh would +make tradesmen and not warriors of your chiefs. Well, let the jest pass, and +listen. King, in all my schemings one thought never crossed my mind, namely, +that you were a man to suffer scruples to stand between you and the woman you +would win. You think that now she is a goddess? Well, if that be so—and +it is not for me to say—who could be a fitter mate for the greatest king +upon the earth than a goddess from the heavens? Take her, king Ithobal, take +her, and this I promise you, that when your armies are encamped without the +walls, the priests of El will absolve you of the crime of aspiring to the fair +lips of Baaltis.” +</p> + +<p> +“The lips of Baaltis,” broke in Ithobal; “do you think that I +shall find them sweet when another man has rifled them? Secret chambers are +many yonder in the palace of the gods, and doubtless the Jew will find his way +there.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, King, for between these two I have indeed built a wall which cannot +be climbed. The worshipper of the Lord of Israel may not traffic with the +high-priestess of Ashtoreth. Moreover, I shall bring it about that ere long +Prince Aziel’s face is set seawards.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do that, and I will believe you, merchant, though it would be better if +you could bring it about that his face was set earthwards, as I will if I can. +Well, this time I spare you, though be sure that if aught miscarry, you shall +pay the price, how, I have told you. Now I go to talk with these traders, these +outlanders, of Zimboe. Why do you wait? You are dismissed +and—alive.” +</p> + +<p> +Metem looked steadily at the tablets which he still held in his hand. +</p> + +<p> +“I have heard,” he said humbly, “that the king Ithobal, the +great king, always pays his debts, and as I—an outlander—shall be +leaving Zimboe shortly under his safe conduct, I desire to close this small +account.” +</p> + +<p> +Ithobal went to the door of his tent and commanded that his treasurer should +attend him, bringing money. Presently he came, and at his lord’s bidding +weighed out one hundred ounces of gold. +</p> + +<p> +“You are right, Phœnician,” said Ithobal; “I always pay my +debts, sometimes in gold and sometimes in iron. Be careful that I owe you no +more, lest you who to-day are paid in gold, to-morrow may receive the iron, +weighed out in the fashion of which I have spoken. Now, begone.” +</p> + +<p> +Metem gathered up the treasure, and hiding it in his ample robe, bowed himself +from the royal presence and out of the thorn-hedged camp. +</p> + +<p> +“Without doubt I have been in danger,” he said to himself, wiping +his brow, “since at one time that black brute, disregarding the sanctity +of an envoy, had it in his mind to torture and to kill me. So, so, king +Ithobal, Metem the Phœnician is also an honest merchant who ‘always pays +his debts,’ as you may learn in the market-places of Jerusalem, of Sidon +and of Zimboe, and I owe you a heavy bill for the fright you have given me +to-day. Little of Elissa’s company shall you have if I can help it; she +is too good for a cross-bred savage, and if before I go from these barbarian +lands I can set a drop of medicine in your wine, or an arrow in your gizzard, +upon the word of Metem the Phœnician, it shall be done, king Ithobal.” +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +When Metem reached Sakon and the envoys, he found that a message had already +been sent to them announcing that Ithobal would meet them presently upon the +plain outside his camp. But still the king did not come; indeed, it was not +until Sakon had despatched another messenger, saying that he was about to +return to the city, that at length Ithobal appeared at the head of a bodyguard +of black troops. Arranging these in line in front of the camp, he came forward, +attended by twelve or fourteen counsellors and generals, all of them unarmed. +Half-way between his own line and that of the Phœnicians, but out of bowshot +of either, he halted. +</p> + +<p> +Thereon Sakon, accompanied by a similar number of priests and nobles, among +whom were Aziel and Metem, all of them also unarmed, except for the knives in +their girdles, marched out to meet him. Their escort they left drawn up upon +the hillside. +</p> + +<p> +“Let us to business, King,” said Sakon, when the formal words of +salutation had passed. “We have waited long upon your pleasure, and +already troops move out from the city to learn what has befallen us.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do they then fear that I should ambush ambassadors?” asked Ithobal +hotly. “For the rest, is it not right that servants should bide at the +door of their king till it is his pleasure to open?” +</p> + +<p> +“I know not what they fear,” answered Sakon, “but at least we +fear nothing, for we are too many,” and he glanced at his soldiers, a +thousand strong, upon the hillside. “Nor are the citizens of Zimboe the +servants of any man unless he be the king of Tyre.” +</p> + +<p> +“That we shall put to proof, Sakon,” said Ithobal; “but say, +what does the Jew with you?” and he pointed to Aziel. “Is he also +an envoy from Zimboe?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, King,” answered the prince laughing, “but my grandsire, +the mighty ruler of Israel, charged me always to take note of the ways of +savages in peace and war, that I might learn how to deal with them. Therefore, +I sought leave to accompany Sakon upon this embassy.” +</p> + +<p> +“Peace, peace!” broke in Sakon. “This is no time for gibes. +King Ithobal, since you did not dare to venture yourself again within the walls +of our city, we have come to answer the demands you made upon us in the Hall of +Audience. You demanded that our fortifications should be thrown down, and this +we refuse, since we do not court destruction. You demanded that we should cease +to enslave men to labour in the mines, and to this we answer that for every man +we take we will pay a tax to his lawful chief, or to you as king. You demanded +that the ancient tribute should be doubled. To this, out of love and +friendship, and not from fear, we assent, if you will enter into a bond of +lasting peace, since it is peace we seek, and not war. King, you have our +answer.” +</p> + +<p> +“Not all of it, Sakon. How of that first condition—that Lady Elissa +the fair, your daughter, should be given me to wife?” +</p> + +<p> +“King, it cannot be, for the gods of heaven have taken this matter from +our hands, anointing the lady Elissa their high-priestess.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then as I live,” answered Ithobal with fury, “I will take +her from the hands of the gods and anoint her my dancing-woman. Do you think to +make a mock of me, you people of Zimboe, whom I have honoured by desiring one +of your daughters in marriage? You seek to trick me with your priests’ +juggling that you may keep her to be the toy of yonder princeling? So be it, +but I tell you that I will tear your city stone from stone, and anoint its +ruins with your blood. Yes, your young men shall labour in the mines for me, +and your high-born maidens shall wait upon my queens. Listen +you,”—and he turned to his generals—“let the messengers +who are ready start east and west, and north and south, to the chiefs whose +names you have, bidding them to meet me with their tribesmen, at the time and +place appointed. When next I speak with you, Elders of Zimboe, it shall be at +the head of a hundred thousand warriors.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then, King, on your hands be all the innocent lives that these words of +yours have doomed, and may the weight of their wasted blood press you down to +ruin and death.” +</p> + +<p> +Thus answered Sakon proudly, but with pale lips, for do what they would to hide +it, something of the fear they felt for the issue of this war was written on +the faces of all his company. +</p> + +<p> +Ithobal turned upon his heel, deigning no reply, but as he went he whispered a +word into the ear of two of his captains, great men of war, who stayed behind +the rest of his party searching for something upon the ground. Sakon and his +counsellors also turned, walking towards their escort, but Aziel lingered a +little, fearing no danger, and being curious to learn what the men sought. +</p> + +<p> +“What do you seek, captains?” he asked courteously. +</p> + +<p> +“A gold armlet that one of us has lost,” they answered. +</p> + +<p> +Aziel let his eyes wander on the ground, and not far away perceived the armlet +half-hidden in a tussock of dry grass, where, indeed, it had been placed. +</p> + +<p> +“Is this the ring?” he asked, lifting it and holding it towards +them. +</p> + +<p> +“It is, and we thank you,” they answered, advancing to take the +ornament. +</p> + +<p> +The next moment, before Aziel even guessed their purpose, the captains had +gripped him by either arm and were dragging him at full speed towards their +camp. Understanding their treachery and the greatness of his danger, he cried +aloud for help. Then throwing himself swiftly to the ground, he set his feet +against a stone that chanced to lie in their path in such fashion that the +sudden weight tore his right arm from the grip of the man that held him. Now, +quick as thought, Aziel drew the dagger from his girdle, and, still lying upon +his back, plunged it into the shoulder of the second man so that he loosed him +in his pain. Next he sprang to his feet, and, leaping to one side to escape the +rush of his captors, ran like a deer towards the party of Sakon, who had +wheeled round at the sound of his cry. +</p> + +<p> +Ithobal and his men had turned also and sped towards them, but at a little +distance they halted, the king shouting aloud:— +</p> + +<p> +“I desired to hold this foreigner, who is the cause of war between us, +hostage for your daughter’s sake, Sakon, but this time he has escaped me. +Well, it matters nothing, for soon my turn will come. Therefore, if you and he +are wise, you will send him back to the sea, for thither alone I promise him +safe conduct.” +</p> + +<p> +Then without more words he walked to his camp, the gates of which were closed +behind him. +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +“Prince Aziel,” said Sakon, as they went towards the city, +“it is ill to speak such words to an honoured guest, but it cannot be +denied that you bring much trouble on my head. Twice now you have nearly +perished at the hands of Ithobal, and should that chance, doubtless I must earn +the wrath of Israel. On your behalf, also, the city of Zimboe is this day +plunged into a war that well may be her last, since it is because you have +grown suddenly dear to her that my daughter has continued to refuse the suit of +Ithobal, and because of his outraged pride at this refusal that he has raised +up the nations against us. Prince, while you remain in this city there is no +hope of peace. Do not, therefore, hate me, your servant, if I pray of you to +leave us while there is yet time.” +</p> + +<p> +“Sakon,” answered Aziel, “I thank you for your open speech, +and will pay you back in words as honest as your own. Gladly would I go, for +here nothing but sorrow has befallen me, were it not for one thing which to you +may seem little, but to me, and perhaps to another, is all in all. I love your +daughter as I have never loved a woman before, and as my mind is to hers, so is +hers to mine. How, then, can I go hence when the going means that I must part +from her for ever?” +</p> + +<p> +“How can you stay here, Prince, when the staying means that you must +bring her to shame and death, and yourself with her? Say now, are you prepared, +for the sake of this maiden, to abandon the worship of your fathers and to +become the servant of El and Baaltis?” +</p> + +<p> +“You know well that I am not so prepared, Sakon. For nothing that the +world could give me would I do this sin.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then, Prince, it is best that you should go, for that and no other is +the price you must pay if you would win my daughter Elissa. Should you seek to +do so by other means, I tell you that neither your high rank nor the power of +my rule and friendship, nor pity for your youth and hers, can save you both +from death, since to forgive you then would be to bring down the wrath of its +outraged gods upon Zimboe. Oh! Prince, for your own sake and for the sake of +her whom both you and I love thus dearly, linger no longer in temptation, but +turn your back upon it as a brave man should, for so shall my blessing follow +you to the grave and your years be filled with honour.” +</p> + +<p> +Aziel covered his eyes with his hand, and thought a while; then he +answered:— +</p> + +<p> +“Be it as you will, friend. I go, but I go broken-hearted.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap11"></a>CHAPTER XI<br /> +METEM SELLS IMAGES</h2> + +<p> +Upon reaching the palace, Aziel went to the apartments of Issachar. Finding no +keeper at the door, he entered, to discover the old priest kneeling in prayer +at the window, which faced towards Jerusalem. So absorbed was he in his +devotions that it was not until he had ended them and risen that Issachar saw +Aziel standing in the chamber. +</p> + +<p> +“Behold, an answer to my prayer,” he said. “My son, they told +me that some fresh danger had overtaken you, though none knew its issue. +Therefore it was that I prayed, and now I see you unharmed.” And taking +him in his arms, he embraced him. +</p> + +<p> +“It is true that I have been in danger, father,” answered Aziel, +and he told him the story of his escape from Ithobal. +</p> + +<p> +“Did I not pray thee not to accompany this embassy?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, father, yet I have returned in safety. Listen: I come with tidings +which you will think good. Not an hour ago I promised Sakon that I would leave +Zimboe, where it seems my presence breeds much trouble.” +</p> + +<p> +“Good tidings, indeed!” exclaimed Issachar, “and never shall +I know a peaceful hour until we have seen the last of the towers of this doomed +city and its accursed people of devil-worshippers.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, good for you, father, but for me most ill, for here I shall leave +my youth and happiness. Nay, I know what you think; that this is but some +passing fancy bred of the pleasant beauty of a woman, but it is not so. I say +that from the moment when first I saw Elissa, she became life of my life, and +soul of my soul and that I go hence beggared of joy and hope, and carrying with +me a cankering memory which shall eat my heart away. You deem her a witch, one +to whom Baaltis has given power to drag the minds of men to their destruction, +but I tell you that her only spell is the spell of her love for me, also that +she whom you named so grossly is no longer the servant of the demon +Baaltis.” +</p> + +<p> +“Elissa not the servant of Baaltis? How comes she then to be her +high-priestess? Aziel, your passion has made you mad.” +</p> + +<p> +“She is high-priestess because Metem and others brought about her +election without her will, urged on to it by I know not whom.” And he +looked hard at Issachar, who turned away. “But what matters it who did +the ill deed,” he continued, “since this, at least, is certain, +that here my presence breeds sorrow and bloodshed, and therefore I must go as I +have promised.” +</p> + +<p> +“When do we depart, Prince?” queried Issachar. +</p> + +<p> +“I know not, it is naught to me. Here comes Metem, ask of him.” +</p> + +<p> +“Metem,” said the Levite, “the prince desires to leave Zimboe +and march to the coast, there to take ship to Tyre. When can your caravan be +ready?” +</p> + +<p> +“So I have heard, Issachar, for Sakon tells me that he has come to an +agreement with the prince upon this matter. Well, I am glad to learn it, for +troubles thicken here, and I think that the woe you prophesied is not far from +this city of Zimboe where every man seeks to serve his own hand, and is ready +to sell his neighbour. When can the caravan be got ready? Well, the night after +next; at least, we can start that night. To-morrow evening, so soon as the sun +is down, I will send on the camels by ones and twos, and with them the baggage +and treasure, to a secret place I know of in the mountains, where we and the +prince’s guard can follow upon the mules and join them. As it chances, I +have a safe conduct from Ithobal. Still I should not wish to put his troops +into temptation by marching through them with twenty laden camels, or to lose +certain earnings of my own that will be hidden in the baggage. Moreover, if our +departure becomes known, half the city would wish to join us, having no love of +soldiering, and misdoubting them much of the issue of this war with +Ithobal.” +</p> + +<p> +“As you will,” said Issachar, “you are captain of the +caravan, and charged with the safety of the prince upon his journeyings. I am +ready whenever you appoint, and the quicker that hour comes, the more praise +you will have from me.” +</p> + +<p> +“Come with me, I wish to speak with you,” said Aziel to the +Phœnician as they left the presence of Issachar. “Listen,” he +added, when they had reached his chamber, “we leave this city soon, and I +have farewells to make.” +</p> + +<p> +“To the Baaltis?” suggested Metem. +</p> + +<p> +“To the lady Elissa. I desire to send her a letter of farewell; can you +deliver it into her own hand?” +</p> + +<p> +“It may be managed, Prince, at a price—nay, from you I ask no +price. I have still some images that I wish to sell, and we merchants go +everywhere, even into the presence of the Baaltis if it pleases her to admit +them. Write your scroll and I will take it, though, to be plain, it is not a +task which I should have sought.” +</p> + +<p> +So Aziel wrote slowly and with care. Then having sealed the writing he gave it +to Metem. +</p> + +<p> +“Your face is sad, Prince,” he said, as he hid it in his robe, +“but, believe me, you are doing what is right and wise.” +</p> + +<p> +“It may be so,” answered Aziel, “yet I would rather die than +do it, and may my curse lie heavy upon the heads of those who have so wrought +that it must be done. Now, I pray you, deliver this scroll into the hands of +her you know, and bring me the answer if there be any, betraying it to none, +for I will double whatever sum is offered for that treachery.” +</p> + +<p> +“Have no fear, Prince,” said Metem quietly, but without taking +offence, “this errand is undertaken for friendship, not for profit. The +risk is mine alone; the gain—or loss—is yours.” +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +An hour later the Phœnician stood in the palace of the gods, demanding, under +permit from Sakon, governor of the city, to be admitted into the presence of +the Baaltis, to whom he desired to sell certain sacred images cunningly +fashioned in gold. Presently it was announced that he was allowed to approach, +and the officers of the temple led him through guarded passages, to the private +chambers of the priestesses. Here he found Elissa in a long, low hall, sweet +with scented woods, rich with gold, and supported by pillars of cedar. +</p> + +<p> +She was seated alone at the far end of this hall, beneath the window-plate, +clad in her white robes of office, richly broidered with emblems of the moon. +Her women, most of whom were employed in needle-work, though some whispered +idly to each other, were gathered at the lower end of the hall near to its +door. +</p> + +<p> +Metem saluted them as he entered, and they detained him, answering his greeting +by requests for news and with jests, not too refined, or by demands for +presents of jewels, in return for which they promised him the blessings of the +goddess. To each he made some apt reply, for even the priestesses of Baaltis +could not abash Metem. But while he bandied words, his quick eyes noted one of +their number who did not join in this play. She was a spare, thin-lipped woman +whom he knew for Mesa, the daughter of the dead Baaltis, who had been a rival +candidate for the throne of the high-priestess when Elissa was chosen in her +place. +</p> + +<p> +When he entered the hall Mesa was seated upon a canvas stool, a little apart +from the others, her chin resting upon her hand, staring with an evil look +towards the place where Elissa was enthroned. Nor did her face grow more gentle +at the sight of the cunning merchant, for she knew well it was through his +plots and bribery that she had been ousted from her mother’s place. +</p> + +<p> +“A woman to be feared,” thought Metem to himself as, shaking off +the priestesses, he passed her upon his way up the long chamber. Presently he +had reached the end of it, and was saluting the presence of the Baaltis by +kneeling and touching the carpet with his brow. +</p> + +<p> +“Rise, Metem,” said Elissa, “and set out your business, for +the hour of the sunset prayer is at hand, and I cannot talk long with +you.” +</p> + +<p> +So he rose, and, looking at her while he laid out his store of images, saw that +her face was sad, and that her eyes were full of a strange fear. +</p> + +<p> +“Lady,” he said, “on the second night from now I depart from +this city of yours, and glad shall I be to leave it living. Therefore I have +brought you these four priceless images of the most splendid workmanship of +Tyre, thinking that it might please you to purchase them for the service of the +goddess.” +</p> + +<p> +“You depart,” she whispered; “alone?” +</p> + +<p> +“No lady, not alone; the holy Issachar goes with me, also the escort of +the prince Aziel—and the prince himself, whose presence is no longer +desired in Zimboe.” Here he stopped, for he saw that Elissa was about to +betray her agitation, and whispered, “Be not foolish, for you are +watched; I have a letter for you. Lady,” he continued in a louder voice, +“if it will please you to examine this precious image in the light, you +will no longer hesitate or think the price too high,” and bowing low he +led the way behind the throne, whither Elissa followed him. +</p> + +<p> +Now they were standing beneath the window-place, which they faced, and hidden +from the gaze of the women by the gilded back of the high seat. +</p> + +<p> +“Here,” he said, thrusting the parchment into her hand, “read +quickly, and return it to me.” +</p> + +<p> +She snatched the roll from him, and as her eyes devoured the lines, her face +fell in, and her lips grew pale with anguish. +</p> + +<p> +“Be brave,” murmured Metem, for his heart was stirred to pity; +“it is best for all that he should go.” +</p> + +<p> +“For him, perchance it is best,” she answered; as with an unwilling +hand she gave him back the letter which she dared not keep, “but what of +me? Oh! Metem, what of me?” +</p> + +<p> +“Lady,” he said sadly, “I have no words to soothe your sorrow +save that the gods have willed it thus.” +</p> + +<p> +“What gods?” she asked fiercely; “not those they bid me +worship.” She shuddered, then went on, “Metem, be pitiful! Oh! if +ever you have loved a woman, or have been loved of one, for her sake be +pitiful. I must see him for the last time in farewell, and you can help me to +it.” +</p> + +<p> +“I! In the name of Baal, how?” +</p> + +<p> +“When do you have to leave the city, Metem?” +</p> + +<p> +“At moonrise on the night after next.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then an hour before moonrise I will be in the temple, whither I can come +by the secret way that leads thither from this palace, and he can enter there, +for the little gate shall be left unbarred. Pray him to meet me, then—for +the last time.” +</p> + +<p> +“Lady,” he urged, “this is but madness, and I refuse. You +must find another messenger.” +</p> + +<p> +“Madness or not it is my will, and beware how you thwart me in it, Metem, +for at least I am the Lady Baaltis, and have power to kill without question. I +swear to you that if I do not see him, you shall never leave this city +living.” +</p> + +<p> +“A shrewd argument, and to the point,” said Metem reflectively. +“Well, I have prepared myself a rock-hewn tomb at Tyre, and do not wish +that my graven sarcophagus of best Egyptian alabaster should be wasted, or sold +to some upstart for a song.” +</p> + +<p> +“As assuredly it will be, if you do not obey me in this matter, Metem. +Remember—an hour before moonrise, at the foot of the pillar of El in the +inner court of the temple.” +</p> + +<p> +As she spoke Metem started, for his quick ears had caught a sound. +</p> + +<p> +“O Queen divine,” he said in a loud voice, as he led the way to the +front of the throne, “you are a hard bargainer! Were there many such, a +poor trader could not make a living. Ah! here is one who knows the value of +such priceless works of art,” and he pointed to Mesa, who, with folded +arms and downcast eyes, stood within five paces of the throne, as near, indeed, +as custom allowed her to approach. “Lady,” he went on addressing +you, “you will have heard the price I asked; say, now, is it too +much?” +</p> + +<p> +“I have heard nothing, sir. I stand here, waiting the return of my holy +mistress that I may remind her that the hour of sunset prayer is at +hand.” +</p> + +<p> +“Would that I had so fair a mentor,” exclaimed Metem, “for +then I should lose less time.” But to himself he said, “She +<i>has</i> heard something, though I think but little,” then added aloud: +“Well judge between us, lady. Is fifty golden shekels too much for these +images which have been blessed and sprinkled with the blood of children by the +high priest of Baal at Sidon?” +</p> + +<p> +Mesa lifted her cold eyes and looked at them. “I think it too +much,” she said, “but it is for the lady Baaltis to judge. Who am I +that I should open my lips in the presence of the lady Baaltis?” +</p> + +<p> +“I have appealed to the oracle, and it has spoken against me,” said +Metem, wringing his hands in affected dismay. “Well, I abide the result. +Queen, you offered me forty shekels and for forty you shall take them, for the +honour of the holy gods, though in truth I lose ten shekels by the bargain. +Give your order to the treasurer, and he will pay me to-morrow. So now +farewell,” and bowing till his forehead touched the ground, he kissed the +hem of her robe. +</p> + +<p> +Elissa bent her head in acknowledgment of the salute, and as he rose her eyes +met his. In them was written a warning which he could not fail to understand, +and although she did not speak, her lips seemed to shape the word, +“Remember.” +</p> + +<p> +Ten minutes later Metem stood in the chamber of Aziel. +</p> + +<p> +“Has she seen the letter, and what did she answer?” asked the +prince, springing up almost as he passed the threshold. +</p> + +<p> +“In the name of all the gods of all the nations I pray you not to speak +so loud,” answered Metem when he had closed the door and looked +suspiciously about him. “Oh! if ever I find myself safe in Tyre again, I +vow a gift, and no mean one, to each of them that has a temple there, and they +are many; for no single god is strong enough to bring me safe out of this +trouble. Have I seen the lady Elissa? Oh, yes, I have seen her. And what think +you that this innocent lamb, this undefiled dove of yours, threatens me with +now? Death! nothing less than death, if I will not carry out her foolish +wishes. More, she means the threat, and has the strength to fulfil it, for to +the lady Baaltis is given power over the lives of men, or at the least, if she +takes life none question the authority of the goddess. Unless I do her will I +am a dead man, and that is the reward I get for mixing myself up in your mad +love affairs.” +</p> + +<p> +“Hold!” broke in Aziel, “and tell me, man, what is her +will?” +</p> + +<p> +“Her will is—what do you think? To meet you in farewell an hour +before you leave this city. Well, as my throat is at stake, by Baal! it shall +be gratified if I can find the means, though I tell you that it is madness and +nothing else. But listen to the story——” and he repeated all +that had passed. “Now,” he added, “are you ready to take the +risk, Prince?” +</p> + +<p> +“I should be a coward indeed if I did not,” answered Aziel, +“when she, a woman, dares a heavier.” +</p> + +<p> +“And I am a coward, that is why I take it, for otherwise I also must dare +a heavier. But what of Issachar? This meeting can scarcely be kept a secret +from him.” +</p> + +<p> +Aziel thought awhile and said:— +</p> + +<p> +“Go fetch him here.” So Metem went, to return presently with the +Levite, to whom, without further ado, the prince told all, hiding nothing. +</p> + +<p> +Issachar listened in silence. When both Aziel and Metem had done speaking, he +said:— +</p> + +<p> +“At least, I thank you, Prince, for being open with me; and now without +more words I pray you to abandon this rash plan, which can end only in pain, +and perhaps in death.” +</p> + +<p> +“Abandon it not, Prince,” interrupted Metem, “seeing that if +you do it will certainly end in my death, for the girl is mad, and will have +her way. Or if she does not, then I must pay the price.” +</p> + +<p> +“Have no fear,” answered Aziel smiling. “Issachar, this must +be done or——” +</p> + +<p> +“Or what, Prince?” +</p> + +<p> +“I will not leave the city. It is true that Sakon may thrust me from it, +but it shall be as a dead man. Nay, waste no words, since she desires it; I +must and will meet the Lady Elissa for the last time, not as lover meets lover, +but as those meet who part for ever in the world.” +</p> + +<p> +“You say so, Prince; then have I your permission to accompany you?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, if you wish it, Issachar; but there is danger.” +</p> + +<p> +“Danger! What care I for danger? The will of Heaven be done to me. So be +it, we will go together, but the end of it is not with us.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap12"></a>CHAPTER XII<br /> +THE TRYST</h2> + +<p> +Two days had gone by, and at the appointed hour three figures, wrapped in dark +cloaks, might have been seen walking swiftly towards the little entrance of the +temple fortress. Although it was near to midnight the city was still astir with +men, for this very evening news had reached it that Ithobal was advancing at +the head of tens of thousands of the warriors of the Tribes. More, it was +rumoured freely that within the next few days the siege of Zimboe would begin. +Late as it was, the council had been just summoned to the palace of Sakon to +consider the conduct of the defence, while in every street stood knots of men +engaged in anxious discussion, and from many a smithy rose the sound of +armourers at their work. Here marched parties of soldiers of various races, +there came long strings of mules laden with dried flesh and grain; yonder a +woman beat her breast, and wept loudly because her three sons had been +impressed by order of the council, two of them to serve as archers and the +third to carry blocks of stone for the fortifications. +</p> + +<p> +Passing unnoticed through all this crowd and tumult, Aziel, Issachar and Metem +entered a winding passage in the temple wall, and came to the little gate. +Metem tried it, and whispered:— +</p> + +<p> +“She has kept her word; it is unlocked. Now enter to your love-tryst, +holy Issachar.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do you not come with us?” asked the Levite. +</p> + +<p> +“No, I am too old for such adventures. Listen, I go to make ready. Within +an hour the mules with the prince’s bodyguard will stand in the archway +near the small gate of the palace, for by now the baggage and its escort await +us a day’s march from this accursed city. Will you meet me there? No; I +think it is best that I should come to your chambers to fetch you, and, I pray +you, let there be no delay, for it is dangerous in many ways. When once the +prince has done with his tender interview, and wiped away his tears, there +should be nothing to stay him, since the farewell cup with Sakon has been +already drunk. Enter now swiftly before some prowling priest happens upon you, +and pray that you may come out as sound as you go in. Oh! what a sight! A +prince of Israel and an aged Levite of established reputation going to keep a +tryst at midnight with the high-priestess of Baaltis in the sanctuary of her +god! Nay, answer not; there is no time”—and he was gone. +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +Having passed the gate, Aziel and Issachar crept down the winding passages of +stone, groping their path by such light as fell from the narrow line of sky +above them, till at length they reached the court of the sanctuary. Here the +place was as silent as death, for the noise from the city without could not +pierce its towering walls of massive granite. +</p> + +<p> +“It is the very pit of Tophet,” murmured Issachar, peering through +the dense shadows, “the house of Beelzebub, where his presence dwells. +Whither now, Aziel?” +</p> + +<p> +The prince pointed to two objects that were visible in the starlight, and +answered:— +</p> + +<p> +“Thither, at the foot of the pillar of El.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ah! I remember,” said Issachar, “where the accursed woman +would have offered sacrifice, and the priests struck me down because I +prophesied to them of the wrath to come, and that is now at hand. An ill-omened +spot, indeed, and an ill-omened tryst with the fiends for witnesses. Well, lead +on, and I pray you to be brief as may be, for this place weighs down my soul, +and I feel danger in it—danger to the body and the spirit.” +</p> + +<p> +So they went forward. “Be careful,” whispered Aziel presently. +“The pit of sacrifice is at your feet.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, yes,” he answered, “we walk upon the edge of the pit, +and, in truth, I grow fearful, for at the threshold of such places the angel of +the Lord deserts us.” +</p> + +<p> +“There is nothing to fear,” said Aziel. But even as he spoke, +although he could not see it, a white face rose above the edge of the pit, like +that of some ghost struggling from the tomb, watched them a moment with cold +eyes, then disappeared again. +</p> + +<p> +Now they were near the greater pillar, and now from its shadow glided a +black-veiled shape. +</p> + +<p> +“Elissa?” murmured Aziel. +</p> + +<p> +“It is I,” whispered a soft voice; “but who comes with +you?” +</p> + +<p> +“I, Issachar,” said the Levite, “who would not suffer that he +of whom I am given charge should seek such company alone. Now, priestess, say +your say with the prince yonder and let us be gone swiftly from this +blood-stained place.” +</p> + +<p> +“You speak harsh words to me, Issachar,” she said gently, +“yet I am most glad that you have come, for, believe me, I sought no +lovers’ meeting with the prince Aziel. Listen, both of you: you know that +they have consecrated me high-priestess of Baaltis against my will. Now, I tell +you, Issachar, what I have already told the prince Aziel—that I am no +longer a worshipper of Baaltis. Yes, here in her very temple I renounce her, +even though she takes my life in vengeance. Oh! since they made me priestess I +have been forced to learn all her worship, which before I never even guessed, +and to see sights that would chill your blood to hear of them. Now I tell you, +prince Aziel and Issachar, that I will bear no more. From El and Baaltis I turn +to Him you worship, though, alas! little time is left to me in which to plead +for pardon.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why is little time left?” broke in Aziel. +</p> + +<p> +“Because my death is very near me, Prince, for if I live, see what a fate +is mine. Either I must remain high-priestess of Baaltis and to her day by day +bow the knee, and month by month make sacrifice—of what think you? Well, +to be plain, of the blood of maids and children. Or, perhaps, should their +fears overcome their scruples, I shall be given by the council as a +peace-offering to Ithobal. +</p> + +<p> +“I say that I will bear neither of these burdens of blood or shame; they +are too heavy for me. Prince, so soon as you are gone I too shall leave this +city, not in the body, but in the spirit, searching for peace or sleep. It was +for this reason that I sought to speak with you in farewell, since in my +weakness I desired that you should learn the truth of the cause and manner of +my end. +</p> + +<p> +“Now you know all, and as for me there is no escape, farewell for ever, +prince Aziel, whom I have loved, and whom I can scarcely hope to meet again, +even beyond the grave.” Then with a little despairing motion of her hand +she turned to go. +</p> + +<p> +“Stay,” said Aziel hoarsely, “we cannot be parted thus; since +by your own act you can dare to leave the world, will you not dare to fly this +place with me?” +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps, Prince,” she answered with a little laugh, “but +would you dare to take me, and if so, would Issachar here suffer it? No, no; go +your own path in life, and leave me death—it is the easier way.” +</p> + +<p> +“In this matter I am master and not Issachar,” said Aziel, +“though it be true that should it please him, he can warn the priests of +El. Listen, Elissa: either you leave this city with me, or I stay in it with +you. You hear me, Issachar?” +</p> + +<p> +“I hear you,” said the Levite, “but perchance before you +throw more sharp words at my head, you will suffer me to speak. Self-murder is +a crime, yet I honour this woman who would shed her own blood, rather than the +blood of the innocent in sacrifice to Baal, and who refuses to be given in +marriage to one she hates; who, moreover, has found strength and grace to +trample on her devil-worship, if so in truth she has. If therefore she will +come with us and we can escape with her, why, let her come. Only swear to me, +Aziel, that you will make no wife of her till the king, your grandsire, has +heard this tale and given judgment on it.” +</p> + +<p> +“That I will swear for him,” exclaimed Elissa; “is it not so, +Aziel?” +</p> + +<p> +“As you will, lady,” he answered. “Issachar, you have my word +that until then she shall be as my sister, and no more.” +</p> + +<p> +“I hear and I believe you,” said Issachar, adding: “And now, +lady, we go at once, so if you desire to accompany us, come.” +</p> + +<p> +“I am ready,” she replied, “and the hour is well chosen for I +shall not be missed till dawn.” +</p> + +<p> +So they turned and left the temple. None stayed or hindered them, yet although +they reached the chambers of Aziel in safety, their hearts, which should have +been light, were still heavy with the presage of new sorrow to come. +</p> + +<p> +Scarcely could they have been heavier, indeed, had they seen a white-faced +woman creep from the pit of death and follow them stealthily till they had +passed from the temple into the palace doors, then turn and run at full speed +towards the college of the priests of El. +</p> + +<p> +In the chamber of Aziel they found Metem. +</p> + +<p> +“I rejoice to see you back again in safety, since it is more than I +thought to do,” he said, while they entered, adding, as the black-veiled +shape of Elissa followed them into the room, “but who is the third? Ah! I +see, the lady Elissa. Does the Baaltis accompany us upon our journey?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” answered Aziel shortly. +</p> + +<p> +“Then with her high Grace on the one side and the holy Issachar on the +other it should not lack for blessings. Surely that evil must be great from +which, separately or together, they are unable to defend us. But, lady, if I +may ask it, have you bid farewell to your most honoured father?” +</p> + +<p> +“Torment me not,” murmured Elissa. +</p> + +<p> +“Indeed, I did not wish to, though you may remember that not so long ago +you threatened to silence me for ever. Well, doubtless your departure is too +hurried for farewells, and, fortunately, foreseeing it, I have provided spare +mules. So my deeds are kinder than my words. I go to see that all is prepared. +Now eat before you start; presently I will return for you,” and he left +the chamber. +</p> + +<p> +When he had gone they gathered round the table on which stood food, but could +touch little of it; for the hearts of all three of them were filled with sad +forebodings. Soon they heard a noise as of people talking excitedly outside the +palace gates. +</p> + +<p> +“It is Metem with the mules,” said Aziel. +</p> + +<p> +“I hope so,” answered Elissa. +</p> + +<p> +Again there was silence, which, after a while, was broken by a loud knocking at +the door. +</p> + +<p> +“Rise,” said Aziel, “Metem comes for us.” +</p> + +<p> +“No, no,” cried Elissa, “it is Doom that knocks, not +Metem.” +</p> + +<p> +As the words passed her lips the door was burst open, and through it poured a +mob of armed priests, at the head of whom marched the Shadid. By his side was +his daughter Mesa, in whose pale face the eyes burned like torches in a wind. +</p> + +<p> +“Did I not tell you so?” she said in a shrill voice, pointing at +the three. “Behold the Lady Baaltis and her lover, and with them that +priest of a false faith who called down curses upon our city.” +</p> + +<p> +“You told us indeed, daughter,” answered the Shadid; “pardon +us if we were loth to believe that such a thing could be.” Then with a +cry of rage he added, “Take them.” +</p> + +<p> +Now Aziel drew his sword, and sprang in front of Elissa to protect her, but +before he could strike a blow it was seized from behind, and he was gripped by +many hands, gagged, bound and blindfolded. Then like a man in a dream he felt +himself carried away through long passages, till at length he reached an +airless place, where the gag and bandages were removed. +</p> + +<p> +“Where am I?” Aziel asked. +</p> + +<p> +“In the vaults of the temple,” answered the priests as they left +the prison, barring its great door behind them. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap13"></a>CHAPTER XIII<br /> +THE SACRILEGE OF AZIEL</h2> + +<p> +How long he lay in his dungeon, lost in bitter thought and tormented by fears +for Elissa, Aziel could not tell, for no light came there to mark the passage +of the hours. In the tumult of his mind, one terrible thought grew clear and +ever clearer; he and Elissa had been taken red-handed, and must pay the price +of their sin against the religious customs of the city. For the Baaltis to be +found with any man who was not her husband meant death to him and her, a doom +from which there was little chance of escape. +</p> + +<p> +Well, to his own fate he was almost indifferent, but for Elissa and Issachar he +mourned bitterly. Truly the Levite and Metem had been wise when they cautioned +him, for her sake and his own, to have nothing to do with a priestess of Baal. +But he had not listened; his heart would not let him listen—and now, +unless they were saved by a miracle—or Metem—in the fulness of +their youth and love, the lives of both of them were forfeited. +</p> + +<p> +Worn out with sore fears and vain regrets Aziel fell at length into a heavy +sleep. He was awakened by the opening of the door of his dungeon, and the entry +of priests—grim, silent men who seized and blindfolded him. Then they led +him away up many stairs, and along paths so steep that from time to time they +paused to rest, till at length he knew, by the sound of voices, that he had +reached some place where people were assembled. Here the bandage was removed +from his eyes. He stepped backwards, recoiling involuntarily at the glare of +light that poured upon him from the setting sun, whereon, uttering an +exclamation, those who stood near seized and held him. Presently he saw the +reason. He was standing on the brink of a precipice at the back of and +dominating the dim and shadow-clad city, while far beneath him lay a gloomy +rift along which ran the trade road to the coast. +</p> + +<p> +Here in this dizzy spot was a wide space of rock, walled in upon three sides. +The precipice formed the fourth side of its square, in which, seated upon +stones that seemed to have been set there in semi-circles to serve as judgment +chairs, were gathered the head priests and priestesses of El and Baaltis, clad +in their sacerdotal robes. To the right and left of these stood knots of +favoured spectators, among whom Aziel recognised Metem and Sakon, while at his +side, but separated from him by armed priests, were Elissa herself, wrapped in +a dark veil, and Issachar. Lastly, in front of him, a fire flickered upon a +little altar, and behind the altar stood a shrine containing a symbolical +effigy of Baaltis fashioned of gold, ivory and wood to the shape of a woman +with a hundred breasts. +</p> + +<p> +Seeing all this, Aziel understood that they three had been brought here for +trial, and that the priests and priestesses before him were their judges. +Indeed, he remembered that the place had been pointed out to him as one where +those who had offended against the gods were carried for judgment. Thence, if +found guilty, such unfortunates were hurled down the face of the precipice and +left, a shapeless mass of broken bone, to crumble on the roadway at its foot. +</p> + +<p> +After a long and solemn pause, at a sign from the Shadid, he who had been the +husband of the dead Baaltis, the veil was removed from Elissa. At once she +turned, looked at Aziel, and smiled sadly. +</p> + +<p> +“Do you know the fate that waits us?” the prince asked of Issachar +in Hebrew. +</p> + +<p> +“I know, and I am ready,” answered the old Levite, “for since +my soul is safe I care little what these dogs may do to my body. But, oh! my +son, I weep for you, and cursed be the hour when first you saw that +woman’s face.” +</p> + +<p> +“Spare to reproach me in my misfortune,” murmured Elissa; +“have I not enough to bear, knowing that I have brought death upon him I +love? Oh! curse me not, but pray that my sins may be forgiven me.” +</p> + +<p> +“That I will do gladly, daughter,” replied Issachar more gently, +“the more so that, although you seem to be the cause of them, these +things can have happened only by the will of Heaven. Therefore I was wrong to +revile you, and I ask your pardon.” +</p> + +<p> +Before she could answer the Shadid commanded silence. At the same moment the +woman Mesa stepped from behind the effigy of the goddess on the shrine. +</p> + +<p> +“Who are you and what do you here?” asked the Shadid, as though he +did not know her. +</p> + +<p> +“I am Mesa, the daughter of her who was the lady Baaltis,” she +answered, “and my rank is that of Mother of the priestesses of Baaltis. I +appear to give true evidence against her, who is the anointed Baaltis, against +the Israelitish stranger named Aziel, and the priest of the Lord of the +Jews.” +</p> + +<p> +“Lay your hand upon the altar and speak, but beware what you +speak,” said the Shadid. +</p> + +<p> +Mesa bowed her head, took the oath of truth by touching the altar with her +fingers, and began:— +</p> + +<p> +“From the time that she was appointed I have been suspicious of the lady +Baaltis.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why were you suspicious?” asked the Shadid. +</p> + +<p> +The witness let her eyes wander towards Metem, then hesitated. Evidently for +some reason of her own she did not wish to implicate him. +</p> + +<p> +“I was suspicious,” she answered, “because of certain words +that came from the lips of the Baaltis, when she had been thrown into the holy +trance before the fire of sacrifice. As is my accustomed part, I bent over her +to hear and to announce the message of the gods, but in place of the hallowed +words there issued babblings about this Hebrew stranger and of a meeting to be +held with him at one hour before moonrise by the pillar of El in the courtyard +of the temple. Thereafter for several nights as was my duty I hid myself in the +pit of offerings in the courtyard and watched. Last night at an hour before the +moonrise the Lady Baaltis came disguised by the secret way and waited at the +pillar, where presently she was joined by the Jew Aziel and the Levite, who +spoke with her. +</p> + +<p> +“What they said I could not hear, because they were too far from me, but +at length they left the temple and I traced them to the chambers of the Jew +Aziel, in the palace of Sakon. Then, Shadid, I warned you, and the priests and +you accompanied me and took them. Now, as Mother of the priestesses, I demand +that justice be done upon these wicked ones, according to the ancient custom, +lest the curse of Baaltis should fall upon this city.” +</p> + +<p> +When she had finished her evidence, with a cold stare of triumphant hate at her +rival, Mesa stepped to one side. +</p> + +<p> +“You have heard,” said the Shadid addressing his fellow-judges. +“Do you need further testimony? If so, it must be brief, for the sun +sinks.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay,” answered the spokesman, “for with you we took the +three of them together in the chamber of the prince Aziel. Set out the law of +this matter, O Judge, and let justice be done according to the strict letter of +the law—justice without fear or favour.” +</p> + +<p> +“Hearken,” said the Shadid. “Last night this woman Elissa, +the daughter of Sakon, being the lady Baaltis duly elected, met men secretly in +the courts of the temple and accompanied them, or one of them, to the chamber +of Aziel, a prince of Israel, the guest of Sakon. Whether or no she was about +to fly with him from the city which he should have left last night, we cannot +tell, and it is needless to inquire, at least she was with him. This, however, +is sure, that they did not sin in ignorance of our law, since with my own mouth +I warned them both that if the lady Baaltis consorts with any man not her +husband duly named by her according to her right, she must die and her +accomplice with her. Therefore, Aziel the Israelite, we give you to death, +dooming you presently to be hurled from the edge of yonder precipice.” +</p> + +<p> +“I am in your power,” said the prince proudly, “and you can +murder if you will, because, forsooth, I have offended against some law of +Baal, but I tell you, priest, that there are kings in Jerusalem and Egypt who +will demand my blood at your hands. I have nothing more to say except to +beseech you to spare the life of the lady Elissa, since the fault of the +meeting was not hers, but mine.” +</p> + +<p> +“Prince,” answered the Shadid gravely, “we know your rank and +we know also that your blood will be required at our hands, but we who serve +our gods, whose vengeance is so swift and terrible, cannot betray their law for +the fear of any earthly kings. Yet, thus says this same law, it is not needful +that you should die since for you there is a way of escape that leads to safety +and great honour, and she who was the cause of your sin is the mistress of its +gate. Elissa, holder of the spirit of Baaltis upon earth, if it be your +pleasure to name this man husband before us all, then as the spouse of Baaltis +he goes free, for he whom the Baaltis chooses cannot refuse her gift of love, +but for so long as she shall live must rule with her as Shadid of El. But if +you name him not, then as I have said, he must die, and now. Speak.” +</p> + +<p> +“It seems that my choice is small,” said Elissa with a faint smile. +“Praying you to pardon me for the deed, to save your life, prince Aziel, +according to the ancient custom and privilege of the Baaltis, I name you +consort and husband.” +</p> + +<p> +Now Aziel was about to answer her when the Shadid broke in hurriedly, “So +be it,” he said. “Lady, we hear your choice, and we accept it as we +must, but not yet, prince Aziel, can you take your wife and with her my place +and power. Your life is safe indeed, for since the Baaltis, being unwed, names +you as her mate, you have done no sin. Yet she has sinned and doom awaits her, +for against the law she has chosen as husband one who worships a strange god, +and of all crimes that is the greatest. Therefore, either you must take incense +and before us all make offering to El and Baaltis upon yonder altar, thus +renouncing your faith and entering into ours, or she must die and you, your +rank having passed from you with her breath, will be expelled from the +city.” +</p> + +<p> +Now Aziel understood the trap that had been laid for him, and saw in it the +handiwork of Sakon and Metem. Elissa having flagrantly violated the religious +law, and he, being the cause of her crime, even the authority of the governor +of the city could not prevent his daughter and his guest from being put upon +their trial. Therefore, they had arranged this farce, for so it would seem to +them, whereby both the offenders might escape the legal consequences of their +offence, trusting, doubtless, to accident and the future to unravel this web of +forced marriage, and to free Aziel from a priestly rank which he had not +sought. It was only necessary that Elissa should formally choose him as her +husband, and that Aziel should go through the rite of throwing a few grains of +incense upon an altar, and, the law satisfied, they would be both free and +safe. What Metem, and those who worked with him, had forgotten was, that this +offering of incense to Baal would be the most deadly of crimes in the eyes of +any faithful Jew—one, indeed, which, were he alone concerned, he would +die rather than commit. +</p> + +<p> +When the prince heard this decree, and the full terror of the choice came home +to his mind, his blood turned cold, and for a while his senses were bewildered. +There was no escape for him; either he must abjure his faith at the price of +his own soul, or, because of it, the woman whom he loved, now, before his eyes, +must suffer a most horrible and sudden death. It was hideous to think of, and +yet how could he do this sin in the face of heaven and of these ministers of +Satan? +</p> + +<p> +The moment was at hand; a priest held out to him a bowl of incense, a golden +bowl, he noticed idly, with handles of green stone fashioned in the likeness of +Baaltis, whose servant he was asked to declare himself. He, Aziel of the royal +house of Israel, a servant of Baal and Baaltis, nay, a high-priest of their +worship! It was monstrous, it might not be. But Elissa? Well, she must +die—if this was not a farce, and in truth they meant to murder her; her +life could not be bought at such a price. +</p> + +<p> +“I cannot do it,” he gasped with dry lips, thrusting aside the +bowl. +</p> + +<p> +Now all looked astonished, for his refusal had not been foreseen. There was a +pause, and once more the woman Mesa, in her character of prosecutrix on behalf +of the outraged gods, appeared before the altar, and said in her cold voice: +</p> + +<p> +“The Jew whom the lady Baaltis has chosen as husband will not do homage +to her gods. Therefore, as Mother of the priestesses and Advocate of Baaltis, I +demand that Elissa, daughter of Sakon, be put to death, and the throne of +Baaltis be purged of one who has defiled it, lest the swift and terrible +vengeance of the goddess should fall upon this city.” +</p> + +<p> +The Shadid motioned to her to be silent, and addressed Aziel:— +</p> + +<p> +“We pray you to think a while,” he said, “before you give one +to death whose only sin is that, being the high-priestess of our worship, she +has named an unbeliever to fill the throne of El and be her husband. Out of +pity for her fate we give you time to think.” +</p> + +<p> +Now Sakon, taking advantage of the pause, rushed forward, and throwing his arms +about Aziel’s knees, implored him in heart-breaking accents to preserve +his only child from so horrible a doom. He said that did he refuse to save her +because of his religious scruples, he would be a dog and a coward, and the +scorn of all honest men for ever. It was for love of him that she had broken +the priestly law, to violate which was death, and although he had been warned +of her danger, yet in his wickedness and folly he had brought her to this pass. +Would he then desert her now? +</p> + +<p> +But Issachar thrust him aside, and broke in with fiery words:— +</p> + +<p> +“Hearken not to this man, Aziel,” he said, “who strives to +work upon your weakness to the ruin of your soul. What! To save the life of one +woman, whose fair face has brought so much trouble upon us all, would you deny +your Lord and become the thrall of Baal and Ashtoreth? Let her die since die +she must, and keep your own heart pure, for be assured, should you do +otherwise, Jehovah, whom you renounce, will swiftly be avenged on you and her. +At the beginning I warned you, and you would not listen. Now, Aziel, I warn you +again, and woe! woe! woe! to you should you shut your ears to my +message.” Then lifting his hands towards the skies, he began to pray +aloud that Aziel might be constant in his trial. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile, Metem, who had drawn near, spoke in a low voice:— +</p> + +<p> +“Prince,” he said, “I am not chicken-hearted, and there are +so many young women in the world that one more or less can scarcely matter; +still, although she threatened to murder me three days ago, I cannot bear to +see this one come to so dreadful a death. Prince, do not heed the howlings of +that old fanatic, but remember that after all you are the cause of this +lady’s plight, and play the part of a man. Can you for the sake of your +own scruples, however worthy, or of your own soul even, however valuable to +yourself, doom the fair body of a woman who risked all for you to such an end +as that?” And shuddering he nodded towards the gloomy precipice. +</p> + +<p> +“Is there no other way?” Aziel asked him. +</p> + +<p> +“None, I swear it. They did not wish to kill her, except that wild-cat +Mesa who seeks her place, but having put her on her public trial, if you +persist—they must. +</p> + +<p> +“This is one of the few laws which cannot be broken for favour or for +gold, since the people, who are already half-mad with fear of Ithobal, believe +that to break it would bring the curses of heaven upon their city. Perhaps we +might have found some other plan, but none of us even dreamed that you would +refuse so small a thing for the sake of a woman whom you swore you +loved.” +</p> + +<p> +“A small thing!” broke in Aziel. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Prince, a very small thing. Remember, this offering of incense is +but a form to which you are forced against your will—you can do penance +for it afterwards when I have arranged for both of you to escape the city. If +your God can be angry with you for burning a pinch of dust to save a woman, who +at the least has dared much for you, then give me Baal, for he is less +cruel.” +</p> + +<p> +Now Aziel looked towards him who held the bowl of incense. But Elissa who all +this while had stood silent, stepped forward and spoke:— +</p> + +<p> +“Prince Aziel,” she said in a calm and quiet voice, “I named +you husband to save your life, but with all my strength I pray of you, do not +this thing to save mine, which is of little value and perhaps best ended. +Remember, prince Aziel, that being what you are, a Jew, this act of offering, +however small it seems, is yet the greatest of sins, and one with which you +should not dare to stain your soul for the sake of a woman, who has chanced to +love you to your sorrow. Be guided, therefore, by the true wisdom of Issachar +and by my humble prayer. Make an end of your doubts and let me die, knowing +that we do but part a while, since in the Gate of Death I shall wait for you, +prince Aziel.” +</p> + +<p> +Before Aziel could answer, the Shadid, either because his patience was outworn, +or because he wished to put him to a sharper trial, uttered a command. +“Be it done to her as she desires.” +</p> + +<p> +Thereon four priests seized Elissa by the wrists and ankles. Carrying her to +the edge of the precipice, they thrust her back till she hung over it, her long +hair streaming downwards, and the red light of the sunset shining upon her +upturned ghastly face. Then they paused, waiting for the signal to let her go. +The Shadid raised his wand and said:— +</p> + +<p> +“Is it your pleasure that this woman should die or live, prince Aziel? +Decide swiftly, for my arm is weak, and when the wand falls opportunity for +choice will have passed from you.” +</p> + +<p> +Now all eyes were fixed upon the wand, and the intense silence was only broken +by Sakon’s cry of despair. Metem wrung his hands in grief; even Issachar +veiled his eyes with his robe, to shut out the sight of dread, and the priest, +who bore the bowl of incense, thrust it towards Aziel imploringly. +</p> + +<p> +For some seconds, three perhaps, though to him they seemed an age, the heart of +Aziel was racked and torn in this terrific contest. Then he glanced at the +agonized face of the doomed woman, and just as the wand began to bend, his +human love and pity conquered. +</p> + +<p> +“May He Whom I blaspheme forgive me,” he murmured, adding aloud, +“I will do sacrifice.” Taking the incense in his hand now he cast +it into the flames upon the altar, repeating mechanically after the Shadid: +“By this sacrifice and homage, body and soul I give myself to you and +worship you, El and Baaltis, the only true gods.” +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +The echo of Aziel’s voice died away, and the fumes of the incense rose in +a straight dense column upon that quiet air. To his tormented mind, it seemed +as though its smoke took the form of an avenging angel, holding in the hand a +sword of flame, wherewith to drive away his perjured soul from Heaven, as our +first forefathers were driven from the shining gates of paradise. Yes, and they +were not human, those spectators who, in the intense glow of the sunset, stood +in their still ranks and stared at him with wide and eager eyes. Surely they +were fiends red with the blood of men, fiends gathered from the Pit to bear +everlasting witness to the unpardonable sin of his apostasy. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap14"></a>CHAPTER XIV<br /> +THE MARTYRDOM OF ISSACHAR</h2> + +<p> +It was done, and from the mouths of the circle of priests and priestesses leapt +a shrill and sudden cry of triumph. For had not their gods conquered? Had not +this high-placed servant of the hated Lord of Israel been caught by the bait of +a priestess of Baaltis, and seduced by her distress to deny and reject Him? Was +not evil once more triumphant, and must not they, its ministers, rejoice? +</p> + +<p> +Again the Shadid raised his wand and they were silent. +</p> + +<p> +“Brother you have, indeed, done well and wisely,” he said, +addressing Aziel. “Now take to wife the divine lady who has chosen +you,” and he pointed to Elissa, who lay prostrated on the rock. +“Yes, take her and be happy in her love, sitting in my seat, which +henceforth is yours, as ruler of the priests of El and master of their +mysteries, forgetting the follies of your former faith, and spitting on its +altars. Hail to you, Shadid, Lord of the Baaltis and chosen of El! Take him, +you priests, and with him the divine lady, his wife, to bear them in triumph to +their high house.” +</p> + +<p> +“What of the Levite?” asked the woman Mesa. +</p> + +<p> +The Shadid glanced at Issachar, who all this while had stood like one stricken +to the soul, woe stamped upon his face, and a stare of horror in his eyes. +“Jew,” he said, “I had forgotten you, but you also are on +your trial, who dared against the law to hold secret meeting with the lady +Baaltis. For this sin the punishment is death, nor, as I think, would any woman +name you husband to save you. Still in this hour of joy we will be merciful; +therefore do as your master did, cast incense on the altar, uttering the +appointed words, and go your way.” +</p> + +<p> +“Before I make my offering on yonder altar according to your command, I +have indeed some words to say, O priest of El,” answered Issachar +quietly, but in a voice that chilled the blood of those who listened. +</p> + +<p> +“First, I address myself to you, Aziel, and to you, woman,” and he +pointed to Elissa, who had risen, and leaned, trembling, upon her father. +“My dream is fulfilled. Aziel, you have sinned indeed, and must bear the +appointed punishment of your sin. Yet hear a message of mercy spoken through my +lips: Because you have sinned through love and pity, your offence is not unto +death. Still shall you sorrow for it all your life’s days, and in +desolation of heart and bitterness of soul shall creep back to the feet of Him +you have forsworn. +</p> + +<p> +“Woman, your spirit is noble and your feet are set in the way of +righteousness, yet through you has this offence come. Therefore your love shall +bear no fruit, nor shall the blasphemy of your beloved save your flesh from +doom. Upon this earth there is no hope for you, daughter of Sakon; set your +eyes beyond it, for there alone is hope. +</p> + +<p> +“Yonder she stands who swore our lives away?” and he fixed his +burning gaze on Mesa. “Priestess, you plotted this that you might succeed +to the throne of Baaltis; now hear your fate: You shall live to sweep the huts +and bear the babes of savages. You, priest,” and he pointed to the +Shadid, “I read your heart; you design to murder this apostate whom you +greet as your successor that you may usurp his place. I show you yours: it lies +in the bellies of the jackals of the desert. +</p> + +<p> +“For you priests and priestesses of El and Baaltis, think of my words, +and raise the loud song of triumph to your gods when you yourselves are their +offering, and the red flame of the fire burns you up, all of you save your +sins, which are immortal. O citizens of an accursed city, look on the hill-top +yonder and tell me, what do you see in the light of the dying day? A sheen of +spears, is it not? They draw near to your hearts, you whose day is done indeed, +citizens of an accursed city whereof the very name shall be forgotten, and the +naked towers shall become but a source of wonder to men unborn. +</p> + +<p> +“And now, O priest, having said my say, as you bid me, I make my offering +upon your altar.” +</p> + +<p> +Then, while all stood fearful and amazed, Issachar the Levite sprang forward, +and seizing the ancient image of Baaltis, he spat upon it and dashed the +priceless consecrated thing down upon the altar, where it broke into fragments, +and was burned with the fire. +</p> + +<p> +“My offering is made,” he said; “may He whom I serve accept +it. Now after the offering comes the sacrifice; son Aziel, fare you +well.” +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +For a few moments a silence of horror and dismay fell upon the assembly as they +gazed at the shattered and burning fragments of their holy image. Then moved by +a common impulse, with curses and yells of fury, the priests and priestesses +sprang from their seats and hurled themselves upon Issachar, who stood awaiting +them with folded arms. They smote him with their ivory rods, they rent and tore +him with their hands and teeth, worrying him as dogs worry a fox of the hills, +till at length the life was beaten and trampled out of him and he lay dead. +</p> + +<p> +Thus terribly, but yet by such a death of martyrdom as he would have chosen, +perished Issachar the Levite. +</p> + +<p> +Unarmed though he was, Aziel had sprung to his aid, but Metem and Sakon, +knowing that he would but bring about his own destruction, flung themselves +upon him and held him back. Whilst he was still struggling with them the end +came, and Issachar grew still for ever. Then, as the sun sank and the darkness +fell, Aziel’s strength left him, and presently he slipped to the ground +senseless. +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +Thereafter it seemed to Aziel that he was plunged in an endless and dreadful +dream, and that through its turmoil and shifting visions, he could see +continually the dreadful death of Issachar, and hear his stern accents +prophesying woe to him who renounces the God of his forefathers to bow the knee +to Baal. +</p> + +<p> +At length he awoke from that horror-haunted sleep to find himself lying in a +strange chamber. It was night, and lamps burned in the chamber, and by their +light he saw a man whose face he knew mixing a draught in a glass phial. So +weak was he that at first he could not remember the man’s name, then by +slow degrees it came to him. +</p> + +<p> +“Metem,” he said, “where am I?” +</p> + +<p> +The Phœnician looked up from his task, smiled, and answered:— +</p> + +<p> +“Where you should be, Prince, in your own house, the palace of the +Shadid. But you must not speak, for you have been ill; drink this and +sleep.” +</p> + +<p> +Aziel swallowed the draught and was instantly overcome by slumber. When he +awoke the sun was shining brightly through the window place, and its rays fell +upon the shrewd, kindly face of Metem, who, seated on a stool, watched him, his +chin resting in his hand. +</p> + +<p> +“Tell me all that has befallen, friend,” said Aziel presently, +“since——” and he shuddered. +</p> + +<p> +“Since you were married after a new fashion and that bigoted but most +honourable fool, Issachar, went to his reward. Well, I will when you have +eaten,” answered Metem as he gave him food. “First,” he said, +after a while, “you have lain here for three days raving in a fever, +nursed by myself and visited by your wife the lady Baaltis, whenever she could +escape from her religious duties——” +</p> + +<p> +“Elissa! Has she been here?” asked Aziel. +</p> + +<p> +“Calm yourself, Prince, certainly she has, and, what is more, she will be +back soon. Secondly: Ithobal has been as good as his word, and invests the city +with a vast army, cutting off all supplies and possibilities of escape. It is +believed that he will try an assault within the next week, which many think may +be successful. Thirdly: to avoid this risk it is rumoured that the priests and +priestesses, at the instance of the council, are discussing the wisdom of +giving over to the king the person of the daughter of Sakon. This, it is said, +could be done on the plea that her election as the lady Baaltis was brought +about with bribery, and is, therefore, void, as she was not chosen by the pure +and unassisted will of the goddess.” +</p> + +<p> +“But,” said Aziel, “she is my wife according to their +religious law; how then can she be given in marriage to another?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, Prince, if she is not the lady Baaltis your husbandship falls to +the ground with the rest, for you are not the Shadid, an office with which +perchance you can dispense. But all this priestly juggling means little, the +truth being that the city in its terror is ready to throw her—or for the +matter of that, Baaltis herself if they could lay hands on her—as a sop +to Ithobal, hoping thereby to appease his rage. The lady Elissa knows her +danger—but here she comes to speak for herself.” +</p> + +<p> +As he spoke the curtains at the end of the chamber were drawn, and through them +came Elissa, clad in her splendid robes of office and wearing upon her brow the +golden crescent of the moon. +</p> + +<p> +“How goes it with the prince, Metem?” she asked in her soft voice, +glancing anxiously towards the couch which was half-hidden in the shadow of the +wall. +</p> + +<p> +“Look for yourself, lady,” answered the Phœnician bowing before +her. +</p> + +<p> +“Elissa, Elissa!” cried Aziel, raising himself and opening his +arms. +</p> + +<p> +She saw and heard, then, with a low cry, she ran swiftly to him and was wrapped +in his embrace. Thus they stayed a while, murmuring words of love and greeting. +</p> + +<p> +“Is it your pleasure that I should leave you?” asked Metem +presently. “No? Then, Prince, I would have you remember that you are +still very weak and should not give way to violent emotions.” +</p> + +<p> +“Listen, Aziel,” said Elissa, untwining his arms from about her +neck, “there is no time for tenderness; moreover, you should show none to +one who, in name at least, is still the high-priestess of Baaltis, though in +truth she worships her no longer. It was noble of you indeed to offer incense +upon the altar of El that my life might be saved. But when I prayed you not, I +spoke from the heart, and bitterly, bitterly do I grieve that for my sake you +should have stained your hands with such a sin. Moreover, it will avail +nothing, for the doom of the prophet Issachar lies upon us, and I cannot escape +from death, neither can you escape remorse, and as I think, that worst of all +desires—the desire for the dead.” +</p> + +<p> +“Can we not still flee the city?” asked Aziel. +</p> + +<p> +“Metem will tell you that it is impossible; day and night I am watched +and guarded, yes, Mesa dogs me from door to door. Also Ithobal holds Zimboe so +firmly in his net that no sparrow could fly out of it and he not know. And +there is worse to tell: Beloved, they purpose to give me up as a peace-offering +to Ithobal. Yes, even my father is of the plot, for in his despair he thinks it +his duty to sacrifice his daughter to save the town, if, indeed, that will +suffice to save us.” +</p> + +<p> +“But you are the Baaltis and inviolate.” +</p> + +<p> +“In such a time the goddess herself would not be held inviolate in +Zimboe, much less her priestess, Aziel. I have discovered that this very night +they have laid their plans to seize me. Mesa and others have been chosen for +the deed, and afterwards they think to offer me as a bribe to Ithobal, who will +take no other price.” +</p> + +<p> +Aziel groaned aloud: “It were better that we should die,” he said. +</p> + +<p> +She nodded and answered: “It were better that <i>I</i> should die. But +hear me, for I also have a plan, and there is still hope, though very little. +Perhaps, as you drew near to Zimboe by the coast road, you may have noted three +miles or more from the gates of the city, and almost overhanging the path on +which you travelled, a shoulder of the mountain where the rock is cut away, +showing the narrow entrance to a cave closed with a gate of bronze?” +</p> + +<p> +“I saw it,” answered Aziel, “and was told that there was the +most sacred burying-place of the city.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is the tomb of the high-priestesses of Baaltis,” went on +Elissa, “and this day at sunset I must visit it to lay an offering upon +the shrine of her who was the Baaltis before me, entering alone, and closing +the gate, for it is not lawful that any one should pass in there with me. Now, +the plan is to lay hands on me as I go back from the tomb to the +palace—but I shall not go back. Aziel, I shall stay in the +tomb—nay, do not fear—not dead. I have hidden food and water there, +enough for many days, and there with the departed I shall live—till I am +of their number.” +</p> + +<p> +“But if so, how can it help you, Elissa, for they will break in the gates +of the place, and drag you away?” +</p> + +<p> +“Then, Aziel, they will drag away a corpse, and that they will scarcely +care to present to Ithobal. See, I have hidden poison in my breast, and here at +my girdle hangs a dagger; are not the two of them enough to make an end of one +frail life? Should they dare to touch me, I shall tell them through the bars +that most certainly I shall drink the bane, or use the knife; and when they +know it, they will leave me unharmed, hoping to starve me out, or trusting to +chance to snare me living.” +</p> + +<p> +“You are bold,” murmured Aziel in admiration, “but +self-murder is a sin.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is a sin that I will dare, beloved, as in past days I would have +dared it for less cause, rather than be given alive into the hands of Ithobal; +for to whoever else I may be false, to you through life and death I will be +true.” +</p> + +<p> +Now Aziel groaned in his doubt and bitterness of heart; then turning to Metem, +he asked:— +</p> + +<p> +“Have you anything to say, Metem?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Prince, two things,” answered the Phœnician. “First, +that the lady Elissa is rash, indeed, to speak so openly before me who might +carry her words to the council or the priests.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, Metem, I am not rash, for I know that, although you love money, you +will not betray me.” +</p> + +<p> +“You are right, lady, I shall not, for money would be of little service +to me in a city that is about to be taken by storm. Also I hate Ithobal, who +threatened my life—as you did also, by the way—and will do my best +to keep you from his clutches. Now for my second point: it is that I can see +little use in all this because Ithobal, being defrauded of you, will attack, +and then——” +</p> + +<p> +“And then he may be beaten, Metem, for the citizens will at any rate +fight for their lives, and the Prince Aziel here, who is a general skilled in +war, will fight also if he has recovered strength——” +</p> + +<p> +“Do not fear, Elissa; give me two days, and I will fight to the +death,” said Aziel. +</p> + +<p> +“At the least,” she went on, “this scheme gives us breathing +time, and who knows but that fortune will turn. Or if it does not, since it is +impossible for me to escape from the city, I have no better.” +</p> + +<p> +“No more have I,” said Metem, “for at length the oldest fox +comes to his last double. I could escape from this city, or the prince might +escape, or the lady Elissa even might possibly escape disguised, but I am sure +that all three of us could not escape, seeing that within the walls we are +watched and without them the armies of Ithobal await us. Oh! prince Aziel, I +should have done well to go, as I might have gone when you and Issachar were +taken after that mad meeting in the temple, from which I never looked for +anything but ill; but I grow foolish in my old age, and thought that I should +like to see the last of you. Well, so far we are all alive, except Issachar, +who, although bigoted, was still the most worthy of us, but how long we shall +remain alive I cannot say. +</p> + +<p> +“Now our best chance is to defeat Ithobal if we can, and afterwards in +the confusion to fly from Zimboe and join our servants, to whom I have sent +word to await us in a secret place beyond the first range of hills. If we +cannot—why then we must go a little sooner than we expected to find out +who it is that really shapes the destinies of men, and whether or no the sun +and moon are the chariots of El and Baaltis. But, Prince, you turn pale.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is nothing,” said Aziel, “bring me some water, the fever +still burns in me.” +</p> + +<p> +Metem went to seek for water, while Elissa knelt by the couch and pressed her +lover’s hand. +</p> + +<p> +“I dare stay no longer,” she whispered, “and Aziel, I know +not how or when we shall meet again, but my heart is heavy, for, alas! I think +that doom draws near me. I have brought much sorrow upon you, Aziel, and yet +more upon myself, and I have given you nothing, except that most common of all +things, a woman’s love.” +</p> + +<p> +“That most perfect of all things,” he answered, “which I am +glad to have lived to win.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, but not at the price that you have paid for it. I know well what it +must have cost you to cast that incense on the flame, and I pray to your God, +who has become my God, to visit the sin of it on my head and to leave yours +unharmed. Aziel, Aziel! woman or spirit, while I have life and memory, I am +yours, and yours only; clean-handed I leave you, and if we may meet again in +this or in any other world, clean and faithful I shall come to you again. Glad +am I to have lived, because in my life I have known you and you have sworn you +love me. Glad shall I be to live again if again I may know you and hear that +oath—if not, it is sleep I seek; for life without you to me would be a +hell. You grow weak, and I must go. Farewell, and living or dead, forget me +not; swear that you will not forget me.” +</p> + +<p> +“I swear it,” he answered faintly; “and Heaven grant that I +may die for you, not you for me.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is no prayer of mine,” she whispered; and, bending, kissed +him on the brow, for he was too weak to lift his lips to hers. +</p> + +<p> +Then she was gone. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap15"></a>CHAPTER XV<br /> +ELISSA TAKES SANCTUARY</h2> + +<p> +Two more hours had passed, and in the evening light a procession of priestesses +might be seen advancing slowly towards the holy tomb along a narrow road of +rock cut in the mountain face. In front of this procession, wearing a black +veil over her broidered robes, walked Elissa with downcast eyes and hair +unbound in token of grief, while behind her came Mesa and other priestesses +bearing in bowls of alabaster the offerings to the dead, food and wine, and +lamps of oil, and vases filled with perfumes. Behind these again marched the +mourners, women who sang a funeral dirge and from time to time broke into a +wail of simulated grief. Nor, indeed, was their woe as hollow as might be +thought, since from that mountain path they could see the outposts of the army +of Ithobal upon the plain, and note with a shudder of fear the spear-heads of +his countless thousands shining in the gorges of the opposing heights. It was +not for the dead Baaltis that they mourned this day, but for the fate which +overshadowed them and their city of gold. +</p> + +<p> +“May the curse of all the gods fall on her,” muttered one of the +priestesses as she toiled forward beneath her load of offerings; “because +she is beautiful and pettish, we must be put to the spear, or become the wives +of savages,” and she pointed with her chin to Elissa, who walked in +front, lost in her own thoughts. +</p> + +<p> +“Have patience,” answered Mesa at her side, “you know the +plan—to-night that proud girl and false priestess shall sleep in the camp +of Ithobal.” +</p> + +<p> +“Will he be satisfied with that,” asked the woman, “and leave +the city in peace?” +</p> + +<p> +“They say so,” answered Mesa with a laugh, “though it is +strange that a king should exchange spoil and glory for one round-eyed, +thin-limbed girl who loves his rival. Well, let us thank the gods that made men +foolish, and gave us women wit to profit by their folly. If he wants her, let +him take her, for few will be poorer by her loss.” +</p> + +<p> +“You at least will be richer,” said the other woman, “and by +the crown of Baaltis. Well, I do not grudge it you, and as for the daughter of +Sakon, she shall be Ithobal’s if I take her to him limb by limb.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, sister, that is not the bargain; remember she must be delivered to +him without hurt or blemish; otherwise we shall do sacrilege in vain. Be +silent, here is the cave.” +</p> + +<p> +Reaching the platform in front of the tomb, the procession of mourners ranged +themselves about it in a semi-circle. They stood with their backs to the edge +of a cliff that rose sheer for sixty feet or more from the plain beneath, +across which, but at a little distance from the foot of the precipice ran the +road followed by the caravans of merchants in their journeys to and from the +coast. Then, a hymn having been sung invoking the blessing of the gods on the +dead priestess, Elissa, as the Baaltis, unlocked the gates of bronze with a +golden key that hung at her girdle, and the bearers of the bowls of offerings +pushed them into the mouth of the tomb, whose threshold they were not allowed +to pass. Next, with bowed heads and hands crossed upon her breast, Elissa +entered the tomb, and locking the bronze gate behind her, took up two of the +bowls and vanished with them into its gloomy depths. +</p> + +<p> +“Why did she lock the gates?” asked a priestess of Mesa. “It +is not customary.” +</p> + +<p> +“Doubtless because it was her pleasure to do so,” answered Mesa +sharply, though she also wondered why Elissa had locked the gate. +</p> + +<p> +When an hour was gone by and Elissa had not returned, her wonder turned to fear +and doubt. +</p> + +<p> +“Call to the lady Baaltis,” she said, “for her prayers are +long, and I fear lest she should have come to harm.” +</p> + +<p> +So they called, setting their lips against the bars of the gate till presently, +Elissa, holding a lamp in her hand, came and stood before them. +</p> + +<p> +“Why do you disturb me in the sanctuary?” she asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Lady, because they set the night watch on the walls,” answered +Mesa, “and it is time to return to the temple.” +</p> + +<p> +“Return then,” said Elissa, “and leave me in peace. What, you +cannot, Mesa? Nay, and shall I tell you why? Because you had plotted to deliver +me this night to those who should lead me as a peace-offering to Ithobal, and +when you come to them empty-handed they will greet you with harsh words. Nay, +do not trouble to deny it, Mesa. I also have my spies, and know all the plan; +and, therefore, I have taken sanctuary in this holy place.” +</p> + +<p> +Now Mesa pressed her thin lips together and answered:— +</p> + +<p> +“Those who dare to lay hands upon the person of the living Baaltis will +not shrink from seeking her in the company of her dead sisters.” +</p> + +<p> +“I know it, Mesa; but the gates are barred, and here I have food and +drink in plenty.” +</p> + +<p> +“Gates, however strong, can be broken,” answered the priestess, +“so, lady, do not wait till you are dragged hence like some discovered +slave.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ay,” replied Elissa, with a little laugh, “but what if +rather than be thus dishonoured, I should choose to break another gate, that of +my own life? Look, traitress, here is poison and here is bronze, and I swear to +you that should any lay a hand upon me, by one or other of them I will die +before their eyes. Then, if you will, bear these bones to Ithobal and take his +thanks for them. Now, begone, and give this message to my father and to all +those who have plotted with him, that since they cannot bribe Ithobal with my +beauty, they will do well to be men, and to fight him with their swords.” +</p> + +<p> +Then she turned and left them, vanishing into the darkness of the tomb. +</p> + +<p> +Great indeed was the dismay of the councillors of Zimboe and of the priests who +had plotted with them when, an hour later, Mesa came, not to deliver Elissa +into their hands, but to repeat to them her threats and message. In vain did +they appeal to Sakon, who only shook his head and answered:— +</p> + +<p> +“Of this I am sure, that what my daughter has threatened that she will +certainly do if you force her to the choice. But if you will not believe me, go +ask her and satisfy yourselves. I know well what she will answer you, and I +hold that this is a judgment upon us, who first made her Baaltis against her +will, then threatened her with death because of the prince Aziel, and now would +do sacrilege to her sacred office and violence to herself by tearing her from +her consecrated throne, breaking her bond of marriage and delivering her to +Ithobal.” +</p> + +<p> +So the leaders of the councillors visited the holy tomb and reasoned with +Elissa through the bars. But they got no comfort from her, for she spoke to +them with the phial of poison in her bosom and the naked dagger in her hand, +telling them what she had told Mesa—that they had best give up their +plottings and fight Ithobal like men, seeing that even if she surrendered +herself to him, when he grew weary of her the war must come at last. +</p> + +<p> +“For a hundred years,” she added, “this storm has gathered, +and now it must burst. When it has rolled away it will be known who is master +of the land—the ancient city of Zimboe, or Ithobal king of the +Tribes.” +</p> + +<p> +So they went back as they had come, and next day at the dawn, with a bold face +but heavy hearts, received the messengers of king Ithobal, and told them their +tale. The messengers heard and laughed. +</p> + +<p> +“We are glad,” they answered, “since we, who are not in love +with the daughter of Sakon, desire war and not peace, holding as we do that the +time has come when you upstart white men—you outlanders—who have +usurped our country to suck away its wealth should be set beneath our heel. Nor +do we think that the task will be difficult for surely we have little to fear +from a city of low money seekers whose councillors cannot even conquer the will +of a single maid.” +</p> + +<p> +Then in their despair the elders offered other girls to Ithobal in marriage, as +many as he would, and with them a great bribe in money. But the envoys took +their leave, saying that nothing would avail since they preferred spear-thrusts +to gold, for which they had little use, and Ithobal, their king, had fixed his +fancy on one woman alone. +</p> + +<p> +So with a heavy and foreboding heart, the city of Zimboe prepared itself to +resist attack, for as they had guessed, when he learned all, the rage of +Ithobal was great. Nor would he listen to any terms that they could offer save +one which they had no power to grant—that Elissa should be delivered +unharmed into his hands. Councils of war were held, and to these, so soon as he +was sufficiently recovered from his sickness, the prince Aziel was bidden, for +he was known to be a skilled captain; therefore, though he had been the cause +of much of their trouble, they sought his aid. Also, should the struggle be +prolonged, they hoped through him to win Israel, and perhaps Egypt, to their +cause. +</p> + +<p> +Aziel’s counsel was that they should sally out against the army of +Ithobal by night, since he expected to attack and not to be attacked, but to +that advice they would not listen, for they trusted to their walls. Indeed, in +this Metem supported them, and when the prince argued with him, he +answered:— +</p> + +<p> +“Your tactics would be good enough, Prince, if you had at your back the +lions of Judah, or the wild Arab horsemen of the desert. But here you must deal +with men of my own breed, and we Phœnicians are traders, not fighting men. +Like rats, we fight only when there is no other chance for our lives; nor do we +strike the first blow. It is true that there are some good soldiers in the +city, but they are foreign mercenaries; and as for the rest, half-breeds and +freed slaves, they belong as much to Ithobal as to Sakon, and are not to be +trusted. No, no; let us stay behind our walls, for they at least were built +when men were honest and will not betray us.” +</p> + +<p> +Now in Zimboe were three lines of defence; first, that of a single wall built +about the huts of the slaves upon the plain, then that of a double wall of +stone with a ditch between thrown round the Phœnician city, and lastly, the +great fortress-temple and the rocky heights above. These, guarded as they were +by many strongholds within whose circle the cattle were herded, as it was +thought, could only be taken with the sword of hunger. +</p> + +<p> +At last the storm burst, for on the fifth morning after Elissa had barred +herself within the tomb, Ithobal attacked the native town. Uttering their wild +battle-cries, tens of thousands of his savage warriors, armed with great spears +and shields of ox-hide, and wearing crests of plumes upon their heads, charged +down upon the outer wall. Twice they were driven back, but the work was in bad +repair and too long to defend, so that at the third rush they flowed over it +like lines of marching ants, driving its defenders before them to the inner +gates. In this battle some were killed, but the most of the slaves threw down +their arms and went over to Ithobal, who spared them, together with their wives +and children. +</p> + +<p> +Through all the night that followed, the generals of Zimboe made ready for the +onslaught which must come. Everywhere within the circuit of the inner wall +troops were stationed, while the double southern gateway, where prince Aziel +was the captain in command, was built up with loose blocks of stone. +</p> + +<p> +A while before the dawn, just as the eastern sky grew grey, Aziel, watching +from his post above the gate of the wall, heard the fierce war-song of the +Tribes swell suddenly from fifty thousand throats and the measured tramp of +their innumerable feet. Then the day broke, and he saw them advancing in three +armies towards the three points chosen for attack, the largest of the armies, +headed by Ithobal the king, directing its march upon the walled gate of which +he was in command. +</p> + +<p> +It was a wondrous and a fearful sight, that of these hordes of plumed warriors, +their broad spears flashing in the sunrise, and their fierce faces alight with +hereditary hate and the lust of slaughter. Never had Aziel seen such a +spectacle, nor could he look upon it without dreading the issue of the war, for +if they were savages, these foes were brave as the lions of their own plains, +and had sworn by the head of their king to drag down the sheltering walls of +Zimboe with their naked hands, or die to the last man. +</p> + +<p> +Turning his head with a sigh of doubt, Aziel found Metem standing at his side. +</p> + +<p> +“Have you seen her?” he asked eagerly. +</p> + +<p> +“No, Prince. How could I see her at night when she sits in a tomb like a +fox in his burrow? But I have heard her.” +</p> + +<p> +“What did she say? Quick man, tell me.” +</p> + +<p> +“But little, Prince, for the tomb is watched and I dared not stay there +long. She sent you her greetings and would have you know that her heart will be +with you in the battle, and her prayers beseech the throne of Heaven for your +safety. Also she said that she is well, though it is lonesome there in the +grave among the bodies of the dead priestesses of Baaltis whose spirits, as she +vows, haunt her dreams, reviling her because she desecrates their sepulchre and +has renounced their god.” +</p> + +<p> +“Lonesome, indeed,” said Aziel with a shudder; “but tell me, +Metem, had she no other word?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Prince, but not of good omen, for now as always she is sure that +her doom is at hand, and that you two will meet no more. Still she bade me tell +you that all your life long her spirit shall companion you though it be unseen, +to receive you at the last on the threshold of the underworld.” +</p> + +<p> +Aziel turned his head away, and said presently:— +</p> + +<p> +“If that be so, may it receive me soon.” +</p> + +<p> +“Have no fear, Prince,” replied Metem with a grim laugh, +“look yonder,” and he pointed to the advancing hosts. +</p> + +<p> +“These walls are strong and we shall beat them back,” said Aziel. +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, Prince, for strong walls do not avail without strong hearts to +guard them, and those of the womanish citizens of Zimboe and their hired +soldiers are white with fear. I tell you that the prophecies of Issachar the +Levite, made yonder in the temple on the day of the sacrifice, and again in the +hour of his death, have taken hold of the people, and by eating out their +valour, fulfil themselves. +</p> + +<p> +“Men hint at them, the women whisper them in closets, and the very +children cry them in the streets. +</p> + +<p> +“More—one man last night pointed to the skies and shrieked that in +them he saw that fiery sword of doom of which the prophet spoke hanging point +downwards above the city, whereon all present vowed they saw it too, though, as +I think, it was but a cross of stars. Another tells how that he met the very +spirit of Issachar stalking through the market-place, and that peering into the +eyes of the wraith, as in a mirror, he saw a great flame wrapping the temple +walls, and by the light of it his own dead body. This man was the priest who +first struck down the holy Levite yonder in the place of judgment. +</p> + +<p> +“Again, when the lady Mesa did sacrifice last night on behalf of the +Baaltis who has fled, the child they offered, an infant of six months, stirred +on the altar after it was dead and cried with a loud voice that before three +suns had set, its blood should be required at their hands. That is the story, +and if I do not believe it, this at least is true, that the priestesses fled +fast from the secret chamber of death, for I met them as they ran shrieking in +their terror and tearing at their robes. But what need is there to dwell on +omens, true or false, when cowards man the walls, and the spears of Ithobal +shine yonder like all the stars of heaven? Prince, I tell you that this ancient +city is doomed, and in it, as I fear, we must end our wanderings upon +earth.” +</p> + +<p> +“So be it, if it must be,” answered Aziel, “at the least I +will die fighting.” +</p> + +<p> +“And I also will die fighting, Prince, not because I love it, but because +it is better than being butchered in cold blood by a savage with a spear. Oh! +why did you ever chance to stumble upon the lady Elissa making her prayer to +Baaltis, and what evil spirit was it which filled your brains with this sudden +madness of love towards each other? That was the beginning of the trouble, +which, but for those eyes of hers, would have held off long enough to see us +safe at Tyre, though doubtless soon or late it must have come. But see, yonder +marches Ithobal at the head of his guard. Give me a bow, the flight is long, +but perchance I can reach his black heart with an arrow.” +</p> + +<p> +“Save your strength,” answered Aziel, “the range is too +great, and presently you will have enough of shooting,” and he turned to +talk to the officers of the guard. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap16"></a>CHAPTER XVI<br /> +THE CAGE OF DEATH</h2> + +<p> +An hour later the attack commenced at chosen points of the double wall, one of +them being the southern gate. In front of the advancing columns of savages were +driven vast numbers of slaves, many of whom had been captured, or had +surrendered in the outer town. These men were laden with faggots to fill the +ditch, rude ladders wherewith to scale the walls, and heavy trunks of trees to +be used in breaching them. For the most part, they were unarmed, and protected +only by their burdens, which they held before them as shields, and by the +arrows of the warriors of Ithobal. But these did little harm to the defenders, +who were hidden behind the walls, whereas the shafts of the garrison, rained on +them from above, killed or wounded the slaves by scores, who, poor creatures, +when they turned to fly, were driven onward by the spear-points of the savages, +to be slain in heaps like game in a pitfall. Still, some of them lived, and +running under the shelter of the wall, began to breach it with the rude +battering rams, and to raise the scaling ladders till death found them, or they +were worn out with excitement, fear and labour. +</p> + +<p> +Then the real attack began. With fierce yells, the threefold column rushed at +the wall, and began to work the rams and scale the ladders, while the defenders +above showered spears and arrows upon them, or crushed them with heavy stones, +or poured upon their heads boiling pitch and water, heated in great cauldrons +which stood at hand. +</p> + +<p> +Time after time they were driven back with heavy loss; and, time upon time, +fresh hordes of them advanced to the onslaught. Thrice, at the southern gate, +were the ladders raised, and thrice the stormers appeared above the level of +the wall, to be hurled back, crushed and bleeding, to the earth beneath. +</p> + +<p> +Thus the long day wore on and still the defenders held their own. +</p> + +<p> +“We shall win,” shouted Aziel to Metem, as a fresh ladder was cast +down with its weight of men to the death-strewn plain. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, here we shall win because we fight,” answered the Phœnician, +“but elsewhere it may be otherwise.” Indeed for a while the attack +upon the south gate slackened. +</p> + +<p> +Another hour passed and presently to the left of them rose a wild yell of +triumph, and with it a shout of “Fly to the second wall. The foe is in +the fosse!” +</p> + +<p> +Metem looked and there, down the great ditch, 300 paces to their left, a flood +of savages poured towards them. “Come,” he said, “the outer +wall is lost.” But as he spoke once more the ladders rose against the +gates and flanking towers and once more Aziel sprang to cast them down. When +the deed was done, he looked behind him to find that he was cut off and +surrounded. Metem and most of his men indeed had gained the inner wall in +safety, while he with twelve only of his bravest soldiers, Jews of his own +following, who had stayed to help him to throw back the ladders, were left upon +the gateway tower. Nor was escape any longer possible, for both the plain +without and the fosse within were filled with the men of Ithobal who advanced +also by hundreds down the broad coping of the captured wall. +</p> + +<p> +“Now there is but one thing that we can do,” said Aziel; +“fight bravely till we are slain.” +</p> + +<p> +As he spoke a javelin cast from the wall beneath struck him upon the +breastplate, and though the bronze turned the iron point, it brought him to his +knees. When he found his feet again, he heard a voice calling him by name, and +looking down, saw Ithobal clad in golden harness and surrounded by his +captains. +</p> + +<p> +“You cannot escape, prince Aziel,” cried the king; “yield now +to my mercy.” +</p> + +<p> +Aziel heard, and setting an arrow to his bow, loosed it at Ithobal beneath. He +was a strong and skilful archer, and the heavy shaft pierced the golden helmet +of the king, cutting his scalp down to the bone. +</p> + +<p> +“That is my answer,” cried Aziel, as Ithobal rolled upon the ground +beneath the shock of the blow. But very soon the king was up and crying his +commands from behind the shield-hedge of his captains. +</p> + +<p> +“Let the prince Aziel, and the Jews with him, be taken alive and brought +to me,” he shouted. “I will give a great reward in cattle to those +who capture them unharmed; but if any do them hurt, they themselves shall be +put to death.” +</p> + +<p> +The captains bowed and issued their orders, and presently Aziel and his +companions saw lines of unarmed men creeping up ladders set at every side of +the lofty tower. Again and again they cast off the ladders, till at length, +being so few, they could stir them no more because of the weight upon them, but +must hack at the heads of the stormers as they appeared above the parapet, +killing them one by one. +</p> + +<p> +In this fashion they slew many, but their arms grew weary at last, and ever +under the eye of their king, the brave savages crept upward, heedless of death, +till, with a shout, they poured over the battlements and rushed at the little +band of Jews. +</p> + +<p> +Now rather than be taken, Aziel sought to throw himself from the tower, but his +companions held him, and thus at last it came about that he was seized and +bound. +</p> + +<p> +As they dragged him to the stairway he looked across the fosse and saw the +mercenaries flying from the inner wall, although it was still unbreached, and +saw the citizens of Zimboe streaming by thousands to the narrow gateway of the +temple fortress. +</p> + +<p> +Then Aziel groaned in his heart and struggled no more, for he knew that the +fate of the ancient town was sealed, and that the prophecy of Issachar would be +fulfilled. +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +A while later Aziel and those with him, their hands bound behind their backs, +were led by hide ropes tied about their necks through the army of the Tribes +that jeered and spat upon them as they passed, to a tent of sewn hides on the +plain, above which floated the banner of Ithobal. Into this tent the prince was +thrust alone, and there forced upon his knees by the soldiers who held him. +Before him upon a couch covered with a lion skin lay the great shape of +Ithobal, while physicians washed his wounded scalp. +</p> + +<p> +“Greeting, son of Israel and Pharaoh,” he said in a mocking voice; +“truly you are wise thus to do homage to the king of the world.” +</p> + +<p> +“A poor jest,” answered Aziel, glancing at those who held him down; +“true homage is of the heart, king Ithobal.” +</p> + +<p> +“I know it, Jew, and this also you shall give me when you are humbler. +Who taught you the use of the bow? You shoot well,” and he pointed to his +blood-stained helm, which was still transfixed by the arrow. +</p> + +<p> +“Nay,” answered Aziel, “I shot but ill, for my arm was weary. +When next I draw a string against your breast, king Ithobal, I promise you a +straighter shaft.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well said,” answered the king with a laugh, “but know, dog +of a Jew, that now it is my turn to draw the string—how, I will show you +afterwards. Have they told you that the city has fallen, and that my captains +hold the gates, while the cowards of Zimboe are penned like sheep within the +temple and on the cliff-edged height above? They have fled hither for safety, +but I tell you that they would be more safe on yonder plain, for I have the key +of their stronghold, a certain passage leading from the palace of the Baaltis +to the temple; you know of it, I think. Yes, and if I had not, very soon hunger +and thirst would work for me. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, Jew, I have won, and with less trouble than I thought, and now I +hold the great city in hostage, to save or to destroy as it shall please me, +though that arrow of yours went near to robbing me of my crown of +victory.” +</p> + +<p> +“So be it,” answered Aziel, indifferently; “I have played my +part, now things must go as Fate may will.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Jew, you fought well till they deserted you, and the doom of +cowards is little to a brave man. But what of the lady Elissa? Nay, I know all; +she has taken refuge in the tomb of Baaltis, has she not, with poison in her +bosom and bronze at her girdle to be used against her own life, should they lay +hands on her or give her to me? And all this she does for the love of you, +prince Aziel; for the love of you she refuses to become my queen, ruling over +that city which I have conquered, and all my unnumbered tribes. +</p> + +<p> +“Do you guess now why I caused you to be taken living? I will tell you; +that you may be the bait to draw her to me. To kill you would be easy; but how +would that serve, seeing that then she herself would choose to die? But, +perchance, to save your life she will live also—yes, and give herself to +me. At least, I will try it; should the plan fail—then you can pay the +price of her pride with your blood, prince Aziel.” +</p> + +<p> +“That I would do gladly,” answered Aziel, “but oh! what a +cross-bred hound you are who thus can seek to torture the heart of a helpless +woman! Have you then no manhood that you can stoop to such a coward’s +plot?” +</p> + +<p> +“Fool! it is because of my manhood that I do stoop to it,” said +Ithobal angrily. “Doubtless you think that a mad fancy and naught else +drives me to the deed, but it is not so, although in truth my heart—like +yours—chooses this woman to be my wife and none other. That fondness I +might conquer, but look you, of all things living this lady alone has dared to +cross my will, so that to-day even the sentries on their rounds and the savage +women in the kraals tell each other of how Ithobal, the great king of an +hundred tribes, has been baffled and mocked at by a girl who despises him +because his blood is not all white. Thus I am become a laughing-stock, and +therefore I will win her, cost me what it may.” +</p> + +<p> +“And I, king Ithobal, tell you that you will not win her—no, not if +you torture me to death before her eyes.” +</p> + +<p> +“That we shall see,” said the king with a sneer. Then he called to +his guard and added, “Let this man and his companions be taken to the +place prepared for them.” +</p> + +<p> +Now Aziel was dragged from the tent and thrust into a wooden cage, such as were +used for carrying slaves and women from place to place upon the backs of +camels. His soldiers, who had been taken with him, were thrust also into cages, +and, with himself laden upon camels that were waiting, two cages to each camel. +Then a cloth was thrown over them, and, rising to their feet, the camels began +to march. +</p> + +<p> +When they had covered a league or more of ground Aziel learned from the motion +of the camel upon which he was secured, and the sound of the repeated blows of +its drivers, that they were ascending some steep place. At length they reached +the top of it, and were unloaded from the beasts like merchandise, but he could +see nothing, for by now the night had fallen. Then, still in the cages, they +were carried to a tent, where food and water were given them through the bars, +after which, so weary was Aziel with war, misery and the remains of recent +illness, that he fell asleep. +</p> + +<p> +At daybreak he awoke, or rather was awakened, by the sound of a familiar voice, +and, looking through his bars, perceived Metem standing before them, guarded +but unbound, with indignation written on his face, and tears in his quick eyes. +</p> + +<p> +“Alas!” he cried, “that I should have lived to see the seed +of Israel and Pharaoh thus fastened like a wild beast in a den, while +barbarians make a mock of him. Oh! Prince, it were better that you should die +rather than endure such shame.” +</p> + +<p> +“Misfortunes are the master of man, not man of his misfortunes, +Metem,” said Aziel quietly, “and in them is no true disgrace. Even +if I had the means to kill myself, it would be a sin; moreover, it might bring +another to her death. Therefore, I await my doom, whatever it may be, with such +patience as I can, trusting that my sufferings and ignominy may expiate my +crimes in the sight of Him whom I renounced. But how come you here, +Metem?” +</p> + +<p> +“I came under the safe-conduct of Ithobal who gave me leave to visit you, +doubtless for some ends of his own. Have you heard, Prince, that he holds the +gates of the city, though as yet no harm has been done to it, and that its +inhabitants are crowded within the temple, and upon the heights above; also +that in his despair Sakon has fallen on his sword and slain himself?” +</p> + +<p> +“Is it so?” answered Aziel. “Well, Issachar foretold as much. +On their own heads be the doom of these devil-worshippers and cowards. Have you +any tidings of the lady Elissa?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Prince. She still sits yonder in the tomb, resolute in her purpose, +and giving no answer to those who come to reason with her.” +</p> + +<p> +As he spoke the guard let fall the front of the tent so that the sunlight +flowed into it, revealing Aziel and his twelve companions, each fast in his +narrow and shameful prison. “See,” said Metem, “do you know +the place?” +</p> + +<p> +The prince struggled to his knees, and saw that they were set upon the top of a +hill, built up of granite boulders, which rose eighty feet or more from the +surface of the plain. Opposite to them at a distance of under a hundred paces +was a precipice in the face of which could be seen a cave closed with barred +gates of bronze, while between the rocky hill and the precipice ran a road. +</p> + +<p> +“I know it, Metem; there runs the path by which we travelled from the +coast, and there is the tomb of Baaltis. Why have we been brought here?” +</p> + +<p> +“The lady Elissa sits behind the bars of yonder tomb whence her view of +all that happens upon this mount must be very good indeed,” answered +Metem with meaning. “Now, can you guess why you were brought here, prince +Aziel.” +</p> + +<p> +“Is it that she may witness our sufferings under torment?” he +asked. +</p> + +<p> +Metem nodded. +</p> + +<p> +“How will they deal with us, Metem?” +</p> + +<p> +“Wait and see,” he answered sadly. +</p> + +<p> +As he spoke Ithobal himself appeared followed by certain evil-looking savages. +Having greeted Metem courteously he turned to the Hebrew soldiers in the cages +and asked them which of their number was most prepared to die. +</p> + +<p> +“I, Ithobal, who am their leader,” said Aziel. +</p> + +<p> +“No, Prince,” replied Ithobal with a cruel smile, “your time +is not yet. Look, there is a man who has been wounded; to put him out of his +pain will be a kindness. Slaves, bear that Jew to the edge of the rock, +and—as the prince will wish to study a new mode of death—bring his +cage also.” +</p> + +<p> +The order was obeyed, Aziel being set down upon the very verge of the cliff. +Close to him a spur of granite jutted out twenty feet or so from the edge. At +the end of the spur a groove was cut and over this groove, suspended by a thin +chain from a pole, hung a wedge of pure crystal carefully shaped and polished. +While Aziel wondered what evil purpose this stone might serve, the slaves had +fastened a fine rope to the cage containing the wounded Hebrew soldier and +secured its end. Then they set the rope in the groove of the granite spur, and +pushed the cage over the edge of the cliff, so that it dangled in mid-air. +</p> + +<p> +“Now I will explain,” said Ithobal. “This is a method of +punishment that I have borrowed from those followers of Baal who worship the +sun, by means of which Baal claims his own sacrifice, and none are guilty of +the victim’s blood. You see yonder crystal—well, at any appointed +hour, for it can be hung as you will, the rays of the sun shining through it +cause the fibres of the grass rope to smoke and smoulder till at length they +part and—Baal takes his sacrifice. Should a cloud hide the sun at the +appointed hour, then, Baal having spared him, the victim is set free. But, as +you will note, at this season of the year there are no clouds. +</p> + +<p> +“What, Prince, have you nothing to say?” he went on, for Aziel had +listened in silence to the tale of this devilish device. “Well, learn +that it depends upon the lady Elissa yonder whether or not this fate shall be +yours. Send now and pray her to save you. Think what it will be to hang as at +this moment your servant hangs over that yawning gulf of space, waiting through +the long hours till at last you see the little wreaths of smoke begin to curl +from the tinder of the cord. Why! before the end found them I have known men go +mad, and, like wolves, tear with their teeth at the wooden bars. +</p> + +<p> +“You will not. Then, Metem, do you plead for your friend. Bid the Baaltis +look forth at one hour before noon and see the sight of yonder wretch’s +death, remembering that to-morrow this fate shall be her lover’s unless +she foregoes her purpose of self-murder and gives herself to me. Nay, no words! +an escort shall lead you through the lower city to the gateway of the tomb and +there listen to your speech. See that it does not fail you, merchant, unless +you also seek to hang in yonder cage. Tell the lady Elissa that to-morrow at +sunrise I will come in person for her answer. If she yields, then the prince +and his companions shall be set free and with you, Metem, to guide them, be +mounted on swift camels to carry them unharmed to their retinue beyond the +mountains. But if she will not yield, then—Baal shall take his sacrifice. +Begone.” +</p> + +<p> +So, having no choice, Metem bowed and went, leaving the caged Aziel upon the +edge of the cliff, and the Hebrew soldier hanging from the spur of rock. +</p> + +<p> +Now Aziel roused himself from the horror in which his soul was sunk, and strove +to comfort his doomed comrade, praying with him to Heaven. +</p> + +<p> +Slowly as they prayed, the hours drew on till at length, upon the opposite +cliff, he saw men whom he knew to be Metem and his escort, approach the mouth +of the tomb, and faintly heard him call through the bars of the gateway. +Turning himself in his cage, Aziel glanced at the rope, and watched the spot of +light born from the burning glass of the crystal creep to its side. +</p> + +<p> +Now the fatal moment was at hand, and Aziel saw a little wreath of smoke rise +in the still air and bade his wretched servant close his eyes. Then came the +end. Suddenly the taut rope, eaten through by the sun’s fire, flew back +and the cage with the soldier in it vanished from his sight, while, from far +below, rose the sound of a heavy fall, and from the tomb of Baaltis rang the +echo of a woman’s shriek. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap17"></a>CHAPTER XVII<br /> +“THERE IS HOPE”</h2> + +<p> +It was dawn. Ithobal the king stood without the gates of the tomb of Baaltis, +the grey light glimmering faintly on his harness, and knocked upon the brazen +bars with the handle of his sword. +</p> + +<p> +“Who troubles me now?” said a voice within. +</p> + +<p> +“Lady, it is I, Ithobal, who, as I promised by Metem the Phœnician, am +come to learn your will as to the fate of my prisoner, the Prince Aziel. +Already he hangs above the gulf, and within one short hour, if you so decree +it, he will fall and be dashed to pieces. Or, if you so decree it, he will be +set free to return to his own land.” +</p> + +<p> +“At what price will he be set free, king Ithobal?” +</p> + +<p> +“Lady, you know the price; it is yourself. Oh! I beseech you, be wise! +spare his life and your own. Listen: spare his life, and I will spare this city +which lies in the hollow of my hand, and you shall rule it with me.” +</p> + +<p> +“You cannot bribe me thus, king Ithobal. My father whom I loved is dead, +and shall I give myself to you for the sake of a city and a Faith that would +have betrayed me into your hands?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, but for the sake of the man to whom you are dear, you shall do even +this, Elissa. Think: if you refuse, his blood will be upon your head, and what +will you have gained?” +</p> + +<p> +“Death, which I seek, for I weary of the struggle of my days.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then end it in my arms, lady. Soon this fancy will escape your mind, and +you will remain one of the mightiest queens of men.” +</p> + +<p> +Elissa returned no answer, and for a while there was silence. +</p> + +<p> +“Lady,” said Ithobal at length, “the sun rises and my +servants yonder await a signal.” +</p> + +<p> +Then she spoke like one who hesitates. +</p> + +<p> +“Are you not afraid, king Ithobal, to trust your life to a woman won in +such a fashion?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay,” answered Ithobal, “for though you say that their fate +does not concern you, the lives of all those penned-up thousands are hostages +for my own. Should you by chance find a means to stab me unawares, then +to-night fire and sword would rage through the city of Zimboe. Nor do I fear +the future, since I know well that you who think you hate me now, very soon +will learn to love me.” +</p> + +<p> +“You promise, king Ithobal, that if I yield myself you will set the +prince Aziel free; but how can I believe you who twice have tried to murder +him?” +</p> + +<p> +“Doubt me if you will, Elissa, at least, you cannot doubt your own eyes. +Look, his road to the sea runs beneath this rock. Come from the tomb and take +your stand upon it and you shall see him pass; yes, and should you wish, speak +with him in farewell that you may be sure that it is he and alive. Further, I +swear to you by my head and honour, that no finger shall be laid upon you till +he is gone by, and that no pursuit of him shall be attempted. Now +choose.” +</p> + +<p> +Again there was silence for a while. Then Elissa spoke in a broken voice. +</p> + +<p> +“King Ithobal, I have chosen. Trusting to your royal word I will stand +upon the rock and when I have seen the prince Aziel go by in safety, then, +since you desire it, you shall put your arms about me and bear me whither you +will. You have conquered me, king Ithobal! Henceforward these lips of mine are +yours and no other man’s. Give the signal, I pray you, and I will cast +aside the dagger and the poison and come out living from this tomb.” +</p> + +<p> +Aziel hung in his cage over the abyss of air, awaiting death, and glad to die, +because now he was sure that Elissa had refused to purchase his life at the +expense of her own surrender. There he hung, dizzy and sick at heart, making +his prayer to heaven and waiting the end, while the eagles that would prey upon +his shattered flesh swept past him. +</p> + +<p> +Presently, from the opposing cliff, came the sound of a horn blown thrice. +Then, while Aziel wondered what this might mean, the cage in which he lay was +drawn in gently over the edge of the precipice, and carried down the steeps of +the granite hill as it had been carried up them. +</p> + +<p> +At the foot of the hill its covering was torn aside, and he saw before him a +caravan of camels, and seated on each camel a comrade of his own. But one camel +had no rider, and Metem led it by a rope. +</p> + +<p> +The servants of Ithobal took him from the cage and set him upon this camel, +though they did not loosen the bonds about the wrists. +</p> + +<p> +“This is the command of the king,” said the captain to Metem +“that the arms of the prince Aziel shall remain bound until you have +travelled for six hours. Begone in safety, fearing nothing.” +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +“What happens now, Metem,” asked Aziel, as the camels strode +forward, “and why am I set free who was expecting death? Is this some new +artifice of yours, or has the lady Elissa——” and he ceased. +</p> + +<p> +“Upon the word of an honest merchant I cannot tell you, Prince. +Yesterday, as I was forced, I gave the message of king Ithobal to the lady +Elissa yonder in the tomb. She would answer me only one thing, which she +whispered in my ear through the bars of the holy tomb; that if we could escape +we should do so, moreover that you must have no fear for her since she also had +found a means of escape from Ithobal, and would certainly join us upon the +road.” +</p> + +<p> +As Metem spoke, the camels passed round the little hill on to the path that ran +beneath the tomb of Baaltis. There, standing upon the rock some fifty feet +above them, was Elissa, and with her, but at a distance, Ithobal the king. +</p> + +<p> +“Halt, prince Aziel,” she called in a clear voice, “and +hearken to my farewell. I have bought your life, and the lives of your +companions, and you are free, for the road is clear and nothing can overtake +the twelve swiftest camels in Zimboe. Go, therefore, and be happy, forgetting +no word that has passed my lips. For all my words are true, even to a certain +promise which I made you lately by the mouth of Metem, and which I now +fulfil—that I would join you on your road lest you should deem me +faithless to the troth which I have so often sworn to you. +</p> + +<p> +“King Ithobal, this shape is yours; come now and take your prize. Prince +Aziel, my soul is yours, in life it shall companion you, and in death await +you. Prince Aziel, I come to you.” Then, before he could answer a single +word, with one swift and sudden spring she hurled herself from the cliff edge +to fall crushed upon the road beneath. +</p> + +<p> +Aziel saw. In his agony he strained so fiercely at the bonds which held him +that they burst like rushes. He leapt from the camel and knelt beside Elissa. +She was not yet dead, for her eyes were open and her lips stirred. +</p> + +<p> +“I have kept faith, keep it also, Aziel! the story is not yet +done,” she gasped. Then her life flickered out, and her spirit passed. +</p> + +<p> +Aziel rose from beside the corpse and looked upward. There upon the edge of the +rock above him, leaning forward, his eyes blind with horror, stood Ithobal the +king. Aziel saw him, and a fury entered into his heart because this man, whose +jealous rage and evil doing had bred such woe and caused the death of his +beloved still lived upon the earth. By the prince was Metem, who, for once, had +no words, and from his hand he snatched a bow, set an arrow on the string and +loosed. +</p> + +<p> +The shaft rushed upwards, it smote Ithobal between the joints of his harness so +that the point of it sunk through his neck. +</p> + +<p> +“This gift, king Ithobal, from Aziel the Israelite,” he cried, as +the arrow sped. +</p> + +<p> +For a moment the great man stood still, then he opened his arms wide and of a +sudden plunged downward, falling with a crash on the roadway, where he lay dead +at the side of dead Elissa. +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +“The play is played, and the fate fulfilled,” cried Metem. +“See, the servants of the king speed yonder with their evil tidings; let +us away lest we bide here with these two for ever.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is my desire,” said Aziel. +</p> + +<p> +“A desire which may not be fulfilled,” answered Metem. “Come, +Prince, since we cannot go without you. Surely you do not wish to sacrifice the +lives of all of us as an offering to the great spirit of the lady who is dead. +It is one that she would not seek.” +</p> + +<p> +Then Aziel knelt down and kissed the brow of the dead Elissa, and went his way, +saying no word. +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +That night, when the darkness fell, the sky behind these travellers grew red +with fire. +</p> + +<p> +“Behold the end of the golden city!” said Metem. “Zimboe is +food for flames and its children for the sword. Issachar was a prophet indeed, +who foretold that it should be so.” +</p> + +<p> +Aziel bowed his head, remembering that Issachar had foretold also that for +Elissa and for him there was hope beyond the grave. As he thought it, a wind +beat upon his brow and through it a soft voice seemed to murmur to his +heart:— +</p> + +<p> +“Be of good courage: Beloved, <i>there is hope</i>.” +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +So, turning from the death behind him, this far away forgotten lover set his +face to the sea of Life and passed it, and long ago, at his appointed hour, +gained its further shore, to be welcomed there by her who watched for him. +</p> + +<p> +And thus, because of the fateful and predestined loves of Aziel the prince, and +Elissa the priestess and daughter of Sakon, three thousand years and more ago, +the ancient city of Zimboe fell at the hand of king Ithobal and his Tribes, so +that to-day there remain of it nothing but a desolate grey tower of stone, and +beneath, the crumbling bones of men. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ELISSA ***</div> +<div style='text-align:left'> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will +be renamed. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part +of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project +Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ +concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, +and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following +the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use +of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for +copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very +easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation +of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project +Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away--you may +do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected +by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark +license, especially commercial redistribution. +</div> + +<div style='margin:0.83em 0; font-size:1.1em; text-align:center'>START: FULL LICENSE<br /> +<span style='font-size:smaller'>THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE<br /> +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK</span> +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project +Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full +Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at +www.gutenberg.org/license. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™ +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or +destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your +possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a +Project Gutenberg™ electronic work and you do not agree to be bound +by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person +or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg™ electronic works if you follow the terms of this +agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the +Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection +of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual +works in the collection are in the public domain in the United +States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the +United States and you are located in the United States, we do not +claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, +displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as +all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope +that you will support the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting +free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg™ +works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the +Project Gutenberg™ name associated with the work. You can easily +comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the +same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when +you share it without charge with others. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are +in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, +check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this +agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, +distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any +other Project Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes no +representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any +country other than the United States. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other +immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must appear +prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ work (any work +on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the +phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, +performed, viewed, copied or distributed: +</div> + +<blockquote> + <div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> + This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most + other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions + whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms + of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online + at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you + are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws + of the country where you are located before using this eBook. + </div> +</blockquote> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is +derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not +contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the +copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in +the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are +redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project +Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply +either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or +obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg™ +trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any +additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms +will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works +posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the +beginning of this work. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg™ +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg™. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg™ License. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including +any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access +to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work in a format +other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official +version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ website +(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense +to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means +of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain +Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the +full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +provided that: +</div> + +<div style='margin-left:0.7em;'> + <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> + • You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed + to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has + agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid + within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are + legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty + payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in + Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg + Literary Archive Foundation.” + </div> + + <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> + • You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™ + License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all + copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue + all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™ + works. + </div> + + <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> + • You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of + any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of + receipt of the work. + </div> + + <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> + • You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works. + </div> +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project +Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than +are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing +from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of +the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set +forth in Section 3 below. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project +Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may +contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate +or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or +other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or +cannot be read by your equipment. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right +of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium +with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you +with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in +lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person +or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second +opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If +the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing +without further opportunities to fix the problem. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO +OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of +damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement +violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the +agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or +limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or +unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the +remaining provisions. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in +accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the +production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, +including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of +the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this +or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or +additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any +Defect you cause. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™ +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of +computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It +exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations +from people in all walks of life. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future +generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see +Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by +U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, +Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up +to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website +and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without widespread +public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND +DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state +visit <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/donate/">www.gutenberg.org/donate</a>. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To +donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project +Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could be +freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and +distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of +volunteer support. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in +the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not +necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper +edition. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Most people start at our website which has the main PG search +facility: <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. +</div> + +</div> + +</body> + +</html> + + diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b1007ca --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #2855 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2855) diff --git a/old/2855-8.txt b/old/2855-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..174f6b8 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/2855-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6184 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Elissa, by H. Rider Haggard + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Elissa + +Author: H. Rider Haggard + +Release Date: March 31, 2006 [EBook #2855] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ELISSA *** + + + + +Produced by John Bickers; Dagny; David Widger + + + + + +ELISSA + +OR THE DOOM OF ZIMBABWE + +by H. Rider Haggard + + + + +DEDICATION + +To the Memory of the Child + +Nada Burnham, + +who "bound all to her" and, while her father cut his way through the +hordes of the Ingobo Regiment, perished of the hardships of war +at Buluwayo on 19th May, 1896, I dedicate these tales--and more +particularly the last, that of a Faith which triumphed over savagery and +death. + +H. Rider Haggard. + +Ditchingham. + + + +AUTHOR'S NOTE + +Of the three stories that comprise this volume[*], one, "The Wizard," a +tale of victorious faith, first appeared some years ago as a Christmas +Annual. Another, "Elissa," is an attempt, difficult enough owing to the +scantiness of the material left to us by time, to recreate the life of +the ancient Phoenician Zimbabwe, whose ruins still stand in Rhodesia, +and, with the addition of the necessary love story, to suggest +circumstances such as might have brought about or accompanied its fall +at the hands of the surrounding savage tribes. The third, "Black Heart +and White Heart," is a story of the courtship, trials and final union of +a pair of Zulu lovers in the time of King Cetywayo. + + [*] This text was prepared from a volume published in 1900 + titled "Black Heart and White Heart, and Other Stories."-- + JB. + + +NOTE + +The world is full of ruins, but few of them have an origin so utterly +lost in mystery as those of Zimbabwe in South Central Africa. Who built +them? What purpose did they serve? These are questions that must have +perplexed many generations, and many different races of men. + +The researches of Mr. Wilmot prove to us indeed that in the Middle Ages +Zimbabwe or Zimboe was the seat of a barbarous empire, whose ruler was +named the Emperor of Monomotapa, also that for some years the Jesuits +ministered in a Christian church built beneath the shadow of its ancient +towers. But of the original purpose of those towers, and of the +race that reared them, the inhabitants of medival Monomotapa, it is +probable, knew less even than we know to-day. The labours and skilled +observation of the late Mr. Theodore Bent, whose death is so great +a loss to all interested in such matters, have shown almost beyond +question that Zimbabwe was once an inland Phoenician city, or at the +least a city whose inhabitants were of a race which practised Phoenician +customs and worshipped the Phoenician deities. Beyond this all is +conjecture. How it happened that a trading town, protected by vast +fortifications and adorned with temples dedicated to the worship of the +gods of the Sidonians--or rather trading towns, for Zimbabwe is only one +of a group of ruins--were built by civilised men in the heart of Africa +perhaps we shall never learn with certainty, though the discovery of +the burying-places of their inhabitants might throw some light upon the +problem. + +But if actual proof is lacking, it is scarcely to be doubted--for the +numerous old workings in Rhodesia tell their own tale--that it was the +presence of payable gold reefs worked by slave labour which tempted the +Phoenician merchants and chapmen, contrary to their custom, to travel +so far from the sea and establish themselves inland. Perhaps the city +Zimboe was the Ophir spoken of in the first Book of Kings. At least, it +is almost certain that its principal industries were the smelting and +the sale of gold, also it seems probable that expeditions travelling by +sea and land would have occupied quite three years of time in reaching +it from Jerusalem and returning thither laden with the gold and precious +stones, the ivory and the almug trees (1 Kings x.). Journeying in +Africa must have been slow in those days; that it was also dangerous is +testified by the ruins of the ancient forts built to protect the route +between the gold towns and the sea. + +However these things may be, there remains ample room for speculation +both as to the dim beginnings of the ancient city and its still dimmer +end, whereof we can guess only, when it became weakened by luxury and +the mixture of races, that hordes of invading savages stamped it out +of existence beneath their blood-stained feet, as, in after ages, they +stamped out the Empire of Monomotapa. In the following romantic sketch +the writer has ventured--no easy task--to suggest incidents such as +might have accompanied this first extinction of the Phoenician Zimbabwe. +The pursuit indeed is one in which he can only hope to fill the place +of a humble pioneer, since it is certain that in times to come the +dead fortress-temples of South Africa will occupy the pens of many +generations of the writers of romance who, as he hopes, may have more +ascertained facts to build upon than are available to-day. + + + + + +ELISSA + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE CARAVAN + +The sun, which shone upon a day that was gathered to the past some +three thousand years ago, was setting in full glory over the expanses of +south-eastern Africa--the Libya of the ancients. Its last burning rays +fell upon a cavalcade of weary men, who, together with long strings of +camels, asses and oxen, after much toil had struggled to the crest of +a line of stony hills, where they were halted to recover breath. Before +them lay a plain, clothed with sere yellow grass--for the season was +winter--and bounded by mountains of no great height, upon whose slopes +stood the city which they had travelled far to seek. It was the ancient +city of Zimboe, whereof the lonely ruins are known to us moderns as +Zimbabwe. + +At the sight of its flat-roofed houses of sun-dried brick, set upon the +side of the opposing hill, and dominated by a huge circular building +of dark stone, the caravan raised a great shout of joy. It shouted in +several tongues, in the tongues of Phoenicia, of Egypt, of the Hebrews, +of Arabia, and of the coasts of Africa, for all these peoples were +represented amongst its numbers. Well might the wanderers cry out in +their delight, seeing that at length, after eight months of perilous +travelling from the coast, they beheld the walls of their city of rest, +of the golden Ophir of the Bible. Their company had started from the +eastern port, numbering fifteen hundred men, besides women and children, +and of those not more than half were left alive. Once a savage tribe +had ambushed them, killing many. Once the pestilential fever of the low +lands had taken them so that they died of it by scores. Twice also had +they suffered heavily through hunger and thirst, to say nothing of their +losses by the fangs of lions, crocodiles, and other wild beasts which +with the country swarmed. Now their toils were over; and for six months, +or perhaps a year, they might rest and trade in the Great City, enjoying +its wealth, its flesh-pots, and the unholy orgies which, among people +of the Phoenician race, were dignified by the name of the worship of the +gods of heaven. + +Soon the clamour died away, and although no command was given, the +caravan started on at speed. All weariness faded from the faces of the +wayworn travellers, even the very camels and asses, shrunk, as most of +them were, to mere skeletons, seemed to understand that labour and blows +were done with, and forgetting their loads, shambled unurged down the +stony path. One man lingered, however. Clearly he was a person of rank, +for eight or ten attendants surrounded him. + +"Go," said he, "I wish to be alone, and will follow presently." So they +bowed to the earth, and went. + +The man was young, perhaps six or eight and twenty years of age. His +dark skin, burnt almost to blackness by the heat of the sun, together +with the fashion of his short, square-cut beard and of his garments, +proclaimed him of Jewish or Egyptian blood, while the gold collar about +his neck and the gold graven ring upon his hand showed that his rank +was high. Indeed this wanderer was none other than the prince Aziel, +nick-named the Ever-living, because of a curious mole upon his shoulder +bearing a resemblance to the _crux ansata_, the symbol of life eternal +among the Egyptians. By blood he was a grandson of Solomon, the mighty +king of Israel, and born of a royal mother, a princess of Egypt. + +In stature Aziel was tall, but somewhat slimly made, having small bones. +His face was oval in shape, the features, especially the mouth, being +fine and sensitive; the eyes were large, dark, and full of thought--the +eyes of a man with a destiny. For the most part, indeed, they were +sombre and over-full of thought, but at times they could light up with a +strange fire. + +Aziel the prince placed his hand against his forehead in such fashion as +to shade his face from the rays of the setting sun, and from beneath its +shadow gazed long and earnestly at the city of the hill. + +"At length I behold thee, thanks be to God," he murmured, for he was a +worshipper of Jehovah, and not of his mother's deities, "and it is +time, since, to speak the truth, I am weary of this travelling. Now +what fortune shall I find within thy walls, O City of Gold and +devil-servers?" + +"Who can tell?" said a quiet voice at his elbow. "Perhaps, Prince, you +will find a wife, or a throne, or--a grave." + +Aziel started, and turned to see a man standing at his side, clothed in +robes that had been rich, but were now torn and stained with travel, +and wearing on his head a black cap in shape not unlike the fez that +is common in the East to-day. The man was past middle age, having a +grizzled beard, sharp, hard features and quick eyes, which withal were +not unkindly. He was a Phoenician merchant, much trusted by Hiram, +the King of Tyre, who had made him captain of the merchandise of this +expedition. + +"Ah! is it you, Metem?" said Aziel. "Why do you leave your charge to +return to me?" + +"That I may guard a more precious charge--yourself, Prince," replied +the merchant courteously. "Having brought the child of Israel so far in +safety, I desire to hand him safely to the governor of yonder city. +Your servants told me that by your command they had left you alone, so +I returned to bear you company, for after nightfall robbers and savages +wander without these walls." + +"I thank you for your care, Metem, though I think there is little +danger, and at the worst I can defend myself." + +"Do not thank me, Prince; I am a merchant, and now, as in the past, I +protect you, knowing that for it I shall be paid. The governor will give +me a rich reward when I lead you to him safely, and when in years to +come I return with you still safe to the court of Jerusalem, then the +great king will fill my ship's hold with gifts." + +"That depends, Metem," replied the prince. "If my grandfather still +reigns it may be so, but he is very old, and if my uncle wears his +crown, then I am not sure. Truly you Phoenicians love money. Would you, +then, sell me for gold also, Metem?" + +"I said not so, Prince, though even friendship has its price----" + +"Among your people, Metem?" + +"Among all people, Prince. You reproach us with loving money; well, +we do, since money gives everything for which men strive--honour, and +place, and comfort, and the friendship of kings." + +"It cannot give you love, Metem." + +The Phoenician laughed contemptuously. "Love! with gold I will buy as +much of it as I need. Are there no slaves upon the market, and no free +women who desire ornaments and ease and the purple of Tyre? You are +young, Prince, to say that gold cannot buy us love." + +"And you, Metem, who are growing old, do not understand what I mean by +love, nor will I stay to explain it to you, for were my words as wise +as Solomon's, still you would not understand. At the least your money +cannot bring you the blessing of Heaven, nor the welfare of your spirit +in the eternal life that is to come." + +"The welfare of my spirit, Prince? No, it cannot, since I do not believe +that I have a spirit. When I die, I die, and there is an end. But the +blessing of Heaven, ah! that can be bought, as I have proved once and +again, if not with gold, then otherwise. Did I not in bygone years pass +the first son of my manhood through the fire to Baal-Sidon? Nay, shrink +not from me; it cost me dear, but my fortune was at stake, and better +that the boy should die than that all of us should live on in penury and +bonds. Know you not, Prince, that the gods must have the gifts of the +best, gifts of blood and virtue, or they will curse us and torment us?" + +"I do not know it, Metem, for such gods are no gods, but devils, +children of Beelzebub, who has no power over the righteous. Truly I +would have none of your two gods, Phoenician; upon earth the god of gold, +and in heaven the devil of slaughter." + +"Speak no ill of him, Prince," answered Metem solemnly, "for here you +are not in the courts of Jehovah, but in his land, and he may chance +to prove his power on you. For the rest, I had sooner follow after gold +than the folly of a drunken spirit which you name Love, seeing that it +works its votary less mischief. Say now, it was a woman and her love +that drove you hither to this wild land, was it not, Prince? Well, be +careful lest a woman and her love should keep you here." + +"The sun sets," said Aziel coldly; "let us go forward." + +With a bow and a murmured salute, for his quick courtier instinct told +him that he had spoken too freely, Metem took the bridle of the prince's +mule, holding the stirrup while he mounted. Then he turned to seek his +own, but the animal had wandered, and a full half hour went by before it +could be captured. + +By now the sun had set, and as there is little or no twilight in +Southern Africa it became difficult for the two travellers to find their +way down the rough hill path. Still they stumbled on, till presently +the long dead grass brushing against their knees told them that they +had lost the road, although they knew that they were riding in the right +direction, for the watch-fires burning on the city walls were a guide +to them. Soon, however, they lost sight of these fires, the boughs of +a grove of thickly-leaved trees hiding them from view, and in trying to +push their way through the wood Metem's mule stumbled against a root and +fell. + +"Now there is but one thing to be done," said the Phoenician, as he +dragged the animal from the ground, "and it is to stay here till the +moon rises, which should be within an hour. It would have been wiser, +Prince, if we had waited to discuss love and the gods till we were safe +within the walls of the city, for the end of it is that we have fallen +into the hands of king Darkness, and he is the father of many evil +things." + +"That is so, Metem," answered the prince, "and I am to blame. Let us +bide here in patience, since we must." + +So, holding their mules by the bridles, they sat down upon the ground +and waited in silence, for each of them was lost in his own thoughts. + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE GROVE OF BAALTIS + +At length, as the two men sat thus silently, for the place and its +gloom oppressed them, a sound broke upon the quiet of the night, that +beginning with a low wail such as might come from the lips of a mourner, +ended in a chant or song. The voice, which seemed close at hand, was +low, rich and passionate. At times it sank almost to a sob, and at +times, taking a higher note, it thrilled upon the air in tones that +would have been shrill were they not so sweet. + +"Who is it that sings?" said Aziel to Metem. + +"Be silent, I pray you," whispered the other in his ear; "we have +wandered into one of the sacred groves of Baaltis, which it is death +for men to enter save at the appointed festivals, and a priestess of the +grove chants her prayer to the goddess." + +"We did not come of our own will, so doubtless we shall be forgiven," +answered Aziel indifferently; "but that song moves me. Tell me the words +of it, which I can scarcely follow, for her accent is strange to me." + +"Prince, they seem to be holy words to which I have little right to +hearken. The priestess sings an ancient hallowed chant of life and +death, and she prays that the goddess may touch her soul with the wing +of fire and make her great and give her vision of things that have been +and that shall be. More I dare not tell you now; indeed I can barely +hear, and the song is hard to understand. Crouch down, for the moon +rises, and pray that the mules may not stir. Presently she will go, and +we can fly the holy place." + +The Israelite obeyed and waited, searching the darkness with eager eyes. + +Now the edge of the great moon appeared upon the horizon, and by degrees +her white rays of light revealed a strange scene to the watchers. About +an open space of ground, some eighty paces in diameter, grew seven huge +and ancient baobab trees, so ancient indeed that they must have been +planted by the primval hand of nature rather than by that of man. Aziel +and his companion were hidden with their mules behind the trunk of one +of these trees, and looking round it they perceived that the open space +beyond the shadow of the branches was not empty. In the centre of this +space stood an altar, and by it was placed the rude figure of a divinity +carved in wood and painted. On the head of this figure rose a crescent +symbolical of the moon, and round its neck hung a chain of wooden stars. +It had four wings but no hands, and of these wings two were out-spread +and two clasped a shapeless object to its breast, intended, apparently, +to represent a child. By these symbols Aziel knew that before him was +an effigy sacred to the goddess of the Phoenicians, who in different +countries passed by the various names of Astarte, or Ashtoreth, or +Baaltis, and who in their coarse worship was at once the personification +of the moon and the emblem of fertility. + +Standing before this rude fetish, between it and the altar, whereon lay +some flowers, and in such fashion that the moonlight struck full upon +her, was a white-robed woman. She was young and very beautiful both in +shape and feature, and though her black hair streaming almost to the +knees took from her height, she still seemed tall. Her rounded arms were +outstretched; her sweet and passionate face was upturned towards the +sky, and even at that distance the watchers could see her deep eyes +shining in the moonlight. The sacred song of the priestess was finished. +Now she was praying aloud, slowly, and in a clear voice, so that Aziel +could hear and understand her; praying from her very heart, not to the +idol before her, however, but to the moon above. + +"O Queen of Heaven," she said, "thou whose throne I see but whose face +I cannot see, hear the prayer of thy priestess, and protect me from the +fate I fear, and rid me of him I hate. Safe let me dwell and pure, and +as thou fillest the night with light, so fill the darkness of my soul +with the wisdom that I crave. O whisper into my ears and let me hear the +voice of heaven, teaching me that which I would know. Read me the riddle +of my life, and let me learn wherefore I am not as my sisters are; why +feasts and offerings delight me not; why I thirst for knowledge and not +for wealth, and why I crave such love as here I cannot win. Satisfy my +being with thy immortal lore and a love that does not fail or die, and +if thou wilt, then take my life in payment. Speak to me from the heaven +above, O Baaltis, or show me some sign upon the earth beneath; fill up +the vessel of my thirsty soul and satisfy the hunger of my spirit. Oh! +thou that art the goddess, thou that hast the gift of power, give me, +thy servant, of thy power, of thy godhead, and of thy peace. Hear me, +O Heaven-born, hear me, Elissa, the daughter of Sakon, the dedicate +of thee. Hear, hear, and answer now in the secret holy hour, answer by +voice, by wonder, or by symbol." + +The woman paused as though exhausted with the passion of her prayer, +hiding her face in her hands, and as she stood thus silent and +expectant, the sign came, or at least that chanced which for a while she +believed to have been an answer to her invocation. Her face was hidden, +so she could not see, and fascinated by her beauty as it appeared to +them in that unhallowed spot, and by the depth and dignity of her wild +prayer, the two watchers had eyes for her alone. Therefore it happened +that not until his arm was about to drag her away, did either of them +perceive a huge man, black as ebony in colour, clad in a cloak of +leopard skins and carrying in his right hand a broad-bladed spear who, +following the shadow of the trees, had crept upon the priestess from the +farther side of the glade. + +With a guttural exclamation of triumph he gripped her in his left arm, +and, despite her struggles and her shrill cry for help, began half to +drag and half to carry her towards the deep shade of the baobab grove. +Instantly Aziel and Metem sprang up and rushed forward, drawing their +bronze swords as they ran. As it chanced, however, the Israelite caught +his foot in one of the numerous tree-roots, which stood above the +surface of the ground and fell heavily upon his face. In a few seconds, +twenty perhaps, he found his breath and feet again, to see that Metem +had come up with the black giant who, hearing his approach, suddenly +wheeled round to meet him, still holding the struggling priestess in +his grasp. Now the Phoenician was so close upon him that the savage could +find no time to shift the grip upon his spear, but drove at him with +the knobbed end of its handle, striking him full upon the forehead and +felling him as a butcher fells an ox. Then once more he turned to fly +with his captive, but before he had covered ten yards the sound of +Aziel's approaching footsteps caused him to wheel round again. + +At sight of the Israelite advancing upon him with drawn sword, the great +barbarian freed himself from the burden of the girl by throwing her +heavily to the ground, where she lay, for the breath was shaken out of +her. Then snatching the cloak from his throat he wound it over his left +arm to serve as a shield, and with a savage yell, rushed straight at +Aziel, purposing to transfix him with the broad-headed spear. + +Well was it for the prince that he had been trained in sword-play from +his youth, also, notwithstanding his slight build, that he was strong +and active as a leopard. To await the onslaught would be to die, for +the spear must pierce him before ever he could reach the attacker's body +with his short sword. Therefore, as the weapon flashed upward he sprang +aside, avoiding it, at the same time, with one swift sweep of his sword, +slashing its holder across the back as he passed him. + +With a howl of pain and rage the savage sprang round and charged him a +second time. Again Aziel leapt to one side, but now he struck with all +his force at the spear shaft which his assailant lifted to guard his +head. So strong was the blow and so sharp the heavy sword, that it shore +through the wood, severing the handle from the spear, which fell to the +ground. Casting away the useless shaft, the warrior drew a long knife +from his girdle, and before Aziel could strike again faced him for +the third time. But he no longer rushed onward like a bull, for he had +learnt caution; he stood still, holding the skin cloak before him shield +fashion, and peering at his adversary from over its edge. + +Now it was Aziel's turn to take the offensive, and slowly he circled +round the huge barbarian, watching his opportunity. At length it came. +In answer to a feint of his the protecting cloak was dropped a little, +enabling him to prick its bearer in the neck, but only with the point +of his sword. The thrust delivered, he leapt back, and not too soon, for +forgetting his caution in his fury, the savage charged straight at him +with a roar like that of a lion. So swift and terrible was his onset +that Aziel, having no time to spring aside, did the only thing possible. +Gripping the ground with his feet, he bent his body forward, and with +outstretched arm and sword, braced up his muscles to receive the charge. +Another instant, and the leopard skin cloak fluttered before him. With +a quick movement of his left arm he swept it aside; then there came a +sudden pressure upon his sword ending in a jarring shock, a flash of +steel above his head, and down he went to the ground beneath the weight +of the black giant. + +"Now there is an end," he thought; "Heaven receive my spirit." And his +senses left him. + +When they returned again, Aziel perceived dimly that a white-draped +figure bent over him, dragging at something black which crushed his +breast, who, as she dragged, sobbed in her grief and fear. Then he +remembered, and with an effort sat up, rolling from him the corpse of +his foe, for his sword had pierced the barbarian through breast and +heart and back. At this sight the woman ceased her sobbing, and said in +the Phoenician tongue:-- + +"Sir, do you indeed live? Then the protecting gods be thanked, and to +Baaltis the Mother I vow a gift of this hair of mine in gratitude." + +"Nay, lady," he answered faintly, for he was much shaken, "that would be +a pity; also, if any, it is my hair which should be vowed." + +"You bleed from the head," she broke in; "say, stranger, are you deeply +wounded." + +"I will tell you nothing of my head," he replied, with a smile, "unless +you promise that you will not offer up your hair." + +"So be it, stranger, since I must; I will give the goddess this gold +chain instead; it is of more worth." + +"You would do better, lady," said the shrill voice of Metem again, who +by now had found his wits again, "to give the gold chain to me whose +scalp has been broken in rescuing you from that black thief." + +"Sir," she answered, "I am grateful to you from my heart, but it is +this young lord who killed the man and saved me from slavery worse than +death, and he shall be rewarded by my father." + +"Listen to her," grumbled Metem. "Did I not rush in first in my folly +and receive what I deserved for my pains? But am I to have neither +thanks nor pay, who am but an old merchant; they are for the young +prince who came after. Well, so it ever was; the thanks I can spare, and +the reward I shall claim from the treasury of the goddess. + +"Now, Prince, let me see your hurt. Ah! a cut on the ear, no more, and +thank your natal star that it is so, for another inch and the great vein +of the neck would have been severed. Prince, if you are able, draw out +your sword from the carcase of that brute, for I have tried and cannot +loosen the blade. Then perhaps this lady will guide us to the city +before his fellows come to seek him, seeing that for one night I have +had a stomach full of fighting." + +"Sirs, I will indeed. It is close at hand, and my father will thank you +there; but if it is your pleasure, tell me by what names I shall make +known to him you whose rank seems to be so high?" + +"Lady, I am Metem the Phoenician, captain of the merchandise of the +caravan of Hiram, King of Tyre, and this lord who slew the thief is none +other than the prince Aziel, the twice royal, for he is grandson to +the glorious King of Israel, and through his mother of the blood of the +Pharaohs of Egypt." + +"And yet he risked his life to save me," the girl murmured astonished; +then dropping to her knees before Aziel, she touched the ground with +her forehead in obeisance, giving him thanks, and praising him after the +fashion of the East. + +"Rise, lady," he broke in, "because I chance to be a prince I have not +ceased to be a man, and no man could have seen you in such a plight +without striking a blow on your behalf." + +"No," added Metem, "none; that is, as you happen to be noble and young +and lovely. Had you been old and ugly and humble, then the black man +might have carried you from here to Tyre ere I risked my neck to stop +him, or for the matter of that, although he will deny it, the prince +either." + +"Men do not often show their hearts so clearly," she answered with +sarcasm. "But now, lords, I will guide you to the city before more harm +befalls us, for this dead man may have companions." + +"Our mules are here, lady; will you not ride mine?" asked Aziel. + +"I thank you, Prince, but my feet will carry me." + +"And so will mine," said Aziel, ceasing from a prolonged and fruitless +effort to loosen his sword from the breast-bone of the savage, "on such +paths they are safer than any beasts. Friend, will you lead my mule with +yours?" + +"Ay, Prince," grumbled Metem, "for so the world goes with the old; you +take the fair lady for company and I a she-ass. Well, of the two give me +the ass which is more safe and does not chatter." + +Then they started, Aziel leaving his short sword in the keeping of the +dead man. + +"How are you named, lady?" he said presently, adding "or rather I need +not ask; you are Elissa, the daughter of Sakon, Governor of Zimboe, are +you not?" + +"I am so called, though how you know it I cannot guess." + +"I heard you name yourself, lady, in the prayer you made before the +altar." + +"You heard my prayer, Prince?" she said starting. "Do you not know that +it is death to that man who hearkens to the prayer of a priestess +of Baaltis, uttered in her holy grove? Still, none know it save the +goddess, who sees all, therefore I beseech you for your own sake and the +sake of your companion, say nothing of it in the city, lest it should +come to the ears of the priests of El." + +"Certainly it would have been death to you had I _not_ chanced to hear +it, having lost my way in the darkness," answered the prince laughing. +"Well, since I did hear it I will add that it was a beautiful prayer, +revealing a heart high and pure, though I grieve that it should have +been offered to one whom I hold to be a demon." + +"I am honoured," she answered coldly; "but, Prince, you forget that +though you, being a Hebrew, worship Him they call Jehovah, or so I have +been told, I, being of the blood of the Sidonians, worship the lady +Baaltis, the Queen of Heaven the holy one of whom I am a priestess." + +"So it is, alas!" he said, with a sigh, adding:-- + +"Well, let us not dispute of these matters, though, if you wish, the +prophet Issachar, the Levite who accompanies me, can explain the truth +of them to you." + +Elissa made no reply, and for a while they walked on in silence. + +"Who was that black robber whom I slew?" Aziel asked presently. + +"I am not sure, Prince," she answered, hesitating, "but savages such as +he haunt the outskirts of the city seeking to steal white women to be +their wives. Doubtless he watched my steps, following me into the holy +place." + +"Why, then, did you venture there alone, lady?" + +"Because, to be heard, such prayers as mine must be offered in solitude +in the consecrated grove, and at the hour of the rising of the moon. +Moreover, cannot Baaltis protect her priestess, Priest, and did she not +protect her?" + +"I thought, lady, that I had something to do with the matter," he +answered. + +"Ay, Prince, it was your hand that struck the blow which killed the +thief, but Baaltis, and no other, led you to the place to rescue me." + +"I understand, lady. To save you, Baaltis, laying aside her own power, +led a mortal man to the grove, which it is death that mortal man should +violate." + +"Who can fathom the way of the gods?" she replied with passion, then +added, as though reasoning with a new-born doubt, "Did not the goddess +hear my prayer and answer it?" + +"In truth, lady, I cannot say. Let me think. If I understood you +rightly, you prayed for heavenly wisdom, but whether or not you have +gained it within this last hour, I do not know. And then you prayed for +love, an immortal love. O, maiden, has it come to you since yonder moon +appeared upon the sky? And you prayed----" + +"Peace!" she broke in, "peace and mock me not, or, prince that you are, +I will publish your crime of spying upon the prayer of a priestess +of Baaltis. I tell you that I prayed for a symbol and a sign, and the +prayer was answered. + +"Did not the black giant spring upon me to bear me away to be his +slave--his, or another's? And is he not a symbol of the evil and the +ignorance which are on the earth and that seek to drag down the beauty +and the wisdom of the earth to their own level? Then the Phoenician +ran to rescue me and was defeated, since the spirit of Mammon cannot +overcome the black powers of ill. Next you came and fought hard and +long, till in the end you slew the mighty foe, you a Prince born of the +royal blood of the world----" and she ceased. + +"You have a pretty gift of parable, lady, as it should be with one who +interprets the oracles of a goddess. But you have not told me of what I, +your servant, am the symbol." + +She stopped in her walk and looked him full in the face. + +"I never heard," she said, "that either the Jews or the Egyptians, being +instructed, were blind to the reading of an allegory. But, Prince, if +you cannot read this one it is not for me, who am but a woman, to set it +out to you." + +Just then their glances met, and in the clear moonlight Aziel saw a wave +of doubt sweep over his companion's dark and beautiful eyes, and a faint +flush appear upon her brow. He saw, and something stirred at his heart +that till this hour he had never felt, something which even now he knew +it would trouble him greatly to escape. + +"Tell me, lady," he asked, his voice sinking almost to a whisper, "in +this fable of yours am I even for an hour deemed worthy to play the part +of that immortal love embodied which you sought so earnestly a while +ago?" + +"Immortal love, Prince," she answered, in a new voice, a voice low and +deep, "is not for one hour, but for all hours that are and are to be. +You, and you alone, can know if you would dare to play such a part as +this--even in a fable." + +"Perchance, lady, there lives a woman for whom it might be dared." + +"Prince, no such woman lives, since immortal love must deal, not with +the flesh, but with the spirit. If a spirit worthy to be thus loved +and worshipped now wanders in earthly shape upon the world, seeking +its counterpart and its completion, I cannot tell. Yet were it so, and +should they chance to meet, it might be happy for such brave spirits, +for then the answer to the great riddle would be theirs." + +Wondering what this riddle might be, Aziel bent towards her to reply, +when suddenly round a bend in the path but a few paces from them came +a body of soldiers and attendants, headed by a man clad in a white robe +and walking with a staff. This man was grey-headed and keen-eyed, thin +in face and ascetic in appearance, with a brow of power and a bearing +of dignity. At the sight of the pair he halted, looking at them in +question, and with disapproval. + +"Our search is ended," he said in Hebrew, "for here is he whom we +seek, and alone with him a heathen woman, robed like a priestess of the +Groves." + +"Whom do you seek, Issachar?" asked Aziel hurriedly, for the sudden +appearance of the Levite disturbed him. + +"Yourself, Prince. Surely you can guess that your absence has been +noted. We feared lest harm should have come to you, or that you had lost +your path, but it seems that you have found a guide," and he stared at +his companion sternly. + +"That guide, Issachar," answered Aziel, "being none other than the lady +Elissa, daughter of Sakon, governor of this city, and our host, whom it +has been my good fortune to rescue from a woman-stealer yonder in the +grove of the goddess Baaltis." + +"And whom it was my bad fortune to try to rescue in the said grove, +as my broken head bears witness," added Metem, who by now had come up, +dragging the two mules after him. + +"In the grove of the goddess Baaltis!" broke in the Levite with a +kindling eye, and striking the ground with his staff to emphasise his +words. "You, a Prince of Israel, alone in the high place of abomination +with the priestess of a fiend? Fie upon you, fie upon you! Would you +also walk in the sin of your forefathers, Aziel, and so soon?" + +"Peace!" said Aziel in a voice of command; "I was not in the grove +alone or by my own will, and this is no time or place for insults and +wrangling." + +"Between me and those who seek after false gods, or the women who +worship them, there is no peace," replied the old priest fiercely. + +Then, followed by all the company, he turned and strode towards the +gates of the city. + + + +CHAPTER III + +ITHOBAL THE KING + +Two hours had gone by, and the prince Aziel, together with his retinue, +the officers of the caravan, and many other guests, were seated at a +great feast made in their honour, by Sakon, the governor of the city. +This feast was held in the large pillared hall of Sakon's house, built +beneath the northern wall of the temple fortress, and not more than a +few paces from its narrow entrance, through which in case of alarm the +inhabitants of the palace could fly for safety. All down this chamber +were placed tables, accommodating more than two hundred feasters, but +the principal guests were seated by themselves upon a raised das at the +head of the hall. Among them sat Sakon himself, a middle-aged man stout +in build, and thoughtful of face, his daughter Elissa, some other +noble ladies, and a score or more of the notables of the city and its +surrounding territories. + +One of these strangers immediately attracted the attention of Aziel, who +was seated in the place of honour at the right of Sakon, between him and +the lady Elissa. This man was of large stature, and about forty years of +age; the magnificence of his apparel and the great gold chain set with +rough diamonds which hung about his neck showing him to be a person +of importance. His tawny complexion marked him of mixed race. This +conclusion his features did not belie, for the brow, nose, and +cheek-bones were Semitic in outline, while the full, prominent eyes, +and thick, sensuous lips could with equal certainty be attributed to +the Negroid stock. In fact, he was the son of a native African queen, or +chieftainess, and a noble Phoenician, and his rank no less than that of +absolute king and hereditary chief of a vast and undefined territory +which lay around the trading cities of the white men, whereof Zimboe +was the head and largest. Aziel noticed that this king, who was named +Ithobal, seemed angry and ill at ease, whether because he was not +satisfied with the place which had been allotted to him at the table, or +for other reasons, he could not at the time determine. + +When the meats had been removed, and the goblets were filled with wine, +men began to talk, till presently Sakon called for silence, and rising, +addressed Aziel:-- + +"Prince," he said, "in the name of this great and free city--for free it +is, though we acknowledge the king of Tyre as our suzerain--I give you +welcome within our gates. Here, far in the heart of Libya, we have +heard of the glorious and wise king, your grandfather, and of the mighty +Pharaoh of Egypt, whose blood runs also within your veins. Prince, we +are honoured in your coming, and for the asking, whatever this land of +gold can boast is yours. Long may you live; may the favour of those gods +you worship attend you, and in the pursuit of wisdom, of wealth, of war, +and of love, may the good grain of all be garnered in your bosom, and +the wind of prosperity winnow out the chaff of them to fall beneath your +feet. Prince, I have greeted you as it behoves me to greet the blood +of Solomon and Pharaoh; now I add a word. Now I greet you as a father +greets the man who has saved his only and beloved daughter from death, +or shameful bondage. Know you, friends, what this stranger did since +to-night's moonrise? My daughter was at worship alone yonder without +the walls, and a great savage set on her, purposing to bear her away +captive. Ay, and he would have done it had not the prince Aziel here +given him battle, and, after a fierce fight, slain him." + +"No great deed to kill a single savage," broke in the king Ithobal, who +had been listening with impatience to Sakon's praises of this high-born +stranger. + +"No great deed you say, King," answered Sakon. "Guards, being in the +body of the man and set it before us." + +There was a pause, till presently six men staggered up the hall bearing +between them the corpse of the barbarian, which, still covered with the +leopard skin mantle, they threw down on the edge of the das. + +"See!" said one of the bearers, withdrawing the cloak from the huge +body. Then pointing to the sword which still transfixed it, he added, +"and learn what strength heaven gives to the arms of princes." + +Such as the guests as were near enough rose to look at the grizzly +sight, then turned to offer their congratulations to the conqueror, but +there was one of them--the king Ithobal--who offered none; indeed, as +his eyes fell upon the face of the corpse, they grew alight with rage. + +"What ails you, King? Are you jealous of such a blow?" asked Sakon, +watching him curiously. + +"Speak no more of that thrust, I pray you," said Aziel, "for it was due +to the weight of the man rushing on the sword, which after he was dead I +could not find the power to loosen from his breast-bone." + +"Then I will do you that service, Prince," sneered Ithobal, and, setting +his foot upon the breast of the corpse, with a sudden effort of his +great frame, he plucked out the sword and cast it down upon the table. + +"Now, one might think," said Aziel, flushing with anger, "that you, +King, who do a courtesy to a man of smaller strength, mean a challenge. +Doubtless, however, I am mistaken, who do not understand the manners of +this country." + +"Think what you will, Prince," answered the chieftain, "but learn that +he who lies dead before us by your hand--as you say--was no slave to be +killed at pleasure, but a man of rank, none other, indeed, than the son +of my mother's sister." + +"Is it so?" replied Aziel, "then surely, King, you are well rid of a +cousin, however highly born, who made it his business to ravish maidens +from their homes." + +By way of answer to these words Ithobal sprang from his seat again, +laying hand upon his sword. But before he could speak or draw it, the +governor Sakon addressed him in a cold and meaning voice:-- + +"Of your courtesy, King," he said, "remember that the prince here is my +guest, as you are, and give us peace. If that dead man was your cousin, +at least he well deserved to die, not at the hand of one of royal blood, +but by that of the executioner, for he was the worst of thieves--a thief +of women. Now tell me, King, I pray you, how came your cousin here, so +far from home, since he was not numbered in your retinue?" + +"I do not know, Sakon," answered Ithobal, "and if I knew I would not +say. You tell me that my dead kinsman was a thief of women, which, in +Phoenician eyes, must be a crime indeed. So be it; but thief or no thief, +I say that there is a blood feud between me and the man who slew him, +and were he great Solomon himself, instead of one of fifty princelets of +his line, he should pay bitterly for the dead. To-morrow, Sakon, I will +meet you before I leave for my own land, for I have words to speak +to you. Till then, farewell!"--and rising, he strode down the hall, +followed by his officers and guard. + +***** + +The sudden departure of king Ithobal in anger was the signal for the +breaking up of the feast. + +"Why is that half-bred chief so wrath with me?" asked Aziel in a low +voice of Elissa as they followed Sakon to another chamber. + +"Because--if you would know the truth--he set his dead cousin to kidnap +me, and you thwarted him," she answered, looking straight before her. + +Aziel made no reply, for at that moment Sakon turned to speak with him, +and his face was anxious. + +"I crave your pardon, Prince," he said, drawing him aside, "that you +should have met with such insults at my board. Had it been any other man +who spoke thus to you, by now he had rued his words, but this Ithobal +is the terror of our city, for if he chooses he can bring a hundred +thousand savages upon us, shutting us within our walls to starve, +and cutting us off from the working of the mines whence we win gold. +Therefore, in this way or that, he must be humoured, as indeed we have +humoured him and his father for years, though now," he added, his brow +darkening, "he demands a price that I am loth to pay," and he glanced +towards his daughter, who stood watching them at a little distance, +looking most beautiful in her white robes and ornaments of gold. + +"Can you not make war upon him, and break his power?" asked Aziel, with +a strange anxiety, guessing that this price demanded by Ithobal was none +other than Elissa, the woman whom he had rescued, and whose wisdom and +beauty had stirred his heart. + +"It might be done, Prince, but the risk would be great, and we are here +to work the mines and grow rich in trade--not to make war. The policy of +Zimboe has always been a policy of peace." + +"I have a better and cheaper plan," said a calm voice at his elbow--that +of Metem. "It is this: Slip a bow-string over the brute's head as he +lies snoring, and pull it tight. An eagle in a cage is easy to deal +with, but once on the wing the matter is different." + +"There is wisdom in your counsel," said Sakon, in a hesitating voice. + +"Wisdom!" broke in Aziel; "ay, the wisdom of the assassin. What, noble +Sakon, would you murder a sleeping guest?" + +"No, Prince, I would not," he answered hastily; "also, such a deed would +bring the Tribes upon us." + +"Then, Sakon, you are more foolish than you used to be," said Metem +laughing. "A man who will not despatch a foe, whenever he can catch him, +by means fair or foul, is not the man to govern a rich city set in the +heart of a barbarous land, and so I shall tell Hiram, our king, if ever +I live to see Tyre again. As for you, most high Prince, forgive the +humblest of your servants if he tells you that the tenderness of your +heart and the nobility of your sentiments will, I think, bring you to +an early and evil end;" and, glancing towards Elissa as though to put a +point upon his words, Metem smiled sarcastically and withdrew. + +At this moment a messenger, whose long white hair, wild eyes and red +robe announced him to be a priest of El, by which name the people of +Zimboe worshipped Baal, entered the room, and whispered something into +the ear of Sakon which seemed to disturb him much. + +"Pardon me, Prince, and you, my guests, if I leave you," said the +governor, "but I have evil tidings that call me to the temple. The lady +Baaltis is seized with the black fever, and I must visit her. For an +hour, farewell." + +This news caused consternation among the company, and in the general +confusion that followed its announcement Aziel joined Elissa, who had +passed on to the balcony of the house, and was seated there alone, +looking out over the moonlit city and the plains beyond. At his approach +she rose in token of respect, then sat herself down again, motioning him +to do likewise. + +"Give me of your wisdom, lady," he said. "I thought that Baaltis was the +goddess whom I heard you worshipping yonder in the grove; how, then, can +she be stricken with a fever?" + +"She is the goddess," Elissa answered smiling; "but the _lady_ Baaltis +is a woman whom we revere as the incarnation of that goddess upon earth, +and being but a woman in her hour she must die." + +"Then, what becomes of the incarnation of the goddess?" + +"Another is chosen by the college of the priests of El, and the company +of the priestesses of Baaltis. If that lady Baaltis who is dead chances +to leave a daughter, it is usual for the lot to fall upon her; if not, +upon such one of the noble maidens as may be chosen." + +"Does the lady Baaltis marry, then?" + +"Yes, Prince, within a year of her consecration, she must choose herself +a husband, and he may be whom she will, provided only that he is of +white blood, and does public sacrifice to El and Baaltis. Then after she +has named him, this husband takes the title of Shadid, and for so long +as his wife shall live he is the high priest of the god El, and clothed +with the majesty of the god, as his wife is clothed with the majesty of +Baaltis. But should she die, another wins his place." + +"It is a strange faith," said Aziel, "which teaches that the Lord of +Heaven can find a home in mortal breasts. But, lady, it is yours, so of +it I say no more. Now tell me, if you will, what did you mean when you +said that this barbarian king, Ithobal, set the savage whom I slew to +kidnap you? Do you know this, or do you suspect it only?" + +"I suspected it from the first, Prince, and for good reasons; moreover, +I read it in the king's face as he looked upon the corpse, and when he +perceived me among the feasters." + +"And why should he wish to carry you away this brutally, lady, when he +is at peace with the great city?" + +"Perchance, Prince, after what passed to-night you can guess," she +answered lowering her eyes. + +"Yes, lady, I can guess, and though it is shameful that such an one +should dare to think of you, still, since he is a man, I cannot blame +him overmuch. But why should he press his suit in this rough and secret +fashion instead of openly as a king might do?" + +"He may have pressed it openly and been repulsed," she replied in a low +voice. "But if he could have carried me to some far fortress, how should +I flout him there, that is, if I still lived? There, with no price +to pay in gold or lands or power, he would have been my master, and I +should have been his slave till such time as he wearied of me. That is +the fate from which you have saved me, Prince, or rather from death, for +I am not one who could bear such shame at the hands of a man I hate." + +"Lady," he said bowing, "I think that perhaps for the first time in my +life I am glad to-night that I was born." + +"And I," she answered, "who am but a Phoenician maiden, am glad that I +should have lived to hear one who is as royal in thought and soul as he +is in rank speak thus to me. Oh! Prince," she added, clasping her hands, +"if your words are not those of empty courtesy alone, hear me, for you +are great, a Lord of the Earth whom none refuse, and it may be in your +power to give me aid. Prince, I am in a sore strait, for that danger +from which I prayed to be delivered this night presses me hard. Prince, +it is true that Ithobal has been refused my hand, both by myself and by +my father, and therefore it was that he strove to steal me away. But the +evil is not done with, for the great nobles of the city and the chief +priests of El came to my father at sunset and prayed him that he would +let Ithobal take me, seeing that otherwise in his rage he will make war +upon Zimboe. When a man placed as is my father must choose between the +safety of thousands and the honour and happiness of one poor girl, what +will his answer be, think you?" + +"Now," said Aziel, "save that no wrong can right a wrong, I almost +grieve that I cried shame upon the counsel of Metem. Sweet lady, be sure +of this, that I will give all I have, even to my life, to protect you +from the vile fate you dread--yes, all I have--except my soul." + +"Ah!" she cried with a sudden flash of her dark eyes, "all except your +soul. If we women could find the man who would risk both life and soul +for us, then, were he but a slave, we would worship him as never man was +worshipped since Baaltis mounted her heavenly throne." + +"Were I not a Hebrew you would tempt me, lady," Aziel answered smiling, +"but being one I may not risk my soul even were such a prize within my +reach." + +"Nay, Prince," she broke in, "I did but jest; forget my words, for they +were wrung from a heart torn with fears. Oh! did you know the terror of +this half-savage Ithobal which oppresses me, you would forgive me all--a +terror that to-night lies upon me with a tenfold weight." + +"Why so, lady?" + +"Doubtless because it is nearer," Elissa whispered, but her beautiful +pleading eyes and quivering lips seemed to belie her words and say, +"because _you_ are near, and a change has come upon me." + +For the second time that day Aziel's glance met hers, and for the +second time a strange new pang that was more pain than joy, and yet +half-divine, snatched at his heart-strings, for a while numbing his +reason and taking from him the power of speech. + +"What was it?" he wondered vaguely. He had seen many lovely faces, and +many noble women had shown him favour, but why had none of them +stirred him thus? Could it be that this stranger Gentile maiden was his +soul-mate--she whom he was destined to love above all upon the earth, +nay, whom he did already love, and so soon? + +"Lady," he said, taking a step towards her, "lady----" and he paused. + +Elissa bowed her dark head till her gold-bedecked and scented hair +almost fell upon his feet, but she made no answer. + +Then another voice broke upon the silence, a clear, strident voice that +said:-- + +"Prince, forgive me, if for the second time to-day I disturb you; but +the guests have gone; your chamber is made ready, and, not knowing the +customs of the women of this country, I sought you, little guessing +that, at such an hour, I should find you alone with one of them." + +Aziel looked up, although there was no need for him to do so, for +he knew that voice well, to see the tall form of the Levite Issachar +standing before them, a cold light of anger shining in his eyes. + +Elissa saw also, and, with some murmured words of farewell, she turned +and went, leaving them together. + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE DREAM OF ISSACHAR + +For a moment there was silence, which Aziel broke, saying:-- + +"It seems to me, Issachar, that you are somewhat over zealous for my +welfare." + +"I think otherwise, Prince," replied the Levite sternly. "Did not your +grandsire give you into my keeping, and shall I not be faithful to my +trust, and to a higher duty than any which he could lay upon me?" + +"Your meaning, Issachar?" + +"It is plain, Prince; but I will set it out. The great king said to me +yonder in the hall of his golden palace at Jerusalem, 'To others, men of +war, I have given charge of the body of my grandson to keep him safe. To +you, Issachar the Levite, who have fostered him, I give charge over +his soul to keep it safe--a higher task, and more difficult. Guard him, +Issachar, from the temptation of strange doctrines and the whisperings +of strange gods, but guard him most of all from the wiles of strange +women who bow the knee to Baal, for such are the gate of Gehenna upon +earth, and those who enter by it shall find their place in Tophet.'" + +"Truly my grandsire speaks wisely on this matter as on all others," +answered Aziel, "but still I do not understand." + +"Then I will be more clear, Prince. How comes it that I find you +alone with this beautiful sorceress, this worshipper of the she-devil, +Baaltis, with whom you should scorn even to speak, except such words as +courtesy demands?" + +"Is it then forbidden to me," asked Aziel angrily, "to talk with the +daughter of my host, a lady whom I chanced to save from death, of the +customs of her country and the mysteries of worship?" + +"The mysteries of worship!" answered Issachar scornfully. "Ay! the +mysteries of the worship of that fair body of hers, that ivory chalice +filled with foulness--whereof, if a man drink, his faith shall be rotted +and his soul poisoned. The mysteries of that worship was it, Prince, +that caused you but now to lean towards this woman as though to embrace +her, with words of love burning in your heart if not between your lips? +Ah! these witches of Baaltis know their trade well; they are full of +evil gifts, and of the wisdom given to them by the fiend they serve. +With touch and sigh and look they can stir the blood of youth, having +much practice in the art, till it seethes within the veins and drowns +conscience in its flood. + +"Nay, Prince, hear the truth," continued Issachar. "Till moonrise you +had never seen this woman, and now your quick blood is aflame, and you +love her. Deny it if you can--deny it on your honour and I will believe +you, for you are no liar." + +Aziel thought for a moment and answered:-- + +"Issachar, you have no right to question me on this matter, yet since +you have adjured me by my honour, I will be open with you. I do not know +if I love this woman, who, as you say, is a stranger to me, but it +is true that my heart turns towards her like flowers to the sun. Till +to-day I had never seen her, yet when my eyes first fell upon her face +yonder in that accursed grove, it seemed to me that I had been born only +that I might find her. It seemed to me even that for ages I had known +her, that for ever she was mine and that I was hers. Read me the riddle, +Issachar? Is this but passion born of youth and the sudden sight of a +fair woman? That cannot be, for I have known others as fair, and have +passed through some such fires. Tell me, Issachar, you who are old and +wise and have seen much of the hearts of men, what is this wave that +overwhelms me?" + +"What is it, Prince? It is witchery; it is the wile of Beelzebub waiting +to snatch your soul, and if you hearken to it you shall pass through +the fire--through the fire to Moloch, if not in the flesh, then in the +spirit, which is to all eternity. Oh! not in vain do I fear for you, my +son, and not without reason was I warned in a dream. Listen: Last night, +as I lay in my tent yonder upon the plain, I dreamed that some danger +overshadowed you, and in my sleep I prayed that your destiny might be +revealed to me. As I prayed thus, I heard a voice saying, 'Issachar, you +seek to learn the future; know then that he who is dear to you shall be +tried in the furnace indeed. Yes, because of his great love and pity, +he shall forswear his faith, and with death and sorrow he shall pay the +price of his sin.' + +"Then I was troubled and besought Heaven that you, my son, might be +saved from this unknown temptation, but the voice answered me:-- + +"'Of their own will only can they who were one from the beginning be +held apart. Through good and ill let them work each other's woe or weal. +The goal is sure, but they must choose the road.' + +"Now as I wondered what these dark sayings might mean, the gloom opened +and I saw you, Aziel, standing in a grove of trees, while towards you +with outstretched hands drew a veiled woman who bore upon her brow the +golden bow of Baaltis. Then fire raged about you, and in the fire I +beheld many things which I have forgotten, and moving through it was the +Prince of Death, who slew and slew and spared not. So I awoke heavy at +heart, knowing that there had fallen on me who love you a shadow of doom +to come." + +In these latter days any educated man would set aside Issachar's wild +vision as the vapourings of a mind distraught. But Aziel lived in the +time of Solomon, when men of his nation guided their steps by the light +of prophecy, and believed that it was the Divine pleasure, by means of +dreams and wonders and through the mouths of chosen seers, to declare +the will of Jehovah upon earth. To this faith, indeed, we still hold +fast, at least so far as that period and people are concerned, seeing +that we acknowledge Isaiah, David, and their company, to have been +inspired from above. Of that company Issachar the Levite was one, for to +him, from his youth up, voices had spoken in the watches of the night, +and often he had poured his warnings and denunciations into the ears +of kings and peoples, telling them with no uncertain voice of the +consequences of sin and idolatry, and of punishment to come. This Aziel, +who had been his ward and pupil, knew well, and therefore he did not +mock at the priest's dream or set it aside as naught, but bowed his head +and listened. + +"I am honoured indeed," he said with humility, "that the destiny of my +poor soul and body should be a thing of weight to those on high." + +"Of your poor soul, Aziel?" broke in Issachar. "That soul of yours, of +which you speak so lightly, is of as great value in the eyes of Heaven +as that of any cherubim within its gates. The angels who fell were the +first and chiefest of the angels, and though now we are clad with mortal +shape in punishment of our sins, again redeemed and glorified we can +become among the mightiest of their hosts. Oh! my son, I beseech you, +turn from this woman while there yet is time, lest to you her lips +should be a cup of woe and your soul shall pay the price of them, +sharing the hell of the worshippers of Ashtoreth." + +"It may be so," said Aziel; "but, Issachar, what said the voice? +That this, the woman of your dream and I were one from the beginning? +Issachar, you believe that the lady Elissa is she of whom the voice +spoke in your sleep and you bid me turn from her because she will bring +me sin and punishment. In truth, if I can, I will obey you, since rather +than forswear my faith, as your dream foretold, I would die a hundred +deaths. Nor do I believe that for any bribe of woman's love I shall +forswear it in act or thought. Yet if such things come about it is fate +that drives me on, not my will--and what man can flee his fate? But even +though this lady be she whom I am doomed to love, you say that because +she is heathen I must reject her. Shame upon the thought, for if she is +heathen it is through ignorance, and it may be mine to change her heart. +Because I stand in danger shall I suffer her who, as you tell me, was +one with me from the beginning, to be lost in that hell of Baal of which +you speak? Nay, your dream is false. I will not renounce my faith, but +rather will win her to share it, and together we shall triumph, and that +I swear to you, Issachar." + +"Truly the evil one has many wiles," answered the Levite, "and I did +ill to tell you of my dream, seeing that it can be twisted to serve the +purpose of your madness. Have your will, Aziel, and reap the fruit of +it, but of this I warn you--that while I can find a way to thwart it, +never, Prince, shall you take that witch to your bosom to be the ruin of +your life and soul." + +"Then, Issachar, on this matter there may be war between us!" + +"Ay! there is war," said the Levite, and left him. + +***** + +The sun was already high in the heavens when Aziel awoke from the deep +and dreamless sleep which followed on the excitements and exhaustion of +the previous day. After his servants had waited upon him and robed him, +bringing him milk and fruit to eat, he dismissed them, and sat himself +down by the casement of his chamber to think a while. + +Below him lay the city of flat-roofed houses enclosed with a double +wall, without the ring of which were thousands of straw huts, shaped +like bee-hives, wherein dwelt natives of the country, slaves or servants +of the occupying Phoenician race. To Aziel's right, and not more than a +hundred paces from the governor's house in which he was, rose the round +and mighty battlements of the temple, where the followers of El and +Baaltis worshipped, and the gold refiners carried on their business. +At intervals on its flat-topped walls stood towers of observation, +alternating with pointed monoliths of granite and soapstone columns +supporting vultures, rudely carved emblems of Baaltis. Between these +towers armed soldiers walked continually, watching the city below and +the plain beyond, for though the mission of the Phoenicians here was one +of peaceful gain it was evident that they considered it necessary to be +always prepared for war. On the hillside above the great temple towered +another fortress of stone--a citadel deemed to be impregnable even +should the temple fall into the hands of an enemy--while on the crest +of the precipitous slope, stretching as far to right and left as the eye +could reach, were many smaller detached strongholds. + +The scene that Aziel saw from his window was a busy one, for beneath him +a market was being held in an open square in the city. Here, sheltered +from the sun by grass-thatched booths, the Phoenician merchants who had +been his companions in their long and perilous journey from the coast +were already in treaty with numerous customers, hoping, not in vain, +to recoup themselves amply for the toils and dangers which they had +survived. Beneath these booths were spread their goods; silks from Cos, +bronze weapons and copper rods, or ingots from the rich mines of Cyprus, +linens and muslins from Egypt; beads, idols, carven bowls, knives, +glass ware, pottery in all shapes, and charms made of glazed faience +or Egyptian stone; bales of the famous purple cloth of Tyre; surgical +instruments, jewellery, and objects of toilet; scents, pots of rouge, +and other unguents for the use of ladies in little alabaster and +earthenware vases; bags of refined salt, and a thousand other articles +of commerce produced or stored in the workshops of Phoenicia. These +the chapmen bartered for raw gold by weight, tusks of ivory, ostrich +feathers, and girls of approved beauty, slaves taken in war, or in some +instances maidens whom their unnatural parents or relatives did not +scruple to sell into bondage. + +In another portion of the square, provisions and stock, alive and +dead, were being offered for sale, for the most part by natives of the +country. Here were piles of vegetables and fruits grown in the gardens, +sacks of various sorts of grain, bundles of green forage from the +irrigated lands without the walls, calabashes full of curdled milk, +thick native beer and trusses of reed for thatching. Here again were +oxen, mules and asses, or great bucks such as we now know as eland +or kudoo, carried in on rough litters of boughs to be disposed of by +parties of savage huntsmen who had shot them with arrows or trapped them +in pitfalls. Every Eastern tribe and nation seemed to be represented +in the motley crowd. Yonder stalked savages, naked except for their +girdles, and armed with huge spears, who gazed with bewilderment on the +wonders of this mart of the white man; there moved grave, long-bearded +Arab merchants or Phoenicians in their pointed caps, or bare-headed +white-robed Egyptians, or half-bred mercenaries clad in mail. Their +variety was without end, while from them came a very babel of different +tongues as they cried their wares, bargained and quarrelled. + +Aziel gazed at this novel sight with interest, till, as he was beginning +to weary of it, the crowd parted to right and left, leaving a clear lane +across the market-place to the narrow gate of the temple. Along this +lane advanced a procession of the priests of El clad in red robes, with +tall red caps upon their heads, beneath which their straight hair hung +down to their shoulders. In their hands were gilded rods, and round +their necks hung golden chains, to which were attached emblems of the +god they worshipped. They walked two-and-two to the number of fifty, +chanting a melancholy dirge, one hand of each priest resting upon his +fellow's shoulder, and as they passed, with the exception of certain +Jews, all the spectators uncovered, while some of the more pious of them +even fell upon their knees. + +After the priests came a second procession, that of the priestesses +of Baaltis. These women, who numbered at least a hundred, were clad +in white, and wore upon their heads a gauze-like veil that fell to the +knees, and was held in place by a golden fillet surmounted with the +symbol of a crescent moon. Instead of the golden rods, however, each of +them held in her left hand a growing stalk of maize, from the sheathed +cob of which hung the bright tassel of its bloom. On her right wrist, +moreover, a milk-white dove was fastened by a wire, both corn and dove +being tokens of that fertility which, under various guises, was the real +object of worship of these people. The sight of these white-veiled women +about whose crescent-decked brows the doves fluttered, wildly striving +to be free, was very strange and beautiful as they advanced also singing +a low and melancholy chant. Aziel searched their faces with his eyes +while they passed slowly towards him, and presently his heart bounded, +for there among them, clasping the dove she bore to her breast, as +though to still its frightened strugglings, was the Lady Elissa. He +noticed, too, that as she went beneath the palace walls, she glanced +at the window-place of his chamber, but without seeing him for he was +seated in the shadow. + +Presently the long line of priestesses, followed by hundreds of +worshippers, had vanished through the tortuous and narrow entrance of +the temple, and Aziel leaned back to think. + +There, among the principal votaries of a goddess, the wickedness of +whose worship was a scandal and a by-word even in the ancient world, +walked the woman to whom he felt so strangely drawn and with whom, +if there were any truth in the visions of Issachar and the mysterious +warnings of his own soul, his fate was intertwined. As he thought of it +a sudden revulsion filled his heart. She was wise and beautiful, and she +seemed innocent, but Issachar was right; this girl was the minister of +an abominable creed; nay, for aught he knew, she was herself defiled +with its abominations, and her wisdom but an evil gift from the evil +powers she served. Could he, a prince of the royal blood of the House of +Israel and of the ancient Pharaohs of Khem, desire to have anything to +do with such an one, he a child of the Chosen People, a worshipper of +the true and only God? Yesterday she had thrown a spell upon him, a +spell of black magic, or the spell of her imperial beauty, which, it +mattered not, but to-day he was the lord of his own mind, and would +shake himself free of it and her. + +***** + +In the market-place below, the Levite Issachar also had watched the +passing of the priests and priestesses of El and Baaltis. + +"Tell me, Metem," he asked of the Phoenician who stood beside him, his +head respectfully uncovered, "what mummery is this?" + +"It is no mummery, worthy Issachar, but a ceremony of public sacrifice, +which is to be offered in the temple yonder, for the recovery from her +sickness of the Lady Baaltis, the high-priestess." + +"Where then is the offering. I see none, unless it be those doves that +are tied to the wrists of the women?" + +"Nay, Issachar," answered Metem smiling darkly, "the gods ask nobler +blood than that of doves. The offering is within, and it is the +first-born child of a priestess of Baaltis." + +"O Lord of Heaven!" said Issachar lifting up his eyes, "how long will +you suffer that this murderous and accursed race should defile the face +of earth?" + +"Softly, friend," broke in Metem, "I have read your Scriptures, and is +it not set out in them that your great forefather was commanded to offer +up his first-born in such a sacrifice?" + +"Blaspheme not," answered the Jew. "He was commanded indeed, that +his heart might be proved, but his hand was stayed. He Whom I worship +delights not in the blood of children." + +Here Issachar broke off, suddenly recognising the lady Elissa among the +white-robed priestesses. Watching her, he noted her glance at the window +of Aziel's chamber, and saw what she could not see, that the prince was +seated there. "This daughter of Satan spreads her nets," he muttered +between his teeth. Then a thought struck him, and he added aloud, "Say, +Metem, is it permitted to strangers to witness the rites in yonder +temple?" + +"Surely," answered the Phoenician; "that is, if they guard their tongues, +and do nothing to offend." + +"Then I desire to see them, Metem, and so doubtless does the prince +Aziel. Therefore, if it is your will, do me the service to enter his +chamber in the palace where he is sitting, and bid him to a great +ceremony that goes forward in the temple. And, Metem, if he asks +what that ceremony is, I charge you, say only that a dove is to be +sacrificed. + +"I will wait for you at the gate of the temple, but do not tell him that +I send you on this errand. Metem, you love gain; remember that if you +humour me in this and other matters which may arise, doing my bidding +faithfully, I have the treasury of Jerusalem to draw upon." + +"No ill paymaster," replied Metem cheerfully. "Certainly I will obey you +in all things, holy Issachar, as the king commanded me yonder in Judea." + +"Now," he reflected to himself, as he went upon his message, "I see how +the bird flies. The prince Aziel is in love with the lady Elissa, or far +upon the road to it, as at his age it is right and proper that he should +be, after a twelve months' journey by sea and land with never a pretty +face to sigh for. The holy Issachar, on the other hand, is minded that +his charge shall have naught to do with a priestess of Baaltis, as, his +age and calling considered, is also right and proper. Then there is that +black savage Ithobal, who wishes to win the girl, and the girl herself, +who after the fashion of her sex, will probably play them all off one +against the other. Well, so much the better for me, since I shall be a +richer man even than I am before this affair is done with. I have two +hands, and gold is gold whoever be the giver," and smiling craftily to +himself Metem passed into the palace. + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE PLACE OF SACRIFICE + +Suddenly Aziel, looking up from his reverie, saw the Phoenician bowing +before him, cap in hand. + +"May the Prince live for ever," he said, "yet if he suffer melancholy to +overcome him thus, his life, however long, will be but sad." + +"I was only thinking, Metem," answered Aziel with a start. + +"Of the lady Elissa, whom you rescued, Prince? Ah! I guessed as much. +She is beautiful, is she not--I have never seen the equal of those +dreamy eyes and that mysterious smile--and learned also, though myself, +in a woman I prefer the beauty without the learning. It is a pity now +that she should chance to be a priestess of our worship, for that will +not please the holy Issachar whom, I fear, Prince, you find a stern +guide for the feet of youth." + +"Your business, merchant?" broke in Aziel. + +"I crave your pardon, Prince," answered the Phoenician, spreading out +his hands in deprecation. "I struck a good bargain for my wares this +morning, and drank wine to seal it, therefore, let me be forgiven if I +have spoken too freely in your presence, Prince. This is my business: +Yonder in the temple they celebrate a service which it is lawful for +strangers to witness, and as the opportunity is rare, I thought that, +having heard something of our mysteries in the grove last night, you +might wish to see the office. If this be so, I am come to guide you." + +"Aziel's first impulse was to refuse to go; indeed, the words of +dismissal were on his lips when another purpose entered his mind. For +this once he would look upon these abominations and learn what part +Elissa played in them, and thus be cured for ever of the longings that +had seized him. + +"What is the ceremony?" he asked. + +"A sacrifice for the recovery of the lady Baaltis who is sick, Prince." + +"And what is the sacrifice?" asked Aziel. + +"A dove, as I am told," was the indifferent answer. + +"I will come with you, Metem." + +"So be it, Prince. Your retinue awaits you at the gate." + +At the main entrance to the palace Aziel found his guard and other +servants gathered there to escort him. With them was Issachar, whom he +greeted, asking him if he knew the errand upon which they were bent. + +"I do, Prince; it is to witness the abomination of a sacrifice of these +heathens." + +"Will you then accompany me there, Issachar?" + +"Where my lord goes I go," answered the Levite gravely. "Moreover, +Prince, if you have your reasons for wishing to see this devil-worship, +I may have mine." + +Then they set out, Metem guiding them. At the north gate of the temple, +which was not more than a yard in width, the Phoenician spoke to the +guards on duty, who drew back to let them pass. In single file, for the +passages were too narrow to allow of any other means of progression, +they threaded the tortuous and mazy paths of the great building, passing +between huge walls built of granite blocks laid without mortar, till at +length they reached a large open space. Here the ceremony had already +begun. Almost in the centre of this space, which was paved with blocks +of granite, stood two conical towers, the larger of which measured +thirty feet in height and the smaller about half as much. These towers, +also build of blocks of stone, were, as Metem informed them, sacred +to and emblematical of the gods El and Baaltis. In front of them was a +platform surmounted by a stone altar, and between them, built in a pit +in the ground, burned a great furnace of wood. All the centre of the +enclosure was occupied by the marshalled ranks of the priests and +priestesses. Without this sacred ring stood the closely packed masses +of spectators, amongst whom Aziel and his following were given place, +though some of the more pious worshippers murmured audibly at the +admission of these Jews. + +When they entered, the companies of priests and priestesses were +finishing a prayer, the sentences of which they chanted alternately +with strange effect. In part it was formal, and in part an improvised +supplication to the protecting gods to restore health to that woman or +high-priestess who was known as the lady Baaltis. The prayer ended, +a beautiful bold-faced girl advanced to an open space in front of the +altar, and with a sudden movement threw off her white robe, revealing +herself to the spectators in a many-coloured garment of gauze, through +which her fair flesh gleamed. + +The black hair of this woman was adorned with a coronet of scarlet +flowers and hung loose about her; her feet and arms were naked, and in +each hand she held a knife of bronze. Very slowly she began to dance, +her painted lips parted as though to speak, and her eyes, brightened +with pigments, turned up to heaven. By degrees her movements grew more +rapid, till at length, as she whirled round, her long locks streamed +out straight upon the air and the crown of flowers looked like a scarlet +ring. Suddenly the bronze knife in her right hand flashed, and a spot +of red appeared above her left breast; then the knife in the left hand +flashed, and another spot appeared over the right breast. At each stroke +the multitude cried, "_Ah!_" as with one voice, and then were silent. + +Now the maddened dancer, ceasing her whirlings, leapt high into the +air, clashing the knives above her head and crying, "Hear me, hear me, +Baaltis!" + +Again she leapt, and this time the answer that came from her lips was +spoken in another voice, which said, "I am present. What seek you?" + +A third time the priestess leapt, replying in her own voice, "Health for +thy servant who is sick." Then came the answer in the second voice--"I +hear you, but I see no sacrifice." + +"What sacrifice would'st thou, O Queen? A dove?" + +"Nay." + +"What then, Queen?" + +"One only, the first-born child of a woman." + +As this command, which they supposed to be divine and from above, issued +out of the lips of the gashed and bleeding Pythoness, the multitude that +hitherto had listened in perfect silence, shouted aloud, while the girl +herself, utterly exhausted, fell to the earth swooning. + +Now the high priest of El, who was named the Shadid, none other indeed +than the husband of her who lay sick, sprang upon the platform and +cried:-- + +"The goddess has spoken by the mouth of her oracle. She who is the +mother of all demands one life out of the many she has given, that the +Lady Baaltis, who is her priestess upon earth, may be recovered of her +sickness. Say, who will lay down a life for the honour of the goddess, +and that her regent in this land may be saved alive?" + +Now--for all this scene had been carefully prepared--a woman stepped +forward, wearing the robe of a priestess, who bore in her arms a drugged +and sleeping child. + +"I, father," she cried in a shrill, hard voice, though her lips trembled +as she spoke. "Let the goddess take this child, the first-fruit of my +body, that our mother the Lady Baaltis may be cured of her sickness, and +that I, her daughter, may be blessed by the goddess, and through me, all +we who worship her." And she held out the little victim towards him. + +The Shadid stretched out his arms to take it, but he never did take +it, for at that moment appeared upon the platform the tall and bearded +figure of Issachar clad in his white robes. + +"Hold!" he cried in a loud, clear voice, "and touch not the innocent +child. Spawn of Satan, would you do murder to appease the devils whom +you worship? Well shall they repay you, people of Zimboe. Oh! mine eyes +are open and I see," he went on, shaking his thin arms above his head +in a prophetic frenzy. "I see the sword of the true God, and it flames +above this city of idolaters and abominations. I see this place of +sacrifice, and I tell you that before the moon is young again it shall +run red with the blood of you, idol worshippers, and of you, women of +the groves. The heathen is at your gates, ye followers of demons, and my +God sends them as He sends the locusts of the north wind to devour you +like grass, to sweep you away like the dust of the desert. Cry then upon +El and Baaltis, and let El and Baaltis save you if they can. Doom is +upon you; Azrael, angel of death, writes his name upon your foreheads, +every one of you, giving your city to the owls, your bodies to the +jackals, and your souls to Satan----" + +Thus far the priests and the spectators had listened to Issachar's +denunciations in bewildered amazement not unmixed with fear. Now with a +roar of wrath they awoke, and suddenly he was dragged from the platform +by a score of hands and struck down with many blows. Indeed, he would +then and there have been torn to pieces had not a guard of soldiers, +knowing that he was Sakon's guest and in the train of the prince Aziel, +snatched him from the maddened multitude, and borne him swiftly to a +place of safety without the enclosure. + +While the tumult was at its height, a Phoenician, who had arrived in the +temple breathless with haste, might have been seen to pluck Metem by the +sleeve. + +"What is it?" Metem asked of the man, who was his servant. + +"This: the lady Baaltis is dead. I watched as you bade me, and, as she +had promised to do, in token of the end, her woman waved a napkin from +the casement of that tower where she lies." + +"Do any know of this?" + +"None." + +"Then say no word of it," and Metem hurried off in search of Aziel. + +Presently he found him seeking for Issachar in company with his guards. + +"Have no fear, Prince," Metem said, in answer to his eager questions, +"he is safe enough, for the soldiers have borne the fool away. Pardon me +that I should speak thus of a holy man, but he has put all our lives in +danger." + +"I do not pardon you," answered Aziel hotly, "and I honour Issachar for +his act and words. Let us begone from this accursed place whither you +entrapped me." + +Before Metem could reply a voice cried, "Close the doors of the +sanctuary, so that none can pass in or go out, and let the sacrifice be +offered." + +"Listen, Prince," said Metem, "you must stay here till the ceremony is +done." + +"Then I tell you, Phoenician," answered Aziel, "that rather than suffer +that luckless child to be butchered before my eyes I will cut my way to +it with my guards, and rescue it alive." + +"To leave yourself dead in place of it," answered Metem sarcastically; +"but, see, a woman desires to speak with you," and he pointed to a girl +in the robe of a priestess, whose face was hidden with a veil, and who, +in the tumult and confusion, had worked her way to Aziel. + +"Prince," whispered the veiled form, "I am Elissa. For your life's sake +keep still and silent, or you will be stabbed, for your words have been +overheard, and the priests are mad at the insult that has been put upon +them." + +"Away with you, woman," answered Aziel; "what have I to do with a girl +of the groves and a murderess of children?" + +She winced at his bitter words, but said quietly:-- + +"Then on your own head be your blood, Prince, which I have risked much +to keep unshed. But before you die, learn that I knew nothing of this +foul sacrifice, and that gladly would I give my own life to save that of +yonder child." + +"Save it, and I will believe you," answered the prince, turning from +her. + +Elissa slipped away, for she saw that the priestesses, her companions, +were reforming their ranks, and that she must not tarry. When she had +gone a few yards, a hand caught her by the sleeve, and the voice of +Metem, who had overheard something of this talk, whispered in her ear:-- + +"Daughter of Sakon, what will you give me if I show you a way to save +the life of the child, and with it that of the prince, and at the same +time to make him think well of you again?" + +"All my jewels and ornaments of gold, and they are many," she answered +eagerly. + +"Good; it is a bargain. Now listen: The lady Baaltis is dead; she died +a few minutes since, and none here know it save myself and one other, +my servant, nor can any learn it, for the gates are shut. Do you be, +therefore, suddenly inspired--of the gods--and say so, for then the +sacrifice must cease, seeing that she for whom it was to be offered is +dead. Do you understand?" + +"I understand," she answered, "and though the blasphemy bring on me +the vengeance of Baaltis, yet it shall be dared. Fear not, your pay is +good," and she pressed forward to her place, keeping the veil wrapped +about her head till she reached it unobserved, for in the general +confusion none had noticed her movements. + +When the noise of shouting and angry voices had at length died away, and +the spectators were driven back outside the sacred circle, the priest +upon the platform cried:-- + +"Now that the Jew blasphemer has gone, let the sacrifice be offered, as +is decreed." + +"Yea, let the sacrifice be offered," answered the multitude, and once +more the woman with the sleeping child stepped forward. But before the +priest could take it another figure approached him, that of Elissa, with +arms outstretched and eyes upturned. + +"Hold, O priest!" she said, "for the goddess, breathing on my brow, +inspires me, and I have a message from the goddess." + +"Draw near, daughter, and speak it in the ears of men," the priest +answered wondering, for he found it hard to believe in such inspiration, +and indeed would have denied her a hearing had he dared. + +So Elissa climbed the platform, and standing upon it still with +outstretched hands and upturned face, she said in a clear voice:-- + +"The goddess refuses the sacrifice, since she has taken to herself her +for whom it was to have been offered--the Lady Baaltis is dead." + +At this tidings a groan went up from the people, partly of grief for +the loss of a spiritual dignitary who was popular, and partly of +disappointment because now the sacrifice could not be offered. For the +Phoenicians loved these horrible spectacles, which were not, however, +commonly celebrated by daylight and in the presence of the people. + +"It is a lie," cried a voice, "but now the Lady Baaltis was living." + +"Let the gates be opened, and send to see whether or no I lie," said +Elissa, quietly. + +Then for a while there was silence while a priest went upon the errand. +At length he was seen returning. Pushing his way through the crowd, he +mounted the platform, and said:-- + +"The daughter of Sakon speaks truth; alas! the lady Baaltis is dead." + +Elissa sighed in relief, for had her tidings proved false she could +scarcely have hoped to escape the fury of the crowd. + +"Ay!" she cried, "she is dead, as I told you, and because of your sin, +who would have offered human sacrifice in public, against the custom of +our faith and city and without the command of the goddess." + +***** + +Then in sullen silence the priests and priestesses reformed their +ranks, and departed from the sanctuary, whence they were followed by the +spectators, the most of them in no good mood, for they had been baulked +of the promised spectacle. + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE HALL OF AUDIENCE + +When Elissa reached her chamber after the break up of the procession, +she threw herself upon her couch, and burst into a passion of tears. +Well might she weep, for she had been false to her oath as a priestess, +uttering as a message from the goddess that which she had learnt from +the lips of man. More, she could not rid herself of the remembrance of +the scorn and loathing with which the Prince Aziel had looked upon her, +or of the bitter insult of his words when he called her, "a girl of the +groves, and a murderess of children." + +It chanced that, so far as Elissa was concerned, these charges were +utterly untrue. None could throw a slur upon her, and as for these rare +human sacrifices, she loathed the very name of them, nor, unless +forced to it, would she have been present had she guessed that any such +offering was intended. + +Like most of the ancient religions, that of the Phoenicians had two sides +to it--a spiritual and a material side. The spiritual side was a +worship of the far-off unknown divinity, symbolised by the sun, moon and +planets, and visible only in their majestic movements, and in the forces +of nature. To this Elissa clung, knowing no truer god, and from those +forces she strove to wring their secret, for her heart was deep. Lonely +invocations to the goddess beneath the light of the moon appealed to +her, for from them she seemed to draw strength and comfort, but the +outward ceremonies of her faith, or the more secret and darker of them, +of which in practice she knew little, were already an abomination in her +eyes. And now what if the Jew prophet spoke truly? What if this creed of +hers were a lie, root and branch, and there did lie in the heavens above +a Lord and Father who heard and answered the prayers of men, and who did +not seek of them the blood of the children He had given? + +A great doubt took hold of Elissa and shook her being, and with the +doubt came hope. How was it--if her faith were true--that when she took +the name of the goddess in vain, nothing had befallen her? She desired +to learn more of this matter, but who was to teach her? The Levite +turned from her with loathing as from a thing unclean, and there +remained, therefore, but the prince Aziel, who had put her from him with +those bitter words of scorn. Ah! why did they pain her so, piercing her +heart as with a spear? Was it because--because--he had grown dear to +her? Yes, that was the truth. She had learned it even as he cursed her; +all her quick southern blood was alight with a new fire, the like of +which she had never known before. And not her blood only, it was her +spirit--her spirit that yearned to his. Had it not leapt within her +at the first sight of him as to one most dear, one long-lost and found +again? She loved him, and he loathed her, and oh! her lot was hard. + +As Elissa lay brooding thus in her pain, the door opened and Sakon, her +father, hurried into the chamber. + +"What is it that chanced yonder?" he asked, for he had not been present +in the sanctuary, "and, daughter, why do you weep?" + +"I weep, father, because your guest, the prince Aziel, has called me 'a +girl of the groves, and a murderess of children,'" she replied. + +"Then, by my head, prince that he is, he shall answer for it to me," +said Sakon, grasping at his sword-hilt. + +"Nay, father, since to him I must have seemed to deserve the words. +Listen." And she told him all that had passed, hiding nothing. + +"Now it seems that trouble is heaped upon trouble," said the Phoenician +when she had finished, "and they were mad who suffered the prince and +that fierce Issachar to be present at the sacrifice. Daughter, I tell +you this: though I am a worshipper of El and Baaltis, as my fathers were +before me, I know that Jehovah of the Jews is a great and powerful Lord, +and that His prophets do not prophesy falsely, for I have seen it in my +youth, yonder in the coasts of Sidon. What did Issachar say? That before +the moon was young again, this temple should run red with blood? Well, +so it may happen, for Ithobal threatens war against us, and for your +sake, my daughter." + +"How for my sake, father?" she asked heavily, as one who knew what the +answer would be. + +"You know well, girl. Ever since you danced before him at the great +welcoming feast I made in his honour a month ago the man is besotted +of you; moreover, he is mad with jealousy of this new-comer, the prince +Aziel. He has demanded public audience of me this afternoon, and I have +it privately that then he will formally ask you in marriage before the +people, and if he is refused will declare war upon the city, with which +he has many an ancient quarrel. Yes, yes, king Ithobal is that sword +of God which the Jew said he saw hanging over us, and should it fall it +will be because of you, Elissa." + +"The Jew did not say that, father; he said it would be because of the +sins of the people and their idolatries." + +"What does it matter what he said?" broke in Sakon hastily. "How shall I +answer Ithobal?" + +"Tell him," she replied with a strange smile, "that he does wisely to be +jealous of the prince Aziel." + +"What! Of the stranger who this very day reviled you in words of such +shame, and so soon?" asked her father astonished. + +Elissa did not speak in answer; she only looked straight before her, and +nodded her head. + +"Had ever man such a daughter?" Sakon went on in petulant dismay. "Truly +it is a wise saying which tells that women love those best who beat +them, be it with the tongue or with the fist. Not but what I would +gladly see you wedded to a prince of Israel and of Egypt rather than of +this half-bred barbarian, but the legions of Solomon and of Pharaoh are +far away, whereas Ithobal has a hundred thousand spears almost at our +gate." + +"There is no need to speak of such things, father," she said, turning +aside, "since, even were I willing, the prince would have nought to do +with me, who am a priestess of Baaltis." + +"The matter of religion might be overcome," suggested Sakon; "but, no, +for many reasons it is impossible. Well, this being so, daughter, I may +answer Ithobal that you will wed him." + +"I!" she said; "I wed that black-hearted savage? My father, you may +answer what you will, but of this be sure, that I will go to my grave +before I pass as wife to the board of Ithobal." + +"Oh! my daughter," pleaded Sakon, "think before you say it. As his +wife at least you, who are not of royal blood, will be a queen, and the +mother of kings. But if you refuse, then either I must force you, which +is hateful to me, or there will be such a war as the city has not known +for generations, for Ithobal and his tribes have many grievances against +us. By the gift of yourself, for a while, at any rate, you can, as it +chances, make peace between us, but if that is withheld, then blood will +run in rivers, and perhaps this city, with all who live in it, will +be destroyed, or at the least its trade must be ruined and its wealth +stolen away." + +"If it is decreed that all these things are to be, they will be," +answered Elissa calmly, "seeing that this war has threatened us for many +years, and that a woman must think of herself first, and of the fate of +cities afterwards. Of my own free will I shall never take Ithobal for +husband. Father, I have said." + +"Of the fate of cities, yes; but how of my fate, and that of those we +love? Are we all to be ruined, and perhaps slaughtered, to satisfy your +whim, girl?" + +"I did not say so, father. I said that of my own free will I would not +wed Ithobal. If you choose to give me to him you have the right to do +it, but know then that you give me to my death. Perhaps it is best that +it should be thus." + +Sakon knew his daughter well, and it did not need that he should glance +at her face to learn that she meant her words. Also he loved her, his +only child, more dearly than anything on earth. + +"In truth my strait is hard, and I know not which way to turn," he said, +covering his face with his hand. + +"Father," she replied, laying her fingers lightly on his shoulder, "what +need is there to answer him at once? Take a month, or if he will not +give it, a week. Much may happen in that time." + +"The counsel is wise," he said, catching at this straw. "Daughter, be in +the great hall of audience with your attendants three hours after noon, +for then we must receive Ithobal boldly in all pomp, and deal with +him as best we may. And now I go to ask peace for the Levite from +the priests of El, and to discover whom the sacred colleges desire to +nominate as the new Baaltis. Doubtless it will be Mesa, the daughter +of her who is dead, though many are against her. Oh! if there were no +priests and no women, this city would be easier to govern," and with an +impatient gesture Sakon left the room. + +***** + +It was three o'clock in the afternoon, and the great hall of audience +in Zimboe was crowded with a brilliant assemblage. There sat Sakon, the +governor, and with him his council of the notables of the city; +there were prince Aziel and among his retinue, Issachar the prophet, +fierce-eyed as ever, though hardly recovered from the rough handling he +had experienced in the temple. There were representatives of the college +of the priests of El. There were many ladies, wives and daughters +of dignitaries and wealthy citizens, and with them a great crowd of +spectators of all classes gathered in the lower part of the hall, for +a rumour had spread about that the farewell audience given by Sakon to +King Ithobal was likely to be stormy. + +When all were gathered, a herald announced that Ithobal, King of the +Tribes, waited to take his leave of Sakon, Governor of Zimboe, before +departing to his own land on the morrow. + +"Let him be admitted," said Sakon, who looked weary and ill at ease. +Then as the herald bowed and left, he turned and whispered something +into the ear of his daughter Elissa, who stood behind his chair, +her face immovable as that of an Egyptian Sphinx, but magnificently +apparelled in gleaming robes and jewelled ornaments--which Metem, +looking on them, reflected with satisfaction were now his property. + +Presently, preceded by a burst of savage music, Ithobal entered. He was +gorgeously arrayed in a purple Tyrian robe decked with golden chains, +while on the brow, in token of his royalty, he wore a golden circlet in +which was set a single blood-red stone. Before him walked a sword-bearer +carrying a sword of ceremony, a magnificent ivory-handled weapon +encrusted with rough gems and inlaid with gold, while behind him, clad +in barbaric pomp, marched a number of counsellors and attendants, huge +and half-savage men who glared wonderingly at the splendour of the place +and its occupants. As the king came, Sakon rose from his chair of state +and, advancing down the hall, took him by the hand and led him to a +similar chair placed at a little distance. + +Ithobal seated himself and looked around the hall. Presently his glance +fell upon Aziel, and he scowled. + +"Is it common, Sakon," he asked, "that the seat of a prince should be +set higher than that of a crowned king?" And he pointed to the chair of +Aziel, which was placed a little above his own upon the das. + +The governor was about to answer when Aziel said coldly:-- + +"Where it was pointed out to me that I should sit, there I sat, though, +for aught I care, the king Ithobal may take my place. The grandson of +Pharaoh and of Solomon does not need to dispute for precedence with the +savage ruler of savage tribes." + +Ithobal sprang to his feet and cried, grasping his sword:-- + +"By my father's soul, you shall answer for this, Princelet." + +"You should have sworn by your mother's soul, King Ithobal," replied +Aziel quietly, "for doubtless it is the black blood in your veins that +causes you to forget your courtesy. For the rest, I answer to no man +save to my king." + +"Yet there is one other who will make you answer," replied Ithobal, in +a voice thick with rage, "and here he is," and he drew his sword and +flashed it before the prince's eyes. "Or if you fear to face him, then +the wands of my slaves shall cause you to cry me pardon." + +"If you desire to challenge me to combat, king Ithobal, for this purpose +only I am your servant, though the fashion of your challenging is not +that of any nation which I know." + +Before Ithobal could reply, Sakon cried out in a loud voice:-- + +"Enough, enough! Is this a place for brawling, king Ithobal, and would +you seek to fix a quarrel upon my guest, the prince Aziel, here in my +council chamber, and to bring upon me the wrath of Israel, of Tyre, and +of Egypt? Be sure that the prince shall cross no swords with you; no, +not if I have to set him under guard to keep him safe. To your business, +king Ithobal, or I break up this assembly and send you under escort to +our gates." + +Now his counsellors plucked Ithobal by the sleeve and whispered to him +some advice, which at last he seemed to take with an ill grace, for, +turning, he said, "So be it. This is my business, Sakon: For many years +I and the countless tribes whom I rule have suffered much at the hands +of you Phoenicians, who centuries ago settled here in my country as +traders. That you should trade we are content, but not that you should +establish yourselves as a sovereign power, pretending to be my equals +who are my servants. Therefore, in the name of my nation, I demand that +the tribute which you pay to me for the use of the mines of gold shall +henceforth be doubled; that the defences of this city be thrown down; +and that you cease to enslave the natives of the land to labour in your +service. I have spoken." + +Now as these arrogant demands reached their ears, the company assembled +in the hall murmured with anger and astonishment, then turned to wait +for Sakon's answer. + +"And if we refuse these small requests of yours, O King?" asked the +governor sarcastically, "what then? Will you make war upon us?" + +"First tell me, Sakon, if you do refuse them?" + +"In the name of the cities of Tyre and Sidon whom I serve, and of Hiram +my master, I refuse them one and all," answered Sakon with dignity. + +"Then, Sakon, I am minded to bring up a hundred thousand men against you +and to sweep you and your city from the face of earth," said Ithobal. +"Yet I remember that I also have Phoenician blood in my veins mixed with +the nobler and more ancient blood at which yonder upstart jeers, and +therefore I would spare you. I remember also that for generations there +has been peace and amity between my forefathers and the Council of this +city, and therefore I would spare you. Behold, then, I build a bridge +whereby you may escape, asking but one little thing of you in proof that +you are indeed my friend, and it is that you give me your daughter, the +lady Elissa, whom I seek to make my queen. Think well before you answer, +remembering that upon this answer may hang the lives of all who listen +to you, ay, and of many thousand others." + +For a while there was silence in the assemblage, and every eye was fixed +upon Elissa, who stood neither moving nor speaking, her face still set +like that of a Sphinx, and almost as unreadable. Aziel gazed at her with +the rest, and his eyes she felt alone of all the hundreds that were bent +upon her. Indeed, so strongly did they draw her, that against her own +will she turned her head and met them. Then remembering what had passed +between herself and the prince that very day, she coloured faintly and +looked down, neither the glance nor the blush escaping the watchful +Ithobal. + +Presently Sakon spoke:-- + +"King Ithobal," he said, "I am honoured indeed that you should seek my +daughter as your queen, but she is my only child, whom I love, and I +have sworn to her that I will not force her to marry against her will, +whoever be the suitor. Therefore, King, take your answer from her own +lips, for whatever it be it is my answer." + +"Lady," said Ithobal, "you have heard your father's words; be pleased to +say that you look with favour upon my suit, and that you will deign to +share my throne and power." + +Elissa took a step forward on the das and curtseyed low before the +king. + +"O King!" she said, "I am your handmaid, and great indeed is the favour +that you would do your servant. Yet, King, I Pray of you search out some +fairer woman of a more royal rank to share your crown and sceptre, for I +am all unworthy of them, and to those words on this matter which I +have spoken in past days I have none to add." Then again she curtseyed, +adding, "King, I am your servant." + +Now a murmur of astonishment went up from the audience, for few of them +thought it possible that Elissa, who, however beautiful, was but the +daughter of a noble, could refuse to become the wife of a king. Ithobal +alone did not seem to be astonished, for he had expected this answer. + +"Lady," he said, repressing with an effort the passions which were +surging within him, "I think that I have something to offer to the +woman of my choice, and yet you put me aside as lightly as though I had +neither name, nor power, nor station. This, as it seems to me, can be +read in one way only, that your heart is given elsewhere." + +"Have it as you will, King," answered Elissa, "my heart is given +elsewhere." + +"And yet, lady, not four suns gone you swore to me that you loved no +man. Since then it seems that you have learned to love, and swiftly, +and it is yonder Jew whom you have chosen." And he pointed to the prince +Aziel. + +Again Elissa coloured, this time to the eyes, but she showed no other +sign of confusion. + +"May the king pardon me," she said, "and may the prince Aziel, whose +name has thus been coupled with mine, pardon me. I said indeed that my +heart was given elsewhere, but I did not say it was given to any +man. May not the heart of a mortal maid-priestess be given to the +Ever-living?" + +Now for a moment the king was silenced, while a murmur of applause at +her ready wit went round the audience. But before it died away a voice +at the far end of the hall called out:-- + +"Perchance the lady does not know that yonder in Egypt, and in Jerusalem +also, prince Aziel is named the Ever-living." + +Now it was Elissa's turn to be overcome. + +"Nay, I knew it not," she said; "how should I know it? I spoke of that +Dweller in the heavens whom I worship----" + +"And behold, the title fits a dweller on the earth whom you must also +worship, for such omens do not come by chance," cried the same voice, +but from another quarter of the crowded hall. + +"I ask pardon," broke in Aziel, "and leave to speak. It is true that +owing to a certain birth-mark which I bear, among the Egyptians I have +been given the bye-name of the Ever-living, but it is one which this +lady can scarcely have heard, therefore jest no more upon a chance +accident of words. Moreover, if you be men, cease to heap insult upon +a woman. I who am almost a stranger here have not dared to ask the lady +Elissa for her favour." + +"Ay, but you will ask and she will grant," answered the same voice, the +owner of which none could discover--for he seemed to speak from every +part of the chamber. + +"Indeed," went on Aziel, not heeding the interruption, "the last +words between us were words of anger, for we quarrelled on a matter of +religion." + +"What of that?" cried the voice; "love is the highest of religions, for +do not the Phoenicians worship it?" + +"Seize yonder knave," shouted Sakon, and search was made but without +avail. Afterwards, however, Aziel remembered that once, when they were +weather-bound on their journey from the coast, Metem had amused them by +making his voice sound from various quarters of the hut in which they +lay. Then Ithobal rose and said:-- + +"Enough of this folly; I am not here to juggle with words, or to listen +to such play. Whether the lady Elissa spoke of the gods she serves or of +a man is one to me. I care not of whom she spoke, but for her words I +do care. Now hearken, you city of traders: If this is to be thy answer, +then I break down that bridge which I have built, and it is war between +you and my Tribes, war to the end. But let her change her words, and +whether she loves me or loves me not, come to be my wife, and, for my +day, the bridge shall stand; for once that we are wed I can surely teach +her love, or if I cannot, at least it is she I seek with or without her +love. Reflect then, lady, and reply again, remembering how much hangs +upon your lips." + +"Do you think, king Ithobal," Elissa answered, looking at him with angry +eyes, "that a woman such as I am can be won by threats? I have spoken, +king Ithobal." + +"I know not," he replied; "but I do know that she can be won by force, +and then surely, lady, your pride shall pay the price, for you shall be +mine, but not my queen." + +Now one of the council rose and said:-- + +"It seems, Sakon, that there is more in this matter than whether or no +the king Ithobal pleases your daughter. Is the city then to be plunged +into a great war, of which none can see the end, because one woman looks +askance upon a man? Better that a thousand girls should be wedded where +they would not than that such a thing should happen. Sakon, according +to our ancient law you have the right to give your daughter in marriage +where and when you will. We demand, therefore, that for the good of the +commonwealth, you should exercise this right, and hand over the lady +Elissa to king Ithobal." + +This speech was received with loud and general shouts of approval, for +no Phoenician audience would have been willing to sacrifice its interests +for a thing so trivial as the happiness of a woman. + +"Between the desire of a beloved daughter to whom I have pledged my +word and my duty to the great city over which I rule, my strait is hard +indeed," answered Sakon. "Hearken, king Ithobal, I must have time. Give +me eight days from now in which to answer you, for if you will not, I +deny your suit." + +Ithobal seemed about to refuse the demand of Sakon. Then once more his +counsellors plucked him by the sleeve, pointing out to him that if he +did this, it was likely that none of them would leave the city alive. At +some sign from the governor, they whispered, the captains of the guard +were already hastening from the hall. + +"So be it, Sakon," he said. "To-night I camp without your walls, which +are no longer safe for one who has threatened war against them, and on +the eighth day from this see to it that your heralds being me the Lady +Elissa and peace--or I make good my threat. Till then, farewell." And +placing himself in the midst of his company king Ithobal left the hall. + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE BLACK DWARF + +Some two hours had passed since the break-up of the assembly in the +great hall. Prince Aziel was seated in his chamber, when the keeper of +the door announced that a woman was without who desired to speak with +him. He gave orders that she should be admitted, and presently a veiled +figure entered the room and bowed before him. + +"Be pleased to unveil, and to tell me your business," he said. + +With some reluctance his visitor withdrew the wrapping from her head, +revealing a face which Aziel recognised as one that he had seen among +the waiting women who attended on Elissa. + +"My message is for your ear, Prince," she said, glancing at the man who +had ushered her into the chamber. + +"It is not my custom to receive strangers thus alone," said the prince; +"but be it as you will," and he motioned to the servant to retire +without the door. "I await your pleasure," he added, when the man had +gone. + +"It is here," she answered, and drew from her bosom a little papyrus +roll. + +"Who wrote this?" he asked. + +"I know not, Prince; it was given to me to pass on to you." + +Then he opened the roll and read. It ran thus: "Though we parted with +bitter words, still in my sore distress I crave the comfort of your +counsel. Therefore, since I am forbidden to speak with you openly, meet +me, I beseech you, at moonrise in the palace garden under the shade of +the great fig tree with five roots, where I shall be accompanied only by +one I trust. Bring no man with you for my safety's sake.--Elissa." + +Aziel thrust the scroll into his robe, and thought awhile. Then he gave +the waiting lady a piece of gold and said:-- + +"Tell her who sent you that I obey her words. Farewell." + +This message seemed to puzzle the woman, who opened her lips to speak. +Then, changing her mind, she turned and went. + +Scarcely had she gone when the Phoenician, Metem, was ushered into the +room. + +"O Prince," he said maliciously, "pardon me if I caution you. Yet in +truth if veiled ladies flit thus through your apartments in the light of +day, it will reach the ears of the holy but violent Issachar, of whose +doings I come to speak. Then, Prince, I tremble for you." + +Aziel made a movement half-impatient and half-contemptuous. "The woman +is a serving-maid," he said, "who brought me a message that I understand +but little. Tell me, Metem, for you know this place of old, does there +stand in the palace garden a great fig tree with five roots?" + +"Yes, Prince; at least such a tree used to grow there when last I +visited this country. It was one of the wonders of the town, because of +its size. What of it?" + +"Little, except that I must be under it at moonrise. See and read, since +whatever you may say of yourself, you are, I think, no traitor." + +"Not if I am well paid to keep counsel, Prince," Metem answered with a +smile. Then he read the scroll. + +"I am glad that the noble lady brings an attendant with her," he said as +he returned it, with a bow. "The gossips of Zimboe are censorious, and +might misinterpret this moonlight meeting, as indeed would Sakon and +Issachar. Well, doves will coo and maids will woo, and unless I can make +money out of it the affair is none of mine." + +"Have I not told you that there is no question of wooing?" asked the +prince angrily. "I go only to give her what counsel I can in the +matter of the suit of this savage, Ithobal. The lady Elissa and I have +quarrelled beyond repair over that accursed sacrifice----" + +"Which her ready wit prevented," put in Metem. + +"But I promised last night that I would help her if I could," the prince +went on, "and I always keep my word." + +"I understand, Prince. Well, since you turn from the lady, whose name +with yours is so much in men's mouths just now, doubtless you will give +her wise counsel, namely, to wed Ithobal, and lift the shadow of war +from this city. Then, indeed, we shall all be grateful to you, for it +seems that no one else can move her stubbornness. And, by the way: +If, when she has listened to your wisdom, the daughter of Sakon +should chance to explain to you that the sight of this day's attempted +sacrifice filled her with horror, and that she parted with every jewel +she owns to put an end to it--well, her words will be true. But, since +you have quarrelled, they will have no more interest for you, Prince, +than has my talk about them. So now to other matters." And Metem +began to speak of the conduct of Issachar in the sanctuary, and of the +necessity of guarding him against assassination at the hands of the +priests of El as a consequence of his religious zeal. Presently he was +gone, leaving Aziel somewhat bewildered. + +Could it be true, as she herself had told him, and as Metem now +asserted, that Elissa had not participated willingly in the dark rites +in the temple? If so he had misjudged her and been unjust; indeed, what +atonement could suffice for such words as he had used towards her? Well, +to some extent she must have understood and forgiven them, otherwise she +would scarcely have sought his aid, though he knew not how he could help +her in her distress. + +***** + +When Elissa returned from the assembly, she laid herself down to rest, +worn out in mind and body. Soon sleep came to her, and with the sleep +dreams. At first these were vague and shadowy, then they grew more +clear. She dreamed that she saw a dim and moonlit garden, and in it +a vast tree with twisted roots that seemed familiar to her. Something +moving among the branches of this tree attracted her attention, but for +a long while she watched it without being able to discover what it was. +Now she saw. The moving thing was a hideous black dwarf with beady eyes, +who held in his hand a little ivory tipped bow, on the string of which +was set an arrow. Her consciousness concentrated itself upon this arrow, +and though she knew not how, she became aware that it was poisoned. +What was the dwarf doing in the tree with a bow and poisoned arrow, +she wondered? Suddenly a sound seemed to strike her ear, the sound of a +man's footsteps walking over grass, and she perceived that the figure of +the dwarf, crouched upon the bough, became tense and alert, and that his +fingers tightened upon the bow-string until the blood was driven from +their yellow tips. Following the glance of his wicked black eyes, she +saw advancing through the shadow a tall man clad in a dark robe. Now he +emerged into a patch of moonlight and stood looking around him as though +he were searching for some one. Then the dwarf raised himself to his +knees upon the bough, and, aiming at the bare throat of the man, drew +the bow-string to his ear. At this moment the victim turned his head and +the moonlight shone full upon his face. It was that of the prince Aziel. + +***** + +Elissa awoke from her vision with a little cry, then rose trembling, and +strove to comfort herself in the thought that although it was so very +vivid she had dreamed but a dream. Still shaken and unnerved, she passed +into another chamber, and made pretence to eat of the meal that was made +ready for her, for it was now the hour of sunset. While she was thus +employed, it was announced that the Phoenician, Metem, desired to speak +with her, and she commanded that he should be admitted. + +"Lady," he said bowing, so soon as her attendants had withdrawn to the +farther end of the chamber, "you can guess my errand. This morning I +gave you certain tidings which proved both true and useful, and for +those tidings you promised a reward." + +"It is so," she said, and going to a chest she drew from it an ivory +casket full of ornaments of gold and among them necklaces and other +objects set with uncut precious stones. "Take them," she said, "they are +yours; that is, save this gold chain alone, for it is vowed to Baaltis." + +"But lady," he asked, "how can you appear before Ithobal the king thus +robbed of all your ornaments?" + +"I shall not appear before Ithobal the king," she answered sharply. + +"You say so! Then what will the prince Aziel think of you when he sees +you thus unadorned?" + +"My beauty is my adornment," she replied, "not these gems and gold. +Moreover, it is nought to me what he thinks, for he hates me, and has +reviled me." + +Metem lifted his eyebrows incredulously and went on: "Still, I will not +deprive you of this woman's gear. Look now, I value it, and at no high +figure," and drawing out his writer's palette and a slip of papyrus, he +wrote upon it an acknowledgment of debt, which he asked her to sign. + +"This document, lady," he said, "I will present to your father--or your +husband--at a convenient season, nor do I fear that either of them +will refuse to honour it. And now I take my leave, for you--have an +appointment to keep--and," he added with emphasis, "the time of moonrise +is at hand." + +"Your meaning, I pray you?" she asked. "I have no appointment at +moonrise, or at any other hour." + +Metem bowed politely, but in a fashion which showed that he put no faith +in her words. + +"Again I ask your meaning, merchant," she said, "for your dark hintings +are scarcely to be borne." + +The Phoenician looked at her; there was a ring of truth in her voice. + +"Lady," he said, "will you indeed deny, after I have seen it written by +yourself, that within some few minutes you meet the prince Aziel beneath +a great tree in the palace gardens, there--so said the scroll--to ask +his aid in this matter of the suit of Ithobal?" + +"Written by myself?" she said wonderingly. "Meet the prince Aziel +beneath a tree in the palace gardens? Never have I thought of it." + +"Yet, lady, the scroll I saw purported to be written by you, and your +own woman bore it to the prince. As I think, she sits yonder at the end +of the chamber, for I know her shape." + +"Come hither," called Elissa, addressing the woman. "Now tell me, what +scroll was this that you carried to-day to the prince Aziel, saying that +I sent you?" + +"Lady," answered the girl confusedly, "I never told the prince Aziel +that you sent him the scroll." + +"The truth, woman, the truth," said her mistress. "Lie not, or it will +be the worse for you." + +"Lady, this is the truth. As I was walking through the market-place +an old black woman met me, and offered me a piece of gold if I would +deliver a letter into the hand of the prince Aziel. The gold tempted +me, for I had need of it, and I consented; but of who wrote the letter I +know nothing, nor have I ever seen the woman before." + +"You have done wrong, girl," said Elissa, "but I believe your tale. Now +go." + +When she had gone, Elissa stood for a while thinking; and, as she +thought, Metem saw a look of fear gather on her face. + +"Say," she asked him, "is there anything strange about the tree of which +the scroll tells?" + +"Its size is strange," he answered, "and it has five roots that stand +above the ground." + +As he spoke Elissa uttered a little cry. + +"Ah!" she said, "it is the tree of my dream. Now--now I understand. +Swift, oh! come with me swiftly, for see, the moon rises," and she +sprang to the door followed by the amazed Metem. + +Another minute, and they were speeding down the narrow street so fast +that those who loitered there turned their heads and laughed, for they +thought that a jealous husband pursued his wife. As Elissa fumbled at +the hasp of the door of the garden, Metem overtook her. + +"What means this hunt?" he gasped. + +"That they have decoyed the prince here to murder him," she answered, +and sped through the gateway. + +"Therefore we must be murdered also. A woman's logic," the Phoenician +reflected to himself as he panted after her. + +Swiftly as Elissa had run down the street, here she redoubled her speed, +flitting through the glades like some white spirit, and so rapidly that +her companion found it difficult to keep her in view. At length they +came to a large open space of ground where played the level beams of the +rising moon, striking upon the dense green foliage of an immense tree +that grew there. Round this tree Elissa ran, glancing about her wildly, +so that for a few seconds Metem lost sight of her, for its mass was +between them. When he saw her again she was speeding towards the figure +of a man who stood in the open, about ten paces from the outer boughs +of the tree. To this she pointed as she came, crying out aloud, "Beware! +Beware!" + +Another moment and she had almost reached the man, and still pointing +began to gasp some broken words. Then, suddenly in the bright moonlight, +Metem saw a shining point of light flash towards the pair from the +darkness of the tree. It would seem that Elissa saw it also; at least, +she leapt from the ground, her arm lifted above her head as though to +catch the object. Then as her feet once more touched the earth her +knees gave way, and she fell down with a moan of pain. Metem running on +towards her, as he went perceived a shape, which looked like that of a +black dwarf, slip from the shadow of the tree into some bushes beyond +where it was lost. Now he was there, to find Elissa half-seated, +half-lying on the ground, the prince Aziel bending over her, and fixed +through the palm of her right hand, which she held up piteously, a +little ivory-pointed arrow. + +"Draw it out from the wound," he panted. + +"It will not help me," she answered; "the arrow is poisoned." + +With an exclamation, Metem knelt beside her, and, not heeding her groans +of pain, drew the dart through the pierced palm. Then he tore a strip +of linen from his robe, and knotting it round Elissa's wrist, he took a +broken stick that lay near and twisted the linen till it almost cut into +her flesh. + +"Now, Prince," he said, "suck the wound, for I have no breath for it. +Fear not, lady, I know an antidote for this arrow poison, and presently +I will be back with the salve. Till then, if you would live, do not +suffer that bandage to be loosed, however much it pains you," and he +departed swiftly. + +Aziel put his lips to the hurt to draw out the poison. + +"Nay," she said faintly, trying to pull away her hand, "it is not +fitting, the venom may kill you." + +"It seems that it was meant for me," he answered, "so at the worst I do +take but my own." + +Presently, directing Elissa to hold her hand above her head, he put his +arms about her and carried her a hundred paces or more into the open +glade. + +"Why do you move me?" she asked, her head resting on his shoulder. + +"Because whoever it was that shot the arrow may return to try his +fortune a second time, and here in the open his darts cannot reach us." +Then he set her down upon the grass and stood looking at her. + +"Listen, prince Aziel," Elissa said after a while, "the venom with which +these black men soak their weapons is very strong, and unless Metem's +salve be good, it may well chance that I shall die. Therefore before +I die I wish to say a word to you. What brought you to this place +to-night?" + +"A letter from yourself, lady." + +"I know it," she said, "but I did not write that letter; it was a snare, +set, as I think, by the king Ithobal, who would do you to death in this +way or in that. A messenger of his bribed my waiting-maid to deliver it, +and afterwards I learnt the tale from Metem. Then, guessing all, I came +hither to try to save you." + +"But how could you guess all, lady?" + +"In a strange fashion, Prince." And in a few words she told him her +dream. + +"This is marvellous indeed, that you should be warned of my danger by +visions," he said wondering, and half-doubtingly. + +"So marvellous, Prince, that you do not believe me," Elissa answered. +"I know well what you think. You think that a woman to whom this +very morning you spoke such words as women cannot well forgive, being +revengeful laid a plot to murder you, and then, being a woman, changed +her mind. Well, it is not so; Metem can prove it to you!" + +"Lady, I believe you," he said, "without needing the testimony of Metem. +But now the story grows still more strange, for if you had done me no +wrong, how comes it that to preserve me from harm you set your tender +flesh between the arrow and one who had reviled you?" + +"It was by chance," she answered faintly. "I learnt the truth and ran +to warn you. Then I saw the arrow fly towards your heart, and strove to +grasp it, and it pierced me. It was by chance, by such a chance as made +me dream your danger." And she fainted. + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +AZIEL PLIGHTS HIS TROTH + +At first Aziel feared that the poison had done its work, and that +Elissa was dead, till placing his hand upon her heart he felt it beating +faintly, and knew that she did but swoon. To leave her to seek water +or assistance was impossible, since he dared not loose his hold of the +bandage about her wrist. So, patiently as he might, he knelt at her side +awaiting the return of Metem. + +How beautiful her pale face seemed there in the moonlight, set in its +frame of dusky hair. And how strange was this tale of hers, of a dream +that she had dreamed, a dream which, to save his own, led her to offer +her life to the murderer's arrow. Many would not believe it, but he felt +that it was true; he felt that even if she wished it she could not lie +to him, for as he had known since first they met, their souls were +open to each other. Yes, having thus been warned of his danger, she +had offered her life for him--for him who that morning had called her, +unjustly so Metem said, "a girl of the groves and a murderess." How came +it that she had done this, unless indeed she loved him as--he loved her? + +Aziel could no longer palter with himself, it was the truth. Last night +when Issachar accused him, he had felt this, although then he would not +admit it altogether, and now to-night he knew that his fate had found +him. They would say that, after the common fashion of men, he had been +conquered by a lovely face and form and a brave deed of devotion. But it +was not so. Something beyond the flesh and its works and attributes drew +him towards this woman, something that he could neither understand nor +define (unless, indeed, the vision of Issachar defined it), but of which +he had been conscious since first he set eyes upon her face. It was +possible, it was even probable, that before another hour had gone by she +would have passed beyond his reach, into the deeps of death, whither for +a while he could not follow her. Yet he knew that the knowledge that she +never could be his would not affect the love of her which burnt in him, +for his desire towards her was not altogether a desire of the earth. + +Aziel bent down over the swooning girl, looking into her pale face, +till her lips almost touched his own, and his breath beating on her brow +seemed to give her life again. Now she stirred, and now she opened her +eyes and gazed back at him a while, deeply and with meaning, even as he +gazed at her. + +He spoke no word, for his lips seemed to be smitten with silence, but +his heart said, "I love you, I love you," and her heart heard it, for +she whispered back:-- + +"Bethink you who and what I am." + +"It matters not, for we are one," he replied. + +"Bethink you," she said again, "that soon I may be dead and lost to +you." + +"It cannot be, for we are one," he replied. "One we have been, one +we are to-day, and one we shall be through all the length of life and +death." + +"Prince," she said again, "once more and for the last time I say: +Bethink you well, for it comes upon me that your words are true, and +that if I take that which to-night you offer, it will be for ever and +for aye." + +"For ever and aye, let it be," Aziel said, leaning towards her. + +"For ever and for aye, let it be," she repeated, holding up her lips to +his. + +And thus in the silent moonlit garden they plighted their strange troth. + +***** + +"Lady," said a voice in their ears, the voice of Metem, "I pray you let +me dress your hand, for there is no time to lose." + +Aziel looked up to see the Phoenician bending over them with a sardonic +smile, and behind him the tall form of Issachar, who stood regarding +them, his arms folded on his breast. + +"Holy Issachar," went on Metem with malice, "be pleased to hold this +lady's hand, since it seems that the prince here can only tend her +lips." + +"Nay," answered the Levite, "what have I to do with this daughter of +Baaltis? Cure her if you can, or if you cannot, let her die, for so +shall a stone of stumbling be removed from the feet of the foolish." And +he glanced indignantly at Aziel. + +"Had it not been for this same stone at least the feet of the foolish by +now would have pointed skywards. The gods send me such a stone if ever a +black dwarf draws a poisoned arrow at me," answered Metem, as he busied +himself with his drugs. Then he added, "Nay, Prince, do not stop to +answer him, but hold the lady's hand to the light." + +Aziel obeyed, and having washed out the wound with water, Metem rubbed +ointment into it which burnt Elissa so sorely that she groaned aloud. + +"Be patient beneath the pain, lady," he said, "for if it has not already +passed into your blood, this salve will eat away the poison of the +arrow." + +Then half-leading and half-carrying her, they brought her back to the +palace. Here Metem gave her over into the care of her father, telling +him as much of the story as he thought wise, and cautioning him to keep +silent concerning what had happened. + +At the door of the palace Issachar spoke to Aziel. + +"Did I dream, Prince," he said, "or did my ears indeed hear you tell +that idolatress that you loved her for ever, and did my eyes see you +kiss her on the lips?" + +"It seems that you saw and heard these things, Issachar," said Aziel, +setting his face sternly. "Now hear this further, and then I pray you +give me peace on this matter of the lady Elissa: If in any way it is +possible, I shall make her my wife, and if it be not possible, then for +so long as she may live at least I will look upon no other woman." + +"Then that is good news, Prince, to me, who am charged with your +welfare, for be sure, if I can prevent you, you shall never mix your +life with that of this heathen sorceress." + +"Issachar," the prince replied, "I have borne much from you because +I know well that you love me, and have stood to me in the place of a +father. But now, in my turn, I warn you, do not seek to work harm to the +lady Elissa, for in striking her you strike me, and such blows may bring +my vengeance after them." + +"Vengeance?" mocked the Levite. "I fear but one vengeance, and it is not +yours, nor do I listen to the whisperings of love when duty points the +path. Rather would I see you dead, prince Aziel, then lured down to hell +by the wiles of yonder witch." + +Then before Aziel could answer he turned and left him. + +***** + +As Issachar went to his own chamber full of bitterness and indignation, +he passed the door of Elissa's apartments, and came face to face with +Metem issuing from them. + +"Will the woman live?" he asked of him. + +"Be comforted, worthy Issachar. I think so; that is, if the bandage does +not slip. I go to tell the prince." + +"Gladly would I give a hundred golden shekels to him who brought me +tidings that it had slipped and the woman with it, down to the arms of +her father Beelzebub," broke in the Levite passionately. + +"Pretty words for a holy man," said Metem, feigning amazement. "Well, +Issachar, I will do most things for good money, but to shift that +bandage would be but murder, and this I cannot work even for the gold +and to win your favour." + +"Fool," answered Issachar, "did I ask you to do murder? I do not fight +with such weapons; let the woman live or die as it is decreed. Nay, +enter my chamber, for I would speak with you, who are a cunning man +versed in the craft of courts. Listen now: I love this prince Aziel, for +I have reared him from his childhood, and he has been a son to me who +have none. More, I am sent hither to this hateful land to watch him and +hold him from harm, and for all that chances to him I must account. And +now, what has chanced? This woman, Elissa, by her witcheries----" + +"Softly, Issachar; what witcheries does she need beyond those lips and +form and eyes?" + +"By her witcheries, I tell you, has ensnared him so that now he swears +that he will wed her." + +"What of it, Issachar? He might travel far to find a lovelier woman." + +"What of it, do you ask, remembering who he is? What of it, when you +know his faith, and that this fair idolater will sap it, and cause him +to cast away his soul? What of it, when with your own ears you heard him +swear to love her through all the deeps of life and death? Man, are you +mad?" + +"No, but some might say that you are, holy father, who forget that I +am also of this religion which you revile. But for good or ill, so the +matter stands; and now what is it that you wish of me?" + +"I wish that you should make it impossible that the prince Aziel should +take this woman to wife. Not by murder, indeed, for 'thou shalt not +kill,' saith the law, but by bringing it about that she should marry the +king Ithobal, or if that fail, in any other fashion which seems good to +you." + +"'Thou shalt not kill,' saith your law; tell me then, Issachar, does it +say also that thou shalt hand over a woman to a fate that she chances +to hold to be worse than death? Doubtless it is foolish of her, and we +should not heed such woman's folly. Yet this one has a certain strength +of will, and I question if all the elders of the city will bring her +living to the arms of Ithobal." + +"It is nought to me, Metem, if she weds Ithobal, or weds him not, save +that I do not love this heathen man, and surely her temper and her +witcheries would bring ruin on him. What I would have you do is to +prevent her from marrying Aziel; the way I leave to you." + +"And what should I be paid for this service, holy Issachar?" + +The Jew thought and answered, "A hundred golden shekels." + +"Two hundred gold shekels," replied Metem reflectively, "nay, I am sure +you said _two_ hundred, Issachar. At least, I do not work for less, and +it is a small sum enough, seeing that to earn it I must take upon myself +the guilt of severing two loving hearts. But I know well that you are +right, and that this would be an evil marriage for the prince Aziel, and +also for the lady Elissa, who then day by day and year by year must bear +the scourge of your reproaches, Issachar. Therefore I will do my best, +not for the money indeed, but because I see herein a righteous duty. And +now here is parchment, give me the lamp that I may prepare the bond." + +"My word is my bond, Phoenician," answered the Levite haughtily. + +Metem looked at him. "Doubtless," he said, "but you are old, and this +is--a rough country where accidents chance at times. Still, the thing +would read very ill, and, as you say, your word is your bond. Only +remember, Issachar, two hundred shekels, bearing interest at two shekels +a month. And now you are weary, holy Issachar, with plotting for the +welfare of others, and so am I. Farewell, and good dreams to you." + +The Levite watched him go, muttering to himself, "Alas that I should +have fallen to such traffic with a knave, but it is for your sake and +for your soul's sake, O Aziel my son. I pray that Fate be not too strong +for me and you." + +***** + +For two days from this night Elissa lay almost senseless, and by many +it was thought that she would die. But when Metem saw her on the morning +after she had been wounded, and noted that her arm was but little +swollen, and had not turned black, he announced that she would certainly +live, whatever the doctors of the city might declare. Thereon Sakon, her +father, and Aziel blessed him, but Issachar said nothing. + +As the Phoenician was walking through the market-place early on the next +day an aged black woman, whom he did not know, accosted him, saying +that she had a message for his ear from the king Ithobal who was camped +without the city and who desired to see the merchandise that he had +brought with him from the coasts of Tyre. Now Metem had already sold +all his wares at a great advantage; still, as he would not neglect this +opportunity of trade, he purchased others from his fellow merchants, and +loading two camels with them, set out for the camp of Ithobal, riding on +a mule. By midday he had reached it. The camp was pitched near water in +a pleasant grove of trees, and on one of these not far from the tent of +Ithobal Metem noted that there hung the body of a black dwarf. + +"Behold the fate of him who shoots at the buck and hits the doe. Well, I +have always said that murder is a dangerous game, since blood calls out +for blood," thought Metem as he rode towards the tent. + +At its door stood king Ithobal looking very huge and sullen in the +sunlight. Metem dismounted and prostrated himself obsequiously. + +"May the King live for ever," he said, "the great King, the King to whom +all the other kings of the earth are as the little gods to Baal, or the +faint stars to the sun." + +"Rise, and cease from flatteries," said Ithobal shortly; "I may be +greater than the other kings, but at least you do not think it." + +"If the king says so, so let it be," replied Metem calmly. "A woman +yonder in the market-place told me that the king wished to trade for +my merchandise. So I have brought the best of it; priceless goods that +which much toil I have carried hither from Tyre," and he pointed to the +two camels laden with the inferior articles which he had purchased, and +began to read the number and description of the goods from his tablets. + +"What value do you set upon the whole of them, merchant?" asked Ithobal. + +"To the traders of the country so much, but to you, O King, so much +only," and he named a sum twice that which he had paid in the city. + +"So be it," assented Ithobal indifferently; "I do not haggle over wares. +Though your price is large, presently my treasurer shall weigh you out +the gold." + +There was a moment's pause, then Metem said:-- + +"The trees in this camp of yours bear evil fruit, O King. If I might +ask, why does that little black monkey hang yonder." + +"Because he tried to do murder with his poisoned arrows," answered +Ithobal sullenly. + +"And failed? Well, it must comfort you to think that he did fail if he +was of the number of your servants. It is strange now that some knave +unknown attempted murder last night in the palace gardens, also with +poisoned arrows. I say attempted, but as yet I cannot be sure that he +did not succeed." + +"What!" exclaimed Ithobal, "was----" and he stopped. + +"No, King, prince Aziel was not hit; the Lady Elissa took that shaft +through her hand, and lies between life and death. I am doctoring her, +and had it not been for my skill she would now be stiff and black--as +the rogue who shot the arrow." + +"Save her," said Ithobal hoarsely, "and I will pay you a doctor's fee +of a hundred ounces of pure gold. Oh! had I but known, the clumsy fool +should not have died so easily." + +Metem took out his tablets and made a note of the amount. + +"Take comfort, King," he said, "I think that I shall earn the fee. +But to speak truth, this matter looks somewhat ugly, and your name is +mentioned in it. Also it is said that your cousin, the great man whom +the prince Aziel slew, was charged to abduct a certain lady by your +order." + +"Then false tales are told in Zimboe, and not for the first time," +answered Ithobal coldly. "Listen, merchant, I have a question to ask +of you. Will the prince Aziel meet me in single combat with whatever +weapons he may choose?" + +"Doubtless, and--pardon me if I say it--slay you as he slew your cousin, +for he is a fine swordsman, who has studied the art in Egypt, where it +is understood, and your strength would not avail against him. But your +question is already answered, for though the prince would be glad enough +to fight you, Sakon will have none of it. Have you nothing else to ask +me, King?" + +Ithobal nodded and said:-- + +"Listen, merchant. I know your repute of old, that you love money and +will do much to gain it, and that you are craftier than any hill-side +jackal. Now, if you can do my will, you will have more wealth than ever +you won in your life before." + +"The offer sounds good in a poor man's ears, King, but it depends upon +what is your will." + +Ithobal went to the door of the tent, and commanded the sentries who +stood without to suffer none to disturb him or draw near. Then he +returned and said:-- + +"I will tell you, but beware that you do not betray my counsels in this +or in any other matter, for I have sharp ears and a long arm. You know +how things are between me and the lady Elissa and her father Sakon and +the city which he governs. They stand thus: Unless within eight days +she is given to me in marriage, I have sworn that I will make war upon +Zimboe. Ay, and I will make it, for, filled with hate for the white man, +already the great tribes are gathering to my banners in ten armies, each +of them ten thousand strong. Once let them march beneath yonder walls, +and before they leave it Zimboe, city of gold, shall be nothing but a +heap of ruins, and a habitation of the dead. Such shall be my vengeance; +but I seek love more than vengeance, for what will it avail me to +butcher all that people of traders if--as well may chance in the +accidents of war--I lose her whom I desire, whose beauty shall be my +crown of crowns, and whose mind shall make me great indeed? + +"Therefore, Metem, if may be, I would win her without war; let the war +come afterwards, as come it must, for the time is ripe. And though she +turned from me, this I should have done, had it not been for yonder +prince Aziel, whom she met in a strange fashion, and straightway learned +to love. Now the thing is more difficult. Nay, while the prince Aziel +can take her to wife it is well-nigh impossible, since no threats of war +or ruin can turn a woman's heart from him she seeks--to him she flies. +Therefore, I ask you----" + +"Your pardon, King," Metem broke in, "I see that you, like your rival, +are so besotted with the beauty of this girl, that in all with which she +has to do you have lost the rule of your own reason. I would save you +perchance from saying words to which I do not wish to listen, and when +you find a quiet mind again, that you may regret having spoken. If you +were about to require of me that I should cause or be privy to the death +of the prince Aziel, you would require it in vain; yes, even if you +were willing to pay me gold in mountains, and gems in camel loads. With +murder I will have nothing to do; moreover, the prince, your rival, is +my friend and master, and I will not harm him. Further, I may tell you +that after the adventure of last night none will be able to come near +him to hurt a hair of his head, seeing that through daylight and through +darkness he is guarded by two men." + +"With a woman's body to set before him as a shield," said Ithobal +bitterly. "But you speak too fast; I was not about to ask you to kill +this man, or even to procure his death, because I know it would be +useless, but rather that you should so contrive that he cannot take +Elissa. How you contrive it I care nothing, so that she is not harmed. +You may kidnap him, or stir up the city against him, as one destined to +be the source of war, and cause him to be despatched back to the great +sea, or bribe the priests of El to hide him away, or what you will, if +only you separate him from this woman for ever. Say, merchant, are you +willing to undertake the task, or must my good gold go elsewhere?" + +Metem pondered awhile and answered:-- + +"I think that I will undertake it, King; that is, if we come to terms, +though whether I shall succeed is another matter. I will undertake it +not only because I seek to enrich myself, but because I and others who +serve him think it is a very evil thing that this prince, Aziel, whose +blood is the most royal in the whole world, without the consent of the +great king of Israel, his grandfather, should wed the daughter of a +Phoenician officer, however beautiful and loving she may be. Also I love +yonder city, which I have known for forty years, and would not see it +plunged in a bloody war and perhaps destroyed because a certain man +desires to call a certain girl his sweetheart. And now if I succeed in +this, what will you give me?" + +Ithobal named a great sum. + +"King," replied Metem, "you must double it, for that amount you speak +of I shall be forced to spend in bribes. More; you must give me the gold +now, before I leave your camp, or I will do nothing." + +"That you may steal it--and do nothing," laughed Ithobal angrily. + +"As you will, King. Such are my terms; if they do not please you, well, +let me go. But if you accept them, I will sign a bond under which if +within eight days I do not make it impossible for the prince Aziel to +marry the lady Elissa, you may reclaim so much of the gold as I do not +prove to you to have been spent upon your service, and no bond of Metem +the Phoenician was ever yet dishonoured. No, on second thought I will +learn wisdom from Issachar the Levite and put my hand to no writing +which it would pain me that some should read. King, my sworn word must +content you. Another thing, soon war may break out, or I may be forced +to fly. Therefore, I demand of you a pass sealed with your seal that +will enable me to ride with twenty men and all my goods and treasure, +even through the midst of your armies. Moreover you shall swear the +great oath to me that notice of this pass will be given to your generals +and that it shall be respected to the letter. Do you consent to these +terms?" + +"I consent," said the king presently. + +***** + +That evening Metem returned to the city of Zimboe, but those who led +his two camels little guessed that now they were laden, not with +merchandise, but with treasure. + + + +CHAPTER IX + +GREETING TO THE BAALTIS + +When Metem accepted bribes from Issachar and from Ithobal, in +consideration of his finding means to make the union of Aziel and Elissa +impossible, he had already thought out his scheme. It was one which, +while promoting, as he considered, the true welfare of the lovers, if +successful would separate them effectually and for ever. + +It will be remembered that Elissa had explained to the prince how, on +the death of the lady Baaltis, another woman was elected by the colleges +of the priests and priestesses to fill her place. This lady could marry, +indeed she was expected to do so, but her husband must take the title +of Shadid, and for her lifetime act as high-priest of El. Therefore, +thought Metem, if it could be brought about that Elissa should be chosen +as the new Baaltis, it was obvious that there would be an end of the +possibility of her marriage to Aziel. Then, in order to wed her, he must +renounce his own religion--a thing which no Jew would do--and pose as +the earthly incarnation of one whom he considered a false divinity or a +devil. + +Indeed, not only marriage, but any further intimacy between the pair +would be rendered impracticable, for upon this point the religious law, +lax enough in many particulars, was very strict. In fact, so strict was +it that for the lady Baaltis of the day to be found alone with any man +meant death to her and him. The reason of this severity was that she was +supposed to represent the goddess; and her husband, the Shadid, a god, +so that any questionable behaviour on her part became an insult to the +most powerful divinities of Heaven, which could only be atoned by the +death of their unworthy incarnations. That these laws were actual and +not formal only was proved by the instance that within the hundred years +before the birth of Elissa, a lady Baaltis had been executed for some +such offence, having been hurled indeed from the topmost pinnacle of the +fortress above the temple to the foot of the precipice beneath. + +All these sacerdotal customs were familiar to Metem, who argued from +them that to procure the nomination of Elissa as the Baaltis would be to +build an impassable wall between her and the prince Aziel. Also, by way +of compensation, that office would confer upon her the highest dignity +and honour which could be attained by any woman in the city. Moreover, +her election would place her beyond the reach of the persecutions +of Ithobal, since as lady Baaltis she was entitled to choose her own +husband without hindrance or appeal, provided only that he was of pure +white blood, which Ithobal was not. + +Having thought the matter out, and convinced himself that such a +course would not only benefit his own pocket, but prove to the lasting +advantage of all concerned, Metem, filled with a glow of righteous zeal, +set about his task with the promptitude and cunning of his race. It was +not an easy task, for although she had enemies and rivals, the daughter +of the dead Baaltis, Mesa by name, was considered to be certain of +election at the poll of the priests and priestesses. This ceremony was +to take place within two days. Nothing discouraged, however, by the +scant time at his disposal or other difficulties, without her knowledge +or that of her father, Metem began his canvass on behalf of Elissa. + +First with a great sum of gold he bought over the ex-Shadid, the husband +of the late lady Baaltis. As it chanced, this worthy had quarrelled with +his daughter. Therefore it followed that he would prefer to see some +stranger chosen in her place in the hope that, notwithstanding his +years, by choosing him in marriage she might confirm him in his position +of spouse to the goddess. + +All Metem's further negotiations need not be followed: money played a +part in most of them; jealousy and dislike in some. A few there were +also whom he won over by urging the beauty and wisdom of Elissa, and her +extraordinary fitness for the post, as evinced by her recent inspiration +in the temple! He found his most powerful allies, however, among the +members of the council of the city. To these grandees he pointed out +that Elissa was a woman of great strength of character, who would +certainly never consent to be forced into a marriage with Ithobal, +although her refusal should mean a desperate war, and that her father +was so much under her influence that he could not be brought to put +pressure upon her. Therefore it was obvious that the only way out of the +difficulty was her election as Baaltis. This must prove a perfect +answer to the suit of the savage king, since the goddess could not be +compelled, and even Ithobal, fearing the vengeance of Heaven, would +shrink from offering her violence. + +There support gained, having first sworn him to secrecy, he attacked +Sakon himself, using similar arguments with him. He pointed out, in +addition, that if the governor hoped to see his daughter married to +prince Aziel, who was in love with her, however dazzling might be the +prospects of such a match, it would certainly bring upon him the present +wrath of Ithobal, and, in all probability, future trouble with the +Courts of Egypt, of Israel, and through them, of Tyre. Thus working in +many ways, Metem laboured incessantly to win his end, so that when at +last the hour of election came he awaited its issue, fairly confident of +success. + +It was on this same afternoon that for the first time since she had +received the arrow which was meant for his heart, Aziel was admitted to +see Elissa. Now at length her recovery was certain, although she had not +shaken off her weakness, and her right arm and wrist were still stiff +and swollen. Except for two or three of her women, who were seated at +their work behind a screen near the far end of the great chamber, +she was alone, lying upon a couch in the recess of the window-place. +Advancing to her, Aziel bent down to kiss her wounded hand. + +"Nay," said Elissa, hiding it beneath the folds of her robe, "it is +still black and unsightly with the poison." + +"The more reason that I should kiss it, seeing how the stain came +there," he answered. + +Her eyes met his, and she whispered, "Not my hand, but my brow, Prince, +for so I shall be crowned." + +He pressed his lips upon her forehead, and replied:-- + +"Queen of my heart you are already, and though the throne be humble it +is sure. The life you saved is yours, and no other's." + +"I did but repay a debt," she answered; "but speak of it no more. Gladly +would I have died to save you; should such choice arise, would you do so +for me, I wonder?" + +"There is little need to ask such a question, lady; for your sake +I would not only die, I would even endure shame--that is worse than +death." + +"Sweet words, Aziel," she answered, smiling, "of which we shall learn +the value when the hour of trial comes, as come, I think, it will. You +told me but now that you were mine, and no other's; but is it so? I have +heard the story of a certain princess of Khem with whom your name was +mingled. Tell me, if you will, what was it that set you journeying to +this far city of ours?" + +"The desire to find you," he answered smiling; then seeing that she +still looked at him with questioning eyes, he added, "Nay, this is the +truth, if you seek truth. Indeed, it is the best that I should tell +you, since it seems that already you have heard something of the tale. +A while ago I was sent to the Court of the Pharaoh of Egypt, by the will +of my grandsire, the king of Israel, upon an embassy of friendship, +and to escort thence a certain beautiful princess, my cousin, who was +affianced by treaty to an uncle of mine, a great prince of Israel. This +I did, showing to the lady courtesy, and no more. But the end of the +matter was that when we came to Jerusalem the princess refused to be +married to my uncle, to whom she was betrothed----" and he hesitated. + +"Nay, be not timid, Prince," said Elissa sharply; "continue, I pray you. +I have heard that the lady added somewhat to her refusal." + +"That is so, Elissa. She declared before the king that she would wed no +man except myself only, whereon my uncle was very angry, and accused me +of playing him false, which, indeed, I had not done." + +"Although the lady was so fair, Aziel? But what said the great king?" + +"He said that never having seen him to whom she was affianced, he would +not suffer that she should be forced into marriage with him against +her will. Yet that her will might be uninfluenced, he commanded that I +should be sent upon a long journey. That was his judgment, lady." + +"Yes, but not all of it; surely he added other words?" she broke in +eagerly. + +"He added," continued Aziel, with some reluctance, "that if while I +was on this journey the princess changed her mind, and chose to wed my +uncle, it would be well. But, when I returned from it, if she had not +changed her mind, and chose--to marry me--then it would be well also, +and, though he was little pleased, with this saying my uncle must be +satisfied." + +"It does not satisfy me, prince Aziel," Elissa answered, the tears +starting to her dark eyes. "I know full well that the lady will not +change her mind, and take a man who is in years, and whom she hates, +in place of one who is young, and whom she loves. Therefore, when you +return hence to Jerusalem, by the king's command you will wed her." + +"Nay, Elissa; if I am already married that cannot be," he said. + +"In Judea, Prince, I am told that men take more wives than one; also, +they divorce them," she replied; then added, "Oh, return not there where +I shall lose you. If, indeed, you love me, I pray you return not there." + +Before he could answer, a sound of singing and of all sorts of music +caught Aziel's ear. Looking through the casement, he saw a great +procession of the priests and priestesses of El and Baaltis clad in +their festal robes and accompanied by many dignitaries of the city, a +multitude of people and bands of musicians, advancing across the square +towards the door of the palace. + +"Why, what passes?" he exclaimed. As he spoke the door opened and two +richly arrayed heralds, wands of office in their hands, entered and +prostrated themselves before Elissa. + +"Greeting to you, most noble and blessed lady, the chosen of the gods!" +they cried with one voice. "Prepare, we beseech you, to hear glad +tidings, and to receive those who are sent to tell them." + +"Glad tidings?" said Elissa. "Has Ithobal then withdrawn his suit?" + +"Nay, lady; it is not of Ithobal that the messengers come to speak." + +"Then I cannot receive them," she said, sinking back in apprehension. "I +am still ill and weak, and I pray to be excused." + +"Nay, lady," answered the herald, "that which they have to tell will +cure your sickness." + +Again Elissa protested. Before the words had left her lips there +appeared in the doorway he who had been husband of the dead Baaltis, +followed by priests and priestesses, by Sakon her father, with whom was +Metem, and many other nobles and dignitaries. + +"All hail, lady!" they cried, prostrating themselves before her. "All +hail, lady, chosen of the gods!" + +Elissa looked at them bewildered. + +"Your pardon," she said, "I do not understand." + +Then, rising from his knees, he who was still the Shadid until his +successor was appointed, addressed her as spokesman. + +"Listen," he said, "and learn, lady, the great thing that has befallen +you. Know, O divine One, that by the inspiration of El and Baaltis, +rulers of the heavens, the colleges of the priests and priestesses of +the city, following the voice of the oracles and the pointing of the +omens, have set you in that high place which death has emptied. Greeting +to you, holder of the spirit of the goddess! Greeting to the Baaltis!" + +"I did not seek this honour," she murmured in the silence that followed, +"and I refuse it. The throne of the goddess is Mesa's right; let her +take it, or if she will not, then find some other woman who is more +worthy." + +"Lady," said the Shadid, "these words become you well, but it has +pleased the gods to choose you and not my daughter, the lady Mesa, or +any other woman, and the choice of the gods may not be set aside. Till +death shall take you, you and you alone are the lady Baaltis whom we +obey." + +"Must I then be made divine against my will," she pleaded, and turned to +Aziel as though for counsel. + +"Be pleased to stand back, prince Aziel," said the stern voice of the +Shadid, interposing. "Remember that henceforth no man may speak to +the Baaltis save he whom she names with the name of Shadid to be her +husband. Henceforward you are parted, since to seek her company would be +to cause her death." + +Now understanding that the doom of life-long separation had fallen upon +them like the sudden sword of fate, Aziel and Elissa gazed at each other +in despair. Then, before either of them could speak a word, at a sign +from the Shadid, the priestesses closed round Elissa. Throwing a white +veil over her head, they broke into a joyful pan of song, and half-led, +half-carried her from the chamber to enthrone her in the palace of the +goddess, which was henceforth to be her home. + +Presently all the company, including the waiting women, having joined +the procession, the chamber was empty, with the exception of Aziel, +Metem and Issachar the Levite, who, drawn by the sound of singing, had +entered the place unnoticed. + +"Take comfort, Prince," said the Phoenician in a half-bantering voice, +"if you and the lady Baaltis are truly dear to each other she may still +be yours, for you have but to bow the knee to El, and she will name you +Shadid and husband." + +"Blaspheme not," cried Issachar sternly. "Shall a worshipper of the God +of Israel do sacrifice to a demon to win a woman's smile?" + +"That time will prove," answered Metem, shrugging his shoulders; "at +least it is certain that he will win it in no other way. Prince," he +added, changing his tone, "if you have any such thoughts, abandon them, +I pray of you, for on this matter the law may not be broken. The man +spoke truth, moreover, when he told you that should you be found with +the Baaltis, not being her husband, you would cause her death." + +Aziel took no notice of his words, but turning to the Levite, he asked +in a quiet voice:-- + +"Did you plot this to separate us, Issachar? If so, you shall live to +mourn the deed." + +"Listen, Prince," broke in Metem, "it was not Issachar who plotted that +the lady Elissa should be chosen Baaltis, but I, or at least I helped +the plot. Shall I tell you why I did this? It was to save you and her, +and if possible to prevent a great war also. You could not wed this +woman who is not of your race, or rank, or religion; and if you could, +it would bring about a struggle that must cost thousands their lives, +and this city its wealth. Nor could you make of her less than a wife, +seeing that she is well-born and that you are her father's guest. +Therefore for your own sake it is best that she should be placed beyond +your reach. For her sake also it is best, since she is ambitious and +born to rule, who henceforth will be clothed with power for all her +days. Moreover, had it been otherwise, in the end she must have passed +to that savage Ithobal, whom she hates. Now this is scarcely possible, +for the lady Baaltis can wed no man who is not of pure white blood, and +whom she does not choose of her own free will. That is a decree which +may not be broken even by Ithobal. So revile me not, but thank me, +though for a little while your heart be sore." + +"My heart is sore indeed," answered Aziel, "and if you think your +words be wise, their medicine does not soothe, Phoenician. You may have +laboured for my welfare and for that of the lady Elissa, or, like the +huckster that you are, for your own advantage, or for both--I know not, +and do not care to know. But this I know, that you, and Issachar also, +are striving to snare Fate in a web of sand, and that Fate will be too +strong for it and you. I love this woman and she loves me, because +such is our destiny, and no barriers which man may build can serve to +separate us. Also of this I am assured, that by your plots you draw the +evils you would ward away upon the heads of us all, for from them shall +spring war, and deaths, and misery. + +"For the rest, do not think, Metem and Issachar, that I, whom you +betrayed, and the woman you have ruined with a crown of greatness she +did not seek, are clay to be moulded at your will. It is another hand +than yours which fashioned the vessel of our destiny; nor can you stay +our lips from drinking of the pure wine that fills it. Farewell," and +with a grave inclination of the head he left the room. + +Metem watched him go, then he turned to Issachar and said:-- + +"I have earned my hire well, and you must pay the price, but now it +troubles me to think that I touched this business. Why it is I cannot +say, but it comes upon me that the prince speaks truth, and that no plot +of ours can avail to separate these two who were born to each other, +although it well may happen that we shall unite them in death alone. +Issachar," he added with fierce conviction, "I will not take your gold, +for it is the price of blood! I tell you it is the price of blood!" + +"Take it or no, as you will, Phoenician," answered the Levite; "at least +I am well pleased that the promise of it bought your service. Even +should the prince Aziel discharge this day's work with his young life, +it is better that he should perish in the body than that he should lose +his soul for the bribe of a woman's passing beauty. Whatever else be +lost, that is saved to him, since those sorceress lips of hers are set +beyond his reach. An Israelite cannot mate with the oracle of Baaltis, +Metem." + +"You say so, Issachar, but I have seen men climb high to pluck such +fruit. Yes, I have seen them climb even when they knew that they must +fall before the fruit was reached." + +Then he went also, leaving Issachar alone and oppressed with a dread of +the future which was none the less real because it could not be defined. + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE EMBASSY + +Weak as she was still with recent illness, half-fainting also from +the shock of the terrible and unexpected fate which had overtaken her, +Elissa was borne in triumph to the palace that now was hers. Around +her gilded litter priestesses danced and sang their wild chants, +half-bacchanalian and half-religious; before it marched the priests of +El, clashing cymbals and crying, "Make way, make way for the new-born +goddess! Make way for her whose throne is upon the horned moon!" while +all about the multitude of spectators prostrated themselves in worship. + +Elissa was borne in triumph. Vaguely she heard the shouts and music, +dimly she saw the dancing-girls and the bowing crowds. But all the while +her heart was alive with pain and her brain, crushed beneath the menace +of this misery, could grasp nothing clearly save the completeness of +her loss. Loss! Yes, she was lost indeed. One short hour ago and she +was rejoicing in the presence of the man she loved, and who, as she +believed, loved her, while in her mind rose visions of some happy life +with him far away from this city and the dark rites of the worshippers +of Baal. And now she found herself the chief priestess of that worship +which already she had learned to fear if not to hate. More, as its +priestess, till death should come to comfort her, she was cut off for +ever from him whom she adored, cut off also from the hope of that new +spiritual light which had begun to dawn upon her soul. + +Elissa looked upon the beautiful women who leapt and sang about her +litter, listening to the clash of their ornaments of gold, and as she +listened and looked her eyes seemed to gain power to behold the spirits +within them. Surely she could see these, dark and hideous things, with +shifting countenances, terrible to look on, and themselves wearing in +their eyes of flame a stamp of eternal terror, while in her ears the +music of their golden necklaces was changed to a clank as of fetters and +of instruments of torment. Yes; and there before the dancers in the red +cloud of dust which rose from their beating feet, floated the dim shape +of that demon of whom she had been chosen the high-priestess. + +Look at her mocking, inhuman countenance, and her bent brow of power! +Look at her spread and flaming hair and her hundred hands outstretched +to grasp the souls of men! Hark! the clamour of the cymbals and the cry +of the dancers blended together and became her voice, a dreadful voice +that gave greeting to her princess, promising her pride of place and +life-long power in payment for her service. + +"I desire none of these," her heart seemed to answer; "I desire him only +whom I have lost." + +"Is it so?" replied the Voice. "Then bid him burn incense upon my altar +and take him to yourself. Have I not given you enough of beauty to snare +a single soul from among the servants of my enemy the God of the Jews?" + +"Nay, nay!" her heart cried; "I will not tempt him to do this evil +thing." + +"Yea, yea!" mocked the phantom Voice; "for your sake he shall burn +incense upon my altar." + +***** + +The phantasy passed, and now the golden gates of the palace of Baaltis +rolled open before Elissa. Now, too, the priestesses bore her to the +golden throne shaped like a crescent moon, and threw over her a black +veil spangled with stars, symbol of the night. Then having shut out the +uninitiated, they worshipped her after their secret fashion till she +sank down upon the throne overcome with fear and weariness. Then at last +they carried her to that wonder of workmanship and allegorical art, the +ivory bed of Baaltis, and laid her down to sleep. + +***** + +At dawn upon the following day an embassy, headed by Sakon, governor +of the city, in whose train were Metem and Aziel, went to the camp of +Ithobal. The mission of these envoys was to give the king answer to his +suit, for he refused to come to Zimboe unless he were allowed to bring +a larger force than it was thought prudent to admit into the city gates. +At some distance from the tents they halted, while messengers were sent +forward inviting Ithobal to a conference on the plain, as it seemed +scarcely safe to trust themselves within the stout thorn fence which had +been built about the camp. Metem, who said that he had no fear of the +king, went with these men, and on reaching the _zeriba_ was at once +bidden to the pavilion of Ithobal. He found the great man pacing its +length sullenly. + +"What seek you here, Phoenician?" he asked, glancing at him over his +shoulder. + +"My fee, King. The king was pleased to promise me a hundred ounces +of gold if I saved the life of the Lady Elissa. I come, therefore, to +assure him that my skill has prevailed against the poisoned arrow of +that treacherous dog of the desert, which pierced her hand as she spoke +with the prince Aziel the other night, and to claim my reward. Here is a +note of the amount," and he produced his tablets. + +"If half of what I hear is true, rogue," answered Ithobal savagely, "the +tormentor and the headsman alone could satisfy all my debt to you. Say, +merchant, what return have you made me for that sackful of gold which +you bore hence some few days gone?" + +"The best of all returns, King," answered Metem cheerfully, although in +truth he began to feel afraid. "I have kept my word, and fulfilled the +command of the king. I have made it impossible that the prince Aziel +should wed the daughter of Sakon." + +"Yes, rogue, you have made it impossible by causing her to be +consecrated Baaltis, and thus building a barrier which even I shall find +too hard to climb. It is scarcely to be hoped that now she will choose +me of her own will, and to offer violence to the Baaltis is a sacrilege +from which any man--yes, even a king--may shrink, for such deeds draw +the curse of Heaven. Know that for this service I am minded to settle +my account with you in a fashion of which you have not thought. Have +you heard, Phoenician, that the chiefs of certain of my tribes love to +decorate their spear-shafts with the hide of white men, and to bray +their flesh into a medicine which gives courage to its eater?" + +With this pleasing and suggestive query Ithobal paused, and looked +towards the door of the tent as though he were about to call his guard. + +Now Metem's blood ran cold, for he knew that this royal savage was not +one who uttered idle threats. Yet the coolness and cunning which had so +often served him well did not fail him in his need. + +"I have heard that your people have strange customs," he answered with +a laugh, "but I think that even a spear-shaft would scarcely gain beauty +from my wrinkled hide, and if anything, the eating of my flesh would +make tradesmen and not warriors of your chiefs. Well, let the jest pass, +and listen. King, in all my schemings one thought never crossed my mind, +namely, that you were a man to suffer scruples to stand between you and +the woman you would win. You think that now she is a goddess? Well, if +that be so--and it is not for me to say--who could be a fitter mate for +the greatest king upon the earth than a goddess from the heavens? Take +her, king Ithobal, take her, and this I promise you, that when your +armies are encamped without the walls, the priests of El will absolve +you of the crime of aspiring to the fair lips of Baaltis." + +"The lips of Baaltis," broke in Ithobal; "do you think that I shall find +them sweet when another man has rifled them? Secret chambers are many +yonder in the palace of the gods, and doubtless the Jew will find his +way there." + +"Nay, King, for between these two I have indeed built a wall which +cannot be climbed. The worshipper of the Lord of Israel may not traffic +with the high-priestess of Ashtoreth. Moreover, I shall bring it about +that ere long Prince Aziel's face is set seawards." + +"Do that, and I will believe you, merchant, though it would be better if +you could bring it about that his face was set earthwards, as I will +if I can. Well, this time I spare you, though be sure that if aught +miscarry, you shall pay the price, how, I have told you. Now I go to +talk with these traders, these outlanders, of Zimboe. Why do you wait? +You are dismissed and--alive." + +Metem looked steadily at the tablets which he still held in his hand. + +"I have heard," he said humbly, "that the king Ithobal, the great king, +always pays his debts, and as I--an outlander--shall be leaving Zimboe +shortly under his safe conduct, I desire to close this small account." + +Ithobal went to the door of his tent and commanded that his treasurer +should attend him, bringing money. Presently he came, and at his lord's +bidding weighed out one hundred ounces of gold. + +"You are right, Phoenician," said Ithobal; "I always pay my debts, +sometimes in gold and sometimes in iron. Be careful that I owe you no +more, lest you who to-day are paid in gold, to-morrow may receive the +iron, weighed out in the fashion of which I have spoken. Now, begone." + +Metem gathered up the treasure, and hiding it in his ample robe, bowed +himself from the royal presence and out of the thorn-hedged camp. + +"Without doubt I have been in danger," he said to himself, wiping his +brow, "since at one time that black brute, disregarding the sanctity +of an envoy, had it in his mind to torture and to kill me. So, so, king +Ithobal, Metem the Phoenician is also an honest merchant who 'always pays +his debts,' as you may learn in the market-places of Jerusalem, of Sidon +and of Zimboe, and I owe you a heavy bill for the fright you have given +me to-day. Little of Elissa's company shall you have if I can help it; +she is too good for a cross-bred savage, and if before I go from these +barbarian lands I can set a drop of medicine in your wine, or an arrow +in your gizzard, upon the word of Metem the Phoenician, it shall be done, +king Ithobal." + +***** + +When Metem reached Sakon and the envoys, he found that a message had +already been sent to them announcing that Ithobal would meet them +presently upon the plain outside his camp. But still the king did not +come; indeed, it was not until Sakon had despatched another messenger, +saying that he was about to return to the city, that at length Ithobal +appeared at the head of a bodyguard of black troops. Arranging these +in line in front of the camp, he came forward, attended by twelve or +fourteen counsellors and generals, all of them unarmed. Half-way between +his own line and that of the Phoenicians, but out of bowshot of either, +he halted. + +Thereon Sakon, accompanied by a similar number of priests and nobles, +among whom were Aziel and Metem, all of them also unarmed, except for +the knives in their girdles, marched out to meet him. Their escort they +left drawn up upon the hillside. + +"Let us to business, King," said Sakon, when the formal words of +salutation had passed. "We have waited long upon your pleasure, and +already troops move out from the city to learn what has befallen us." + +"Do they then fear that I should ambush ambassadors?" asked Ithobal +hotly. "For the rest, is it not right that servants should bide at the +door of their king till it is his pleasure to open?" + +"I know not what they fear," answered Sakon, "but at least we fear +nothing, for we are too many," and he glanced at his soldiers, a +thousand strong, upon the hillside. "Nor are the citizens of Zimboe the +servants of any man unless he be the king of Tyre." + +"That we shall put to proof, Sakon," said Ithobal; "but say, what does +the Jew with you?" and he pointed to Aziel. "Is he also an envoy from +Zimboe?" + +"Nay, King," answered the prince laughing, "but my grandsire, the mighty +ruler of Israel, charged me always to take note of the ways of savages +in peace and war, that I might learn how to deal with them. Therefore, I +sought leave to accompany Sakon upon this embassy." + +"Peace, peace!" broke in Sakon. "This is no time for gibes. King +Ithobal, since you did not dare to venture yourself again within the +walls of our city, we have come to answer the demands you made upon us +in the Hall of Audience. You demanded that our fortifications should be +thrown down, and this we refuse, since we do not court destruction. You +demanded that we should cease to enslave men to labour in the mines, and +to this we answer that for every man we take we will pay a tax to his +lawful chief, or to you as king. You demanded that the ancient tribute +should be doubled. To this, out of love and friendship, and not from +fear, we assent, if you will enter into a bond of lasting peace, since +it is peace we seek, and not war. King, you have our answer." + +"Not all of it, Sakon. How of that first condition--that Lady Elissa the +fair, your daughter, should be given me to wife?" + +"King, it cannot be, for the gods of heaven have taken this matter from +our hands, anointing the lady Elissa their high-priestess." + +"Then as I live," answered Ithobal with fury, "I will take her from the +hands of the gods and anoint her my dancing-woman. Do you think to make +a mock of me, you people of Zimboe, whom I have honoured by desiring one +of your daughters in marriage? You seek to trick me with your priests' +juggling that you may keep her to be the toy of yonder princeling? So +be it, but I tell you that I will tear your city stone from stone, and +anoint its ruins with your blood. Yes, your young men shall labour in +the mines for me, and your high-born maidens shall wait upon my queens. +Listen you,"--and he turned to his generals--"let the messengers who +are ready start east and west, and north and south, to the chiefs whose +names you have, bidding them to meet me with their tribesmen, at the +time and place appointed. When next I speak with you, Elders of Zimboe, +it shall be at the head of a hundred thousand warriors." + +"Then, King, on your hands be all the innocent lives that these words +of yours have doomed, and may the weight of their wasted blood press you +down to ruin and death." + +Thus answered Sakon proudly, but with pale lips, for do what they would +to hide it, something of the fear they felt for the issue of this war +was written on the faces of all his company. + +Ithobal turned upon his heel, deigning no reply, but as he went he +whispered a word into the ear of two of his captains, great men of war, +who stayed behind the rest of his party searching for something upon +the ground. Sakon and his counsellors also turned, walking towards +their escort, but Aziel lingered a little, fearing no danger, and being +curious to learn what the men sought. + +"What do you seek, captains?" he asked courteously. + +"A gold armlet that one of us has lost," they answered. + +Aziel let his eyes wander on the ground, and not far away perceived the +armlet half-hidden in a tussock of dry grass, where, indeed, it had been +placed. + +"Is this the ring?" he asked, lifting it and holding it towards them. + +"It is, and we thank you," they answered, advancing to take the +ornament. + +The next moment, before Aziel even guessed their purpose, the captains +had gripped him by either arm and were dragging him at full speed +towards their camp. Understanding their treachery and the greatness of +his danger, he cried aloud for help. Then throwing himself swiftly to +the ground, he set his feet against a stone that chanced to lie in their +path in such fashion that the sudden weight tore his right arm from the +group of the man that held him. Now, quick as thought, Aziel drew the +dagger from his girdle, and, still lying upon his back, plunged it into +the shoulder of the second man so that he loosed him in his pain. Next +he sprang to his feet, and, leaping to one side to escape the rush of +his captors, ran like a deer towards the party of Sakon, who had wheeled +round at the sound of his cry. + +Ithobal and his men had turned also and sped towards them, but at a +little distance they halted, the king shouting aloud:-- + +"I desired to hold this foreigner, who is the cause of war between us, +hostage for your daughter's sake, Sakon, but this time he has escaped +me. Well, it matters nothing, for soon my turn will come. Therefore, +if you and he are wise, you will send him back to the sea, for thither +alone I promise him safe conduct." + +Then without more words he walked to his camp, the gates of which were +closed behind him. + +***** + +"Prince Aziel," said Sakon, as they went towards the city, "it is ill to +speak such words to an honoured guest, but it cannot be denied that you +bring much trouble on my head. Twice now you have nearly perished at +the hands of Ithobal, and should that chance, doubtless I must earn the +wrath of Israel. On your behalf, also, the city of Zimboe is this day +plunged into a war that well may be her last, since it is because you +have grown suddenly dear to her that my daughter has continued to refuse +the suit of Ithobal, and because of his outraged pride at this refusal +that he has raised up the nations against us. Prince, while you remain +in this city there is no hope of peace. Do not, therefore, hate me, your +servant, if I pray of you to leave us while there is yet time." + +"Sakon," answered Aziel, "I thank you for your open speech, and will +pay you back in words as honest as your own. Gladly would I go, for here +nothing but sorrow has befallen me, were it not for one thing which to +you may seem little, but to me, and perhaps to another, is all in all. I +love your daughter as I have never loved a woman before, and as my mind +is to hers, so is hers to mine. How, then, can I go hence when the going +means that I must part from her for ever?" + +"How can you stay here, Prince, when the staying means that you must +bring her to shame and death, and yourself with her? Say now, are you +prepared, for the sake of this maiden, to abandon the worship of your +fathers and to become the servant of El and Baaltis?" + +"You know well that I am not so prepared, Sakon. For nothing that the +world could give me would I do this sin." + +"Then, Prince, it is best that you should go, for that and no other is +the price you must pay if you would win my daughter Elissa. Should you +seek to do so by other means, I tell you that neither your high rank nor +the power of my rule and friendship, nor pity for your youth and hers, +can save you both from death, since to forgive you then would be to +bring down the wrath of its outraged gods upon Zimboe. Oh! Prince, for +your own sake and for the sake of her whom both you and I love thus +dearly, linger no longer in temptation, but turn your back upon it as a +brave man should, for so shall my blessing follow you to the grave and +your years be filled with honour." + +Aziel covered his eyes with his hand, and thought a while; then he +answered:-- + +"Be it as you will, friend. I go, but I go broken-hearted." + + + +CHAPTER XI + +METEM SELLS IMAGES + +Upon reaching the palace, Aziel went to the apartments of Issachar. +Finding no keeper at the door, he entered, to discover the old priest +kneeling in prayer at the window, which faced towards Jerusalem. So +absorbed was he in his devotions that it was not until he had ended them +and risen that Issachar saw Aziel standing in the chamber. + +"Behold, an answer to my prayer," he said. "My son, they told me +that some fresh danger had overtaken you, though none knew its issue. +Therefore it was that I prayed, and now I see you unharmed." And taking +him in his arms, he embraced him. + +"It is true that I have been in danger, father," answered Aziel, and he +told him the story of his escape from Ithobal. + +"Did I not pray thee not to accompany this embassy?" + +"Yes, father, yet I have returned in safety. Listen: I come with tidings +which you will think good. Not an hour ago I promised Sakon that I would +leave Zimboe, where it seems my presence breeds much trouble." + +"Good tidings, indeed!" exclaimed Issachar, "and never shall I know a +peaceful hour until we have seen the last of the towers of this doomed +city and its accursed people of devil-worshippers." + +"Yes, good for you, father, but for me most ill, for here I shall leave +my youth and happiness. Nay, I know what you think; that this is but +some passing fancy bred of the pleasant beauty of a woman, but it is not +so. I say that from the moment when first I saw Elissa, she became life +of my life, and soul of my soul and that I go hence beggared of joy and +hope, and carrying with me a cankering memory which shall eat my heart +away. You deem her a witch, one to whom Baaltis has given power to drag +the minds of men to their destruction, but I tell you that her only +spell is the spell of her love for me, also that she whom you named so +grossly is no longer the servant of the demon Baaltis." + +"Elissa not the servant of Baaltis? How comes she then to be her +high-priestess? Aziel, your passion has made you mad." + +"She is high-priestess because Metem and others brought about her +election without her will, urged on to it by I know not whom." And he +looked hard at Issachar, who turned away. "But what matters it who did +the ill deed," he continued, "since this, at least, is certain, that +here my presence breeds sorrow and bloodshed, and therefore I must go as +I have promised." + +"When do we depart, Prince?" queried Issachar. + +"I know not, it is naught to me. Here comes Metem, ask of him." + +"Metem," said the Levite, "the prince desires to leave Zimboe and march +to the coast, there to take ship to Tyre. When can your caravan be +ready?" + +"So I have heard, Issachar, for Sakon tells me that he has come to an +agreement with the prince upon this matter. Well, I am glad to learn it, +for troubles thicken here, and I think that the woe you prophesied is +not far from this city of Zimboe where every man seeks to serve his own +hand, and is ready to sell his neighbour. When can the caravan be got +ready? Well, the night after next; at least, we can start that night. +To-morrow evening, so soon as the sun is down, I will send on the camels +by ones and twos, and with them the baggage and treasure, to a secret +place I know of in the mountains, where we and the prince's guard +can follow upon the mules and join them. As it chances, I have a safe +conduct from Ithobal. Still I should not wish to put his troops into +temptation by marching through them with twenty laden camels, or to lose +certain earnings of my own that will be hidden in the baggage. Moreover, +if our departure becomes known, half the city would wish to join us, +having no love of soldiering, and misdoubting them much of the issue of +this war with Ithobal." + +"As you will," said Issachar, "you are captain of the caravan, and +charged with the safety of the prince upon his journeyings. I am ready +whenever you appoint, and the quicker that hour comes, the more praise +you will have from me." + +"Come with me, I wish to speak with you," said Aziel to the Phoenician +as they left the presence of Issachar. "Listen," he added, when they had +reached his chamber, "we leave this city soon, and I have farewells to +make." + +"To the Baaltis?" suggested Metem. + +"To the lady Elissa. I desire to send her a letter of farewell; can you +deliver it into her own hand?" + +"It may be managed, Prince, at a price--nay, from you I ask no price. +I have still some images that I wish to sell, and we merchants go +everywhere, even into the presence of the Baaltis if it pleases her to +admit them. Write your scroll and I will take it, though, to be plain, +it is not a task which I should have sought." + +So Aziel wrote slowly and with care. Then having sealed the writing he +gave it to Metem. + +"Your face is sat, Prince," he said, as he hid it in his robe, "but, +believe me, you are doing what is right and wise." + +"It may be so," answered Aziel, "yet I would rather die than do it, and +may my curse lie heavy upon the heads of those who have so wrought that +it must be done. Now, I pray you, deliver this scroll into the hands of +her you know, and bring me the answer if there be any, betraying it to +none, for I will double whatever sum is offered for that treachery." + +"Have no fear, Prince," said Metem quietly, but without taking offence, +"this errand is undertaken for friendship, not for profit. The risk is +mine alone; the gain--or loss--is yours." + +***** + +An hour later the Phoenician stood in the palace of the gods, demanding, +under permit from Sakon, governor of the city, to be admitted into +the presence of the Baaltis, to whom he desired to sell certain sacred +images cunningly fashioned in gold. Presently it was announced that he +was allowed to approach, and the officers of the temple led him through +guarded passages, to the private chambers of the priestesses. Here he +found Elissa in a long, low hall, sweet with scented woods, rich with +gold, and supported by pillars of cedar. + +She was seated alone at the far end of this hall, beneath the +window-plate, clad in her white robes of office, richly broidered +with emblems of the moon. Her women, most of whom were employed in +needle-work, though some whispered idly to each other, were gathered at +the lower end of the hall near to its door. + +Metem saluted them as he entered, and they detained him, answering his +greeting by requests for news and with jests, not too refined, or by +demands for presents of jewels, in return for which they promised him +the blessings of the goddess. To each he made some apt reply, for even +the priestesses of Baaltis could not abash Metem. But while he bandied +words, his quick eyes noted one of their number who did not join in +this play. She was a spare, thin-lipped woman whom he knew for Mesa, +the daughter of the dead Baaltis, who had been a rival candidate for the +throne of the high-priestess when Elissa was chosen in her place. + +When he entered the hall Mesa was seated upon a canvas stool, a little +apart from the others, her chin resting upon her hand, staring with an +evil look towards the place where Elissa was enthroned. Nor did her face +grow more gentle at the sight of the cunning merchant, for she knew well +it was through his plots and bribery that she had been ousted from her +mother's place. + +"A woman to be feared," thought Metem to himself as, shaking off the +priestesses, he passed her upon his way up the long chamber. Presently +he had reached the end of it, and was saluting the presence of the +Baaltis by kneeling and touching the carpet with his brow. + +"Rise, Metem," said Elissa, "and set out your business, for the hour of +the sunset prayer is at hand, and I cannot talk long with you." + +So he rose, and, looking at her while he laid out his store of images, +saw that her face was sad, and that her eyes were full of a strange +fear. + +"Lady," he said, "on the second night from now I depart from this city +of yours, and glad shall I be to leave it living. Therefore I have +brought you these four priceless images of the most splendid workmanship +of Tyre, thinking that it might please you to purchase them for the +service of the goddess." + +"You depart," she whispered; "alone?" + +"No lady, not alone; the holy Issachar goes with me, also the escort of +the prince Aziel--and the prince himself, whose presence is no longer +desired in Zimboe." Here he stopped, for he saw that Elissa was about +to betray her agitation, and whispered, "Be not foolish, for you are +watched; I have a letter for you. Lady," he continued in a louder voice, +"if it will please you to examine this precious image in the light, you +will no longer hesitate or think the price too high," and bowing low he +led the way behind the throne, whither Elissa followed him. + +Now they were standing beneath the window-place, which they faced, and +hidden from the gaze of the women by the gilded back of the high seat. + +"Here," he said, thrusting the parchment into her hand, "read quickly, +and return it to me." + +She snatched the roll from him, and as her eyes devoured the lines, her +face fell in, and her lips grew pale with anguish. + +"Be brave," murmured Metem, for his heart was stirred to pity; "it is +best for all that he should go." + +"For him, perchance it is best," she answered; as with an unwilling hand +she gave him back the letter which she dared not keep, "but what of me? +Oh! Metem, what of me?" + +"Lady," he said sadly, "I have no words to soothe your sorrow save that +the gods have willed it thus." + +"What gods?" she asked fiercely; "not those they bid me worship." She +shuddered, then went on, "Metem, be pitiful! Oh! if ever you have loved +a woman, or have been loved of one, for her sake be pitiful. I must see +him for the last time in farewell, and you can help me to it." + +"I! In the name of Baal, how?" + +"When do you have to leave the city, Metem?" + +"At moonrise on the night after next." + +"Then an hour before moonrise I will be in the temple, whither I can +come by the secret way that leads thither from this palace, and he can +enter there, for the little gate shall be left unbarred. Pray him to +meet me, then--for the last time." + +"Lady," he urged, "this is but madness, and I refuse. You must find +another messenger." + +"Madness or not it is my will, and beware how you thwart me in it, +Metem, for at least I am the Lady Baaltis, and have power to kill +without question. I swear to you that if I do not see him, you shall +never leave this city living." + +"A shrewd argument, and to the point," said Metem reflectively. "Well, +I have prepared myself a rock-hewn tomb at Tyre, and do not wish that my +graven sarcophagus of best Egyptian alabaster should be wasted, or sold +to some upstart for a song." + +"As assuredly it will be, if you do not obey me in this matter, Metem. +Remember--an hour before moonrise, at the foot of the pillar of El in +the inner court of the temple." + +As she spoke Metem started, for his quick ears had caught a sound. + +"O Queen divine," he said in a loud voice, as he led the way to the +front of the throne, "you are a hard bargainer! Were there many such, a +poor trader could not make a living. Ah! here is one who knows the +value of such priceless works of art," and he pointed to Mesa, who, with +folded arms and downcast eyes, stood within five paces of the throne, +as near, indeed, as custom allowed her to approach. "Lady," he went on +addressing you, "you will have heard the price I asked; say, now, is it +too much?" + +"I have heard nothing, sir. I stand here, waiting the return of my holy +mistress that I may remind her that the hour of sunset prayer is at +hand." + +"Would that I had so fair a mentor," exclaimed Metem, "for then I should +lose less time." But to himself he said, "She _has_ heard something, +though I think but little," then added aloud: "Well judge between us, +lady. Is fifty golden shekels too much for these images which have been +blessed and sprinkled with the blood of children by the high priest of +Baal at Sidon?" + +Mesa lifted her cold eyes and looked at them. "I think it too much," she +said, "but it is for the lady Baaltis to judge. Who am I that I should +open my lips in the presence of the lady Baaltis?" + +"I have appealed to the oracle, and it has spoken against me," said +Metem, wringing his hands in affected dismay. "Well, I abide the result. +Queen, you offered me forty shekels and for forty you shall take them, +for the honour of the holy gods, though in truth I lose ten shekels +by the bargain. Give your order to the treasurer, and he will pay me +to-morrow. So now farewell," and bowing till his forehead touched the +ground, he kissed the hem of her robe. + +Elissa bent her head in acknowledgment of the salute, and as he rose her +eyes met his. In them was written a warning which he could not fail to +understand, and although she did not speak, her lips seemed to shape the +word, "Remember." + +Ten minutes later Metem stood in the chamber of Aziel. + +"Has she seen the letter, and what did she answer?" asked the prince, +springing up almost as he passed the threshold. + +"In the name of all the gods of all the nations I pray you not to +speak so loud," answered Metem when he had closed the door and looked +suspiciously about him. "Oh! if ever I find myself safe in Tyre again, +I vow a gift, and no mean one, to each of them that has a temple there, +and they are many; for no single god is strong enough to bring me safe +out of this trouble. Have I seen the lady Elissa? Oh, yes, I have seen +her. And what think you that this innocent lamb, this undefiled dove of +yours, threatens me with now? Death! nothing less than death, if I will +not carry out her foolish wishes. More, she means the threat, and has +the strength to fulfil it, for to the lady Baaltis is given power over +the lives of men, or at the least, if she takes life none question the +authority of the goddess. Unless I do her will I am a dead man, and that +is the reward I get for mixing myself up in your mad love affairs." + +"Hold!" broke in Aziel, "and tell me, man, what is her will?" + +"Her will is--what do you think? To meet you in farewell an hour before +you leave this city. Well, as my throat is at stake, by Baal! it shall +be gratified if I can find the means, though I tell you that it is +madness and nothing else. But listen to the story----" and he repeated +all that had passed. "Now," he added, "are you ready to take the risk, +Prince?" + +"I should be a coward indeed if I did not," answered Aziel, "when she, a +woman, dares a heavier." + +"And I am a coward, that is why I take it, for otherwise I also must +dare a heavier. But what of Issachar? This meeting can scarcely be kept +a secret from him." + +Aziel thought awhile and said:-- + +"Go fetch him here." So Metem went, to return presently with the Levite, +to whom, without further ado, the prince told all, hiding nothing. + +Issachar listened in silence. When both Aziel and Metem had done +speaking, he said:-- + +"At least, I thank you, Prince, for being open with me; and now without +more words I pray you to abandon this rash plan, which can end only in +pain, and perhaps in death." + +"Abandon it not, Prince," interrupted Metem, "seeing that if you do it +will certainly end in my death, for the girl is mad, and will have her +way. Or if she does not, then I must pay the price." + +"Have no fear," answered Aziel smiling. "Issachar, this must be done +or----" + +"Or what, Prince?" + +"I will not leave the city. It is true that Sakon may thrust me from it, +but it shall be as a dead man. Nay, waste no words, since she desires +it; I must and will meet the Lady Elissa for the last time, not as lover +meets lover, but as those meet who part for ever in the world." + +"You say so, Prince; then have I your permission to accompany you?" + +"Yes, if you wish it, Issachar; but there is danger." + +"Danger! What care I for danger? The will of Heaven be done to me. So be +it, we will go together, but the end of it is not with us." + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE TRYST + +Two days had gone by, and at the appointed hour three figures, wrapped +in dark cloaks, might have been seen walking swiftly towards the little +entrance of the temple fortress. Although it was near to midnight the +city was still astir with men, for this very evening news had reached +it that Ithobal was advancing at the head of tens of thousands of the +warriors of the Tribes. More, it was rumoured freely that within the +next few days the siege of Zimboe would begin. Late as it was, the +council had been just summoned to the palace of Sakon to consider the +conduct of the defence, while in every street stood knots of men +engaged in anxious discussion, and from many a smithy rose the sound +of armourers at their work. Here marched parties of soldiers of various +races, there came long strings of mules laden with dried flesh and +grain; yonder a woman beat her breast, and wept loudly because her three +sons had been impressed by order of the council, two of them to serve as +archers and the third to carry blocks of stone for the fortifications. + +Passing unnoticed through all this crowd and tumult, Aziel, Issachar +and Metem entered a winding passage in the temple wall, and came to the +little gate. Metem tried it, and whispered:-- + +"She has kept her word; it is unlocked. Now enter to your love-tryst, +holy Issachar." + +"Do you not come with us?" asked the Levite. + +"No, I am too old for such adventures. Listen, I go to make ready. +Within an hour the mules with the prince's bodyguard will stand in the +archway near the small gate of the palace, for by now the baggage and +its escort await us a day's march from this accursed city. Will you meet +me there? No; I think it is best that I should come to your chambers to +fetch you, and, I pray you, let there be no delay, for it is dangerous +in many ways. When once the prince has done with his tender interview, +and wiped away his tears, there should be nothing to stay him, since the +farewell cup with Sakon has been already drunk. Enter now swiftly before +some prowling priest happens upon you, and pray that you may come out +as sound as you go in. Oh! what a sight! A prince of Israel and an aged +Levite of established reputation going to keep a tryst at midnight with +the high-priestess of Baaltis in the sanctuary of her god! Nay, answer +not; there is no time"--and he was gone. + +***** + +Having passed the gate, Aziel and Issachar crept down the winding +passages of stone, groping their path by such light as fell from the +narrow line of sky above them, till at length they reached the court of +the sanctuary. Here the place was as silent as death, for the noise from +the city without could not pierce its towering walls of massive granite. + +"It is the very pit of Tophet," murmured Issachar, peering through +the dense shadows, "the house of Beelzebub, where his presence dwells. +Whither now, Aziel?" + +The prince pointed to two objects that were visible in the starlight, +and answered:-- + +"Thither, at the foot of the pillar of El." + +"Ah! I remember," said Issachar, "where the accursed woman would have +offered sacrifice, and the priests struck me down because I prophesied +to them of the wrath to come, and that is now at hand. An ill-omened +spot, indeed, and an ill-omened tryst with the fiends for witnesses. +Well, lead on, and I pray you to be brief as may be, for this place +weighs down my soul, and I feel danger in it--danger to the body and the +spirit." + +So they went forward. "Be careful," whispered Aziel presently. "The pit +of sacrifice is at your feet." + +"Yes, yes," he answered, "we walk upon the edge of the pit, and, in +truth, I grow fearful, for at the threshold of such places the angel of +the Lord deserts us." + +"There is nothing to fear," said Aziel. But even as he spoke, although +he could not see it, a white face rose above the edge of the pit, like +that of some ghost struggling from the tomb, watched them a moment with +cold eyes, then disappeared again. + +Now they were near the greater pillar, and now from its shadow glided a +black-veiled shape. + +"Elissa?" murmured Aziel. + +"It is I," whispered a soft voice; "but who comes with you?" + +"I, Issachar," said the Levite, "who would not suffer that he of whom I +am given charge should seek such company alone. Now, priestess, say +your say with the prince yonder and let us be gone swiftly from this +blood-stained place." + +"You speak harsh words to me, Issachar," she said gently, "yet I am most +glad that you have come, for, believe me, I sought no lovers' meeting +with the prince Aziel. Listen, both of you: you know that they have +consecrated me high-priestess of Baaltis against my will. Now, I tell +you, Issachar, what I have already told the prince Aziel--that I am no +longer a worshipper of Baaltis. Yes, here in her very temple I renounce +her, even though she takes my life in vengeance. Oh! since they made me +priestess I have been forced to learn all her worship, which before I +never even guessed, and to see sights that would chill your blood to +hear of them. Now I tell you, prince Aziel and Issachar, that I will +bear no more. From El and Baaltis I turn to Him you worship, though, +alas! little time is left to me in which to plead for pardon." + +"Why is little time left?" broke in Aziel. + +"Because my death is very near me, Prince, for if I live, see what a +fate is mine. Either I must remain high-priestess of Baaltis and to +her day by day bow the knee, and month by month make sacrifice--of what +think you? Well, to be plain, of the blood of maids and children. Or, +perhaps, should their fears overcome their scruples, I shall be given by +the council as a peace-offering to Ithobal. + +"I say that I will bear neither of these burdens of blood or shame; they +are too heavy for me. Prince, so soon as you are gone I too shall leave +this city, not in the body, but in the spirit, searching for peace +or sleep. It was for this reason that I sought to speak with you in +farewell, since in my weakness I desired that you should learn the truth +of the cause and manner of my end. + +"Now you know all, and as for me there is no escape, farewell for ever, +prince Aziel, whom I have loved, and whom I can scarcely hope to meet +again, even beyond the grave." Then with a little despairing motion of +her hand she turned to go. + +"Stay," said Aziel hoarsely, "we cannot be parted thus; since by your +own act you can dare to leave the world, will you not dare to fly this +place with me?" + +"Perhaps, Prince," she answered with a little laugh, "but would you dare +to take me, and if so, would Issachar here suffer it? No, no; go your +own path in life, and leave me death--it is the easier way." + +"In this matter I am master and not Issachar," said Aziel, "though it be +true that should it please him, he can warn the priests of El. Listen, +Elissa: either you leave this city with me, or I stay in it with you. +You hear me, Issachar?" + +"I hear you," said the Levite, "but perchance before you throw more +sharp words at my head, you will suffer me to speak. Self-murder is a +crime, yet I honour this woman who would shed her own blood, rather than +the blood of the innocent in sacrifice to Baal, and who refuses to be +given in marriage to one she hates; who, moreover, has found strength +and grace to trample on her devil-worship, if so in truth she has. If +therefore she will come with us and we can escape with her, why, let her +come. Only swear to me, Aziel, that you will make no wife of her till +the king, your grandsire, has heard this tale and given judgment on it." + +"That I will swear for him," exclaimed Elissa; "is it not so, Aziel?" + +"As you will, lady," he answered. "Issachar, you have my word that until +then she shall be as my sister, and no more." + +"I hear and I believe you," said Issachar, adding: "And now, lady, we go +at once, so if you desire to accompany us, come." + +"I am ready," she replied, "and the hour is well chosen for I shall not +be missed till dawn." + +So they turned and left the temple. None stayed or hindered them, yet +although they reached the chambers of Aziel in safety, their hearts, +which should have been light, were still heavy with the presage of new +sorrow to come. + +Scarcely could they have been heavier, indeed, had they seen a +white-faced woman creep from the pit of death and follow them stealthily +till they had passed from the temple into the palace doors, then turn +and run at full speed towards the college of the priests of El. + +In the chamber of Aziel they found Metem. + +"I rejoice to see you back again in safety, since it is more than I +thought to do," he said, while they entered, adding, as the black-veiled +shape of Elissa followed them into the room, "but who is the third? Ah! +I see, the lady Elissa. Does the Baaltis accompany us upon our journey?" + +"Yes," answered Aziel shortly. + +"Then with her high Grace on the one side and the holy Issachar on the +other it should not lack for blessings. Surely that evil must be great +from which, separately or together, they are unable to defend us. But, +lady, if I may ask it, have you bid farewell to your most honoured +father?" + +"Torment me not," murmured Elissa. + +"Indeed, I did not wish to, though you may remember that not so long ago +you threatened to silence me for ever. Well, doubtless your departure +is too hurried for farewells, and, fortunately, foreseeing it, I have +provided spare mules. So my deeds are kinder than my words. I go to see +that all is prepared. Now eat before you start; presently I will return +for you," and he left the chamber. + +When he had gone they gathered round the table on which stood food, +but could touch little of it; for the hearts of all three of them +were filled with sad forebodings. Soon they heard a noise as of people +talking excitedly outside the palace gates. + +"It is Metem with the mules," said Aziel. + +"I hope so," answered Elissa. + +Again there was silence, which, after a while, was broken by a loud +knocking at the door. + +"Rise," said Aziel, "Metem comes for us." + +"No, no," cried Elissa, "it is Doom that knocks, not Metem." + +As the words passed her lips the door was burst open, and through it +poured a mob of armed priests, at the head of whom marched the Shadid. +By his side was his daughter Mesa, in whose pale face the eyes burned +like torches in a wind. + +"Did I not tell you so?" she said in a shrill voice, pointing at the +three. "Behold the Lady Baaltis and her lover, and with them that priest +of a false faith who called down curses upon our city." + +"You told us indeed, daughter," answered the Shadid; "pardon us if we +were loth to believe that such a thing could be." Then with a cry of +rage he added, "Take them." + +Now Aziel drew his sword, and sprang in front of Elissa to protect her, +but before he could strike a blow it was seized from behind, and he was +gripped by many hands, gagged, bound and blindfolded. Then like a man +in a dream he felt himself carried away through long passages, till +at length he reached an airless place, where the gag and bandages were +removed. + +"Where am I?" Aziel asked. + +"In the vaults of the temple," answered the priests as they left the +prison, barring its great door behind them. + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE SACRILEGE OF AZIEL + +How long he lay in his dungeon, lost in bitter thought and tormented by +fears for Elissa, Aziel could not tell, for no light came there to +mark the passage of the hours. In the tumult of his mind, one terrible +thought grew clear and ever clearer; he and Elissa had been taken +red-handed, and must pay the price of their sin against the religious +customs of the city. For the Baaltis to be found with any man who was +not her husband meant death to him and her, a doom from which there was +little chance of escape. + +Well, to his own fate he was almost indifferent, but for Elissa and +Issachar he mourned bitterly. Truly the Levite and Metem had been wise +when they cautioned him, for her sake and his own, to have nothing to do +with a priestess of Baal. But he had not listened; his heart would +not let him listen--and now, unless they were saved by a miracle--or +Metem--in the fulness of their youth and love, the lives of both of them +were forfeited. + +Worn out with sore fears and vain regrets Aziel fell at length into a +heavy sleep. He was awakened by the opening of the door of his dungeon, +and the entry of priests--grim, silent men who seized and blindfolded +him. Then they led him away up many stairs, and along paths so steep +that from time to time they paused to rest, till at length he knew, by +the sound of voices, that he had reached some place where people were +assembled. Here the bandage was removed from his eyes. He stepped +backwards, recoiling involuntarily at the glare of light that poured +upon him from the setting sun, whereon, uttering an exclamation, those +who stood near seized and held him. Presently he saw the reason. He was +standing on the brink of a precipice at the back of and dominating the +dim and shadow-clad city, while far beneath him lay a gloomy rift along +which ran the trade road to the coast. + +Here in this dizzy spot was a wide space of rock, walled in upon three +sides. The precipice formed the fourth side of its square, in which, +seated upon stones that seemed to have been set there in semi-circles to +serve as judgment chairs, were gathered the head priests and priestesses +of El and Baaltis, clad in their sacerdotal robes. To the right and left +of these stood knots of favoured spectators, among whom Aziel recognised +Metem and Sakon, while at his side, but separated from him by armed +priests, were Elissa herself, wrapped in a dark veil, and Issachar. +Lastly, in front of him, a fire flickered upon a little altar, and +behind the altar stood a shrine containing a symbolical effigy of +Baaltis fashioned of gold, ivory and wood to the shape of a woman with a +hundred breasts. + +Seeing all this, Aziel understood that they three had been brought here +for trial, and that the priests and priestesses before him were their +judges. Indeed, he remembered that the place had been pointed out to him +as one where those who had offended against the gods were carried for +judgment. Thence, if found guilty, such unfortunates were hurled down +the face of the precipice and left, a shapeless mass of broken bone, to +crumble on the roadway at its foot. + +After a long and solemn pause, at a sign from the Shadid, he who had +been the husband of the dead Baaltis, the veil was removed from Elissa. +At once she turned, looked at Aziel, and smiled sadly. + +"Do you know the fate that waits us?" the prince asked of Issachar in +Hebrew. + +"I know, and I am ready," answered the old Levite, "for since my soul is +safe I care little what these dogs may do to my body. But, oh! my son, +I weep for you, and cursed be the hour when first you saw that woman's +face." + +"Spare to reproach me in my misfortune," murmured Elissa; "have I not +enough to bear, knowing that I have brought death upon him I love? Oh! +curse me not, but pray that my sins may be forgiven me." + +"That I will do gladly, daughter," replied Issachar more gently, "the +more so that, although you seem to be the cause of them, these things +can have happened only by the will of Heaven. Therefore I was wrong to +revile you, and I ask your pardon." + +Before she could answer the Shadid commanded silence. At the same moment +the woman Mesa stepped from behind the effigy of the goddess on the +shrine. + +"Who are you and what do you here?" asked the Shadid, as though he did +not know her. + +"I am Mesa, the daughter of her who was the lady Baaltis," she answered, +"and my rank is that of Mother of the priestesses of Baaltis. I appear +to give true evidence against her, who is the anointed Baaltis, against +the Israelitish stranger named Aziel, and the priest of the Lord of the +Jews." + +"Lay your hand upon the altar and speak, but beware what you speak," +said the Shadid. + +Mesa bowed her head, took the oath of truth by touching the altar with +her fingers, and began:-- + +"From the time that she was appointed I have been suspicious of the lady +Baaltis." + +"Why were you suspicious?" asked the Shadid. + +The witness let her eyes wander towards Metem, then hesitated. Evidently +for some reason of her own she did not wish to implicate him. + +"I was suspicious," she answered, "because of certain words that came +from the lips of the Baaltis, when she had been thrown into the holy +trance before the fire of sacrifice. As is my accustomed part, I bent +over her to hear and to announce the message of the gods, but in place +of the hallowed words there issued babblings about this Hebrew stranger +and of a meeting to be held with him at one hour before moonrise by +the pillar of El in the courtyard of the temple. Thereafter for several +nights as was my duty I hid myself in the pit of offerings in the +courtyard and watched. Last night at an hour before the moonrise the +Lady Baaltis came disguised by the secret way and waited at the pillar, +where presently she was joined by the Jew Aziel and the Levite, who +spoke with her. + +"What they said I could not hear, because they were too far from me, but +at length they left the temple and I traced them to the chambers of the +Jew Aziel, in the palace of Sakon. Then, Shadid, I warned you, and the +priests and you accompanied me and took them. Now, as Mother of the +priestesses, I demand that justice be done upon these wicked ones, +according to the ancient custom, lest the curse of Baaltis should fall +upon this city." + +When she had finished her evidence, with a cold stare of triumphant hate +at her rival, Mesa stepped to one side. + +"You have heard," said the Shadid addressing his fellow-judges. "Do you +need further testimony? If so, it must be brief, for the sun sinks." + +"Nay," answered the spokesman, "for with you we took the three of them +together in the chamber of the prince Aziel. Set out the law of this +matter, O Judge, and let justice be done according to the strict letter +of the law--justice without fear or favour." + +"Hearken," said the Shadid. "Last night this woman Elissa, the daughter +of Sakon, being the lady Baaltis duly elected, met men secretly in +the courts of the temple and accompanied them, or one of them, to the +chamber of Aziel, a prince of Israel, the guest of Sakon. Whether or no +she was about to fly with him from the city which he should have left +last night, we cannot tell, and it is needless to inquire, at least she +was with him. This, however, is sure, that they did not sin in ignorance +of our law, since with my own mouth I warned them both that if the +lady Baaltis consorts with any man not her husband duly named by her +according to her right, she must die and her accomplice with her. +Therefore, Aziel the Israelite, we give you to death, dooming you +presently to be hurled from the edge of yonder precipice." + +"I am in your power," said the prince proudly, "and you can murder if +you will, because, forsooth, I have offended against some law of Baal, +but I tell you, priest, that there are kings in Jerusalem and Egypt who +will demand my blood at your hands. I have nothing more to say except to +beseech you to spare the life of the lady Elissa, since the fault of the +meeting was not hers, but mine." + +"Prince," answered the Shadid gravely, "we know your rank and we know +also that your blood will be required at our hands, but we who serve our +gods, whose vengeance is so swift and terrible, cannot betray their law +for the fear of any earthly kings. Yet, thus says this same law, it is +not needful that you should die since for you there is a way of escape +that leads to safety and great honour, and she who was the cause of your +sin is the mistress of its gate. Elissa, holder of the spirit of Baaltis +upon earth, if it be your pleasure to name this man husband before us +all, then as the spouse of Baaltis he goes free, for he whom the Baaltis +chooses cannot refuse her gift of love, but for so long as she shall +live must rule with her as Shadid of El. But if you name him not, then +as I have said, he must die, and now. Speak." + +"It seems that my choice is small," said Elissa with a faint smile. +"Praying you to pardon me for the deed, to save your life, prince Aziel, +according to the ancient custom and privilege of the Baaltis, I name you +consort and husband." + +Now Aziel was about to answer her when the Shadid broke in hurriedly, +"So be it," he said. "Lady, we hear your choice, and we accept it as we +must, but not yet, prince Aziel, can you take your wife and with her my +place and power. Your life is safe indeed, for since the Baaltis, being +unwed, names you as her mate, you have done no sin. Yet she has sinned +and doom awaits her, for against the law she has chosen as husband one +who worships a strange god, and of all crimes that is the greatest. +Therefore, either you must take incense and before us all make offering +to El and Baaltis upon yonder altar, thus renouncing your faith and +entering into ours, or she must die and you, your rank having passed +from you with her breath, will be expelled from the city." + +Now Aziel understood the trap that had been laid for him, and saw in it +the handiwork of Sakon and Metem. Elissa having flagrantly violated the +religious law, and he, being the cause of her crime, even the authority +of the governor of the city could not prevent his daughter and his +guest from being put upon their trial. Therefore, they had arranged this +farce, for so it would seem to them, whereby both the offenders might +escape the legal consequences of their offence, trusting, doubtless, to +accident and the future to unravel this web of forced marriage, and to +free Aziel from a priestly rank which he had not sought. It was only +necessary that Elissa should formally choose him as her husband, and +that Aziel should go through rite of throwing a few grains of incense +upon an altar, and, the law satisfied, they would be both free and safe. +What Metem, and those who worked with him, had forgotten was, that this +offering of incense to Baal would be the most deadly of crimes in the +eyes of any faithful Jew--one, indeed, which, were he alone concerned, +he would die rather than commit. + +When the prince heard this decree, and the full terror of the choice +came home to his mind, his blood turned cold, and for a while his senses +were bewildered. There was no escape for him; either he must abjure his +faith at the price of his own soul, or, because of it, the woman whom +he loved, now, before his eyes, must suffer a most horrible and sudden +death. It was hideous to think of, and yet how could he do this sin in +the face of heaven and of these ministers of Satan? + +The moment was at hand; a priest held out to him a bowl of incense, a +golden bowl, he noticed idly, with handles of green stone fashioned in +the likeness of Baaltis, whose servant he was asked to declare himself. +He, Aziel of the royal house of Israel, a servant of Baal and Baaltis, +nay, a high-priest of their worship! It was monstrous, it might not be. +But Elissa? Well, she must die--if this was not a farce, and in truth +they meant to murder her; her life could not be bought at such a price. + +"I cannot do it," he gasped with dry lips, thrusting aside the bowl. + +Now all looked astonished, for his refusal had not been foreseen. +There was a pause, and once more the woman Mesa, in her character of +prosecutrix on behalf of the outraged gods, appeared before the altar, +and said in her cold voice: + +"The Jew whom the lady Baaltis has chosen as husband will not do homage +to her gods. Therefore, as Mother of the priestesses and Advocate of +Baaltis, I demand that Elissa, daughter of Sakon, be put to death, and +the throne of Baaltis be purged of one who has defiled it, lest the +swift and terrible vengeance of the goddess should fall upon this city." + +The Shadid motioned to her to be silent, and addressed Aziel:-- + +"We pray you to think a while," he said, "before you give one to death +whose only sin is that, being the high-priestess of our worship, she has +named an unbeliever to fill the throne of El and be her husband. Out of +pity for her fate we give you time to think." + +Now Sakon, taking advantage of the pause, rushed forward, and throwing +his arms about Aziel's knees, implored him in heart-breaking accents +to preserve his only child from so horrible a doom. He said that did he +refuse to save her because of his religious scruples, he would be a dog +and a coward, and the scorn of all honest men for ever. It was for love +of him that she had broken the priestly law, to violate which was death, +and although he had been warned of her danger, yet in his wickedness and +folly he had brought her to this pass. Would he then desert her now? + +But Issachar thrust him aside, and broke in with fiery words:-- + +"Hearken not to this man, Aziel," he said, "who strives to work upon +your weakness to the ruin of your soul. What! To save the life of one +woman, whose fair face has brought so much trouble upon us all, would +you deny your Lord and become the thrall of Baal and Ashtoreth? Let her +die since die she must, and keep your own heart pure, for be assured, +should you do otherwise, Jehovah, whom you renounce, will swiftly be +avenged on you and her. At the beginning I warned you, and you would not +listen. Now, Aziel, I warn you again, and woe! woe! woe! to you should +you shut your ears to my message." Then lifting his hands towards the +skies, he began to pray aloud that Aziel might be constant in his trial. + +Meanwhile, Metem, who had drawn near, spoke in a low voice:-- + +"Prince," he said, "I am not chicken-hearted, and there are so many +young women in the world that one more or less can scarcely matter; +still, although she threatened to murder me three days ago, I cannot +bear to see this one come to so dreadful a death. Prince, do not heed +the howlings of that old fanatic, but remember that after all you are +the cause of this lady's plight, and play the part of a man. Can you for +the sake of your own scruples, however worthy, or of your own soul even, +however valuable to yourself, doom the fair body of a woman who risked +all for you to such an end as that?" And shuddering he nodded towards +the gloomy precipice. + +"Is there no other way?" Aziel asked him. + +"None, I swear it. They did not wish to kill her, except that wild-cat +Mesa who seeks her place, but having put her on her public trial, if you +persist--they must. + +"This is one of the few laws which cannot be broken for favour or for +gold, since the people, who are already half-mad with fear of Ithobal, +believe that to break it would bring the curses of heaven upon their +city. Perhaps we might have found some other plan, but none of us even +dreamed that you would refuse so small a thing for the sake of a woman +whom you swore you loved." + +"A small thing!" broke in Aziel. + +"Yes, Prince, a very small thing. Remember, this offering of incense is +but a form to which you are forced against your will--you can do penance +for it afterwards when I have arranged for both of you to escape the +city. If your God can be angry with you for burning a pinch of dust +to save a woman, who at the least has dared much for you, then give me +Baal, for he is less cruel." + +Now Aziel looked towards him who held the bowl of incense. But Elissa +who all this while had stood silent, stepped forward and spoke:-- + +"Prince Aziel," she said in a calm and quiet voice, "I named you husband +to save your life, but with all my strength I pray of you, do not this +thing to save mine, which is of little value and perhaps best ended. +Remember, prince Aziel, that being what you are, a Jew, this act of +offering, however small it seems, is yet the greatest of sins, and one +with which you should not dare to stain your soul for the sake of a +woman, who has chanced to love you to your sorrow. Be guided, therefore, +by the true wisdom of Issachar and by my humble prayer. Make an end of +your doubts and let me die, knowing that we do but part a while, since +in the Gate of Death I shall wait for you, prince Aziel." + +Before Aziel could answer, the Shadid, either because his patience was +outworn, or because he wished to put him to a sharper trial, uttered a +command. "Be it done to her as she desires." + +Thereon four priests seized Elissa by the wrists and ankles. Carrying +her to the edge of the precipice, they thrust her back till she hung +over it, her long hair streaming downwards, and the red light of the +sunset shining upon her upturned ghastly face. Then they paused, waiting +for the signal to let her go. The Shadid raised his wand and said:-- + +"Is it your pleasure that this woman should die or live, prince Aziel? +Decide swiftly, for my arm is weak, and when the wand falls opportunity +for choice will have passed from you." + +Now all eyes were fixed upon the wand, and the intense silence was only +broken by Sakon's cry of despair. Metem wrung his hands in grief; even +Issachar veiled his eyes with his robe, to shut out the sight of dread, +and the priest, who bore the bowl of incense, thrust it towards Aziel +imploringly. + +For some seconds, three perhaps, though to him they seemed an age, the +heart of Aziel was racked and torn in this terrific contest. Then he +glanced at the agonized face of the doomed woman, and just as the wand +began to bend, his human love and pity conquered. + +"May He Whom I blaspheme forgive me," he murmured, adding aloud, "I will +do sacrifice." Taking the incense in his hand now he cast it into the +flames upon the altar, repeating mechanically after the Shadid: "By this +sacrifice and homage, body and soul I give myself to you and worship +you, El and Baaltis, the only true gods." + +***** + +The echo of Aziel's voice died away, and the fumes of the incense rose +in a straight dense column upon that quiet air. To his tormented mind, +it seemed as though its smoke took the form of an avenging angel, +holding in the hand a sword of flame, wherewith to drive away his +perjured soul from Heaven, as our first forefathers were driven from +the shining gates of paradise. Yes, and they were not human, those +spectators who, in the intense glow of the sunset, stood in their still +ranks and stared at him with wide and eager eyes. Surely they were +fiends red with the blood of men, fiends gathered from the Pit to bear +everlasting witness to the unpardonable sin of his apostasy. + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE MARTYRDOM OF ISSACHAR + +It was done, and from the mouths of the circle of priests and +priestesses leapt a shrill and sudden cry of triumph. For had not their +gods conquered? Had not this high-placed servant of the hated Lord of +Israel been caught by the bait of a priestess of Baaltis, and seduced by +her distress to deny and reject Him? Was not evil once more triumphant, +and must not they, its ministers, rejoice? + +Again the Shadid raised his wand and they were silent. + +"Brother you have, indeed, done well and wisely," he said, addressing +Aziel. "Now take to wife the divine lady who has chosen you," and he +pointed to Elissa, who lay prostrated on the rock. "Yes, take her and +be happy in her love, sitting in my seat, which henceforth is yours, as +ruler of the priests of El and master of their mysteries, forgetting the +follies of your former faith, and spitting on its altars. Hail to you, +Shadid, Lord of the Baaltis and chosen of El! Take him, you priests, +and with him the divine lady, his wife, to bear them in triumph to their +high house." + +"What of the Levite?" asked the woman Mesa. + +The Shadid glanced at Issachar, who all this while had stood like one +stricken to the soul, woe stamped upon his face, and a stare of horror +in his eyes. "Jew," he said, "I had forgotten you, but you also are on +your trial, who dared against the law to hold secret meeting with the +lady Baaltis. For this sin the punishment is death, nor, as I think, +would any woman name you husband to save you. Still in this hour of joy +we will be merciful; therefore do as your master did, cast incense on +the altar, uttering the appointed words, and go your way." + +"Before I make my offering on yonder altar according to your command, +I have indeed some words to say, O priest of El," answered Issachar +quietly, but in a voice that chilled the blood of those who listened. + +"First, I address myself to you, Aziel, and to you, woman," and he +pointed to Elissa, who had risen, and leaned, trembling, upon her +father. "My dream is fulfilled. Aziel, you have sinned indeed, and must +bear the appointed punishment of your sin. Yet hear a message of mercy +spoken through my lips: Because you have sinned through love and pity, +your offence is not unto death. Still shall you sorrow for it all your +life's days, and in desolation of heart and bitterness of soul shall +creep back to the feet of Him you have forsworn. + +"Woman, your spirit is noble and your feet are set in the way of +righteousness, yet through you has this offence come. Therefore your +love shall bear no fruit, nor shall the blasphemy of your beloved save +your flesh from doom. Upon this earth there is no hope for you, daughter +of Sakon; set your eyes beyond it, for there alone is hope. + +"Yonder she stands who swore our lives away?" and he fixed his burning +gaze on Mesa. "Priestess, you plotted this that you might succeed to the +throne of Baaltis; now hear your fate: You shall live to sweep the +huts and bear the babes of savages. You, priest," and he pointed to the +Shadid, "I read your heart; you design to murder this apostate whom you +greet as your successor that you may usurp his place. I show you yours: +it lies in the bellies of the jackals of the desert. + +"For you priests and priestesses of El and Baaltis, think of my words, +and raise the loud song of triumph to your gods when you yourselves are +their offering, and the red flame of the fire burns you up, all of you +save your sins, which are immortal. O citizens of an accursed city, look +on the hill-top yonder and tell me, what do you see in the light of the +dying day? A sheen of spears, is it not? They draw near to your hearts, +you whose day is done indeed, citizens of an accursed city whereof the +very name shall be forgotten, and the naked towers shall become but a +source of wonder to men unborn. + +"And now, O priest, having said my say, as you bid me, I make my +offering upon your altar." + +Then, while all stood fearful and amazed, Issachar the Levite sprang +forward, and seizing the ancient image of Baaltis, he spat upon it and +dashed the priceless consecrated thing down upon the altar, where it +broke into fragments, and was burned with the fire. + +"My offering is made," he said; "may He whom I serve accept it. Now +after the offering comes the sacrifice; son Aziel, fare you well." + +***** + +For a few moments a silence of horror and dismay fell upon the assembly +as they gazed at the shattered and burning fragments of their holy +image. Then moved by a common impulse, with curses and yells of +fury, the priests and priestesses sprang from their seats and hurled +themselves upon Issachar, who stood awaiting them with folded arms. They +smote him with their ivory rods, they rent and tore him with their hands +and teeth, worrying him as dogs worry a fox of the hills, till at length +the life was beaten and trampled out of him and he lay dead. + +Thus terribly, but yet by such a death of martyrdom as he would have +chosen, perished Issachar the Levite. + +Unarmed though he was, Aziel had sprung to his aid, but Metem and +Sakon, knowing that he would but bring about his own destruction, flung +themselves upon him and held him back. Whilst he was still struggling +with them the end came, and Issachar grew still for ever. Then, as the +sun sank and the darkness fell, Aziel's strength left him, and presently +he slipped to the ground senseless. + +***** + +Thereafter it seemed to Aziel that he was plunged in an endless and +dreadful dream, and that through its turmoil and shifting visions, he +could see continually the dreadful death of Issachar, and hear his stern +accents prophesying woe to him who renounces the God of his forefathers +to bow the knee to Baal. + +At length he awoke from that horror-haunted sleep to find himself lying +in a strange chamber. It was night, and lamps burned in the chamber, +and by their light he saw a man whose face he knew mixing a draught in +a glass phial. So weak was he that at first he could not remember the +man's name, then by slow degrees it came to him. + +"Metem," he said, "where am I?" + +The Phoenician looked up from his task, smiled, and answered:-- + +"Where you should be, Prince, in your own house, the palace of the +Shadid. But you must not speak, for you have been ill; drink this and +sleep." + +Aziel swallowed the draught and was instantly overcome by slumber. When +he awoke the sun was shining brightly through the window place, and its +rays fell upon the shrewd, kindly face of Metem, who, seated on a stool, +watched him, his chin resting in his hand. + +"Tell me all that has befallen, friend," said Aziel presently, +"since----" and he shuddered. + +"Since you were married after a new fashion and that bigoted but most +honourable fool, Issachar, went to his reward. Well, I will when you +have eaten," answered Metem as he gave him food. "First," he said, after +a while, "you have lain here for three days raving in a fever, nursed +by myself and visited by your wife the lady Baaltis, whenever she could +escape from her religious duties----" + +"Elissa! Has she been here?" asked Aziel. + +"Calm yourself, Prince, certainly she has, and, what is more, she +will be back soon. Secondly: Ithobal has been as good as his word, +and invests the city with a vast army, cutting off all supplies and +possibilities of escape. It is believed that he will try an assault +within the next week, which many think may be successful. Thirdly: to +avoid this risk it is rumoured that the priests and priestesses, at the +instance of the council, are discussing the wisdom of giving over to +the king the person of the daughter of Sakon. This, it is said, could be +done on the plea that her election as the lady Baaltis was brought about +with bribery, and is, therefore, void, as she was not chosen by the pure +and unassisted will of the goddess." + +"But," said Aziel, "she is my wife according to their religious law; how +then can she be given in marriage to another?" + +"Nay, Prince, if she is not the lady Baaltis your husbandship falls to +the ground with the rest, for you are not the Shadid, an office with +which perchance you can dispense. But all this priestly juggling means +little, the truth being that the city in its terror is ready to throw +her--or for the matter of that, Baaltis herself if they could lay hands +on her--as a sop to Ithobal, hoping thereby to appease his rage. The +lady Elissa knows her danger--but here she comes to speak for herself." + +As he spoke the curtains at the end of the chamber were drawn, and +through them came Elissa, clad in her splendid robes of office and +wearing upon her brow the golden crescent of the moon. + +"How goes it with the prince, Metem?" she asked in her soft voice, +glancing anxiously towards the couch which was half-hidden in the shadow +of the wall. + +"Look for yourself, lady," answered the Phoenician bowing before her. + +"Elissa, Elissa!" cried Aziel, raising himself and opening his arms. + +She saw and heard, then, with a low cry, she ran swiftly to him and was +wrapped in his embrace. Thus they stayed a while, murmuring words of +love and greeting. + +"Is it your pleasure that I should leave you?" asked Metem presently. +"No? Then, Prince, I would have you remember that you are still very +weak and should not give way to violent emotions." + +"Listen, Aziel," said Elissa, untwining his arms from about her neck, +"there is no time for tenderness; moreover, you should show none to one +who, in name at least, is still the high-priestess of Baaltis, though +in truth she worships her no longer. It was noble of you indeed to offer +incense upon the altar of El that my life might be saved. But when I +prayed you not, I spoke from the heart, and bitterly, bitterly do I +grieve that for my sake you should have stained your hands with such +a sin. Moreover, it will avail nothing, for the doom of the prophet +Issachar lies upon us, and I cannot escape from death, neither can you +escape remorse, and as I think, that worst of all desires--the desire +for the dead." + +"Can we not still flee the city?" asked Aziel. + +"Metem will tell you that it is impossible; day and night I am watched +and guarded, yes, Mesa dogs me from door to door. Also Ithobal holds +Zimboe so firmly in his net that no sparrow could fly out of it and he +not know. And there is worse to tell: Beloved, they purpose to give me +up as a peace-offering to Ithobal. Yes, even my father is of the plot, +for in his despair he thinks it his duty to sacrifice his daughter to +save the town, if, indeed, that will suffice to save us." + +"But you are the Baaltis and inviolate." + +"In such a time the goddess herself would not be held inviolate in +Zimboe, much less her priestess, Aziel. I have discovered that this very +night they have laid their plans to seize me. Mesa and others have been +chosen for the deed, and afterwards they think to offer me as a bribe to +Ithobal, who will take no other price." + +Aziel groaned aloud: "It were better that we should die," he said. + +She nodded and answered: "It were better that _I_ should die. But hear +me, for I also have a plan, and there is still hope, though very little. +Perhaps, as you drew near to Zimboe by the coast road, you may have +noted three miles or more from the gates of the city, and almost +overhanging the path on which you travelled, a shoulder of the mountain +where the rock is cut away, showing the narrow entrance to a cave closed +with a gate of bronze?" + +"I saw it," answered Aziel, "and was told that there was the most sacred +burying-place of the city." + +"It is the tomb of the high-priestesses of Baaltis," went on Elissa, +"and this day at sunset I must visit it to lay an offering upon the +shrine of her who was the Baaltis before me, entering alone, and closing +the gate, for it is not lawful that any one should pass in there with +me. Now, the plan is to lay hands on me as I go back from the tomb +to the palace--but I shall not go back. Aziel, I shall stay in the +tomb--nay, do not fear--not dead. I have hidden food and water there, +enough for many days, and there with the departed I shall live--till I +am of their number." + +"But if so, how can it help you, Elissa, for they will break in the +gates of the place, and drag you away?" + +"Then, Aziel, they will drag away a corpse, and that they will scarcely +care to present to Ithobal. See, I have hidden poison in my breast, and +here at my girdle hangs a dagger; are not the two of them enough to make +an end of one frail life? Should they dare to touch me, I shall tell +them through the bars that most certainly I shall drink the bane, or use +the knife; and when they know it, they will leave me unharmed, hoping to +starve me out, or trusting to chance to snare me living." + +"You are bold," murmured Aziel in admiration, "but self-murder is a +sin." + +"It is a sin that I will dare, beloved, as in past days I would have +dared it for less cause, rather than be given alive into the hands of +Ithobal; for to whoever else I may be false, to you through life and +death I will be true." + +Now Aziel groaned in his doubt and bitterness of heart; then turning to +Metem, he asked:-- + +"Have you anything to say, Metem?" + +"Yes, Prince, two things," answered the Phoenician. "First, that the lady +Elissa is rash, indeed, to speak so openly before me who might carry her +words to the council or the priests." + +"Nay, Metem, I am not rash, for I know that, although you love money, +you will not betray me." + +"You are right, lady, I shall not, for money would be of little service +to me in a city that is about to be taken by storm. Also I hate Ithobal, +who threatened my life--as you did also, by the way--and will do my best +to keep you from his clutches. Now for my second point: it is that I can +see little use in all this because Ithobal, being defrauded of you, will +attack, and then----" + +"And then he may be beaten, Metem, for the citizens will at any rate +fight for their lives, and the Prince Aziel here, who is a general +skilled in war, will fight also if he has recovered strength----" + +"Do not fear, Elissa; give me two days, and I will fight to the death," +said Aziel. + +"At the least," she went on, "this scheme gives us breathing time, and +who knows but that fortune will turn. Or if it does not, since it is +impossible for me to escape from the city, I have no better." + +"No more have I," said Metem, "for at length the oldest fox comes to his +last double. I could escape from this city, or the prince might escape, +or the lady Elissa even might possibly escape disguised, but I am sure +that all three of us could not escape, seeing that within the walls we +are watched and without them the armies of Ithobal await us. Oh! prince +Aziel, I should have done well to go, as I might have gone when you and +Issachar were taken after that mad meeting in the temple, from which I +never looked for anything but ill; but I grow foolish in my old age, and +thought that I should like to see the last of you. Well, so far we are +all alive, except Issachar, who, although bigoted, was still the most +worthy of us, but how long we shall remain alive I cannot say. + +"Now our best chance is to defeat Ithobal if we can, and afterwards in +the confusion to fly from Zimboe and join our servants, to whom I have +sent word to await us in a secret place beyond the first range of hills. +If we cannot--why then we must go a little sooner than we expected to +find out who it is that really shapes the destinies of men, and whether +or no the sun and moon are the chariots of El and Baaltis. But, Prince, +you turn pale." + +"It is nothing," said Aziel, "bring me some water, the fever still burns +in me." + +Metem went to seek for water, while Elissa knelt by the couch and +pressed her lover's hand. + +"I dare stay no longer," she whispered, "and Aziel, I know not how or +when we shall meet again, but my heart is heavy, for, alas! I think that +doom draws near me. I have brought much sorrow upon you, Aziel, and yet +more upon myself, and I have given you nothing, except that most common +of all things, a woman's love." + +"That most perfect of all things," he answered, "which I am glad to have +lived to win." + +"Yes, but not at the price that you have paid for it. I know well what +it must have cost you to cast that incense on the flame, and I pray to +your God, who has become my God, to visit the sin of it on my head and +to leave yours unharmed. Aziel, Aziel! woman or spirit, while I have +life and memory, I am yours, and yours only; clean-handed I leave +you, and if we may meet again in this or in any other world, clean and +faithful I shall come to you again. Glad am I to have lived, because in +my life I have known you and you have sworn you love me. Glad shall I be +to live again if again I may know you and hear that oath--if not, it is +sleep I seek; for life without you to me would be a hell. You grow weak, +and I must go. Farewell, and living or dead, forget me not; swear that +you will not forget me." + +"I swear it," he answered faintly; "and Heaven grant that I may die for +you, not you for me." + +"That is no prayer of mine," she whispered; and, bending, kissed him on +the brow, for he was too weak to lift his lips to hers. + +Then she was gone. + + + +CHAPTER XV + +ELISSA TAKES SANCTUARY + +Two more hours had passed, and in the evening light a procession of +priestesses might be seen advancing slowly towards the holy tomb along +a narrow road of rock cut in the mountain face. In front of this +procession, wearing a black veil over her broidered robes, walked Elissa +with downcast eyes and hair unbound in token of grief, while behind +her came Mesa and other priestesses bearing in bowls of alabaster the +offerings to the dead, food and wine, and lamps of oil, and vases filled +with perfumes. Behind these again marched the mourners, women who sang +a funeral dirge and from time to time broke into a wail of simulated +grief. Nor, indeed, was their woe as hollow as might be thought, since +from that mountain path they could see the outposts of the army of +Ithobal upon the plain, and note with a shudder of fear the spear-heads +of his countless thousands shining in the gorges of the opposing +heights. It was not for the dead Baaltis that they mourned this day, but +for the fate which overshadowed them and their city of gold. + +"May the curse of all the gods fall on her," muttered one of the +priestesses as she toiled forward beneath her load of offerings; +"because she is beautiful and pettish, we must be put to the spear, or +become the wives of savages," and she pointed with her chin to Elissa, +who walked in front, lost in her own thoughts. + +"Have patience," answered Mesa at her side, "you know the plan--to-night +that proud girl and false priestess shall sleep in the camp of Ithobal." + +"Will he be satisfied with that," asked the woman, "and leave the city +in peace?" + +"They say so," answered Mesa with a laugh, "though it is strange that +a king should exchange spoil and glory for one round-eyed, thin-limbed +girl who loves his rival. Well, let us thank the gods that made men +foolish, and gave us women wit to profit by their folly. If he wants +her, let him take her, for few will be poorer by her loss." + +"You at least will be richer," said the other woman, "and by the crown +of Baaltis. Well, I do not grudge it you, and as for the daughter of +Sakon, she shall be Ithobal's if I take her to him limb by limb." + +"Nay, sister, that is not the bargain; remember she must be delivered to +him without hurt or blemish; otherwise we shall do sacrilege in vain. Be +silent, here is the cave." + +Reaching the platform in front of the tomb, the procession of mourners +ranged themselves about it in a semi-circle. They stood with their backs +to the edge of a cliff that rose sheer for sixty feet or more from the +plain beneath, across which, but at a little distance from the foot +of the precipice ran the road followed by the caravans of merchants +in their journeys to and from the coast. Then, a hymn having been sung +invoking the blessing of the gods on the dead priestess, Elissa, as the +Baaltis, unlocked the gates of bronze with a golden key that hung at her +girdle, and the bearers of the bowls of offerings pushed them into the +mouth of the tomb, whose threshold they were not allowed to pass. Next, +with bowed heads and hands crossed upon her breast, Elissa entered the +tomb, and locking the bronze gate behind her, took up two of the bowls +and vanished with them into its gloomy depths. + +"Why did she lock the gates?" asked a priestess of Mesa. "It is not +customary." + +"Doubtless because it was her pleasure to do so," answered Mesa sharply, +though she also wondered why Elissa had locked the gate. + +When an hour was gone by and Elissa had not returned, her wonder turned +to fear and doubt. + +"Call to the lady Baaltis," she said, "for her prayers are long, and I +fear lest she should have come to harm." + +So they called, setting heir lips against the bars of the gate till +presently, Elissa, holding a lamp in her hand, came and stood before +them. + +"Why do you disturb me in the sanctuary?" she asked. + +"Lady, because they set the night watch on the walls," answered Mesa, +"and it is time to return to the temple." + +"Return then," said Elissa, "and leave me in peace. What, you cannot, +Mesa? Nay, and shall I tell you why? Because you had plotted to deliver +me this night to those who should lead me as a peace-offering to +Ithobal, and when you come to them empty-handed they will greet you with +harsh words. Nay, do not trouble to deny it, Mesa. I also have my spies, +and know all the plan; and, therefore, I have taken sanctuary in this +holy place." + +Now Mesa pressed her thin lips together and answered:-- + +"Those who dare to lay hands upon the person of the living Baaltis will +not shrink from seeking her in the company of her dead sisters." + +"I know it, Mesa; but the gates are barred, and here I have food and +drink in plenty." + +"Gates, however strong, can be broken," answered the priestess, "so, +lady, do not wait till you are dragged hence like some discovered +slave." + +"Ay," replied Elissa, with a little laugh, "but what if rather than be +thus dishonoured, I should choose to break another gate, that of my own +life? Look, traitress, here is poison and here is bronze, and I swear to +you that should any lay a hand upon me, by one or other of them I will +die before their eyes. Then, if you will, bear these bones to Ithobal +and take his thanks for them. Now, begone, and give this message to +my father and to all those who have plotted with him, that since they +cannot bribe Ithobal with my beauty, they will do well to be men, and to +fight him with their swords." + +Then she turned and left them, vanishing into the darkness of the tomb. + +Great indeed was the dismay of the councillors of Zimboe and of the +priests who had plotted with them when, an hour later, Mesa came, not to +deliver Elissa into their hands, but to repeat to them her threats and +message. In vain did they appeal to Sakon, who only shook his head and +answered:-- + +"Of this I am sure, that what my daughter has threatened that she will +certainly do if you force her to the choice. But if you will not believe +me, go ask her and satisfy yourselves. I know well what she will answer +you, and I hold that this is a judgment upon us, who first made her +Baaltis against her will, then threatened her with death because of +the prince Aziel, and now would do sacrilege to her sacred office and +violence to herself by tearing her from her consecrated throne, breaking +her bond of marriage and delivering her to Ithobal." + +So the leaders of the councillors visited the holy tomb and reasoned +with Elissa through the bars. But they got no comfort from her, for she +spoke to them with the phial of poison in her bosom and the naked dagger +in her hand, telling them what she had told Mesa--that they had best +give up their plottings and fight Ithobal like men, seeing that even if +she surrendered herself to him, when he grew weary of her the war must +come at last. + +"For a hundred years," she added, "this storm has gathered, and now it +must burst. When it has rolled away it will be known who is master of +the land--the ancient city of Zimboe, or Ithobal king of the Tribes." + +So they went back as they had come, and next day at the dawn, with a +bold face but heavy hearts, received the messengers of king Ithobal, and +told them their tale. The messengers heard and laughed. + +"We are glad," they answered, "since we, who are not in love with the +daughter of Sakon, desire war and not peace, holding as we do that +the time has come when you upstart white men--you outlanders--who have +usurped our country to suck away its wealth should be set beneath our +heel. Nor do we think that the task will be difficult for surely we have +little to fear from a city of low money seekers whose councillors cannot +even conquer the will of a single maid." + +Then in their despair the elders offered other girls to Ithobal in +marriage, as many as he would, and with them a great bribe in money. But +the envoys took their leave, saying that nothing would avail since they +preferred spear-thrusts to gold, for which they had little use, and +Ithobal, their king, had fixed his fancy on one woman alone. + +So with a heavy and foreboding heart, the city of Zimboe prepared itself +to resist attack, for as they had guessed, when he learned all, the rage +of Ithobal was great. Nor would he listen to any terms that they could +offer save one which they had no power to grant--that Elissa should be +delivered unharmed into his hands. Councils of war were held, and to +these, so soon as he was sufficiently recovered from his sickness, +the prince Aziel was bidden, for he was known to be a skilled captain; +therefore, though he had been the cause of much of their trouble, they +sought his aid. Also, should the struggle be prolonged, they hoped +through him to win Israel, and perhaps Egypt, to their cause. + +Aziel's counsel was that they should sally out against the army of +Ithobal by night, since he expected to attack and not to be attacked, +but to that advice they would not listen, for they trusted to their +walls. Indeed, in this Metem supported them, and when the prince argued +with him, he answered:-- + +"Your tactics would be good enough, Prince, if you had at your back the +lions of Judah, or the wild Arab horsemen of the desert. But here you +must deal with men of my own breed, and we Phoenicians are traders, not +fighting men. Like rats, we fight only when there is no other chance for +our lives; nor do we strike the first blow. It is true that there are +some good soldiers in the city, but they are foreign mercenaries; and +as for the rest, half-breeds and freed slaves, they belong as much to +Ithobal as to Sakon, and are not to be trusted. No, no; let us stay +behind our walls, for they at least were built when men were honest and +will not betray us." + +Now in Zimboe were three lines of defence; first, that of a single wall +built about the huts of the slaves upon the plain, then that of a double +wall of stone with a ditch between thrown round the Phoenician city, and +lastly, the great fortress-temple and the rocky heights above. These, +guarded as they were by many strongholds within whose circle the cattle +were herded, as it was thought, could only be taken with the sword of +hunger. + + + +At last the storm burst, for on the fifth morning after Elissa had +barred herself within the tomb, Ithobal attacked the native town. +Uttering their wild battle-cries, tens of thousands of his savage +warriors, armed with great spears and shields of ox-hide, and wearing +crests of plumes upon their heads, charged down upon the outer wall. +Twice they were driven back, but the work was in bad repair and too long +to defend, so that at the third rush they flowed over it like lines of +marching ants, driving its defenders before them to the inner gates. +In this battle some were killed, but the most of the slaves threw down +their arms and went over to Ithobal, who spared them, together with +their wives and children. + +Through all the night that followed, the generals of Zimboe made ready +for the onslaught which must come. Everywhere within the circuit of the +inner wall troops were stationed, while the double southern gateway, +where prince Aziel was the captain in command, was built up with loose +blocks of stone. + +A while before the dawn, just as the eastern sky grew grey, Aziel, +watching from his post above the gate of the wall, heard the fierce +war-song of the Tribes swell suddenly from fifty thousand throats and +the measured tramp of their innumerable feet. Then the day broke, and he +saw them advancing in three armies towards the three points chosen for +attack, the largest of the armies, headed by Ithobal the king, directing +its march upon the walled gate of which he was in command. + +It was a wondrous and a fearful sight, that of these hordes of plumed +warriors, their broad spears flashing in the sunrise, and their fierce +faces alight with hereditary hate and the lust of slaughter. Never had +Aziel seen such a spectacle, nor could he look upon it without dreading +the issue of the war, for if they were savages, these foes were brave as +the lions of their own plains, and had sworn by the head of their king +to drag down the sheltering walls of Zimboe with their naked hands, or +die to the last man. + +Turning his head with a sigh of doubt, Aziel found Metem standing at his +side. + +"Have you seen her?" he asked eagerly. + +"No, Prince. How could I see her at night when she sits in a tomb like a +fox in his burrow? But I have heard her." + +"What did she say? Quick man, tell me." + +"But little, Prince, for the tomb is watched and I dared not stay there +long. She sent you her greetings and would have you know that her heart +will be with you in the battle, and her prayers beseech the throne of +Heaven for your safety. Also she said that she is well, though it is +lonesome there in the grave among the bodies of the dead priestesses +of Baaltis whose spirits, as she vows, haunt her dreams, reviling her +because she desecrates their sepulchre and has renounced their god." + +"Lonesome, indeed," said Aziel with a shudder; "but tell me, Metem, had +she no other word?" + +"Yes, Prince, but not of good omen, for now as always she is sure that +her doom is at hand, and that you two will meet no more. Still she +bade me tell you that all your life long her spirit shall companion you +though it be unseen, to receive you at the last on the threshold of the +underworld." + +Aziel turned his head away, and said presently:-- + +"If that be so, may it receive me soon." + +"Have no fear, Prince," replied Metem with a grim laugh, "look yonder," +and he pointed to the advancing hosts. + +"These walls are strong and we shall beat them back," said Aziel. + +"Nay, Prince, for strong walls do not avail without strong hearts to +guard them, and those of the womanish citizens of Zimboe and their hired +soldiers are white with fear. I tell you that the prophecies of Issachar +the Levite, made yonder in the temple on the day of the sacrifice, and +again in the hour of his death, have taken hold of the people, and by +eating out their valour, fulfil themselves. + +"Men hint at them, the women whisper them in closets, and the very +children cry them in the streets. + +"More--one man last night pointed to the skies and shrieked that in them +he saw that fiery sword of doom of which the prophet spoke hanging point +downwards above the city, whereon all present vowed they saw it too, +though, as I think, it was but a cross of stars. Another tells how that +he met the very spirit of Issachar stalking through the market-place, +and that peering into the eyes of the wraith, as in a mirror, he saw a +great flame wrapping the temple walls, and by the light of it his own +dead body. This man was the priest who first struck down the holy Levite +yonder in the place of judgment. + +"Again, when the lady Mesa did sacrifice last night on behalf of the +Baaltis who has fled, the child they offered, an infant of six months, +stirred on the altar after it was dead and cried with a loud voice that +before three suns had set, its blood should be required at their hands. +That is the story, and if I do not believe it, this at least is true, +that the priestesses fled fast from the secret chamber of death, for +I met them as they ran shrieking in their terror and tearing at their +robes. But what need is there to dwell on omens, true or false, when +cowards man the walls, and the spears of Ithobal shine yonder like +all the stars of heaven? Prince, I tell you that this ancient city is +doomed, and in it, as I fear, we must end our wanderings upon earth." + +"So be it, if it must be," answered Aziel, "at the least I will die +fighting." + +"And I also will die fighting, Prince, not because I love it, but +because it is better than being butchered in cold blood by a savage with +a spear. Oh! why did you ever chance to stumble upon the lady Elissa +making her prayer to Baaltis, and what evil spirit was it which filled +your brains with this sudden madness of love towards each other? That +was the beginning of the trouble, which, but for those eyes of hers, +would have held off long enough to see us safe at Tyre, though doubtless +soon or late it must have come. But see, yonder marches Ithobal at the +head of his guard. Give me a bow, the flight is long, but perchance I +can reach his black heart with an arrow." + +"Save your strength," answered Aziel, "the range is too great, and +presently you will have enough of shooting," and he turned to talk to +the officers of the guard. + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE CAGE OF DEATH + +An hour later the attack commenced at chosen points of the double wall, +one of them being the southern gate. In front of the advancing columns +of savages were driven vast numbers of slaves, many of whom had been +captured, or had surrendered in the outer town. These men were laden +with faggots to fill the ditch, rude ladders wherewith to scale the +walls, and heavy trunks of trees to be used in breaching them. For the +most part, they were unarmed, and protected only by their burdens, which +they held before them as shields, and by the arrows of the warriors of +Ithobal. But these did little harm to the defenders, who were hidden +behind the walls, whereas the shafts of the garrison, rained on them +from above, killed or wounded the slaves by scores, who, poor creatures, +when they turned to fly, were driven onward by the spear-points of the +savages, to be slain in heaps like game in a pitfall. Still, some of +them lived, and running under the shelter of the wall, began to breach +it with the rude battering rams, and to raise the scaling ladders +till death found them, or they were worn out with excitement, fear and +labour. + +Then the real attack began. With fierce yells, the threefold column +rushed at the wall, and began to work the rams and scale the ladders, +while the defenders above showered spears and arrows upon them, or +crushed them with heavy stones, or poured upon their heads boiling pitch +and water, heated in great cauldrons which stood at hand. + +Time after time they were driven back with heavy loss; and, time upon +time, fresh hordes of them advanced to the onslaught. Thrice, at the +southern gate, were the ladders raised, and thrice the stormers appeared +above the level of the wall, to be hurled back, crushed and bleeding, to +the earth beneath. + +Thus the long day wore on and still the defenders held their own. + +"We shall win," shouted Aziel to Metem, as a fresh ladder was cast down +with its weight of men to the death-strewn plain. + +"Yes, here we shall win because we fight," answered the Phoenician, "but +elsewhere it may be otherwise." Indeed for a while the attack upon the +south gate slackened. + +Another hour passed and presently to the left of them rose a wild yell +of triumph, and with it a shout of "Fly to the second wall. The foe is +in the fosse!" + +Metem looked and there, down the great ditch, 300 paces to their left, +a flood of savages poured towards them. "Come," he said, "the outer wall +is lost." But as he spoke once more the ladders rose against the gates +and flanking towers and once more Aziel sprang to cast them down. When +the deed was done, he looked behind him to find that he was cut off and +surrounded. Metem and most of his men indeed had gained the inner wall +in safety, while he with twelve only of his bravest soldiers, Jews of +his own following, who had stayed to help him to throw back the ladders, +were left upon the gateway tower. Nor was escape any longer possible, +for both the plain without and the fosse within were filled with the men +of Ithobal who advanced also by hundreds down the broad coping of the +captured wall. + +"Now there is but one thing that we can do," said Aziel; "fight bravely +till we are slain." + +As he spoke a javelin cast from the wall beneath struck him upon the +breastplate, and though the bronze turned the iron point, it brought him +to his knees. When he found his feet again, he heard a voice calling +him by name, and looking down, saw Ithobal clad in golden harness and +surrounded by his captains. + +"You cannot escape, prince Aziel," cried the king; "yield now to my +mercy." + +Aziel heard, and setting an arrow to his bow, loosed it at Ithobal +beneath. He was a strong and skilful archer, and the heavy shaft pierced +the golden helmet of the king, cutting his scalp down to the bone. + +"That is my answer," cried Aziel, as Ithobal rolled upon the ground +beneath the shock of the blow. But very soon the king was up and crying +his commands from behind the shield-hedge of his captains. + +"Let the prince Aziel, and the Jews with him, be taken alive and brought +to me," he shouted. "I will give a great reward in cattle to those who +capture them unharmed; but if any do them hurt, they themselves shall be +put to death." + +The captains bowed and issued their orders, and presently Aziel and his +companions saw lines of unarmed men creeping up ladders set at every +side of the lofty tower. Again and again they cast off the ladders, till +at length, being so few, they could stir them no more because of the +weight upon them, but must hack at the heads of the stormers as they +appeared above the parapet, killing them one by one. + +In this fashion they slew many, but their arms grew weary at last, +and ever under the eye of their king, the brave savages crept upward, +heedless of death, till, with a shout, they poured over the battlements +and rushed at the little band of Jews. + +Now rather than be taken, Aziel sought to throw himself from the tower, +but his companions held him, and thus at last it came about that he was +seized and bound. + +As they dragged him to the stairway he looked across the fosse and +saw the mercenaries flying from the inner wall, although it was still +unbreached, and saw the citizens of Zimboe streaming by thousands to the +narrow gateway of the temple fortress. + +Then Aziel groaned in his heart and struggled no more, for he knew +that the fate of the ancient town was sealed, and that the prophecy of +Issachar would be fulfilled. + +***** + +A while later Aziel and those with him, their hands bound behind their +backs, were led by hide ropes tied about their necks through the army of +the Tribes that jeered and spat upon them as they passed, to a tent of +sewn hides on the plain, above which floated the banner of Ithobal. Into +this tent the prince was thrust alone, and there forced upon his knees +by the soldiers who held him. Before him upon a couch covered with a +lion skin lay the great shape of Ithobal, while physicians washed his +wounded scalp. + +"Greeting, son of Israel and Pharaoh," he said in a mocking voice; +"truly you are wise thus to do homage to the king of the world." + +"A poor jest," answered Aziel, glancing at those who held him down; +"true homage is of the heart, king Ithobal." + +"I know it, Jew, and this also you shall give me when you are humbler. +Who taught you the use of the bow? You shoot well," and he pointed to +his blood-stained helm, which was still transfixed by the arrow. + +"Nay," answered Aziel, "I shot but ill, for my arm was weary. When +next I draw a string against your breast, king Ithobal, I promise you a +straighter shaft." + +"Well said," answered the king with a laugh, "but know, dog of a +Jew, that now it is my turn to draw the string--how, I will show you +afterwards. Have they told you that the city has fallen, and that my +captains hold the gates, while the cowards of Zimboe are penned like +sheep within the temple and on the cliff-edged height above? They have +fled hither for safety, but I tell you that they would be more safe on +yonder plain, for I have the key of their stronghold, a certain passage +leading from the palace of the Baaltis to the temple; you know if it, I +think. Yes, and if I had not, very soon hunger and thirst would work for +me. + +"Well, Jew, I have won, and with less trouble than I thought, and now I +hold the great city in hostage, to save or to destroy as it shall please +me, though that arrow of yours went near to robbing me of my crown of +victory." + +"So be it," answered Aziel, indifferently; "I have played my part, now +things must go as Fate may will." + +"Yes, Jew, you fought well till they deserted you, and the doom of +cowards is little to a brave man. But what of the lady Elissa? Nay, I +know all; she has taken refuge in the tomb of Baaltis, has she not, with +poison in her bosom and bronze at her girdle to be used against her own +life, should they lay hands on her or give her to me? And all this she +does for the love of you, prince Aziel; for the love of you she refuses +to become my queen, ruling over that city which I have conquered, and +all my unnumbered tribes. + +"Do you guess now why I caused you to be taken living? I will tell you; +that you may be the bait to draw her to me. To kill you would be easy; +but how would that serve, seeing that then she herself would choose to +die? But, perchance, to save your life she will live also--yes, and give +herself to me. At least, I will try it; should the plan fail--then you +can pay the price of her pride with your blood, prince Aziel." + +"That I would do gladly," answered Aziel, "but oh! what a cross-bred +hound you are who thus can seek to torture the heart of a helpless +woman! Have you then no manhood that you can stoop to such a coward's +plot?" + +"Fool! it is because of my manhood that I do stoop to it," said Ithobal +angrily. "Doubtless you think that a mad fancy and naught else drives +me to the deed, but it is not so, although in truth my heart--like +yours--chooses this woman to be my wife and none other. That fondness +I might conquer, but look you, of all things living this lady alone has +dared to cross my will, so that to-day even the sentries on their rounds +and the savage women in the kraals tell each other of how Ithobal, the +great king of an hundred tribes, has been baffled and mocked at by a +girl who despises him because his blood is not all white. Thus I am +become a laughing-stock, and therefore I will win her, cost me what it +may." + +"And I, king Ithobal, tell you that you will not win her--no, not if you +torture me to death before her eyes." + +"That we shall see," said the king with a sneer. Then he called to his +guard and added, "Let this man and his companions be taken to the place +prepared for them." + +Now Aziel was dragged from the tent and thrust into a wooden cage, such +as were used for carrying slaves and women from place to place upon the +backs of camels. His soldiers, who had been taken with him, were thrust +also into cages, and, with himself laden upon camels that were waiting, +two cages to each camel. Then a cloth was thrown over them, and, rising +to their feet, the camels began to march. + +When they had covered a league or more of ground Aziel learned from +the motion of the camel upon which he was secured, and the sound of +the repeated blows of its drivers, that they were ascending some steep +place. At length they reached the top of it, and were unloaded from the +beasts like merchandise, but he could see nothing, for by now the night +had fallen. Then, still in the cages, they were carried to a tent, where +food and water were given them through the bars, after which, so weary +was Aziel with war, misery and the remains of recent illness, that he +fell asleep. + +At daybreak he awoke, or rather was awakened, by the sound of a familiar +voice, and, looking through his bars, perceived Metem standing before +them, guarded but unbound, with indignation written on his face, and +tears in his quick eyes. + +"Alas!" he cried, "that I should have lived to see the seed of Israel +and Pharaoh thus fastened like a wild beast in a den, while barbarians +make a mock of him. Oh! Prince, it were better that you should die +rather than endure such shame." + +"Misfortunes are the master of man, not man of his misfortunes, Metem," +said Aziel quietly, "and in them is no true disgrace. Even if I had +the means to kill myself, it would be a sin; moreover, it might bring +another to her death. Therefore, I await my doom, whatever it may be, +with such patience as I can, trusting that my sufferings and ignominy +may expiate my crimes in the sight of Him whom I renounced. But how come +you here, Metem?" + +"I came under the safe-conduct of Ithobal who gave me leave to visit +you, doubtless for some ends of his own. Have you heard, Prince, that he +holds the gates of the city, though as yet no harm has been done to it, +and that its inhabitants are crowded within the temple, and upon the +heights above; also that in his despair Sakon has fallen on his sword +and slain himself?" + +"Is it so?" answered Aziel. "Well, Issachar foretold as much. On their +own heads be the doom of these devil-worshippers and cowards. Have you +any tidings of the lady Elissa?" + +"Yes, Prince. She still sits yonder in the tomb, resolute in her +purpose, and giving no answer to those who come to reason with her." + +As he spoke the guard let fall the front of the tent so that the +sunlight flowed into it, revealing Aziel and his twelve companions, each +fast in his narrow and shameful prison. "See," said Metem, "do you know +the place?" + +The prince struggled to his knees, and saw that they were set upon the +top of a hill, built up of granite boulders, which rose eighty feet or +more from the surface of the plain. Opposite to them at a distance of +under a hundred paces was a precipice in the face of which could be seen +a cave closed with barred gates of bronze, while between the rocky hill +and the precipice ran a road. + +"I know it, Metem; there runs the path by which we travelled from the +coast, and there is the tomb of Baaltis. Why have we been brought here?" + +"The lady Elissa sits behind the bars of yonder tomb whence her view +of all that happens upon this mount must be very good indeed," answered +Metem with meaning. "Now, can you guess why you were brought here, +prince Aziel." + +"Is it that she may witness our sufferings under torment?" he asked. + +Metem nodded. + +"How will they deal with us, Metem?" + +"Wait and see," he answered sadly. + +As he spoke Ithobal himself appeared followed by certain evil-looking +savages. Having greeted Metem courteously he turned to the Hebrew +soldiers in the cages and asked them which of their number was most +prepared to die. + +"I, Ithobal, who am their leader," said Aziel. + +"No, Prince," replied Ithobal with a cruel smile, "your time is not yet. +Look, there is a man who has been wounded; to put him out of his pain +will be a kindness. Slaves, bear that Jew to the edge of the rock, +and--as the prince will wish to study a new mode of death--bring his +cage also." + +The order was obeyed, Aziel being set down upon the very verge of the +cliff. Close to him a spur of granite jutted out twenty feet or so from +the edge. At the end of the spur a groove was cut and over this groove, +suspended by a thin chain from a pole, hung a wedge of pure crystal +carefully shaped and polished. While Aziel wondered what evil purpose +this stone might serve, the slaves had fastened a fine rope to the cage +containing the wounded Hebrew soldier and secured its end. Then they set +the rope in the groove of the granite spur, and pushed the cage over the +edge of the cliff, so that it dangled in mid-air. + +"Now I will explain," said Ithobal. "This is a method of punishment that +I have borrowed from those followers of Baal who worship the sun, by +means of which Baal claims his own sacrifice, and none are guilty of the +victim's blood. You see yonder crystal--well, at any appointed hour, for +it can be hung as you will, the rays of the sun shining through it cause +the fibres of the grass rope to smoke and smoulder till at length they +part and--Baal takes his sacrifice. Should a cloud hide the sun at the +appointed hour, then, Baal having spared him, the victim is set free. +But, as you will note, at this season of the year there are no clouds. + +"What, Prince, have you nothing to say?" he went on, for Aziel had +listened in silence to the tale of this devilish device. "Well, learn +that it depends upon the lady Elissa yonder whether or not this fate +shall be yours. Send now and pray her to save you. Think what it will be +to hang as at this moment your servant hangs over that yawning gulf of +space, waiting through the long hours till at last you see the little +wreaths of smoke begin to curl from the tinder of the cord. Why! before +the end found them I have known men go mad, and, like wolves, tear with +their teeth at the wooden bars. + +"You will not. Then, Metem, do you plead for your friend. Bid the +Baaltis look forth at one hour before noon and see the sight of yonder +wretch's death, remembering that to-morrow this fate shall be her +lover's unless she foregoes her purpose of self-murder and gives herself +to me. Nay, no words! an escort shall lead you through the lower city +to the gateway of the tomb and there listen to your speech. See that +it does not fail you, merchant, unless you also seek to hang in yonder +cage. Tell the lady Elissa that to-morrow at sunrise I will come in +person for her answer. If she yields, then the prince and his companions +shall be set free and with you, Metem, to guide them, be mounted +on swift camels to carry them unharmed to their retinue beyond the +mountains. But if she will not yield, then--Baal shall take his +sacrifice. Begone." + +So, having no choice, Metem bowed and went, leaving the caged Aziel upon +the edge of the cliff, and the Hebrew soldier hanging from the spur of +rock. + +Now Aziel roused himself from the horror in which his soul was sunk, and +strove to comfort his doomed comrade, praying with him to Heaven. + +Slowly as they prayed, the hours drew on till at length, upon the +opposite cliff, he saw men whom he knew to be Metem and his escort, +approach the mouth of the tomb, and faintly heard him call through the +bars of the gateway. Turning himself in his cage, Aziel glanced at the +rope, and watched the spot of light born from the burning glass of the +crystal creep to its side. + +Now the fatal moment was at hand, and Aziel saw a little wreath of smoke +rise in the still air and bade his wretched servant close his eyes. Then +came the end. Suddenly the taut rope, eaten through by the sun's fire, +flew back and the cage with the soldier in it vanished from his sight, +while, from far below, rose the sound of a heavy fall, and from the tomb +of Baaltis rang the echo of a woman's shriek. + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +"THERE IS HOPE" + +It was dawn. Ithobal the king stood without the gates of the tomb of +Baaltis, the grey light glimmering faintly on his harness, and knocked +upon the brazen bars with the handle of his sword. + +"Who troubles me now?" said a voice within. + +"Lady, it is I, Ithobal, who, as I promised by Metem the Phoenician, am +come to learn your will as to the fate of my prisoner, the Prince Aziel. +Already he hangs above the gulf, and within one short hour, if you so +decree it, he will fall and be dashed to pieces. Or, if you so decree +it, he will be set free to return to his own land." + +"At what price will he be set free, king Ithobal?" + +"Lady, you know the price; it is yourself. Oh! I beseech you, be wise! +spare his life and your own. Listen: spare his life, and I will spare +this city which lies in the hollow of my hand, and you shall rule it +with me." + +"You cannot bribe me thus, king Ithobal. My father whom I loved is dead, +and shall I give myself to you for the sake of a city and a Faith that +would have betrayed me into your hands?" + +"Nay, but for the sake of the man to whom you are dear, you shall do +even this, Elissa. Think: if you refuse, his blood will be upon your +head, and what will you have gained?" + +"Death, which I seek, for I weary of the struggle of my days." + +"Then end it in my arms, lady. Soon this fancy will escape your mind, +and you will remain one of the mightiest queens of men." + +Elissa returned no answer, and for a while there was silence. + +"Lady," said Ithobal at length, "the sun rises and my servants yonder +await a signal." + +Then she spoke like one who hesitates. + +"Are you not afraid, king Ithobal, to trust your life to a woman won in +such a fashion?" + +"Nay," answered Ithobal, "for though you say that their fate does not +concern you, the lives of all those penned-up thousands are hostages +for my own. Should you by chance find a means to stab me unawares, then +to-night fire and sword would rage through the city of Zimboe. Nor do I +fear the future, since I know well that you who think you hate me now, +very soon will learn to love me." + +"You promise, king Ithobal, that if I yield myself you will set the +prince Aziel free; but how can I believe you who twice have tried to +murder him?" + +"Doubt me if you will, Elissa, at least, you cannot doubt your own eyes. +Look, his road to the sea runs beneath this rock. Come from the tomb and +take your stand upon it and you shall see him pass; yes, and should you +wish, speak with him in farewell that you may be sure that it is he and +alive. Further, I swear to you by my head and honour, that no finger +shall be laid upon you till he is gone by, and that no pursuit of him +shall be attempted. Now choose." + +Again there was silence for a while. Then Elissa spoke in a broken +voice. + +"King Ithobal, I have chosen. Trusting to your royal word I will stand +upon the rock and when I have seen the prince Aziel go by in safety, +then, since you desire it, you shall put your arms about me and bear +me whither you will. You have conquered me, king Ithobal! Henceforward +these lips of mine are yours and no other man's. Give the signal, I pray +you, and I will cast aside the dagger and the poison and come out living +from this tomb." + +Aziel hung in his cage over the abyss of air, awaiting death, and glad +to die, because now he was sure that Elissa had refused to purchase his +life at the expense of her own surrender. There he hung, dizzy and sick +at heart, making his prayer to heaven and waiting the end, while the +eagles that would prey upon his shattered flesh swept past him. + +Presently, from the opposing cliff, came the sound of a horn blown +thrice. Then, while Aziel wondered what this might mean, the cage in +which he lay was drawn in gently over the edge of the precipice, and +carried down the steeps of the granite hill as it had been carried up +them. + +At the foot of the hill its covering was torn aside, and he saw before +him a caravan of camels, and seated on each camel a comrade of his own. +But one camel had no rider, and Metem led it by a rope. + +The servants of Ithobal took him from the cage and set him upon this +camel, though they did not loosen the bonds about the wrists. + +"This is the command of the king," said the captain to Metem "that the +arms of the prince Aziel shall remain bound until you have travelled for +six hours. Begone in safety, fearing nothing." + +***** + +"What happens now, Metem," asked Aziel, as the camels strode forward, +"and why am I set free who was expecting death? Is this some new +artifice of yours, or has the lady Elissa----" and he ceased. + +"Upon the word of an honest merchant I cannot tell you, Prince. +Yesterday, as I was forced, I gave the message of king Ithobal to the +lady Elissa yonder in the tomb. She would answer me only one thing, +which she whispered in my ear through the bars of the holy tomb; that if +we could escape we should do so, moreover that you must have no fear for +her since she also had found a means of escape from Ithobal, and would +certainly join us upon the road." + +As Metem spoke, the camels passed round the little hill on to the path +that ran beneath the tomb of Baaltis. There, standing upon the rock +some fifty feet above them, was Elissa, and with her, but at a distance, +Ithobal the king. + +"Halt, prince Aziel," she called in a clear voice, "and hearken to my +farewell. I have bought your life, and the lives of your companions, and +you are free, for the road is clear and nothing can overtake the twelve +swiftest camels in Zimboe. Go, therefore, and be happy, forgetting +no word that has passed my lips. For all my words are true, even to a +certain promise which I made you lately by the mouth of Metem, and which +I now fulfil--that I would join you on your road lest you should deem me +faithless to the troth which I have so often sworn to you. + +"King Ithobal, this shape is yours; come now and take your prize. Prince +Aziel, my soul is yours, in life it shall companion you, and in death +await you. Prince Aziel, I come to you." Then, before he could answer +a single word, with one swift and sudden spring she hurled herself from +the cliff edge to fall crushed upon the road beneath. + +Aziel saw. In his agony he strained so fiercely at the bonds which +held him that they burst like rushes. He leapt from the camel and knelt +beside Elisa. She was not yet dead, for her eyes were open and her lips +stirred. + +"I have kept faith, keep it also, Aziel! the story is not yet done," she +gasped. Then her life flickered out, and her spirit passed. + +Aziel rose from beside the corpse and looked upward. There upon the +edge of the rock above him, leaning forward, his eyes blind with horror, +stood Ithobal the king. Aziel saw him, and a fury entered into his heart +because this man, whose jealous rage and evil doing had bred such woe +and caused the death of his beloved still lived upon the earth. By the +prince was Metem, who, for once, had no words, and from his hand he +snatched a bow, set an arrow on the string and loosed. + +The shaft rushed upwards, it smote Ithobal between the joints of his +harness so that the point of it sunk through this neck. + +"This gift, king Ithobal, from Aziel the Israelite," he cried, as the +arrow sped. + +For a moment the great man stood still, then he opened his arms wide and +of a sudden plunged downward, falling with a crash on the roadway, where +he lay dead at the side of dead Elissa. + +***** + +"The play is played, and the fate fulfilled," cried Metem. "See, the +servants of the king speed yonder with their evil tidings; let us away +lest we bide here with these two for ever." + +"That is my desire," said Aziel. + +"A desire which may not be fulfilled," answered Metem. "Come, Prince, +since we cannot go without you. Surely you do not wish to sacrifice the +lives of all of us as an offering to the great spirit of the lady who is +dead. It is one that she would not seek." + +Then Aziel knelt down and kissed the brow of the dead Elissa, and went +his way, saying no word. + +***** + +That night, when the darkness fell, the sky behind these travellers grew +red with fire. + +"Behold the end of the golden city!" said Metem. "Zimboe is food for +flames and its children for the sword. Issachar was a prophet indeed, +who foretold that it should be so." + +Aziel bowed his head, remembering that Issachar had foretold also that +for Elissa and for him there was hope beyond the grave. As he thought +it, a wind beat upon his brow and through it a soft voice seemed to +murmur to his heart:-- + +"Be of good courage: Beloved, _there is hope_." + +***** + +So, turning from the death behind him, this far away forgotten lover +set his face to the sea of Life and passed it, and long ago, at his +appointed hour, gained its further shore, to be welcomed there by her +who watched for him. + +And thus, because of the fateful and predestined loves of Aziel the +prince, and Elissa the priestess and daughter of Sakon, three thousands +years and more ago, the ancient city of Zimboe fell at the hand of king +Ithobal and his Tribes, so that to-day there remain of it nothing but a +desolate grey tower of stone, and beneath, the crumbling bones of men. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Elissa, by H. Rider Haggard + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ELISSA *** + +***** This file should be named 2855-8.txt or 2855-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/5/2855/ + +Produced by John Bickers; Dagny; David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/old/2855-8.zip b/old/2855-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..31d1f91 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/2855-8.zip diff --git a/old/2855-h.htm.2021-01-27 b/old/2855-h.htm.2021-01-27 new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d82ecbf --- /dev/null +++ b/old/2855-h.htm.2021-01-27 @@ -0,0 +1,7365 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + Elissa, by H. Rider Haggard + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Elissa, by H. Rider Haggard + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Elissa + +Author: H. Rider Haggard + +Release Date: March 31, 2006 [EBook #2855] +Last Updated: September 22, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ELISSA *** + + + + +Produced by John Bickers; Dagny; David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h1> + ELISSA + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + OR THE DOOM OF ZIMBABWE <br /> <br /> by H. Rider Haggard + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> DEDICATION </a><br /> <br /> <a + href="#link2H_4_0002"> <big><b>ELISSA</b></big> </a><br /> <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER VI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER VII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER VIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER IX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0010"> CHAPTER X </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0011"> CHAPTER XI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0012"> CHAPTER XII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0013"> CHAPTER XIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0014"> CHAPTER XIV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0015"> CHAPTER XV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0016"> CHAPTER XVI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0017"> CHAPTER XVII </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + DEDICATION + </h2> + <h3> + To the Memory of the Child + </h3> + <p> + Nada Burnham, + </p> + <p> + who “bound all to her” and, while her father cut his way through the + hordes of the Ingobo Regiment, perished of the hardships of war at Buluwao + on 19th May, 1896, I dedicate these tales—and more particularly the + last, that of a Faith which triumphed over savagery and death. + </p> + <p> + H. Rider Haggard. + </p> + <p> + Ditchingham. + </p> + <p> + AUTHOR’S NOTE + </p> + <p> + Of the three stories that comprise this volume[*], one, “The Wizard,” a + tale of victorious faith, first appeared some years ago as a Christmas + Annual. Another, “Elissa,” is an attempt, difficult enough owing to the + scantiness of the material left to us by time, to recreate the life of the + ancient Phoenician Zimbabwe, whose ruins still stand in Rhodesia, and, + with the addition of the necessary love story, to suggest circumstances + such as might have brought about or accompanied its fall at the hands of + the surrounding savage tribes. The third, “Black Heart and White Heart,” + is a story of the courtship, trials and final union of a pair of Zulu + lovers in the time of King Cetywayo. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [*] This text was prepared from a volume published in 1900 + titled “Black Heart and White Heart, and Other Stories.”— + JB. +</pre> + <p> + NOTE + </p> + <p> + The world is full of ruins, but few of them have an origin so utterly lost + in mystery as those of Zimbabwe in South Central Africa. Who built them? + What purpose did they serve? These are questions that must have perplexed + many generations, and many different races of men. + </p> + <p> + The researches of Mr. Wilmot prove to us indeed that in the Middle Ages + Zimbabwe or Zimboe was the seat of a barbarous empire, whose ruler was + named the Emperor of Monomotapa, also that for some years the Jesuits + ministered in a Christian church built beneath the shadow of its ancient + towers. But of the original purpose of those towers, and of the race that + reared them, the inhabitants of mediæval Monomotapa, it is probable, knew + less even than we know to-day. The labours and skilled observation of the + late Mr. Theodore Bent, whose death is so great a loss to all interested + in such matters, have shown almost beyond question that Zimbabwe was once + an inland Phoenician city, or at the least a city whose inhabitants were + of a race which practised Phoenician customs and worshipped the Phoenician + deities. Beyond this all is conjecture. How it happened that a trading + town, protected by vast fortifications and adorned with temples dedicated + to the worship of the gods of the Sidonians—or rather trading towns, + for Zimbabwe is only one of a group of ruins—were built by civilised + men in the heart of Africa perhaps we shall never learn with certainty, + though the discovery of the burying-places of their inhabitants might + throw some light upon the problem. + </p> + <p> + But if actual proof is lacking, it is scarcely to be doubted—for the + numerous old workings in Rhodesia tell their own tale—that it was + the presence of payable gold reefs worked by slave labour which tempted + the Phoenician merchants and chapmen, contrary to their custom, to travel + so far from the sea and establish themselves inland. Perhaps the city + Zimboe was the Ophir spoken of in the first Book of Kings. At least, it is + almost certain that its principal industries were the smelting and the + sale of gold, also it seems probable that expeditions travelling by sea + and land would have occupied quite three years of time in reaching it from + Jerusalem and returning thither laden with the gold and precious stones, + the ivory and the almug trees (1 Kings x.). Journeying in Africa must have + been slow in those days; that it was also dangerous is testified by the + ruins of the ancient forts built to protect the route between the gold + towns and the sea. + </p> + <p> + However these things may be, there remains ample room for speculation both + as to the dim beginnings of the ancient city and its still dimmer end, + whereof we can guess only, when it became weakened by luxury and the + mixture of races, that hordes of invading savages stamped it out of + existence beneath their blood-stained feet, as, in after ages, they + stamped out the Empire of Monomotapa. In the following romantic sketch the + writer has ventured—no easy task—to suggest incidents such as + might have accompanied this first extinction of the Phoenician Zimbabwe. + The pursuit indeed is one in which he can only hope to fill the place of a + humble pioneer, since it is certain that in times to come the dead + fortress-temples of South Africa will occupy the pens of many generations + of the writers of romance who, as he hopes, may have more ascertained + facts to build upon than are available to-day. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + ELISSA + </h1> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I + </h2> + <h3> + THE CARAVAN + </h3> + <p> + The sun, which shone upon a day that was gathered to the past some three + thousand years ago, was setting in full glory over the expanses of + south-eastern Africa—the Libya of the ancients. Its last burning + rays fell upon a cavalcade of weary men, who, together with long strings + of camels, asses and oxen, after much toil had struggled to the crest of a + line of stony hills, where they were halted to recover breath. Before them + lay a plain, clothed with sere yellow grass—for the season was + winter—and bounded by mountains of no great height, upon whose + slopes stood the city which they had travelled far to seek. It was the + ancient city of Zimboe, whereof the lonely ruins are known to us moderns + as Zimbabwe. + </p> + <p> + At the sight of its flat-roofed houses of sun-dried brick, set upon the + side of the opposing hill, and dominated by a huge circular building of + dark stone, the caravan raised a great shout of joy. It shouted in several + tongues, in the tongues of Phoenicia, of Egypt, of the Hebrews, of Arabia, + and of the coasts of Africa, for all these peoples were represented + amongst its numbers. Well might the wanderers cry out in their delight, + seeing that at length, after eight months of perilous travelling from the + coast, they beheld the walls of their city of rest, of the golden Ophir of + the Bible. Their company had started from the eastern port, numbering + fifteen hundred men, besides women and children, and of those not more + than half were left alive. Once a savage tribe had ambushed them, killing + many. Once the pestilential fever of the low lands had taken them so that + they died of it by scores. Twice also had they suffered heavily through + hunger and thirst, to say nothing of their losses by the fangs of lions, + crocodiles, and other wild beasts which with the country swarmed. Now + their toils were over; and for six months, or perhaps a year, they might + rest and trade in the Great City, enjoying its wealth, its flesh-pots, and + the unholy orgies which, among people of the Phoenician race, were + dignified by the name of the worship of the gods of heaven. + </p> + <p> + Soon the clamour died away, and although no command was given, the caravan + started on at speed. All weariness faded from the faces of the wayworn + travellers, even the very camels and asses, shrunk, as most of them were, + to mere skeletons, seemed to understand that labour and blows were done + with, and forgetting their loads, shambled unurged down the stony path. + One man lingered, however. Clearly he was a person of rank, for eight or + ten attendants surrounded him. + </p> + <p> + “Go,” said he, “I wish to be alone, and will follow presently.” So they + bowed to the earth, and went. + </p> + <p> + The man was young, perhaps six or eight and twenty years of age. His dark + skin, burnt almost to blackness by the heat of the sun, together with the + fashion of his short, square-cut beard and of his garments, proclaimed him + of Jewish or Egyptian blood, while the gold collar about his neck and the + gold graven ring upon his hand showed that his rank was high. Indeed this + wanderer was none other than the prince Aziel, nick-named the Ever-living, + because of a curious mole upon his shoulder bearing a resemblance to the + <i>crux ansata</i>, the symbol of life eternal among the Egyptians. By + blood he was a grandson of Solomon, the mighty king of Israel, and born of + a royal mother, a princess of Egypt. + </p> + <p> + In stature Aziel was tall, but somewhat slimly made, having small bones. + His face was oval in shape, the features, especially the mouth, being fine + and sensitive; the eyes were large, dark, and full of thought—the + eyes of a man with a destiny. For the most part, indeed, they were sombre + and over-full of thought, but at times they could light up with a strange + fire. + </p> + <p> + Aziel the prince placed his hand against his forehead in such fashion as + to shade his face from the rays of the setting sun, and from beneath its + shadow gazed long and earnestly at the city of the hill. + </p> + <p> + “At length I behold thee, thanks be to God,” he murmured, for he was a + worshipper of Jehovah, and not of his mother’s deities, “and it is time, + since, to speak the truth, I am weary of this travelling. Now what fortune + shall I find within thy walls, O City of Gold and devil-servers?” + </p> + <p> + “Who can tell?” said a quiet voice at his elbow. “Perhaps, Prince, you + will find a wife, or a throne, or—a grave.” + </p> + <p> + Aziel started, and turned to see a man standing at his side, clothed in + robes that had been rich, but were now torn and stained with travel, and + wearing on his head a black cap in shape not unlike the fez that is common + in the East to-day. The man was past middle age, having a grizzled beard, + sharp, hard features and quick eyes, which withal were not unkindly. He + was a Phoenician merchant, much trusted by Hiram, the King of Tyre, who + had made him captain of the merchandise of this expedition. + </p> + <p> + “Ah! is it you, Metem?” said Aziel. “Why do you leave your charge to + return to me?” + </p> + <p> + “That I may guard a more precious charge—yourself, Prince,” replied + the merchant courteously. “Having brought the child of Israel so far in + safety, I desire to hand him safely to the governor of yonder city. Your + servants told me that by your command they had left you alone, so I + returned to bear you company, for after nightfall robbers and savages + wander without these walls.” + </p> + <p> + “I thank you for your care, Metem, though I think there is little danger, + and at the worst I can defend myself.” + </p> + <p> + “Do not thank me, Prince; I am a merchant, and now, as in the past, I + protect you, knowing that for it I shall be paid. The governor will give + me a rich reward when I lead you to him safely, and when in years to come + I return with you still safe to the court of Jerusalem, then the great + king will fill my ship’s hold with gifts.” + </p> + <p> + “That depends, Metem,” replied the prince. “If my grandfather still reigns + it may be so, but he is very old, and if my uncle wears his crown, then I + am not sure. Truly you Phoenicians love money. Would you, then, sell me + for gold also, Metem?” + </p> + <p> + “I said not so, Prince, though even friendship has its price——” + </p> + <p> + “Among your people, Metem?” + </p> + <p> + “Among all people, Prince. You reproach us with loving money; well, we do, + since money gives everything for which men strive—honour, and place, + and comfort, and the friendship of kings.” + </p> + <p> + “It cannot give you love, Metem.” + </p> + <p> + The Phoenician laughed contemptuously. “Love! with gold I will buy as much + of it as I need. Are there no slaves upon the market, and no free women + who desire ornaments and ease and the purple of Tyre? You are young, + Prince, to say that gold cannot buy us love.” + </p> + <p> + “And you, Metem, who are growing old, do not understand what I mean by + love, nor will I stay to explain it to you, for were my words as wise as + Solomon’s, still you would not understand. At the least your money cannot + bring you the blessing of Heaven, nor the welfare of your spirit in the + eternal life that is to come.” + </p> + <p> + “The welfare of my spirit, Prince? No, it cannot, since I do not believe + that I have a spirit. When I die, I die, and there is an end. But the + blessing of Heaven, ah! that can be bought, as I have proved once and + again, if not with gold, then otherwise. Did I not in bygone years pass + the first son of my manhood through the fire to Baal-Sidon? Nay, shrink + not from me; it cost me dear, but my fortune was at stake, and better that + the boy should die than that all of us should live on in penury and bonds. + Know you not, Prince, that the gods must have the gifts of the best, gifts + of blood and virtue, or they will curse us and torment us?” + </p> + <p> + “I do not know it, Metem, for such gods are no gods, but devils, children + of Beelzebub, who has no power over the righteous. Truly I would have none + of your two gods, Phoenician; upon earth the god of gold, and in heaven + the devil of slaughter.” + </p> + <p> + “Speak no ill of him, Prince,” answered Metem solemnly, “for here you are + not in the courts of Jehovah, but in his land, and he may chance to prove + his power on you. For the rest, I had sooner follow after gold than the + folly of a drunken spirit which you name Love, seeing that it works its + votary less mischief. Say now, it was a woman and her love that drove you + hither to this wild land, was it not, Prince? Well, be careful lest a + woman and her love should keep you here.” + </p> + <p> + “The sun sets,” said Aziel coldly; “let us go forward.” + </p> + <p> + With a bow and a murmured salute, for his quick courtier instinct told him + that he had spoken too freely, Metem took the bridle of the prince’s mule, + holding the stirrup while he mounted. Then he turned to seek his own, but + the animal had wandered, and a full half hour went by before it could be + captured. + </p> + <p> + By now the sun had set, and as there is little or no twilight in Southern + Africa it became difficult for the two travellers to find their way down + the rough hill path. Still they stumbled on, till presently the long dead + grass brushing against their knees told them that they had lost the road, + although they knew that they were riding in the right direction, for the + watch-fires burning on the city walls were a guide to them. Soon, however, + they lost sight of these fires, the boughs of a grove of thickly-leaved + trees hiding them from view, and in trying to push their way through the + wood Metem’s mule stumbled against a root and fell. + </p> + <p> + “Now there is but one thing to be done,” said the Phoenician, as he + dragged the animal from the ground, “and it is to stay here till the moon + rises, which should be within an hour. It would have been wiser, Prince, + if we had waited to discuss love and the gods till we were safe within the + walls of the city, for the end of it is that we have fallen into the hands + of king Darkness, and he is the father of many evil things.” + </p> + <p> + “That is so, Metem,” answered the prince, “and I am to blame. Let us bide + here in patience, since we must.” + </p> + <p> + So, holding their mules by the bridles, they sat down upon the ground and + waited in silence, for each of them was lost in his own thoughts. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II + </h2> + <h3> + THE GROVE OF BAALTIS + </h3> + <p> + At length, as the two men sat thus silently, for the place and its gloom + oppressed them, a sound broke upon the quiet of the night, that beginning + with a low wail such as might come from the lips of a mourner, ended in a + chant or song. The voice, which seemed close at hand, was low, rich and + passionate. At times it sank almost to a sob, and at times, taking a + higher note, it thrilled upon the air in tones that would have been shrill + were they not so sweet. + </p> + <p> + “Who is it that sings?” said Aziel to Metem. + </p> + <p> + “Be silent, I pray you,” whispered the other in his ear; “we have wandered + into one of the sacred groves of Baaltis, which it is death for men to + enter save at the appointed festivals, and a priestess of the grove chants + her prayer to the goddess.” + </p> + <p> + “We did not come of our own will, so doubtless we shall be forgiven,” + answered Aziel indifferently; “but that song moves me. Tell me the words + of it, which I can scarcely follow, for her accent is strange to me.” + </p> + <p> + “Prince, they seem to be holy words to which I have little right to + hearken. The priestess sings an ancient hallowed chant of life and death, + and she prays that the goddess may touch her soul with the wing of fire + and make her great and give her vision of things that have been and that + shall be. More I dare not tell you now; indeed I can barely hear, and the + song is hard to understand. Crouch down, for the moon rises, and pray that + the mules may not stir. Presently she will go, and we can fly the holy + place.” + </p> + <p> + The Israelite obeyed and waited, searching the darkness with eager eyes. + </p> + <p> + Now the edge of the great moon appeared upon the horizon, and by degrees + her white rays of light revealed a strange scene to the watchers. About an + open space of ground, some eighty paces in diameter, grew seven huge and + ancient baobab trees, so ancient indeed that they must have been planted + by the primæval hand of nature rather than by that of man. Aziel and his + companion were hidden with their mules behind the trunk of one of these + trees, and looking round it they perceived that the open space beyond the + shadow of the branches was not empty. In the centre of this space stood an + altar, and by it was placed the rude figure of a divinity carved in wood + and painted. On the head of this figure rose a crescent symbolical of the + moon, and round its neck hung a chain of wooden stars. It had four wings + but no hands, and of these wings two were out-spread and two clasped a + shapeless object to its breast, intended, apparently, to represent a + child. By these symbols Aziel knew that before him was an effigy sacred to + the goddess of the Phoenicians, who in different countries passed by the + various names of Astarte, or Ashtoreth, or Baaltis, and who in their + coarse worship was at once the personification of the moon and the emblem + of fertility. + </p> + <p> + Standing before this rude fetish, between it and the altar, whereon lay + some flowers, and in such fashion that the moonlight struck full upon her, + was a white-robed woman. She was young and very beautiful both in shape + and feature, and though her black hair streaming almost to the knees took + from her height, she still seemed tall. Her rounded arms were + outstretched; her sweet and passionate face was upturned towards the sky, + and even at that distance the watchers could see her deep eyes shining in + the moonlight. The sacred song of the priestess was finished. Now she was + praying aloud, slowly, and in a clear voice, so that Aziel could hear and + understand her; praying from her very heart, not to the idol before her, + however, but to the moon above. + </p> + <p> + “O Queen of Heaven,” she said, “thou whose throne I see but whose face I + cannot see, hear the prayer of thy priestess, and protect me from the fate + I fear, and rid me of him I hate. Safe let me dwell and pure, and as thou + fillest the night with light, so fill the darkness of my soul with the + wisdom that I crave. O whisper into my ears and let me hear the voice of + heaven, teaching me that which I would know. Read me the riddle of my + life, and let me learn wherefore I am not as my sisters are; why feasts + and offerings delight me not; why I thirst for knowledge and not for + wealth, and why I crave such love as here I cannot win. Satisfy my being + with thy immortal lore and a love that does not fail or die, and if thou + wilt, then take my life in payment. Speak to me from the heaven above, O + Baaltis, or show me some sign upon the earth beneath; fill up the vessel + of my thirsty soul and satisfy the hunger of my spirit. Oh! thou that art + the goddess, thou that hast the gift of power, give me, thy servant, of + thy power, of thy godhead, and of thy peace. Hear me, O Heaven-born, hear + me, Elissa, the daughter of Sakon, the dedicate of thee. Hear, hear, and + answer now in the secret holy hour, answer by voice, by wonder, or by + symbol.” + </p> + <p> + The woman paused as though exhausted with the passion of her prayer, + hiding her face in her hands, and as she stood thus silent and expectant, + the sign came, or at least that chanced which for a while she believed to + have been an answer to her invocation. Her face was hidden, so she could + not see, and fascinated by her beauty as it appeared to them in that + unhallowed spot, and by the depth and dignity of her wild prayer, the two + watchers had eyes for her alone. Therefore it happened that not until his + arm was about to drag her away, did either of them perceive a huge man, + black as ebony in colour, clad in a cloak of leopard skins and carrying in + his right hand a broad-bladed spear who, following the shadow of the + trees, had crept upon the priestess from the farther side of the glade. + </p> + <p> + With a guttural exclamation of triumph he gripped her in his left arm, + and, despite her struggles and her shrill cry for help, began half to drag + and half to carry her towards the deep shade of the baobab grove. + Instantly Aziel and Metem sprang up and rushed forward, drawing their + bronze swords as they ran. As it chanced, however, the Israelite caught + his foot in one of the numerous tree-roots, which stood above the surface + of the ground and fell heavily upon his face. In a few seconds, twenty + perhaps, he found his breath and feet again, to see that Metem had come up + with the black giant who, hearing his approach, suddenly wheeled round to + meet him, still holding the struggling priestess in his grasp. Now the + Phoenician was so close upon him that the savage could find no time to + shift the grip upon his spear, but drove at him with the knobbed end of + its handle, striking him full upon the forehead and felling him as a + butcher fells an ox. Then once more he turned to fly with his captive, but + before he had covered ten yards the sound of Aziel’s approaching footsteps + caused him to wheel round again. + </p> + <p> + At sight of the Israelite advancing upon him with drawn sword, the great + barbarian freed himself from the burden of the girl by throwing her + heavily to the ground, where she lay, for the breath was shaken out of + her. Then snatching the cloak from his throat he wound it over his left + arm to serve as a shield, and with a savage yell, rushed straight at + Aziel, purposing to transfix him with the broad-headed spear. + </p> + <p> + Well was it for the prince that he had been trained in sword-play from his + youth, also, notwithstanding his slight build, that he was strong and + active as a leopard. To await the onslaught would be to die, for the spear + must pierce him before ever he could reach the attacker’s body with his + short sword. Therefore, as the weapon flashed upward he sprang aside, + avoiding it, at the same time, with one swift sweep of his sword, slashing + its holder across the back as he passed him. + </p> + <p> + With a howl of pain and rage the savage sprang round and charged him a + second time. Again Aziel leapt to one side, but now he struck with all his + force at the spear shaft which his assailant lifted to guard his head. So + strong was the blow and so sharp the heavy sword, that it shore through + the wood, severing the handle from the spear, which fell to the ground. + Casting away the useless shaft, the warrior drew a long knife from his + girdle, and before Aziel could strike again faced him for the third time. + But he no longer rushed onward like a bull, for he had learnt caution; he + stood still, holding the skin cloak before him shield fashion, and peering + at his adversary from over its edge. + </p> + <p> + Now it was Aziel’s turn to take the offensive, and slowly he circled round + the huge barbarian, watching his opportunity. At length it came. In answer + to a feint of his the protecting cloak was dropped a little, enabling him + to prick its bearer in the neck, but only with the point of his sword. The + thrust delivered, he leapt back, and not too soon, for forgetting his + caution in his fury, the savage charged straight at him with a roar like + that of a lion. So swift and terrible was his onset that Aziel, having no + time to spring aside, did the only thing possible. Gripping the ground + with his feet, he bent his body forward, and with outstretched arm and + sword, braced up his muscles to receive the charge. Another instant, and + the leopard skin cloak fluttered before him. With a quick movement of his + left arm he swept it aside; then there came a sudden pressure upon his + sword ending in a jarring shock, a flash of steel above his head, and down + he went to the ground beneath the weight of the black giant. + </p> + <p> + “Now there is an end,” he thought; “Heaven receive my spirit.” And his + senses left him. + </p> + <p> + When they returned again, Aziel perceived dimly that a white-draped figure + bent over him, dragging at something black which crushed his breast, who, + as she dragged, sobbed in her grief and fear. Then he remembered, and with + an effort sat up, rolling from him the corpse of his foe, for his sword + had pierced the barbarian through breast and heart and back. At this sight + the woman ceased her sobbing, and said in the Phoenician tongue:— + </p> + <p> + “Sir, do you indeed live? Then the protecting gods be thanked, and to + Baaltis the Mother I vow a gift of this hair of mine in gratitude.” + </p> + <p> + “Nay, lady,” he answered faintly, for he was much shaken, “that would be a + pity; also, if any, it is my hair which should be vowed.” + </p> + <p> + “You bleed from the head,” she broke in; “say, stranger, are you deeply + wounded.” + </p> + <p> + “I will tell you nothing of my head,” he replied, with a smile, “unless + you promise that you will not offer up your hair.” + </p> + <p> + “So be it, stranger, since I must; I will give the goddess this gold chain + instead; it is of more worth.” + </p> + <p> + “You would do better, lady,” said the shrill voice of Metem again, who by + now had found his wits again, “to give the gold chain to me whose scalp + has been broken in rescuing you from that black thief.” + </p> + <p> + “Sir,” she answered, “I am grateful to you from my heart, but it is this + young lord who killed the man and saved me from slavery worse than death, + and he shall be rewarded by my father.” + </p> + <p> + “Listen to her,” grumbled Metem. “Did I not rush in first in my folly and + receive what I deserved for my pains? But am I to have neither thanks nor + pay, who am but an old merchant; they are for the young prince who came + after. Well, so it ever was; the thanks I can spare, and the reward I + shall claim from the treasury of the goddess. + </p> + <p> + “Now, Prince, let me see your hurt. Ah! a cut on the ear, no more, and + thank your natal star that it is so, for another inch and the great vein + of the neck would have been severed. Prince, if you are able, draw out + your sword from the carcase of that brute, for I have tried and cannot + loosen the blade. Then perhaps this lady will guide us to the city before + his fellows come to seek him, seeing that for one night I have had a + stomach full of fighting.” + </p> + <p> + “Sirs, I will indeed. It is close at hand, and my father will thank you + there; but if it is your pleasure, tell me by what names I shall make + known to him you whose rank seems to be so high?” + </p> + <p> + “Lady, I am Metem the Phoenician, captain of the merchandise of the + caravan of Hiram, King of Tyre, and this lord who slew the thief is none + other than the prince Aziel, the twice royal, for he is grandson to the + glorious King of Israel, and through his mother of the blood of the + Pharaohs of Egypt.” + </p> + <p> + “And yet he risked his life to save me,” the girl murmured astonished; + then dropping to her knees before Aziel, she touched the ground with her + forehead in obeisance, giving him thanks, and praising him after the + fashion of the East. + </p> + <p> + “Rise, lady,” he broke in, “because I chance to be a prince I have not + ceased to be a man, and no man could have seen you in such a plight + without striking a blow on your behalf.” + </p> + <p> + “No,” added Metem, “none; that is, as you happen to be noble and young and + lovely. Had you been old and ugly and humble, then the black man might + have carried you from here to Tyre ere I risked my neck to stop him, or + for the matter of that, although he will deny it, the prince either.” + </p> + <p> + “Men do not often show their hearts so clearly,” she answered with + sarcasm. “But now, lords, I will guide you to the city before more harm + befalls us, for this dead man may have companions.” + </p> + <p> + “Our mules are here, lady; will you not ride mine?” asked Aziel. + </p> + <p> + “I thank you, Prince, but my feet will carry me.” + </p> + <p> + “And so will mine,” said Aziel, ceasing from a prolonged and fruitless + effort to loosen his sword from the breast-bone of the savage, “on such + paths they are safer than any beasts. Friend, will you lead my mule with + yours?” + </p> + <p> + “Ay, Prince,” grumbled Metem, “for so the world goes with the old; you + take the fair lady for company and I a she-ass. Well, of the two give me + the ass which is more safe and does not chatter.” + </p> + <p> + Then they started, Aziel leaving his short sword in the keeping of the + dead man. + </p> + <p> + “How are you named, lady?” he said presently, adding “or rather I need not + ask; you are Elissa, the daughter of Sakon, Governor of Zimboe, are you + not?” + </p> + <p> + “I am so called, though how you know it I cannot guess.” + </p> + <p> + “I heard you name yourself, lady, in the prayer you made before the + altar.” + </p> + <p> + “You heard my prayer, Prince?” she said starting. “Do you not know that it + is death to that man who hearkens to the prayer of a priestess of Baaltis, + uttered in her holy grove? Still, none know it save the goddess, who sees + all, therefore I beseech you for your own sake and the sake of your + companion, say nothing of it in the city, lest it should come to the ears + of the priests of El.” + </p> + <p> + “Certainly it would have been death to you had I <i>not</i> chanced to + hear it, having lost my way in the darkness,” answered the prince + laughing. “Well, since I did hear it I will add that it was a beautiful + prayer, revealing a heart high and pure, though I grieve that it should + have been offered to one whom I hold to be a demon.” + </p> + <p> + “I am honoured,” she answered coldly; “but, Prince, you forget that though + you, being a Hebrew, worship Him they call Jehovah, or so I have been + told, I, being of the blood of the Sidonians, worship the lady Baaltis, + the Queen of Heaven the holy one of whom I am a priestess.” + </p> + <p> + “So it is, alas!” he said, with a sigh, adding:— + </p> + <p> + “Well, let us not dispute of these matters, though, if you wish, the + prophet Issachar, the Levite who accompanies me, can explain the truth of + them to you.” + </p> + <p> + Elissa made no reply, and for a while they walked on in silence. + </p> + <p> + “Who was that black robber whom I slew?” Aziel asked presently. + </p> + <p> + “I am not sure, Prince,” she answered, hesitating, “but savages such as he + haunt the outskirts of the city seeking to steal white women to be their + wives. Doubtless he watched my steps, following me into the holy place.” + </p> + <p> + “Why, then, did you venture there alone, lady?” + </p> + <p> + “Because, to be heard, such prayers as mine must be offered in solitude in + the consecrated grove, and at the hour of the rising of the moon. + Moreover, cannot Baaltis protect her priestess, Priest, and did she not + protect her?” + </p> + <p> + “I thought, lady, that I had something to do with the matter,” he + answered. + </p> + <p> + “Ay, Prince, it was your hand that struck the blow which killed the thief, + but Baaltis, and no other, led you to the place to rescue me.” + </p> + <p> + “I understand, lady. To save you, Baaltis, laying aside her own power, led + a mortal man to the grove, which it is death that mortal man should + violate.” + </p> + <p> + “Who can fathom the way of the gods?” she replied with passion, then + added, as though reasoning with a new-born doubt, “Did not the goddess + hear my prayer and answer it?” + </p> + <p> + “In truth, lady, I cannot say. Let me think. If I understood you rightly, + you prayed for heavenly wisdom, but whether or not you have gained it + within this last hour, I do not know. And then you prayed for love, an + immortal love. O, maiden, has it come to you since yonder moon appeared + upon the sky? And you prayed——” + </p> + <p> + “Peace!” she broke in, “peace and mock me not, or, prince that you are, I + will publish your crime of spying upon the prayer of a priestess of + Baaltis. I tell you that I prayed for a symbol and a sign, and the prayer + was answered. + </p> + <p> + “Did not the black giant spring upon me to bear me away to be his slave—his, + or another’s? And is he not a symbol of the evil and the ignorance which + are on the earth and that seek to drag down the beauty and the wisdom of + the earth to their own level? Then the Phoenician ran to rescue me and was + defeated, since the spirit of Mammon cannot overcome the black powers of + ill. Next you came and fought hard and long, till in the end you slew the + mighty foe, you a Prince born of the royal blood of the world——” + and she ceased. + </p> + <p> + “You have a pretty gift of parable, lady, as it should be with one who + interprets the oracles of a goddess. But you have not told me of what I, + your servant, am the symbol.” + </p> + <p> + She stopped in her walk and looked him full in the face. + </p> + <p> + “I never heard,” she said, “that either the Jews or the Egyptians, being + instructed, were blind to the reading of an allegory. But, Prince, if you + cannot read this one it is not for me, who am but a woman, to set it out + to you.” + </p> + <p> + Just then their glances met, and in the clear moonlight Aziel saw a wave + of doubt sweep over his companion’s dark and beautiful eyes, and a faint + flush appear upon her brow. He saw, and something stirred at his heart + that till this hour he had never felt, something which even now he knew it + would trouble him greatly to escape. + </p> + <p> + “Tell me, lady,” he asked, his voice sinking almost to a whisper, “in this + fable of yours am I even for an hour deemed worthy to play the part of + that immortal love embodied which you sought so earnestly a while ago?” + </p> + <p> + “Immortal love, Prince,” she answered, in a new voice, a voice low and + deep, “is not for one hour, but for all hours that are and are to be. You, + and you alone, can know if you would dare to play such a part as this—even + in a fable.” + </p> + <p> + “Perchance, lady, there lives a woman for whom it might be dared.” + </p> + <p> + “Prince, no such woman lives, since immortal love must deal, not with the + flesh, but with the spirit. If a spirit worthy to be thus loved and + worshipped now wanders in earthly shape upon the world, seeking its + counterpart and its completion, I cannot tell. Yet were it so, and should + they chance to meet, it might be happy for such brave spirits, for then + the answer to the great riddle would be theirs.” + </p> + <p> + Wondering what this riddle might be, Aziel bent towards her to reply, when + suddenly round a bend in the path but a few paces from them came a body of + soldiers and attendants, headed by a man clad in a white robe and walking + with a staff. This man was grey-headed and keen-eyed, thin in face and + ascetic in appearance, with a brow of power and a bearing of dignity. At + the sight of the pair he halted, looking at them in question, and with + disapproval. + </p> + <p> + “Our search is ended,” he said in Hebrew, “for here is he whom we seek, + and alone with him a heathen woman, robed like a priestess of the Groves.” + </p> + <p> + “Whom do you seek, Issachar?” asked Aziel hurriedly, for the sudden + appearance of the Levite disturbed him. + </p> + <p> + “Yourself, Prince. Surely you can guess that your absence has been noted. + We feared lest harm should have come to you, or that you had lost your + path, but it seems that you have found a guide,” and he stared at his + companion sternly. + </p> + <p> + “That guide, Issachar,” answered Aziel, “being none other than the lady + Elissa, daughter of Sakon, governor of this city, and our host, whom it + has been my good fortune to rescue from a woman-stealer yonder in the + grove of the goddess Baaltis.” + </p> + <p> + “And whom it was my bad fortune to try to rescue in the said grove, as my + broken head bears witness,” added Metem, who by now had come up, dragging + the two mules after him. + </p> + <p> + “In the grove of the goddess Baaltis!” broke in the Levite with a kindling + eye, and striking the ground with his staff to emphasise his words. “You, + a Prince of Israel, alone in the high place of abomination with the + priestess of a fiend? Fie upon you, fie upon you! Would you also walk in + the sin of your forefathers, Aziel, and so soon?” + </p> + <p> + “Peace!” said Aziel in a voice of command; “I was not in the grove alone + or by my own will, and this is no time or place for insults and + wrangling.” + </p> + <p> + “Between me and those who seek after false gods, or the women who worship + them, there is no peace,” replied the old priest fiercely. + </p> + <p> + Then, followed by all the company, he turned and strode towards the gates + of the city. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III + </h2> + <h3> + ITHOBAL THE KING + </h3> + <p> + Two hours had gone by, and the prince Aziel, together with his retinue, + the officers of the caravan, and many other guests, were seated at a great + feast made in their honour, by Sakon, the governor of the city. This feast + was held in the large pillared hall of Sakon’s house, built beneath the + northern wall of the temple fortress, and not more than a few paces from + its narrow entrance, through which in case of alarm the inhabitants of the + palace could fly for safety. All down this chamber were placed tables, + accommodating more than two hundred feasters, but the principal guests + were seated by themselves upon a raised daïs at the head of the hall. + Among them sat Sakon himself, a middle-aged man stout in build, and + thoughtful of face, his daughter Elissa, some other noble ladies, and a + score or more of the notables of the city and its surrounding territories. + </p> + <p> + One of these strangers immediately attracted the attention of Aziel, who + was seated in the place of honour at the right of Sakon, between him and + the lady Elissa. This man was of large stature, and about forty years of + age; the magnificence of his apparel and the great gold chain set with + rough diamonds which hung about his neck showing him to be a person of + importance. His tawny complexion marked him of mixed race. This conclusion + his features did not belie, for the brow, nose, and cheek-bones were + Semitic in outline, while the full, prominent eyes, and thick, sensuous + lips could with equal certainty be attributed to the Negroid stock. In + fact, he was the son of a native African queen, or chieftainess, and a + noble Phoenician, and his rank no less than that of absolute king and + hereditary chief of a vast and undefined territory which lay around the + trading cities of the white men, whereof Zimboe was the head and largest. + Aziel noticed that this king, who was named Ithobal, seemed angry and ill + at ease, whether because he was not satisfied with the place which had + been allotted to him at the table, or for other reasons, he could not at + the time determine. + </p> + <p> + When the meats had been removed, and the goblets were filled with wine, + men began to talk, till presently Sakon called for silence, and rising, + addressed Aziel:— + </p> + <p> + “Prince,” he said, “in the name of this great and free city—for free + it is, though we acknowledge the king of Tyre as our suzerain—I give + you welcome within our gates. Here, far in the heart of Libya, we have + heard of the glorious and wise king, your grandfather, and of the mighty + Pharaoh of Egypt, whose blood runs also within your veins. Prince, we are + honoured in your coming, and for the asking, whatever this land of gold + can boast is yours. Long may you live; may the favour of those gods you + worship attend you, and in the pursuit of wisdom, of wealth, of war, and + of love, may the good grain of all be garnered in your bosom, and the wind + of prosperity winnow out the chaff of them to fall beneath your feet. + Prince, I have greeted you as it behoves me to greet the blood of Solomon + and Pharaoh; now I add a word. Now I greet you as a father greets the man + who has saved his only and beloved daughter from death, or shameful + bondage. Know you, friends, what this stranger did since to-night’s + moonrise? My daughter was at worship alone yonder without the walls, and a + great savage set on her, purposing to bear her away captive. Ay, and he + would have done it had not the prince Aziel here given him battle, and, + after a fierce fight, slain him.” + </p> + <p> + “No great deed to kill a single savage,” broke in the king Ithobal, who + had been listening with impatience to Sakon’s praises of this high-born + stranger. + </p> + <p> + “No great deed you say, King,” answered Sakon. “Guards, being in the body + of the man and set it before us.” + </p> + <p> + There was a pause, till presently six men staggered up the hall bearing + between them the corpse of the barbarian, which, still covered with the + leopard skin mantle, they threw down on the edge of the daïs. + </p> + <p> + “See!” said one of the bearers, withdrawing the cloak from the huge body. + Then pointing to the sword which still transfixed it, he added, “and learn + what strength heaven gives to the arms of princes.” + </p> + <p> + Such as the guests as were near enough rose to look at the grizzly sight, + then turned to offer their congratulations to the conqueror, but there was + one of them—the king Ithobal—who offered none; indeed, as his + eyes fell upon the face of the corpse, they grew alight with rage. + </p> + <p> + “What ails you, King? Are you jealous of such a blow?” asked Sakon, + watching him curiously. + </p> + <p> + “Speak no more of that thrust, I pray you,” said Aziel, “for it was due to + the weight of the man rushing on the sword, which after he was dead I + could not find the power to loosen from his breast-bone.” + </p> + <p> + “Then I will do you that service, Prince,” sneered Ithobal, and, setting + his foot upon the breast of the corpse, with a sudden effort of his great + frame, he plucked out the sword and cast it down upon the table. + </p> + <p> + “Now, one might think,” said Aziel, flushing with anger, “that you, King, + who do a courtesy to a man of smaller strength, mean a challenge. + Doubtless, however, I am mistaken, who do not understand the manners of + this country.” + </p> + <p> + “Think what you will, Prince,” answered the chieftain, “but learn that he + who lies dead before us by your hand—as you say—was no slave + to be killed at pleasure, but a man of rank, none other, indeed, than the + son of my mother’s sister.” + </p> + <p> + “Is it so?” replied Aziel, “then surely, King, you are well rid of a + cousin, however highly born, who made it his business to ravish maidens + from their homes.” + </p> + <p> + By way of answer to these words Ithobal sprang from his seat again, laying + hand upon his sword. But before he could speak or draw it, the governor + Sakon addressed him in a cold and meaning voice:— + </p> + <p> + “Of your courtesy, King,” he said, “remember that the prince here is my + guest, as you are, and give us peace. If that dead man was your cousin, at + least he well deserved to die, not at the hand of one of royal blood, but + by that of the executioner, for he was the worst of thieves—a thief + of women. Now tell me, King, I pray you, how came your cousin here, so far + from home, since he was not numbered in your retinue?” + </p> + <p> + “I do not know, Sakon,” answered Ithobal, “and if I knew I would not say. + You tell me that my dead kinsman was a thief of women, which, in + Phoenician eyes, must be a crime indeed. So be it; but thief or no thief, + I say that there is a blood feud between me and the man who slew him, and + were he great Solomon himself, instead of one of fifty princelets of his + line, he should pay bitterly for the dead. To-morrow, Sakon, I will meet + you before I leave for my own land, for I have words to speak to you. Till + then, farewell!”—and rising, he strode down the hall, followed by + his officers and guard. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + The sudden departure of king Ithobal in anger was the signal for the + breaking up of the feast. + </p> + <p> + “Why is that half-bred chief so wrath with me?” asked Aziel in a low voice + of Elissa as they followed Sakon to another chamber. + </p> + <p> + “Because—if you would know the truth—he set his dead cousin to + kidnap me, and you thwarted him,” she answered, looking straight before + her. + </p> + <p> + Aziel made no reply, for at that moment Sakon turned to speak with him, + and his face was anxious. + </p> + <p> + “I crave your pardon, Prince,” he said, drawing him aside, “that you + should have met with such insults at my board. Had it been any other man + who spoke thus to you, by now he had rued his words, but this Ithobal is + the terror of our city, for if he chooses he can bring a hundred thousand + savages upon us, shutting us within our walls to starve, and cutting us + off from the working of the mines whence we win gold. Therefore, in this + way or that, he must be humoured, as indeed we have humoured him and his + father for years, though now,” he added, his brow darkening, “he demands a + price that I am loth to pay,” and he glanced towards his daughter, who + stood watching them at a little distance, looking most beautiful in her + white robes and ornaments of gold. + </p> + <p> + “Can you not make war upon him, and break his power?” asked Aziel, with a + strange anxiety, guessing that this price demanded by Ithobal was none + other than Elissa, the woman whom he had rescued, and whose wisdom and + beauty had stirred his heart. + </p> + <p> + “It might be done, Prince, but the risk would be great, and we are here to + work the mines and grow rich in trade—not to make war. The policy of + Zimboe has always been a policy of peace.” + </p> + <p> + “I have a better and cheaper plan,” said a calm voice at his elbow—that + of Metem. “It is this: Slip a bow-string over the brute’s head as he lies + snoring, and pull it tight. An eagle in a cage is easy to deal with, but + once on the wing the matter is different.” + </p> + <p> + “There is wisdom in your counsel,” said Sakon, in a hesitating voice. + </p> + <p> + “Wisdom!” broke in Aziel; “ay, the wisdom of the assassin. What, noble + Sakon, would you murder a sleeping guest?” + </p> + <p> + “No, Prince, I would not,” he answered hastily; “also, such a deed would + bring the Tribes upon us.” + </p> + <p> + “Then, Sakon, you are more foolish than you used to be,” said Metem laughing. + “A man who will not despatch a foe, whenever he can catch him, by means + fair or foul, is not the man to govern a rich city set in the heart of a + barbarous land, and so I shall tell Hiram, our king, if ever I live to see + Tyre again. As for you, most high Prince, forgive the humblest of your + servants if he tells you that the tenderness of your heart and the + nobility of your sentiments will, I think, bring you to an early and evil + end;” and, glancing towards Elissa as though to put a point upon his + words, Metem smiled sarcastically and withdrew. + </p> + <p> + At this moment a messenger, whose long white hair, wild eyes and red robe + announced him to be a priest of El, by which name the people of Zimboe + worshipped Baal, entered the room, and whispered something into the ear of + Sakon which seemed to disturb him much. + </p> + <p> + “Pardon me, Prince, and you, my guests, if I leave you,” said the + governor, “but I have evil tidings that call me to the temple. The lady + Baaltis is seized with the black fever, and I must visit her. For an hour, + farewell.” + </p> + <p> + This news caused consternation among the company, and in the general + confusion that followed its announcement Aziel joined Elissa, who had + passed on to the balcony of the house, and was seated there alone, looking + out over the moonlit city and the plains beyond. At his approach she rose + in token of respect, then sat herself down again, motioning him to do + likewise. + </p> + <p> + “Give me of your wisdom, lady,” he said. “I thought that Baaltis was the + goddess whom I heard you worshipping yonder in the grove; how, then, can + she be stricken with a fever?” + </p> + <p> + “She is the goddess,” Elissa answered smiling; “but the <i>lady</i> + Baaltis is a woman whom we revere as the incarnation of that goddess upon + earth, and being but a woman in her hour she must die.” + </p> + <p> + “Then, what becomes of the incarnation of the goddess?” + </p> + <p> + “Another is chosen by the college of the priests of El, and the company of + the priestesses of Baaltis. If that lady Baaltis who is dead chances to + leave a daughter, it is usual for the lot to fall upon her; if not, upon + such one of the noble maidens as may be chosen.” + </p> + <p> + “Does the lady Baaltis marry, then?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, Prince, within a year of her consecration, she must choose herself a + husband, and he may be whom she will, provided only that he is of white + blood, and does public sacrifice to El and Baaltis. Then after she has + named him, this husband takes the title of Shadid, and for so long as his + wife shall live he is the high priest of the god El, and clothed with the + majesty of the god, as his wife is clothed with the majesty of Baaltis. + But should she die, another wins his place.” + </p> + <p> + “It is a strange faith,” said Aziel, “which teaches that the Lord of + Heaven can find a home in mortal breasts. But, lady, it is yours, so of it + I say no more. Now tell me, if you will, what did you mean when you said + that this barbarian king, Ithobal, set the savage whom I slew to kidnap + you? Do you know this, or do you suspect it only?” + </p> + <p> + “I suspected it from the first, Prince, and for good reasons; moreover, I + read it in the king’s face as he looked upon the corpse, and when he + perceived me among the feasters.” + </p> + <p> + “And why should he wish to carry you away this brutally, lady, when he is + at peace with the great city?” + </p> + <p> + “Perchance, Prince, after what passed to-night you can guess,” she + answered lowering her eyes. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, lady, I can guess, and though it is shameful that such an one should + dare to think of you, still, since he is a man, I cannot blame him + overmuch. But why should he press his suit in this rough and secret + fashion instead of openly as a king might do?” + </p> + <p> + “He may have pressed it openly and been repulsed,” she replied in a low + voice. “But if he could have carried me to some far fortress, how should I + flout him there, that is, if I still lived? There, with no price to pay in + gold or lands or power, he would have been my master, and I should have + been his slave till such time as he wearied of me. That is the fate from + which you have saved me, Prince, or rather from death, for I am not one + who could bear such shame at the hands of a man I hate.” + </p> + <p> + “Lady,” he said bowing, “I think that perhaps for the first time in my + life I am glad to-night that I was born.” + </p> + <p> + “And I,” she answered, “who am but a Phoenician maiden, am glad that I + should have lived to hear one who is as royal in thought and soul as he is + in rank speak thus to me. Oh! Prince,” she added, clasping her hands, “if + your words are not those of empty courtesy alone, hear me, for you are + great, a Lord of the Earth whom none refuse, and it may be in your power + to give me aid. Prince, I am in a sore strait, for that danger from which + I prayed to be delivered this night presses me hard. Prince, it is true + that Ithobal has been refused my hand, both by myself and by my father, + and therefore it was that he strove to steal me away. But the evil is not + done with, for the great nobles of the city and the chief priests of El + came to my father at sunset and prayed him that he would let Ithobal take + me, seeing that otherwise in his rage he will make war upon Zimboe. When a + man placed as is my father must choose between the safety of thousands and + the honour and happiness of one poor girl, what will his answer be, think + you?” + </p> + <p> + “Now,” said Aziel, “save that no wrong can right a wrong, I almost grieve + that I cried shame upon the counsel of Metem. Sweet lady, be sure of this, + that I will give all I have, even to my life, to protect you from the vile + fate you dread—yes, all I have—except my soul.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah!” she cried with a sudden flash of her dark eyes, “all except your + soul. If we women could find the man who would risk both life and soul for + us, then, were he but a slave, we would worship him as never man was + worshipped since Baaltis mounted her heavenly throne.” + </p> + <p> + “Were I not a Hebrew you would tempt me, lady,” Aziel answered smiling, + “but being one I may not risk my soul even were such a prize within my + reach.” + </p> + <p> + “Nay, Prince,” she broke in, “I did but jest; forget my words, for they + were wrung from a heart torn with fears. Oh! did you know the terror of + this half-savage Ithobal which oppresses me, you would forgive me all—a + terror that to-night lies upon me with a tenfold weight.” + </p> + <p> + “Why so, lady?” + </p> + <p> + “Doubtless because it is nearer,” Elissa whispered, but her beautiful + pleading eyes and quivering lips seemed to belie her words and say, + “because <i>you</i> are near, and a change has come upon me.” + </p> + <p> + For the second time that day Aziel’s glance met hers, and for the second + time a strange new pang that was more pain than joy, and yet half-divine, + snatched at his heart-strings, for a while numbing his reason and taking + from him the power of speech. + </p> + <p> + “What was it?” he wondered vaguely. He had seen many lovely faces, and + many noble women had shown him favour, but why had none of them stirred + him thus? Could it be that this stranger Gentile maiden was his soul-mate—she + whom he was destined to love above all upon the earth, nay, whom he did + already love, and so soon? + </p> + <p> + “Lady,” he said, taking a step towards her, “lady——” and he + paused. + </p> + <p> + Elissa bowed her dark head till her gold-bedecked and scented hair almost + fell upon his feet, but she made no answer. + </p> + <p> + Then another voice broke upon the silence, a clear, strident voice that + said:— + </p> + <p> + “Prince, forgive me, if for the second time to-day I disturb you; but the + guests have gone; your chamber is made ready, and, not knowing the customs + of the women of this country, I sought you, little guessing that, at such + an hour, I should find you alone with one of them.” + </p> + <p> + Aziel looked up, although there was no need for him to do so, for he knew + that voice well, to see the tall form of the Levite Issachar standing + before them, a cold light of anger shining in his eyes. + </p> + <p> + Elissa saw also, and, with some murmured words of farewell, she turned and + went, leaving them together. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV + </h2> + <h3> + THE DREAM OF ISSACHAR + </h3> + <p> + For a moment there was silence, which Aziel broke, saying:— + </p> + <p> + “It seems to me, Issachar, that you are somewhat over zealous for my + welfare.” + </p> + <p> + “I think otherwise, Prince,” replied the Levite sternly. “Did not your + grandsire give you into my keeping, and shall I not be faithful to my + trust, and to a higher duty than any which he could lay upon me?” + </p> + <p> + “Your meaning, Issachar?” + </p> + <p> + “It is plain, Prince; but I will set it out. The great king said to me + yonder in the hall of his golden palace at Jerusalem, ‘To others, men of + war, I have given charge of the body of my grandson to keep him safe. To + you, Issachar the Levite, who have fostered him, I give charge over his + soul to keep it safe—a higher task, and more difficult. Guard him, + Issachar, from the temptation of strange doctrines and the whisperings of + strange gods, but guard him most of all from the wiles of strange women + who bow the knee to Baal, for such are the gate of Gehenna upon earth, and + those who enter by it shall find their place in Tophet.’” + </p> + <p> + “Truly my grandsire speaks wisely on this matter as on all others,” + answered Aziel, “but still I do not understand.” + </p> + <p> + “Then I will be more clear, Prince. How comes it that I find you alone + with this beautiful sorceress, this worshipper of the she-devil, Baaltis, + with whom you should scorn even to speak, except such words as courtesy + demands?” + </p> + <p> + “Is it then forbidden to me,” asked Aziel angrily, “to talk with the + daughter of my host, a lady whom I chanced to save from death, of the + customs of her country and the mysteries of worship?” + </p> + <p> + “The mysteries of worship!” answered Issachar scornfully. “Ay! the + mysteries of the worship of that fair body of hers, that ivory chalice + filled with foulness—whereof, if a man drink, his faith shall be + rotted and his soul poisoned. The mysteries of that worship was it, + Prince, that caused you but now to lean towards this woman as though to + embrace her, with words of love burning in your heart if not between your + lips? Ah! these witches of Baaltis know their trade well; they are full of + evil gifts, and of the wisdom given to them by the fiend they serve. With + touch and sigh and look they can stir the blood of youth, having much + practice in the art, till it seethes within the veins and drowns + conscience in its flood. + </p> + <p> + “Nay, Prince, hear the truth,” continued Issachar. “Till moonrise you had + never seen this woman, and now your quick blood is aflame, and you love + her. Deny it if you can—deny it on your honour and I will believe + you, for you are no liar.” + </p> + <p> + Aziel thought for a moment and answered:— + </p> + <p> + “Issachar, you have no right to question me on this matter, yet since you + have adjured me by my honour, I will be open with you. I do not know if I + love this woman, who, as you say, is a stranger to me, but it is true that + my heart turns towards her like flowers to the sun. Till to-day I had + never seen her, yet when my eyes first fell upon her face yonder in that + accursed grove, it seemed to me that I had been born only that I might + find her. It seemed to me even that for ages I had known her, that for + ever she was mine and that I was hers. Read me the riddle, Issachar? Is + this but passion born of youth and the sudden sight of a fair woman? That + cannot be, for I have known others as fair, and have passed through some + such fires. Tell me, Issachar, you who are old and wise and have seen much + of the hearts of men, what is this wave that overwhelms me?” + </p> + <p> + “What is it, Prince? It is witchery; it is the wile of Beelzebub waiting + to snatch your soul, and if you hearken to it you shall pass through the + fire—through the fire to Moloch, if not in the flesh, then in the + spirit, which is to all eternity. Oh! not in vain do I fear for you, my + son, and not without reason was I warned in a dream. Listen: Last night, + as I lay in my tent yonder upon the plain, I dreamed that some danger + overshadowed you, and in my sleep I prayed that your destiny might be + revealed to me. As I prayed thus, I heard a voice saying, ‘Issachar, you + seek to learn the future; know then that he who is dear to you shall be + tried in the furnace indeed. Yes, because of his great love and pity, he + shall forswear his faith, and with death and sorrow he shall pay the price + of his sin.’ + </p> + <p> + “Then I was troubled and besought Heaven that you, my son, might be saved + from this unknown temptation, but the voice answered me:— + </p> + <p> + “‘Of their own will only can they who were one from the beginning be held + apart. Through good and ill let them work each other’s woe or weal. The + goal is sure, but they must choose the road.’ + </p> + <p> + “Now as I wondered what these dark sayings might mean, the gloom opened + and I saw you, Aziel, standing in a grove of trees, while towards you with + outstretched hands drew a veiled woman who bore upon her brow the golden + bow of Baaltis. Then fire raged about you, and in the fire I beheld many + things which I have forgotten, and moving through it was the Prince of + Death, who slew and slew and spared not. So I awoke heavy at heart, + knowing that there had fallen on me who love you a shadow of doom to + come.” + </p> + <p> + In these latter days any educated man would set aside Issachar’s wild + vision as the vapourings of a mind distraught. But Aziel lived in the time + of Solomon, when men of his nation guided their steps by the light of + prophecy, and believed that it was the Divine pleasure, by means of dreams + and wonders and through the mouths of chosen seers, to declare the will of + Jehovah upon earth. To this faith, indeed, we still hold fast, at least so + far as that period and people are concerned, seeing that we acknowledge + Isaiah, David, and their company, to have been inspired from above. Of + that company Issachar the Levite was one, for to him, from his youth up, + voices had spoken in the watches of the night, and often he had poured his + warnings and denunciations into the ears of kings and peoples, telling + them with no uncertain voice of the consequences of sin and idolatry, and + of punishment to come. This Aziel, who had been his ward and pupil, knew + well, and therefore he did not mock at the priest’s dream or set it aside + as naught, but bowed his head and listened. + </p> + <p> + “I am honoured indeed,” he said with humility, “that the destiny of my + poor soul and body should be a thing of weight to those on high.” + </p> + <p> + “Of your poor soul, Aziel?” broke in Issachar. “That soul of yours, of + which you speak so lightly, is of as great value in the eyes of Heaven as + that of any cherubim within its gates. The angels who fell were the first + and chiefest of the angels, and though now we are clad with mortal shape + in punishment of our sins, again redeemed and glorified we can become + among the mightiest of their hosts. Oh! my son, I beseech you, turn from + this woman while there yet is time, lest to you her lips should be a cup + of woe and your soul shall pay the price of them, sharing the hell of the + worshippers of Ashtoreth.” + </p> + <p> + “It may be so,” said Aziel; “but, Issachar, what said the voice? That + this, the woman of your dream and I were one from the beginning? Issachar, + you believe that the lady Elissa is she of whom the voice spoke in your + sleep and you bid me turn from her because she will bring me sin and + punishment. In truth, if I can, I will obey you, since rather than + forswear my faith, as your dream foretold, I would die a hundred deaths. + Nor do I believe that for any bribe of woman’s love I shall forswear it in + act or thought. Yet if such things come about it is fate that drives me + on, not my will—and what man can flee his fate? But even though this + lady be she whom I am doomed to love, you say that because she is heathen + I must reject her. Shame upon the thought, for if she is heathen it is + through ignorance, and it may be mine to change her heart. Because I stand + in danger shall I suffer her who, as you tell me, was one with me from the + beginning, to be lost in that hell of Baal of which you speak? Nay, your + dream is false. I will not renounce my faith, but rather will win her to + share it, and together we shall triumph, and that I swear to you, + Issachar.” + </p> + <p> + “Truly the evil one has many wiles,” answered the Levite, “and I did ill + to tell you of my dream, seeing that it can be twisted to serve the + purpose of your madness. Have your will, Aziel, and reap the fruit of it, + but of this I warn you—that while I can find a way to thwart it, + never, Prince, shall you take that witch to your bosom to be the ruin of + your life and soul.” + </p> + <p> + “Then, Issachar, on this matter there may be war between us!” + </p> + <p> + “Ay! there is war,” said the Levite, and left him. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + The sun was already high in the heavens when Aziel awoke from the deep and + dreamless sleep which followed on the excitements and exhaustion of the + previous day. After his servants had waited upon him and robed him, + bringing him milk and fruit to eat, he dismissed them, and sat himself + down by the casement of his chamber to think a while. + </p> + <p> + Below him lay the city of flat-roofed houses enclosed with a double wall, + without the ring of which were thousands of straw huts, shaped like + bee-hives, wherein dwelt natives of the country, slaves or servants of the + occupying Phoenician race. To Aziel’s right, and not more than a hundred + paces from the governor’s house in which he was, rose the round and mighty + battlements of the temple, where the followers of El and Baaltis + worshipped, and the gold refiners carried on their business. At intervals + on its flat-topped walls stood towers of observation, alternating with + pointed monoliths of granite and soapstone columns supporting vultures, + rudely carved emblems of Baaltis. Between these towers armed soldiers + walked continually, watching the city below and the plain beyond, for + though the mission of the Phoenicians here was one of peaceful gain it was + evident that they considered it necessary to be always prepared for war. + On the hillside above the great temple towered another fortress of stone—a + citadel deemed to be impregnable even should the temple fall into the + hands of an enemy—while on the crest of the precipitous slope, + stretching as far to right and left as the eye could reach, were many + smaller detached strongholds. + </p> + <p> + The scene that Aziel saw from his window was a busy one, for beneath him a + market was being held in an open square in the city. Here, sheltered from + the sun by grass-thatched booths, the Phoenician merchants who had been + his companions in their long and perilous journey from the coast were + already in treaty with numerous customers, hoping, not in vain, to recoup + themselves amply for the toils and dangers which they had survived. + Beneath these booths were spread their goods; silks from Cos, bronze + weapons and copper rods, or ingots from the rich mines of Cyprus, linens + and muslins from Egypt; beads, idols, carven bowls, knives, glass ware, + pottery in all shapes, and charms made of glazed faience or Egyptian + stone; bales of the famous purple cloth of Tyre; surgical instruments, + jewellery, and objects of toilet; scents, pots of rouge, and other + unguents for the use of ladies in little alabaster and earthenware vases; + bags of refined salt, and a thousand other articles of commerce produced + or stored in the workshops of Phoenicia. These the chapmen bartered for + raw gold by weight, tusks of ivory, ostrich feathers, and girls of + approved beauty, slaves taken in war, or in some instances maidens whom + their unnatural parents or relatives did not scruple to sell into bondage. + </p> + <p> + In another portion of the square, provisions and stock, alive and dead, + were being offered for sale, for the most part by natives of the country. + Here were piles of vegetables and fruits grown in the gardens, sacks of + various sorts of grain, bundles of green forage from the irrigated lands + without the walls, calabashes full of curdled milk, thick native beer and + trusses of reed for thatching. Here again were oxen, mules and asses, or + great bucks such as we now know as eland or kudoo, carried in on rough + litters of boughs to be disposed of by parties of savage huntsmen who had + shot them with arrows or trapped them in pitfalls. Every Eastern tribe and + nation seemed to be represented in the motley crowd. Yonder stalked + savages, naked except for their girdles, and armed with huge spears, who + gazed with bewilderment on the wonders of this mart of the white man; + there moved grave, long-bearded Arab merchants or Phoenicians in their + pointed caps, or bare-headed white-robed Egyptians, or half-bred + mercenaries clad in mail. Their variety was without end, while from them + came a very babel of different tongues as they cried their wares, + bargained and quarrelled. + </p> + <p> + Aziel gazed at this novel sight with interest, till, as he was beginning + to weary of it, the crowd parted to right and left, leaving a clear lane + across the market-place to the narrow gate of the temple. Along this lane + advanced a procession of the priests of El clad in red robes, with tall + red caps upon their heads, beneath which their straight hair hung down to + their shoulders. In their hands were gilded rods, and round their necks + hung golden chains, to which were attached emblems of the god they + worshipped. They walked two-and-two to the number of fifty, chanting a + melancholy dirge, one hand of each priest resting upon his fellow’s + shoulder, and as they passed, with the exception of certain Jews, all the + spectators uncovered, while some of the more pious of them even fell upon + their knees. + </p> + <p> + After the priests came a second procession, that of the priestesses of + Baaltis. These women, who numbered at least a hundred, were clad in white, + and wore upon their heads a gauze-like veil that fell to the knees, and + was held in place by a golden fillet surmounted with the symbol of a + crescent moon. Instead of the golden rods, however, each of them held in + her left hand a growing stalk of maize, from the sheathed cob of which + hung the bright tassel of its bloom. On her right wrist, moreover, a + milk-white dove was fastened by a wire, both corn and dove being tokens of + that fertility which, under various guises, was the real object of worship + of these people. The sight of these white-veiled women about whose + crescent-decked brows the doves fluttered, wildly striving to be free, was + very strange and beautiful as they advanced also singing a low and + melancholy chant. Aziel searched their faces with his eyes while they + passed slowly towards him, and presently his heart bounded, for there + among them, clasping the dove she bore to her breast, as though to still + its frightened strugglings, was the Lady Elissa. He noticed, too, that as + she went beneath the palace walls, she glanced at the window-place of his + chamber, but without seeing him for he was seated in the shadow. + </p> + <p> + Presently the long line of priestesses, followed by hundreds of + worshippers, had vanished through the tortuous and narrow entrance of the + temple, and Aziel leaned back to think. + </p> + <p> + There, among the principal votaries of a goddess, the wickedness of whose + worship was a scandal and a by-word even in the ancient world, walked the + woman to whom he felt so strangely drawn and with whom, if there were any + truth in the visions of Issachar and the mysterious warnings of his own + soul, his fate was intertwined. As he thought of it a sudden revulsion + filled his heart. She was wise and beautiful, and she seemed innocent, but + Issachar was right; this girl was the minister of an abominable creed; + nay, for aught he knew, she was herself defiled with its abominations, and + her wisdom but an evil gift from the evil powers she served. Could he, a + prince of the royal blood of the House of Israel and of the ancient + Pharaohs of Khem, desire to have anything to do with such an one, he a + child of the Chosen People, a worshipper of the true and only God? + Yesterday she had thrown a spell upon him, a spell of black magic, or the + spell of her imperial beauty, which, it mattered not, but to-day he was + the lord of his own mind, and would shake himself free of it and her. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + In the market-place below, the Levite Issachar also had watched the + passing of the priests and priestesses of El and Baaltis. + </p> + <p> + “Tell me, Metem,” he asked of the Phoenician who stood beside him, his + head respectfully uncovered, “what mummery is this?” + </p> + <p> + “It is no mummery, worthy Issachar, but a ceremony of public sacrifice, + which is to be offered in the temple yonder, for the recovery from her + sickness of the Lady Baaltis, the high-priestess.” + </p> + <p> + “Where then is the offering. I see none, unless it be those doves that are + tied to the wrists of the women?” + </p> + <p> + “Nay, Issachar,” answered Metem smiling darkly, “the gods ask nobler blood + than that of doves. The offering is within, and it is the first-born child + of a priestess of Baaltis.” + </p> + <p> + “O Lord of Heaven!” said Issachar lifting up his eyes, “how long will you + suffer that this murderous and accursed race should defile the face of + earth?” + </p> + <p> + “Softly, friend,” broke in Metem, “I have read your Scriptures, and is it + not set out in them that your great forefather was commanded to offer up + his first-born in such a sacrifice?” + </p> + <p> + “Blaspheme not,” answered the Jew. “He was commanded indeed, that his + heart might be proved, but his hand was stayed. He Whom I worship delights + not in the blood of children.” + </p> + <p> + Here Issachar broke off, suddenly recognising the lady Elissa among the + white-robed priestesses. Watching her, he noted her glance at the window + of Aziel’s chamber, and saw what she could not see, that the prince was + seated there. “This daughter of Satan spreads her nets,” he muttered + between his teeth. Then a thought struck him, and he added aloud, “Say, + Metem, is it permitted to strangers to witness the rites in yonder + temple?” + </p> + <p> + “Surely,” answered the Phoenician; “that is, if they guard their tongues, + and do nothing to offend.” + </p> + <p> + “Then I desire to see them, Metem, and so doubtless does the prince Aziel. + Therefore, if it is your will, do me the service to enter his chamber in + the palace where he is sitting, and bid him to a great ceremony that goes + forward in the temple. And, Metem, if he asks what that ceremony is, I + charge you, say only that a dove is to be sacrificed. + </p> + <p> + “I will wait for you at the gate of the temple, but do not tell him that I + send you on this errand. Metem, you love gain; remember that if you humour + me in this and other matters which may arise, doing my bidding faithfully, + I have the treasury of Jerusalem to draw upon.” + </p> + <p> + “No ill paymaster,” replied Metem cheerfully. “Certainly I will obey you + in all things, holy Issachar, as the king commanded me yonder in Judea.” + </p> + <p> + “Now,” he reflected to himself, as he went upon his message, “I see how + the bird flies. The prince Aziel is in love with the lady Elissa, or far + upon the road to it, as at his age it is right and proper that he should + be, after a twelve months’ journey by sea and land with never a pretty + face to sigh for. The holy Issachar, on the other hand, is minded that his + charge shall have naught to do with a priestess of Baaltis, as, his age + and calling considered, is also right and proper. Then there is that black + savage Ithobal, who wishes to win the girl, and the girl herself, who + after the fashion of her sex, will probably play them all off one against + the other. Well, so much the better for me, since I shall be a richer man + even than I am before this affair is done with. I have two hands, and gold + is gold whoever be the giver,” and smiling craftily to himself Metem + passed into the palace. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V + </h2> + <h3> + THE PLACE OF SACRIFICE + </h3> + <p> + Suddenly Aziel, looking up from his reverie, saw the Phoenician bowing + before him, cap in hand. + </p> + <p> + “May the Prince live for ever,” he said, “yet if he suffer melancholy to + overcome him thus, his life, however long, will be but sad.” + </p> + <p> + “I was only thinking, Metem,” answered Aziel with a start. + </p> + <p> + “Of the lady Elissa, whom you rescued, Prince? Ah! I guessed as much. She + is beautiful, is she not—I have never seen the equal of those dreamy + eyes and that mysterious smile—and learned also, though myself, in a + woman I prefer the beauty without the learning. It is a pity now that she + should chance to be a priestess of our worship, for that will not please + the holy Issachar whom, I fear, Prince, you find a stern guide for the + feet of youth.” + </p> + <p> + “Your business, merchant?” broke in Aziel. + </p> + <p> + “I crave your pardon, Prince,” answered the Phoenician, spreading out his + hands in deprecation. “I struck a good bargain for my wares this morning, + and drank wine to seal it, therefore, let me be forgiven if I have spoken + too freely in your presence, Prince. This is my business: Yonder in the + temple they celebrate a service which it is lawful for strangers to + witness, and as the opportunity is rare, I thought that, having heard + something of our mysteries in the grove last night, you might wish to see + the office. If this be so, I am come to guide you.” + </p> + <p> + “Aziel’s first impulse was to refuse to go; indeed, the words of dismissal + were on his lips when another purpose entered his mind. For this once he + would look upon these abominations and learn what part Elissa played in + them, and thus be cured for ever of the longings that had seized him. + </p> + <p> + “What is the ceremony?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + “A sacrifice for the recovery of the lady Baaltis who is sick, Prince.” + </p> + <p> + “And what is the sacrifice?” asked Aziel. + </p> + <p> + “A dove, as I am told,” was the indifferent answer. + </p> + <p> + “I will come with you, Metem.” + </p> + <p> + “So be it, Prince. Your retinue awaits you at the gate.” + </p> + <p> + At the main entrance to the palace Aziel found his guard and other + servants gathered there to escort him. With them was Issachar, whom he + greeted, asking him if he knew the errand upon which they were bent. + </p> + <p> + “I do, Prince; it is to witness the abomination of a sacrifice of these + heathens.” + </p> + <p> + “Will you then accompany me there, Issachar?” + </p> + <p> + “Where my lord goes I go,” answered the Levite gravely. “Moreover, Prince, + if you have your reasons for wishing to see this devil-worship, I may have + mine.” + </p> + <p> + Then they set out, Metem guiding them. At the north gate of the temple, + which was not more than a yard in width, the Phoenician spoke to the + guards on duty, who drew back to let them pass. In single file, for the + passages were too narrow to allow of any other means of progression, they + threaded the tortuous and mazy paths of the great building, passing + between huge walls built of granite blocks laid without mortar, till at + length they reached a large open space. Here the ceremony had already + begun. Almost in the centre of this space, which was paved with blocks of + granite, stood two conical towers, the larger of which measured thirty + feet in height and the smaller about half as much. These towers, also + build of blocks of stone, were, as Metem informed them, sacred to and + emblematical of the gods El and Baaltis. In front of them was a platform + surmounted by a stone altar, and between them, built in a pit in the + ground, burned a great furnace of wood. All the centre of the enclosure + was occupied by the marshalled ranks of the priests and priestesses. + Without this sacred ring stood the closely packed masses of spectators, + amongst whom Aziel and his following were given place, though some of the + more pious worshippers murmured audibly at the admission of these Jews. + </p> + <p> + When they entered, the companies of priests and priestesses were finishing + a prayer, the sentences of which they chanted alternately with strange + effect. In part it was formal, and in part an improvised supplication to + the protecting gods to restore health to that woman or high-priestess who + was known as the lady Baaltis. The prayer ended, a beautiful bold-faced + girl advanced to an open space in front of the altar, and with a sudden + movement threw off her white robe, revealing herself to the spectators in + a many-coloured garment of gauze, through which her fair flesh gleamed. + </p> + <p> + The black hair of this woman was adorned with a coronet of scarlet flowers + and hung loose about her; her feet and arms were naked, and in each hand + she held a knife of bronze. Very slowly she began to dance, her painted + lips parted as though to speak, and her eyes, brightened with pigments, + turned up to heaven. By degrees her movements grew more rapid, till at + length, as she whirled round, her long locks streamed out straight upon + the air and the crown of flowers looked like a scarlet ring. Suddenly the + bronze knife in her right hand flashed, and a spot of red appeared above + her left breast; then the knife in the left hand flashed, and another spot + appeared over the right breast. At each stroke the multitude cried, “<i>Ah!</i>” + as with one voice, and then were silent. + </p> + <p> + Now the maddened dancer, ceasing her whirlings, leapt high into the air, + clashing the knives above her head and crying, “Hear me, hear me, + Baaltis!” + </p> + <p> + Again she leapt, and this time the answer that came from her lips was + spoken in another voice, which said, “I am present. What seek you?” + </p> + <p> + A third time the priestess leapt, replying in her own voice, “Health for + thy servant who is sick.” Then came the answer in the second voice—“I + hear you, but I see no sacrifice.” + </p> + <p> + “What sacrifice would’st thou, O Queen? A dove?” + </p> + <p> + “Nay.” + </p> + <p> + “What then, Queen?” + </p> + <p> + “One only, the first-born child of a woman.” + </p> + <p> + As this command, which they supposed to be divine and from above, issued + out of the lips of the gashed and bleeding Pythoness, the multitude that + hitherto had listened in perfect silence, shouted aloud, while the girl + herself, utterly exhausted, fell to the earth swooning. + </p> + <p> + Now the high priest of El, who was named the Shadid, none other indeed + than the husband of her who lay sick, sprang upon the platform and cried:— + </p> + <p> + “The goddess has spoken by the mouth of her oracle. She who is the mother + of all demands one life out of the many she has given, that the Lady + Baaltis, who is her priestess upon earth, may be recovered of her + sickness. Say, who will lay down a life for the honour of the goddess, and + that her regent in this land may be saved alive?” + </p> + <p> + Now—for all this scene had been carefully prepared—a woman + stepped forward, wearing the robe of a priestess, who bore in her arms a + drugged and sleeping child. + </p> + <p> + “I, father,” she cried in a shrill, hard voice, though her lips trembled + as she spoke. “Let the goddess take this child, the first-fruit of my + body, that our mother the Lady Baaltis may be cured of her sickness, and + that I, her daughter, may be blessed by the goddess, and through me, all + we who worship her.” And she held out the little victim towards him. + </p> + <p> + The Shadid stretched out his arms to take it, but he never did take it, + for at that moment appeared upon the platform the tall and bearded figure + of Issachar clad in his white robes. + </p> + <p> + “Hold!” he cried in a loud, clear voice, “and touch not the innocent + child. Spawn of Satan, would you do murder to appease the devils whom you + worship? Well shall they repay you, people of Zimboe. Oh! mine eyes are + open and I see,” he went on, shaking his thin arms above his head in a + prophetic frenzy. “I see the sword of the true God, and it flames above + this city of idolaters and abominations. I see this place of sacrifice, + and I tell you that before the moon is young again it shall run red with + the blood of you, idol worshippers, and of you, women of the groves. The + heathen is at your gates, ye followers of demons, and my God sends them as + He sends the locusts of the north wind to devour you like grass, to sweep + you away like the dust of the desert. Cry then upon El and Baaltis, and + let El and Baaltis save you if they can. Doom is upon you; Azrael, angel + of death, writes his name upon your foreheads, every one of you, giving + your city to the owls, your bodies to the jackals, and your souls to Satan——” + </p> + <p> + Thus far the priests and the spectators had listened to Issachar’s + denunciations in bewildered amazement not unmixed with fear. Now with a + roar of wrath they awoke, and suddenly he was dragged from the platform by + a score of hands and struck down with many blows. Indeed, he would then + and there have been torn to pieces had not a guard of soldiers, knowing + that he was Sakon’s guest and in the train of the prince Aziel, snatched + him from the maddened multitude, and borne him swiftly to a place of + safety without the enclosure. + </p> + <p> + While the tumult was at its height, a Phoenician, who had arrived in the + temple breathless with haste, might have been seen to pluck Metem by the + sleeve. + </p> + <p> + “What is it?” Metem asked of the man, who was his servant. + </p> + <p> + “This: the lady Baaltis is dead. I watched as you bade me, and, as she had + promised to do, in token of the end, her woman waved a napkin from the + casement of that tower where she lies.” + </p> + <p> + “Do any know of this?” + </p> + <p> + “None.” + </p> + <p> + “Then say no word of it,” and Metem hurried off in search of Aziel. + </p> + <p> + Presently he found him seeking for Issachar in company with his guards. + </p> + <p> + “Have no fear, Prince,” Metem said, in answer to his eager questions, “he + is safe enough, for the soldiers have borne the fool away. Pardon me that + I should speak thus of a holy man, but he has put all our lives in + danger.” + </p> + <p> + “I do not pardon you,” answered Aziel hotly, “and I honour Issachar for + his act and words. Let us begone from this accursed place whither you + entrapped me.” + </p> + <p> + Before Metem could reply a voice cried, “Close the doors of the sanctuary, + so that none can pass in or go out, and let the sacrifice be offered.” + </p> + <p> + “Listen, Prince,” said Metem, “you must stay here till the ceremony is + done.” + </p> + <p> + “Then I tell you, Phoenician,” answered Aziel, “that rather than suffer + that luckless child to be butchered before my eyes I will cut my way to it + with my guards, and rescue it alive.” + </p> + <p> + “To leave yourself dead in place of it,” answered Metem sarcastically; + “but, see, a woman desires to speak with you,” and he pointed to a girl in + the robe of a priestess, whose face was hidden with a veil, and who, in + the tumult and confusion, had worked her way to Aziel. + </p> + <p> + “Prince,” whispered the veiled form, “I am Elissa. For your life’s sake + keep still and silent, or you will be stabbed, for your words have been + overheard, and the priests are mad at the insult that has been put upon + them.” + </p> + <p> + “Away with you, woman,” answered Aziel; “what have I to do with a girl of + the groves and a murderess of children?” + </p> + <p> + She winced at his bitter words, but said quietly:— + </p> + <p> + “Then on your own head be your blood, Prince, which I have risked much to + keep unshed. But before you die, learn that I knew nothing of this foul + sacrifice, and that gladly would I give my own life to save that of yonder + child.” + </p> + <p> + “Save it, and I will believe you,” answered the prince, turning from her. + </p> + <p> + Elissa slipped away, for she saw that the priestesses, her companions, + were reforming their ranks, and that she must not tarry. When she had gone + a few yards, a hand caught her by the sleeve, and the voice of Metem, who + had overheard something of this talk, whispered in her ear:— + </p> + <p> + “Daughter of Sakon, what will you give me if I show you a way to save the + life of the child, and with it that of the prince, and at the same time to + make him think well of you again?” + </p> + <p> + “All my jewels and ornaments of gold, and they are many,” she answered + eagerly. + </p> + <p> + “Good; it is a bargain. Now listen: The lady Baaltis is dead; she died a + few minutes since, and none here know it save myself and one other, my + servant, nor can any learn it, for the gates are shut. Do you be, + therefore, suddenly inspired—of the gods—and say so, for then + the sacrifice must cease, seeing that she for whom it was to be offered is + dead. Do you understand?” + </p> + <p> + “I understand,” she answered, “and though the blasphemy bring on me the + vengeance of Baaltis, yet it shall be dared. Fear not, your pay is good,” + and she pressed forward to her place, keeping the veil wrapped about her + head till she reached it unobserved, for in the general confusion none had + noticed her movements. + </p> + <p> + When the noise of shouting and angry voices had at length died away, and + the spectators were driven back outside the sacred circle, the priest upon + the platform cried:— + </p> + <p> + “Now that the Jew blasphemer has gone, let the sacrifice be offered, as is + decreed.” + </p> + <p> + “Yea, let the sacrifice be offered,” answered the multitude, and once more + the woman with the sleeping child stepped forward. But before the priest + could take it another figure approached him, that of Elissa, with arms + outstretched and eyes upturned. + </p> + <p> + “Hold, O priest!” she said, “for the goddess, breathing on my brow, + inspires me, and I have a message from the goddess.” + </p> + <p> + “Draw near, daughter, and speak it in the ears of men,” the priest + answered wondering, for he found it hard to believe in such inspiration, + and indeed would have denied her a hearing had he dared. + </p> + <p> + So Elissa climbed the platform, and standing upon it still with + outstretched hands and upturned face, she said in a clear voice:— + </p> + <p> + “The goddess refuses the sacrifice, since she has taken to herself her for + whom it was to have been offered—the Lady Baaltis is dead.” + </p> + <p> + At this tidings a groan went up from the people, partly of grief for the + loss of a spiritual dignitary who was popular, and partly of + disappointment because now the sacrifice could not be offered. For the + Phoenicians loved these horrible spectacles, which were not, however, + commonly celebrated by daylight and in the presence of the people. + </p> + <p> + “It is a lie,” cried a voice, “but now the Lady Baaltis was living.” + </p> + <p> + “Let the gates be opened, and send to see whether or no I lie,” said + Elissa, quietly. + </p> + <p> + Then for a while there was silence while a priest went upon the errand. At + length he was seen returning. Pushing his way through the crowd, he + mounted the platform, and said:— + </p> + <p> + “The daughter of Sakon speaks truth; alas! the lady Baaltis is dead.” + </p> + <p> + Elissa sighed in relief, for had her tidings proved false she could + scarcely have hoped to escape the fury of the crowd. + </p> + <p> + “Ay!” she cried, “she is dead, as I told you, and because of your sin, who + would have offered human sacrifice in public, against the custom of our + faith and city and without the command of the goddess.” + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Then in sullen silence the priests and priestesses reformed their ranks, + and departed from the sanctuary, whence they were followed by the + spectators, the most of them in no good mood, for they had been baulked of + the promised spectacle. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI + </h2> + <h3> + THE HALL OF AUDIENCE + </h3> + <p> + When Elissa reached her chamber after the break up of the procession, she + threw herself upon her couch, and burst into a passion of tears. Well + might she weep, for she had been false to her oath as a priestess, + uttering as a message from the goddess that which she had learnt from the + lips of man. More, she could not rid herself of the remembrance of the + scorn and loathing with which the Prince Aziel had looked upon her, or of + the bitter insult of his words when he called her, “a girl of the groves, + and a murderess of children.” + </p> + <p> + It chanced that, so far as Elissa was concerned, these charges were + utterly untrue. None could throw a slur upon her, and as for these rare + human sacrifices, she loathed the very name of them, nor, unless forced to + it, would she have been present had she guessed that any such offering was + intended. + </p> + <p> + Like most of the ancient religions, that of the Phoenicians had two sides + to it—a spiritual and a material side. The spiritual side was a + worship of the far-off unknown divinity, symbolised by the sun, moon and + planets, and visible only in their majestic movements, and in the forces + of nature. To this Elissa clung, knowing no truer god, and from those + forces she strove to wring their secret, for her heart was deep. Lonely + invocations to the goddess beneath the light of the moon appealed to her, + for from them she seemed to draw strength and comfort, but the outward + ceremonies of her faith, or the more secret and darker of them, of which + in practice she knew little, were already an abomination in her eyes. And + now what if the Jew prophet spoke truly? What if this creed of hers were a + lie, root and branch, and there did lie in the heavens above a Lord and + Father who heard and answered the prayers of men, and who did not seek of + them the blood of the children He had given? + </p> + <p> + A great doubt took hold of Elissa and shook her being, and with the doubt + came hope. How was it—if her faith were true—that when she + took the name of the goddess in vain, nothing had befallen her? She + desired to learn more of this matter, but who was to teach her? The Levite + turned from her with loathing as from a thing unclean, and there remained, + therefore, but the prince Aziel, who had put her from him with those + bitter words of scorn. Ah! why did they pain her so, piercing her heart as + with a spear? Was it because—because—he had grown dear to her? + Yes, that was the truth. She had learned it even as he cursed her; all her + quick southern blood was alight with a new fire, the like of which she had + never known before. And not her blood only, it was her spirit—her + spirit that yearned to his. Had it not leapt within her at the first sight + of him as to one most dear, one long-lost and found again? She loved him, + and he loathed her, and oh! her lot was hard. + </p> + <p> + As Elissa lay brooding thus in her pain, the door opened and Sakon, her + father, hurried into the chamber. + </p> + <p> + “What is it that chanced yonder?” he asked, for he had not been present in + the sanctuary, “and, daughter, why do you weep?” + </p> + <p> + “I weep, father, because your guest, the prince Aziel, has called me ‘a + girl of the groves, and a murderess of children,’” she replied. + </p> + <p> + “Then, by my head, prince that he is, he shall answer for it to me,” said + Sakon, grasping at his sword-hilt. + </p> + <p> + “Nay, father, since to him I must have seemed to deserve the words. + Listen.” And she told him all that had passed, hiding nothing. + </p> + <p> + “Now it seems that trouble is heaped upon trouble,” said the Phoenician + when she had finished, “and they were mad who suffered the prince and that + fierce Issachar to be present at the sacrifice. Daughter, I tell you this: + though I am a worshipper of El and Baaltis, as my fathers were before me, + I know that Jehovah of the Jews is a great and powerful Lord, and that His + prophets do not prophesy falsely, for I have seen it in my youth, yonder + in the coasts of Sidon. What did Issachar say? That before the moon was + young again, this temple should run red with blood? Well, so it may + happen, for Ithobal threatens war against us, and for your sake, my + daughter.” + </p> + <p> + “How for my sake, father?” she asked heavily, as one who knew what the + answer would be. + </p> + <p> + “You know well, girl. Ever since you danced before him at the great + welcoming feast I made in his honour a month ago the man is besotted of + you; moreover, he is mad with jealousy of this new-comer, the prince + Aziel. He has demanded public audience of me this afternoon, and I have it + privately that then he will formally ask you in marriage before the + people, and if he is refused will declare war upon the city, with which he + has many an ancient quarrel. Yes, yes, king Ithobal is that sword of God + which the Jew said he saw hanging over us, and should it fall it will be + because of you, Elissa.” + </p> + <p> + “The Jew did not say that, father; he said it would be because of the sins + of the people and their idolatries.” + </p> + <p> + “What does it matter what he said?” broke in Sakon hastily. “How shall I + answer Ithobal?” + </p> + <p> + “Tell him,” she replied with a strange smile, “that he does wisely to be + jealous of the prince Aziel.” + </p> + <p> + “What! Of the stranger who this very day reviled you in words of such + shame, and so soon?” asked her father astonished. + </p> + <p> + Elissa did not speak in answer; she only looked straight before her, and + nodded her head. + </p> + <p> + “Had ever man such a daughter?” Sakon went on in petulant dismay. “Truly + it is a wise saying which tells that women love those best who beat them, + be it with the tongue or with the fist. Not but what I would gladly see + you wedded to a prince of Israel and of Egypt rather than of this + half-bred barbarian, but the legions of Solomon and of Pharaoh are far + away, whereas Ithobal has a hundred thousand spears almost at our gate.” + </p> + <p> + “There is no need to speak of such things, father,” she said, turning + aside, “since, even were I willing, the prince would have nought to do + with me, who am a priestess of Baaltis.” + </p> + <p> + “The matter of religion might be overcome,” suggested Sakon; “but, no, for + many reasons it is impossible. Well, this being so, daughter, I may answer + Ithobal that you will wed him.” + </p> + <p> + “I!” she said; “I wed that black-hearted savage? My father, you may answer + what you will, but of this be sure, that I will go to my grave before I + pass as wife to the board of Ithobal.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! my daughter,” pleaded Sakon, “think before you say it. As his wife at + least you, who are not of royal blood, will be a queen, and the mother of + kings. But if you refuse, then either I must force you, which is hateful + to me, or there will be such a war as the city has not known for + generations, for Ithobal and his tribes have many grievances against us. + By the gift of yourself, for a while, at any rate, you can, as it chances, + make peace between us, but if that is withheld, then blood will run in + rivers, and perhaps this city, with all who live in it, will be destroyed, + or at the least its trade must be ruined and its wealth stolen away.” + </p> + <p> + “If it is decreed that all these things are to be, they will be,” answered + Elissa calmly, “seeing that this war has threatened us for many years, and + that a woman must think of herself first, and of the fate of cities + afterwards. Of my own free will I shall never take Ithobal for husband. + Father, I have said.” + </p> + <p> + “Of the fate of cities, yes; but how of my fate, and that of those we + love? Are we all to be ruined, and perhaps slaughtered, to satisfy your + whim, girl?” + </p> + <p> + “I did not say so, father. I said that of my own free will I would not wed + Ithobal. If you choose to give me to him you have the right to do it, but + know then that you give me to my death. Perhaps it is best that it should + be thus.” + </p> + <p> + Sakon knew his daughter well, and it did not need that he should glance at + her face to learn that she meant her words. Also he loved her, his only + child, more dearly than anything on earth. + </p> + <p> + “In truth my strait is hard, and I know not which way to turn,” he said, + covering his face with his hand. + </p> + <p> + “Father,” she replied, laying her fingers lightly on his shoulder, “what + need is there to answer him at once? Take a month, or if he will not give + it, a week. Much may happen in that time.” + </p> + <p> + “The counsel is wise,” he said, catching at this straw. “Daughter, be in + the great hall of audience with your attendants three hours after noon, + for then we must receive Ithobal boldly in all pomp, and deal with him as + best we may. And now I go to ask peace for the Levite from the priests of + El, and to discover whom the sacred colleges desire to nominate as the new + Baaltis. Doubtless it will be Mesa, the daughter of her who is dead, + though many are against her. Oh! if there were no priests and no women, + this city would be easier to govern,” and with an impatient gesture Sakon + left the room. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + It was three o’clock in the afternoon, and the great hall of audience in + Zimboe was crowded with a brilliant assemblage. There sat Sakon, the + governor, and with him his council of the notables of the city; there were + prince Aziel and among his retinue, Issachar the prophet, fierce-eyed as + ever, though hardly recovered from the rough handling he had experienced + in the temple. There were representatives of the college of the priests of + El. There were many ladies, wives and daughters of dignitaries and wealthy + citizens, and with them a great crowd of spectators of all classes + gathered in the lower part of the hall, for a rumour had spread about that + the farewell audience given by Sakon to King Ithobal was likely to be + stormy. + </p> + <p> + When all were gathered, a herald announced that Ithobal, King of the + Tribes, waited to take his leave of Sakon, Governor of Zimboe, before + departing to his own land on the morrow. + </p> + <p> + “Let him be admitted,” said Sakon, who looked weary and ill at ease. Then + as the herald bowed and left, he turned and whispered something into the + ear of his daughter Elissa, who stood behind his chair, her face immovable + as that of an Egyptian Sphinx, but magnificently apparelled in gleaming + robes and jewelled ornaments—which Metem, looking on them, reflected + with satisfaction were now his property. + </p> + <p> + Presently, preceded by a burst of savage music, Ithobal entered. He was + gorgeously arrayed in a purple Tyrian robe decked with golden chains, + while on the brow, in token of his royalty, he wore a golden circlet in + which was set a single blood-red stone. Before him walked a sword-bearer + carrying a sword of ceremony, a magnificent ivory-handled weapon encrusted + with rough gems and inlaid with gold, while behind him, clad in barbaric + pomp, marched a number of counsellors and attendants, huge and half-savage + men who glared wonderingly at the splendour of the place and its + occupants. As the king came, Sakon rose from his chair of state and, + advancing down the hall, took him by the hand and led him to a similar + chair placed at a little distance. + </p> + <p> + Ithobal seated himself and looked around the hall. Presently his glance + fell upon Aziel, and he scowled. + </p> + <p> + “Is it common, Sakon,” he asked, “that the seat of a prince should be set + higher than that of a crowned king?” And he pointed to the chair of Aziel, + which was placed a little above his own upon the daïs. + </p> + <p> + The governor was about to answer when Aziel said coldly:— + </p> + <p> + “Where it was pointed out to me that I should sit, there I sat, though, + for aught I care, the king Ithobal may take my place. The grandson of + Pharaoh and of Solomon does not need to dispute for precedence with the + savage ruler of savage tribes.” + </p> + <p> + Ithobal sprang to his feet and cried, grasping his sword:— + </p> + <p> + “By my father’s soul, you shall answer for this, Princelet.” + </p> + <p> + “You should have sworn by your mother’s soul, King Ithobal,” replied Aziel + quietly, “for doubtless it is the black blood in your veins that causes + you to forget your courtesy. For the rest, I answer to no man save to my + king.” + </p> + <p> + “Yet there is one other who will make you answer,” replied Ithobal, in a + voice thick with rage, “and here he is,” and he drew his sword and flashed + it before the prince’s eyes. “Or if you fear to face him, then the wands + of my slaves shall cause you to cry me pardon.” + </p> + <p> + “If you desire to challenge me to combat, king Ithobal, for this purpose + only I am your servant, though the fashion of your challenging is not that + of any nation which I know.” + </p> + <p> + Before Ithobal could reply, Sakon cried out in a loud voice:— + </p> + <p> + “Enough, enough! Is this a place for brawling, king Ithobal, and would you + seek to fix a quarrel upon my guest, the prince Aziel, here in my council + chamber, and to bring upon me the wrath of Israel, of Tyre, and of Egypt? + Be sure that the prince shall cross no swords with you; no, not if I have + to set him under guard to keep him safe. To your business, king Ithobal, + or I break up this assembly and send you under escort to our gates.” + </p> + <p> + Now his counsellors plucked Ithobal by the sleeve and whispered to him + some advice, which at last he seemed to take with an ill grace, for, + turning, he said, “So be it. This is my business, Sakon: For many years I + and the countless tribes whom I rule have suffered much at the hands of + you Phoenicians, who centuries ago settled here in my country as traders. + That you should trade we are content, but not that you should establish + yourselves as a sovereign power, pretending to be my equals who are my + servants. Therefore, in the name of my nation, I demand that the tribute + which you pay to me for the use of the mines of gold shall henceforth be + doubled; that the defences of this city be thrown down; and that you cease + to enslave the natives of the land to labour in your service. I have + spoken.” + </p> + <p> + Now as these arrogant demands reached their ears, the company assembled in + the hall murmured with anger and astonishment, then turned to wait for + Sakon’s answer. + </p> + <p> + “And if we refuse these small requests of yours, O King?” asked the + governor sarcastically, “what then? Will you make war upon us?” + </p> + <p> + “First tell me, Sakon, if you do refuse them?” + </p> + <p> + “In the name of the cities of Tyre and Sidon whom I serve, and of Hiram my + master, I refuse them one and all,” answered Sakon with dignity. + </p> + <p> + “Then, Sakon, I am minded to bring up a hundred thousand men against you + and to sweep you and your city from the face of earth,” said Ithobal. “Yet + I remember that I also have Phoenician blood in my veins mixed with the + nobler and more ancient blood at which yonder upstart jeers, and therefore + I would spare you. I remember also that for generations there has been + peace and amity between my forefathers and the Council of this city, and + therefore I would spare you. Behold, then, I build a bridge whereby you + may escape, asking but one little thing of you in proof that you are + indeed my friend, and it is that you give me your daughter, the lady + Elissa, whom I seek to make my queen. Think well before you answer, + remembering that upon this answer may hang the lives of all who listen to + you, ay, and of many thousand others.” + </p> + <p> + For a while there was silence in the assemblage, and every eye was fixed + upon Elissa, who stood neither moving nor speaking, her face still set + like that of a Sphinx, and almost as unreadable. Aziel gazed at her with + the rest, and his eyes she felt alone of all the hundreds that were bent + upon her. Indeed, so strongly did they draw her, that against her own will + she turned her head and met them. Then remembering what had passed between + herself and the prince that very day, she coloured faintly and looked + down, neither the glance nor the blush escaping the watchful Ithobal. + </p> + <p> + Presently Sakon spoke:— + </p> + <p> + “King Ithobal,” he said, “I am honoured indeed that you should seek my + daughter as your queen, but she is my only child, whom I love, and I have + sworn to her that I will not force her to marry against her will, whoever + be the suitor. Therefore, King, take your answer from her own lips, for + whatever it be it is my answer.” + </p> + <p> + “Lady,” said Ithobal, “you have heard your father’s words; be pleased to + say that you look with favour upon my suit, and that you will deign to + share my throne and power.” + </p> + <p> + Elissa took a step forward on the daïs and curtseyed low before the king. + </p> + <p> + “O King!” she said, “I am your handmaid, and great indeed is the favour + that you would do your servant. Yet, King, I Pray of you search out some + fairer woman of a more royal rank to share your crown and sceptre, for I + am all unworthy of them, and to those words on this matter which I have + spoken in past days I have none to add.” Then again she curtseyed, adding, + “King, I am your servant.” + </p> + <p> + Now a murmur of astonishment went up from the audience, for few of them + thought it possible that Elissa, who, however beautiful, was but the + daughter of a noble, could refuse to become the wife of a king. Ithobal + alone did not seem to be astonished, for he had expected this answer. + </p> + <p> + “Lady,” he said, repressing with an effort the passions which were surging + within him, “I think that I have something to offer to the woman of my + choice, and yet you put me aside as lightly as though I had neither name, + nor power, nor station. This, as it seems to me, can be read in one way + only, that your heart is given elsewhere.” + </p> + <p> + “Have it as you will, King,” answered Elissa, “my heart is given + elsewhere.” + </p> + <p> + “And yet, lady, not four suns gone you swore to me that you loved no man. + Since then it seems that you have learned to love, and swiftly, and it is + yonder Jew whom you have chosen.” And he pointed to the prince Aziel. + </p> + <p> + Again Elissa coloured, this time to the eyes, but she showed no other sign + of confusion. + </p> + <p> + “May the king pardon me,” she said, “and may the prince Aziel, whose name + has thus been coupled with mine, pardon me. I said indeed that my heart + was given elsewhere, but I did not say it was given to any man. May not + the heart of a mortal maid-priestess be given to the Ever-living?” + </p> + <p> + Now for a moment the king was silenced, while a murmur of applause at her + ready wit went round the audience. But before it died away a voice at the + far end of the hall called out:— + </p> + <p> + “Perchance the lady does not know that yonder in Egypt, and in Jerusalem + also, prince Aziel is named the Ever-living.” + </p> + <p> + Now it was Elissa’s turn to be overcome. + </p> + <p> + “Nay, I knew it not,” she said; “how should I know it? I spoke of that + Dweller in the heavens whom I worship——” + </p> + <p> + “And behold, the title fits a dweller on the earth whom you must also + worship, for such omens do not come by chance,” cried the same voice, but + from another quarter of the crowded hall. + </p> + <p> + “I ask pardon,” broke in Aziel, “and leave to speak. It is true that owing + to a certain birth-mark which I bear, among the Egyptians I have been + given the bye-name of the Ever-living, but it is one which this lady can + scarcely have heard, therefore jest no more upon a chance accident of + words. Moreover, if you be men, cease to heap insult upon a woman. I who + am almost a stranger here have not dared to ask the lady Elissa for her + favour.” + </p> + <p> + “Ay, but you will ask and she will grant,” answered the same voice, the + owner of which none could discover—for he seemed to speak from every + part of the chamber. + </p> + <p> + “Indeed,” went on Aziel, not heeding the interruption, “the last words + between us were words of anger, for we quarrelled on a matter of + religion.” + </p> + <p> + “What of that?” cried the voice; “love is the highest of religions, for do + not the Phoenicians worship it?” + </p> + <p> + “Seize yonder knave,” shouted Sakon, and search was made but without + avail. Afterwards, however, Aziel remembered that once, when they were + weather-bound on their journey from the coast, Metem had amused them by + making his voice sound from various quarters of the hut in which they lay. + Then Ithobal rose and said:— + </p> + <p> + “Enough of this folly; I am not here to juggle with words, or to listen to + such play. Whether the lady Elissa spoke of the gods she serves or of a + man is one to me. I care not of whom she spoke, but for her words I do + care. Now hearken, you city of traders: If this is to be thy answer, then + I break down that bridge which I have built, and it is war between you and + my Tribes, war to the end. But let her change her words, and whether she + loves me or loves me not, come to be my wife, and, for my day, the bridge + shall stand; for once that we are wed I can surely teach her love, or if I + cannot, at least it is she I seek with or without her love. Reflect then, + lady, and reply again, remembering how much hangs upon your lips.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you think, king Ithobal,” Elissa answered, looking at him with angry + eyes, “that a woman such as I am can be won by threats? I have spoken, + king Ithobal.” + </p> + <p> + “I know not,” he replied; “but I do know that she can be won by force, and + then surely, lady, your pride shall pay the price, for you shall be mine, + but not my queen.” + </p> + <p> + Now one of the council rose and said:— + </p> + <p> + “It seems, Sakon, that there is more in this matter than whether or no the + king Ithobal pleases your daughter. Is the city then to be plunged into a + great war, of which none can see the end, because one woman looks askance + upon a man? Better that a thousand girls should be wedded where they would + not than that such a thing should happen. Sakon, according to our ancient + law you have the right to give your daughter in marriage where and when + you will. We demand, therefore, that for the good of the commonwealth, you + should exercise this right, and hand over the lady Elissa to king + Ithobal.” + </p> + <p> + This speech was received with loud and general shouts of approval, for no + Phoenician audience would have been willing to sacrifice its interests for + a thing so trivial as the happiness of a woman. + </p> + <p> + “Between the desire of a beloved daughter to whom I have pledged my word + and my duty to the great city over which I rule, my strait is hard + indeed,” answered Sakon. “Hearken, king Ithobal, I must have time. Give me + eight days from now in which to answer you, for if you will not, I deny + your suit.” + </p> + <p> + Ithobal seemed about to refuse the demand of Sakon. Then once more his + counsellors plucked him by the sleeve, pointing out to him that if he did + this, it was likely that none of them would leave the city alive. At some + sign from the governor, they whispered, the captains of the guard were + already hastening from the hall. + </p> + <p> + “So be it, Sakon,” he said. “To-night I camp without your walls, which are + no longer safe for one who has threatened war against them, and on the + eighth day from this see to it that your heralds being me the Lady Elissa + and peace—or I make good my threat. Till then, farewell.” And + placing himself in the midst of his company king Ithobal left the hall. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VII + </h2> + <h3> + THE BLACK DWARF + </h3> + <p> + Some two hours had passed since the break-up of the assembly in the great + hall. Prince Aziel was seated in his chamber, when the keeper of the door + announced that a woman was without who desired to speak with him. He gave + orders that she should be admitted, and presently a veiled figure entered + the room and bowed before him. + </p> + <p> + “Be pleased to unveil, and to tell me your business,” he said. + </p> + <p> + With some reluctance his visitor withdrew the wrapping from her head, + revealing a face which Aziel recognised as one that he had seen among the + waiting women who attended on Elissa. + </p> + <p> + “My message is for your ear, Prince,” she said, glancing at the man who + had ushered her into the chamber. + </p> + <p> + “It is not my custom to receive strangers thus alone,” said the prince; + “but be it as you will,” and he motioned to the servant to retire without + the door. “I await your pleasure,” he added, when the man had gone. + </p> + <p> + “It is here,” she answered, and drew from her bosom a little papyrus roll. + </p> + <p> + “Who wrote this?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + “I know not, Prince; it was given to me to pass on to you.” + </p> + <p> + Then he opened the roll and read. It ran thus: “Though we parted with + bitter words, still in my sore distress I crave the comfort of your + counsel. Therefore, since I am forbidden to speak with you openly, meet + me, I beseech you, at moonrise in the palace garden under the shade of the + great fig tree with five roots, where I shall be accompanied only by one I + trust. Bring no man with you for my safety’s sake.—Elissa.” + </p> + <p> + Aziel thrust the scroll into his robe, and thought awhile. Then he gave + the waiting lady a piece of gold and said:— + </p> + <p> + “Tell her who sent you that I obey her words. Farewell.” + </p> + <p> + This message seemed to puzzle the woman, who opened her lips to speak. + Then, changing her mind, she turned and went. + </p> + <p> + Scarcely had she gone when the Phoenician, Metem, was ushered into the + room. + </p> + <p> + “O Prince,” he said maliciously, “pardon me if I caution you. Yet in truth + if veiled ladies flit thus through your apartments in the light of day, it + will reach the ears of the holy but violent Issachar, of whose doings I + come to speak. Then, Prince, I tremble for you.” + </p> + <p> + Aziel made a movement half-impatient and half-contemptuous. “The woman is + a serving-maid,” he said, “who brought me a message that I understand but + little. Tell me, Metem, for you know this place of old, does there stand + in the palace garden a great fig tree with five roots?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, Prince; at least such a tree used to grow there when last I visited + this country. It was one of the wonders of the town, because of its size. + What of it?” + </p> + <p> + “Little, except that I must be under it at moonrise. See and read, since + whatever you may say of yourself, you are, I think, no traitor.” + </p> + <p> + “Not if I am well paid to keep counsel, Prince,” Metem answered with a + smile. Then he read the scroll. + </p> + <p> + “I am glad that the noble lady brings an attendant with her,” he said as + he returned it, with a bow. “The gossips of Zimboe are censorious, and + might misinterpret this moonlight meeting, as indeed would Sakon and + Issachar. Well, doves will coo and maids will woo, and unless I can make + money out of it the affair is none of mine.” + </p> + <p> + “Have I not told you that there is no question of wooing?” asked the + prince angrily. “I go only to give her what counsel I can in the matter of + the suit of this savage, Ithobal. The lady Elissa and I have quarrelled + beyond repair over that accursed sacrifice——” + </p> + <p> + “Which her ready wit prevented,” put in Metem. + </p> + <p> + “But I promised last night that I would help her if I could,” the prince + went on, “and I always keep my word.” + </p> + <p> + “I understand, Prince. Well, since you turn from the lady, whose name with + yours is so much in men’s mouths just now, doubtless you will give her + wise counsel, namely, to wed Ithobal, and lift the shadow of war from this + city. Then, indeed, we shall all be grateful to you, for it seems that no + one else can move her stubbornness. And, by the way: If, when she has + listened to your wisdom, the daughter of Sakon should chance to explain to + you that the sight of this day’s attempted sacrifice filled her with + horror, and that she parted with every jewel she owns to put an end to it—well, + her words will be true. But, since you have quarrelled, they will have no + more interest for you, Prince, than has my talk about them. So now to + other matters.” And Metem began to speak of the conduct of Issachar in the + sanctuary, and of the necessity of guarding him against assassination at + the hands of the priests of El as a consequence of his religious zeal. + Presently he was gone, leaving Aziel somewhat bewildered. + </p> + <p> + Could it be true, as she herself had told him, and as Metem now asserted, + that Elissa had not participated willingly in the dark rites in the + temple? If so he had misjudged her and been unjust; indeed, what atonement + could suffice for such words as he had used towards her? Well, to some + extent she must have understood and forgiven them, otherwise she would + scarcely have sought his aid, though he knew not how he could help her in + her distress. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + When Elissa returned from the assembly, she laid herself down to rest, + worn out in mind and body. Soon sleep came to her, and with the sleep + dreams. At first these were vague and shadowy, then they grew more clear. + She dreamed that she saw a dim and moonlit garden, and in it a vast tree + with twisted roots that seemed familiar to her. Something moving among the + branches of this tree attracted her attention, but for a long while she + watched it without being able to discover what it was. Now she saw. The + moving thing was a hideous black dwarf with beady eyes, who held in his + hand a little ivory tipped bow, on the string of which was set an arrow. + Her consciousness concentrated itself upon this arrow, and though she knew + not how, she became aware that it was poisoned. What was the dwarf doing + in the tree with a bow and poisoned arrow, she wondered? Suddenly a sound + seemed to strike her ear, the sound of a man’s footsteps walking over + grass, and she perceived that the figure of the dwarf, crouched upon the + bough, became tense and alert, and that his fingers tightened upon the + bow-string until the blood was driven from their yellow tips. Following + the glance of his wicked black eyes, she saw advancing through the shadow + a tall man clad in a dark robe. Now he emerged into a patch of moonlight + and stood looking around him as though he were searching for some one. + Then the dwarf raised himself to his knees upon the bough, and, aiming at + the bare throat of the man, drew the bow-string to his ear. At this moment + the victim turned his head and the moonlight shone full upon his face. It + was that of the prince Aziel. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Elissa awoke from her vision with a little cry, then rose trembling, and + strove to comfort herself in the thought that although it was so very + vivid she had dreamed but a dream. Still shaken and unnerved, she passed + into another chamber, and made pretence to eat of the meal that was made + ready for her, for it was now the hour of sunset. While she was thus + employed, it was announced that the Phoenician, Metem, desired to speak + with her, and she commanded that he should be admitted. + </p> + <p> + “Lady,” he said bowing, so soon as her attendants had withdrawn to the + farther end of the chamber, “you can guess my errand. This morning I gave + you certain tidings which proved both true and useful, and for those + tidings you promised a reward.” + </p> + <p> + “It is so,” she said, and going to a chest she drew from it an ivory + casket full of ornaments of gold and among them necklaces and other + objects set with uncut precious stones. “Take them,” she said, “they are + yours; that is, save this gold chain alone, for it is vowed to Baaltis.” + </p> + <p> + “But lady,” he asked, “how can you appear before Ithobal the king thus + robbed of all your ornaments?” + </p> + <p> + “I shall not appear before Ithobal the king,” she answered sharply. + </p> + <p> + “You say so! Then what will the prince Aziel think of you when he sees you + thus unadorned?” + </p> + <p> + “My beauty is my adornment,” she replied, “not these gems and gold. + Moreover, it is nought to me what he thinks, for he hates me, and has + reviled me.” + </p> + <p> + Metem lifted his eyebrows incredulously and went on: “Still, I will not + deprive you of this woman’s gear. Look now, I value it, and at no high + figure,” and drawing out his writer’s palette and a slip of papyrus, he + wrote upon it an acknowledgment of debt, which he asked her to sign. + </p> + <p> + “This document, lady,” he said, “I will present to your father—or + your husband—at a convenient season, nor do I fear that either of + them will refuse to honour it. And now I take my leave, for you—have + an appointment to keep—and,” he added with emphasis, “the time of + moonrise is at hand.” + </p> + <p> + “Your meaning, I pray you?” she asked. “I have no appointment at moonrise, + or at any other hour.” + </p> + <p> + Metem bowed politely, but in a fashion which showed that he put no faith + in her words. + </p> + <p> + “Again I ask your meaning, merchant,” she said, “for your dark hintings + are scarcely to be borne.” + </p> + <p> + The Phoenician looked at her; there was a ring of truth in her voice. + </p> + <p> + “Lady,” he said, “will you indeed deny, after I have seen it written by + yourself, that within some few minutes you meet the prince Aziel beneath a + great tree in the palace gardens, there—so said the scroll—to + ask his aid in this matter of the suit of Ithobal?” + </p> + <p> + “Written by myself?” she said wonderingly. “Meet the prince Aziel beneath + a tree in the palace gardens? Never have I thought of it.” + </p> + <p> + “Yet, lady, the scroll I saw purported to be written by you, and your own + woman bore it to the prince. As I think, she sits yonder at the end of the + chamber, for I know her shape.” + </p> + <p> + “Come hither,” called Elissa, addressing the woman. “Now tell me, what + scroll was this that you carried to-day to the prince Aziel, saying that I + sent you?” + </p> + <p> + “Lady,” answered the girl confusedly, “I never told the prince Aziel that + you sent him the scroll.” + </p> + <p> + “The truth, woman, the truth,” said her mistress. “Lie not, or it will be + the worse for you.” + </p> + <p> + “Lady, this is the truth. As I was walking through the market-place an old + black woman met me, and offered me a piece of gold if I would deliver a + letter into the hand of the prince Aziel. The gold tempted me, for I had + need of it, and I consented; but of who wrote the letter I know nothing, + nor have I ever seen the woman before.” + </p> + <p> + “You have done wrong, girl,” said Elissa, “but I believe your tale. Now + go.” + </p> + <p> + When she had gone, Elissa stood for a while thinking; and, as she thought, + Metem saw a look of fear gather on her face. + </p> + <p> + “Say,” she asked him, “is there anything strange about the tree of which + the scroll tells?” + </p> + <p> + “Its size is strange,” he answered, “and it has five roots that stand + above the ground.” + </p> + <p> + As he spoke Elissa uttered a little cry. + </p> + <p> + “Ah!” she said, “it is the tree of my dream. Now—now I understand. + Swift, oh! come with me swiftly, for see, the moon rises,” and she sprang + to the door followed by the amazed Metem. + </p> + <p> + Another minute, and they were speeding down the narrow street so fast that + those who loitered there turned their heads and laughed, for they thought + that a jealous husband pursued his wife. As Elissa fumbled at the hasp of + the door of the garden, Metem overtook her. + </p> + <p> + “What means this hunt?” he gasped. + </p> + <p> + “That they have decoyed the prince here to murder him,” she answered, and + sped through the gateway. + </p> + <p> + “Therefore we must be murdered also. A woman’s logic,” the Phoenician + reflected to himself as he panted after her. + </p> + <p> + Swiftly as Elissa had run down the street, here she redoubled her speed, + flitting through the glades like some white spirit, and so rapidly that + her companion found it difficult to keep her in view. At length they came + to a large open space of ground where played the level beams of the rising + moon, striking upon the dense green foliage of an immense tree that grew + there. Round this tree Elissa ran, glancing about her wildly, so that for + a few seconds Metem lost sight of her, for its mass was between them. When + he saw her again she was speeding towards the figure of a man who stood in + the open, about ten paces from the outer boughs of the tree. To this she + pointed as she came, crying out aloud, “Beware! Beware!” + </p> + <p> + Another moment and she had almost reached the man, and still pointing + began to gasp some broken words. Then, suddenly in the bright moonlight, + Metem saw a shining point of light flash towards the pair from the + darkness of the tree. It would seem that Elissa saw it also; at least, she + leapt from the ground, her arm lifted above her head as though to catch + the object. Then as her feet once more touched the earth her knees gave + way, and she fell down with a moan of pain. Metem running on towards her, + as he went perceived a shape, which looked like that of a black dwarf, + slip from the shadow of the tree into some bushes beyond where it was + lost. Now he was there, to find Elissa half-seated, half-lying on the + ground, the prince Aziel bending over her, and fixed through the palm of + her right hand, which she held up piteously, a little ivory-pointed arrow. + </p> + <p> + “Draw it out from the wound,” he panted. + </p> + <p> + “It will not help me,” she answered; “the arrow is poisoned.” + </p> + <p> + With an exclamation, Metem knelt beside her, and, not heeding her groans + of pain, drew the dart through the pierced palm. Then he tore a strip of + linen from his robe, and knotting it round Elissa’s wrist, he took a + broken stick that lay near and twisted the linen till it almost cut into + her flesh. + </p> + <p> + “Now, Prince,” he said, “suck the wound, for I have no breath for it. Fear + not, lady, I know an antidote for this arrow poison, and presently I will + be back with the salve. Till then, if you would live, do not suffer that + bandage to be loosed, however much it pains you,” and he departed swiftly. + </p> + <p> + Aziel put his lips to the hurt to draw out the poison. + </p> + <p> + “Nay,” she said faintly, trying to pull away her hand, “it is not fitting, + the venom may kill you.” + </p> + <p> + “It seems that it was meant for me,” he answered, “so at the worst I do + take but my own.” + </p> + <p> + Presently, directing Elissa to hold her hand above her head, he put his + arms about her and carried her a hundred paces or more into the open + glade. + </p> + <p> + “Why do you move me?” she asked, her head resting on his shoulder. + </p> + <p> + “Because whoever it was that shot the arrow may return to try his fortune + a second time, and here in the open his darts cannot reach us.” Then he + set her down upon the grass and stood looking at her. + </p> + <p> + “Listen, prince Aziel,” Elissa said after a while, “the venom with which + these black men soak their weapons is very strong, and unless Metem’s + salve be good, it may well chance that I shall die. Therefore before I die + I wish to say a word to you. What brought you to this place to-night?” + </p> + <p> + “A letter from yourself, lady.” + </p> + <p> + “I know it,” she said, “but I did not write that letter; it was a snare, + set, as I think, by the king Ithobal, who would do you to death in this + way or in that. A messenger of his bribed my waiting-maid to deliver it, + and afterwards I learnt the tale from Metem. Then, guessing all, I came + hither to try to save you.” + </p> + <p> + “But how could you guess all, lady?” + </p> + <p> + “In a strange fashion, Prince.” And in a few words she told him her dream. + </p> + <p> + “This is marvellous indeed, that you should be warned of my danger by + visions,” he said wondering, and half-doubtingly. + </p> + <p> + “So marvellous, Prince, that you do not believe me,” Elissa answered. “I + know well what you think. You think that a woman to whom this very morning + you spoke such words as women cannot well forgive, being revengeful laid a + plot to murder you, and then, being a woman, changed her mind. Well, it is + not so; Metem can prove it to you!” + </p> + <p> + “Lady, I believe you,” he said, “without needing the testimony of Metem. + But now the story grows still more strange, for if you had done me no + wrong, how comes it that to preserve me from harm you set your tender + flesh between the arrow and one who had reviled you?” + </p> + <p> + “It was by chance,” she answered faintly. “I learnt the truth and ran to + warn you. Then I saw the arrow fly towards your heart, and strove to grasp + it, and it pierced me. It was by chance, by such a chance as made me dream + your danger.” And she fainted. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VIII + </h2> + <h3> + AZIEL PLIGHTS HIS TROTH + </h3> + <p> + At first Aziel feared that the poison had done its work, and that Elissa + was dead, till placing his hand upon her heart he felt it beating faintly, + and knew that she did but swoon. To leave her to seek water or assistance + was impossible, since he dared not loose his hold of the bandage about her + wrist. So, patiently as he might, he knelt at her side awaiting the return + of Metem. + </p> + <p> + How beautiful her pale face seemed there in the moonlight, set in its + frame of dusky hair. And how strange was this tale of hers, of a dream + that she had dreamed, a dream which, to save his own, led her to offer her + life to the murderer’s arrow. Many would not believe it, but he felt that + it was true; he felt that even if she wished it she could not lie to him, + for as he had known since first they met, their souls were open to each + other. Yes, having thus been warned of his danger, she had offered her + life for him—for him who that morning had called her, unjustly so + Metem said, “a girl of the groves and a murderess.” How came it that she + had done this, unless indeed she loved him as—he loved her? + </p> + <p> + Aziel could no longer palter with himself, it was the truth. Last night + when Issachar accused him, he had felt this, although then he would not + admit it altogether, and now to-night he knew that his fate had found him. + They would say that, after the common fashion of men, he had been + conquered by a lovely face and form and a brave deed of devotion. But it + was not so. Something beyond the flesh and its works and attributes drew + him towards this woman, something that he could neither understand nor + define (unless, indeed, the vision of Issachar defined it), but of which + he had been conscious since first he set eyes upon her face. It was + possible, it was even probable, that before another hour had gone by she + would have passed beyond his reach, into the deeps of death, whither for a + while he could not follow her. Yet he knew that the knowledge that she + never could be his would not affect the love of her which burnt in him, + for his desire towards her was not altogether a desire of the earth. + </p> + <p> + Aziel bent down over the swooning girl, looking into her pale face, till + her lips almost touched his own, and his breath beating on her brow seemed + to give her life again. Now she stirred, and now she opened her eyes and + gazed back at him a while, deeply and with meaning, even as he gazed at + her. + </p> + <p> + He spoke no word, for his lips seemed to be smitten with silence, but his + heart said, “I love you, I love you,” and her heart heard it, for she + whispered back:— + </p> + <p> + “Bethink you who and what I am.” + </p> + <p> + “It matters not, for we are one,” he replied. + </p> + <p> + “Bethink you,” she said again, “that soon I may be dead and lost to you.” + </p> + <p> + “It cannot be, for we are one,” he replied. “One we have been, one we are + to-day, and one we shall be through all the length of life and death.” + </p> + <p> + “Prince,” she said again, “once more and for the last time I say: Bethink + you well, for it comes upon me that your words are true, and that if I + take that which to-night you offer, it will be for ever and for aye.” + </p> + <p> + “For ever and aye, let it be,” Aziel said, leaning towards her. + </p> + <p> + “For ever and for aye, let it be,” she repeated, holding up her lips to + his. + </p> + <p> + And thus in the silent moonlit garden they plighted their strange troth. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + “Lady,” said a voice in their ears, the voice of Metem, “I pray you let me + dress your hand, for there is no time to lose.” + </p> + <p> + Aziel looked up to see the Phoenician bending over them with a sardonic + smile, and behind him the tall form of Issachar, who stood regarding them, + his arms folded on his breast. + </p> + <p> + “Holy Issachar,” went on Metem with malice, “be pleased to hold this + lady’s hand, since it seems that the prince here can only tend her lips.” + </p> + <p> + “Nay,” answered the Levite, “what have I to do with this daughter of + Baaltis? Cure her if you can, or if you cannot, let her die, for so shall + a stone of stumbling be removed from the feet of the foolish.” And he + glanced indignantly at Aziel. + </p> + <p> + “Had it not been for this same stone at least the feet of the foolish by + now would have pointed skywards. The gods send me such a stone if ever a + black dwarf draws a poisoned arrow at me,” answered Metem, as he busied + himself with his drugs. Then he added, “Nay, Prince, do not stop to answer + him, but hold the lady’s hand to the light.” + </p> + <p> + Aziel obeyed, and having washed out the wound with water, Metem rubbed + ointment into it which burnt Elissa so sorely that she groaned aloud. + </p> + <p> + “Be patient beneath the pain, lady,” he said, “for if it has not already + passed into your blood, this salve will eat away the poison of the arrow.” + </p> + <p> + Then half-leading and half-carrying her, they brought her back to the + palace. Here Metem gave her over into the care of her father, telling him + as much of the story as he thought wise, and cautioning him to keep silent + concerning what had happened. + </p> + <p> + At the door of the palace Issachar spoke to Aziel. + </p> + <p> + “Did I dream, Prince,” he said, “or did my ears indeed hear you tell that + idolatress that you loved her for ever, and did my eyes see you kiss her + on the lips?” + </p> + <p> + “It seems that you saw and heard these things, Issachar,” said Aziel, + setting his face sternly. “Now hear this further, and then I pray you give + me peace on this matter of the lady Elissa: If in any way it is possible, + I shall make her my wife, and if it be not possible, then for so long as + she may live at least I will look upon no other woman.” + </p> + <p> + “Then that is good news, Prince, to me, who am charged with your welfare, + for be sure, if I can prevent you, you shall never mix your life with that + of this heathen sorceress.” + </p> + <p> + “Issachar,” the prince replied, “I have borne much from you because I know + well that you love me, and have stood to me in the place of a father. But + now, in my turn, I warn you, do not seek to work harm to the lady Elissa, + for in striking her you strike me, and such blows may bring my vengeance + after them.” + </p> + <p> + “Vengeance?” mocked the Levite. “I fear but one vengeance, and it is not + yours, nor do I listen to the whisperings of love when duty points the + path. Rather would I see you dead, prince Aziel, then lured down to hell + by the wiles of yonder witch.” + </p> + <p> + Then before Aziel could answer he turned and left him. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + As Issachar went to his own chamber full of bitterness and indignation, he + passed the door of Elissa’s apartments, and came face to face with Metem + issuing from them. + </p> + <p> + “Will the woman live?” he asked of him. + </p> + <p> + “Be comforted, worthy Issachar. I think so; that is, if the bandage does + not slip. I go to tell the prince.” + </p> + <p> + “Gladly would I give a hundred golden shekels to him who brought me + tidings that it had slipped and the woman with it, down to the arms of her + father Beelzebub,” broke in the Levite passionately. + </p> + <p> + “Pretty words for a holy man,” said Metem, feigning amazement. “Well, + Issachar, I will do most things for good money, but to shift that bandage + would be but murder, and this I cannot work even for the gold and to win + your favour.” + </p> + <p> + “Fool,” answered Issachar, “did I ask you to do murder? I do not fight + with such weapons; let the woman live or die as it is decreed. Nay, enter + my chamber, for I would speak with you, who are a cunning man versed in + the craft of courts. Listen now: I love this prince Aziel, for I have + reared him from his childhood, and he has been a son to me who have none. + More, I am sent hither to this hateful land to watch him and hold him from + harm, and for all that chances to him I must account. And now, what has + chanced? This woman, Elissa, by her witcheries——” + </p> + <p> + “Softly, Issachar; what witcheries does she need beyond those lips and + form and eyes?” + </p> + <p> + “By her witcheries, I tell you, has ensnared him so that now he swears + that he will wed her.” + </p> + <p> + “What of it, Issachar? He might travel far to find a lovelier woman.” + </p> + <p> + “What of it, do you ask, remembering who he is? What of it, when you know + his faith, and that this fair idolater will sap it, and cause him to cast + away his soul? What of it, when with your own ears you heard him swear to + love her through all the deeps of life and death? Man, are you mad?” + </p> + <p> + “No, but some might say that you are, holy father, who forget that I am + also of this religion which you revile. But for good or ill, so the matter + stands; and now what is it that you wish of me?” + </p> + <p> + “I wish that you should make it impossible that the prince Aziel should + take this woman to wife. Not by murder, indeed, for ‘thou shalt not kill,’ + saith the law, but by bringing it about that she should marry the king + Ithobal, or if that fail, in any other fashion which seems good to you.” + </p> + <p> + “‘Thou shalt not kill,’ saith your law; tell me then, Issachar, does it + say also that thou shalt hand over a woman to a fate that she chances to + hold to be worse than death? Doubtless it is foolish of her, and we should + not heed such woman’s folly. Yet this one has a certain strength of will, + and I question if all the elders of the city will bring her living to the + arms of Ithobal.” + </p> + <p> + “It is nought to me, Metem, if she weds Ithobal, or weds him not, save + that I do not love this heathen man, and surely her temper and her + witcheries would bring ruin on him. What I would have you do is to prevent + her from marrying Aziel; the way I leave to you.” + </p> + <p> + “And what should I be paid for this service, holy Issachar?” + </p> + <p> + The Jew thought and answered, “A hundred golden shekels.” + </p> + <p> + “Two hundred gold shekels,” replied Metem reflectively, “nay, I am sure + you said <i>two</i> hundred, Issachar. At least, I do not work for less, + and it is a small sum enough, seeing that to earn it I must take upon + myself the guilt of severing two loving hearts. But I know well that you + are right, and that this would be an evil marriage for the prince Aziel, + and also for the lady Elissa, who then day by day and year by year must + bear the scourge of your reproaches, Issachar. Therefore I will do my + best, not for the money indeed, but because I see herein a righteous duty. + And now here is parchment, give me the lamp that I may prepare the bond.” + </p> + <p> + “My word is my bond, Phoenician,” answered the Levite haughtily. + </p> + <p> + Metem looked at him. “Doubtless,” he said, “but you are old, and this is—a + rough country where accidents chance at times. Still, the thing would read + very ill, and, as you say, your word is your bond. Only remember, + Issachar, two hundred shekels, bearing interest at two shekels a month. + And now you are weary, holy Issachar, with plotting for the welfare of + others, and so am I. Farewell, and good dreams to you.” + </p> + <p> + The Levite watched him go, muttering to himself, “Alas that I should have + fallen to such traffic with a knave, but it is for your sake and for your + soul’s sake, O Aziel my son. I pray that Fate be not too strong for me and + you.” + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + For two days from this night Elissa lay almost senseless, and by many it + was thought that she would die. But when Metem saw her on the morning + after she had been wounded, and noted that her arm was but little swollen, + and had not turned black, he announced that she would certainly live, + whatever the doctors of the city might declare. Thereon Sakon, her father, + and Aziel blessed him, but Issachar said nothing. + </p> + <p> + As the Phoenician was walking through the market-place early on the next + day an aged black woman, whom he did not know, accosted him, saying that + she had a message for his ear from the king Ithobal who was camped without + the city and who desired to see the merchandise that he had brought with + him from the coasts of Tyre. Now Metem had already sold all his wares at a + great advantage; still, as he would not neglect this opportunity of trade, + he purchased others from his fellow merchants, and loading two camels with + them, set out for the camp of Ithobal, riding on a mule. By midday he had + reached it. The camp was pitched near water in a pleasant grove of trees, + and on one of these not far from the tent of Ithobal Metem noted that + there hung the body of a black dwarf. + </p> + <p> + “Behold the fate of him who shoots at the buck and hits the doe. Well, I + have always said that murder is a dangerous game, since blood calls out + for blood,” thought Metem as he rode towards the tent. + </p> + <p> + At its door stood king Ithobal looking very huge and sullen in the + sunlight. Metem dismounted and prostrated himself obsequiously. + </p> + <p> + “May the King live for ever,” he said, “the great King, the King to whom + all the other kings of the earth are as the little gods to Baal, or the + faint stars to the sun.” + </p> + <p> + “Rise, and cease from flatteries,” said Ithobal shortly; “I may be greater + than the other kings, but at least you do not think it.” + </p> + <p> + “If the king says so, so let it be,” replied Metem calmly. “A woman yonder + in the market-place told me that the king wished to trade for my + merchandise. So I have brought the best of it; priceless goods that which + much toil I have carried hither from Tyre,” and he pointed to the two + camels laden with the inferior articles which he had purchased, and began + to read the number and description of the goods from his tablets. + </p> + <p> + “What value do you set upon the whole of them, merchant?” asked Ithobal. + </p> + <p> + “To the traders of the country so much, but to you, O King, so much only,” + and he named a sum twice that which he had paid in the city. + </p> + <p> + “So be it,” assented Ithobal indifferently; “I do not haggle over wares. + Though your price is large, presently my treasurer shall weigh you out the + gold.” + </p> + <p> + There was a moment’s pause, then Metem said:— + </p> + <p> + “The trees in this camp of yours bear evil fruit, O King. If I might ask, + why does that little black monkey hang yonder.” + </p> + <p> + “Because he tried to do murder with his poisoned arrows,” answered Ithobal + sullenly. + </p> + <p> + “And failed? Well, it must comfort you to think that he did fail if he was + of the number of your servants. It is strange now that some knave unknown + attempted murder last night in the palace gardens, also with poisoned + arrows. I say attempted, but as yet I cannot be sure that he did not + succeed.” + </p> + <p> + “What!” exclaimed Ithobal, “was——” and he stopped. + </p> + <p> + “No, King, prince Aziel was not hit; the Lady Elissa took that shaft + through her hand, and lies between life and death. I am doctoring her, and + had it not been for my skill she would now be stiff and black—as the + rogue who shot the arrow.” + </p> + <p> + “Save her,” said Ithobal hoarsely, “and I will pay you a doctor’s fee of a + hundred ounces of pure gold. Oh! had I but known, the clumsy fool should + not have died so easily.” + </p> + <p> + Metem took out his tablets and made a note of the amount. + </p> + <p> + “Take comfort, King,” he said, “I think that I shall earn the fee. But to + speak truth, this matter looks somewhat ugly, and your name is mentioned + in it. Also it is said that your cousin, the great man whom the prince + Aziel slew, was charged to abduct a certain lady by your order.” + </p> + <p> + “Then false tales are told in Zimboe, and not for the first time,” + answered Ithobal coldly. “Listen, merchant, I have a question to ask of + you. Will the prince Aziel meet me in single combat with whatever weapons + he may choose?” + </p> + <p> + “Doubtless, and—pardon me if I say it—slay you as he slew your + cousin, for he is a fine swordsman, who has studied the art in Egypt, + where it is understood, and your strength would not avail against him. But + your question is already answered, for though the prince would be glad + enough to fight you, Sakon will have none of it. Have you nothing else to + ask me, King?” + </p> + <p> + Ithobal nodded and said:— + </p> + <p> + “Listen, merchant. I know your repute of old, that you love money and will + do much to gain it, and that you are craftier than any hill-side jackal. + Now, if you can do my will, you will have more wealth than ever you won in + your life before.” + </p> + <p> + “The offer sounds good in a poor man’s ears, King, but it depends upon + what is your will.” + </p> + <p> + Ithobal went to the door of the tent, and commanded the sentries who stood + without to suffer none to disturb him or draw near. Then he returned and + said:— + </p> + <p> + “I will tell you, but beware that you do not betray my counsels in this or + in any other matter, for I have sharp ears and a long arm. You know how + things are between me and the lady Elissa and her father Sakon and the + city which he governs. They stand thus: Unless within eight days she is + given to me in marriage, I have sworn that I will make war upon Zimboe. + Ay, and I will make it, for, filled with hate for the white man, already + the great tribes are gathering to my banners in ten armies, each of them + ten thousand strong. Once let them march beneath yonder walls, and before + they leave it Zimboe, city of gold, shall be nothing but a heap of ruins, + and a habitation of the dead. Such shall be my vengeance; but I seek love + more than vengeance, for what will it avail me to butcher all that people + of traders if—as well may chance in the accidents of war—I + lose her whom I desire, whose beauty shall be my crown of crowns, and + whose mind shall make me great indeed? + </p> + <p> + “Therefore, Metem, if may be, I would win her without war; let the war + come afterwards, as come it must, for the time is ripe. And though she + turned from me, this I should have done, had it not been for yonder prince + Aziel, whom she met in a strange fashion, and straightway learned to love. + Now the thing is more difficult. Nay, while the prince Aziel can take her + to wife it is well-nigh impossible, since no threats of war or ruin can + turn a woman’s heart from him she seeks—to him she flies. Therefore, + I ask you——” + </p> + <p> + “Your pardon, King,” Metem broke in, “I see that you, like your rival, are + so besotted with the beauty of this girl, that in all with which she has + to do you have lost the rule of your own reason. I would save you + perchance from saying words to which I do not wish to listen, and when you + find a quiet mind again, that you may regret having spoken. If you were + about to require of me that I should cause or be privy to the death of the + prince Aziel, you would require it in vain; yes, even if you were willing + to pay me gold in mountains, and gems in camel loads. With murder I will + have nothing to do; moreover, the prince, your rival, is my friend and + master, and I will not harm him. Further, I may tell you that after the + adventure of last night none will be able to come near him to hurt a hair + of his head, seeing that through daylight and through darkness he is + guarded by two men.” + </p> + <p> + “With a woman’s body to set before him as a shield,” said Ithobal + bitterly. “But you speak too fast; I was not about to ask you to kill this + man, or even to procure his death, because I know it would be useless, but + rather that you should so contrive that he cannot take Elissa. How you + contrive it I care nothing, so that she is not harmed. You may kidnap him, + or stir up the city against him, as one destined to be the source of war, + and cause him to be despatched back to the great sea, or bribe the priests + of El to hide him away, or what you will, if only you separate him from + this woman for ever. Say, merchant, are you willing to undertake the task, + or must my good gold go elsewhere?” + </p> + <p> + Metem pondered awhile and answered:— + </p> + <p> + “I think that I will undertake it, King; that is, if we come to terms, + though whether I shall succeed is another matter. I will undertake it not + only because I seek to enrich myself, but because I and others who serve + him think it is a very evil thing that this prince, Aziel, whose blood is + the most royal in the whole world, without the consent of the great king + of Israel, his grandfather, should wed the daughter of a Phoenician + officer, however beautiful and loving she may be. Also I love yonder city, + which I have known for forty years, and would not see it plunged in a + bloody war and perhaps destroyed because a certain man desires to call a + certain girl his sweetheart. And now if I succeed in this, what will you + give me?” + </p> + <p> + Ithobal named a great sum. + </p> + <p> + “King,” replied Metem, “you must double it, for that amount you speak of I + shall be forced to spend in bribes. More; you must give me the gold now, + before I leave your camp, or I will do nothing.” + </p> + <p> + “That you may steal it—and do nothing,” laughed Ithobal angrily. + </p> + <p> + “As you will, King. Such are my terms; if they do not please you, well, + let me go. But if you accept them, I will sign a bond under which if + within eight days I do not make it impossible for the prince Aziel to + marry the lady Elissa, you may reclaim so much of the gold as I do not + prove to you to have been spent upon your service, and no bond of Metem + the Phoenician was ever yet dishonoured. No, on second thought I will + learn wisdom from Issachar the Levite and put my hand to no writing which + it would pain me that some should read. King, my sworn word must content + you. Another thing, soon war may break out, or I may be forced to fly. + Therefore, I demand of you a pass sealed with your seal that will enable + me to ride with twenty men and all my goods and treasure, even through the + midst of your armies. Moreover you shall swear the great oath to me that + notice of this pass will be given to your generals and that it shall be + respected to the letter. Do you consent to these terms?” + </p> + <p> + “I consent,” said the king presently. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + That evening Metem returned to the city of Zimboe, but those who led his + two camels little guessed that now they were laden, not with merchandise, + but with treasure. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IX + </h2> + <h3> + GREETING TO THE BAALTIS + </h3> + <p> + When Metem accepted bribes from Issachar and from Ithobal, in + consideration of his finding means to make the union of Aziel and Elissa + impossible, he had already thought out his scheme. It was one which, while + promoting, as he considered, the true welfare of the lovers, if successful + would separate them effectually and for ever. + </p> + <p> + It will be remembered that Elissa had explained to the prince how, on the + death of the lady Baaltis, another woman was elected by the colleges of + the priests and priestesses to fill her place. This lady could marry, + indeed she was expected to do so, but her husband must take the title of + Shadid, and for her lifetime act as high-priest of El. Therefore, thought + Metem, if it could be brought about that Elissa should be chosen as the + new Baaltis, it was obvious that there would be an end of the possibility + of her marriage to Aziel. Then, in order to wed her, he must renounce his + own religion—a thing which no Jew would do—and pose as the + earthly incarnation of one whom he considered a false divinity or a devil. + </p> + <p> + Indeed, not only marriage, but any further intimacy between the pair would + be rendered impracticable, for upon this point the religious law, lax + enough in many particulars, was very strict. In fact, so strict was it + that for the lady Baaltis of the day to be found alone with any man meant + death to her and him. The reason of this severity was that she was + supposed to represent the goddess; and her husband, the Shadid, a god, so + that any questionable behaviour on her part became an insult to the most + powerful divinities of Heaven, which could only be atoned by the death of + their unworthy incarnations. That these laws were actual and not formal + only was proved by the instance that within the hundred years before the + birth of Elissa, a lady Baaltis had been executed for some such offence, + having been hurled indeed from the topmost pinnacle of the fortress above + the temple to the foot of the precipice beneath. + </p> + <p> + All these sacerdotal customs were familiar to Metem, who argued from them + that to procure the nomination of Elissa as the Baaltis would be to build + an impassable wall between her and the prince Aziel. Also, by way of + compensation, that office would confer upon her the highest dignity and + honour which could be attained by any woman in the city. Moreover, her + election would place her beyond the reach of the persecutions of Ithobal, + since as lady Baaltis she was entitled to choose her own husband without + hindrance or appeal, provided only that he was of pure white blood, which + Ithobal was not. + </p> + <p> + Having thought the matter out, and convinced himself that such a course + would not only benefit his own pocket, but prove to the lasting advantage + of all concerned, Metem, filled with a glow of righteous zeal, set about + his task with the promptitude and cunning of his race. It was not an easy + task, for although she had enemies and rivals, the daughter of the dead + Baaltis, Mesa by name, was considered to be certain of election at the + poll of the priests and priestesses. This ceremony was to take place + within two days. Nothing discouraged, however, by the scant time at his + disposal or other difficulties, without her knowledge or that of her + father, Metem began his canvass on behalf of Elissa. + </p> + <p> + First with a great sum of gold he bought over the ex-Shadid, the husband + of the late lady Baaltis. As it chanced, this worthy had quarrelled with + his daughter. Therefore it followed that he would prefer to see some + stranger chosen in her place in the hope that, notwithstanding his years, + by choosing him in marriage she might confirm him in his position of + spouse to the goddess. + </p> + <p> + All Metem’s further negotiations need not be followed: money played a part + in most of them; jealousy and dislike in some. A few there were also whom + he won over by urging the beauty and wisdom of Elissa, and her + extraordinary fitness for the post, as evinced by her recent inspiration + in the temple! He found his most powerful allies, however, among the + members of the council of the city. To these grandees he pointed out that + Elissa was a woman of great strength of character, who would certainly + never consent to be forced into a marriage with Ithobal, although her + refusal should mean a desperate war, and that her father was so much under + her influence that he could not be brought to put pressure upon her. + Therefore it was obvious that the only way out of the difficulty was her + election as Baaltis. This must prove a perfect answer to the suit of the + savage king, since the goddess could not be compelled, and even Ithobal, + fearing the vengeance of Heaven, would shrink from offering her violence. + </p> + <p> + There support gained, having first sworn him to secrecy, he attacked Sakon + himself, using similar arguments with him. He pointed out, in addition, + that if the governor hoped to see his daughter married to prince Aziel, + who was in love with her, however dazzling might be the prospects of such + a match, it would certainly bring upon him the present wrath of Ithobal, + and, in all probability, future trouble with the Courts of Egypt, of + Israel, and through them, of Tyre. Thus working in many ways, Metem + laboured incessantly to win his end, so that when at last the hour of + election came he awaited its issue, fairly confident of success. + </p> + <p> + It was on this same afternoon that for the first time since she had + received the arrow which was meant for his heart, Aziel was admitted to + see Elissa. Now at length her recovery was certain, although she had not + shaken off her weakness, and her right arm and wrist were still stiff and + swollen. Except for two or three of her women, who were seated at their + work behind a screen near the far end of the great chamber, she was alone, + lying upon a couch in the recess of the window-place. Advancing to her, + Aziel bent down to kiss her wounded hand. + </p> + <p> + “Nay,” said Elissa, hiding it beneath the folds of her robe, “it is still + black and unsightly with the poison.” + </p> + <p> + “The more reason that I should kiss it, seeing how the stain came there,” + he answered. + </p> + <p> + Her eyes met his, and she whispered, “Not my hand, but my brow, Prince, + for so I shall be crowned.” + </p> + <p> + He pressed his lips upon her forehead, and replied:— + </p> + <p> + “Queen of my heart you are already, and though the throne be humble it is + sure. The life you saved is yours, and no other’s.” + </p> + <p> + “I did but repay a debt,” she answered; “but speak of it no more. Gladly + would I have died to save you; should such choice arise, would you do so + for me, I wonder?” + </p> + <p> + “There is little need to ask such a question, lady; for your sake I would + not only die, I would even endure shame—that is worse than death.” + </p> + <p> + “Sweet words, Aziel,” she answered, smiling, “of which we shall learn the + value when the hour of trial comes, as come, I think, it will. You told me + but now that you were mine, and no other’s; but is it so? I have heard the + story of a certain princess of Khem with whom your name was mingled. Tell + me, if you will, what was it that set you journeying to this far city of + ours?” + </p> + <p> + “The desire to find you,” he answered smiling; then seeing that she still + looked at him with questioning eyes, he added, “Nay, this is the truth, if + you seek truth. Indeed, it is the best that I should tell you, since it + seems that already you have heard something of the tale. A while ago I was + sent to the Court of the Pharaoh of Egypt, by the will of my grandsire, + the king of Israel, upon an embassy of friendship, and to escort thence a + certain beautiful princess, my cousin, who was affianced by treaty to an + uncle of mine, a great prince of Israel. This I did, showing to the lady + courtesy, and no more. But the end of the matter was that when we came to + Jerusalem the princess refused to be married to my uncle, to whom she was + betrothed——” and he hesitated. + </p> + <p> + “Nay, be not timid, Prince,” said Elissa sharply; “continue, I pray you. I + have heard that the lady added somewhat to her refusal.” + </p> + <p> + “That is so, Elissa. She declared before the king that she would wed no + man except myself only, whereon my uncle was very angry, and accused me of + playing him false, which, indeed, I had not done.” + </p> + <p> + “Although the lady was so fair, Aziel? But what said the great king?” + </p> + <p> + “He said that never having seen him to whom she was affianced, he would + not suffer that she should be forced into marriage with him against her + will. Yet that her will might be uninfluenced, he commanded that I should + be sent upon a long journey. That was his judgment, lady.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, but not all of it; surely he added other words?” she broke in + eagerly. + </p> + <p> + “He added,” continued Aziel, with some reluctance, “that if while I was on + this journey the princess changed her mind, and chose to wed my uncle, it + would be well. But, when I returned from it, if she had not changed her + mind, and chose—to marry me—then it would be well also, and, + though he was little pleased, with this saying my uncle must be + satisfied.” + </p> + <p> + “It does not satisfy me, prince Aziel,” Elissa answered, the tears + starting to her dark eyes. “I know full well that the lady will not change + her mind, and take a man who is in years, and whom she hates, in place of + one who is young, and whom she loves. Therefore, when you return hence to + Jerusalem, by the king’s command you will wed her.” + </p> + <p> + “Nay, Elissa; if I am already married that cannot be,” he said. + </p> + <p> + “In Judea, Prince, I am told that men take more wives than one; also, they + divorce them,” she replied; then added, “Oh, return not there where I + shall lose you. If, indeed, you love me, I pray you return not there.” + </p> + <p> + Before he could answer, a sound of singing and of all sorts of music + caught Aziel’s ear. Looking through the casement, he saw a great + procession of the priests and priestesses of El and Baaltis clad in their + festal robes and accompanied by many dignitaries of the city, a multitude + of people and bands of musicians, advancing across the square towards the + door of the palace. + </p> + <p> + “Why, what passes?” he exclaimed. As he spoke the door opened and two + richly arrayed heralds, wands of office in their hands, entered and + prostrated themselves before Elissa. + </p> + <p> + “Greeting to you, most noble and blessed lady, the chosen of the gods!” + they cried with one voice. “Prepare, we beseech you, to hear glad tidings, + and to receive those who are sent to tell them.” + </p> + <p> + “Glad tidings?” said Elissa. “Has Ithobal then withdrawn his suit?” + </p> + <p> + “Nay, lady; it is not of Ithobal that the messengers come to speak.” + </p> + <p> + “Then I cannot receive them,” she said, sinking back in apprehension. “I + am still ill and weak, and I pray to be excused.” + </p> + <p> + “Nay, lady,” answered the herald, “that which they have to tell will cure + your sickness.” + </p> + <p> + Again Elissa protested. Before the words had left her lips there appeared + in the doorway he who had been husband of the dead Baaltis, followed by + priests and priestesses, by Sakon her father, with whom was Metem, and + many other nobles and dignitaries. + </p> + <p> + “All hail, lady!” they cried, prostrating themselves before her. “All + hail, lady, chosen of the gods!” + </p> + <p> + Elissa looked at them bewildered. + </p> + <p> + “Your pardon,” she said, “I do not understand.” + </p> + <p> + Then, rising from his knees, he who was still the Shadid until his + successor was appointed, addressed her as spokesman. + </p> + <p> + “Listen,” he said, “and learn, lady, the great thing that has befallen + you. Know, O divine One, that by the inspiration of El and Baaltis, rulers + of the heavens, the colleges of the priests and priestesses of the city, + following the voice of the oracles and the pointing of the omens, have set + you in that high place which death has emptied. Greeting to you, holder of + the spirit of the goddess! Greeting to the Baaltis!” + </p> + <p> + “I did not seek this honour,” she murmured in the silence that followed, + “and I refuse it. The throne of the goddess is Mesa’s right; let her take + it, or if she will not, then find some other woman who is more worthy.” + </p> + <p> + “Lady,” said the Shadid, “these words become you well, but it has pleased + the gods to choose you and not my daughter, the lady Mesa, or any other + woman, and the choice of the gods may not be set aside. Till death shall + take you, you and you alone are the lady Baaltis whom we obey.” + </p> + <p> + “Must I then be made divine against my will,” she pleaded, and turned to + Aziel as though for counsel. + </p> + <p> + “Be pleased to stand back, prince Aziel,” said the stern voice of the + Shadid, interposing. “Remember that henceforth no man may speak to the + Baaltis save he whom she names with the name of Shadid to be her husband. + Henceforward you are parted, since to seek her company would be to cause + her death.” + </p> + <p> + Now understanding that the doom of life-long separation had fallen upon + them like the sudden sword of fate, Aziel and Elissa gazed at each other + in despair. Then, before either of them could speak a word, at a sign from + the Shadid, the priestesses closed round Elissa. Throwing a white veil + over her head, they broke into a joyful pæan of song, and half-led, + half-carried her from the chamber to enthrone her in the palace of the + goddess, which was henceforth to be her home. + </p> + <p> + Presently all the company, including the waiting women, having joined the + procession, the chamber was empty, with the exception of Aziel, Metem and + Issachar the Levite, who, drawn by the sound of singing, had entered the + place unnoticed. + </p> + <p> + “Take comfort, Prince,” said the Phoenician in a half-bantering voice, “if + you and the lady Baaltis are truly dear to each other she may still be + yours, for you have but to bow the knee to El, and she will name you + Shadid and husband.” + </p> + <p> + “Blaspheme not,” cried Issachar sternly. “Shall a worshipper of the God of + Israel do sacrifice to a demon to win a woman’s smile?” + </p> + <p> + “That time will prove,” answered Metem, shrugging his shoulders; “at least + it is certain that he will win it in no other way. Prince,” he added, + changing his tone, “if you have any such thoughts, abandon them, I pray of + you, for on this matter the law may not be broken. The man spoke truth, + moreover, when he told you that should you be found with the Baaltis, not + being her husband, you would cause her death.” + </p> + <p> + Aziel took no notice of his words, but turning to the Levite, he asked in + a quiet voice:— + </p> + <p> + “Did you plot this to separate us, Issachar? If so, you shall live to + mourn the deed.” + </p> + <p> + “Listen, Prince,” broke in Metem, “it was not Issachar who plotted that + the lady Elissa should be chosen Baaltis, but I, or at least I helped the + plot. Shall I tell you why I did this? It was to save you and her, and if + possible to prevent a great war also. You could not wed this woman who is + not of your race, or rank, or religion; and if you could, it would bring + about a struggle that must cost thousands their lives, and this city its + wealth. Nor could you make of her less than a wife, seeing that she is + well-born and that you are her father’s guest. Therefore for your own sake + it is best that she should be placed beyond your reach. For her sake also + it is best, since she is ambitious and born to rule, who henceforth will + be clothed with power for all her days. Moreover, had it been otherwise, + in the end she must have passed to that savage Ithobal, whom she hates. + Now this is scarcely possible, for the lady Baaltis can wed no man who is + not of pure white blood, and whom she does not choose of her own free + will. That is a decree which may not be broken even by Ithobal. So revile + me not, but thank me, though for a little while your heart be sore.” + </p> + <p> + “My heart is sore indeed,” answered Aziel, “and if you think your words be + wise, their medicine does not soothe, Phoenician. You may have laboured + for my welfare and for that of the lady Elissa, or, like the huckster that + you are, for your own advantage, or for both—I know not, and do not + care to know. But this I know, that you, and Issachar also, are striving + to snare Fate in a web of sand, and that Fate will be too strong for it + and you. I love this woman and she loves me, because such is our destiny, + and no barriers which man may build can serve to separate us. Also of this + I am assured, that by your plots you draw the evils you would ward away + upon the heads of us all, for from them shall spring war, and deaths, and + misery. + </p> + <p> + “For the rest, do not think, Metem and Issachar, that I, whom you + betrayed, and the woman you have ruined with a crown of greatness she did + not seek, are clay to be moulded at your will. It is another hand than + yours which fashioned the vessel of our destiny; nor can you stay our lips + from drinking of the pure wine that fills it. Farewell,” and with a grave + inclination of the head he left the room. + </p> + <p> + Metem watched him go, then he turned to Issachar and said:— + </p> + <p> + “I have earned my hire well, and you must pay the price, but now it + troubles me to think that I touched this business. Why it is I cannot say, + but it comes upon me that the prince speaks truth, and that no plot of + ours can avail to separate these two who were born to each other, although + it well may happen that we shall unite them in death alone. Issachar,” he + added with fierce conviction, “I will not take your gold, for it is the + price of blood! I tell you it is the price of blood!” + </p> + <p> + “Take it or no, as you will, Phoenician,” answered the Levite; “at least I + am well pleased that the promise of it bought your service. Even should + the prince Aziel discharge this day’s work with his young life, it is + better that he should perish in the body than that he should lose his soul + for the bribe of a woman’s passing beauty. Whatever else be lost, that is + saved to him, since those sorceress lips of hers are set beyond his reach. + An Israelite cannot mate with the oracle of Baaltis, Metem.” + </p> + <p> + “You say so, Issachar, but I have seen men climb high to pluck such fruit. + Yes, I have seen them climb even when they knew that they must fall before + the fruit was reached.” + </p> + <p> + Then he went also, leaving Issachar alone and oppressed with a dread of + the future which was none the less real because it could not be defined. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER X + </h2> + <h3> + THE EMBASSY + </h3> + <p> + Weak as she was still with recent illness, half-fainting also from the + shock of the terrible and unexpected fate which had overtaken her, Elissa + was borne in triumph to the palace that now was hers. Around her gilded + litter priestesses danced and sang their wild chants, half-bacchanalian + and half-religious; before it marched the priests of El, clashing cymbals + and crying, “Make way, make way for the new-born goddess! Make way for her + whose throne is upon the horned moon!” while all about the multitude of + spectators prostrated themselves in worship. + </p> + <p> + Elissa was borne in triumph. Vaguely she heard the shouts and music, dimly + she saw the dancing-girls and the bowing crowds. But all the while her + heart was alive with pain and her brain, crushed beneath the menace of + this misery, could grasp nothing clearly save the completeness of her + loss. Loss! Yes, she was lost indeed. One short hour ago and she was + rejoicing in the presence of the man she loved, and who, as she believed, + loved her, while in her mind rose visions of some happy life with him far + away from this city and the dark rites of the worshippers of Baal. And now + she found herself the chief priestess of that worship which already she + had learned to fear if not to hate. More, as its priestess, till death + should come to comfort her, she was cut off for ever from him whom she + adored, cut off also from the hope of that new spiritual light which had + begun to dawn upon her soul. + </p> + <p> + Elissa looked upon the beautiful women who leapt and sang about her + litter, listening to the clash of their ornaments of gold, and as she + listened and looked her eyes seemed to gain power to behold the spirits + within them. Surely she could see these, dark and hideous things, with + shifting countenances, terrible to look on, and themselves wearing in + their eyes of flame a stamp of eternal terror, while in her ears the music + of their golden necklaces was changed to a clank as of fetters and of + instruments of torment. Yes; and there before the dancers in the red cloud + of dust which rose from their beating feet, floated the dim shape of that + demon of whom she had been chosen the high-priestess. + </p> + <p> + Look at her mocking, inhuman countenance, and her bent brow of power! Look + at her spread and flaming hair and her hundred hands outstretched to grasp + the souls of men! Hark! the clamour of the cymbals and the cry of the + dancers blended together and became her voice, a dreadful voice that gave + greeting to her princess, promising her pride of place and life-long power + in payment for her service. + </p> + <p> + “I desire none of these,” her heart seemed to answer; “I desire him only + whom I have lost.” + </p> + <p> + “Is it so?” replied the Voice. “Then bid him burn incense upon my altar + and take him to yourself. Have I not given you enough of beauty to snare a + single soul from among the servants of my enemy the God of the Jews?” + </p> + <p> + “Nay, nay!” her heart cried; “I will not tempt him to do this evil thing.” + </p> + <p> + “Yea, yea!” mocked the phantom Voice; “for your sake he shall burn incense + upon my altar.” + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + The phantasy passed, and now the golden gates of the palace of Baaltis + rolled open before Elissa. Now, too, the priestesses bore her to the + golden throne shaped like a crescent moon, and threw over her a black veil + spangled with stars, symbol of the night. Then having shut out the + uninitiated, they worshipped her after their secret fashion till she sank + down upon the throne overcome with fear and weariness. Then at last they + carried her to that wonder of workmanship and allegorical art, the ivory + bed of Baaltis, and laid her down to sleep. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + At dawn upon the following day an embassy, headed by Sakon, governor of + the city, in whose train were Metem and Aziel, went to the camp of + Ithobal. The mission of these envoys was to give the king answer to his + suit, for he refused to come to Zimboe unless he were allowed to bring a + larger force than it was thought prudent to admit into the city gates. At + some distance from the tents they halted, while messengers were sent + forward inviting Ithobal to a conference on the plain, as it seemed + scarcely safe to trust themselves within the stout thorn fence which had + been built about the camp. Metem, who said that he had no fear of the + king, went with these men, and on reaching the <i>zeriba</i> was at once + bidden to the pavilion of Ithobal. He found the great man pacing its + length sullenly. + </p> + <p> + “What seek you here, Phoenician?” he asked, glancing at him over his + shoulder. + </p> + <p> + “My fee, King. The king was pleased to promise me a hundred ounces of gold + if I saved the life of the Lady Elissa. I come, therefore, to assure him + that my skill has prevailed against the poisoned arrow of that treacherous + dog of the desert, which pierced her hand as she spoke with the prince + Aziel the other night, and to claim my reward. Here is a note of the + amount,” and he produced his tablets. + </p> + <p> + “If half of what I hear is true, rogue,” answered Ithobal savagely, “the + tormentor and the headsman alone could satisfy all my debt to you. Say, + merchant, what return have you made me for that sackful of gold which you + bore hence some few days gone?” + </p> + <p> + “The best of all returns, King,” answered Metem cheerfully, although in + truth he began to feel afraid. “I have kept my word, and fulfilled the + command of the king. I have made it impossible that the prince Aziel + should wed the daughter of Sakon.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, rogue, you have made it impossible by causing her to be consecrated + Baaltis, and thus building a barrier which even I shall find too hard to + climb. It is scarcely to be hoped that now she will choose me of her own + will, and to offer violence to the Baaltis is a sacrilege from which any + man—yes, even a king—may shrink, for such deeds draw the curse + of Heaven. Know that for this service I am minded to settle my account + with you in a fashion of which you have not thought. Have you heard, + Phoenician, that the chiefs of certain of my tribes love to decorate their + spear-shafts with the hide of white men, and to bray their flesh into a + medicine which gives courage to its eater?” + </p> + <p> + With this pleasing and suggestive query Ithobal paused, and looked towards + the door of the tent as though he were about to call his guard. + </p> + <p> + Now Metem’s blood ran cold, for he knew that this royal savage was not one + who uttered idle threats. Yet the coolness and cunning which had so often + served him well did not fail him in his need. + </p> + <p> + “I have heard that your people have strange customs,” he answered with a + laugh, “but I think that even a spear-shaft would scarcely gain beauty + from my wrinkled hide, and if anything, the eating of my flesh would make + tradesmen and not warriors of your chiefs. Well, let the jest pass, and + listen. King, in all my schemings one thought never crossed my mind, + namely, that you were a man to suffer scruples to stand between you and + the woman you would win. You think that now she is a goddess? Well, if + that be so—and it is not for me to say—who could be a fitter + mate for the greatest king upon the earth than a goddess from the heavens? + Take her, king Ithobal, take her, and this I promise you, that when your + armies are encamped without the walls, the priests of El will absolve you + of the crime of aspiring to the fair lips of Baaltis.” + </p> + <p> + “The lips of Baaltis,” broke in Ithobal; “do you think that I shall find + them sweet when another man has rifled them? Secret chambers are many + yonder in the palace of the gods, and doubtless the Jew will find his way + there.” + </p> + <p> + “Nay, King, for between these two I have indeed built a wall which cannot + be climbed. The worshipper of the Lord of Israel may not traffic with the + high-priestess of Ashtoreth. Moreover, I shall bring it about that ere + long Prince Aziel’s face is set seawards.” + </p> + <p> + “Do that, and I will believe you, merchant, though it would be better if + you could bring it about that his face was set earthwards, as I will if I + can. Well, this time I spare you, though be sure that if aught miscarry, + you shall pay the price, how, I have told you. Now I go to talk with these + traders, these outlanders, of Zimboe. Why do you wait? You are dismissed + and—alive.” + </p> + <p> + Metem looked steadily at the tablets which he still held in his hand. + </p> + <p> + “I have heard,” he said humbly, “that the king Ithobal, the great king, + always pays his debts, and as I—an outlander—shall be leaving + Zimboe shortly under his safe conduct, I desire to close this small + account.” + </p> + <p> + Ithobal went to the door of his tent and commanded that his treasurer + should attend him, bringing money. Presently he came, and at his lord’s + bidding weighed out one hundred ounces of gold. + </p> + <p> + “You are right, Phoenician,” said Ithobal; “I always pay my debts, + sometimes in gold and sometimes in iron. Be careful that I owe you no + more, lest you who to-day are paid in gold, to-morrow may receive the + iron, weighed out in the fashion of which I have spoken. Now, begone.” + </p> + <p> + Metem gathered up the treasure, and hiding it in his ample robe, bowed + himself from the royal presence and out of the thorn-hedged camp. + </p> + <p> + “Without doubt I have been in danger,” he said to himself, wiping his + brow, “since at one time that black brute, disregarding the sanctity of an + envoy, had it in his mind to torture and to kill me. So, so, king Ithobal, + Metem the Phoenician is also an honest merchant who ‘always pays his + debts,’ as you may learn in the market-places of Jerusalem, of Sidon and + of Zimboe, and I owe you a heavy bill for the fright you have given me + to-day. Little of Elissa’s company shall you have if I can help it; she is + too good for a cross-bred savage, and if before I go from these barbarian + lands I can set a drop of medicine in your wine, or an arrow in your + gizzard, upon the word of Metem the Phoenician, it shall be done, king + Ithobal.” + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + When Metem reached Sakon and the envoys, he found that a message had + already been sent to them announcing that Ithobal would meet them + presently upon the plain outside his camp. But still the king did not + come; indeed, it was not until Sakon had despatched another messenger, + saying that he was about to return to the city, that at length Ithobal + appeared at the head of a bodyguard of black troops. Arranging these in + line in front of the camp, he came forward, attended by twelve or fourteen + counsellors and generals, all of them unarmed. Half-way between his own + line and that of the Phoenicians, but out of bowshot of either, he halted. + </p> + <p> + Thereon Sakon, accompanied by a similar number of priests and nobles, + among whom were Aziel and Metem, all of them also unarmed, except for the + knives in their girdles, marched out to meet him. Their escort they left + drawn up upon the hillside. + </p> + <p> + “Let us to business, King,” said Sakon, when the formal words of + salutation had passed. “We have waited long upon your pleasure, and + already troops move out from the city to learn what has befallen us.” + </p> + <p> + “Do they then fear that I should ambush ambassadors?” asked Ithobal hotly. + “For the rest, is it not right that servants should bide at the door of + their king till it is his pleasure to open?” + </p> + <p> + “I know not what they fear,” answered Sakon, “but at least we fear + nothing, for we are too many,” and he glanced at his soldiers, a thousand + strong, upon the hillside. “Nor are the citizens of Zimboe the servants of + any man unless he be the king of Tyre.” + </p> + <p> + “That we shall put to proof, Sakon,” said Ithobal; “but say, what does the + Jew with you?” and he pointed to Aziel. “Is he also an envoy from Zimboe?” + </p> + <p> + “Nay, King,” answered the prince laughing, “but my grandsire, the mighty + ruler of Israel, charged me always to take note of the ways of savages in + peace and war, that I might learn how to deal with them. Therefore, I + sought leave to accompany Sakon upon this embassy.” + </p> + <p> + “Peace, peace!” broke in Sakon. “This is no time for gibes. King Ithobal, + since you did not dare to venture yourself again within the walls of our + city, we have come to answer the demands you made upon us in the Hall of + Audience. You demanded that our fortifications should be thrown down, and + this we refuse, since we do not court destruction. You demanded that we + should cease to enslave men to labour in the mines, and to this we answer + that for every man we take we will pay a tax to his lawful chief, or to + you as king. You demanded that the ancient tribute should be doubled. To + this, out of love and friendship, and not from fear, we assent, if you + will enter into a bond of lasting peace, since it is peace we seek, and + not war. King, you have our answer.” + </p> + <p> + “Not all of it, Sakon. How of that first condition—that Lady Elissa + the fair, your daughter, should be given me to wife?” + </p> + <p> + “King, it cannot be, for the gods of heaven have taken this matter from + our hands, anointing the lady Elissa their high-priestess.” + </p> + <p> + “Then as I live,” answered Ithobal with fury, “I will take her from the + hands of the gods and anoint her my dancing-woman. Do you think to make a + mock of me, you people of Zimboe, whom I have honoured by desiring one of + your daughters in marriage? You seek to trick me with your priests’ + juggling that you may keep her to be the toy of yonder princeling? So be + it, but I tell you that I will tear your city stone from stone, and anoint + its ruins with your blood. Yes, your young men shall labour in the mines + for me, and your high-born maidens shall wait upon my queens. Listen you,”—and + he turned to his generals—“let the messengers who are ready start + east and west, and north and south, to the chiefs whose names you have, + bidding them to meet me with their tribesmen, at the time and place + appointed. When next I speak with you, Elders of Zimboe, it shall be at + the head of a hundred thousand warriors.” + </p> + <p> + “Then, King, on your hands be all the innocent lives that these words of + yours have doomed, and may the weight of their wasted blood press you down + to ruin and death.” + </p> + <p> + Thus answered Sakon proudly, but with pale lips, for do what they would to + hide it, something of the fear they felt for the issue of this war was + written on the faces of all his company. + </p> + <p> + Ithobal turned upon his heel, deigning no reply, but as he went he + whispered a word into the ear of two of his captains, great men of war, + who stayed behind the rest of his party searching for something upon the + ground. Sakon and his counsellors also turned, walking towards their + escort, but Aziel lingered a little, fearing no danger, and being curious + to learn what the men sought. + </p> + <p> + “What do you seek, captains?” he asked courteously. + </p> + <p> + “A gold armlet that one of us has lost,” they answered. + </p> + <p> + Aziel let his eyes wander on the ground, and not far away perceived the + armlet half-hidden in a tussock of dry grass, where, indeed, it had been + placed. + </p> + <p> + “Is this the ring?” he asked, lifting it and holding it towards them. + </p> + <p> + “It is, and we thank you,” they answered, advancing to take the ornament. + </p> + <p> + The next moment, before Aziel even guessed their purpose, the captains had + gripped him by either arm and were dragging him at full speed towards + their camp. Understanding their treachery and the greatness of his danger, + he cried aloud for help. Then throwing himself swiftly to the ground, he + set his feet against a stone that chanced to lie in their path in such + fashion that the sudden weight tore his right arm from the group of the + man that held him. Now, quick as thought, Aziel drew the dagger from his + girdle, and, still lying upon his back, plunged it into the shoulder of + the second man so that he loosed him in his pain. Next he sprang to his + feet, and, leaping to one side to escape the rush of his captors, ran like + a deer towards the party of Sakon, who had wheeled round at the sound of + his cry. + </p> + <p> + Ithobal and his men had turned also and sped towards them, but at a little + distance they halted, the king shouting aloud:— + </p> + <p> + “I desired to hold this foreigner, who is the cause of war between us, + hostage for your daughter’s sake, Sakon, but this time he has escaped me. + Well, it matters nothing, for soon my turn will come. Therefore, if you + and he are wise, you will send him back to the sea, for thither alone I + promise him safe conduct.” + </p> + <p> + Then without more words he walked to his camp, the gates of which were + closed behind him. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + “Prince Aziel,” said Sakon, as they went towards the city, “it is ill to + speak such words to an honoured guest, but it cannot be denied that you + bring much trouble on my head. Twice now you have nearly perished at the + hands of Ithobal, and should that chance, doubtless I must earn the wrath + of Israel. On your behalf, also, the city of Zimboe is this day plunged + into a war that well may be her last, since it is because you have grown + suddenly dear to her that my daughter has continued to refuse the suit of + Ithobal, and because of his outraged pride at this refusal that he has + raised up the nations against us. Prince, while you remain in this city + there is no hope of peace. Do not, therefore, hate me, your servant, if I + pray of you to leave us while there is yet time.” + </p> + <p> + “Sakon,” answered Aziel, “I thank you for your open speech, and will pay + you back in words as honest as your own. Gladly would I go, for here + nothing but sorrow has befallen me, were it not for one thing which to you + may seem little, but to me, and perhaps to another, is all in all. I love + your daughter as I have never loved a woman before, and as my mind is to + hers, so is hers to mine. How, then, can I go hence when the going means + that I must part from her for ever?” + </p> + <p> + “How can you stay here, Prince, when the staying means that you must bring + her to shame and death, and yourself with her? Say now, are you prepared, + for the sake of this maiden, to abandon the worship of your fathers and to + become the servant of El and Baaltis?” + </p> + <p> + “You know well that I am not so prepared, Sakon. For nothing that the + world could give me would I do this sin.” + </p> + <p> + “Then, Prince, it is best that you should go, for that and no other is the + price you must pay if you would win my daughter Elissa. Should you seek to + do so by other means, I tell you that neither your high rank nor the power + of my rule and friendship, nor pity for your youth and hers, can save you + both from death, since to forgive you then would be to bring down the + wrath of its outraged gods upon Zimboe. Oh! Prince, for your own sake and + for the sake of her whom both you and I love thus dearly, linger no longer + in temptation, but turn your back upon it as a brave man should, for so + shall my blessing follow you to the grave and your years be filled with + honour.” + </p> + <p> + Aziel covered his eyes with his hand, and thought a while; then he + answered:— + </p> + <p> + “Be it as you will, friend. I go, but I go broken-hearted.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XI + </h2> + <h3> + METEM SELLS IMAGES + </h3> + <p> + Upon reaching the palace, Aziel went to the apartments of Issachar. + Finding no keeper at the door, he entered, to discover the old priest + kneeling in prayer at the window, which faced towards Jerusalem. So + absorbed was he in his devotions that it was not until he had ended them + and risen that Issachar saw Aziel standing in the chamber. + </p> + <p> + “Behold, an answer to my prayer,” he said. “My son, they told me that some + fresh danger had overtaken you, though none knew its issue. Therefore it + was that I prayed, and now I see you unharmed.” And taking him in his + arms, he embraced him. + </p> + <p> + “It is true that I have been in danger, father,” answered Aziel, and he + told him the story of his escape from Ithobal. + </p> + <p> + “Did I not pray thee not to accompany this embassy?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, father, yet I have returned in safety. Listen: I come with tidings + which you will think good. Not an hour ago I promised Sakon that I would + leave Zimboe, where it seems my presence breeds much trouble.” + </p> + <p> + “Good tidings, indeed!” exclaimed Issachar, “and never shall I know a + peaceful hour until we have seen the last of the towers of this doomed + city and its accursed people of devil-worshippers.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, good for you, father, but for me most ill, for here I shall leave my + youth and happiness. Nay, I know what you think; that this is but some + passing fancy bred of the pleasant beauty of a woman, but it is not so. I + say that from the moment when first I saw Elissa, she became life of my + life, and soul of my soul and that I go hence beggared of joy and hope, + and carrying with me a cankering memory which shall eat my heart away. You + deem her a witch, one to whom Baaltis has given power to drag the minds of + men to their destruction, but I tell you that her only spell is the spell + of her love for me, also that she whom you named so grossly is no longer + the servant of the demon Baaltis.” + </p> + <p> + “Elissa not the servant of Baaltis? How comes she then to be her + high-priestess? Aziel, your passion has made you mad.” + </p> + <p> + “She is high-priestess because Metem and others brought about her election + without her will, urged on to it by I know not whom.” And he looked hard + at Issachar, who turned away. “But what matters it who did the ill deed,” + he continued, “since this, at least, is certain, that here my presence + breeds sorrow and bloodshed, and therefore I must go as I have promised.” + </p> + <p> + “When do we depart, Prince?” queried Issachar. + </p> + <p> + “I know not, it is naught to me. Here comes Metem, ask of him.” + </p> + <p> + “Metem,” said the Levite, “the prince desires to leave Zimboe and march to + the coast, there to take ship to Tyre. When can your caravan be ready?” + </p> + <p> + “So I have heard, Issachar, for Sakon tells me that he has come to an + agreement with the prince upon this matter. Well, I am glad to learn it, + for troubles thicken here, and I think that the woe you prophesied is not + far from this city of Zimboe where every man seeks to serve his own hand, + and is ready to sell his neighbour. When can the caravan be got ready? + Well, the night after next; at least, we can start that night. To-morrow + evening, so soon as the sun is down, I will send on the camels by ones and + twos, and with them the baggage and treasure, to a secret place I know of + in the mountains, where we and the prince’s guard can follow upon the + mules and join them. As it chances, I have a safe conduct from Ithobal. + Still I should not wish to put his troops into temptation by marching + through them with twenty laden camels, or to lose certain earnings of my + own that will be hidden in the baggage. Moreover, if our departure becomes + known, half the city would wish to join us, having no love of soldiering, + and misdoubting them much of the issue of this war with Ithobal.” + </p> + <p> + “As you will,” said Issachar, “you are captain of the caravan, and charged + with the safety of the prince upon his journeyings. I am ready whenever + you appoint, and the quicker that hour comes, the more praise you will + have from me.” + </p> + <p> + “Come with me, I wish to speak with you,” said Aziel to the Phoenician as + they left the presence of Issachar. “Listen,” he added, when they had + reached his chamber, “we leave this city soon, and I have farewells to + make.” + </p> + <p> + “To the Baaltis?” suggested Metem. + </p> + <p> + “To the lady Elissa. I desire to send her a letter of farewell; can you + deliver it into her own hand?” + </p> + <p> + “It may be managed, Prince, at a price—nay, from you I ask no price. + I have still some images that I wish to sell, and we merchants go + everywhere, even into the presence of the Baaltis if it pleases her to + admit them. Write your scroll and I will take it, though, to be plain, it + is not a task which I should have sought.” + </p> + <p> + So Aziel wrote slowly and with care. Then having sealed the writing he + gave it to Metem. + </p> + <p> + “Your face is sat, Prince,” he said, as he hid it in his robe, “but, + believe me, you are doing what is right and wise.” + </p> + <p> + “It may be so,” answered Aziel, “yet I would rather die than do it, and + may my curse lie heavy upon the heads of those who have so wrought that it + must be done. Now, I pray you, deliver this scroll into the hands of her + you know, and bring me the answer if there be any, betraying it to none, + for I will double whatever sum is offered for that treachery.” + </p> + <p> + “Have no fear, Prince,” said Metem quietly, but without taking offence, + “this errand is undertaken for friendship, not for profit. The risk is + mine alone; the gain—or loss—is yours.” + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + An hour later the Phoenician stood in the palace of the gods, demanding, + under permit from Sakon, governor of the city, to be admitted into the + presence of the Baaltis, to whom he desired to sell certain sacred images + cunningly fashioned in gold. Presently it was announced that he was + allowed to approach, and the officers of the temple led him through + guarded passages, to the private chambers of the priestesses. Here he + found Elissa in a long, low hall, sweet with scented woods, rich with + gold, and supported by pillars of cedar. + </p> + <p> + She was seated alone at the far end of this hall, beneath the + window-plate, clad in her white robes of office, richly broidered with + emblems of the moon. Her women, most of whom were employed in needle-work, + though some whispered idly to each other, were gathered at the lower end + of the hall near to its door. + </p> + <p> + Metem saluted them as he entered, and they detained him, answering his + greeting by requests for news and with jests, not too refined, or by + demands for presents of jewels, in return for which they promised him the + blessings of the goddess. To each he made some apt reply, for even the + priestesses of Baaltis could not abash Metem. But while he bandied words, + his quick eyes noted one of their number who did not join in this play. + She was a spare, thin-lipped woman whom he knew for Mesa, the daughter of + the dead Baaltis, who had been a rival candidate for the throne of the + high-priestess when Elissa was chosen in her place. + </p> + <p> + When he entered the hall Mesa was seated upon a canvas stool, a little + apart from the others, her chin resting upon her hand, staring with an + evil look towards the place where Elissa was enthroned. Nor did her face + grow more gentle at the sight of the cunning merchant, for she knew well + it was through his plots and bribery that she had been ousted from her + mother’s place. + </p> + <p> + “A woman to be feared,” thought Metem to himself as, shaking off the + priestesses, he passed her upon his way up the long chamber. Presently he + had reached the end of it, and was saluting the presence of the Baaltis by + kneeling and touching the carpet with his brow. + </p> + <p> + “Rise, Metem,” said Elissa, “and set out your business, for the hour of + the sunset prayer is at hand, and I cannot talk long with you.” + </p> + <p> + So he rose, and, looking at her while he laid out his store of images, saw + that her face was sad, and that her eyes were full of a strange fear. + </p> + <p> + “Lady,” he said, “on the second night from now I depart from this city of + yours, and glad shall I be to leave it living. Therefore I have brought + you these four priceless images of the most splendid workmanship of Tyre, + thinking that it might please you to purchase them for the service of the + goddess.” + </p> + <p> + “You depart,” she whispered; “alone?” + </p> + <p> + “No lady, not alone; the holy Issachar goes with me, also the escort of + the prince Aziel—and the prince himself, whose presence is no longer + desired in Zimboe.” Here he stopped, for he saw that Elissa was about to + betray her agitation, and whispered, “Be not foolish, for you are watched; + I have a letter for you. Lady,” he continued in a louder voice, “if it + will please you to examine this precious image in the light, you will no + longer hesitate or think the price too high,” and bowing low he led the + way behind the throne, whither Elissa followed him. + </p> + <p> + Now they were standing beneath the window-place, which they faced, and + hidden from the gaze of the women by the gilded back of the high seat. + </p> + <p> + “Here,” he said, thrusting the parchment into her hand, “read quickly, and + return it to me.” + </p> + <p> + She snatched the roll from him, and as her eyes devoured the lines, her + face fell in, and her lips grew pale with anguish. + </p> + <p> + “Be brave,” murmured Metem, for his heart was stirred to pity; “it is best + for all that he should go.” + </p> + <p> + “For him, perchance it is best,” she answered; as with an unwilling hand + she gave him back the letter which she dared not keep, “but what of me? + Oh! Metem, what of me?” + </p> + <p> + “Lady,” he said sadly, “I have no words to soothe your sorrow save that + the gods have willed it thus.” + </p> + <p> + “What gods?” she asked fiercely; “not those they bid me worship.” She + shuddered, then went on, “Metem, be pitiful! Oh! if ever you have loved a + woman, or have been loved of one, for her sake be pitiful. I must see him + for the last time in farewell, and you can help me to it.” + </p> + <p> + “I! In the name of Baal, how?” + </p> + <p> + “When do you have to leave the city, Metem?” + </p> + <p> + “At moonrise on the night after next.” + </p> + <p> + “Then an hour before moonrise I will be in the temple, whither I can come + by the secret way that leads thither from this palace, and he can enter + there, for the little gate shall be left unbarred. Pray him to meet me, + then—for the last time.” + </p> + <p> + “Lady,” he urged, “this is but madness, and I refuse. You must find + another messenger.” + </p> + <p> + “Madness or not it is my will, and beware how you thwart me in it, Metem, + for at least I am the Lady Baaltis, and have power to kill without + question. I swear to you that if I do not see him, you shall never leave + this city living.” + </p> + <p> + “A shrewd argument, and to the point,” said Metem reflectively. “Well, I + have prepared myself a rock-hewn tomb at Tyre, and do not wish that my + graven sarcophagus of best Egyptian alabaster should be wasted, or sold to + some upstart for a song.” + </p> + <p> + “As assuredly it will be, if you do not obey me in this matter, Metem. + Remember—an hour before moonrise, at the foot of the pillar of El in + the inner court of the temple.” + </p> + <p> + As she spoke Metem started, for his quick ears had caught a sound. + </p> + <p> + “O Queen divine,” he said in a loud voice, as he led the way to the front + of the throne, “you are a hard bargainer! Were there many such, a poor + trader could not make a living. Ah! here is one who knows the value of + such priceless works of art,” and he pointed to Mesa, who, with folded + arms and downcast eyes, stood within five paces of the throne, as near, + indeed, as custom allowed her to approach. “Lady,” he went on addressing + you, “you will have heard the price I asked; say, now, is it too much?” + </p> + <p> + “I have heard nothing, sir. I stand here, waiting the return of my holy + mistress that I may remind her that the hour of sunset prayer is at hand.” + </p> + <p> + “Would that I had so fair a mentor,” exclaimed Metem, “for then I should + lose less time.” But to himself he said, “She <i>has</i> heard something, + though I think but little,” then added aloud: “Well judge between us, + lady. Is fifty golden shekels too much for these images which have been + blessed and sprinkled with the blood of children by the high priest of + Baal at Sidon?” + </p> + <p> + Mesa lifted her cold eyes and looked at them. “I think it too much,” she + said, “but it is for the lady Baaltis to judge. Who am I that I should + open my lips in the presence of the lady Baaltis?” + </p> + <p> + “I have appealed to the oracle, and it has spoken against me,” said Metem, + wringing his hands in affected dismay. “Well, I abide the result. Queen, + you offered me forty shekels and for forty you shall take them, for the + honour of the holy gods, though in truth I lose ten shekels by the + bargain. Give your order to the treasurer, and he will pay me to-morrow. + So now farewell,” and bowing till his forehead touched the ground, he + kissed the hem of her robe. + </p> + <p> + Elissa bent her head in acknowledgment of the salute, and as he rose her + eyes met his. In them was written a warning which he could not fail to + understand, and although she did not speak, her lips seemed to shape the + word, “Remember.” + </p> + <p> + Ten minutes later Metem stood in the chamber of Aziel. + </p> + <p> + “Has she seen the letter, and what did she answer?” asked the prince, + springing up almost as he passed the threshold. + </p> + <p> + “In the name of all the gods of all the nations I pray you not to speak so + loud,” answered Metem when he had closed the door and looked suspiciously + about him. “Oh! if ever I find myself safe in Tyre again, I vow a gift, + and no mean one, to each of them that has a temple there, and they are + many; for no single god is strong enough to bring me safe out of this + trouble. Have I seen the lady Elissa? Oh, yes, I have seen her. And what + think you that this innocent lamb, this undefiled dove of yours, threatens + me with now? Death! nothing less than death, if I will not carry out her + foolish wishes. More, she means the threat, and has the strength to fulfil + it, for to the lady Baaltis is given power over the lives of men, or at + the least, if she takes life none question the authority of the goddess. + Unless I do her will I am a dead man, and that is the reward I get for + mixing myself up in your mad love affairs.” + </p> + <p> + “Hold!” broke in Aziel, “and tell me, man, what is her will?” + </p> + <p> + “Her will is—what do you think? To meet you in farewell an hour + before you leave this city. Well, as my throat is at stake, by Baal! it + shall be gratified if I can find the means, though I tell you that it is + madness and nothing else. But listen to the story——” and he + repeated all that had passed. “Now,” he added, “are you ready to take the + risk, Prince?” + </p> + <p> + “I should be a coward indeed if I did not,” answered Aziel, “when she, a + woman, dares a heavier.” + </p> + <p> + “And I am a coward, that is why I take it, for otherwise I also must dare + a heavier. But what of Issachar? This meeting can scarcely be kept a + secret from him.” + </p> + <p> + Aziel thought awhile and said:— + </p> + <p> + “Go fetch him here.” So Metem went, to return presently with the Levite, + to whom, without further ado, the prince told all, hiding nothing. + </p> + <p> + Issachar listened in silence. When both Aziel and Metem had done speaking, + he said:— + </p> + <p> + “At least, I thank you, Prince, for being open with me; and now without + more words I pray you to abandon this rash plan, which can end only in + pain, and perhaps in death.” + </p> + <p> + “Abandon it not, Prince,” interrupted Metem, “seeing that if you do it + will certainly end in my death, for the girl is mad, and will have her + way. Or if she does not, then I must pay the price.” + </p> + <p> + “Have no fear,” answered Aziel smiling. “Issachar, this must be done or——” + </p> + <p> + “Or what, Prince?” + </p> + <p> + “I will not leave the city. It is true that Sakon may thrust me from it, + but it shall be as a dead man. Nay, waste no words, since she desires it; + I must and will meet the Lady Elissa for the last time, not as lover meets + lover, but as those meet who part for ever in the world.” + </p> + <p> + “You say so, Prince; then have I your permission to accompany you?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, if you wish it, Issachar; but there is danger.” + </p> + <p> + “Danger! What care I for danger? The will of Heaven be done to me. So be + it, we will go together, but the end of it is not with us.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XII + </h2> + <h3> + THE TRYST + </h3> + <p> + Two days had gone by, and at the appointed hour three figures, wrapped in + dark cloaks, might have been seen walking swiftly towards the little + entrance of the temple fortress. Although it was near to midnight the city + was still astir with men, for this very evening news had reached it that + Ithobal was advancing at the head of tens of thousands of the warriors of + the Tribes. More, it was rumoured freely that within the next few days the + siege of Zimboe would begin. Late as it was, the council had been just + summoned to the palace of Sakon to consider the conduct of the defence, + while in every street stood knots of men engaged in anxious discussion, + and from many a smithy rose the sound of armourers at their work. Here + marched parties of soldiers of various races, there came long strings of + mules laden with dried flesh and grain; yonder a woman beat her breast, + and wept loudly because her three sons had been impressed by order of the + council, two of them to serve as archers and the third to carry blocks of + stone for the fortifications. + </p> + <p> + Passing unnoticed through all this crowd and tumult, Aziel, Issachar and + Metem entered a winding passage in the temple wall, and came to the little + gate. Metem tried it, and whispered:— + </p> + <p> + “She has kept her word; it is unlocked. Now enter to your love-tryst, holy + Issachar.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you not come with us?” asked the Levite. + </p> + <p> + “No, I am too old for such adventures. Listen, I go to make ready. Within + an hour the mules with the prince’s bodyguard will stand in the archway + near the small gate of the palace, for by now the baggage and its escort + await us a day’s march from this accursed city. Will you meet me there? + No; I think it is best that I should come to your chambers to fetch you, + and, I pray you, let there be no delay, for it is dangerous in many ways. + When once the prince has done with his tender interview, and wiped away + his tears, there should be nothing to stay him, since the farewell cup + with Sakon has been already drunk. Enter now swiftly before some prowling + priest happens upon you, and pray that you may come out as sound as you go + in. Oh! what a sight! A prince of Israel and an aged Levite of established + reputation going to keep a tryst at midnight with the high-priestess of + Baaltis in the sanctuary of her god! Nay, answer not; there is no time”—and + he was gone. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Having passed the gate, Aziel and Issachar crept down the winding passages + of stone, groping their path by such light as fell from the narrow line of + sky above them, till at length they reached the court of the sanctuary. + Here the place was as silent as death, for the noise from the city without + could not pierce its towering walls of massive granite. + </p> + <p> + “It is the very pit of Tophet,” murmured Issachar, peering through the + dense shadows, “the house of Beelzebub, where his presence dwells. Whither + now, Aziel?” + </p> + <p> + The prince pointed to two objects that were visible in the starlight, and + answered:— + </p> + <p> + “Thither, at the foot of the pillar of El.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah! I remember,” said Issachar, “where the accursed woman would have + offered sacrifice, and the priests struck me down because I prophesied to + them of the wrath to come, and that is now at hand. An ill-omened spot, + indeed, and an ill-omened tryst with the fiends for witnesses. Well, lead + on, and I pray you to be brief as may be, for this place weighs down my + soul, and I feel danger in it—danger to the body and the spirit.” + </p> + <p> + So they went forward. “Be careful,” whispered Aziel presently. “The pit of + sacrifice is at your feet.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, yes,” he answered, “we walk upon the edge of the pit, and, in truth, + I grow fearful, for at the threshold of such places the angel of the Lord + deserts us.” + </p> + <p> + “There is nothing to fear,” said Aziel. But even as he spoke, although he + could not see it, a white face rose above the edge of the pit, like that + of some ghost struggling from the tomb, watched them a moment with cold + eyes, then disappeared again. + </p> + <p> + Now they were near the greater pillar, and now from its shadow glided a + black-veiled shape. + </p> + <p> + “Elissa?” murmured Aziel. + </p> + <p> + “It is I,” whispered a soft voice; “but who comes with you?” + </p> + <p> + “I, Issachar,” said the Levite, “who would not suffer that he of whom I am + given charge should seek such company alone. Now, priestess, say your say + with the prince yonder and let us be gone swiftly from this blood-stained + place.” + </p> + <p> + “You speak harsh words to me, Issachar,” she said gently, “yet I am most + glad that you have come, for, believe me, I sought no lovers’ meeting with + the prince Aziel. Listen, both of you: you know that they have consecrated + me high-priestess of Baaltis against my will. Now, I tell you, Issachar, + what I have already told the prince Aziel—that I am no longer a + worshipper of Baaltis. Yes, here in her very temple I renounce her, even + though she takes my life in vengeance. Oh! since they made me priestess I + have been forced to learn all her worship, which before I never even + guessed, and to see sights that would chill your blood to hear of them. + Now I tell you, prince Aziel and Issachar, that I will bear no more. From + El and Baaltis I turn to Him you worship, though, alas! little time is + left to me in which to plead for pardon.” + </p> + <p> + “Why is little time left?” broke in Aziel. + </p> + <p> + “Because my death is very near me, Prince, for if I live, see what a fate + is mine. Either I must remain high-priestess of Baaltis and to her day by + day bow the knee, and month by month make sacrifice—of what think + you? Well, to be plain, of the blood of maids and children. Or, perhaps, + should their fears overcome their scruples, I shall be given by the + council as a peace-offering to Ithobal. + </p> + <p> + “I say that I will bear neither of these burdens of blood or shame; they + are too heavy for me. Prince, so soon as you are gone I too shall leave + this city, not in the body, but in the spirit, searching for peace or + sleep. It was for this reason that I sought to speak with you in farewell, + since in my weakness I desired that you should learn the truth of the + cause and manner of my end. + </p> + <p> + “Now you know all, and as for me there is no escape, farewell for ever, + prince Aziel, whom I have loved, and whom I can scarcely hope to meet + again, even beyond the grave.” Then with a little despairing motion of her + hand she turned to go. + </p> + <p> + “Stay,” said Aziel hoarsely, “we cannot be parted thus; since by your own + act you can dare to leave the world, will you not dare to fly this place + with me?” + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps, Prince,” she answered with a little laugh, “but would you dare + to take me, and if so, would Issachar here suffer it? No, no; go your own + path in life, and leave me death—it is the easier way.” + </p> + <p> + “In this matter I am master and not Issachar,” said Aziel, “though it be + true that should it please him, he can warn the priests of El. Listen, + Elissa: either you leave this city with me, or I stay in it with you. You + hear me, Issachar?” + </p> + <p> + “I hear you,” said the Levite, “but perchance before you throw more sharp + words at my head, you will suffer me to speak. Self-murder is a crime, yet + I honour this woman who would shed her own blood, rather than the blood of + the innocent in sacrifice to Baal, and who refuses to be given in marriage + to one she hates; who, moreover, has found strength and grace to trample + on her devil-worship, if so in truth she has. If therefore she will come + with us and we can escape with her, why, let her come. Only swear to me, + Aziel, that you will make no wife of her till the king, your grandsire, + has heard this tale and given judgment on it.” + </p> + <p> + “That I will swear for him,” exclaimed Elissa; “is it not so, Aziel?” + </p> + <p> + “As you will, lady,” he answered. “Issachar, you have my word that until + then she shall be as my sister, and no more.” + </p> + <p> + “I hear and I believe you,” said Issachar, adding: “And now, lady, we go + at once, so if you desire to accompany us, come.” + </p> + <p> + “I am ready,” she replied, “and the hour is well chosen for I shall not be + missed till dawn.” + </p> + <p> + So they turned and left the temple. None stayed or hindered them, yet + although they reached the chambers of Aziel in safety, their hearts, which + should have been light, were still heavy with the presage of new sorrow to + come. + </p> + <p> + Scarcely could they have been heavier, indeed, had they seen a white-faced + woman creep from the pit of death and follow them stealthily till they had + passed from the temple into the palace doors, then turn and run at full + speed towards the college of the priests of El. + </p> + <p> + In the chamber of Aziel they found Metem. + </p> + <p> + “I rejoice to see you back again in safety, since it is more than I + thought to do,” he said, while they entered, adding, as the black-veiled + shape of Elissa followed them into the room, “but who is the third? Ah! I + see, the lady Elissa. Does the Baaltis accompany us upon our journey?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” answered Aziel shortly. + </p> + <p> + “Then with her high Grace on the one side and the holy Issachar on the + other it should not lack for blessings. Surely that evil must be great + from which, separately or together, they are unable to defend us. But, + lady, if I may ask it, have you bid farewell to your most honoured + father?” + </p> + <p> + “Torment me not,” murmured Elissa. + </p> + <p> + “Indeed, I did not wish to, though you may remember that not so long ago + you threatened to silence me for ever. Well, doubtless your departure is + too hurried for farewells, and, fortunately, foreseeing it, I have + provided spare mules. So my deeds are kinder than my words. I go to see + that all is prepared. Now eat before you start; presently I will return + for you,” and he left the chamber. + </p> + <p> + When he had gone they gathered round the table on which stood food, but + could touch little of it; for the hearts of all three of them were filled + with sad forebodings. Soon they heard a noise as of people talking + excitedly outside the palace gates. + </p> + <p> + “It is Metem with the mules,” said Aziel. + </p> + <p> + “I hope so,” answered Elissa. + </p> + <p> + Again there was silence, which, after a while, was broken by a loud + knocking at the door. + </p> + <p> + “Rise,” said Aziel, “Metem comes for us.” + </p> + <p> + “No, no,” cried Elissa, “it is Doom that knocks, not Metem.” + </p> + <p> + As the words passed her lips the door was burst open, and through it + poured a mob of armed priests, at the head of whom marched the Shadid. By + his side was his daughter Mesa, in whose pale face the eyes burned like + torches in a wind. + </p> + <p> + “Did I not tell you so?” she said in a shrill voice, pointing at the + three. “Behold the Lady Baaltis and her lover, and with them that priest + of a false faith who called down curses upon our city.” + </p> + <p> + “You told us indeed, daughter,” answered the Shadid; “pardon us if we were + loth to believe that such a thing could be.” Then with a cry of rage he + added, “Take them.” + </p> + <p> + Now Aziel drew his sword, and sprang in front of Elissa to protect her, + but before he could strike a blow it was seized from behind, and he was + gripped by many hands, gagged, bound and blindfolded. Then like a man in a + dream he felt himself carried away through long passages, till at length + he reached an airless place, where the gag and bandages were removed. + </p> + <p> + “Where am I?” Aziel asked. + </p> + <p> + “In the vaults of the temple,” answered the priests as they left the + prison, barring its great door behind them. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIII + </h2> + <h3> + THE SACRILEGE OF AZIEL + </h3> + <p> + How long he lay in his dungeon, lost in bitter thought and tormented by + fears for Elissa, Aziel could not tell, for no light came there to mark + the passage of the hours. In the tumult of his mind, one terrible thought + grew clear and ever clearer; he and Elissa had been taken red-handed, and + must pay the price of their sin against the religious customs of the city. + For the Baaltis to be found with any man who was not her husband meant + death to him and her, a doom from which there was little chance of escape. + </p> + <p> + Well, to his own fate he was almost indifferent, but for Elissa and + Issachar he mourned bitterly. Truly the Levite and Metem had been wise + when they cautioned him, for her sake and his own, to have nothing to do + with a priestess of Baal. But he had not listened; his heart would not let + him listen—and now, unless they were saved by a miracle—or + Metem—in the fulness of their youth and love, the lives of both of + them were forfeited. + </p> + <p> + Worn out with sore fears and vain regrets Aziel fell at length into a + heavy sleep. He was awakened by the opening of the door of his dungeon, + and the entry of priests—grim, silent men who seized and blindfolded + him. Then they led him away up many stairs, and along paths so steep that + from time to time they paused to rest, till at length he knew, by the + sound of voices, that he had reached some place where people were + assembled. Here the bandage was removed from his eyes. He stepped + backwards, recoiling involuntarily at the glare of light that poured upon + him from the setting sun, whereon, uttering an exclamation, those who + stood near seized and held him. Presently he saw the reason. He was + standing on the brink of a precipice at the back of and dominating the dim + and shadow-clad city, while far beneath him lay a gloomy rift along which + ran the trade road to the coast. + </p> + <p> + Here in this dizzy spot was a wide space of rock, walled in upon three + sides. The precipice formed the fourth side of its square, in which, + seated upon stones that seemed to have been set there in semi-circles to + serve as judgment chairs, were gathered the head priests and priestesses + of El and Baaltis, clad in their sacerdotal robes. To the right and left + of these stood knots of favoured spectators, among whom Aziel recognised + Metem and Sakon, while at his side, but separated from him by armed + priests, were Elissa herself, wrapped in a dark veil, and Issachar. + Lastly, in front of him, a fire flickered upon a little altar, and behind + the altar stood a shrine containing a symbolical effigy of Baaltis + fashioned of gold, ivory and wood to the shape of a woman with a hundred + breasts. + </p> + <p> + Seeing all this, Aziel understood that they three had been brought here + for trial, and that the priests and priestesses before him were their + judges. Indeed, he remembered that the place had been pointed out to him + as one where those who had offended against the gods were carried for + judgment. Thence, if found guilty, such unfortunates were hurled down the + face of the precipice and left, a shapeless mass of broken bone, to + crumble on the roadway at its foot. + </p> + <p> + After a long and solemn pause, at a sign from the Shadid, he who had been + the husband of the dead Baaltis, the veil was removed from Elissa. At once + she turned, looked at Aziel, and smiled sadly. + </p> + <p> + “Do you know the fate that waits us?” the prince asked of Issachar in + Hebrew. + </p> + <p> + “I know, and I am ready,” answered the old Levite, “for since my soul is + safe I care little what these dogs may do to my body. But, oh! my son, I + weep for you, and cursed be the hour when first you saw that woman’s + face.” + </p> + <p> + “Spare to reproach me in my misfortune,” murmured Elissa; “have I not + enough to bear, knowing that I have brought death upon him I love? Oh! + curse me not, but pray that my sins may be forgiven me.” + </p> + <p> + “That I will do gladly, daughter,” replied Issachar more gently, “the more + so that, although you seem to be the cause of them, these things can have + happened only by the will of Heaven. Therefore I was wrong to revile you, + and I ask your pardon.” + </p> + <p> + Before she could answer the Shadid commanded silence. At the same moment + the woman Mesa stepped from behind the effigy of the goddess on the + shrine. + </p> + <p> + “Who are you and what do you here?” asked the Shadid, as though he did not + know her. + </p> + <p> + “I am Mesa, the daughter of her who was the lady Baaltis,” she answered, + “and my rank is that of Mother of the priestesses of Baaltis. I appear to + give true evidence against her, who is the anointed Baaltis, against the + Israelitish stranger named Aziel, and the priest of the Lord of the Jews.” + </p> + <p> + “Lay your hand upon the altar and speak, but beware what you speak,” said + the Shadid. + </p> + <p> + Mesa bowed her head, took the oath of truth by touching the altar with her + fingers, and began:— + </p> + <p> + “From the time that she was appointed I have been suspicious of the lady + Baaltis.” + </p> + <p> + “Why were you suspicious?” asked the Shadid. + </p> + <p> + The witness let her eyes wander towards Metem, then hesitated. Evidently + for some reason of her own she did not wish to implicate him. + </p> + <p> + “I was suspicious,” she answered, “because of certain words that came from + the lips of the Baaltis, when she had been thrown into the holy trance + before the fire of sacrifice. As is my accustomed part, I bent over her to + hear and to announce the message of the gods, but in place of the hallowed + words there issued babblings about this Hebrew stranger and of a meeting + to be held with him at one hour before moonrise by the pillar of El in the + courtyard of the temple. Thereafter for several nights as was my duty I + hid myself in the pit of offerings in the courtyard and watched. Last + night at an hour before the moonrise the Lady Baaltis came disguised by + the secret way and waited at the pillar, where presently she was joined by + the Jew Aziel and the Levite, who spoke with her. + </p> + <p> + “What they said I could not hear, because they were too far from me, but + at length they left the temple and I traced them to the chambers of the + Jew Aziel, in the palace of Sakon. Then, Shadid, I warned you, and the + priests and you accompanied me and took them. Now, as Mother of the + priestesses, I demand that justice be done upon these wicked ones, + according to the ancient custom, lest the curse of Baaltis should fall + upon this city.” + </p> + <p> + When she had finished her evidence, with a cold stare of triumphant hate + at her rival, Mesa stepped to one side. + </p> + <p> + “You have heard,” said the Shadid addressing his fellow-judges. “Do you + need further testimony? If so, it must be brief, for the sun sinks.” + </p> + <p> + “Nay,” answered the spokesman, “for with you we took the three of them + together in the chamber of the prince Aziel. Set out the law of this + matter, O Judge, and let justice be done according to the strict letter of + the law—justice without fear or favour.” + </p> + <p> + “Hearken,” said the Shadid. “Last night this woman Elissa, the daughter of + Sakon, being the lady Baaltis duly elected, met men secretly in the courts + of the temple and accompanied them, or one of them, to the chamber of + Aziel, a prince of Israel, the guest of Sakon. Whether or no she was about + to fly with him from the city which he should have left last night, we + cannot tell, and it is needless to inquire, at least she was with him. + This, however, is sure, that they did not sin in ignorance of our law, + since with my own mouth I warned them both that if the lady Baaltis + consorts with any man not her husband duly named by her according to her + right, she must die and her accomplice with her. Therefore, Aziel the + Israelite, we give you to death, dooming you presently to be hurled from + the edge of yonder precipice.” + </p> + <p> + “I am in your power,” said the prince proudly, “and you can murder if you + will, because, forsooth, I have offended against some law of Baal, but I + tell you, priest, that there are kings in Jerusalem and Egypt who will + demand my blood at your hands. I have nothing more to say except to + beseech you to spare the life of the lady Elissa, since the fault of the + meeting was not hers, but mine.” + </p> + <p> + “Prince,” answered the Shadid gravely, “we know your rank and we know also + that your blood will be required at our hands, but we who serve our gods, + whose vengeance is so swift and terrible, cannot betray their law for the + fear of any earthly kings. Yet, thus says this same law, it is not needful + that you should die since for you there is a way of escape that leads to + safety and great honour, and she who was the cause of your sin is the + mistress of its gate. Elissa, holder of the spirit of Baaltis upon earth, + if it be your pleasure to name this man husband before us all, then as the + spouse of Baaltis he goes free, for he whom the Baaltis chooses cannot + refuse her gift of love, but for so long as she shall live must rule with + her as Shadid of El. But if you name him not, then as I have said, he must + die, and now. Speak.” + </p> + <p> + “It seems that my choice is small,” said Elissa with a faint smile. + “Praying you to pardon me for the deed, to save your life, prince Aziel, + according to the ancient custom and privilege of the Baaltis, I name you + consort and husband.” + </p> + <p> + Now Aziel was about to answer her when the Shadid broke in hurriedly, “So + be it,” he said. “Lady, we hear your choice, and we accept it as we must, + but not yet, prince Aziel, can you take your wife and with her my place + and power. Your life is safe indeed, for since the Baaltis, being unwed, + names you as her mate, you have done no sin. Yet she has sinned and doom + awaits her, for against the law she has chosen as husband one who worships + a strange god, and of all crimes that is the greatest. Therefore, either + you must take incense and before us all make offering to El and Baaltis + upon yonder altar, thus renouncing your faith and entering into ours, or + she must die and you, your rank having passed from you with her breath, + will be expelled from the city.” + </p> + <p> + Now Aziel understood the trap that had been laid for him, and saw in it + the handiwork of Sakon and Metem. Elissa having flagrantly violated the + religious law, and he, being the cause of her crime, even the authority of + the governor of the city could not prevent his daughter and his guest from + being put upon their trial. Therefore, they had arranged this farce, for + so it would seem to them, whereby both the offenders might escape the + legal consequences of their offence, trusting, doubtless, to accident and + the future to unravel this web of forced marriage, and to free Aziel from + a priestly rank which he had not sought. It was only necessary that Elissa + should formally choose him as her husband, and that Aziel should go + through rite of throwing a few grains of incense upon an altar, and, the + law satisfied, they would be both free and safe. What Metem, and those who + worked with him, had forgotten was, that this offering of incense to Baal + would be the most deadly of crimes in the eyes of any faithful Jew—one, + indeed, which, were he alone concerned, he would die rather than commit. + </p> + <p> + When the prince heard this decree, and the full terror of the choice came + home to his mind, his blood turned cold, and for a while his senses were + bewildered. There was no escape for him; either he must abjure his faith + at the price of his own soul, or, because of it, the woman whom he loved, + now, before his eyes, must suffer a most horrible and sudden death. It was + hideous to think of, and yet how could he do this sin in the face of + heaven and of these ministers of Satan? + </p> + <p> + The moment was at hand; a priest held out to him a bowl of incense, a + golden bowl, he noticed idly, with handles of green stone fashioned in the + likeness of Baaltis, whose servant he was asked to declare himself. He, + Aziel of the royal house of Israel, a servant of Baal and Baaltis, nay, a + high-priest of their worship! It was monstrous, it might not be. But + Elissa? Well, she must die—if this was not a farce, and in truth + they meant to murder her; her life could not be bought at such a price. + </p> + <p> + “I cannot do it,” he gasped with dry lips, thrusting aside the bowl. + </p> + <p> + Now all looked astonished, for his refusal had not been foreseen. There + was a pause, and once more the woman Mesa, in her character of prosecutrix + on behalf of the outraged gods, appeared before the altar, and said in her + cold voice: + </p> + <p> + “The Jew whom the lady Baaltis has chosen as husband will not do homage to + her gods. Therefore, as Mother of the priestesses and Advocate of Baaltis, + I demand that Elissa, daughter of Sakon, be put to death, and the throne + of Baaltis be purged of one who has defiled it, lest the swift and + terrible vengeance of the goddess should fall upon this city.” + </p> + <p> + The Shadid motioned to her to be silent, and addressed Aziel:— + </p> + <p> + “We pray you to think a while,” he said, “before you give one to death + whose only sin is that, being the high-priestess of our worship, she has + named an unbeliever to fill the throne of El and be her husband. Out of + pity for her fate we give you time to think.” + </p> + <p> + Now Sakon, taking advantage of the pause, rushed forward, and throwing his + arms about Aziel’s knees, implored him in heart-breaking accents to + preserve his only child from so horrible a doom. He said that did he + refuse to save her because of his religious scruples, he would be a dog + and a coward, and the scorn of all honest men for ever. It was for love of + him that she had broken the priestly law, to violate which was death, and + although he had been warned of her danger, yet in his wickedness and folly + he had brought her to this pass. Would he then desert her now? + </p> + <p> + But Issachar thrust him aside, and broke in with fiery words:— + </p> + <p> + “Hearken not to this man, Aziel,” he said, “who strives to work upon your + weakness to the ruin of your soul. What! To save the life of one woman, + whose fair face has brought so much trouble upon us all, would you deny + your Lord and become the thrall of Baal and Ashtoreth? Let her die since + die she must, and keep your own heart pure, for be assured, should you do + otherwise, Jehovah, whom you renounce, will swiftly be avenged on you and + her. At the beginning I warned you, and you would not listen. Now, Aziel, + I warn you again, and woe! woe! woe! to you should you shut your ears to + my message.” Then lifting his hands towards the skies, he began to pray + aloud that Aziel might be constant in his trial. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile, Metem, who had drawn near, spoke in a low voice:— + </p> + <p> + “Prince,” he said, “I am not chicken-hearted, and there are so many young + women in the world that one more or less can scarcely matter; still, + although she threatened to murder me three days ago, I cannot bear to see + this one come to so dreadful a death. Prince, do not heed the howlings of + that old fanatic, but remember that after all you are the cause of this + lady’s plight, and play the part of a man. Can you for the sake of your + own scruples, however worthy, or of your own soul even, however valuable + to yourself, doom the fair body of a woman who risked all for you to such + an end as that?” And shuddering he nodded towards the gloomy precipice. + </p> + <p> + “Is there no other way?” Aziel asked him. + </p> + <p> + “None, I swear it. They did not wish to kill her, except that wild-cat + Mesa who seeks her place, but having put her on her public trial, if you + persist—they must. + </p> + <p> + “This is one of the few laws which cannot be broken for favour or for + gold, since the people, who are already half-mad with fear of Ithobal, + believe that to break it would bring the curses of heaven upon their city. + Perhaps we might have found some other plan, but none of us even dreamed + that you would refuse so small a thing for the sake of a woman whom you + swore you loved.” + </p> + <p> + “A small thing!” broke in Aziel. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, Prince, a very small thing. Remember, this offering of incense is + but a form to which you are forced against your will—you can do + penance for it afterwards when I have arranged for both of you to escape + the city. If your God can be angry with you for burning a pinch of dust to + save a woman, who at the least has dared much for you, then give me Baal, + for he is less cruel.” + </p> + <p> + Now Aziel looked towards him who held the bowl of incense. But Elissa who + all this while had stood silent, stepped forward and spoke:— + </p> + <p> + “Prince Aziel,” she said in a calm and quiet voice, “I named you husband + to save your life, but with all my strength I pray of you, do not this + thing to save mine, which is of little value and perhaps best ended. + Remember, prince Aziel, that being what you are, a Jew, this act of + offering, however small it seems, is yet the greatest of sins, and one + with which you should not dare to stain your soul for the sake of a woman, + who has chanced to love you to your sorrow. Be guided, therefore, by the + true wisdom of Issachar and by my humble prayer. Make an end of your + doubts and let me die, knowing that we do but part a while, since in the + Gate of Death I shall wait for you, prince Aziel.” + </p> + <p> + Before Aziel could answer, the Shadid, either because his patience was + outworn, or because he wished to put him to a sharper trial, uttered a + command. “Be it done to her as she desires.” + </p> + <p> + Thereon four priests seized Elissa by the wrists and ankles. Carrying her + to the edge of the precipice, they thrust her back till she hung over it, + her long hair streaming downwards, and the red light of the sunset shining + upon her upturned ghastly face. Then they paused, waiting for the signal + to let her go. The Shadid raised his wand and said:— + </p> + <p> + “Is it your pleasure that this woman should die or live, prince Aziel? + Decide swiftly, for my arm is weak, and when the wand falls opportunity + for choice will have passed from you.” + </p> + <p> + Now all eyes were fixed upon the wand, and the intense silence was only + broken by Sakon’s cry of despair. Metem wrung his hands in grief; even + Issachar veiled his eyes with his robe, to shut out the sight of dread, + and the priest, who bore the bowl of incense, thrust it towards Aziel + imploringly. + </p> + <p> + For some seconds, three perhaps, though to him they seemed an age, the + heart of Aziel was racked and torn in this terrific contest. Then he + glanced at the agonized face of the doomed woman, and just as the wand + began to bend, his human love and pity conquered. + </p> + <p> + “May He Whom I blaspheme forgive me,” he murmured, adding aloud, “I will + do sacrifice.” Taking the incense in his hand now he cast it into the + flames upon the altar, repeating mechanically after the Shadid: “By this + sacrifice and homage, body and soul I give myself to you and worship you, + El and Baaltis, the only true gods.” + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + The echo of Aziel’s voice died away, and the fumes of the incense rose in + a straight dense column upon that quiet air. To his tormented mind, it + seemed as though its smoke took the form of an avenging angel, holding in + the hand a sword of flame, wherewith to drive away his perjured soul from + Heaven, as our first forefathers were driven from the shining gates of + paradise. Yes, and they were not human, those spectators who, in the + intense glow of the sunset, stood in their still ranks and stared at him + with wide and eager eyes. Surely they were fiends red with the blood of + men, fiends gathered from the Pit to bear everlasting witness to the + unpardonable sin of his apostasy. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0014" id="link2HCH0014"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIV + </h2> + <h3> + THE MARTYRDOM OF ISSACHAR + </h3> + <p> + It was done, and from the mouths of the circle of priests and priestesses + leapt a shrill and sudden cry of triumph. For had not their gods + conquered? Had not this high-placed servant of the hated Lord of Israel + been caught by the bait of a priestess of Baaltis, and seduced by her + distress to deny and reject Him? Was not evil once more triumphant, and + must not they, its ministers, rejoice? + </p> + <p> + Again the Shadid raised his wand and they were silent. + </p> + <p> + “Brother you have, indeed, done well and wisely,” he said, addressing + Aziel. “Now take to wife the divine lady who has chosen you,” and he + pointed to Elissa, who lay prostrated on the rock. “Yes, take her and be + happy in her love, sitting in my seat, which henceforth is yours, as ruler + of the priests of El and master of their mysteries, forgetting the follies + of your former faith, and spitting on its altars. Hail to you, Shadid, + Lord of the Baaltis and chosen of El! Take him, you priests, and with him + the divine lady, his wife, to bear them in triumph to their high house.” + </p> + <p> + “What of the Levite?” asked the woman Mesa. + </p> + <p> + The Shadid glanced at Issachar, who all this while had stood like one + stricken to the soul, woe stamped upon his face, and a stare of horror in + his eyes. “Jew,” he said, “I had forgotten you, but you also are on your + trial, who dared against the law to hold secret meeting with the lady + Baaltis. For this sin the punishment is death, nor, as I think, would any + woman name you husband to save you. Still in this hour of joy we will be + merciful; therefore do as your master did, cast incense on the altar, + uttering the appointed words, and go your way.” + </p> + <p> + “Before I make my offering on yonder altar according to your command, I + have indeed some words to say, O priest of El,” answered Issachar quietly, + but in a voice that chilled the blood of those who listened. + </p> + <p> + “First, I address myself to you, Aziel, and to you, woman,” and he pointed + to Elissa, who had risen, and leaned, trembling, upon her father. “My + dream is fulfilled. Aziel, you have sinned indeed, and must bear the + appointed punishment of your sin. Yet hear a message of mercy spoken + through my lips: Because you have sinned through love and pity, your + offence is not unto death. Still shall you sorrow for it all your life’s + days, and in desolation of heart and bitterness of soul shall creep back + to the feet of Him you have forsworn. + </p> + <p> + “Woman, your spirit is noble and your feet are set in the way of + righteousness, yet through you has this offence come. Therefore your love + shall bear no fruit, nor shall the blasphemy of your beloved save your + flesh from doom. Upon this earth there is no hope for you, daughter of + Sakon; set your eyes beyond it, for there alone is hope. + </p> + <p> + “Yonder she stands who swore our lives away?” and he fixed his burning + gaze on Mesa. “Priestess, you plotted this that you might succeed to the + throne of Baaltis; now hear your fate: You shall live to sweep the huts + and bear the babes of savages. You, priest,” and he pointed to the Shadid, + “I read your heart; you design to murder this apostate whom you greet as + your successor that you may usurp his place. I show you yours: it lies in + the bellies of the jackals of the desert. + </p> + <p> + “For you priests and priestesses of El and Baaltis, think of my words, and + raise the loud song of triumph to your gods when you yourselves are their + offering, and the red flame of the fire burns you up, all of you save your + sins, which are immortal. O citizens of an accursed city, look on the + hill-top yonder and tell me, what do you see in the light of the dying + day? A sheen of spears, is it not? They draw near to your hearts, you + whose day is done indeed, citizens of an accursed city whereof the very + name shall be forgotten, and the naked towers shall become but a source of + wonder to men unborn. + </p> + <p> + “And now, O priest, having said my say, as you bid me, I make my offering + upon your altar.” + </p> + <p> + Then, while all stood fearful and amazed, Issachar the Levite sprang + forward, and seizing the ancient image of Baaltis, he spat upon it and + dashed the priceless consecrated thing down upon the altar, where it broke + into fragments, and was burned with the fire. + </p> + <p> + “My offering is made,” he said; “may He whom I serve accept it. Now after + the offering comes the sacrifice; son Aziel, fare you well.” + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + For a few moments a silence of horror and dismay fell upon the assembly as + they gazed at the shattered and burning fragments of their holy image. + Then moved by a common impulse, with curses and yells of fury, the priests + and priestesses sprang from their seats and hurled themselves upon + Issachar, who stood awaiting them with folded arms. They smote him with + their ivory rods, they rent and tore him with their hands and teeth, + worrying him as dogs worry a fox of the hills, till at length the life was + beaten and trampled out of him and he lay dead. + </p> + <p> + Thus terribly, but yet by such a death of martyrdom as he would have + chosen, perished Issachar the Levite. + </p> + <p> + Unarmed though he was, Aziel had sprung to his aid, but Metem and Sakon, + knowing that he would but bring about his own destruction, flung + themselves upon him and held him back. Whilst he was still struggling with + them the end came, and Issachar grew still for ever. Then, as the sun sank + and the darkness fell, Aziel’s strength left him, and presently he slipped + to the ground senseless. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Thereafter it seemed to Aziel that he was plunged in an endless and + dreadful dream, and that through its turmoil and shifting visions, he + could see continually the dreadful death of Issachar, and hear his stern + accents prophesying woe to him who renounces the God of his forefathers to + bow the knee to Baal. + </p> + <p> + At length he awoke from that horror-haunted sleep to find himself lying in + a strange chamber. It was night, and lamps burned in the chamber, and by + their light he saw a man whose face he knew mixing a draught in a glass + phial. So weak was he that at first he could not remember the man’s name, + then by slow degrees it came to him. + </p> + <p> + “Metem,” he said, “where am I?” + </p> + <p> + The Phoenician looked up from his task, smiled, and answered:— + </p> + <p> + “Where you should be, Prince, in your own house, the palace of the Shadid. + But you must not speak, for you have been ill; drink this and sleep.” + </p> + <p> + Aziel swallowed the draught and was instantly overcome by slumber. When he + awoke the sun was shining brightly through the window place, and its rays + fell upon the shrewd, kindly face of Metem, who, seated on a stool, + watched him, his chin resting in his hand. + </p> + <p> + “Tell me all that has befallen, friend,” said Aziel presently, “since——” + and he shuddered. + </p> + <p> + “Since you were married after a new fashion and that bigoted but most + honourable fool, Issachar, went to his reward. Well, I will when you have + eaten,” answered Metem as he gave him food. “First,” he said, after a + while, “you have lain here for three days raving in a fever, nursed by + myself and visited by your wife the lady Baaltis, whenever she could + escape from her religious duties——” + </p> + <p> + “Elissa! Has she been here?” asked Aziel. + </p> + <p> + “Calm yourself, Prince, certainly she has, and, what is more, she will be + back soon. Secondly: Ithobal has been as good as his word, and invests the + city with a vast army, cutting off all supplies and possibilities of + escape. It is believed that he will try an assault within the next week, + which many think may be successful. Thirdly: to avoid this risk it is + rumoured that the priests and priestesses, at the instance of the council, + are discussing the wisdom of giving over to the king the person of the + daughter of Sakon. This, it is said, could be done on the plea that her + election as the lady Baaltis was brought about with bribery, and is, + therefore, void, as she was not chosen by the pure and unassisted will of + the goddess.” + </p> + <p> + “But,” said Aziel, “she is my wife according to their religious law; how + then can she be given in marriage to another?” + </p> + <p> + “Nay, Prince, if she is not the lady Baaltis your husbandship falls to the + ground with the rest, for you are not the Shadid, an office with which + perchance you can dispense. But all this priestly juggling means little, + the truth being that the city in its terror is ready to throw her—or + for the matter of that, Baaltis herself if they could lay hands on her—as + a sop to Ithobal, hoping thereby to appease his rage. The lady Elissa + knows her danger—but here she comes to speak for herself.” + </p> + <p> + As he spoke the curtains at the end of the chamber were drawn, and through + them came Elissa, clad in her splendid robes of office and wearing upon + her brow the golden crescent of the moon. + </p> + <p> + “How goes it with the prince, Metem?” she asked in her soft voice, + glancing anxiously towards the couch which was half-hidden in the shadow + of the wall. + </p> + <p> + “Look for yourself, lady,” answered the Phoenician bowing before her. + </p> + <p> + “Elissa, Elissa!” cried Aziel, raising himself and opening his arms. + </p> + <p> + She saw and heard, then, with a low cry, she ran swiftly to him and was + wrapped in his embrace. Thus they stayed a while, murmuring words of love + and greeting. + </p> + <p> + “Is it your pleasure that I should leave you?” asked Metem presently. “No? + Then, Prince, I would have you remember that you are still very weak and + should not give way to violent emotions.” + </p> + <p> + “Listen, Aziel,” said Elissa, untwining his arms from about her neck, + “there is no time for tenderness; moreover, you should show none to one + who, in name at least, is still the high-priestess of Baaltis, though in + truth she worships her no longer. It was noble of you indeed to offer + incense upon the altar of El that my life might be saved. But when I + prayed you not, I spoke from the heart, and bitterly, bitterly do I grieve + that for my sake you should have stained your hands with such a sin. + Moreover, it will avail nothing, for the doom of the prophet Issachar lies + upon us, and I cannot escape from death, neither can you escape remorse, + and as I think, that worst of all desires—the desire for the dead.” + </p> + <p> + “Can we not still flee the city?” asked Aziel. + </p> + <p> + “Metem will tell you that it is impossible; day and night I am watched and + guarded, yes, Mesa dogs me from door to door. Also Ithobal holds Zimboe so + firmly in his net that no sparrow could fly out of it and he not know. And + there is worse to tell: Beloved, they purpose to give me up as a + peace-offering to Ithobal. Yes, even my father is of the plot, for in his + despair he thinks it his duty to sacrifice his daughter to save the town, + if, indeed, that will suffice to save us.” + </p> + <p> + “But you are the Baaltis and inviolate.” + </p> + <p> + “In such a time the goddess herself would not be held inviolate in Zimboe, + much less her priestess, Aziel. I have discovered that this very night + they have laid their plans to seize me. Mesa and others have been chosen + for the deed, and afterwards they think to offer me as a bribe to Ithobal, + who will take no other price.” + </p> + <p> + Aziel groaned aloud: “It were better that we should die,” he said. + </p> + <p> + She nodded and answered: “It were better that <i>I</i> should die. But + hear me, for I also have a plan, and there is still hope, though very + little. Perhaps, as you drew near to Zimboe by the coast road, you may + have noted three miles or more from the gates of the city, and almost + overhanging the path on which you travelled, a shoulder of the mountain + where the rock is cut away, showing the narrow entrance to a cave closed + with a gate of bronze?” + </p> + <p> + “I saw it,” answered Aziel, “and was told that there was the most sacred + burying-place of the city.” + </p> + <p> + “It is the tomb of the high-priestesses of Baaltis,” went on Elissa, “and + this day at sunset I must visit it to lay an offering upon the shrine of + her who was the Baaltis before me, entering alone, and closing the gate, + for it is not lawful that any one should pass in there with me. Now, the + plan is to lay hands on me as I go back from the tomb to the palace—but + I shall not go back. Aziel, I shall stay in the tomb—nay, do not + fear—not dead. I have hidden food and water there, enough for many + days, and there with the departed I shall live—till I am of their + number.” + </p> + <p> + “But if so, how can it help you, Elissa, for they will break in the gates + of the place, and drag you away?” + </p> + <p> + “Then, Aziel, they will drag away a corpse, and that they will scarcely + care to present to Ithobal. See, I have hidden poison in my breast, and + here at my girdle hangs a dagger; are not the two of them enough to make + an end of one frail life? Should they dare to touch me, I shall tell them + through the bars that most certainly I shall drink the bane, or use the + knife; and when they know it, they will leave me unharmed, hoping to + starve me out, or trusting to chance to snare me living.” + </p> + <p> + “You are bold,” murmured Aziel in admiration, “but self-murder is a sin.” + </p> + <p> + “It is a sin that I will dare, beloved, as in past days I would have dared + it for less cause, rather than be given alive into the hands of Ithobal; + for to whoever else I may be false, to you through life and death I will + be true.” + </p> + <p> + Now Aziel groaned in his doubt and bitterness of heart; then turning to + Metem, he asked:— + </p> + <p> + “Have you anything to say, Metem?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, Prince, two things,” answered the Phoenician. “First, that the lady + Elissa is rash, indeed, to speak so openly before me who might carry her + words to the council or the priests.” + </p> + <p> + “Nay, Metem, I am not rash, for I know that, although you love money, you + will not betray me.” + </p> + <p> + “You are right, lady, I shall not, for money would be of little service to + me in a city that is about to be taken by storm. Also I hate Ithobal, who + threatened my life—as you did also, by the way—and will do my + best to keep you from his clutches. Now for my second point: it is that I + can see little use in all this because Ithobal, being defrauded of you, + will attack, and then——” + </p> + <p> + “And then he may be beaten, Metem, for the citizens will at any rate fight + for their lives, and the Prince Aziel here, who is a general skilled in + war, will fight also if he has recovered strength——” + </p> + <p> + “Do not fear, Elissa; give me two days, and I will fight to the death,” + said Aziel. + </p> + <p> + “At the least,” she went on, “this scheme gives us breathing time, and who + knows but that fortune will turn. Or if it does not, since it is + impossible for me to escape from the city, I have no better.” + </p> + <p> + “No more have I,” said Metem, “for at length the oldest fox comes to his + last double. I could escape from this city, or the prince might escape, or + the lady Elissa even might possibly escape disguised, but I am sure that + all three of us could not escape, seeing that within the walls we are + watched and without them the armies of Ithobal await us. Oh! prince Aziel, + I should have done well to go, as I might have gone when you and Issachar + were taken after that mad meeting in the temple, from which I never looked + for anything but ill; but I grow foolish in my old age, and thought that I + should like to see the last of you. Well, so far we are all alive, except + Issachar, who, although bigoted, was still the most worthy of us, but how + long we shall remain alive I cannot say. + </p> + <p> + “Now our best chance is to defeat Ithobal if we can, and afterwards in the + confusion to fly from Zimboe and join our servants, to whom I have sent + word to await us in a secret place beyond the first range of hills. If we + cannot—why then we must go a little sooner than we expected to find + out who it is that really shapes the destinies of men, and whether or no + the sun and moon are the chariots of El and Baaltis. But, Prince, you turn + pale.” + </p> + <p> + “It is nothing,” said Aziel, “bring me some water, the fever still burns + in me.” + </p> + <p> + Metem went to seek for water, while Elissa knelt by the couch and pressed + her lover’s hand. + </p> + <p> + “I dare stay no longer,” she whispered, “and Aziel, I know not how or when + we shall meet again, but my heart is heavy, for, alas! I think that doom + draws near me. I have brought much sorrow upon you, Aziel, and yet more + upon myself, and I have given you nothing, except that most common of all + things, a woman’s love.” + </p> + <p> + “That most perfect of all things,” he answered, “which I am glad to have + lived to win.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, but not at the price that you have paid for it. I know well what it + must have cost you to cast that incense on the flame, and I pray to your + God, who has become my God, to visit the sin of it on my head and to leave + yours unharmed. Aziel, Aziel! woman or spirit, while I have life and + memory, I am yours, and yours only; clean-handed I leave you, and if we + may meet again in this or in any other world, clean and faithful I shall + come to you again. Glad am I to have lived, because in my life I have + known you and you have sworn you love me. Glad shall I be to live again if + again I may know you and hear that oath—if not, it is sleep I seek; + for life without you to me would be a hell. You grow weak, and I must go. + Farewell, and living or dead, forget me not; swear that you will not + forget me.” + </p> + <p> + “I swear it,” he answered faintly; “and Heaven grant that I may die for + you, not you for me.” + </p> + <p> + “That is no prayer of mine,” she whispered; and, bending, kissed him on + the brow, for he was too weak to lift his lips to hers. + </p> + <p> + Then she was gone. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0015" id="link2HCH0015"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XV + </h2> + <h3> + ELISSA TAKES SANCTUARY + </h3> + <p> + Two more hours had passed, and in the evening light a procession of + priestesses might be seen advancing slowly towards the holy tomb along a + narrow road of rock cut in the mountain face. In front of this procession, + wearing a black veil over her broidered robes, walked Elissa with downcast + eyes and hair unbound in token of grief, while behind her came Mesa and + other priestesses bearing in bowls of alabaster the offerings to the dead, + food and wine, and lamps of oil, and vases filled with perfumes. Behind + these again marched the mourners, women who sang a funeral dirge and from + time to time broke into a wail of simulated grief. Nor, indeed, was their + woe as hollow as might be thought, since from that mountain path they + could see the outposts of the army of Ithobal upon the plain, and note + with a shudder of fear the spear-heads of his countless thousands shining + in the gorges of the opposing heights. It was not for the dead Baaltis + that they mourned this day, but for the fate which overshadowed them and + their city of gold. + </p> + <p> + “May the curse of all the gods fall on her,” muttered one of the + priestesses as she toiled forward beneath her load of offerings; “because + she is beautiful and pettish, we must be put to the spear, or become the + wives of savages,” and she pointed with her chin to Elissa, who walked in + front, lost in her own thoughts. + </p> + <p> + “Have patience,” answered Mesa at her side, “you know the plan—to-night + that proud girl and false priestess shall sleep in the camp of Ithobal.” + </p> + <p> + “Will he be satisfied with that,” asked the woman, “and leave the city in + peace?” + </p> + <p> + “They say so,” answered Mesa with a laugh, “though it is strange that a + king should exchange spoil and glory for one round-eyed, thin-limbed girl + who loves his rival. Well, let us thank the gods that made men foolish, + and gave us women wit to profit by their folly. If he wants her, let him + take her, for few will be poorer by her loss.” + </p> + <p> + “You at least will be richer,” said the other woman, “and by the crown of + Baaltis. Well, I do not grudge it you, and as for the daughter of Sakon, + she shall be Ithobal’s if I take her to him limb by limb.” + </p> + <p> + “Nay, sister, that is not the bargain; remember she must be delivered to + him without hurt or blemish; otherwise we shall do sacrilege in vain. Be + silent, here is the cave.” + </p> + <p> + Reaching the platform in front of the tomb, the procession of mourners ranged + themselves about it in a semi-circle. They stood with their backs to the + edge of a cliff that rose sheer for sixty feet or more from the plain + beneath, across which, but at a little distance from the foot of the + precipice ran the road followed by the caravans of merchants in their + journeys to and from the coast. Then, a hymn having been sung invoking the + blessing of the gods on the dead priestess, Elissa, as the Baaltis, + unlocked the gates of bronze with a golden key that hung at her girdle, + and the bearers of the bowls of offerings pushed them into the mouth of + the tomb, whose threshold they were not allowed to pass. Next, with bowed + heads and hands crossed upon her breast, Elissa entered the tomb, and + locking the bronze gate behind her, took up two of the bowls and vanished + with them into its gloomy depths. + </p> + <p> + “Why did she lock the gates?” asked a priestess of Mesa. “It is not + customary.” + </p> + <p> + “Doubtless because it was her pleasure to do so,” answered Mesa sharply, + though she also wondered why Elissa had locked the gate. + </p> + <p> + When an hour was gone by and Elissa had not returned, her wonder turned to + fear and doubt. + </p> + <p> + “Call to the lady Baaltis,” she said, “for her prayers are long, and I + fear lest she should have come to harm.” + </p> + <p> + So they called, setting heir lips against the bars of the gate till + presently, Elissa, holding a lamp in her hand, came and stood before them. + </p> + <p> + “Why do you disturb me in the sanctuary?” she asked. + </p> + <p> + “Lady, because they set the night watch on the walls,” answered Mesa, “and + it is time to return to the temple.” + </p> + <p> + “Return then,” said Elissa, “and leave me in peace. What, you cannot, + Mesa? Nay, and shall I tell you why? Because you had plotted to deliver me + this night to those who should lead me as a peace-offering to Ithobal, and + when you come to them empty-handed they will greet you with harsh words. + Nay, do not trouble to deny it, Mesa. I also have my spies, and know all + the plan; and, therefore, I have taken sanctuary in this holy place.” + </p> + <p> + Now Mesa pressed her thin lips together and answered:— + </p> + <p> + “Those who dare to lay hands upon the person of the living Baaltis will + not shrink from seeking her in the company of her dead sisters.” + </p> + <p> + “I know it, Mesa; but the gates are barred, and here I have food and drink + in plenty.” + </p> + <p> + “Gates, however strong, can be broken,” answered the priestess, “so, lady, + do not wait till you are dragged hence like some discovered slave.” + </p> + <p> + “Ay,” replied Elissa, with a little laugh, “but what if rather than be + thus dishonoured, I should choose to break another gate, that of my own + life? Look, traitress, here is poison and here is bronze, and I swear to + you that should any lay a hand upon me, by one or other of them I will die + before their eyes. Then, if you will, bear these bones to Ithobal and take + his thanks for them. Now, begone, and give this message to my father and + to all those who have plotted with him, that since they cannot bribe + Ithobal with my beauty, they will do well to be men, and to fight him with + their swords.” + </p> + <p> + Then she turned and left them, vanishing into the darkness of the tomb. + </p> + <p> + Great indeed was the dismay of the councillors of Zimboe and of the + priests who had plotted with them when, an hour later, Mesa came, not to + deliver Elissa into their hands, but to repeat to them her threats and + message. In vain did they appeal to Sakon, who only shook his head and + answered:— + </p> + <p> + “Of this I am sure, that what my daughter has threatened that she will + certainly do if you force her to the choice. But if you will not believe + me, go ask her and satisfy yourselves. I know well what she will answer + you, and I hold that this is a judgment upon us, who first made her + Baaltis against her will, then threatened her with death because of the + prince Aziel, and now would do sacrilege to her sacred office and violence + to herself by tearing her from her consecrated throne, breaking her bond + of marriage and delivering her to Ithobal.” + </p> + <p> + So the leaders of the councillors visited the holy tomb and reasoned with + Elissa through the bars. But they got no comfort from her, for she spoke + to them with the phial of poison in her bosom and the naked dagger in her + hand, telling them what she had told Mesa—that they had best give up + their plottings and fight Ithobal like men, seeing that even if she + surrendered herself to him, when he grew weary of her the war must come at + last. + </p> + <p> + “For a hundred years,” she added, “this storm has gathered, and now it + must burst. When it has rolled away it will be known who is master of the + land—the ancient city of Zimboe, or Ithobal king of the Tribes.” + </p> + <p> + So they went back as they had come, and next day at the dawn, with a bold + face but heavy hearts, received the messengers of king Ithobal, and told + them their tale. The messengers heard and laughed. + </p> + <p> + “We are glad,” they answered, “since we, who are not in love with the + daughter of Sakon, desire war and not peace, holding as we do that the + time has come when you upstart white men—you outlanders—who + have usurped our country to suck away its wealth should be set beneath our + heel. Nor do we think that the task will be difficult for surely we have + little to fear from a city of low money seekers whose councillors cannot + even conquer the will of a single maid.” + </p> + <p> + Then in their despair the elders offered other girls to Ithobal in + marriage, as many as he would, and with them a great bribe in money. But + the envoys took their leave, saying that nothing would avail since they + preferred spear-thrusts to gold, for which they had little use, and + Ithobal, their king, had fixed his fancy on one woman alone. + </p> + <p> + So with a heavy and foreboding heart, the city of Zimboe prepared itself + to resist attack, for as they had guessed, when he learned all, the rage + of Ithobal was great. Nor would he listen to any terms that they could + offer save one which they had no power to grant—that Elissa should + be delivered unharmed into his hands. Councils of war were held, and to + these, so soon as he was sufficiently recovered from his sickness, the + prince Aziel was bidden, for he was known to be a skilled captain; + therefore, though he had been the cause of much of their trouble, they + sought his aid. Also, should the struggle be prolonged, they hoped through + him to win Israel, and perhaps Egypt, to their cause. + </p> + <p> + Aziel’s counsel was that they should sally out against the army of Ithobal + by night, since he expected to attack and not to be attacked, but to that + advice they would not listen, for they trusted to their walls. Indeed, in + this Metem supported them, and when the prince argued with him, he + answered:— + </p> + <p> + “Your tactics would be good enough, Prince, if you had at your back the + lions of Judah, or the wild Arab horsemen of the desert. But here you must + deal with men of my own breed, and we Phoenicians are traders, not + fighting men. Like rats, we fight only when there is no other chance for + our lives; nor do we strike the first blow. It is true that there are some + good soldiers in the city, but they are foreign mercenaries; and as for + the rest, half-breeds and freed slaves, they belong as much to Ithobal as + to Sakon, and are not to be trusted. No, no; let us stay behind our walls, + for they at least were built when men were honest and will not betray us.” + </p> + <p> + Now in Zimboe were three lines of defence; first, that of a single wall + built about the huts of the slaves upon the plain, then that of a double + wall of stone with a ditch between thrown round the Phoenician city, and + lastly, the great fortress-temple and the rocky heights above. These, + guarded as they were by many strongholds within whose circle the cattle + were herded, as it was thought, could only be taken with the sword of + hunger. + </p> + <p> + At last the storm burst, for on the fifth morning after Elissa had barred + herself within the tomb, Ithobal attacked the native town. Uttering their + wild battle-cries, tens of thousands of his savage warriors, armed with + great spears and shields of ox-hide, and wearing crests of plumes upon + their heads, charged down upon the outer wall. Twice they were driven + back, but the work was in bad repair and too long to defend, so that at + the third rush they flowed over it like lines of marching ants, driving + its defenders before them to the inner gates. In this battle some were + killed, but the most of the slaves threw down their arms and went over to + Ithobal, who spared them, together with their wives and children. + </p> + <p> + Through all the night that followed, the generals of Zimboe made ready for + the onslaught which must come. Everywhere within the circuit of the inner + wall troops were stationed, while the double southern gateway, where + prince Aziel was the captain in command, was built up with loose blocks of + stone. + </p> + <p> + A while before the dawn, just as the eastern sky grew grey, Aziel, + watching from his post above the gate of the wall, heard the fierce + war-song of the Tribes swell suddenly from fifty thousand throats and the + measured tramp of their innumerable feet. Then the day broke, and he saw + them advancing in three armies towards the three points chosen for attack, + the largest of the armies, headed by Ithobal the king, directing its march + upon the walled gate of which he was in command. + </p> + <p> + It was a wondrous and a fearful sight, that of these hordes of plumed + warriors, their broad spears flashing in the sunrise, and their fierce + faces alight with hereditary hate and the lust of slaughter. Never had + Aziel seen such a spectacle, nor could he look upon it without dreading + the issue of the war, for if they were savages, these foes were brave as + the lions of their own plains, and had sworn by the head of their king to + drag down the sheltering walls of Zimboe with their naked hands, or die to + the last man. + </p> + <p> + Turning his head with a sigh of doubt, Aziel found Metem standing at his + side. + </p> + <p> + “Have you seen her?” he asked eagerly. + </p> + <p> + “No, Prince. How could I see her at night when she sits in a tomb like a + fox in his burrow? But I have heard her.” + </p> + <p> + “What did she say? Quick man, tell me.” + </p> + <p> + “But little, Prince, for the tomb is watched and I dared not stay there + long. She sent you her greetings and would have you know that her heart + will be with you in the battle, and her prayers beseech the throne of + Heaven for your safety. Also she said that she is well, though it is + lonesome there in the grave among the bodies of the dead priestesses of + Baaltis whose spirits, as she vows, haunt her dreams, reviling her because + she desecrates their sepulchre and has renounced their god.” + </p> + <p> + “Lonesome, indeed,” said Aziel with a shudder; “but tell me, Metem, had + she no other word?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, Prince, but not of good omen, for now as always she is sure that her + doom is at hand, and that you two will meet no more. Still she bade me + tell you that all your life long her spirit shall companion you though it + be unseen, to receive you at the last on the threshold of the underworld.” + </p> + <p> + Aziel turned his head away, and said presently:— + </p> + <p> + “If that be so, may it receive me soon.” + </p> + <p> + “Have no fear, Prince,” replied Metem with a grim laugh, “look yonder,” + and he pointed to the advancing hosts. + </p> + <p> + “These walls are strong and we shall beat them back,” said Aziel. + </p> + <p> + “Nay, Prince, for strong walls do not avail without strong hearts to guard + them, and those of the womanish citizens of Zimboe and their hired + soldiers are white with fear. I tell you that the prophecies of Issachar + the Levite, made yonder in the temple on the day of the sacrifice, and + again in the hour of his death, have taken hold of the people, and by + eating out their valour, fulfil themselves. + </p> + <p> + “Men hint at them, the women whisper them in closets, and the very + children cry them in the streets. + </p> + <p> + “More—one man last night pointed to the skies and shrieked that in + them he saw that fiery sword of doom of which the prophet spoke hanging + point downwards above the city, whereon all present vowed they saw it too, + though, as I think, it was but a cross of stars. Another tells how that he + met the very spirit of Issachar stalking through the market-place, and + that peering into the eyes of the wraith, as in a mirror, he saw a great + flame wrapping the temple walls, and by the light of it his own dead body. + This man was the priest who first struck down the holy Levite yonder in + the place of judgment. + </p> + <p> + “Again, when the lady Mesa did sacrifice last night on behalf of the + Baaltis who has fled, the child they offered, an infant of six months, + stirred on the altar after it was dead and cried with a loud voice that + before three suns had set, its blood should be required at their hands. + That is the story, and if I do not believe it, this at least is true, that + the priestesses fled fast from the secret chamber of death, for I met them + as they ran shrieking in their terror and tearing at their robes. But what + need is there to dwell on omens, true or false, when cowards man the + walls, and the spears of Ithobal shine yonder like all the stars of + heaven? Prince, I tell you that this ancient city is doomed, and in it, as + I fear, we must end our wanderings upon earth.” + </p> + <p> + “So be it, if it must be,” answered Aziel, “at the least I will die + fighting.” + </p> + <p> + “And I also will die fighting, Prince, not because I love it, but because + it is better than being butchered in cold blood by a savage with a spear. + Oh! why did you ever chance to stumble upon the lady Elissa making her + prayer to Baaltis, and what evil spirit was it which filled your brains + with this sudden madness of love towards each other? That was the + beginning of the trouble, which, but for those eyes of hers, would have + held off long enough to see us safe at Tyre, though doubtless soon or late + it must have come. But see, yonder marches Ithobal at the head of his + guard. Give me a bow, the flight is long, but perchance I can reach his + black heart with an arrow.” + </p> + <p> + “Save your strength,” answered Aziel, “the range is too great, and + presently you will have enough of shooting,” and he turned to talk to the + officers of the guard. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0016" id="link2HCH0016"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVI + </h2> + <h3> + THE CAGE OF DEATH + </h3> + <p> + An hour later the attack commenced at chosen points of the double wall, + one of them being the southern gate. In front of the advancing columns of + savages were driven vast numbers of slaves, many of whom had been + captured, or had surrendered in the outer town. These men were laden with + faggots to fill the ditch, rude ladders wherewith to scale the walls, and + heavy trunks of trees to be used in breaching them. For the most part, + they were unarmed, and protected only by their burdens, which they held + before them as shields, and by the arrows of the warriors of Ithobal. But + these did little harm to the defenders, who were hidden behind the walls, + whereas the shafts of the garrison, rained on them from above, killed or + wounded the slaves by scores, who, poor creatures, when they turned to + fly, were driven onward by the spear-points of the savages, to be slain in + heaps like game in a pitfall. Still, some of them lived, and running under + the shelter of the wall, began to breach it with the rude battering rams, + and to raise the scaling ladders till death found them, or they were worn + out with excitement, fear and labour. + </p> + <p> + Then the real attack began. With fierce yells, the threefold column rushed + at the wall, and began to work the rams and scale the ladders, while the + defenders above showered spears and arrows upon them, or crushed them with + heavy stones, or poured upon their heads boiling pitch and water, heated + in great cauldrons which stood at hand. + </p> + <p> + Time after time they were driven back with heavy loss; and, time upon + time, fresh hordes of them advanced to the onslaught. Thrice, at the + southern gate, were the ladders raised, and thrice the stormers appeared + above the level of the wall, to be hurled back, crushed and bleeding, to + the earth beneath. + </p> + <p> + Thus the long day wore on and still the defenders held their own. + </p> + <p> + “We shall win,” shouted Aziel to Metem, as a fresh ladder was cast down + with its weight of men to the death-strewn plain. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, here we shall win because we fight,” answered the Phoenician, “but + elsewhere it may be otherwise.” Indeed for a while the attack upon the + south gate slackened. + </p> + <p> + Another hour passed and presently to the left of them rose a wild yell of + triumph, and with it a shout of “Fly to the second wall. The foe is in the + fosse!” + </p> + <p> + Metem looked and there, down the great ditch, 300 paces to their left, a + flood of savages poured towards them. “Come,” he said, “the outer wall is + lost.” But as he spoke once more the ladders rose against the gates and + flanking towers and once more Aziel sprang to cast them down. When the + deed was done, he looked behind him to find that he was cut off and + surrounded. Metem and most of his men indeed had gained the inner wall in + safety, while he with twelve only of his bravest soldiers, Jews of his own + following, who had stayed to help him to throw back the ladders, were left + upon the gateway tower. Nor was escape any longer possible, for both the + plain without and the fosse within were filled with the men of Ithobal who + advanced also by hundreds down the broad coping of the captured wall. + </p> + <p> + “Now there is but one thing that we can do,” said Aziel; “fight bravely + till we are slain.” + </p> + <p> + As he spoke a javelin cast from the wall beneath struck him upon the + breastplate, and though the bronze turned the iron point, it brought him + to his knees. When he found his feet again, he heard a voice calling him + by name, and looking down, saw Ithobal clad in golden harness and + surrounded by his captains. + </p> + <p> + “You cannot escape, prince Aziel,” cried the king; “yield now to my + mercy.” + </p> + <p> + Aziel heard, and setting an arrow to his bow, loosed it at Ithobal + beneath. He was a strong and skilful archer, and the heavy shaft pierced + the golden helmet of the king, cutting his scalp down to the bone. + </p> + <p> + “That is my answer,” cried Aziel, as Ithobal rolled upon the ground + beneath the shock of the blow. But very soon the king was up and crying + his commands from behind the shield-hedge of his captains. + </p> + <p> + “Let the prince Aziel, and the Jews with him, be taken alive and brought + to me,” he shouted. “I will give a great reward in cattle to those who + capture them unharmed; but if any do them hurt, they themselves shall be + put to death.” + </p> + <p> + The captains bowed and issued their orders, and presently Aziel and his + companions saw lines of unarmed men creeping up ladders set at every side + of the lofty tower. Again and again they cast off the ladders, till at + length, being so few, they could stir them no more because of the weight + upon them, but must hack at the heads of the stormers as they appeared + above the parapet, killing them one by one. + </p> + <p> + In this fashion they slew many, but their arms grew weary at last, and + ever under the eye of their king, the brave savages crept upward, heedless + of death, till, with a shout, they poured over the battlements and rushed + at the little band of Jews. + </p> + <p> + Now rather than be taken, Aziel sought to throw himself from the tower, + but his companions held him, and thus at last it came about that he was + seized and bound. + </p> + <p> + As they dragged him to the stairway he looked across the fosse and saw the + mercenaries flying from the inner wall, although it was still unbreached, + and saw the citizens of Zimboe streaming by thousands to the narrow + gateway of the temple fortress. + </p> + <p> + Then Aziel groaned in his heart and struggled no more, for he knew that + the fate of the ancient town was sealed, and that the prophecy of Issachar + would be fulfilled. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + A while later Aziel and those with him, their hands bound behind their + backs, were led by hide ropes tied about their necks through the army of + the Tribes that jeered and spat upon them as they passed, to a tent of + sewn hides on the plain, above which floated the banner of Ithobal. Into + this tent the prince was thrust alone, and there forced upon his knees by + the soldiers who held him. Before him upon a couch covered with a lion + skin lay the great shape of Ithobal, while physicians washed his wounded + scalp. + </p> + <p> + “Greeting, son of Israel and Pharaoh,” he said in a mocking voice; “truly + you are wise thus to do homage to the king of the world.” + </p> + <p> + “A poor jest,” answered Aziel, glancing at those who held him down; “true + homage is of the heart, king Ithobal.” + </p> + <p> + “I know it, Jew, and this also you shall give me when you are humbler. Who + taught you the use of the bow? You shoot well,” and he pointed to his + blood-stained helm, which was still transfixed by the arrow. + </p> + <p> + “Nay,” answered Aziel, “I shot but ill, for my arm was weary. When next I + draw a string against your breast, king Ithobal, I promise you a + straighter shaft.” + </p> + <p> + “Well said,” answered the king with a laugh, “but know, dog of a Jew, that + now it is my turn to draw the string—how, I will show you + afterwards. Have they told you that the city has fallen, and that my + captains hold the gates, while the cowards of Zimboe are penned like sheep + within the temple and on the cliff-edged height above? They have fled + hither for safety, but I tell you that they would be more safe on yonder + plain, for I have the key of their stronghold, a certain passage leading + from the palace of the Baaltis to the temple; you know if it, I think. + Yes, and if I had not, very soon hunger and thirst would work for me. + </p> + <p> + “Well, Jew, I have won, and with less trouble than I thought, and now I + hold the great city in hostage, to save or to destroy as it shall please + me, though that arrow of yours went near to robbing me of my crown of + victory.” + </p> + <p> + “So be it,” answered Aziel, indifferently; “I have played my part, now + things must go as Fate may will.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, Jew, you fought well till they deserted you, and the doom of cowards + is little to a brave man. But what of the lady Elissa? Nay, I know all; + she has taken refuge in the tomb of Baaltis, has she not, with poison in + her bosom and bronze at her girdle to be used against her own life, should + they lay hands on her or give her to me? And all this she does for the + love of you, prince Aziel; for the love of you she refuses to become my + queen, ruling over that city which I have conquered, and all my unnumbered + tribes. + </p> + <p> + “Do you guess now why I caused you to be taken living? I will tell you; + that you may be the bait to draw her to me. To kill you would be easy; but + how would that serve, seeing that then she herself would choose to die? + But, perchance, to save your life she will live also—yes, and give + herself to me. At least, I will try it; should the plan fail—then + you can pay the price of her pride with your blood, prince Aziel.” + </p> + <p> + “That I would do gladly,” answered Aziel, “but oh! what a cross-bred hound + you are who thus can seek to torture the heart of a helpless woman! Have + you then no manhood that you can stoop to such a coward’s plot?” + </p> + <p> + “Fool! it is because of my manhood that I do stoop to it,” said Ithobal + angrily. “Doubtless you think that a mad fancy and naught else drives me + to the deed, but it is not so, although in truth my heart—like yours—chooses + this woman to be my wife and none other. That fondness I might conquer, + but look you, of all things living this lady alone has dared to cross my + will, so that to-day even the sentries on their rounds and the savage + women in the kraals tell each other of how Ithobal, the great king of an + hundred tribes, has been baffled and mocked at by a girl who despises him + because his blood is not all white. Thus I am become a laughing-stock, and + therefore I will win her, cost me what it may.” + </p> + <p> + “And I, king Ithobal, tell you that you will not win her—no, not if + you torture me to death before her eyes.” + </p> + <p> + “That we shall see,” said the king with a sneer. Then he called to his + guard and added, “Let this man and his companions be taken to the place + prepared for them.” + </p> + <p> + Now Aziel was dragged from the tent and thrust into a wooden cage, such as + were used for carrying slaves and women from place to place upon the backs + of camels. His soldiers, who had been taken with him, were thrust also + into cages, and, with himself laden upon camels that were waiting, two + cages to each camel. Then a cloth was thrown over them, and, rising to + their feet, the camels began to march. + </p> + <p> + When they had covered a league or more of ground Aziel learned from the + motion of the camel upon which he was secured, and the sound of the + repeated blows of its drivers, that they were ascending some steep place. + At length they reached the top of it, and were unloaded from the beasts + like merchandise, but he could see nothing, for by now the night had + fallen. Then, still in the cages, they were carried to a tent, where food + and water were given them through the bars, after which, so weary was + Aziel with war, misery and the remains of recent illness, that he fell + asleep. + </p> + <p> + At daybreak he awoke, or rather was awakened, by the sound of a familiar + voice, and, looking through his bars, perceived Metem standing before + them, guarded but unbound, with indignation written on his face, and tears + in his quick eyes. + </p> + <p> + “Alas!” he cried, “that I should have lived to see the seed of Israel and + Pharaoh thus fastened like a wild beast in a den, while barbarians make a + mock of him. Oh! Prince, it were better that you should die rather than + endure such shame.” + </p> + <p> + “Misfortunes are the master of man, not man of his misfortunes, Metem,” + said Aziel quietly, “and in them is no true disgrace. Even if I had the + means to kill myself, it would be a sin; moreover, it might bring another + to her death. Therefore, I await my doom, whatever it may be, with such + patience as I can, trusting that my sufferings and ignominy may expiate my + crimes in the sight of Him whom I renounced. But how come you here, + Metem?” + </p> + <p> + “I came under the safe-conduct of Ithobal who gave me leave to visit you, + doubtless for some ends of his own. Have you heard, Prince, that he holds + the gates of the city, though as yet no harm has been done to it, and that + its inhabitants are crowded within the temple, and upon the heights above; + also that in his despair Sakon has fallen on his sword and slain himself?” + </p> + <p> + “Is it so?” answered Aziel. “Well, Issachar foretold as much. On their own + heads be the doom of these devil-worshippers and cowards. Have you any + tidings of the lady Elissa?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, Prince. She still sits yonder in the tomb, resolute in her purpose, + and giving no answer to those who come to reason with her.” + </p> + <p> + As he spoke the guard let fall the front of the tent so that the sunlight + flowed into it, revealing Aziel and his twelve companions, each fast in + his narrow and shameful prison. “See,” said Metem, “do you know the + place?” + </p> + <p> + The prince struggled to his knees, and saw that they were set upon the top + of a hill, built up of granite boulders, which rose eighty feet or more + from the surface of the plain. Opposite to them at a distance of under a + hundred paces was a precipice in the face of which could be seen a cave + closed with barred gates of bronze, while between the rocky hill and the + precipice ran a road. + </p> + <p> + “I know it, Metem; there runs the path by which we travelled from the + coast, and there is the tomb of Baaltis. Why have we been brought here?” + </p> + <p> + “The lady Elissa sits behind the bars of yonder tomb whence her view of + all that happens upon this mount must be very good indeed,” answered Metem + with meaning. “Now, can you guess why you were brought here, prince + Aziel.” + </p> + <p> + “Is it that she may witness our sufferings under torment?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + Metem nodded. + </p> + <p> + “How will they deal with us, Metem?” + </p> + <p> + “Wait and see,” he answered sadly. + </p> + <p> + As he spoke Ithobal himself appeared followed by certain evil-looking + savages. Having greeted Metem courteously he turned to the Hebrew soldiers + in the cages and asked them which of their number was most prepared to + die. + </p> + <p> + “I, Ithobal, who am their leader,” said Aziel. + </p> + <p> + “No, Prince,” replied Ithobal with a cruel smile, “your time is not yet. + Look, there is a man who has been wounded; to put him out of his pain will + be a kindness. Slaves, bear that Jew to the edge of the rock, and—as + the prince will wish to study a new mode of death—bring his cage + also.” + </p> + <p> + The order was obeyed, Aziel being set down upon the very verge of the + cliff. Close to him a spur of granite jutted out twenty feet or so from + the edge. At the end of the spur a groove was cut and over this groove, + suspended by a thin chain from a pole, hung a wedge of pure crystal + carefully shaped and polished. While Aziel wondered what evil purpose this + stone might serve, the slaves had fastened a fine rope to the cage + containing the wounded Hebrew soldier and secured its end. Then they set + the rope in the groove of the granite spur, and pushed the cage over the + edge of the cliff, so that it dangled in mid-air. + </p> + <p> + “Now I will explain,” said Ithobal. “This is a method of punishment that I + have borrowed from those followers of Baal who worship the sun, by means + of which Baal claims his own sacrifice, and none are guilty of the + victim’s blood. You see yonder crystal—well, at any appointed hour, + for it can be hung as you will, the rays of the sun shining through it + cause the fibres of the grass rope to smoke and smoulder till at length + they part and—Baal takes his sacrifice. Should a cloud hide the sun + at the appointed hour, then, Baal having spared him, the victim is set + free. But, as you will note, at this season of the year there are no + clouds. + </p> + <p> + “What, Prince, have you nothing to say?” he went on, for Aziel had + listened in silence to the tale of this devilish device. “Well, learn that + it depends upon the lady Elissa yonder whether or not this fate shall be + yours. Send now and pray her to save you. Think what it will be to hang as + at this moment your servant hangs over that yawning gulf of space, waiting + through the long hours till at last you see the little wreaths of smoke + begin to curl from the tinder of the cord. Why! before the end found them + I have known men go mad, and, like wolves, tear with their teeth at the + wooden bars. + </p> + <p> + “You will not. Then, Metem, do you plead for your friend. Bid the Baaltis + look forth at one hour before noon and see the sight of yonder wretch’s + death, remembering that to-morrow this fate shall be her lover’s unless + she foregoes her purpose of self-murder and gives herself to me. Nay, no + words! an escort shall lead you through the lower city to the gateway of + the tomb and there listen to your speech. See that it does not fail you, + merchant, unless you also seek to hang in yonder cage. Tell the lady + Elissa that to-morrow at sunrise I will come in person for her answer. If + she yields, then the prince and his companions shall be set free and with + you, Metem, to guide them, be mounted on swift camels to carry them + unharmed to their retinue beyond the mountains. But if she will not yield, + then—Baal shall take his sacrifice. Begone.” + </p> + <p> + So, having no choice, Metem bowed and went, leaving the caged Aziel upon + the edge of the cliff, and the Hebrew soldier hanging from the spur of + rock. + </p> + <p> + Now Aziel roused himself from the horror in which his soul was sunk, and + strove to comfort his doomed comrade, praying with him to Heaven. + </p> + <p> + Slowly as they prayed, the hours drew on till at length, upon the opposite + cliff, he saw men whom he knew to be Metem and his escort, approach the + mouth of the tomb, and faintly heard him call through the bars of the + gateway. Turning himself in his cage, Aziel glanced at the rope, and + watched the spot of light born from the burning glass of the crystal creep + to its side. + </p> + <p> + Now the fatal moment was at hand, and Aziel saw a little wreath of smoke + rise in the still air and bade his wretched servant close his eyes. Then + came the end. Suddenly the taut rope, eaten through by the sun’s fire, + flew back and the cage with the soldier in it vanished from his sight, + while, from far below, rose the sound of a heavy fall, and from the tomb + of Baaltis rang the echo of a woman’s shriek. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0017" id="link2HCH0017"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVII + </h2> + <h3> + “THERE IS HOPE” + </h3> + <p> + It was dawn. Ithobal the king stood without the gates of the tomb of + Baaltis, the grey light glimmering faintly on his harness, and knocked + upon the brazen bars with the handle of his sword. + </p> + <p> + “Who troubles me now?” said a voice within. + </p> + <p> + “Lady, it is I, Ithobal, who, as I promised by Metem the Phoenician, am + come to learn your will as to the fate of my prisoner, the Prince Aziel. + Already he hangs above the gulf, and within one short hour, if you so + decree it, he will fall and be dashed to pieces. Or, if you so decree it, + he will be set free to return to his own land.” + </p> + <p> + “At what price will he be set free, king Ithobal?” + </p> + <p> + “Lady, you know the price; it is yourself. Oh! I beseech you, be wise! + spare his life and your own. Listen: spare his life, and I will spare this + city which lies in the hollow of my hand, and you shall rule it with me.” + </p> + <p> + “You cannot bribe me thus, king Ithobal. My father whom I loved is dead, + and shall I give myself to you for the sake of a city and a Faith that + would have betrayed me into your hands?” + </p> + <p> + “Nay, but for the sake of the man to whom you are dear, you shall do even + this, Elissa. Think: if you refuse, his blood will be upon your head, and + what will you have gained?” + </p> + <p> + “Death, which I seek, for I weary of the struggle of my days.” + </p> + <p> + “Then end it in my arms, lady. Soon this fancy will escape your mind, and + you will remain one of the mightiest queens of men.” + </p> + <p> + Elissa returned no answer, and for a while there was silence. + </p> + <p> + “Lady,” said Ithobal at length, “the sun rises and my servants yonder + await a signal.” + </p> + <p> + Then she spoke like one who hesitates. + </p> + <p> + “Are you not afraid, king Ithobal, to trust your life to a woman won in + such a fashion?” + </p> + <p> + “Nay,” answered Ithobal, “for though you say that their fate does not + concern you, the lives of all those penned-up thousands are hostages for + my own. Should you by chance find a means to stab me unawares, then + to-night fire and sword would rage through the city of Zimboe. Nor do I + fear the future, since I know well that you who think you hate me now, + very soon will learn to love me.” + </p> + <p> + “You promise, king Ithobal, that if I yield myself you will set the prince + Aziel free; but how can I believe you who twice have tried to murder him?” + </p> + <p> + “Doubt me if you will, Elissa, at least, you cannot doubt your own eyes. + Look, his road to the sea runs beneath this rock. Come from the tomb and + take your stand upon it and you shall see him pass; yes, and should you + wish, speak with him in farewell that you may be sure that it is he and + alive. Further, I swear to you by my head and honour, that no finger shall + be laid upon you till he is gone by, and that no pursuit of him shall be + attempted. Now choose.” + </p> + <p> + Again there was silence for a while. Then Elissa spoke in a broken voice. + </p> + <p> + “King Ithobal, I have chosen. Trusting to your royal word I will stand + upon the rock and when I have seen the prince Aziel go by in safety, then, + since you desire it, you shall put your arms about me and bear me whither + you will. You have conquered me, king Ithobal! Henceforward these lips of + mine are yours and no other man’s. Give the signal, I pray you, and I will + cast aside the dagger and the poison and come out living from this tomb.” + </p> + <p> + Aziel hung in his cage over the abyss of air, awaiting death, and glad to + die, because now he was sure that Elissa had refused to purchase his life + at the expense of her own surrender. There he hung, dizzy and sick at + heart, making his prayer to heaven and waiting the end, while the eagles + that would prey upon his shattered flesh swept past him. + </p> + <p> + Presently, from the opposing cliff, came the sound of a horn blown thrice. + Then, while Aziel wondered what this might mean, the cage in which he lay + was drawn in gently over the edge of the precipice, and carried down the + steeps of the granite hill as it had been carried up them. + </p> + <p> + At the foot of the hill its covering was torn aside, and he saw before him + a caravan of camels, and seated on each camel a comrade of his own. But + one camel had no rider, and Metem led it by a rope. + </p> + <p> + The servants of Ithobal took him from the cage and set him upon this + camel, though they did not loosen the bonds about the wrists. + </p> + <p> + “This is the command of the king,” said the captain to Metem “that the + arms of the prince Aziel shall remain bound until you have travelled for + six hours. Begone in safety, fearing nothing.” + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + “What happens now, Metem,” asked Aziel, as the camels strode forward, “and + why am I set free who was expecting death? Is this some new artifice of + yours, or has the lady Elissa——” and he ceased. + </p> + <p> + “Upon the word of an honest merchant I cannot tell you, Prince. Yesterday, + as I was forced, I gave the message of king Ithobal to the lady Elissa + yonder in the tomb. She would answer me only one thing, which she + whispered in my ear through the bars of the holy tomb; that if we could + escape we should do so, moreover that you must have no fear for her since + she also had found a means of escape from Ithobal, and would certainly + join us upon the road.” + </p> + <p> + As Metem spoke, the camels passed round the little hill on to the path + that ran beneath the tomb of Baaltis. There, standing upon the rock some + fifty feet above them, was Elissa, and with her, but at a distance, + Ithobal the king. + </p> + <p> + “Halt, prince Aziel,” she called in a clear voice, “and hearken to my + farewell. I have bought your life, and the lives of your companions, and + you are free, for the road is clear and nothing can overtake the twelve + swiftest camels in Zimboe. Go, therefore, and be happy, forgetting no word + that has passed my lips. For all my words are true, even to a certain + promise which I made you lately by the mouth of Metem, and which I now + fulfil—that I would join you on your road lest you should deem me + faithless to the troth which I have so often sworn to you. + </p> + <p> + “King Ithobal, this shape is yours; come now and take your prize. Prince + Aziel, my soul is yours, in life it shall companion you, and in death + await you. Prince Aziel, I come to you.” Then, before he could answer a + single word, with one swift and sudden spring she hurled herself from the + cliff edge to fall crushed upon the road beneath. + </p> + <p> + Aziel saw. In his agony he strained so fiercely at the bonds which held + him that they burst like rushes. He leapt from the camel and knelt beside + Elisa. She was not yet dead, for her eyes were open and her lips stirred. + </p> + <p> + “I have kept faith, keep it also, Aziel! the story is not yet done,” she + gasped. Then her life flickered out, and her spirit passed. + </p> + <p> + Aziel rose from beside the corpse and looked upward. There upon the edge + of the rock above him, leaning forward, his eyes blind with horror, stood + Ithobal the king. Aziel saw him, and a fury entered into his heart because + this man, whose jealous rage and evil doing had bred such woe and caused + the death of his beloved still lived upon the earth. By the prince was + Metem, who, for once, had no words, and from his hand he snatched a bow, + set an arrow on the string and loosed. + </p> + <p> + The shaft rushed upwards, it smote Ithobal between the joints of his + harness so that the point of it sunk through this neck. + </p> + <p> + “This gift, king Ithobal, from Aziel the Israelite,” he cried, as the + arrow sped. + </p> + <p> + For a moment the great man stood still, then he opened his arms wide and + of a sudden plunged downward, falling with a crash on the roadway, where + he lay dead at the side of dead Elissa. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + “The play is played, and the fate fulfilled,” cried Metem. “See, the + servants of the king speed yonder with their evil tidings; let us away + lest we bide here with these two for ever.” + </p> + <p> + “That is my desire,” said Aziel. + </p> + <p> + “A desire which may not be fulfilled,” answered Metem. “Come, Prince, + since we cannot go without you. Surely you do not wish to sacrifice the + lives of all of us as an offering to the great spirit of the lady who is + dead. It is one that she would not seek.” + </p> + <p> + Then Aziel knelt down and kissed the brow of the dead Elissa, and went his + way, saying no word. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + That night, when the darkness fell, the sky behind these travellers grew + red with fire. + </p> + <p> + “Behold the end of the golden city!” said Metem. “Zimboe is food for + flames and its children for the sword. Issachar was a prophet indeed, who + foretold that it should be so.” + </p> + <p> + Aziel bowed his head, remembering that Issachar had foretold also that for + Elissa and for him there was hope beyond the grave. As he thought it, a + wind beat upon his brow and through it a soft voice seemed to murmur to + his heart:— + </p> + <p> + “Be of good courage: Beloved, <i>there is hope</i>.” + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + So, turning from the death behind him, this far away forgotten lover set + his face to the sea of Life and passed it, and long ago, at his appointed + hour, gained its further shore, to be welcomed there by her who watched + for him. + </p> + <p> + And thus, because of the fateful and predestined loves of Aziel the + prince, and Elissa the priestess and daughter of Sakon, three thousands + years and more ago, the ancient city of Zimboe fell at the hand of king + Ithobal and his Tribes, so that to-day there remain of it nothing but a + desolate grey tower of stone, and beneath, the crumbling bones of men. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Elissa, by H. Rider Haggard + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ELISSA *** + +***** This file should be named 2855-h.htm or 2855-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/5/2855/ + +Produced by John Bickers; Dagny; David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project +Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the Foundation” + or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the phrase “Project +Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase “Project Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +“Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, “Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.” + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +“Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right +of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’ WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm’s +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws. + +The Foundation’s principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation’s web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + + +</pre> + </body> +</html> diff --git a/old/2855.txt b/old/2855.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e129149 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/2855.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6184 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Elissa, by H. Rider Haggard + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Elissa + +Author: H. Rider Haggard + +Release Date: March 31, 2006 [EBook #2855] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ELISSA *** + + + + +Produced by John Bickers; Dagny + + + + + +ELISSA + +OR THE DOOM OF ZIMBABWE + +by H. Rider Haggard + + + + +DEDICATION + +To the Memory of the Child + +Nada Burnham, + +who "bound all to her" and, while her father cut his way through the +hordes of the Ingobo Regiment, perished of the hardships of war +at Buluwayo on 19th May, 1896, I dedicate these tales--and more +particularly the last, that of a Faith which triumphed over savagery and +death. + +H. Rider Haggard. + +Ditchingham. + + + +AUTHOR'S NOTE + +Of the three stories that comprise this volume[*], one, "The Wizard," a +tale of victorious faith, first appeared some years ago as a Christmas +Annual. Another, "Elissa," is an attempt, difficult enough owing to the +scantiness of the material left to us by time, to recreate the life of +the ancient Phoenician Zimbabwe, whose ruins still stand in Rhodesia, +and, with the addition of the necessary love story, to suggest +circumstances such as might have brought about or accompanied its fall +at the hands of the surrounding savage tribes. The third, "Black Heart +and White Heart," is a story of the courtship, trials and final union of +a pair of Zulu lovers in the time of King Cetywayo. + + [*] This text was prepared from a volume published in 1900 + titled "Black Heart and White Heart, and Other Stories."-- + JB. + + +NOTE + +The world is full of ruins, but few of them have an origin so utterly +lost in mystery as those of Zimbabwe in South Central Africa. Who built +them? What purpose did they serve? These are questions that must have +perplexed many generations, and many different races of men. + +The researches of Mr. Wilmot prove to us indeed that in the Middle Ages +Zimbabwe or Zimboe was the seat of a barbarous empire, whose ruler was +named the Emperor of Monomotapa, also that for some years the Jesuits +ministered in a Christian church built beneath the shadow of its ancient +towers. But of the original purpose of those towers, and of the +race that reared them, the inhabitants of mediaeval Monomotapa, it is +probable, knew less even than we know to-day. The labours and skilled +observation of the late Mr. Theodore Bent, whose death is so great +a loss to all interested in such matters, have shown almost beyond +question that Zimbabwe was once an inland Phoenician city, or at the +least a city whose inhabitants were of a race which practised Phoenician +customs and worshipped the Phoenician deities. Beyond this all is +conjecture. How it happened that a trading town, protected by vast +fortifications and adorned with temples dedicated to the worship of the +gods of the Sidonians--or rather trading towns, for Zimbabwe is only one +of a group of ruins--were built by civilised men in the heart of Africa +perhaps we shall never learn with certainty, though the discovery of +the burying-places of their inhabitants might throw some light upon the +problem. + +But if actual proof is lacking, it is scarcely to be doubted--for the +numerous old workings in Rhodesia tell their own tale--that it was the +presence of payable gold reefs worked by slave labour which tempted the +Phoenician merchants and chapmen, contrary to their custom, to travel +so far from the sea and establish themselves inland. Perhaps the city +Zimboe was the Ophir spoken of in the first Book of Kings. At least, it +is almost certain that its principal industries were the smelting and +the sale of gold, also it seems probable that expeditions travelling by +sea and land would have occupied quite three years of time in reaching +it from Jerusalem and returning thither laden with the gold and precious +stones, the ivory and the almug trees (1 Kings x.). Journeying in +Africa must have been slow in those days; that it was also dangerous is +testified by the ruins of the ancient forts built to protect the route +between the gold towns and the sea. + +However these things may be, there remains ample room for speculation +both as to the dim beginnings of the ancient city and its still dimmer +end, whereof we can guess only, when it became weakened by luxury and +the mixture of races, that hordes of invading savages stamped it out +of existence beneath their blood-stained feet, as, in after ages, they +stamped out the Empire of Monomotapa. In the following romantic sketch +the writer has ventured--no easy task--to suggest incidents such as +might have accompanied this first extinction of the Phoenician Zimbabwe. +The pursuit indeed is one in which he can only hope to fill the place +of a humble pioneer, since it is certain that in times to come the +dead fortress-temples of South Africa will occupy the pens of many +generations of the writers of romance who, as he hopes, may have more +ascertained facts to build upon than are available to-day. + + + + + +ELISSA + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE CARAVAN + +The sun, which shone upon a day that was gathered to the past some +three thousand years ago, was setting in full glory over the expanses of +south-eastern Africa--the Libya of the ancients. Its last burning rays +fell upon a cavalcade of weary men, who, together with long strings of +camels, asses and oxen, after much toil had struggled to the crest of +a line of stony hills, where they were halted to recover breath. Before +them lay a plain, clothed with sere yellow grass--for the season was +winter--and bounded by mountains of no great height, upon whose slopes +stood the city which they had travelled far to seek. It was the ancient +city of Zimboe, whereof the lonely ruins are known to us moderns as +Zimbabwe. + +At the sight of its flat-roofed houses of sun-dried brick, set upon the +side of the opposing hill, and dominated by a huge circular building +of dark stone, the caravan raised a great shout of joy. It shouted in +several tongues, in the tongues of Phoenicia, of Egypt, of the Hebrews, +of Arabia, and of the coasts of Africa, for all these peoples were +represented amongst its numbers. Well might the wanderers cry out in +their delight, seeing that at length, after eight months of perilous +travelling from the coast, they beheld the walls of their city of rest, +of the golden Ophir of the Bible. Their company had started from the +eastern port, numbering fifteen hundred men, besides women and children, +and of those not more than half were left alive. Once a savage tribe +had ambushed them, killing many. Once the pestilential fever of the low +lands had taken them so that they died of it by scores. Twice also had +they suffered heavily through hunger and thirst, to say nothing of their +losses by the fangs of lions, crocodiles, and other wild beasts which +with the country swarmed. Now their toils were over; and for six months, +or perhaps a year, they might rest and trade in the Great City, enjoying +its wealth, its flesh-pots, and the unholy orgies which, among people +of the Phoenician race, were dignified by the name of the worship of the +gods of heaven. + +Soon the clamour died away, and although no command was given, the +caravan started on at speed. All weariness faded from the faces of the +wayworn travellers, even the very camels and asses, shrunk, as most of +them were, to mere skeletons, seemed to understand that labour and blows +were done with, and forgetting their loads, shambled unurged down the +stony path. One man lingered, however. Clearly he was a person of rank, +for eight or ten attendants surrounded him. + +"Go," said he, "I wish to be alone, and will follow presently." So they +bowed to the earth, and went. + +The man was young, perhaps six or eight and twenty years of age. His +dark skin, burnt almost to blackness by the heat of the sun, together +with the fashion of his short, square-cut beard and of his garments, +proclaimed him of Jewish or Egyptian blood, while the gold collar about +his neck and the gold graven ring upon his hand showed that his rank +was high. Indeed this wanderer was none other than the prince Aziel, +nick-named the Ever-living, because of a curious mole upon his shoulder +bearing a resemblance to the _crux ansata_, the symbol of life eternal +among the Egyptians. By blood he was a grandson of Solomon, the mighty +king of Israel, and born of a royal mother, a princess of Egypt. + +In stature Aziel was tall, but somewhat slimly made, having small bones. +His face was oval in shape, the features, especially the mouth, being +fine and sensitive; the eyes were large, dark, and full of thought--the +eyes of a man with a destiny. For the most part, indeed, they were +sombre and over-full of thought, but at times they could light up with a +strange fire. + +Aziel the prince placed his hand against his forehead in such fashion as +to shade his face from the rays of the setting sun, and from beneath its +shadow gazed long and earnestly at the city of the hill. + +"At length I behold thee, thanks be to God," he murmured, for he was a +worshipper of Jehovah, and not of his mother's deities, "and it is +time, since, to speak the truth, I am weary of this travelling. Now +what fortune shall I find within thy walls, O City of Gold and +devil-servers?" + +"Who can tell?" said a quiet voice at his elbow. "Perhaps, Prince, you +will find a wife, or a throne, or--a grave." + +Aziel started, and turned to see a man standing at his side, clothed in +robes that had been rich, but were now torn and stained with travel, +and wearing on his head a black cap in shape not unlike the fez that +is common in the East to-day. The man was past middle age, having a +grizzled beard, sharp, hard features and quick eyes, which withal were +not unkindly. He was a Phoenician merchant, much trusted by Hiram, +the King of Tyre, who had made him captain of the merchandise of this +expedition. + +"Ah! is it you, Metem?" said Aziel. "Why do you leave your charge to +return to me?" + +"That I may guard a more precious charge--yourself, Prince," replied +the merchant courteously. "Having brought the child of Israel so far in +safety, I desire to hand him safely to the governor of yonder city. +Your servants told me that by your command they had left you alone, so +I returned to bear you company, for after nightfall robbers and savages +wander without these walls." + +"I thank you for your care, Metem, though I think there is little +danger, and at the worst I can defend myself." + +"Do not thank me, Prince; I am a merchant, and now, as in the past, I +protect you, knowing that for it I shall be paid. The governor will give +me a rich reward when I lead you to him safely, and when in years to +come I return with you still safe to the court of Jerusalem, then the +great king will fill my ship's hold with gifts." + +"That depends, Metem," replied the prince. "If my grandfather still +reigns it may be so, but he is very old, and if my uncle wears his +crown, then I am not sure. Truly you Phoenicians love money. Would you, +then, sell me for gold also, Metem?" + +"I said not so, Prince, though even friendship has its price----" + +"Among your people, Metem?" + +"Among all people, Prince. You reproach us with loving money; well, +we do, since money gives everything for which men strive--honour, and +place, and comfort, and the friendship of kings." + +"It cannot give you love, Metem." + +The Phoenician laughed contemptuously. "Love! with gold I will buy as +much of it as I need. Are there no slaves upon the market, and no free +women who desire ornaments and ease and the purple of Tyre? You are +young, Prince, to say that gold cannot buy us love." + +"And you, Metem, who are growing old, do not understand what I mean by +love, nor will I stay to explain it to you, for were my words as wise +as Solomon's, still you would not understand. At the least your money +cannot bring you the blessing of Heaven, nor the welfare of your spirit +in the eternal life that is to come." + +"The welfare of my spirit, Prince? No, it cannot, since I do not believe +that I have a spirit. When I die, I die, and there is an end. But the +blessing of Heaven, ah! that can be bought, as I have proved once and +again, if not with gold, then otherwise. Did I not in bygone years pass +the first son of my manhood through the fire to Baal-Sidon? Nay, shrink +not from me; it cost me dear, but my fortune was at stake, and better +that the boy should die than that all of us should live on in penury and +bonds. Know you not, Prince, that the gods must have the gifts of the +best, gifts of blood and virtue, or they will curse us and torment us?" + +"I do not know it, Metem, for such gods are no gods, but devils, +children of Beelzebub, who has no power over the righteous. Truly I +would have none of your two gods, Phoenician; upon earth the god of gold, +and in heaven the devil of slaughter." + +"Speak no ill of him, Prince," answered Metem solemnly, "for here you +are not in the courts of Jehovah, but in his land, and he may chance +to prove his power on you. For the rest, I had sooner follow after gold +than the folly of a drunken spirit which you name Love, seeing that it +works its votary less mischief. Say now, it was a woman and her love +that drove you hither to this wild land, was it not, Prince? Well, be +careful lest a woman and her love should keep you here." + +"The sun sets," said Aziel coldly; "let us go forward." + +With a bow and a murmured salute, for his quick courtier instinct told +him that he had spoken too freely, Metem took the bridle of the prince's +mule, holding the stirrup while he mounted. Then he turned to seek his +own, but the animal had wandered, and a full half hour went by before it +could be captured. + +By now the sun had set, and as there is little or no twilight in +Southern Africa it became difficult for the two travellers to find their +way down the rough hill path. Still they stumbled on, till presently +the long dead grass brushing against their knees told them that they +had lost the road, although they knew that they were riding in the right +direction, for the watch-fires burning on the city walls were a guide +to them. Soon, however, they lost sight of these fires, the boughs of +a grove of thickly-leaved trees hiding them from view, and in trying to +push their way through the wood Metem's mule stumbled against a root and +fell. + +"Now there is but one thing to be done," said the Phoenician, as he +dragged the animal from the ground, "and it is to stay here till the +moon rises, which should be within an hour. It would have been wiser, +Prince, if we had waited to discuss love and the gods till we were safe +within the walls of the city, for the end of it is that we have fallen +into the hands of king Darkness, and he is the father of many evil +things." + +"That is so, Metem," answered the prince, "and I am to blame. Let us +bide here in patience, since we must." + +So, holding their mules by the bridles, they sat down upon the ground +and waited in silence, for each of them was lost in his own thoughts. + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE GROVE OF BAALTIS + +At length, as the two men sat thus silently, for the place and its +gloom oppressed them, a sound broke upon the quiet of the night, that +beginning with a low wail such as might come from the lips of a mourner, +ended in a chant or song. The voice, which seemed close at hand, was +low, rich and passionate. At times it sank almost to a sob, and at +times, taking a higher note, it thrilled upon the air in tones that +would have been shrill were they not so sweet. + +"Who is it that sings?" said Aziel to Metem. + +"Be silent, I pray you," whispered the other in his ear; "we have +wandered into one of the sacred groves of Baaltis, which it is death +for men to enter save at the appointed festivals, and a priestess of the +grove chants her prayer to the goddess." + +"We did not come of our own will, so doubtless we shall be forgiven," +answered Aziel indifferently; "but that song moves me. Tell me the words +of it, which I can scarcely follow, for her accent is strange to me." + +"Prince, they seem to be holy words to which I have little right to +hearken. The priestess sings an ancient hallowed chant of life and +death, and she prays that the goddess may touch her soul with the wing +of fire and make her great and give her vision of things that have been +and that shall be. More I dare not tell you now; indeed I can barely +hear, and the song is hard to understand. Crouch down, for the moon +rises, and pray that the mules may not stir. Presently she will go, and +we can fly the holy place." + +The Israelite obeyed and waited, searching the darkness with eager eyes. + +Now the edge of the great moon appeared upon the horizon, and by degrees +her white rays of light revealed a strange scene to the watchers. About +an open space of ground, some eighty paces in diameter, grew seven huge +and ancient baobab trees, so ancient indeed that they must have been +planted by the primaeval hand of nature rather than by that of man. Aziel +and his companion were hidden with their mules behind the trunk of one +of these trees, and looking round it they perceived that the open space +beyond the shadow of the branches was not empty. In the centre of this +space stood an altar, and by it was placed the rude figure of a divinity +carved in wood and painted. On the head of this figure rose a crescent +symbolical of the moon, and round its neck hung a chain of wooden stars. +It had four wings but no hands, and of these wings two were out-spread +and two clasped a shapeless object to its breast, intended, apparently, +to represent a child. By these symbols Aziel knew that before him was +an effigy sacred to the goddess of the Phoenicians, who in different +countries passed by the various names of Astarte, or Ashtoreth, or +Baaltis, and who in their coarse worship was at once the personification +of the moon and the emblem of fertility. + +Standing before this rude fetish, between it and the altar, whereon lay +some flowers, and in such fashion that the moonlight struck full upon +her, was a white-robed woman. She was young and very beautiful both in +shape and feature, and though her black hair streaming almost to the +knees took from her height, she still seemed tall. Her rounded arms were +outstretched; her sweet and passionate face was upturned towards the +sky, and even at that distance the watchers could see her deep eyes +shining in the moonlight. The sacred song of the priestess was finished. +Now she was praying aloud, slowly, and in a clear voice, so that Aziel +could hear and understand her; praying from her very heart, not to the +idol before her, however, but to the moon above. + +"O Queen of Heaven," she said, "thou whose throne I see but whose face +I cannot see, hear the prayer of thy priestess, and protect me from the +fate I fear, and rid me of him I hate. Safe let me dwell and pure, and +as thou fillest the night with light, so fill the darkness of my soul +with the wisdom that I crave. O whisper into my ears and let me hear the +voice of heaven, teaching me that which I would know. Read me the riddle +of my life, and let me learn wherefore I am not as my sisters are; why +feasts and offerings delight me not; why I thirst for knowledge and not +for wealth, and why I crave such love as here I cannot win. Satisfy my +being with thy immortal lore and a love that does not fail or die, and +if thou wilt, then take my life in payment. Speak to me from the heaven +above, O Baaltis, or show me some sign upon the earth beneath; fill up +the vessel of my thirsty soul and satisfy the hunger of my spirit. Oh! +thou that art the goddess, thou that hast the gift of power, give me, +thy servant, of thy power, of thy godhead, and of thy peace. Hear me, +O Heaven-born, hear me, Elissa, the daughter of Sakon, the dedicate +of thee. Hear, hear, and answer now in the secret holy hour, answer by +voice, by wonder, or by symbol." + +The woman paused as though exhausted with the passion of her prayer, +hiding her face in her hands, and as she stood thus silent and +expectant, the sign came, or at least that chanced which for a while she +believed to have been an answer to her invocation. Her face was hidden, +so she could not see, and fascinated by her beauty as it appeared to +them in that unhallowed spot, and by the depth and dignity of her wild +prayer, the two watchers had eyes for her alone. Therefore it happened +that not until his arm was about to drag her away, did either of them +perceive a huge man, black as ebony in colour, clad in a cloak of +leopard skins and carrying in his right hand a broad-bladed spear who, +following the shadow of the trees, had crept upon the priestess from the +farther side of the glade. + +With a guttural exclamation of triumph he gripped her in his left arm, +and, despite her struggles and her shrill cry for help, began half to +drag and half to carry her towards the deep shade of the baobab grove. +Instantly Aziel and Metem sprang up and rushed forward, drawing their +bronze swords as they ran. As it chanced, however, the Israelite caught +his foot in one of the numerous tree-roots, which stood above the +surface of the ground and fell heavily upon his face. In a few seconds, +twenty perhaps, he found his breath and feet again, to see that Metem +had come up with the black giant who, hearing his approach, suddenly +wheeled round to meet him, still holding the struggling priestess in +his grasp. Now the Phoenician was so close upon him that the savage could +find no time to shift the grip upon his spear, but drove at him with +the knobbed end of its handle, striking him full upon the forehead and +felling him as a butcher fells an ox. Then once more he turned to fly +with his captive, but before he had covered ten yards the sound of +Aziel's approaching footsteps caused him to wheel round again. + +At sight of the Israelite advancing upon him with drawn sword, the great +barbarian freed himself from the burden of the girl by throwing her +heavily to the ground, where she lay, for the breath was shaken out of +her. Then snatching the cloak from his throat he wound it over his left +arm to serve as a shield, and with a savage yell, rushed straight at +Aziel, purposing to transfix him with the broad-headed spear. + +Well was it for the prince that he had been trained in sword-play from +his youth, also, notwithstanding his slight build, that he was strong +and active as a leopard. To await the onslaught would be to die, for +the spear must pierce him before ever he could reach the attacker's body +with his short sword. Therefore, as the weapon flashed upward he sprang +aside, avoiding it, at the same time, with one swift sweep of his sword, +slashing its holder across the back as he passed him. + +With a howl of pain and rage the savage sprang round and charged him a +second time. Again Aziel leapt to one side, but now he struck with all +his force at the spear shaft which his assailant lifted to guard his +head. So strong was the blow and so sharp the heavy sword, that it shore +through the wood, severing the handle from the spear, which fell to the +ground. Casting away the useless shaft, the warrior drew a long knife +from his girdle, and before Aziel could strike again faced him for +the third time. But he no longer rushed onward like a bull, for he had +learnt caution; he stood still, holding the skin cloak before him shield +fashion, and peering at his adversary from over its edge. + +Now it was Aziel's turn to take the offensive, and slowly he circled +round the huge barbarian, watching his opportunity. At length it came. +In answer to a feint of his the protecting cloak was dropped a little, +enabling him to prick its bearer in the neck, but only with the point +of his sword. The thrust delivered, he leapt back, and not too soon, for +forgetting his caution in his fury, the savage charged straight at him +with a roar like that of a lion. So swift and terrible was his onset +that Aziel, having no time to spring aside, did the only thing possible. +Gripping the ground with his feet, he bent his body forward, and with +outstretched arm and sword, braced up his muscles to receive the charge. +Another instant, and the leopard skin cloak fluttered before him. With +a quick movement of his left arm he swept it aside; then there came a +sudden pressure upon his sword ending in a jarring shock, a flash of +steel above his head, and down he went to the ground beneath the weight +of the black giant. + +"Now there is an end," he thought; "Heaven receive my spirit." And his +senses left him. + +When they returned again, Aziel perceived dimly that a white-draped +figure bent over him, dragging at something black which crushed his +breast, who, as she dragged, sobbed in her grief and fear. Then he +remembered, and with an effort sat up, rolling from him the corpse of +his foe, for his sword had pierced the barbarian through breast and +heart and back. At this sight the woman ceased her sobbing, and said in +the Phoenician tongue:-- + +"Sir, do you indeed live? Then the protecting gods be thanked, and to +Baaltis the Mother I vow a gift of this hair of mine in gratitude." + +"Nay, lady," he answered faintly, for he was much shaken, "that would be +a pity; also, if any, it is my hair which should be vowed." + +"You bleed from the head," she broke in; "say, stranger, are you deeply +wounded." + +"I will tell you nothing of my head," he replied, with a smile, "unless +you promise that you will not offer up your hair." + +"So be it, stranger, since I must; I will give the goddess this gold +chain instead; it is of more worth." + +"You would do better, lady," said the shrill voice of Metem again, who +by now had found his wits again, "to give the gold chain to me whose +scalp has been broken in rescuing you from that black thief." + +"Sir," she answered, "I am grateful to you from my heart, but it is +this young lord who killed the man and saved me from slavery worse than +death, and he shall be rewarded by my father." + +"Listen to her," grumbled Metem. "Did I not rush in first in my folly +and receive what I deserved for my pains? But am I to have neither +thanks nor pay, who am but an old merchant; they are for the young +prince who came after. Well, so it ever was; the thanks I can spare, and +the reward I shall claim from the treasury of the goddess. + +"Now, Prince, let me see your hurt. Ah! a cut on the ear, no more, and +thank your natal star that it is so, for another inch and the great vein +of the neck would have been severed. Prince, if you are able, draw out +your sword from the carcase of that brute, for I have tried and cannot +loosen the blade. Then perhaps this lady will guide us to the city +before his fellows come to seek him, seeing that for one night I have +had a stomach full of fighting." + +"Sirs, I will indeed. It is close at hand, and my father will thank you +there; but if it is your pleasure, tell me by what names I shall make +known to him you whose rank seems to be so high?" + +"Lady, I am Metem the Phoenician, captain of the merchandise of the +caravan of Hiram, King of Tyre, and this lord who slew the thief is none +other than the prince Aziel, the twice royal, for he is grandson to +the glorious King of Israel, and through his mother of the blood of the +Pharaohs of Egypt." + +"And yet he risked his life to save me," the girl murmured astonished; +then dropping to her knees before Aziel, she touched the ground with +her forehead in obeisance, giving him thanks, and praising him after the +fashion of the East. + +"Rise, lady," he broke in, "because I chance to be a prince I have not +ceased to be a man, and no man could have seen you in such a plight +without striking a blow on your behalf." + +"No," added Metem, "none; that is, as you happen to be noble and young +and lovely. Had you been old and ugly and humble, then the black man +might have carried you from here to Tyre ere I risked my neck to stop +him, or for the matter of that, although he will deny it, the prince +either." + +"Men do not often show their hearts so clearly," she answered with +sarcasm. "But now, lords, I will guide you to the city before more harm +befalls us, for this dead man may have companions." + +"Our mules are here, lady; will you not ride mine?" asked Aziel. + +"I thank you, Prince, but my feet will carry me." + +"And so will mine," said Aziel, ceasing from a prolonged and fruitless +effort to loosen his sword from the breast-bone of the savage, "on such +paths they are safer than any beasts. Friend, will you lead my mule with +yours?" + +"Ay, Prince," grumbled Metem, "for so the world goes with the old; you +take the fair lady for company and I a she-ass. Well, of the two give me +the ass which is more safe and does not chatter." + +Then they started, Aziel leaving his short sword in the keeping of the +dead man. + +"How are you named, lady?" he said presently, adding "or rather I need +not ask; you are Elissa, the daughter of Sakon, Governor of Zimboe, are +you not?" + +"I am so called, though how you know it I cannot guess." + +"I heard you name yourself, lady, in the prayer you made before the +altar." + +"You heard my prayer, Prince?" she said starting. "Do you not know that +it is death to that man who hearkens to the prayer of a priestess +of Baaltis, uttered in her holy grove? Still, none know it save the +goddess, who sees all, therefore I beseech you for your own sake and the +sake of your companion, say nothing of it in the city, lest it should +come to the ears of the priests of El." + +"Certainly it would have been death to you had I _not_ chanced to hear +it, having lost my way in the darkness," answered the prince laughing. +"Well, since I did hear it I will add that it was a beautiful prayer, +revealing a heart high and pure, though I grieve that it should have +been offered to one whom I hold to be a demon." + +"I am honoured," she answered coldly; "but, Prince, you forget that +though you, being a Hebrew, worship Him they call Jehovah, or so I have +been told, I, being of the blood of the Sidonians, worship the lady +Baaltis, the Queen of Heaven the holy one of whom I am a priestess." + +"So it is, alas!" he said, with a sigh, adding:-- + +"Well, let us not dispute of these matters, though, if you wish, the +prophet Issachar, the Levite who accompanies me, can explain the truth +of them to you." + +Elissa made no reply, and for a while they walked on in silence. + +"Who was that black robber whom I slew?" Aziel asked presently. + +"I am not sure, Prince," she answered, hesitating, "but savages such as +he haunt the outskirts of the city seeking to steal white women to be +their wives. Doubtless he watched my steps, following me into the holy +place." + +"Why, then, did you venture there alone, lady?" + +"Because, to be heard, such prayers as mine must be offered in solitude +in the consecrated grove, and at the hour of the rising of the moon. +Moreover, cannot Baaltis protect her priestess, Priest, and did she not +protect her?" + +"I thought, lady, that I had something to do with the matter," he +answered. + +"Ay, Prince, it was your hand that struck the blow which killed the +thief, but Baaltis, and no other, led you to the place to rescue me." + +"I understand, lady. To save you, Baaltis, laying aside her own power, +led a mortal man to the grove, which it is death that mortal man should +violate." + +"Who can fathom the way of the gods?" she replied with passion, then +added, as though reasoning with a new-born doubt, "Did not the goddess +hear my prayer and answer it?" + +"In truth, lady, I cannot say. Let me think. If I understood you +rightly, you prayed for heavenly wisdom, but whether or not you have +gained it within this last hour, I do not know. And then you prayed for +love, an immortal love. O, maiden, has it come to you since yonder moon +appeared upon the sky? And you prayed----" + +"Peace!" she broke in, "peace and mock me not, or, prince that you are, +I will publish your crime of spying upon the prayer of a priestess +of Baaltis. I tell you that I prayed for a symbol and a sign, and the +prayer was answered. + +"Did not the black giant spring upon me to bear me away to be his +slave--his, or another's? And is he not a symbol of the evil and the +ignorance which are on the earth and that seek to drag down the beauty +and the wisdom of the earth to their own level? Then the Phoenician +ran to rescue me and was defeated, since the spirit of Mammon cannot +overcome the black powers of ill. Next you came and fought hard and +long, till in the end you slew the mighty foe, you a Prince born of the +royal blood of the world----" and she ceased. + +"You have a pretty gift of parable, lady, as it should be with one who +interprets the oracles of a goddess. But you have not told me of what I, +your servant, am the symbol." + +She stopped in her walk and looked him full in the face. + +"I never heard," she said, "that either the Jews or the Egyptians, being +instructed, were blind to the reading of an allegory. But, Prince, if +you cannot read this one it is not for me, who am but a woman, to set it +out to you." + +Just then their glances met, and in the clear moonlight Aziel saw a wave +of doubt sweep over his companion's dark and beautiful eyes, and a faint +flush appear upon her brow. He saw, and something stirred at his heart +that till this hour he had never felt, something which even now he knew +it would trouble him greatly to escape. + +"Tell me, lady," he asked, his voice sinking almost to a whisper, "in +this fable of yours am I even for an hour deemed worthy to play the part +of that immortal love embodied which you sought so earnestly a while +ago?" + +"Immortal love, Prince," she answered, in a new voice, a voice low and +deep, "is not for one hour, but for all hours that are and are to be. +You, and you alone, can know if you would dare to play such a part as +this--even in a fable." + +"Perchance, lady, there lives a woman for whom it might be dared." + +"Prince, no such woman lives, since immortal love must deal, not with +the flesh, but with the spirit. If a spirit worthy to be thus loved +and worshipped now wanders in earthly shape upon the world, seeking +its counterpart and its completion, I cannot tell. Yet were it so, and +should they chance to meet, it might be happy for such brave spirits, +for then the answer to the great riddle would be theirs." + +Wondering what this riddle might be, Aziel bent towards her to reply, +when suddenly round a bend in the path but a few paces from them came +a body of soldiers and attendants, headed by a man clad in a white robe +and walking with a staff. This man was grey-headed and keen-eyed, thin +in face and ascetic in appearance, with a brow of power and a bearing +of dignity. At the sight of the pair he halted, looking at them in +question, and with disapproval. + +"Our search is ended," he said in Hebrew, "for here is he whom we +seek, and alone with him a heathen woman, robed like a priestess of the +Groves." + +"Whom do you seek, Issachar?" asked Aziel hurriedly, for the sudden +appearance of the Levite disturbed him. + +"Yourself, Prince. Surely you can guess that your absence has been +noted. We feared lest harm should have come to you, or that you had lost +your path, but it seems that you have found a guide," and he stared at +his companion sternly. + +"That guide, Issachar," answered Aziel, "being none other than the lady +Elissa, daughter of Sakon, governor of this city, and our host, whom it +has been my good fortune to rescue from a woman-stealer yonder in the +grove of the goddess Baaltis." + +"And whom it was my bad fortune to try to rescue in the said grove, +as my broken head bears witness," added Metem, who by now had come up, +dragging the two mules after him. + +"In the grove of the goddess Baaltis!" broke in the Levite with a +kindling eye, and striking the ground with his staff to emphasise his +words. "You, a Prince of Israel, alone in the high place of abomination +with the priestess of a fiend? Fie upon you, fie upon you! Would you +also walk in the sin of your forefathers, Aziel, and so soon?" + +"Peace!" said Aziel in a voice of command; "I was not in the grove +alone or by my own will, and this is no time or place for insults and +wrangling." + +"Between me and those who seek after false gods, or the women who +worship them, there is no peace," replied the old priest fiercely. + +Then, followed by all the company, he turned and strode towards the +gates of the city. + + + +CHAPTER III + +ITHOBAL THE KING + +Two hours had gone by, and the prince Aziel, together with his retinue, +the officers of the caravan, and many other guests, were seated at a +great feast made in their honour, by Sakon, the governor of the city. +This feast was held in the large pillared hall of Sakon's house, built +beneath the northern wall of the temple fortress, and not more than a +few paces from its narrow entrance, through which in case of alarm the +inhabitants of the palace could fly for safety. All down this chamber +were placed tables, accommodating more than two hundred feasters, but +the principal guests were seated by themselves upon a raised dais at the +head of the hall. Among them sat Sakon himself, a middle-aged man stout +in build, and thoughtful of face, his daughter Elissa, some other +noble ladies, and a score or more of the notables of the city and its +surrounding territories. + +One of these strangers immediately attracted the attention of Aziel, who +was seated in the place of honour at the right of Sakon, between him and +the lady Elissa. This man was of large stature, and about forty years of +age; the magnificence of his apparel and the great gold chain set with +rough diamonds which hung about his neck showing him to be a person +of importance. His tawny complexion marked him of mixed race. This +conclusion his features did not belie, for the brow, nose, and +cheek-bones were Semitic in outline, while the full, prominent eyes, +and thick, sensuous lips could with equal certainty be attributed to +the Negroid stock. In fact, he was the son of a native African queen, or +chieftainess, and a noble Phoenician, and his rank no less than that of +absolute king and hereditary chief of a vast and undefined territory +which lay around the trading cities of the white men, whereof Zimboe +was the head and largest. Aziel noticed that this king, who was named +Ithobal, seemed angry and ill at ease, whether because he was not +satisfied with the place which had been allotted to him at the table, or +for other reasons, he could not at the time determine. + +When the meats had been removed, and the goblets were filled with wine, +men began to talk, till presently Sakon called for silence, and rising, +addressed Aziel:-- + +"Prince," he said, "in the name of this great and free city--for free it +is, though we acknowledge the king of Tyre as our suzerain--I give you +welcome within our gates. Here, far in the heart of Libya, we have +heard of the glorious and wise king, your grandfather, and of the mighty +Pharaoh of Egypt, whose blood runs also within your veins. Prince, we +are honoured in your coming, and for the asking, whatever this land of +gold can boast is yours. Long may you live; may the favour of those gods +you worship attend you, and in the pursuit of wisdom, of wealth, of war, +and of love, may the good grain of all be garnered in your bosom, and +the wind of prosperity winnow out the chaff of them to fall beneath your +feet. Prince, I have greeted you as it behoves me to greet the blood +of Solomon and Pharaoh; now I add a word. Now I greet you as a father +greets the man who has saved his only and beloved daughter from death, +or shameful bondage. Know you, friends, what this stranger did since +to-night's moonrise? My daughter was at worship alone yonder without +the walls, and a great savage set on her, purposing to bear her away +captive. Ay, and he would have done it had not the prince Aziel here +given him battle, and, after a fierce fight, slain him." + +"No great deed to kill a single savage," broke in the king Ithobal, who +had been listening with impatience to Sakon's praises of this high-born +stranger. + +"No great deed you say, King," answered Sakon. "Guards, being in the +body of the man and set it before us." + +There was a pause, till presently six men staggered up the hall bearing +between them the corpse of the barbarian, which, still covered with the +leopard skin mantle, they threw down on the edge of the dais. + +"See!" said one of the bearers, withdrawing the cloak from the huge +body. Then pointing to the sword which still transfixed it, he added, +"and learn what strength heaven gives to the arms of princes." + +Such as the guests as were near enough rose to look at the grizzly +sight, then turned to offer their congratulations to the conqueror, but +there was one of them--the king Ithobal--who offered none; indeed, as +his eyes fell upon the face of the corpse, they grew alight with rage. + +"What ails you, King? Are you jealous of such a blow?" asked Sakon, +watching him curiously. + +"Speak no more of that thrust, I pray you," said Aziel, "for it was due +to the weight of the man rushing on the sword, which after he was dead I +could not find the power to loosen from his breast-bone." + +"Then I will do you that service, Prince," sneered Ithobal, and, setting +his foot upon the breast of the corpse, with a sudden effort of his +great frame, he plucked out the sword and cast it down upon the table. + +"Now, one might think," said Aziel, flushing with anger, "that you, +King, who do a courtesy to a man of smaller strength, mean a challenge. +Doubtless, however, I am mistaken, who do not understand the manners of +this country." + +"Think what you will, Prince," answered the chieftain, "but learn that +he who lies dead before us by your hand--as you say--was no slave to be +killed at pleasure, but a man of rank, none other, indeed, than the son +of my mother's sister." + +"Is it so?" replied Aziel, "then surely, King, you are well rid of a +cousin, however highly born, who made it his business to ravish maidens +from their homes." + +By way of answer to these words Ithobal sprang from his seat again, +laying hand upon his sword. But before he could speak or draw it, the +governor Sakon addressed him in a cold and meaning voice:-- + +"Of your courtesy, King," he said, "remember that the prince here is my +guest, as you are, and give us peace. If that dead man was your cousin, +at least he well deserved to die, not at the hand of one of royal blood, +but by that of the executioner, for he was the worst of thieves--a thief +of women. Now tell me, King, I pray you, how came your cousin here, so +far from home, since he was not numbered in your retinue?" + +"I do not know, Sakon," answered Ithobal, "and if I knew I would not +say. You tell me that my dead kinsman was a thief of women, which, in +Phoenician eyes, must be a crime indeed. So be it; but thief or no thief, +I say that there is a blood feud between me and the man who slew him, +and were he great Solomon himself, instead of one of fifty princelets of +his line, he should pay bitterly for the dead. To-morrow, Sakon, I will +meet you before I leave for my own land, for I have words to speak +to you. Till then, farewell!"--and rising, he strode down the hall, +followed by his officers and guard. + +***** + +The sudden departure of king Ithobal in anger was the signal for the +breaking up of the feast. + +"Why is that half-bred chief so wrath with me?" asked Aziel in a low +voice of Elissa as they followed Sakon to another chamber. + +"Because--if you would know the truth--he set his dead cousin to kidnap +me, and you thwarted him," she answered, looking straight before her. + +Aziel made no reply, for at that moment Sakon turned to speak with him, +and his face was anxious. + +"I crave your pardon, Prince," he said, drawing him aside, "that you +should have met with such insults at my board. Had it been any other man +who spoke thus to you, by now he had rued his words, but this Ithobal +is the terror of our city, for if he chooses he can bring a hundred +thousand savages upon us, shutting us within our walls to starve, +and cutting us off from the working of the mines whence we win gold. +Therefore, in this way or that, he must be humoured, as indeed we have +humoured him and his father for years, though now," he added, his brow +darkening, "he demands a price that I am loth to pay," and he glanced +towards his daughter, who stood watching them at a little distance, +looking most beautiful in her white robes and ornaments of gold. + +"Can you not make war upon him, and break his power?" asked Aziel, with +a strange anxiety, guessing that this price demanded by Ithobal was none +other than Elissa, the woman whom he had rescued, and whose wisdom and +beauty had stirred his heart. + +"It might be done, Prince, but the risk would be great, and we are here +to work the mines and grow rich in trade--not to make war. The policy of +Zimboe has always been a policy of peace." + +"I have a better and cheaper plan," said a calm voice at his elbow--that +of Metem. "It is this: Slip a bow-string over the brute's head as he +lies snoring, and pull it tight. An eagle in a cage is easy to deal +with, but once on the wing the matter is different." + +"There is wisdom in your counsel," said Sakon, in a hesitating voice. + +"Wisdom!" broke in Aziel; "ay, the wisdom of the assassin. What, noble +Sakon, would you murder a sleeping guest?" + +"No, Prince, I would not," he answered hastily; "also, such a deed would +bring the Tribes upon us." + +"Then, Sakon, you are more foolish than you used to be," said Metem +laughing. "A man who will not despatch a foe, whenever he can catch him, +by means fair or foul, is not the man to govern a rich city set in the +heart of a barbarous land, and so I shall tell Hiram, our king, if ever +I live to see Tyre again. As for you, most high Prince, forgive the +humblest of your servants if he tells you that the tenderness of your +heart and the nobility of your sentiments will, I think, bring you to +an early and evil end;" and, glancing towards Elissa as though to put a +point upon his words, Metem smiled sarcastically and withdrew. + +At this moment a messenger, whose long white hair, wild eyes and red +robe announced him to be a priest of El, by which name the people of +Zimboe worshipped Baal, entered the room, and whispered something into +the ear of Sakon which seemed to disturb him much. + +"Pardon me, Prince, and you, my guests, if I leave you," said the +governor, "but I have evil tidings that call me to the temple. The lady +Baaltis is seized with the black fever, and I must visit her. For an +hour, farewell." + +This news caused consternation among the company, and in the general +confusion that followed its announcement Aziel joined Elissa, who had +passed on to the balcony of the house, and was seated there alone, +looking out over the moonlit city and the plains beyond. At his approach +she rose in token of respect, then sat herself down again, motioning him +to do likewise. + +"Give me of your wisdom, lady," he said. "I thought that Baaltis was the +goddess whom I heard you worshipping yonder in the grove; how, then, can +she be stricken with a fever?" + +"She is the goddess," Elissa answered smiling; "but the _lady_ Baaltis +is a woman whom we revere as the incarnation of that goddess upon earth, +and being but a woman in her hour she must die." + +"Then, what becomes of the incarnation of the goddess?" + +"Another is chosen by the college of the priests of El, and the company +of the priestesses of Baaltis. If that lady Baaltis who is dead chances +to leave a daughter, it is usual for the lot to fall upon her; if not, +upon such one of the noble maidens as may be chosen." + +"Does the lady Baaltis marry, then?" + +"Yes, Prince, within a year of her consecration, she must choose herself +a husband, and he may be whom she will, provided only that he is of +white blood, and does public sacrifice to El and Baaltis. Then after she +has named him, this husband takes the title of Shadid, and for so long +as his wife shall live he is the high priest of the god El, and clothed +with the majesty of the god, as his wife is clothed with the majesty of +Baaltis. But should she die, another wins his place." + +"It is a strange faith," said Aziel, "which teaches that the Lord of +Heaven can find a home in mortal breasts. But, lady, it is yours, so of +it I say no more. Now tell me, if you will, what did you mean when you +said that this barbarian king, Ithobal, set the savage whom I slew to +kidnap you? Do you know this, or do you suspect it only?" + +"I suspected it from the first, Prince, and for good reasons; moreover, +I read it in the king's face as he looked upon the corpse, and when he +perceived me among the feasters." + +"And why should he wish to carry you away this brutally, lady, when he +is at peace with the great city?" + +"Perchance, Prince, after what passed to-night you can guess," she +answered lowering her eyes. + +"Yes, lady, I can guess, and though it is shameful that such an one +should dare to think of you, still, since he is a man, I cannot blame +him overmuch. But why should he press his suit in this rough and secret +fashion instead of openly as a king might do?" + +"He may have pressed it openly and been repulsed," she replied in a low +voice. "But if he could have carried me to some far fortress, how should +I flout him there, that is, if I still lived? There, with no price +to pay in gold or lands or power, he would have been my master, and I +should have been his slave till such time as he wearied of me. That is +the fate from which you have saved me, Prince, or rather from death, for +I am not one who could bear such shame at the hands of a man I hate." + +"Lady," he said bowing, "I think that perhaps for the first time in my +life I am glad to-night that I was born." + +"And I," she answered, "who am but a Phoenician maiden, am glad that I +should have lived to hear one who is as royal in thought and soul as he +is in rank speak thus to me. Oh! Prince," she added, clasping her hands, +"if your words are not those of empty courtesy alone, hear me, for you +are great, a Lord of the Earth whom none refuse, and it may be in your +power to give me aid. Prince, I am in a sore strait, for that danger +from which I prayed to be delivered this night presses me hard. Prince, +it is true that Ithobal has been refused my hand, both by myself and by +my father, and therefore it was that he strove to steal me away. But the +evil is not done with, for the great nobles of the city and the chief +priests of El came to my father at sunset and prayed him that he would +let Ithobal take me, seeing that otherwise in his rage he will make war +upon Zimboe. When a man placed as is my father must choose between the +safety of thousands and the honour and happiness of one poor girl, what +will his answer be, think you?" + +"Now," said Aziel, "save that no wrong can right a wrong, I almost +grieve that I cried shame upon the counsel of Metem. Sweet lady, be sure +of this, that I will give all I have, even to my life, to protect you +from the vile fate you dread--yes, all I have--except my soul." + +"Ah!" she cried with a sudden flash of her dark eyes, "all except your +soul. If we women could find the man who would risk both life and soul +for us, then, were he but a slave, we would worship him as never man was +worshipped since Baaltis mounted her heavenly throne." + +"Were I not a Hebrew you would tempt me, lady," Aziel answered smiling, +"but being one I may not risk my soul even were such a prize within my +reach." + +"Nay, Prince," she broke in, "I did but jest; forget my words, for they +were wrung from a heart torn with fears. Oh! did you know the terror of +this half-savage Ithobal which oppresses me, you would forgive me all--a +terror that to-night lies upon me with a tenfold weight." + +"Why so, lady?" + +"Doubtless because it is nearer," Elissa whispered, but her beautiful +pleading eyes and quivering lips seemed to belie her words and say, +"because _you_ are near, and a change has come upon me." + +For the second time that day Aziel's glance met hers, and for the +second time a strange new pang that was more pain than joy, and yet +half-divine, snatched at his heart-strings, for a while numbing his +reason and taking from him the power of speech. + +"What was it?" he wondered vaguely. He had seen many lovely faces, and +many noble women had shown him favour, but why had none of them +stirred him thus? Could it be that this stranger Gentile maiden was his +soul-mate--she whom he was destined to love above all upon the earth, +nay, whom he did already love, and so soon? + +"Lady," he said, taking a step towards her, "lady----" and he paused. + +Elissa bowed her dark head till her gold-bedecked and scented hair +almost fell upon his feet, but she made no answer. + +Then another voice broke upon the silence, a clear, strident voice that +said:-- + +"Prince, forgive me, if for the second time to-day I disturb you; but +the guests have gone; your chamber is made ready, and, not knowing the +customs of the women of this country, I sought you, little guessing +that, at such an hour, I should find you alone with one of them." + +Aziel looked up, although there was no need for him to do so, for +he knew that voice well, to see the tall form of the Levite Issachar +standing before them, a cold light of anger shining in his eyes. + +Elissa saw also, and, with some murmured words of farewell, she turned +and went, leaving them together. + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE DREAM OF ISSACHAR + +For a moment there was silence, which Aziel broke, saying:-- + +"It seems to me, Issachar, that you are somewhat over zealous for my +welfare." + +"I think otherwise, Prince," replied the Levite sternly. "Did not your +grandsire give you into my keeping, and shall I not be faithful to my +trust, and to a higher duty than any which he could lay upon me?" + +"Your meaning, Issachar?" + +"It is plain, Prince; but I will set it out. The great king said to me +yonder in the hall of his golden palace at Jerusalem, 'To others, men of +war, I have given charge of the body of my grandson to keep him safe. To +you, Issachar the Levite, who have fostered him, I give charge over +his soul to keep it safe--a higher task, and more difficult. Guard him, +Issachar, from the temptation of strange doctrines and the whisperings +of strange gods, but guard him most of all from the wiles of strange +women who bow the knee to Baal, for such are the gate of Gehenna upon +earth, and those who enter by it shall find their place in Tophet.'" + +"Truly my grandsire speaks wisely on this matter as on all others," +answered Aziel, "but still I do not understand." + +"Then I will be more clear, Prince. How comes it that I find you +alone with this beautiful sorceress, this worshipper of the she-devil, +Baaltis, with whom you should scorn even to speak, except such words as +courtesy demands?" + +"Is it then forbidden to me," asked Aziel angrily, "to talk with the +daughter of my host, a lady whom I chanced to save from death, of the +customs of her country and the mysteries of worship?" + +"The mysteries of worship!" answered Issachar scornfully. "Ay! the +mysteries of the worship of that fair body of hers, that ivory chalice +filled with foulness--whereof, if a man drink, his faith shall be rotted +and his soul poisoned. The mysteries of that worship was it, Prince, +that caused you but now to lean towards this woman as though to embrace +her, with words of love burning in your heart if not between your lips? +Ah! these witches of Baaltis know their trade well; they are full of +evil gifts, and of the wisdom given to them by the fiend they serve. +With touch and sigh and look they can stir the blood of youth, having +much practice in the art, till it seethes within the veins and drowns +conscience in its flood. + +"Nay, Prince, hear the truth," continued Issachar. "Till moonrise you +had never seen this woman, and now your quick blood is aflame, and you +love her. Deny it if you can--deny it on your honour and I will believe +you, for you are no liar." + +Aziel thought for a moment and answered:-- + +"Issachar, you have no right to question me on this matter, yet since +you have adjured me by my honour, I will be open with you. I do not know +if I love this woman, who, as you say, is a stranger to me, but it +is true that my heart turns towards her like flowers to the sun. Till +to-day I had never seen her, yet when my eyes first fell upon her face +yonder in that accursed grove, it seemed to me that I had been born only +that I might find her. It seemed to me even that for ages I had known +her, that for ever she was mine and that I was hers. Read me the riddle, +Issachar? Is this but passion born of youth and the sudden sight of a +fair woman? That cannot be, for I have known others as fair, and have +passed through some such fires. Tell me, Issachar, you who are old and +wise and have seen much of the hearts of men, what is this wave that +overwhelms me?" + +"What is it, Prince? It is witchery; it is the wile of Beelzebub waiting +to snatch your soul, and if you hearken to it you shall pass through +the fire--through the fire to Moloch, if not in the flesh, then in the +spirit, which is to all eternity. Oh! not in vain do I fear for you, my +son, and not without reason was I warned in a dream. Listen: Last night, +as I lay in my tent yonder upon the plain, I dreamed that some danger +overshadowed you, and in my sleep I prayed that your destiny might be +revealed to me. As I prayed thus, I heard a voice saying, 'Issachar, you +seek to learn the future; know then that he who is dear to you shall be +tried in the furnace indeed. Yes, because of his great love and pity, +he shall forswear his faith, and with death and sorrow he shall pay the +price of his sin.' + +"Then I was troubled and besought Heaven that you, my son, might be +saved from this unknown temptation, but the voice answered me:-- + +"'Of their own will only can they who were one from the beginning be +held apart. Through good and ill let them work each other's woe or weal. +The goal is sure, but they must choose the road.' + +"Now as I wondered what these dark sayings might mean, the gloom opened +and I saw you, Aziel, standing in a grove of trees, while towards you +with outstretched hands drew a veiled woman who bore upon her brow the +golden bow of Baaltis. Then fire raged about you, and in the fire I +beheld many things which I have forgotten, and moving through it was the +Prince of Death, who slew and slew and spared not. So I awoke heavy at +heart, knowing that there had fallen on me who love you a shadow of doom +to come." + +In these latter days any educated man would set aside Issachar's wild +vision as the vapourings of a mind distraught. But Aziel lived in the +time of Solomon, when men of his nation guided their steps by the light +of prophecy, and believed that it was the Divine pleasure, by means of +dreams and wonders and through the mouths of chosen seers, to declare +the will of Jehovah upon earth. To this faith, indeed, we still hold +fast, at least so far as that period and people are concerned, seeing +that we acknowledge Isaiah, David, and their company, to have been +inspired from above. Of that company Issachar the Levite was one, for to +him, from his youth up, voices had spoken in the watches of the night, +and often he had poured his warnings and denunciations into the ears +of kings and peoples, telling them with no uncertain voice of the +consequences of sin and idolatry, and of punishment to come. This Aziel, +who had been his ward and pupil, knew well, and therefore he did not +mock at the priest's dream or set it aside as naught, but bowed his head +and listened. + +"I am honoured indeed," he said with humility, "that the destiny of my +poor soul and body should be a thing of weight to those on high." + +"Of your poor soul, Aziel?" broke in Issachar. "That soul of yours, of +which you speak so lightly, is of as great value in the eyes of Heaven +as that of any cherubim within its gates. The angels who fell were the +first and chiefest of the angels, and though now we are clad with mortal +shape in punishment of our sins, again redeemed and glorified we can +become among the mightiest of their hosts. Oh! my son, I beseech you, +turn from this woman while there yet is time, lest to you her lips +should be a cup of woe and your soul shall pay the price of them, +sharing the hell of the worshippers of Ashtoreth." + +"It may be so," said Aziel; "but, Issachar, what said the voice? +That this, the woman of your dream and I were one from the beginning? +Issachar, you believe that the lady Elissa is she of whom the voice +spoke in your sleep and you bid me turn from her because she will bring +me sin and punishment. In truth, if I can, I will obey you, since rather +than forswear my faith, as your dream foretold, I would die a hundred +deaths. Nor do I believe that for any bribe of woman's love I shall +forswear it in act or thought. Yet if such things come about it is fate +that drives me on, not my will--and what man can flee his fate? But even +though this lady be she whom I am doomed to love, you say that because +she is heathen I must reject her. Shame upon the thought, for if she is +heathen it is through ignorance, and it may be mine to change her heart. +Because I stand in danger shall I suffer her who, as you tell me, was +one with me from the beginning, to be lost in that hell of Baal of which +you speak? Nay, your dream is false. I will not renounce my faith, but +rather will win her to share it, and together we shall triumph, and that +I swear to you, Issachar." + +"Truly the evil one has many wiles," answered the Levite, "and I did +ill to tell you of my dream, seeing that it can be twisted to serve the +purpose of your madness. Have your will, Aziel, and reap the fruit of +it, but of this I warn you--that while I can find a way to thwart it, +never, Prince, shall you take that witch to your bosom to be the ruin of +your life and soul." + +"Then, Issachar, on this matter there may be war between us!" + +"Ay! there is war," said the Levite, and left him. + +***** + +The sun was already high in the heavens when Aziel awoke from the deep +and dreamless sleep which followed on the excitements and exhaustion of +the previous day. After his servants had waited upon him and robed him, +bringing him milk and fruit to eat, he dismissed them, and sat himself +down by the casement of his chamber to think a while. + +Below him lay the city of flat-roofed houses enclosed with a double +wall, without the ring of which were thousands of straw huts, shaped +like bee-hives, wherein dwelt natives of the country, slaves or servants +of the occupying Phoenician race. To Aziel's right, and not more than a +hundred paces from the governor's house in which he was, rose the round +and mighty battlements of the temple, where the followers of El and +Baaltis worshipped, and the gold refiners carried on their business. +At intervals on its flat-topped walls stood towers of observation, +alternating with pointed monoliths of granite and soapstone columns +supporting vultures, rudely carved emblems of Baaltis. Between these +towers armed soldiers walked continually, watching the city below and +the plain beyond, for though the mission of the Phoenicians here was one +of peaceful gain it was evident that they considered it necessary to be +always prepared for war. On the hillside above the great temple towered +another fortress of stone--a citadel deemed to be impregnable even +should the temple fall into the hands of an enemy--while on the crest +of the precipitous slope, stretching as far to right and left as the eye +could reach, were many smaller detached strongholds. + +The scene that Aziel saw from his window was a busy one, for beneath him +a market was being held in an open square in the city. Here, sheltered +from the sun by grass-thatched booths, the Phoenician merchants who had +been his companions in their long and perilous journey from the coast +were already in treaty with numerous customers, hoping, not in vain, +to recoup themselves amply for the toils and dangers which they had +survived. Beneath these booths were spread their goods; silks from Cos, +bronze weapons and copper rods, or ingots from the rich mines of Cyprus, +linens and muslins from Egypt; beads, idols, carven bowls, knives, +glass ware, pottery in all shapes, and charms made of glazed faience +or Egyptian stone; bales of the famous purple cloth of Tyre; surgical +instruments, jewellery, and objects of toilet; scents, pots of rouge, +and other unguents for the use of ladies in little alabaster and +earthenware vases; bags of refined salt, and a thousand other articles +of commerce produced or stored in the workshops of Phoenicia. These +the chapmen bartered for raw gold by weight, tusks of ivory, ostrich +feathers, and girls of approved beauty, slaves taken in war, or in some +instances maidens whom their unnatural parents or relatives did not +scruple to sell into bondage. + +In another portion of the square, provisions and stock, alive and +dead, were being offered for sale, for the most part by natives of the +country. Here were piles of vegetables and fruits grown in the gardens, +sacks of various sorts of grain, bundles of green forage from the +irrigated lands without the walls, calabashes full of curdled milk, +thick native beer and trusses of reed for thatching. Here again were +oxen, mules and asses, or great bucks such as we now know as eland +or kudoo, carried in on rough litters of boughs to be disposed of by +parties of savage huntsmen who had shot them with arrows or trapped them +in pitfalls. Every Eastern tribe and nation seemed to be represented +in the motley crowd. Yonder stalked savages, naked except for their +girdles, and armed with huge spears, who gazed with bewilderment on the +wonders of this mart of the white man; there moved grave, long-bearded +Arab merchants or Phoenicians in their pointed caps, or bare-headed +white-robed Egyptians, or half-bred mercenaries clad in mail. Their +variety was without end, while from them came a very babel of different +tongues as they cried their wares, bargained and quarrelled. + +Aziel gazed at this novel sight with interest, till, as he was beginning +to weary of it, the crowd parted to right and left, leaving a clear lane +across the market-place to the narrow gate of the temple. Along this +lane advanced a procession of the priests of El clad in red robes, with +tall red caps upon their heads, beneath which their straight hair hung +down to their shoulders. In their hands were gilded rods, and round +their necks hung golden chains, to which were attached emblems of the +god they worshipped. They walked two-and-two to the number of fifty, +chanting a melancholy dirge, one hand of each priest resting upon his +fellow's shoulder, and as they passed, with the exception of certain +Jews, all the spectators uncovered, while some of the more pious of them +even fell upon their knees. + +After the priests came a second procession, that of the priestesses +of Baaltis. These women, who numbered at least a hundred, were clad +in white, and wore upon their heads a gauze-like veil that fell to the +knees, and was held in place by a golden fillet surmounted with the +symbol of a crescent moon. Instead of the golden rods, however, each of +them held in her left hand a growing stalk of maize, from the sheathed +cob of which hung the bright tassel of its bloom. On her right wrist, +moreover, a milk-white dove was fastened by a wire, both corn and dove +being tokens of that fertility which, under various guises, was the real +object of worship of these people. The sight of these white-veiled women +about whose crescent-decked brows the doves fluttered, wildly striving +to be free, was very strange and beautiful as they advanced also singing +a low and melancholy chant. Aziel searched their faces with his eyes +while they passed slowly towards him, and presently his heart bounded, +for there among them, clasping the dove she bore to her breast, as +though to still its frightened strugglings, was the Lady Elissa. He +noticed, too, that as she went beneath the palace walls, she glanced +at the window-place of his chamber, but without seeing him for he was +seated in the shadow. + +Presently the long line of priestesses, followed by hundreds of +worshippers, had vanished through the tortuous and narrow entrance of +the temple, and Aziel leaned back to think. + +There, among the principal votaries of a goddess, the wickedness of +whose worship was a scandal and a by-word even in the ancient world, +walked the woman to whom he felt so strangely drawn and with whom, +if there were any truth in the visions of Issachar and the mysterious +warnings of his own soul, his fate was intertwined. As he thought of it +a sudden revulsion filled his heart. She was wise and beautiful, and she +seemed innocent, but Issachar was right; this girl was the minister of +an abominable creed; nay, for aught he knew, she was herself defiled +with its abominations, and her wisdom but an evil gift from the evil +powers she served. Could he, a prince of the royal blood of the House of +Israel and of the ancient Pharaohs of Khem, desire to have anything to +do with such an one, he a child of the Chosen People, a worshipper of +the true and only God? Yesterday she had thrown a spell upon him, a +spell of black magic, or the spell of her imperial beauty, which, it +mattered not, but to-day he was the lord of his own mind, and would +shake himself free of it and her. + +***** + +In the market-place below, the Levite Issachar also had watched the +passing of the priests and priestesses of El and Baaltis. + +"Tell me, Metem," he asked of the Phoenician who stood beside him, his +head respectfully uncovered, "what mummery is this?" + +"It is no mummery, worthy Issachar, but a ceremony of public sacrifice, +which is to be offered in the temple yonder, for the recovery from her +sickness of the Lady Baaltis, the high-priestess." + +"Where then is the offering. I see none, unless it be those doves that +are tied to the wrists of the women?" + +"Nay, Issachar," answered Metem smiling darkly, "the gods ask nobler +blood than that of doves. The offering is within, and it is the +first-born child of a priestess of Baaltis." + +"O Lord of Heaven!" said Issachar lifting up his eyes, "how long will +you suffer that this murderous and accursed race should defile the face +of earth?" + +"Softly, friend," broke in Metem, "I have read your Scriptures, and is +it not set out in them that your great forefather was commanded to offer +up his first-born in such a sacrifice?" + +"Blaspheme not," answered the Jew. "He was commanded indeed, that +his heart might be proved, but his hand was stayed. He Whom I worship +delights not in the blood of children." + +Here Issachar broke off, suddenly recognising the lady Elissa among the +white-robed priestesses. Watching her, he noted her glance at the window +of Aziel's chamber, and saw what she could not see, that the prince was +seated there. "This daughter of Satan spreads her nets," he muttered +between his teeth. Then a thought struck him, and he added aloud, "Say, +Metem, is it permitted to strangers to witness the rites in yonder +temple?" + +"Surely," answered the Phoenician; "that is, if they guard their tongues, +and do nothing to offend." + +"Then I desire to see them, Metem, and so doubtless does the prince +Aziel. Therefore, if it is your will, do me the service to enter his +chamber in the palace where he is sitting, and bid him to a great +ceremony that goes forward in the temple. And, Metem, if he asks +what that ceremony is, I charge you, say only that a dove is to be +sacrificed. + +"I will wait for you at the gate of the temple, but do not tell him that +I send you on this errand. Metem, you love gain; remember that if you +humour me in this and other matters which may arise, doing my bidding +faithfully, I have the treasury of Jerusalem to draw upon." + +"No ill paymaster," replied Metem cheerfully. "Certainly I will obey you +in all things, holy Issachar, as the king commanded me yonder in Judea." + +"Now," he reflected to himself, as he went upon his message, "I see how +the bird flies. The prince Aziel is in love with the lady Elissa, or far +upon the road to it, as at his age it is right and proper that he should +be, after a twelve months' journey by sea and land with never a pretty +face to sigh for. The holy Issachar, on the other hand, is minded that +his charge shall have naught to do with a priestess of Baaltis, as, his +age and calling considered, is also right and proper. Then there is that +black savage Ithobal, who wishes to win the girl, and the girl herself, +who after the fashion of her sex, will probably play them all off one +against the other. Well, so much the better for me, since I shall be a +richer man even than I am before this affair is done with. I have two +hands, and gold is gold whoever be the giver," and smiling craftily to +himself Metem passed into the palace. + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE PLACE OF SACRIFICE + +Suddenly Aziel, looking up from his reverie, saw the Phoenician bowing +before him, cap in hand. + +"May the Prince live for ever," he said, "yet if he suffer melancholy to +overcome him thus, his life, however long, will be but sad." + +"I was only thinking, Metem," answered Aziel with a start. + +"Of the lady Elissa, whom you rescued, Prince? Ah! I guessed as much. +She is beautiful, is she not--I have never seen the equal of those +dreamy eyes and that mysterious smile--and learned also, though myself, +in a woman I prefer the beauty without the learning. It is a pity now +that she should chance to be a priestess of our worship, for that will +not please the holy Issachar whom, I fear, Prince, you find a stern +guide for the feet of youth." + +"Your business, merchant?" broke in Aziel. + +"I crave your pardon, Prince," answered the Phoenician, spreading out +his hands in deprecation. "I struck a good bargain for my wares this +morning, and drank wine to seal it, therefore, let me be forgiven if I +have spoken too freely in your presence, Prince. This is my business: +Yonder in the temple they celebrate a service which it is lawful for +strangers to witness, and as the opportunity is rare, I thought that, +having heard something of our mysteries in the grove last night, you +might wish to see the office. If this be so, I am come to guide you." + +"Aziel's first impulse was to refuse to go; indeed, the words of +dismissal were on his lips when another purpose entered his mind. For +this once he would look upon these abominations and learn what part +Elissa played in them, and thus be cured for ever of the longings that +had seized him. + +"What is the ceremony?" he asked. + +"A sacrifice for the recovery of the lady Baaltis who is sick, Prince." + +"And what is the sacrifice?" asked Aziel. + +"A dove, as I am told," was the indifferent answer. + +"I will come with you, Metem." + +"So be it, Prince. Your retinue awaits you at the gate." + +At the main entrance to the palace Aziel found his guard and other +servants gathered there to escort him. With them was Issachar, whom he +greeted, asking him if he knew the errand upon which they were bent. + +"I do, Prince; it is to witness the abomination of a sacrifice of these +heathens." + +"Will you then accompany me there, Issachar?" + +"Where my lord goes I go," answered the Levite gravely. "Moreover, +Prince, if you have your reasons for wishing to see this devil-worship, +I may have mine." + +Then they set out, Metem guiding them. At the north gate of the temple, +which was not more than a yard in width, the Phoenician spoke to the +guards on duty, who drew back to let them pass. In single file, for the +passages were too narrow to allow of any other means of progression, +they threaded the tortuous and mazy paths of the great building, passing +between huge walls built of granite blocks laid without mortar, till at +length they reached a large open space. Here the ceremony had already +begun. Almost in the centre of this space, which was paved with blocks +of granite, stood two conical towers, the larger of which measured +thirty feet in height and the smaller about half as much. These towers, +also build of blocks of stone, were, as Metem informed them, sacred +to and emblematical of the gods El and Baaltis. In front of them was a +platform surmounted by a stone altar, and between them, built in a pit +in the ground, burned a great furnace of wood. All the centre of the +enclosure was occupied by the marshalled ranks of the priests and +priestesses. Without this sacred ring stood the closely packed masses +of spectators, amongst whom Aziel and his following were given place, +though some of the more pious worshippers murmured audibly at the +admission of these Jews. + +When they entered, the companies of priests and priestesses were +finishing a prayer, the sentences of which they chanted alternately +with strange effect. In part it was formal, and in part an improvised +supplication to the protecting gods to restore health to that woman or +high-priestess who was known as the lady Baaltis. The prayer ended, +a beautiful bold-faced girl advanced to an open space in front of the +altar, and with a sudden movement threw off her white robe, revealing +herself to the spectators in a many-coloured garment of gauze, through +which her fair flesh gleamed. + +The black hair of this woman was adorned with a coronet of scarlet +flowers and hung loose about her; her feet and arms were naked, and in +each hand she held a knife of bronze. Very slowly she began to dance, +her painted lips parted as though to speak, and her eyes, brightened +with pigments, turned up to heaven. By degrees her movements grew more +rapid, till at length, as she whirled round, her long locks streamed +out straight upon the air and the crown of flowers looked like a scarlet +ring. Suddenly the bronze knife in her right hand flashed, and a spot +of red appeared above her left breast; then the knife in the left hand +flashed, and another spot appeared over the right breast. At each stroke +the multitude cried, "_Ah!_" as with one voice, and then were silent. + +Now the maddened dancer, ceasing her whirlings, leapt high into the +air, clashing the knives above her head and crying, "Hear me, hear me, +Baaltis!" + +Again she leapt, and this time the answer that came from her lips was +spoken in another voice, which said, "I am present. What seek you?" + +A third time the priestess leapt, replying in her own voice, "Health for +thy servant who is sick." Then came the answer in the second voice--"I +hear you, but I see no sacrifice." + +"What sacrifice would'st thou, O Queen? A dove?" + +"Nay." + +"What then, Queen?" + +"One only, the first-born child of a woman." + +As this command, which they supposed to be divine and from above, issued +out of the lips of the gashed and bleeding Pythoness, the multitude that +hitherto had listened in perfect silence, shouted aloud, while the girl +herself, utterly exhausted, fell to the earth swooning. + +Now the high priest of El, who was named the Shadid, none other indeed +than the husband of her who lay sick, sprang upon the platform and +cried:-- + +"The goddess has spoken by the mouth of her oracle. She who is the +mother of all demands one life out of the many she has given, that the +Lady Baaltis, who is her priestess upon earth, may be recovered of her +sickness. Say, who will lay down a life for the honour of the goddess, +and that her regent in this land may be saved alive?" + +Now--for all this scene had been carefully prepared--a woman stepped +forward, wearing the robe of a priestess, who bore in her arms a drugged +and sleeping child. + +"I, father," she cried in a shrill, hard voice, though her lips trembled +as she spoke. "Let the goddess take this child, the first-fruit of my +body, that our mother the Lady Baaltis may be cured of her sickness, and +that I, her daughter, may be blessed by the goddess, and through me, all +we who worship her." And she held out the little victim towards him. + +The Shadid stretched out his arms to take it, but he never did take +it, for at that moment appeared upon the platform the tall and bearded +figure of Issachar clad in his white robes. + +"Hold!" he cried in a loud, clear voice, "and touch not the innocent +child. Spawn of Satan, would you do murder to appease the devils whom +you worship? Well shall they repay you, people of Zimboe. Oh! mine eyes +are open and I see," he went on, shaking his thin arms above his head +in a prophetic frenzy. "I see the sword of the true God, and it flames +above this city of idolaters and abominations. I see this place of +sacrifice, and I tell you that before the moon is young again it shall +run red with the blood of you, idol worshippers, and of you, women of +the groves. The heathen is at your gates, ye followers of demons, and my +God sends them as He sends the locusts of the north wind to devour you +like grass, to sweep you away like the dust of the desert. Cry then upon +El and Baaltis, and let El and Baaltis save you if they can. Doom is +upon you; Azrael, angel of death, writes his name upon your foreheads, +every one of you, giving your city to the owls, your bodies to the +jackals, and your souls to Satan----" + +Thus far the priests and the spectators had listened to Issachar's +denunciations in bewildered amazement not unmixed with fear. Now with a +roar of wrath they awoke, and suddenly he was dragged from the platform +by a score of hands and struck down with many blows. Indeed, he would +then and there have been torn to pieces had not a guard of soldiers, +knowing that he was Sakon's guest and in the train of the prince Aziel, +snatched him from the maddened multitude, and borne him swiftly to a +place of safety without the enclosure. + +While the tumult was at its height, a Phoenician, who had arrived in the +temple breathless with haste, might have been seen to pluck Metem by the +sleeve. + +"What is it?" Metem asked of the man, who was his servant. + +"This: the lady Baaltis is dead. I watched as you bade me, and, as she +had promised to do, in token of the end, her woman waved a napkin from +the casement of that tower where she lies." + +"Do any know of this?" + +"None." + +"Then say no word of it," and Metem hurried off in search of Aziel. + +Presently he found him seeking for Issachar in company with his guards. + +"Have no fear, Prince," Metem said, in answer to his eager questions, +"he is safe enough, for the soldiers have borne the fool away. Pardon me +that I should speak thus of a holy man, but he has put all our lives in +danger." + +"I do not pardon you," answered Aziel hotly, "and I honour Issachar for +his act and words. Let us begone from this accursed place whither you +entrapped me." + +Before Metem could reply a voice cried, "Close the doors of the +sanctuary, so that none can pass in or go out, and let the sacrifice be +offered." + +"Listen, Prince," said Metem, "you must stay here till the ceremony is +done." + +"Then I tell you, Phoenician," answered Aziel, "that rather than suffer +that luckless child to be butchered before my eyes I will cut my way to +it with my guards, and rescue it alive." + +"To leave yourself dead in place of it," answered Metem sarcastically; +"but, see, a woman desires to speak with you," and he pointed to a girl +in the robe of a priestess, whose face was hidden with a veil, and who, +in the tumult and confusion, had worked her way to Aziel. + +"Prince," whispered the veiled form, "I am Elissa. For your life's sake +keep still and silent, or you will be stabbed, for your words have been +overheard, and the priests are mad at the insult that has been put upon +them." + +"Away with you, woman," answered Aziel; "what have I to do with a girl +of the groves and a murderess of children?" + +She winced at his bitter words, but said quietly:-- + +"Then on your own head be your blood, Prince, which I have risked much +to keep unshed. But before you die, learn that I knew nothing of this +foul sacrifice, and that gladly would I give my own life to save that of +yonder child." + +"Save it, and I will believe you," answered the prince, turning from +her. + +Elissa slipped away, for she saw that the priestesses, her companions, +were reforming their ranks, and that she must not tarry. When she had +gone a few yards, a hand caught her by the sleeve, and the voice of +Metem, who had overheard something of this talk, whispered in her ear:-- + +"Daughter of Sakon, what will you give me if I show you a way to save +the life of the child, and with it that of the prince, and at the same +time to make him think well of you again?" + +"All my jewels and ornaments of gold, and they are many," she answered +eagerly. + +"Good; it is a bargain. Now listen: The lady Baaltis is dead; she died +a few minutes since, and none here know it save myself and one other, +my servant, nor can any learn it, for the gates are shut. Do you be, +therefore, suddenly inspired--of the gods--and say so, for then the +sacrifice must cease, seeing that she for whom it was to be offered is +dead. Do you understand?" + +"I understand," she answered, "and though the blasphemy bring on me +the vengeance of Baaltis, yet it shall be dared. Fear not, your pay is +good," and she pressed forward to her place, keeping the veil wrapped +about her head till she reached it unobserved, for in the general +confusion none had noticed her movements. + +When the noise of shouting and angry voices had at length died away, and +the spectators were driven back outside the sacred circle, the priest +upon the platform cried:-- + +"Now that the Jew blasphemer has gone, let the sacrifice be offered, as +is decreed." + +"Yea, let the sacrifice be offered," answered the multitude, and once +more the woman with the sleeping child stepped forward. But before the +priest could take it another figure approached him, that of Elissa, with +arms outstretched and eyes upturned. + +"Hold, O priest!" she said, "for the goddess, breathing on my brow, +inspires me, and I have a message from the goddess." + +"Draw near, daughter, and speak it in the ears of men," the priest +answered wondering, for he found it hard to believe in such inspiration, +and indeed would have denied her a hearing had he dared. + +So Elissa climbed the platform, and standing upon it still with +outstretched hands and upturned face, she said in a clear voice:-- + +"The goddess refuses the sacrifice, since she has taken to herself her +for whom it was to have been offered--the Lady Baaltis is dead." + +At this tidings a groan went up from the people, partly of grief for +the loss of a spiritual dignitary who was popular, and partly of +disappointment because now the sacrifice could not be offered. For the +Phoenicians loved these horrible spectacles, which were not, however, +commonly celebrated by daylight and in the presence of the people. + +"It is a lie," cried a voice, "but now the Lady Baaltis was living." + +"Let the gates be opened, and send to see whether or no I lie," said +Elissa, quietly. + +Then for a while there was silence while a priest went upon the errand. +At length he was seen returning. Pushing his way through the crowd, he +mounted the platform, and said:-- + +"The daughter of Sakon speaks truth; alas! the lady Baaltis is dead." + +Elissa sighed in relief, for had her tidings proved false she could +scarcely have hoped to escape the fury of the crowd. + +"Ay!" she cried, "she is dead, as I told you, and because of your sin, +who would have offered human sacrifice in public, against the custom of +our faith and city and without the command of the goddess." + +***** + +Then in sullen silence the priests and priestesses reformed their +ranks, and departed from the sanctuary, whence they were followed by the +spectators, the most of them in no good mood, for they had been baulked +of the promised spectacle. + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE HALL OF AUDIENCE + +When Elissa reached her chamber after the break up of the procession, +she threw herself upon her couch, and burst into a passion of tears. +Well might she weep, for she had been false to her oath as a priestess, +uttering as a message from the goddess that which she had learnt from +the lips of man. More, she could not rid herself of the remembrance of +the scorn and loathing with which the Prince Aziel had looked upon her, +or of the bitter insult of his words when he called her, "a girl of the +groves, and a murderess of children." + +It chanced that, so far as Elissa was concerned, these charges were +utterly untrue. None could throw a slur upon her, and as for these rare +human sacrifices, she loathed the very name of them, nor, unless +forced to it, would she have been present had she guessed that any such +offering was intended. + +Like most of the ancient religions, that of the Phoenicians had two sides +to it--a spiritual and a material side. The spiritual side was a +worship of the far-off unknown divinity, symbolised by the sun, moon and +planets, and visible only in their majestic movements, and in the forces +of nature. To this Elissa clung, knowing no truer god, and from those +forces she strove to wring their secret, for her heart was deep. Lonely +invocations to the goddess beneath the light of the moon appealed to +her, for from them she seemed to draw strength and comfort, but the +outward ceremonies of her faith, or the more secret and darker of them, +of which in practice she knew little, were already an abomination in her +eyes. And now what if the Jew prophet spoke truly? What if this creed of +hers were a lie, root and branch, and there did lie in the heavens above +a Lord and Father who heard and answered the prayers of men, and who did +not seek of them the blood of the children He had given? + +A great doubt took hold of Elissa and shook her being, and with the +doubt came hope. How was it--if her faith were true--that when she took +the name of the goddess in vain, nothing had befallen her? She desired +to learn more of this matter, but who was to teach her? The Levite +turned from her with loathing as from a thing unclean, and there +remained, therefore, but the prince Aziel, who had put her from him with +those bitter words of scorn. Ah! why did they pain her so, piercing her +heart as with a spear? Was it because--because--he had grown dear to +her? Yes, that was the truth. She had learned it even as he cursed her; +all her quick southern blood was alight with a new fire, the like of +which she had never known before. And not her blood only, it was her +spirit--her spirit that yearned to his. Had it not leapt within her +at the first sight of him as to one most dear, one long-lost and found +again? She loved him, and he loathed her, and oh! her lot was hard. + +As Elissa lay brooding thus in her pain, the door opened and Sakon, her +father, hurried into the chamber. + +"What is it that chanced yonder?" he asked, for he had not been present +in the sanctuary, "and, daughter, why do you weep?" + +"I weep, father, because your guest, the prince Aziel, has called me 'a +girl of the groves, and a murderess of children,'" she replied. + +"Then, by my head, prince that he is, he shall answer for it to me," +said Sakon, grasping at his sword-hilt. + +"Nay, father, since to him I must have seemed to deserve the words. +Listen." And she told him all that had passed, hiding nothing. + +"Now it seems that trouble is heaped upon trouble," said the Phoenician +when she had finished, "and they were mad who suffered the prince and +that fierce Issachar to be present at the sacrifice. Daughter, I tell +you this: though I am a worshipper of El and Baaltis, as my fathers were +before me, I know that Jehovah of the Jews is a great and powerful Lord, +and that His prophets do not prophesy falsely, for I have seen it in my +youth, yonder in the coasts of Sidon. What did Issachar say? That before +the moon was young again, this temple should run red with blood? Well, +so it may happen, for Ithobal threatens war against us, and for your +sake, my daughter." + +"How for my sake, father?" she asked heavily, as one who knew what the +answer would be. + +"You know well, girl. Ever since you danced before him at the great +welcoming feast I made in his honour a month ago the man is besotted +of you; moreover, he is mad with jealousy of this new-comer, the prince +Aziel. He has demanded public audience of me this afternoon, and I have +it privately that then he will formally ask you in marriage before the +people, and if he is refused will declare war upon the city, with which +he has many an ancient quarrel. Yes, yes, king Ithobal is that sword +of God which the Jew said he saw hanging over us, and should it fall it +will be because of you, Elissa." + +"The Jew did not say that, father; he said it would be because of the +sins of the people and their idolatries." + +"What does it matter what he said?" broke in Sakon hastily. "How shall I +answer Ithobal?" + +"Tell him," she replied with a strange smile, "that he does wisely to be +jealous of the prince Aziel." + +"What! Of the stranger who this very day reviled you in words of such +shame, and so soon?" asked her father astonished. + +Elissa did not speak in answer; she only looked straight before her, and +nodded her head. + +"Had ever man such a daughter?" Sakon went on in petulant dismay. "Truly +it is a wise saying which tells that women love those best who beat +them, be it with the tongue or with the fist. Not but what I would +gladly see you wedded to a prince of Israel and of Egypt rather than of +this half-bred barbarian, but the legions of Solomon and of Pharaoh are +far away, whereas Ithobal has a hundred thousand spears almost at our +gate." + +"There is no need to speak of such things, father," she said, turning +aside, "since, even were I willing, the prince would have nought to do +with me, who am a priestess of Baaltis." + +"The matter of religion might be overcome," suggested Sakon; "but, no, +for many reasons it is impossible. Well, this being so, daughter, I may +answer Ithobal that you will wed him." + +"I!" she said; "I wed that black-hearted savage? My father, you may +answer what you will, but of this be sure, that I will go to my grave +before I pass as wife to the board of Ithobal." + +"Oh! my daughter," pleaded Sakon, "think before you say it. As his +wife at least you, who are not of royal blood, will be a queen, and the +mother of kings. But if you refuse, then either I must force you, which +is hateful to me, or there will be such a war as the city has not known +for generations, for Ithobal and his tribes have many grievances against +us. By the gift of yourself, for a while, at any rate, you can, as it +chances, make peace between us, but if that is withheld, then blood will +run in rivers, and perhaps this city, with all who live in it, will +be destroyed, or at the least its trade must be ruined and its wealth +stolen away." + +"If it is decreed that all these things are to be, they will be," +answered Elissa calmly, "seeing that this war has threatened us for many +years, and that a woman must think of herself first, and of the fate of +cities afterwards. Of my own free will I shall never take Ithobal for +husband. Father, I have said." + +"Of the fate of cities, yes; but how of my fate, and that of those we +love? Are we all to be ruined, and perhaps slaughtered, to satisfy your +whim, girl?" + +"I did not say so, father. I said that of my own free will I would not +wed Ithobal. If you choose to give me to him you have the right to do +it, but know then that you give me to my death. Perhaps it is best that +it should be thus." + +Sakon knew his daughter well, and it did not need that he should glance +at her face to learn that she meant her words. Also he loved her, his +only child, more dearly than anything on earth. + +"In truth my strait is hard, and I know not which way to turn," he said, +covering his face with his hand. + +"Father," she replied, laying her fingers lightly on his shoulder, "what +need is there to answer him at once? Take a month, or if he will not +give it, a week. Much may happen in that time." + +"The counsel is wise," he said, catching at this straw. "Daughter, be in +the great hall of audience with your attendants three hours after noon, +for then we must receive Ithobal boldly in all pomp, and deal with +him as best we may. And now I go to ask peace for the Levite from +the priests of El, and to discover whom the sacred colleges desire to +nominate as the new Baaltis. Doubtless it will be Mesa, the daughter +of her who is dead, though many are against her. Oh! if there were no +priests and no women, this city would be easier to govern," and with an +impatient gesture Sakon left the room. + +***** + +It was three o'clock in the afternoon, and the great hall of audience +in Zimboe was crowded with a brilliant assemblage. There sat Sakon, the +governor, and with him his council of the notables of the city; +there were prince Aziel and among his retinue, Issachar the prophet, +fierce-eyed as ever, though hardly recovered from the rough handling he +had experienced in the temple. There were representatives of the college +of the priests of El. There were many ladies, wives and daughters +of dignitaries and wealthy citizens, and with them a great crowd of +spectators of all classes gathered in the lower part of the hall, for +a rumour had spread about that the farewell audience given by Sakon to +King Ithobal was likely to be stormy. + +When all were gathered, a herald announced that Ithobal, King of the +Tribes, waited to take his leave of Sakon, Governor of Zimboe, before +departing to his own land on the morrow. + +"Let him be admitted," said Sakon, who looked weary and ill at ease. +Then as the herald bowed and left, he turned and whispered something +into the ear of his daughter Elissa, who stood behind his chair, +her face immovable as that of an Egyptian Sphinx, but magnificently +apparelled in gleaming robes and jewelled ornaments--which Metem, +looking on them, reflected with satisfaction were now his property. + +Presently, preceded by a burst of savage music, Ithobal entered. He was +gorgeously arrayed in a purple Tyrian robe decked with golden chains, +while on the brow, in token of his royalty, he wore a golden circlet in +which was set a single blood-red stone. Before him walked a sword-bearer +carrying a sword of ceremony, a magnificent ivory-handled weapon +encrusted with rough gems and inlaid with gold, while behind him, clad +in barbaric pomp, marched a number of counsellors and attendants, huge +and half-savage men who glared wonderingly at the splendour of the place +and its occupants. As the king came, Sakon rose from his chair of state +and, advancing down the hall, took him by the hand and led him to a +similar chair placed at a little distance. + +Ithobal seated himself and looked around the hall. Presently his glance +fell upon Aziel, and he scowled. + +"Is it common, Sakon," he asked, "that the seat of a prince should be +set higher than that of a crowned king?" And he pointed to the chair of +Aziel, which was placed a little above his own upon the dais. + +The governor was about to answer when Aziel said coldly:-- + +"Where it was pointed out to me that I should sit, there I sat, though, +for aught I care, the king Ithobal may take my place. The grandson of +Pharaoh and of Solomon does not need to dispute for precedence with the +savage ruler of savage tribes." + +Ithobal sprang to his feet and cried, grasping his sword:-- + +"By my father's soul, you shall answer for this, Princelet." + +"You should have sworn by your mother's soul, King Ithobal," replied +Aziel quietly, "for doubtless it is the black blood in your veins that +causes you to forget your courtesy. For the rest, I answer to no man +save to my king." + +"Yet there is one other who will make you answer," replied Ithobal, in +a voice thick with rage, "and here he is," and he drew his sword and +flashed it before the prince's eyes. "Or if you fear to face him, then +the wands of my slaves shall cause you to cry me pardon." + +"If you desire to challenge me to combat, king Ithobal, for this purpose +only I am your servant, though the fashion of your challenging is not +that of any nation which I know." + +Before Ithobal could reply, Sakon cried out in a loud voice:-- + +"Enough, enough! Is this a place for brawling, king Ithobal, and would +you seek to fix a quarrel upon my guest, the prince Aziel, here in my +council chamber, and to bring upon me the wrath of Israel, of Tyre, and +of Egypt? Be sure that the prince shall cross no swords with you; no, +not if I have to set him under guard to keep him safe. To your business, +king Ithobal, or I break up this assembly and send you under escort to +our gates." + +Now his counsellors plucked Ithobal by the sleeve and whispered to him +some advice, which at last he seemed to take with an ill grace, for, +turning, he said, "So be it. This is my business, Sakon: For many years +I and the countless tribes whom I rule have suffered much at the hands +of you Phoenicians, who centuries ago settled here in my country as +traders. That you should trade we are content, but not that you should +establish yourselves as a sovereign power, pretending to be my equals +who are my servants. Therefore, in the name of my nation, I demand that +the tribute which you pay to me for the use of the mines of gold shall +henceforth be doubled; that the defences of this city be thrown down; +and that you cease to enslave the natives of the land to labour in your +service. I have spoken." + +Now as these arrogant demands reached their ears, the company assembled +in the hall murmured with anger and astonishment, then turned to wait +for Sakon's answer. + +"And if we refuse these small requests of yours, O King?" asked the +governor sarcastically, "what then? Will you make war upon us?" + +"First tell me, Sakon, if you do refuse them?" + +"In the name of the cities of Tyre and Sidon whom I serve, and of Hiram +my master, I refuse them one and all," answered Sakon with dignity. + +"Then, Sakon, I am minded to bring up a hundred thousand men against you +and to sweep you and your city from the face of earth," said Ithobal. +"Yet I remember that I also have Phoenician blood in my veins mixed with +the nobler and more ancient blood at which yonder upstart jeers, and +therefore I would spare you. I remember also that for generations there +has been peace and amity between my forefathers and the Council of this +city, and therefore I would spare you. Behold, then, I build a bridge +whereby you may escape, asking but one little thing of you in proof that +you are indeed my friend, and it is that you give me your daughter, the +lady Elissa, whom I seek to make my queen. Think well before you answer, +remembering that upon this answer may hang the lives of all who listen +to you, ay, and of many thousand others." + +For a while there was silence in the assemblage, and every eye was fixed +upon Elissa, who stood neither moving nor speaking, her face still set +like that of a Sphinx, and almost as unreadable. Aziel gazed at her with +the rest, and his eyes she felt alone of all the hundreds that were bent +upon her. Indeed, so strongly did they draw her, that against her own +will she turned her head and met them. Then remembering what had passed +between herself and the prince that very day, she coloured faintly and +looked down, neither the glance nor the blush escaping the watchful +Ithobal. + +Presently Sakon spoke:-- + +"King Ithobal," he said, "I am honoured indeed that you should seek my +daughter as your queen, but she is my only child, whom I love, and I +have sworn to her that I will not force her to marry against her will, +whoever be the suitor. Therefore, King, take your answer from her own +lips, for whatever it be it is my answer." + +"Lady," said Ithobal, "you have heard your father's words; be pleased to +say that you look with favour upon my suit, and that you will deign to +share my throne and power." + +Elissa took a step forward on the dais and curtseyed low before the +king. + +"O King!" she said, "I am your handmaid, and great indeed is the favour +that you would do your servant. Yet, King, I Pray of you search out some +fairer woman of a more royal rank to share your crown and sceptre, for I +am all unworthy of them, and to those words on this matter which I +have spoken in past days I have none to add." Then again she curtseyed, +adding, "King, I am your servant." + +Now a murmur of astonishment went up from the audience, for few of them +thought it possible that Elissa, who, however beautiful, was but the +daughter of a noble, could refuse to become the wife of a king. Ithobal +alone did not seem to be astonished, for he had expected this answer. + +"Lady," he said, repressing with an effort the passions which were +surging within him, "I think that I have something to offer to the +woman of my choice, and yet you put me aside as lightly as though I had +neither name, nor power, nor station. This, as it seems to me, can be +read in one way only, that your heart is given elsewhere." + +"Have it as you will, King," answered Elissa, "my heart is given +elsewhere." + +"And yet, lady, not four suns gone you swore to me that you loved no +man. Since then it seems that you have learned to love, and swiftly, +and it is yonder Jew whom you have chosen." And he pointed to the prince +Aziel. + +Again Elissa coloured, this time to the eyes, but she showed no other +sign of confusion. + +"May the king pardon me," she said, "and may the prince Aziel, whose +name has thus been coupled with mine, pardon me. I said indeed that my +heart was given elsewhere, but I did not say it was given to any +man. May not the heart of a mortal maid-priestess be given to the +Ever-living?" + +Now for a moment the king was silenced, while a murmur of applause at +her ready wit went round the audience. But before it died away a voice +at the far end of the hall called out:-- + +"Perchance the lady does not know that yonder in Egypt, and in Jerusalem +also, prince Aziel is named the Ever-living." + +Now it was Elissa's turn to be overcome. + +"Nay, I knew it not," she said; "how should I know it? I spoke of that +Dweller in the heavens whom I worship----" + +"And behold, the title fits a dweller on the earth whom you must also +worship, for such omens do not come by chance," cried the same voice, +but from another quarter of the crowded hall. + +"I ask pardon," broke in Aziel, "and leave to speak. It is true that +owing to a certain birth-mark which I bear, among the Egyptians I have +been given the bye-name of the Ever-living, but it is one which this +lady can scarcely have heard, therefore jest no more upon a chance +accident of words. Moreover, if you be men, cease to heap insult upon +a woman. I who am almost a stranger here have not dared to ask the lady +Elissa for her favour." + +"Ay, but you will ask and she will grant," answered the same voice, the +owner of which none could discover--for he seemed to speak from every +part of the chamber. + +"Indeed," went on Aziel, not heeding the interruption, "the last +words between us were words of anger, for we quarrelled on a matter of +religion." + +"What of that?" cried the voice; "love is the highest of religions, for +do not the Phoenicians worship it?" + +"Seize yonder knave," shouted Sakon, and search was made but without +avail. Afterwards, however, Aziel remembered that once, when they were +weather-bound on their journey from the coast, Metem had amused them by +making his voice sound from various quarters of the hut in which they +lay. Then Ithobal rose and said:-- + +"Enough of this folly; I am not here to juggle with words, or to listen +to such play. Whether the lady Elissa spoke of the gods she serves or of +a man is one to me. I care not of whom she spoke, but for her words I +do care. Now hearken, you city of traders: If this is to be thy answer, +then I break down that bridge which I have built, and it is war between +you and my Tribes, war to the end. But let her change her words, and +whether she loves me or loves me not, come to be my wife, and, for my +day, the bridge shall stand; for once that we are wed I can surely teach +her love, or if I cannot, at least it is she I seek with or without her +love. Reflect then, lady, and reply again, remembering how much hangs +upon your lips." + +"Do you think, king Ithobal," Elissa answered, looking at him with angry +eyes, "that a woman such as I am can be won by threats? I have spoken, +king Ithobal." + +"I know not," he replied; "but I do know that she can be won by force, +and then surely, lady, your pride shall pay the price, for you shall be +mine, but not my queen." + +Now one of the council rose and said:-- + +"It seems, Sakon, that there is more in this matter than whether or no +the king Ithobal pleases your daughter. Is the city then to be plunged +into a great war, of which none can see the end, because one woman looks +askance upon a man? Better that a thousand girls should be wedded where +they would not than that such a thing should happen. Sakon, according +to our ancient law you have the right to give your daughter in marriage +where and when you will. We demand, therefore, that for the good of the +commonwealth, you should exercise this right, and hand over the lady +Elissa to king Ithobal." + +This speech was received with loud and general shouts of approval, for +no Phoenician audience would have been willing to sacrifice its interests +for a thing so trivial as the happiness of a woman. + +"Between the desire of a beloved daughter to whom I have pledged my +word and my duty to the great city over which I rule, my strait is hard +indeed," answered Sakon. "Hearken, king Ithobal, I must have time. Give +me eight days from now in which to answer you, for if you will not, I +deny your suit." + +Ithobal seemed about to refuse the demand of Sakon. Then once more his +counsellors plucked him by the sleeve, pointing out to him that if he +did this, it was likely that none of them would leave the city alive. At +some sign from the governor, they whispered, the captains of the guard +were already hastening from the hall. + +"So be it, Sakon," he said. "To-night I camp without your walls, which +are no longer safe for one who has threatened war against them, and on +the eighth day from this see to it that your heralds being me the Lady +Elissa and peace--or I make good my threat. Till then, farewell." And +placing himself in the midst of his company king Ithobal left the hall. + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE BLACK DWARF + +Some two hours had passed since the break-up of the assembly in the +great hall. Prince Aziel was seated in his chamber, when the keeper of +the door announced that a woman was without who desired to speak with +him. He gave orders that she should be admitted, and presently a veiled +figure entered the room and bowed before him. + +"Be pleased to unveil, and to tell me your business," he said. + +With some reluctance his visitor withdrew the wrapping from her head, +revealing a face which Aziel recognised as one that he had seen among +the waiting women who attended on Elissa. + +"My message is for your ear, Prince," she said, glancing at the man who +had ushered her into the chamber. + +"It is not my custom to receive strangers thus alone," said the prince; +"but be it as you will," and he motioned to the servant to retire +without the door. "I await your pleasure," he added, when the man had +gone. + +"It is here," she answered, and drew from her bosom a little papyrus +roll. + +"Who wrote this?" he asked. + +"I know not, Prince; it was given to me to pass on to you." + +Then he opened the roll and read. It ran thus: "Though we parted with +bitter words, still in my sore distress I crave the comfort of your +counsel. Therefore, since I am forbidden to speak with you openly, meet +me, I beseech you, at moonrise in the palace garden under the shade of +the great fig tree with five roots, where I shall be accompanied only by +one I trust. Bring no man with you for my safety's sake.--Elissa." + +Aziel thrust the scroll into his robe, and thought awhile. Then he gave +the waiting lady a piece of gold and said:-- + +"Tell her who sent you that I obey her words. Farewell." + +This message seemed to puzzle the woman, who opened her lips to speak. +Then, changing her mind, she turned and went. + +Scarcely had she gone when the Phoenician, Metem, was ushered into the +room. + +"O Prince," he said maliciously, "pardon me if I caution you. Yet in +truth if veiled ladies flit thus through your apartments in the light of +day, it will reach the ears of the holy but violent Issachar, of whose +doings I come to speak. Then, Prince, I tremble for you." + +Aziel made a movement half-impatient and half-contemptuous. "The woman +is a serving-maid," he said, "who brought me a message that I understand +but little. Tell me, Metem, for you know this place of old, does there +stand in the palace garden a great fig tree with five roots?" + +"Yes, Prince; at least such a tree used to grow there when last I +visited this country. It was one of the wonders of the town, because of +its size. What of it?" + +"Little, except that I must be under it at moonrise. See and read, since +whatever you may say of yourself, you are, I think, no traitor." + +"Not if I am well paid to keep counsel, Prince," Metem answered with a +smile. Then he read the scroll. + +"I am glad that the noble lady brings an attendant with her," he said as +he returned it, with a bow. "The gossips of Zimboe are censorious, and +might misinterpret this moonlight meeting, as indeed would Sakon and +Issachar. Well, doves will coo and maids will woo, and unless I can make +money out of it the affair is none of mine." + +"Have I not told you that there is no question of wooing?" asked the +prince angrily. "I go only to give her what counsel I can in the +matter of the suit of this savage, Ithobal. The lady Elissa and I have +quarrelled beyond repair over that accursed sacrifice----" + +"Which her ready wit prevented," put in Metem. + +"But I promised last night that I would help her if I could," the prince +went on, "and I always keep my word." + +"I understand, Prince. Well, since you turn from the lady, whose name +with yours is so much in men's mouths just now, doubtless you will give +her wise counsel, namely, to wed Ithobal, and lift the shadow of war +from this city. Then, indeed, we shall all be grateful to you, for it +seems that no one else can move her stubbornness. And, by the way: +If, when she has listened to your wisdom, the daughter of Sakon +should chance to explain to you that the sight of this day's attempted +sacrifice filled her with horror, and that she parted with every jewel +she owns to put an end to it--well, her words will be true. But, since +you have quarrelled, they will have no more interest for you, Prince, +than has my talk about them. So now to other matters." And Metem +began to speak of the conduct of Issachar in the sanctuary, and of the +necessity of guarding him against assassination at the hands of the +priests of El as a consequence of his religious zeal. Presently he was +gone, leaving Aziel somewhat bewildered. + +Could it be true, as she herself had told him, and as Metem now +asserted, that Elissa had not participated willingly in the dark rites +in the temple? If so he had misjudged her and been unjust; indeed, what +atonement could suffice for such words as he had used towards her? Well, +to some extent she must have understood and forgiven them, otherwise she +would scarcely have sought his aid, though he knew not how he could help +her in her distress. + +***** + +When Elissa returned from the assembly, she laid herself down to rest, +worn out in mind and body. Soon sleep came to her, and with the sleep +dreams. At first these were vague and shadowy, then they grew more +clear. She dreamed that she saw a dim and moonlit garden, and in it +a vast tree with twisted roots that seemed familiar to her. Something +moving among the branches of this tree attracted her attention, but for +a long while she watched it without being able to discover what it was. +Now she saw. The moving thing was a hideous black dwarf with beady eyes, +who held in his hand a little ivory tipped bow, on the string of which +was set an arrow. Her consciousness concentrated itself upon this arrow, +and though she knew not how, she became aware that it was poisoned. +What was the dwarf doing in the tree with a bow and poisoned arrow, +she wondered? Suddenly a sound seemed to strike her ear, the sound of a +man's footsteps walking over grass, and she perceived that the figure of +the dwarf, crouched upon the bough, became tense and alert, and that his +fingers tightened upon the bow-string until the blood was driven from +their yellow tips. Following the glance of his wicked black eyes, she +saw advancing through the shadow a tall man clad in a dark robe. Now he +emerged into a patch of moonlight and stood looking around him as though +he were searching for some one. Then the dwarf raised himself to his +knees upon the bough, and, aiming at the bare throat of the man, drew +the bow-string to his ear. At this moment the victim turned his head and +the moonlight shone full upon his face. It was that of the prince Aziel. + +***** + +Elissa awoke from her vision with a little cry, then rose trembling, and +strove to comfort herself in the thought that although it was so very +vivid she had dreamed but a dream. Still shaken and unnerved, she passed +into another chamber, and made pretence to eat of the meal that was made +ready for her, for it was now the hour of sunset. While she was thus +employed, it was announced that the Phoenician, Metem, desired to speak +with her, and she commanded that he should be admitted. + +"Lady," he said bowing, so soon as her attendants had withdrawn to the +farther end of the chamber, "you can guess my errand. This morning I +gave you certain tidings which proved both true and useful, and for +those tidings you promised a reward." + +"It is so," she said, and going to a chest she drew from it an ivory +casket full of ornaments of gold and among them necklaces and other +objects set with uncut precious stones. "Take them," she said, "they are +yours; that is, save this gold chain alone, for it is vowed to Baaltis." + +"But lady," he asked, "how can you appear before Ithobal the king thus +robbed of all your ornaments?" + +"I shall not appear before Ithobal the king," she answered sharply. + +"You say so! Then what will the prince Aziel think of you when he sees +you thus unadorned?" + +"My beauty is my adornment," she replied, "not these gems and gold. +Moreover, it is nought to me what he thinks, for he hates me, and has +reviled me." + +Metem lifted his eyebrows incredulously and went on: "Still, I will not +deprive you of this woman's gear. Look now, I value it, and at no high +figure," and drawing out his writer's palette and a slip of papyrus, he +wrote upon it an acknowledgment of debt, which he asked her to sign. + +"This document, lady," he said, "I will present to your father--or your +husband--at a convenient season, nor do I fear that either of them +will refuse to honour it. And now I take my leave, for you--have an +appointment to keep--and," he added with emphasis, "the time of moonrise +is at hand." + +"Your meaning, I pray you?" she asked. "I have no appointment at +moonrise, or at any other hour." + +Metem bowed politely, but in a fashion which showed that he put no faith +in her words. + +"Again I ask your meaning, merchant," she said, "for your dark hintings +are scarcely to be borne." + +The Phoenician looked at her; there was a ring of truth in her voice. + +"Lady," he said, "will you indeed deny, after I have seen it written by +yourself, that within some few minutes you meet the prince Aziel beneath +a great tree in the palace gardens, there--so said the scroll--to ask +his aid in this matter of the suit of Ithobal?" + +"Written by myself?" she said wonderingly. "Meet the prince Aziel +beneath a tree in the palace gardens? Never have I thought of it." + +"Yet, lady, the scroll I saw purported to be written by you, and your +own woman bore it to the prince. As I think, she sits yonder at the end +of the chamber, for I know her shape." + +"Come hither," called Elissa, addressing the woman. "Now tell me, what +scroll was this that you carried to-day to the prince Aziel, saying that +I sent you?" + +"Lady," answered the girl confusedly, "I never told the prince Aziel +that you sent him the scroll." + +"The truth, woman, the truth," said her mistress. "Lie not, or it will +be the worse for you." + +"Lady, this is the truth. As I was walking through the market-place +an old black woman met me, and offered me a piece of gold if I would +deliver a letter into the hand of the prince Aziel. The gold tempted +me, for I had need of it, and I consented; but of who wrote the letter I +know nothing, nor have I ever seen the woman before." + +"You have done wrong, girl," said Elissa, "but I believe your tale. Now +go." + +When she had gone, Elissa stood for a while thinking; and, as she +thought, Metem saw a look of fear gather on her face. + +"Say," she asked him, "is there anything strange about the tree of which +the scroll tells?" + +"Its size is strange," he answered, "and it has five roots that stand +above the ground." + +As he spoke Elissa uttered a little cry. + +"Ah!" she said, "it is the tree of my dream. Now--now I understand. +Swift, oh! come with me swiftly, for see, the moon rises," and she +sprang to the door followed by the amazed Metem. + +Another minute, and they were speeding down the narrow street so fast +that those who loitered there turned their heads and laughed, for they +thought that a jealous husband pursued his wife. As Elissa fumbled at +the hasp of the door of the garden, Metem overtook her. + +"What means this hunt?" he gasped. + +"That they have decoyed the prince here to murder him," she answered, +and sped through the gateway. + +"Therefore we must be murdered also. A woman's logic," the Phoenician +reflected to himself as he panted after her. + +Swiftly as Elissa had run down the street, here she redoubled her speed, +flitting through the glades like some white spirit, and so rapidly that +her companion found it difficult to keep her in view. At length they +came to a large open space of ground where played the level beams of the +rising moon, striking upon the dense green foliage of an immense tree +that grew there. Round this tree Elissa ran, glancing about her wildly, +so that for a few seconds Metem lost sight of her, for its mass was +between them. When he saw her again she was speeding towards the figure +of a man who stood in the open, about ten paces from the outer boughs +of the tree. To this she pointed as she came, crying out aloud, "Beware! +Beware!" + +Another moment and she had almost reached the man, and still pointing +began to gasp some broken words. Then, suddenly in the bright moonlight, +Metem saw a shining point of light flash towards the pair from the +darkness of the tree. It would seem that Elissa saw it also; at least, +she leapt from the ground, her arm lifted above her head as though to +catch the object. Then as her feet once more touched the earth her +knees gave way, and she fell down with a moan of pain. Metem running on +towards her, as he went perceived a shape, which looked like that of a +black dwarf, slip from the shadow of the tree into some bushes beyond +where it was lost. Now he was there, to find Elissa half-seated, +half-lying on the ground, the prince Aziel bending over her, and fixed +through the palm of her right hand, which she held up piteously, a +little ivory-pointed arrow. + +"Draw it out from the wound," he panted. + +"It will not help me," she answered; "the arrow is poisoned." + +With an exclamation, Metem knelt beside her, and, not heeding her groans +of pain, drew the dart through the pierced palm. Then he tore a strip +of linen from his robe, and knotting it round Elissa's wrist, he took a +broken stick that lay near and twisted the linen till it almost cut into +her flesh. + +"Now, Prince," he said, "suck the wound, for I have no breath for it. +Fear not, lady, I know an antidote for this arrow poison, and presently +I will be back with the salve. Till then, if you would live, do not +suffer that bandage to be loosed, however much it pains you," and he +departed swiftly. + +Aziel put his lips to the hurt to draw out the poison. + +"Nay," she said faintly, trying to pull away her hand, "it is not +fitting, the venom may kill you." + +"It seems that it was meant for me," he answered, "so at the worst I do +take but my own." + +Presently, directing Elissa to hold her hand above her head, he put his +arms about her and carried her a hundred paces or more into the open +glade. + +"Why do you move me?" she asked, her head resting on his shoulder. + +"Because whoever it was that shot the arrow may return to try his +fortune a second time, and here in the open his darts cannot reach us." +Then he set her down upon the grass and stood looking at her. + +"Listen, prince Aziel," Elissa said after a while, "the venom with which +these black men soak their weapons is very strong, and unless Metem's +salve be good, it may well chance that I shall die. Therefore before +I die I wish to say a word to you. What brought you to this place +to-night?" + +"A letter from yourself, lady." + +"I know it," she said, "but I did not write that letter; it was a snare, +set, as I think, by the king Ithobal, who would do you to death in this +way or in that. A messenger of his bribed my waiting-maid to deliver it, +and afterwards I learnt the tale from Metem. Then, guessing all, I came +hither to try to save you." + +"But how could you guess all, lady?" + +"In a strange fashion, Prince." And in a few words she told him her +dream. + +"This is marvellous indeed, that you should be warned of my danger by +visions," he said wondering, and half-doubtingly. + +"So marvellous, Prince, that you do not believe me," Elissa answered. +"I know well what you think. You think that a woman to whom this +very morning you spoke such words as women cannot well forgive, being +revengeful laid a plot to murder you, and then, being a woman, changed +her mind. Well, it is not so; Metem can prove it to you!" + +"Lady, I believe you," he said, "without needing the testimony of Metem. +But now the story grows still more strange, for if you had done me no +wrong, how comes it that to preserve me from harm you set your tender +flesh between the arrow and one who had reviled you?" + +"It was by chance," she answered faintly. "I learnt the truth and ran +to warn you. Then I saw the arrow fly towards your heart, and strove to +grasp it, and it pierced me. It was by chance, by such a chance as made +me dream your danger." And she fainted. + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +AZIEL PLIGHTS HIS TROTH + +At first Aziel feared that the poison had done its work, and that +Elissa was dead, till placing his hand upon her heart he felt it beating +faintly, and knew that she did but swoon. To leave her to seek water +or assistance was impossible, since he dared not loose his hold of the +bandage about her wrist. So, patiently as he might, he knelt at her side +awaiting the return of Metem. + +How beautiful her pale face seemed there in the moonlight, set in its +frame of dusky hair. And how strange was this tale of hers, of a dream +that she had dreamed, a dream which, to save his own, led her to offer +her life to the murderer's arrow. Many would not believe it, but he felt +that it was true; he felt that even if she wished it she could not lie +to him, for as he had known since first they met, their souls were +open to each other. Yes, having thus been warned of his danger, she +had offered her life for him--for him who that morning had called her, +unjustly so Metem said, "a girl of the groves and a murderess." How came +it that she had done this, unless indeed she loved him as--he loved her? + +Aziel could no longer palter with himself, it was the truth. Last night +when Issachar accused him, he had felt this, although then he would not +admit it altogether, and now to-night he knew that his fate had found +him. They would say that, after the common fashion of men, he had been +conquered by a lovely face and form and a brave deed of devotion. But it +was not so. Something beyond the flesh and its works and attributes drew +him towards this woman, something that he could neither understand nor +define (unless, indeed, the vision of Issachar defined it), but of which +he had been conscious since first he set eyes upon her face. It was +possible, it was even probable, that before another hour had gone by she +would have passed beyond his reach, into the deeps of death, whither for +a while he could not follow her. Yet he knew that the knowledge that she +never could be his would not affect the love of her which burnt in him, +for his desire towards her was not altogether a desire of the earth. + +Aziel bent down over the swooning girl, looking into her pale face, +till her lips almost touched his own, and his breath beating on her brow +seemed to give her life again. Now she stirred, and now she opened her +eyes and gazed back at him a while, deeply and with meaning, even as he +gazed at her. + +He spoke no word, for his lips seemed to be smitten with silence, but +his heart said, "I love you, I love you," and her heart heard it, for +she whispered back:-- + +"Bethink you who and what I am." + +"It matters not, for we are one," he replied. + +"Bethink you," she said again, "that soon I may be dead and lost to +you." + +"It cannot be, for we are one," he replied. "One we have been, one +we are to-day, and one we shall be through all the length of life and +death." + +"Prince," she said again, "once more and for the last time I say: +Bethink you well, for it comes upon me that your words are true, and +that if I take that which to-night you offer, it will be for ever and +for aye." + +"For ever and aye, let it be," Aziel said, leaning towards her. + +"For ever and for aye, let it be," she repeated, holding up her lips to +his. + +And thus in the silent moonlit garden they plighted their strange troth. + +***** + +"Lady," said a voice in their ears, the voice of Metem, "I pray you let +me dress your hand, for there is no time to lose." + +Aziel looked up to see the Phoenician bending over them with a sardonic +smile, and behind him the tall form of Issachar, who stood regarding +them, his arms folded on his breast. + +"Holy Issachar," went on Metem with malice, "be pleased to hold this +lady's hand, since it seems that the prince here can only tend her +lips." + +"Nay," answered the Levite, "what have I to do with this daughter of +Baaltis? Cure her if you can, or if you cannot, let her die, for so +shall a stone of stumbling be removed from the feet of the foolish." And +he glanced indignantly at Aziel. + +"Had it not been for this same stone at least the feet of the foolish by +now would have pointed skywards. The gods send me such a stone if ever a +black dwarf draws a poisoned arrow at me," answered Metem, as he busied +himself with his drugs. Then he added, "Nay, Prince, do not stop to +answer him, but hold the lady's hand to the light." + +Aziel obeyed, and having washed out the wound with water, Metem rubbed +ointment into it which burnt Elissa so sorely that she groaned aloud. + +"Be patient beneath the pain, lady," he said, "for if it has not already +passed into your blood, this salve will eat away the poison of the +arrow." + +Then half-leading and half-carrying her, they brought her back to the +palace. Here Metem gave her over into the care of her father, telling +him as much of the story as he thought wise, and cautioning him to keep +silent concerning what had happened. + +At the door of the palace Issachar spoke to Aziel. + +"Did I dream, Prince," he said, "or did my ears indeed hear you tell +that idolatress that you loved her for ever, and did my eyes see you +kiss her on the lips?" + +"It seems that you saw and heard these things, Issachar," said Aziel, +setting his face sternly. "Now hear this further, and then I pray you +give me peace on this matter of the lady Elissa: If in any way it is +possible, I shall make her my wife, and if it be not possible, then for +so long as she may live at least I will look upon no other woman." + +"Then that is good news, Prince, to me, who am charged with your +welfare, for be sure, if I can prevent you, you shall never mix your +life with that of this heathen sorceress." + +"Issachar," the prince replied, "I have borne much from you because +I know well that you love me, and have stood to me in the place of a +father. But now, in my turn, I warn you, do not seek to work harm to the +lady Elissa, for in striking her you strike me, and such blows may bring +my vengeance after them." + +"Vengeance?" mocked the Levite. "I fear but one vengeance, and it is not +yours, nor do I listen to the whisperings of love when duty points the +path. Rather would I see you dead, prince Aziel, then lured down to hell +by the wiles of yonder witch." + +Then before Aziel could answer he turned and left him. + +***** + +As Issachar went to his own chamber full of bitterness and indignation, +he passed the door of Elissa's apartments, and came face to face with +Metem issuing from them. + +"Will the woman live?" he asked of him. + +"Be comforted, worthy Issachar. I think so; that is, if the bandage does +not slip. I go to tell the prince." + +"Gladly would I give a hundred golden shekels to him who brought me +tidings that it had slipped and the woman with it, down to the arms of +her father Beelzebub," broke in the Levite passionately. + +"Pretty words for a holy man," said Metem, feigning amazement. "Well, +Issachar, I will do most things for good money, but to shift that +bandage would be but murder, and this I cannot work even for the gold +and to win your favour." + +"Fool," answered Issachar, "did I ask you to do murder? I do not fight +with such weapons; let the woman live or die as it is decreed. Nay, +enter my chamber, for I would speak with you, who are a cunning man +versed in the craft of courts. Listen now: I love this prince Aziel, for +I have reared him from his childhood, and he has been a son to me who +have none. More, I am sent hither to this hateful land to watch him and +hold him from harm, and for all that chances to him I must account. And +now, what has chanced? This woman, Elissa, by her witcheries----" + +"Softly, Issachar; what witcheries does she need beyond those lips and +form and eyes?" + +"By her witcheries, I tell you, has ensnared him so that now he swears +that he will wed her." + +"What of it, Issachar? He might travel far to find a lovelier woman." + +"What of it, do you ask, remembering who he is? What of it, when you +know his faith, and that this fair idolater will sap it, and cause him +to cast away his soul? What of it, when with your own ears you heard him +swear to love her through all the deeps of life and death? Man, are you +mad?" + +"No, but some might say that you are, holy father, who forget that I +am also of this religion which you revile. But for good or ill, so the +matter stands; and now what is it that you wish of me?" + +"I wish that you should make it impossible that the prince Aziel should +take this woman to wife. Not by murder, indeed, for 'thou shalt not +kill,' saith the law, but by bringing it about that she should marry the +king Ithobal, or if that fail, in any other fashion which seems good to +you." + +"'Thou shalt not kill,' saith your law; tell me then, Issachar, does it +say also that thou shalt hand over a woman to a fate that she chances +to hold to be worse than death? Doubtless it is foolish of her, and we +should not heed such woman's folly. Yet this one has a certain strength +of will, and I question if all the elders of the city will bring her +living to the arms of Ithobal." + +"It is nought to me, Metem, if she weds Ithobal, or weds him not, save +that I do not love this heathen man, and surely her temper and her +witcheries would bring ruin on him. What I would have you do is to +prevent her from marrying Aziel; the way I leave to you." + +"And what should I be paid for this service, holy Issachar?" + +The Jew thought and answered, "A hundred golden shekels." + +"Two hundred gold shekels," replied Metem reflectively, "nay, I am sure +you said _two_ hundred, Issachar. At least, I do not work for less, and +it is a small sum enough, seeing that to earn it I must take upon myself +the guilt of severing two loving hearts. But I know well that you are +right, and that this would be an evil marriage for the prince Aziel, and +also for the lady Elissa, who then day by day and year by year must bear +the scourge of your reproaches, Issachar. Therefore I will do my best, +not for the money indeed, but because I see herein a righteous duty. And +now here is parchment, give me the lamp that I may prepare the bond." + +"My word is my bond, Phoenician," answered the Levite haughtily. + +Metem looked at him. "Doubtless," he said, "but you are old, and this +is--a rough country where accidents chance at times. Still, the thing +would read very ill, and, as you say, your word is your bond. Only +remember, Issachar, two hundred shekels, bearing interest at two shekels +a month. And now you are weary, holy Issachar, with plotting for the +welfare of others, and so am I. Farewell, and good dreams to you." + +The Levite watched him go, muttering to himself, "Alas that I should +have fallen to such traffic with a knave, but it is for your sake and +for your soul's sake, O Aziel my son. I pray that Fate be not too strong +for me and you." + +***** + +For two days from this night Elissa lay almost senseless, and by many +it was thought that she would die. But when Metem saw her on the morning +after she had been wounded, and noted that her arm was but little +swollen, and had not turned black, he announced that she would certainly +live, whatever the doctors of the city might declare. Thereon Sakon, her +father, and Aziel blessed him, but Issachar said nothing. + +As the Phoenician was walking through the market-place early on the next +day an aged black woman, whom he did not know, accosted him, saying +that she had a message for his ear from the king Ithobal who was camped +without the city and who desired to see the merchandise that he had +brought with him from the coasts of Tyre. Now Metem had already sold +all his wares at a great advantage; still, as he would not neglect this +opportunity of trade, he purchased others from his fellow merchants, and +loading two camels with them, set out for the camp of Ithobal, riding on +a mule. By midday he had reached it. The camp was pitched near water in +a pleasant grove of trees, and on one of these not far from the tent of +Ithobal Metem noted that there hung the body of a black dwarf. + +"Behold the fate of him who shoots at the buck and hits the doe. Well, I +have always said that murder is a dangerous game, since blood calls out +for blood," thought Metem as he rode towards the tent. + +At its door stood king Ithobal looking very huge and sullen in the +sunlight. Metem dismounted and prostrated himself obsequiously. + +"May the King live for ever," he said, "the great King, the King to whom +all the other kings of the earth are as the little gods to Baal, or the +faint stars to the sun." + +"Rise, and cease from flatteries," said Ithobal shortly; "I may be +greater than the other kings, but at least you do not think it." + +"If the king says so, so let it be," replied Metem calmly. "A woman +yonder in the market-place told me that the king wished to trade for +my merchandise. So I have brought the best of it; priceless goods that +which much toil I have carried hither from Tyre," and he pointed to the +two camels laden with the inferior articles which he had purchased, and +began to read the number and description of the goods from his tablets. + +"What value do you set upon the whole of them, merchant?" asked Ithobal. + +"To the traders of the country so much, but to you, O King, so much +only," and he named a sum twice that which he had paid in the city. + +"So be it," assented Ithobal indifferently; "I do not haggle over wares. +Though your price is large, presently my treasurer shall weigh you out +the gold." + +There was a moment's pause, then Metem said:-- + +"The trees in this camp of yours bear evil fruit, O King. If I might +ask, why does that little black monkey hang yonder." + +"Because he tried to do murder with his poisoned arrows," answered +Ithobal sullenly. + +"And failed? Well, it must comfort you to think that he did fail if he +was of the number of your servants. It is strange now that some knave +unknown attempted murder last night in the palace gardens, also with +poisoned arrows. I say attempted, but as yet I cannot be sure that he +did not succeed." + +"What!" exclaimed Ithobal, "was----" and he stopped. + +"No, King, prince Aziel was not hit; the Lady Elissa took that shaft +through her hand, and lies between life and death. I am doctoring her, +and had it not been for my skill she would now be stiff and black--as +the rogue who shot the arrow." + +"Save her," said Ithobal hoarsely, "and I will pay you a doctor's fee +of a hundred ounces of pure gold. Oh! had I but known, the clumsy fool +should not have died so easily." + +Metem took out his tablets and made a note of the amount. + +"Take comfort, King," he said, "I think that I shall earn the fee. +But to speak truth, this matter looks somewhat ugly, and your name is +mentioned in it. Also it is said that your cousin, the great man whom +the prince Aziel slew, was charged to abduct a certain lady by your +order." + +"Then false tales are told in Zimboe, and not for the first time," +answered Ithobal coldly. "Listen, merchant, I have a question to ask +of you. Will the prince Aziel meet me in single combat with whatever +weapons he may choose?" + +"Doubtless, and--pardon me if I say it--slay you as he slew your cousin, +for he is a fine swordsman, who has studied the art in Egypt, where it +is understood, and your strength would not avail against him. But your +question is already answered, for though the prince would be glad enough +to fight you, Sakon will have none of it. Have you nothing else to ask +me, King?" + +Ithobal nodded and said:-- + +"Listen, merchant. I know your repute of old, that you love money and +will do much to gain it, and that you are craftier than any hill-side +jackal. Now, if you can do my will, you will have more wealth than ever +you won in your life before." + +"The offer sounds good in a poor man's ears, King, but it depends upon +what is your will." + +Ithobal went to the door of the tent, and commanded the sentries who +stood without to suffer none to disturb him or draw near. Then he +returned and said:-- + +"I will tell you, but beware that you do not betray my counsels in this +or in any other matter, for I have sharp ears and a long arm. You know +how things are between me and the lady Elissa and her father Sakon and +the city which he governs. They stand thus: Unless within eight days +she is given to me in marriage, I have sworn that I will make war upon +Zimboe. Ay, and I will make it, for, filled with hate for the white man, +already the great tribes are gathering to my banners in ten armies, each +of them ten thousand strong. Once let them march beneath yonder walls, +and before they leave it Zimboe, city of gold, shall be nothing but a +heap of ruins, and a habitation of the dead. Such shall be my vengeance; +but I seek love more than vengeance, for what will it avail me to +butcher all that people of traders if--as well may chance in the +accidents of war--I lose her whom I desire, whose beauty shall be my +crown of crowns, and whose mind shall make me great indeed? + +"Therefore, Metem, if may be, I would win her without war; let the war +come afterwards, as come it must, for the time is ripe. And though she +turned from me, this I should have done, had it not been for yonder +prince Aziel, whom she met in a strange fashion, and straightway learned +to love. Now the thing is more difficult. Nay, while the prince Aziel +can take her to wife it is well-nigh impossible, since no threats of war +or ruin can turn a woman's heart from him she seeks--to him she flies. +Therefore, I ask you----" + +"Your pardon, King," Metem broke in, "I see that you, like your rival, +are so besotted with the beauty of this girl, that in all with which she +has to do you have lost the rule of your own reason. I would save you +perchance from saying words to which I do not wish to listen, and when +you find a quiet mind again, that you may regret having spoken. If you +were about to require of me that I should cause or be privy to the death +of the prince Aziel, you would require it in vain; yes, even if you +were willing to pay me gold in mountains, and gems in camel loads. With +murder I will have nothing to do; moreover, the prince, your rival, is +my friend and master, and I will not harm him. Further, I may tell you +that after the adventure of last night none will be able to come near +him to hurt a hair of his head, seeing that through daylight and through +darkness he is guarded by two men." + +"With a woman's body to set before him as a shield," said Ithobal +bitterly. "But you speak too fast; I was not about to ask you to kill +this man, or even to procure his death, because I know it would be +useless, but rather that you should so contrive that he cannot take +Elissa. How you contrive it I care nothing, so that she is not harmed. +You may kidnap him, or stir up the city against him, as one destined to +be the source of war, and cause him to be despatched back to the great +sea, or bribe the priests of El to hide him away, or what you will, if +only you separate him from this woman for ever. Say, merchant, are you +willing to undertake the task, or must my good gold go elsewhere?" + +Metem pondered awhile and answered:-- + +"I think that I will undertake it, King; that is, if we come to terms, +though whether I shall succeed is another matter. I will undertake it +not only because I seek to enrich myself, but because I and others who +serve him think it is a very evil thing that this prince, Aziel, whose +blood is the most royal in the whole world, without the consent of the +great king of Israel, his grandfather, should wed the daughter of a +Phoenician officer, however beautiful and loving she may be. Also I love +yonder city, which I have known for forty years, and would not see it +plunged in a bloody war and perhaps destroyed because a certain man +desires to call a certain girl his sweetheart. And now if I succeed in +this, what will you give me?" + +Ithobal named a great sum. + +"King," replied Metem, "you must double it, for that amount you speak +of I shall be forced to spend in bribes. More; you must give me the gold +now, before I leave your camp, or I will do nothing." + +"That you may steal it--and do nothing," laughed Ithobal angrily. + +"As you will, King. Such are my terms; if they do not please you, well, +let me go. But if you accept them, I will sign a bond under which if +within eight days I do not make it impossible for the prince Aziel to +marry the lady Elissa, you may reclaim so much of the gold as I do not +prove to you to have been spent upon your service, and no bond of Metem +the Phoenician was ever yet dishonoured. No, on second thought I will +learn wisdom from Issachar the Levite and put my hand to no writing +which it would pain me that some should read. King, my sworn word must +content you. Another thing, soon war may break out, or I may be forced +to fly. Therefore, I demand of you a pass sealed with your seal that +will enable me to ride with twenty men and all my goods and treasure, +even through the midst of your armies. Moreover you shall swear the +great oath to me that notice of this pass will be given to your generals +and that it shall be respected to the letter. Do you consent to these +terms?" + +"I consent," said the king presently. + +***** + +That evening Metem returned to the city of Zimboe, but those who led +his two camels little guessed that now they were laden, not with +merchandise, but with treasure. + + + +CHAPTER IX + +GREETING TO THE BAALTIS + +When Metem accepted bribes from Issachar and from Ithobal, in +consideration of his finding means to make the union of Aziel and Elissa +impossible, he had already thought out his scheme. It was one which, +while promoting, as he considered, the true welfare of the lovers, if +successful would separate them effectually and for ever. + +It will be remembered that Elissa had explained to the prince how, on +the death of the lady Baaltis, another woman was elected by the colleges +of the priests and priestesses to fill her place. This lady could marry, +indeed she was expected to do so, but her husband must take the title +of Shadid, and for her lifetime act as high-priest of El. Therefore, +thought Metem, if it could be brought about that Elissa should be chosen +as the new Baaltis, it was obvious that there would be an end of the +possibility of her marriage to Aziel. Then, in order to wed her, he must +renounce his own religion--a thing which no Jew would do--and pose as +the earthly incarnation of one whom he considered a false divinity or a +devil. + +Indeed, not only marriage, but any further intimacy between the pair +would be rendered impracticable, for upon this point the religious law, +lax enough in many particulars, was very strict. In fact, so strict was +it that for the lady Baaltis of the day to be found alone with any man +meant death to her and him. The reason of this severity was that she was +supposed to represent the goddess; and her husband, the Shadid, a god, +so that any questionable behaviour on her part became an insult to the +most powerful divinities of Heaven, which could only be atoned by the +death of their unworthy incarnations. That these laws were actual and +not formal only was proved by the instance that within the hundred years +before the birth of Elissa, a lady Baaltis had been executed for some +such offence, having been hurled indeed from the topmost pinnacle of the +fortress above the temple to the foot of the precipice beneath. + +All these sacerdotal customs were familiar to Metem, who argued from +them that to procure the nomination of Elissa as the Baaltis would be to +build an impassable wall between her and the prince Aziel. Also, by way +of compensation, that office would confer upon her the highest dignity +and honour which could be attained by any woman in the city. Moreover, +her election would place her beyond the reach of the persecutions +of Ithobal, since as lady Baaltis she was entitled to choose her own +husband without hindrance or appeal, provided only that he was of pure +white blood, which Ithobal was not. + +Having thought the matter out, and convinced himself that such a +course would not only benefit his own pocket, but prove to the lasting +advantage of all concerned, Metem, filled with a glow of righteous zeal, +set about his task with the promptitude and cunning of his race. It was +not an easy task, for although she had enemies and rivals, the daughter +of the dead Baaltis, Mesa by name, was considered to be certain of +election at the poll of the priests and priestesses. This ceremony was +to take place within two days. Nothing discouraged, however, by the +scant time at his disposal or other difficulties, without her knowledge +or that of her father, Metem began his canvass on behalf of Elissa. + +First with a great sum of gold he bought over the ex-Shadid, the husband +of the late lady Baaltis. As it chanced, this worthy had quarrelled with +his daughter. Therefore it followed that he would prefer to see some +stranger chosen in her place in the hope that, notwithstanding his +years, by choosing him in marriage she might confirm him in his position +of spouse to the goddess. + +All Metem's further negotiations need not be followed: money played a +part in most of them; jealousy and dislike in some. A few there were +also whom he won over by urging the beauty and wisdom of Elissa, and her +extraordinary fitness for the post, as evinced by her recent inspiration +in the temple! He found his most powerful allies, however, among the +members of the council of the city. To these grandees he pointed out +that Elissa was a woman of great strength of character, who would +certainly never consent to be forced into a marriage with Ithobal, +although her refusal should mean a desperate war, and that her father +was so much under her influence that he could not be brought to put +pressure upon her. Therefore it was obvious that the only way out of the +difficulty was her election as Baaltis. This must prove a perfect +answer to the suit of the savage king, since the goddess could not be +compelled, and even Ithobal, fearing the vengeance of Heaven, would +shrink from offering her violence. + +There support gained, having first sworn him to secrecy, he attacked +Sakon himself, using similar arguments with him. He pointed out, in +addition, that if the governor hoped to see his daughter married to +prince Aziel, who was in love with her, however dazzling might be the +prospects of such a match, it would certainly bring upon him the present +wrath of Ithobal, and, in all probability, future trouble with the +Courts of Egypt, of Israel, and through them, of Tyre. Thus working in +many ways, Metem laboured incessantly to win his end, so that when at +last the hour of election came he awaited its issue, fairly confident of +success. + +It was on this same afternoon that for the first time since she had +received the arrow which was meant for his heart, Aziel was admitted to +see Elissa. Now at length her recovery was certain, although she had not +shaken off her weakness, and her right arm and wrist were still stiff +and swollen. Except for two or three of her women, who were seated at +their work behind a screen near the far end of the great chamber, +she was alone, lying upon a couch in the recess of the window-place. +Advancing to her, Aziel bent down to kiss her wounded hand. + +"Nay," said Elissa, hiding it beneath the folds of her robe, "it is +still black and unsightly with the poison." + +"The more reason that I should kiss it, seeing how the stain came +there," he answered. + +Her eyes met his, and she whispered, "Not my hand, but my brow, Prince, +for so I shall be crowned." + +He pressed his lips upon her forehead, and replied:-- + +"Queen of my heart you are already, and though the throne be humble it +is sure. The life you saved is yours, and no other's." + +"I did but repay a debt," she answered; "but speak of it no more. Gladly +would I have died to save you; should such choice arise, would you do so +for me, I wonder?" + +"There is little need to ask such a question, lady; for your sake +I would not only die, I would even endure shame--that is worse than +death." + +"Sweet words, Aziel," she answered, smiling, "of which we shall learn +the value when the hour of trial comes, as come, I think, it will. You +told me but now that you were mine, and no other's; but is it so? I have +heard the story of a certain princess of Khem with whom your name was +mingled. Tell me, if you will, what was it that set you journeying to +this far city of ours?" + +"The desire to find you," he answered smiling; then seeing that she +still looked at him with questioning eyes, he added, "Nay, this is the +truth, if you seek truth. Indeed, it is the best that I should tell +you, since it seems that already you have heard something of the tale. +A while ago I was sent to the Court of the Pharaoh of Egypt, by the will +of my grandsire, the king of Israel, upon an embassy of friendship, +and to escort thence a certain beautiful princess, my cousin, who was +affianced by treaty to an uncle of mine, a great prince of Israel. This +I did, showing to the lady courtesy, and no more. But the end of the +matter was that when we came to Jerusalem the princess refused to be +married to my uncle, to whom she was betrothed----" and he hesitated. + +"Nay, be not timid, Prince," said Elissa sharply; "continue, I pray you. +I have heard that the lady added somewhat to her refusal." + +"That is so, Elissa. She declared before the king that she would wed no +man except myself only, whereon my uncle was very angry, and accused me +of playing him false, which, indeed, I had not done." + +"Although the lady was so fair, Aziel? But what said the great king?" + +"He said that never having seen him to whom she was affianced, he would +not suffer that she should be forced into marriage with him against +her will. Yet that her will might be uninfluenced, he commanded that I +should be sent upon a long journey. That was his judgment, lady." + +"Yes, but not all of it; surely he added other words?" she broke in +eagerly. + +"He added," continued Aziel, with some reluctance, "that if while I +was on this journey the princess changed her mind, and chose to wed my +uncle, it would be well. But, when I returned from it, if she had not +changed her mind, and chose--to marry me--then it would be well also, +and, though he was little pleased, with this saying my uncle must be +satisfied." + +"It does not satisfy me, prince Aziel," Elissa answered, the tears +starting to her dark eyes. "I know full well that the lady will not +change her mind, and take a man who is in years, and whom she hates, +in place of one who is young, and whom she loves. Therefore, when you +return hence to Jerusalem, by the king's command you will wed her." + +"Nay, Elissa; if I am already married that cannot be," he said. + +"In Judea, Prince, I am told that men take more wives than one; also, +they divorce them," she replied; then added, "Oh, return not there where +I shall lose you. If, indeed, you love me, I pray you return not there." + +Before he could answer, a sound of singing and of all sorts of music +caught Aziel's ear. Looking through the casement, he saw a great +procession of the priests and priestesses of El and Baaltis clad in +their festal robes and accompanied by many dignitaries of the city, a +multitude of people and bands of musicians, advancing across the square +towards the door of the palace. + +"Why, what passes?" he exclaimed. As he spoke the door opened and two +richly arrayed heralds, wands of office in their hands, entered and +prostrated themselves before Elissa. + +"Greeting to you, most noble and blessed lady, the chosen of the gods!" +they cried with one voice. "Prepare, we beseech you, to hear glad +tidings, and to receive those who are sent to tell them." + +"Glad tidings?" said Elissa. "Has Ithobal then withdrawn his suit?" + +"Nay, lady; it is not of Ithobal that the messengers come to speak." + +"Then I cannot receive them," she said, sinking back in apprehension. "I +am still ill and weak, and I pray to be excused." + +"Nay, lady," answered the herald, "that which they have to tell will +cure your sickness." + +Again Elissa protested. Before the words had left her lips there +appeared in the doorway he who had been husband of the dead Baaltis, +followed by priests and priestesses, by Sakon her father, with whom was +Metem, and many other nobles and dignitaries. + +"All hail, lady!" they cried, prostrating themselves before her. "All +hail, lady, chosen of the gods!" + +Elissa looked at them bewildered. + +"Your pardon," she said, "I do not understand." + +Then, rising from his knees, he who was still the Shadid until his +successor was appointed, addressed her as spokesman. + +"Listen," he said, "and learn, lady, the great thing that has befallen +you. Know, O divine One, that by the inspiration of El and Baaltis, +rulers of the heavens, the colleges of the priests and priestesses of +the city, following the voice of the oracles and the pointing of the +omens, have set you in that high place which death has emptied. Greeting +to you, holder of the spirit of the goddess! Greeting to the Baaltis!" + +"I did not seek this honour," she murmured in the silence that followed, +"and I refuse it. The throne of the goddess is Mesa's right; let her +take it, or if she will not, then find some other woman who is more +worthy." + +"Lady," said the Shadid, "these words become you well, but it has +pleased the gods to choose you and not my daughter, the lady Mesa, or +any other woman, and the choice of the gods may not be set aside. Till +death shall take you, you and you alone are the lady Baaltis whom we +obey." + +"Must I then be made divine against my will," she pleaded, and turned to +Aziel as though for counsel. + +"Be pleased to stand back, prince Aziel," said the stern voice of the +Shadid, interposing. "Remember that henceforth no man may speak to +the Baaltis save he whom she names with the name of Shadid to be her +husband. Henceforward you are parted, since to seek her company would be +to cause her death." + +Now understanding that the doom of life-long separation had fallen upon +them like the sudden sword of fate, Aziel and Elissa gazed at each other +in despair. Then, before either of them could speak a word, at a sign +from the Shadid, the priestesses closed round Elissa. Throwing a white +veil over her head, they broke into a joyful paean of song, and half-led, +half-carried her from the chamber to enthrone her in the palace of the +goddess, which was henceforth to be her home. + +Presently all the company, including the waiting women, having joined +the procession, the chamber was empty, with the exception of Aziel, +Metem and Issachar the Levite, who, drawn by the sound of singing, had +entered the place unnoticed. + +"Take comfort, Prince," said the Phoenician in a half-bantering voice, +"if you and the lady Baaltis are truly dear to each other she may still +be yours, for you have but to bow the knee to El, and she will name you +Shadid and husband." + +"Blaspheme not," cried Issachar sternly. "Shall a worshipper of the God +of Israel do sacrifice to a demon to win a woman's smile?" + +"That time will prove," answered Metem, shrugging his shoulders; "at +least it is certain that he will win it in no other way. Prince," he +added, changing his tone, "if you have any such thoughts, abandon them, +I pray of you, for on this matter the law may not be broken. The man +spoke truth, moreover, when he told you that should you be found with +the Baaltis, not being her husband, you would cause her death." + +Aziel took no notice of his words, but turning to the Levite, he asked +in a quiet voice:-- + +"Did you plot this to separate us, Issachar? If so, you shall live to +mourn the deed." + +"Listen, Prince," broke in Metem, "it was not Issachar who plotted that +the lady Elissa should be chosen Baaltis, but I, or at least I helped +the plot. Shall I tell you why I did this? It was to save you and her, +and if possible to prevent a great war also. You could not wed this +woman who is not of your race, or rank, or religion; and if you could, +it would bring about a struggle that must cost thousands their lives, +and this city its wealth. Nor could you make of her less than a wife, +seeing that she is well-born and that you are her father's guest. +Therefore for your own sake it is best that she should be placed beyond +your reach. For her sake also it is best, since she is ambitious and +born to rule, who henceforth will be clothed with power for all her +days. Moreover, had it been otherwise, in the end she must have passed +to that savage Ithobal, whom she hates. Now this is scarcely possible, +for the lady Baaltis can wed no man who is not of pure white blood, and +whom she does not choose of her own free will. That is a decree which +may not be broken even by Ithobal. So revile me not, but thank me, +though for a little while your heart be sore." + +"My heart is sore indeed," answered Aziel, "and if you think your +words be wise, their medicine does not soothe, Phoenician. You may have +laboured for my welfare and for that of the lady Elissa, or, like the +huckster that you are, for your own advantage, or for both--I know not, +and do not care to know. But this I know, that you, and Issachar also, +are striving to snare Fate in a web of sand, and that Fate will be too +strong for it and you. I love this woman and she loves me, because +such is our destiny, and no barriers which man may build can serve to +separate us. Also of this I am assured, that by your plots you draw the +evils you would ward away upon the heads of us all, for from them shall +spring war, and deaths, and misery. + +"For the rest, do not think, Metem and Issachar, that I, whom you +betrayed, and the woman you have ruined with a crown of greatness she +did not seek, are clay to be moulded at your will. It is another hand +than yours which fashioned the vessel of our destiny; nor can you stay +our lips from drinking of the pure wine that fills it. Farewell," and +with a grave inclination of the head he left the room. + +Metem watched him go, then he turned to Issachar and said:-- + +"I have earned my hire well, and you must pay the price, but now it +troubles me to think that I touched this business. Why it is I cannot +say, but it comes upon me that the prince speaks truth, and that no plot +of ours can avail to separate these two who were born to each other, +although it well may happen that we shall unite them in death alone. +Issachar," he added with fierce conviction, "I will not take your gold, +for it is the price of blood! I tell you it is the price of blood!" + +"Take it or no, as you will, Phoenician," answered the Levite; "at least +I am well pleased that the promise of it bought your service. Even +should the prince Aziel discharge this day's work with his young life, +it is better that he should perish in the body than that he should lose +his soul for the bribe of a woman's passing beauty. Whatever else be +lost, that is saved to him, since those sorceress lips of hers are set +beyond his reach. An Israelite cannot mate with the oracle of Baaltis, +Metem." + +"You say so, Issachar, but I have seen men climb high to pluck such +fruit. Yes, I have seen them climb even when they knew that they must +fall before the fruit was reached." + +Then he went also, leaving Issachar alone and oppressed with a dread of +the future which was none the less real because it could not be defined. + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE EMBASSY + +Weak as she was still with recent illness, half-fainting also from +the shock of the terrible and unexpected fate which had overtaken her, +Elissa was borne in triumph to the palace that now was hers. Around +her gilded litter priestesses danced and sang their wild chants, +half-bacchanalian and half-religious; before it marched the priests of +El, clashing cymbals and crying, "Make way, make way for the new-born +goddess! Make way for her whose throne is upon the horned moon!" while +all about the multitude of spectators prostrated themselves in worship. + +Elissa was borne in triumph. Vaguely she heard the shouts and music, +dimly she saw the dancing-girls and the bowing crowds. But all the while +her heart was alive with pain and her brain, crushed beneath the menace +of this misery, could grasp nothing clearly save the completeness of +her loss. Loss! Yes, she was lost indeed. One short hour ago and she +was rejoicing in the presence of the man she loved, and who, as she +believed, loved her, while in her mind rose visions of some happy life +with him far away from this city and the dark rites of the worshippers +of Baal. And now she found herself the chief priestess of that worship +which already she had learned to fear if not to hate. More, as its +priestess, till death should come to comfort her, she was cut off for +ever from him whom she adored, cut off also from the hope of that new +spiritual light which had begun to dawn upon her soul. + +Elissa looked upon the beautiful women who leapt and sang about her +litter, listening to the clash of their ornaments of gold, and as she +listened and looked her eyes seemed to gain power to behold the spirits +within them. Surely she could see these, dark and hideous things, with +shifting countenances, terrible to look on, and themselves wearing in +their eyes of flame a stamp of eternal terror, while in her ears the +music of their golden necklaces was changed to a clank as of fetters and +of instruments of torment. Yes; and there before the dancers in the red +cloud of dust which rose from their beating feet, floated the dim shape +of that demon of whom she had been chosen the high-priestess. + +Look at her mocking, inhuman countenance, and her bent brow of power! +Look at her spread and flaming hair and her hundred hands outstretched +to grasp the souls of men! Hark! the clamour of the cymbals and the cry +of the dancers blended together and became her voice, a dreadful voice +that gave greeting to her princess, promising her pride of place and +life-long power in payment for her service. + +"I desire none of these," her heart seemed to answer; "I desire him only +whom I have lost." + +"Is it so?" replied the Voice. "Then bid him burn incense upon my altar +and take him to yourself. Have I not given you enough of beauty to snare +a single soul from among the servants of my enemy the God of the Jews?" + +"Nay, nay!" her heart cried; "I will not tempt him to do this evil +thing." + +"Yea, yea!" mocked the phantom Voice; "for your sake he shall burn +incense upon my altar." + +***** + +The phantasy passed, and now the golden gates of the palace of Baaltis +rolled open before Elissa. Now, too, the priestesses bore her to the +golden throne shaped like a crescent moon, and threw over her a black +veil spangled with stars, symbol of the night. Then having shut out the +uninitiated, they worshipped her after their secret fashion till she +sank down upon the throne overcome with fear and weariness. Then at last +they carried her to that wonder of workmanship and allegorical art, the +ivory bed of Baaltis, and laid her down to sleep. + +***** + +At dawn upon the following day an embassy, headed by Sakon, governor +of the city, in whose train were Metem and Aziel, went to the camp of +Ithobal. The mission of these envoys was to give the king answer to his +suit, for he refused to come to Zimboe unless he were allowed to bring +a larger force than it was thought prudent to admit into the city gates. +At some distance from the tents they halted, while messengers were sent +forward inviting Ithobal to a conference on the plain, as it seemed +scarcely safe to trust themselves within the stout thorn fence which had +been built about the camp. Metem, who said that he had no fear of the +king, went with these men, and on reaching the _zeriba_ was at once +bidden to the pavilion of Ithobal. He found the great man pacing its +length sullenly. + +"What seek you here, Phoenician?" he asked, glancing at him over his +shoulder. + +"My fee, King. The king was pleased to promise me a hundred ounces +of gold if I saved the life of the Lady Elissa. I come, therefore, to +assure him that my skill has prevailed against the poisoned arrow of +that treacherous dog of the desert, which pierced her hand as she spoke +with the prince Aziel the other night, and to claim my reward. Here is a +note of the amount," and he produced his tablets. + +"If half of what I hear is true, rogue," answered Ithobal savagely, "the +tormentor and the headsman alone could satisfy all my debt to you. Say, +merchant, what return have you made me for that sackful of gold which +you bore hence some few days gone?" + +"The best of all returns, King," answered Metem cheerfully, although in +truth he began to feel afraid. "I have kept my word, and fulfilled the +command of the king. I have made it impossible that the prince Aziel +should wed the daughter of Sakon." + +"Yes, rogue, you have made it impossible by causing her to be +consecrated Baaltis, and thus building a barrier which even I shall find +too hard to climb. It is scarcely to be hoped that now she will choose +me of her own will, and to offer violence to the Baaltis is a sacrilege +from which any man--yes, even a king--may shrink, for such deeds draw +the curse of Heaven. Know that for this service I am minded to settle +my account with you in a fashion of which you have not thought. Have +you heard, Phoenician, that the chiefs of certain of my tribes love to +decorate their spear-shafts with the hide of white men, and to bray +their flesh into a medicine which gives courage to its eater?" + +With this pleasing and suggestive query Ithobal paused, and looked +towards the door of the tent as though he were about to call his guard. + +Now Metem's blood ran cold, for he knew that this royal savage was not +one who uttered idle threats. Yet the coolness and cunning which had so +often served him well did not fail him in his need. + +"I have heard that your people have strange customs," he answered with +a laugh, "but I think that even a spear-shaft would scarcely gain beauty +from my wrinkled hide, and if anything, the eating of my flesh would +make tradesmen and not warriors of your chiefs. Well, let the jest pass, +and listen. King, in all my schemings one thought never crossed my mind, +namely, that you were a man to suffer scruples to stand between you and +the woman you would win. You think that now she is a goddess? Well, if +that be so--and it is not for me to say--who could be a fitter mate for +the greatest king upon the earth than a goddess from the heavens? Take +her, king Ithobal, take her, and this I promise you, that when your +armies are encamped without the walls, the priests of El will absolve +you of the crime of aspiring to the fair lips of Baaltis." + +"The lips of Baaltis," broke in Ithobal; "do you think that I shall find +them sweet when another man has rifled them? Secret chambers are many +yonder in the palace of the gods, and doubtless the Jew will find his +way there." + +"Nay, King, for between these two I have indeed built a wall which +cannot be climbed. The worshipper of the Lord of Israel may not traffic +with the high-priestess of Ashtoreth. Moreover, I shall bring it about +that ere long Prince Aziel's face is set seawards." + +"Do that, and I will believe you, merchant, though it would be better if +you could bring it about that his face was set earthwards, as I will +if I can. Well, this time I spare you, though be sure that if aught +miscarry, you shall pay the price, how, I have told you. Now I go to +talk with these traders, these outlanders, of Zimboe. Why do you wait? +You are dismissed and--alive." + +Metem looked steadily at the tablets which he still held in his hand. + +"I have heard," he said humbly, "that the king Ithobal, the great king, +always pays his debts, and as I--an outlander--shall be leaving Zimboe +shortly under his safe conduct, I desire to close this small account." + +Ithobal went to the door of his tent and commanded that his treasurer +should attend him, bringing money. Presently he came, and at his lord's +bidding weighed out one hundred ounces of gold. + +"You are right, Phoenician," said Ithobal; "I always pay my debts, +sometimes in gold and sometimes in iron. Be careful that I owe you no +more, lest you who to-day are paid in gold, to-morrow may receive the +iron, weighed out in the fashion of which I have spoken. Now, begone." + +Metem gathered up the treasure, and hiding it in his ample robe, bowed +himself from the royal presence and out of the thorn-hedged camp. + +"Without doubt I have been in danger," he said to himself, wiping his +brow, "since at one time that black brute, disregarding the sanctity +of an envoy, had it in his mind to torture and to kill me. So, so, king +Ithobal, Metem the Phoenician is also an honest merchant who 'always pays +his debts,' as you may learn in the market-places of Jerusalem, of Sidon +and of Zimboe, and I owe you a heavy bill for the fright you have given +me to-day. Little of Elissa's company shall you have if I can help it; +she is too good for a cross-bred savage, and if before I go from these +barbarian lands I can set a drop of medicine in your wine, or an arrow +in your gizzard, upon the word of Metem the Phoenician, it shall be done, +king Ithobal." + +***** + +When Metem reached Sakon and the envoys, he found that a message had +already been sent to them announcing that Ithobal would meet them +presently upon the plain outside his camp. But still the king did not +come; indeed, it was not until Sakon had despatched another messenger, +saying that he was about to return to the city, that at length Ithobal +appeared at the head of a bodyguard of black troops. Arranging these +in line in front of the camp, he came forward, attended by twelve or +fourteen counsellors and generals, all of them unarmed. Half-way between +his own line and that of the Phoenicians, but out of bowshot of either, +he halted. + +Thereon Sakon, accompanied by a similar number of priests and nobles, +among whom were Aziel and Metem, all of them also unarmed, except for +the knives in their girdles, marched out to meet him. Their escort they +left drawn up upon the hillside. + +"Let us to business, King," said Sakon, when the formal words of +salutation had passed. "We have waited long upon your pleasure, and +already troops move out from the city to learn what has befallen us." + +"Do they then fear that I should ambush ambassadors?" asked Ithobal +hotly. "For the rest, is it not right that servants should bide at the +door of their king till it is his pleasure to open?" + +"I know not what they fear," answered Sakon, "but at least we fear +nothing, for we are too many," and he glanced at his soldiers, a +thousand strong, upon the hillside. "Nor are the citizens of Zimboe the +servants of any man unless he be the king of Tyre." + +"That we shall put to proof, Sakon," said Ithobal; "but say, what does +the Jew with you?" and he pointed to Aziel. "Is he also an envoy from +Zimboe?" + +"Nay, King," answered the prince laughing, "but my grandsire, the mighty +ruler of Israel, charged me always to take note of the ways of savages +in peace and war, that I might learn how to deal with them. Therefore, I +sought leave to accompany Sakon upon this embassy." + +"Peace, peace!" broke in Sakon. "This is no time for gibes. King +Ithobal, since you did not dare to venture yourself again within the +walls of our city, we have come to answer the demands you made upon us +in the Hall of Audience. You demanded that our fortifications should be +thrown down, and this we refuse, since we do not court destruction. You +demanded that we should cease to enslave men to labour in the mines, and +to this we answer that for every man we take we will pay a tax to his +lawful chief, or to you as king. You demanded that the ancient tribute +should be doubled. To this, out of love and friendship, and not from +fear, we assent, if you will enter into a bond of lasting peace, since +it is peace we seek, and not war. King, you have our answer." + +"Not all of it, Sakon. How of that first condition--that Lady Elissa the +fair, your daughter, should be given me to wife?" + +"King, it cannot be, for the gods of heaven have taken this matter from +our hands, anointing the lady Elissa their high-priestess." + +"Then as I live," answered Ithobal with fury, "I will take her from the +hands of the gods and anoint her my dancing-woman. Do you think to make +a mock of me, you people of Zimboe, whom I have honoured by desiring one +of your daughters in marriage? You seek to trick me with your priests' +juggling that you may keep her to be the toy of yonder princeling? So +be it, but I tell you that I will tear your city stone from stone, and +anoint its ruins with your blood. Yes, your young men shall labour in +the mines for me, and your high-born maidens shall wait upon my queens. +Listen you,"--and he turned to his generals--"let the messengers who +are ready start east and west, and north and south, to the chiefs whose +names you have, bidding them to meet me with their tribesmen, at the +time and place appointed. When next I speak with you, Elders of Zimboe, +it shall be at the head of a hundred thousand warriors." + +"Then, King, on your hands be all the innocent lives that these words +of yours have doomed, and may the weight of their wasted blood press you +down to ruin and death." + +Thus answered Sakon proudly, but with pale lips, for do what they would +to hide it, something of the fear they felt for the issue of this war +was written on the faces of all his company. + +Ithobal turned upon his heel, deigning no reply, but as he went he +whispered a word into the ear of two of his captains, great men of war, +who stayed behind the rest of his party searching for something upon +the ground. Sakon and his counsellors also turned, walking towards +their escort, but Aziel lingered a little, fearing no danger, and being +curious to learn what the men sought. + +"What do you seek, captains?" he asked courteously. + +"A gold armlet that one of us has lost," they answered. + +Aziel let his eyes wander on the ground, and not far away perceived the +armlet half-hidden in a tussock of dry grass, where, indeed, it had been +placed. + +"Is this the ring?" he asked, lifting it and holding it towards them. + +"It is, and we thank you," they answered, advancing to take the +ornament. + +The next moment, before Aziel even guessed their purpose, the captains +had gripped him by either arm and were dragging him at full speed +towards their camp. Understanding their treachery and the greatness of +his danger, he cried aloud for help. Then throwing himself swiftly to +the ground, he set his feet against a stone that chanced to lie in their +path in such fashion that the sudden weight tore his right arm from the +group of the man that held him. Now, quick as thought, Aziel drew the +dagger from his girdle, and, still lying upon his back, plunged it into +the shoulder of the second man so that he loosed him in his pain. Next +he sprang to his feet, and, leaping to one side to escape the rush of +his captors, ran like a deer towards the party of Sakon, who had wheeled +round at the sound of his cry. + +Ithobal and his men had turned also and sped towards them, but at a +little distance they halted, the king shouting aloud:-- + +"I desired to hold this foreigner, who is the cause of war between us, +hostage for your daughter's sake, Sakon, but this time he has escaped +me. Well, it matters nothing, for soon my turn will come. Therefore, +if you and he are wise, you will send him back to the sea, for thither +alone I promise him safe conduct." + +Then without more words he walked to his camp, the gates of which were +closed behind him. + +***** + +"Prince Aziel," said Sakon, as they went towards the city, "it is ill to +speak such words to an honoured guest, but it cannot be denied that you +bring much trouble on my head. Twice now you have nearly perished at +the hands of Ithobal, and should that chance, doubtless I must earn the +wrath of Israel. On your behalf, also, the city of Zimboe is this day +plunged into a war that well may be her last, since it is because you +have grown suddenly dear to her that my daughter has continued to refuse +the suit of Ithobal, and because of his outraged pride at this refusal +that he has raised up the nations against us. Prince, while you remain +in this city there is no hope of peace. Do not, therefore, hate me, your +servant, if I pray of you to leave us while there is yet time." + +"Sakon," answered Aziel, "I thank you for your open speech, and will +pay you back in words as honest as your own. Gladly would I go, for here +nothing but sorrow has befallen me, were it not for one thing which to +you may seem little, but to me, and perhaps to another, is all in all. I +love your daughter as I have never loved a woman before, and as my mind +is to hers, so is hers to mine. How, then, can I go hence when the going +means that I must part from her for ever?" + +"How can you stay here, Prince, when the staying means that you must +bring her to shame and death, and yourself with her? Say now, are you +prepared, for the sake of this maiden, to abandon the worship of your +fathers and to become the servant of El and Baaltis?" + +"You know well that I am not so prepared, Sakon. For nothing that the +world could give me would I do this sin." + +"Then, Prince, it is best that you should go, for that and no other is +the price you must pay if you would win my daughter Elissa. Should you +seek to do so by other means, I tell you that neither your high rank nor +the power of my rule and friendship, nor pity for your youth and hers, +can save you both from death, since to forgive you then would be to +bring down the wrath of its outraged gods upon Zimboe. Oh! Prince, for +your own sake and for the sake of her whom both you and I love thus +dearly, linger no longer in temptation, but turn your back upon it as a +brave man should, for so shall my blessing follow you to the grave and +your years be filled with honour." + +Aziel covered his eyes with his hand, and thought a while; then he +answered:-- + +"Be it as you will, friend. I go, but I go broken-hearted." + + + +CHAPTER XI + +METEM SELLS IMAGES + +Upon reaching the palace, Aziel went to the apartments of Issachar. +Finding no keeper at the door, he entered, to discover the old priest +kneeling in prayer at the window, which faced towards Jerusalem. So +absorbed was he in his devotions that it was not until he had ended them +and risen that Issachar saw Aziel standing in the chamber. + +"Behold, an answer to my prayer," he said. "My son, they told me +that some fresh danger had overtaken you, though none knew its issue. +Therefore it was that I prayed, and now I see you unharmed." And taking +him in his arms, he embraced him. + +"It is true that I have been in danger, father," answered Aziel, and he +told him the story of his escape from Ithobal. + +"Did I not pray thee not to accompany this embassy?" + +"Yes, father, yet I have returned in safety. Listen: I come with tidings +which you will think good. Not an hour ago I promised Sakon that I would +leave Zimboe, where it seems my presence breeds much trouble." + +"Good tidings, indeed!" exclaimed Issachar, "and never shall I know a +peaceful hour until we have seen the last of the towers of this doomed +city and its accursed people of devil-worshippers." + +"Yes, good for you, father, but for me most ill, for here I shall leave +my youth and happiness. Nay, I know what you think; that this is but +some passing fancy bred of the pleasant beauty of a woman, but it is not +so. I say that from the moment when first I saw Elissa, she became life +of my life, and soul of my soul and that I go hence beggared of joy and +hope, and carrying with me a cankering memory which shall eat my heart +away. You deem her a witch, one to whom Baaltis has given power to drag +the minds of men to their destruction, but I tell you that her only +spell is the spell of her love for me, also that she whom you named so +grossly is no longer the servant of the demon Baaltis." + +"Elissa not the servant of Baaltis? How comes she then to be her +high-priestess? Aziel, your passion has made you mad." + +"She is high-priestess because Metem and others brought about her +election without her will, urged on to it by I know not whom." And he +looked hard at Issachar, who turned away. "But what matters it who did +the ill deed," he continued, "since this, at least, is certain, that +here my presence breeds sorrow and bloodshed, and therefore I must go as +I have promised." + +"When do we depart, Prince?" queried Issachar. + +"I know not, it is naught to me. Here comes Metem, ask of him." + +"Metem," said the Levite, "the prince desires to leave Zimboe and march +to the coast, there to take ship to Tyre. When can your caravan be +ready?" + +"So I have heard, Issachar, for Sakon tells me that he has come to an +agreement with the prince upon this matter. Well, I am glad to learn it, +for troubles thicken here, and I think that the woe you prophesied is +not far from this city of Zimboe where every man seeks to serve his own +hand, and is ready to sell his neighbour. When can the caravan be got +ready? Well, the night after next; at least, we can start that night. +To-morrow evening, so soon as the sun is down, I will send on the camels +by ones and twos, and with them the baggage and treasure, to a secret +place I know of in the mountains, where we and the prince's guard +can follow upon the mules and join them. As it chances, I have a safe +conduct from Ithobal. Still I should not wish to put his troops into +temptation by marching through them with twenty laden camels, or to lose +certain earnings of my own that will be hidden in the baggage. Moreover, +if our departure becomes known, half the city would wish to join us, +having no love of soldiering, and misdoubting them much of the issue of +this war with Ithobal." + +"As you will," said Issachar, "you are captain of the caravan, and +charged with the safety of the prince upon his journeyings. I am ready +whenever you appoint, and the quicker that hour comes, the more praise +you will have from me." + +"Come with me, I wish to speak with you," said Aziel to the Phoenician +as they left the presence of Issachar. "Listen," he added, when they had +reached his chamber, "we leave this city soon, and I have farewells to +make." + +"To the Baaltis?" suggested Metem. + +"To the lady Elissa. I desire to send her a letter of farewell; can you +deliver it into her own hand?" + +"It may be managed, Prince, at a price--nay, from you I ask no price. +I have still some images that I wish to sell, and we merchants go +everywhere, even into the presence of the Baaltis if it pleases her to +admit them. Write your scroll and I will take it, though, to be plain, +it is not a task which I should have sought." + +So Aziel wrote slowly and with care. Then having sealed the writing he +gave it to Metem. + +"Your face is sat, Prince," he said, as he hid it in his robe, "but, +believe me, you are doing what is right and wise." + +"It may be so," answered Aziel, "yet I would rather die than do it, and +may my curse lie heavy upon the heads of those who have so wrought that +it must be done. Now, I pray you, deliver this scroll into the hands of +her you know, and bring me the answer if there be any, betraying it to +none, for I will double whatever sum is offered for that treachery." + +"Have no fear, Prince," said Metem quietly, but without taking offence, +"this errand is undertaken for friendship, not for profit. The risk is +mine alone; the gain--or loss--is yours." + +***** + +An hour later the Phoenician stood in the palace of the gods, demanding, +under permit from Sakon, governor of the city, to be admitted into +the presence of the Baaltis, to whom he desired to sell certain sacred +images cunningly fashioned in gold. Presently it was announced that he +was allowed to approach, and the officers of the temple led him through +guarded passages, to the private chambers of the priestesses. Here he +found Elissa in a long, low hall, sweet with scented woods, rich with +gold, and supported by pillars of cedar. + +She was seated alone at the far end of this hall, beneath the +window-plate, clad in her white robes of office, richly broidered +with emblems of the moon. Her women, most of whom were employed in +needle-work, though some whispered idly to each other, were gathered at +the lower end of the hall near to its door. + +Metem saluted them as he entered, and they detained him, answering his +greeting by requests for news and with jests, not too refined, or by +demands for presents of jewels, in return for which they promised him +the blessings of the goddess. To each he made some apt reply, for even +the priestesses of Baaltis could not abash Metem. But while he bandied +words, his quick eyes noted one of their number who did not join in +this play. She was a spare, thin-lipped woman whom he knew for Mesa, +the daughter of the dead Baaltis, who had been a rival candidate for the +throne of the high-priestess when Elissa was chosen in her place. + +When he entered the hall Mesa was seated upon a canvas stool, a little +apart from the others, her chin resting upon her hand, staring with an +evil look towards the place where Elissa was enthroned. Nor did her face +grow more gentle at the sight of the cunning merchant, for she knew well +it was through his plots and bribery that she had been ousted from her +mother's place. + +"A woman to be feared," thought Metem to himself as, shaking off the +priestesses, he passed her upon his way up the long chamber. Presently +he had reached the end of it, and was saluting the presence of the +Baaltis by kneeling and touching the carpet with his brow. + +"Rise, Metem," said Elissa, "and set out your business, for the hour of +the sunset prayer is at hand, and I cannot talk long with you." + +So he rose, and, looking at her while he laid out his store of images, +saw that her face was sad, and that her eyes were full of a strange +fear. + +"Lady," he said, "on the second night from now I depart from this city +of yours, and glad shall I be to leave it living. Therefore I have +brought you these four priceless images of the most splendid workmanship +of Tyre, thinking that it might please you to purchase them for the +service of the goddess." + +"You depart," she whispered; "alone?" + +"No lady, not alone; the holy Issachar goes with me, also the escort of +the prince Aziel--and the prince himself, whose presence is no longer +desired in Zimboe." Here he stopped, for he saw that Elissa was about +to betray her agitation, and whispered, "Be not foolish, for you are +watched; I have a letter for you. Lady," he continued in a louder voice, +"if it will please you to examine this precious image in the light, you +will no longer hesitate or think the price too high," and bowing low he +led the way behind the throne, whither Elissa followed him. + +Now they were standing beneath the window-place, which they faced, and +hidden from the gaze of the women by the gilded back of the high seat. + +"Here," he said, thrusting the parchment into her hand, "read quickly, +and return it to me." + +She snatched the roll from him, and as her eyes devoured the lines, her +face fell in, and her lips grew pale with anguish. + +"Be brave," murmured Metem, for his heart was stirred to pity; "it is +best for all that he should go." + +"For him, perchance it is best," she answered; as with an unwilling hand +she gave him back the letter which she dared not keep, "but what of me? +Oh! Metem, what of me?" + +"Lady," he said sadly, "I have no words to soothe your sorrow save that +the gods have willed it thus." + +"What gods?" she asked fiercely; "not those they bid me worship." She +shuddered, then went on, "Metem, be pitiful! Oh! if ever you have loved +a woman, or have been loved of one, for her sake be pitiful. I must see +him for the last time in farewell, and you can help me to it." + +"I! In the name of Baal, how?" + +"When do you have to leave the city, Metem?" + +"At moonrise on the night after next." + +"Then an hour before moonrise I will be in the temple, whither I can +come by the secret way that leads thither from this palace, and he can +enter there, for the little gate shall be left unbarred. Pray him to +meet me, then--for the last time." + +"Lady," he urged, "this is but madness, and I refuse. You must find +another messenger." + +"Madness or not it is my will, and beware how you thwart me in it, +Metem, for at least I am the Lady Baaltis, and have power to kill +without question. I swear to you that if I do not see him, you shall +never leave this city living." + +"A shrewd argument, and to the point," said Metem reflectively. "Well, +I have prepared myself a rock-hewn tomb at Tyre, and do not wish that my +graven sarcophagus of best Egyptian alabaster should be wasted, or sold +to some upstart for a song." + +"As assuredly it will be, if you do not obey me in this matter, Metem. +Remember--an hour before moonrise, at the foot of the pillar of El in +the inner court of the temple." + +As she spoke Metem started, for his quick ears had caught a sound. + +"O Queen divine," he said in a loud voice, as he led the way to the +front of the throne, "you are a hard bargainer! Were there many such, a +poor trader could not make a living. Ah! here is one who knows the +value of such priceless works of art," and he pointed to Mesa, who, with +folded arms and downcast eyes, stood within five paces of the throne, +as near, indeed, as custom allowed her to approach. "Lady," he went on +addressing you, "you will have heard the price I asked; say, now, is it +too much?" + +"I have heard nothing, sir. I stand here, waiting the return of my holy +mistress that I may remind her that the hour of sunset prayer is at +hand." + +"Would that I had so fair a mentor," exclaimed Metem, "for then I should +lose less time." But to himself he said, "She _has_ heard something, +though I think but little," then added aloud: "Well judge between us, +lady. Is fifty golden shekels too much for these images which have been +blessed and sprinkled with the blood of children by the high priest of +Baal at Sidon?" + +Mesa lifted her cold eyes and looked at them. "I think it too much," she +said, "but it is for the lady Baaltis to judge. Who am I that I should +open my lips in the presence of the lady Baaltis?" + +"I have appealed to the oracle, and it has spoken against me," said +Metem, wringing his hands in affected dismay. "Well, I abide the result. +Queen, you offered me forty shekels and for forty you shall take them, +for the honour of the holy gods, though in truth I lose ten shekels +by the bargain. Give your order to the treasurer, and he will pay me +to-morrow. So now farewell," and bowing till his forehead touched the +ground, he kissed the hem of her robe. + +Elissa bent her head in acknowledgment of the salute, and as he rose her +eyes met his. In them was written a warning which he could not fail to +understand, and although she did not speak, her lips seemed to shape the +word, "Remember." + +Ten minutes later Metem stood in the chamber of Aziel. + +"Has she seen the letter, and what did she answer?" asked the prince, +springing up almost as he passed the threshold. + +"In the name of all the gods of all the nations I pray you not to +speak so loud," answered Metem when he had closed the door and looked +suspiciously about him. "Oh! if ever I find myself safe in Tyre again, +I vow a gift, and no mean one, to each of them that has a temple there, +and they are many; for no single god is strong enough to bring me safe +out of this trouble. Have I seen the lady Elissa? Oh, yes, I have seen +her. And what think you that this innocent lamb, this undefiled dove of +yours, threatens me with now? Death! nothing less than death, if I will +not carry out her foolish wishes. More, she means the threat, and has +the strength to fulfil it, for to the lady Baaltis is given power over +the lives of men, or at the least, if she takes life none question the +authority of the goddess. Unless I do her will I am a dead man, and that +is the reward I get for mixing myself up in your mad love affairs." + +"Hold!" broke in Aziel, "and tell me, man, what is her will?" + +"Her will is--what do you think? To meet you in farewell an hour before +you leave this city. Well, as my throat is at stake, by Baal! it shall +be gratified if I can find the means, though I tell you that it is +madness and nothing else. But listen to the story----" and he repeated +all that had passed. "Now," he added, "are you ready to take the risk, +Prince?" + +"I should be a coward indeed if I did not," answered Aziel, "when she, a +woman, dares a heavier." + +"And I am a coward, that is why I take it, for otherwise I also must +dare a heavier. But what of Issachar? This meeting can scarcely be kept +a secret from him." + +Aziel thought awhile and said:-- + +"Go fetch him here." So Metem went, to return presently with the Levite, +to whom, without further ado, the prince told all, hiding nothing. + +Issachar listened in silence. When both Aziel and Metem had done +speaking, he said:-- + +"At least, I thank you, Prince, for being open with me; and now without +more words I pray you to abandon this rash plan, which can end only in +pain, and perhaps in death." + +"Abandon it not, Prince," interrupted Metem, "seeing that if you do it +will certainly end in my death, for the girl is mad, and will have her +way. Or if she does not, then I must pay the price." + +"Have no fear," answered Aziel smiling. "Issachar, this must be done +or----" + +"Or what, Prince?" + +"I will not leave the city. It is true that Sakon may thrust me from it, +but it shall be as a dead man. Nay, waste no words, since she desires +it; I must and will meet the Lady Elissa for the last time, not as lover +meets lover, but as those meet who part for ever in the world." + +"You say so, Prince; then have I your permission to accompany you?" + +"Yes, if you wish it, Issachar; but there is danger." + +"Danger! What care I for danger? The will of Heaven be done to me. So be +it, we will go together, but the end of it is not with us." + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE TRYST + +Two days had gone by, and at the appointed hour three figures, wrapped +in dark cloaks, might have been seen walking swiftly towards the little +entrance of the temple fortress. Although it was near to midnight the +city was still astir with men, for this very evening news had reached +it that Ithobal was advancing at the head of tens of thousands of the +warriors of the Tribes. More, it was rumoured freely that within the +next few days the siege of Zimboe would begin. Late as it was, the +council had been just summoned to the palace of Sakon to consider the +conduct of the defence, while in every street stood knots of men +engaged in anxious discussion, and from many a smithy rose the sound +of armourers at their work. Here marched parties of soldiers of various +races, there came long strings of mules laden with dried flesh and +grain; yonder a woman beat her breast, and wept loudly because her three +sons had been impressed by order of the council, two of them to serve as +archers and the third to carry blocks of stone for the fortifications. + +Passing unnoticed through all this crowd and tumult, Aziel, Issachar +and Metem entered a winding passage in the temple wall, and came to the +little gate. Metem tried it, and whispered:-- + +"She has kept her word; it is unlocked. Now enter to your love-tryst, +holy Issachar." + +"Do you not come with us?" asked the Levite. + +"No, I am too old for such adventures. Listen, I go to make ready. +Within an hour the mules with the prince's bodyguard will stand in the +archway near the small gate of the palace, for by now the baggage and +its escort await us a day's march from this accursed city. Will you meet +me there? No; I think it is best that I should come to your chambers to +fetch you, and, I pray you, let there be no delay, for it is dangerous +in many ways. When once the prince has done with his tender interview, +and wiped away his tears, there should be nothing to stay him, since the +farewell cup with Sakon has been already drunk. Enter now swiftly before +some prowling priest happens upon you, and pray that you may come out +as sound as you go in. Oh! what a sight! A prince of Israel and an aged +Levite of established reputation going to keep a tryst at midnight with +the high-priestess of Baaltis in the sanctuary of her god! Nay, answer +not; there is no time"--and he was gone. + +***** + +Having passed the gate, Aziel and Issachar crept down the winding +passages of stone, groping their path by such light as fell from the +narrow line of sky above them, till at length they reached the court of +the sanctuary. Here the place was as silent as death, for the noise from +the city without could not pierce its towering walls of massive granite. + +"It is the very pit of Tophet," murmured Issachar, peering through +the dense shadows, "the house of Beelzebub, where his presence dwells. +Whither now, Aziel?" + +The prince pointed to two objects that were visible in the starlight, +and answered:-- + +"Thither, at the foot of the pillar of El." + +"Ah! I remember," said Issachar, "where the accursed woman would have +offered sacrifice, and the priests struck me down because I prophesied +to them of the wrath to come, and that is now at hand. An ill-omened +spot, indeed, and an ill-omened tryst with the fiends for witnesses. +Well, lead on, and I pray you to be brief as may be, for this place +weighs down my soul, and I feel danger in it--danger to the body and the +spirit." + +So they went forward. "Be careful," whispered Aziel presently. "The pit +of sacrifice is at your feet." + +"Yes, yes," he answered, "we walk upon the edge of the pit, and, in +truth, I grow fearful, for at the threshold of such places the angel of +the Lord deserts us." + +"There is nothing to fear," said Aziel. But even as he spoke, although +he could not see it, a white face rose above the edge of the pit, like +that of some ghost struggling from the tomb, watched them a moment with +cold eyes, then disappeared again. + +Now they were near the greater pillar, and now from its shadow glided a +black-veiled shape. + +"Elissa?" murmured Aziel. + +"It is I," whispered a soft voice; "but who comes with you?" + +"I, Issachar," said the Levite, "who would not suffer that he of whom I +am given charge should seek such company alone. Now, priestess, say +your say with the prince yonder and let us be gone swiftly from this +blood-stained place." + +"You speak harsh words to me, Issachar," she said gently, "yet I am most +glad that you have come, for, believe me, I sought no lovers' meeting +with the prince Aziel. Listen, both of you: you know that they have +consecrated me high-priestess of Baaltis against my will. Now, I tell +you, Issachar, what I have already told the prince Aziel--that I am no +longer a worshipper of Baaltis. Yes, here in her very temple I renounce +her, even though she takes my life in vengeance. Oh! since they made me +priestess I have been forced to learn all her worship, which before I +never even guessed, and to see sights that would chill your blood to +hear of them. Now I tell you, prince Aziel and Issachar, that I will +bear no more. From El and Baaltis I turn to Him you worship, though, +alas! little time is left to me in which to plead for pardon." + +"Why is little time left?" broke in Aziel. + +"Because my death is very near me, Prince, for if I live, see what a +fate is mine. Either I must remain high-priestess of Baaltis and to +her day by day bow the knee, and month by month make sacrifice--of what +think you? Well, to be plain, of the blood of maids and children. Or, +perhaps, should their fears overcome their scruples, I shall be given by +the council as a peace-offering to Ithobal. + +"I say that I will bear neither of these burdens of blood or shame; they +are too heavy for me. Prince, so soon as you are gone I too shall leave +this city, not in the body, but in the spirit, searching for peace +or sleep. It was for this reason that I sought to speak with you in +farewell, since in my weakness I desired that you should learn the truth +of the cause and manner of my end. + +"Now you know all, and as for me there is no escape, farewell for ever, +prince Aziel, whom I have loved, and whom I can scarcely hope to meet +again, even beyond the grave." Then with a little despairing motion of +her hand she turned to go. + +"Stay," said Aziel hoarsely, "we cannot be parted thus; since by your +own act you can dare to leave the world, will you not dare to fly this +place with me?" + +"Perhaps, Prince," she answered with a little laugh, "but would you dare +to take me, and if so, would Issachar here suffer it? No, no; go your +own path in life, and leave me death--it is the easier way." + +"In this matter I am master and not Issachar," said Aziel, "though it be +true that should it please him, he can warn the priests of El. Listen, +Elissa: either you leave this city with me, or I stay in it with you. +You hear me, Issachar?" + +"I hear you," said the Levite, "but perchance before you throw more +sharp words at my head, you will suffer me to speak. Self-murder is a +crime, yet I honour this woman who would shed her own blood, rather than +the blood of the innocent in sacrifice to Baal, and who refuses to be +given in marriage to one she hates; who, moreover, has found strength +and grace to trample on her devil-worship, if so in truth she has. If +therefore she will come with us and we can escape with her, why, let her +come. Only swear to me, Aziel, that you will make no wife of her till +the king, your grandsire, has heard this tale and given judgment on it." + +"That I will swear for him," exclaimed Elissa; "is it not so, Aziel?" + +"As you will, lady," he answered. "Issachar, you have my word that until +then she shall be as my sister, and no more." + +"I hear and I believe you," said Issachar, adding: "And now, lady, we go +at once, so if you desire to accompany us, come." + +"I am ready," she replied, "and the hour is well chosen for I shall not +be missed till dawn." + +So they turned and left the temple. None stayed or hindered them, yet +although they reached the chambers of Aziel in safety, their hearts, +which should have been light, were still heavy with the presage of new +sorrow to come. + +Scarcely could they have been heavier, indeed, had they seen a +white-faced woman creep from the pit of death and follow them stealthily +till they had passed from the temple into the palace doors, then turn +and run at full speed towards the college of the priests of El. + +In the chamber of Aziel they found Metem. + +"I rejoice to see you back again in safety, since it is more than I +thought to do," he said, while they entered, adding, as the black-veiled +shape of Elissa followed them into the room, "but who is the third? Ah! +I see, the lady Elissa. Does the Baaltis accompany us upon our journey?" + +"Yes," answered Aziel shortly. + +"Then with her high Grace on the one side and the holy Issachar on the +other it should not lack for blessings. Surely that evil must be great +from which, separately or together, they are unable to defend us. But, +lady, if I may ask it, have you bid farewell to your most honoured +father?" + +"Torment me not," murmured Elissa. + +"Indeed, I did not wish to, though you may remember that not so long ago +you threatened to silence me for ever. Well, doubtless your departure +is too hurried for farewells, and, fortunately, foreseeing it, I have +provided spare mules. So my deeds are kinder than my words. I go to see +that all is prepared. Now eat before you start; presently I will return +for you," and he left the chamber. + +When he had gone they gathered round the table on which stood food, +but could touch little of it; for the hearts of all three of them +were filled with sad forebodings. Soon they heard a noise as of people +talking excitedly outside the palace gates. + +"It is Metem with the mules," said Aziel. + +"I hope so," answered Elissa. + +Again there was silence, which, after a while, was broken by a loud +knocking at the door. + +"Rise," said Aziel, "Metem comes for us." + +"No, no," cried Elissa, "it is Doom that knocks, not Metem." + +As the words passed her lips the door was burst open, and through it +poured a mob of armed priests, at the head of whom marched the Shadid. +By his side was his daughter Mesa, in whose pale face the eyes burned +like torches in a wind. + +"Did I not tell you so?" she said in a shrill voice, pointing at the +three. "Behold the Lady Baaltis and her lover, and with them that priest +of a false faith who called down curses upon our city." + +"You told us indeed, daughter," answered the Shadid; "pardon us if we +were loth to believe that such a thing could be." Then with a cry of +rage he added, "Take them." + +Now Aziel drew his sword, and sprang in front of Elissa to protect her, +but before he could strike a blow it was seized from behind, and he was +gripped by many hands, gagged, bound and blindfolded. Then like a man +in a dream he felt himself carried away through long passages, till +at length he reached an airless place, where the gag and bandages were +removed. + +"Where am I?" Aziel asked. + +"In the vaults of the temple," answered the priests as they left the +prison, barring its great door behind them. + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE SACRILEGE OF AZIEL + +How long he lay in his dungeon, lost in bitter thought and tormented by +fears for Elissa, Aziel could not tell, for no light came there to +mark the passage of the hours. In the tumult of his mind, one terrible +thought grew clear and ever clearer; he and Elissa had been taken +red-handed, and must pay the price of their sin against the religious +customs of the city. For the Baaltis to be found with any man who was +not her husband meant death to him and her, a doom from which there was +little chance of escape. + +Well, to his own fate he was almost indifferent, but for Elissa and +Issachar he mourned bitterly. Truly the Levite and Metem had been wise +when they cautioned him, for her sake and his own, to have nothing to do +with a priestess of Baal. But he had not listened; his heart would +not let him listen--and now, unless they were saved by a miracle--or +Metem--in the fulness of their youth and love, the lives of both of them +were forfeited. + +Worn out with sore fears and vain regrets Aziel fell at length into a +heavy sleep. He was awakened by the opening of the door of his dungeon, +and the entry of priests--grim, silent men who seized and blindfolded +him. Then they led him away up many stairs, and along paths so steep +that from time to time they paused to rest, till at length he knew, by +the sound of voices, that he had reached some place where people were +assembled. Here the bandage was removed from his eyes. He stepped +backwards, recoiling involuntarily at the glare of light that poured +upon him from the setting sun, whereon, uttering an exclamation, those +who stood near seized and held him. Presently he saw the reason. He was +standing on the brink of a precipice at the back of and dominating the +dim and shadow-clad city, while far beneath him lay a gloomy rift along +which ran the trade road to the coast. + +Here in this dizzy spot was a wide space of rock, walled in upon three +sides. The precipice formed the fourth side of its square, in which, +seated upon stones that seemed to have been set there in semi-circles to +serve as judgment chairs, were gathered the head priests and priestesses +of El and Baaltis, clad in their sacerdotal robes. To the right and left +of these stood knots of favoured spectators, among whom Aziel recognised +Metem and Sakon, while at his side, but separated from him by armed +priests, were Elissa herself, wrapped in a dark veil, and Issachar. +Lastly, in front of him, a fire flickered upon a little altar, and +behind the altar stood a shrine containing a symbolical effigy of +Baaltis fashioned of gold, ivory and wood to the shape of a woman with a +hundred breasts. + +Seeing all this, Aziel understood that they three had been brought here +for trial, and that the priests and priestesses before him were their +judges. Indeed, he remembered that the place had been pointed out to him +as one where those who had offended against the gods were carried for +judgment. Thence, if found guilty, such unfortunates were hurled down +the face of the precipice and left, a shapeless mass of broken bone, to +crumble on the roadway at its foot. + +After a long and solemn pause, at a sign from the Shadid, he who had +been the husband of the dead Baaltis, the veil was removed from Elissa. +At once she turned, looked at Aziel, and smiled sadly. + +"Do you know the fate that waits us?" the prince asked of Issachar in +Hebrew. + +"I know, and I am ready," answered the old Levite, "for since my soul is +safe I care little what these dogs may do to my body. But, oh! my son, +I weep for you, and cursed be the hour when first you saw that woman's +face." + +"Spare to reproach me in my misfortune," murmured Elissa; "have I not +enough to bear, knowing that I have brought death upon him I love? Oh! +curse me not, but pray that my sins may be forgiven me." + +"That I will do gladly, daughter," replied Issachar more gently, "the +more so that, although you seem to be the cause of them, these things +can have happened only by the will of Heaven. Therefore I was wrong to +revile you, and I ask your pardon." + +Before she could answer the Shadid commanded silence. At the same moment +the woman Mesa stepped from behind the effigy of the goddess on the +shrine. + +"Who are you and what do you here?" asked the Shadid, as though he did +not know her. + +"I am Mesa, the daughter of her who was the lady Baaltis," she answered, +"and my rank is that of Mother of the priestesses of Baaltis. I appear +to give true evidence against her, who is the anointed Baaltis, against +the Israelitish stranger named Aziel, and the priest of the Lord of the +Jews." + +"Lay your hand upon the altar and speak, but beware what you speak," +said the Shadid. + +Mesa bowed her head, took the oath of truth by touching the altar with +her fingers, and began:-- + +"From the time that she was appointed I have been suspicious of the lady +Baaltis." + +"Why were you suspicious?" asked the Shadid. + +The witness let her eyes wander towards Metem, then hesitated. Evidently +for some reason of her own she did not wish to implicate him. + +"I was suspicious," she answered, "because of certain words that came +from the lips of the Baaltis, when she had been thrown into the holy +trance before the fire of sacrifice. As is my accustomed part, I bent +over her to hear and to announce the message of the gods, but in place +of the hallowed words there issued babblings about this Hebrew stranger +and of a meeting to be held with him at one hour before moonrise by +the pillar of El in the courtyard of the temple. Thereafter for several +nights as was my duty I hid myself in the pit of offerings in the +courtyard and watched. Last night at an hour before the moonrise the +Lady Baaltis came disguised by the secret way and waited at the pillar, +where presently she was joined by the Jew Aziel and the Levite, who +spoke with her. + +"What they said I could not hear, because they were too far from me, but +at length they left the temple and I traced them to the chambers of the +Jew Aziel, in the palace of Sakon. Then, Shadid, I warned you, and the +priests and you accompanied me and took them. Now, as Mother of the +priestesses, I demand that justice be done upon these wicked ones, +according to the ancient custom, lest the curse of Baaltis should fall +upon this city." + +When she had finished her evidence, with a cold stare of triumphant hate +at her rival, Mesa stepped to one side. + +"You have heard," said the Shadid addressing his fellow-judges. "Do you +need further testimony? If so, it must be brief, for the sun sinks." + +"Nay," answered the spokesman, "for with you we took the three of them +together in the chamber of the prince Aziel. Set out the law of this +matter, O Judge, and let justice be done according to the strict letter +of the law--justice without fear or favour." + +"Hearken," said the Shadid. "Last night this woman Elissa, the daughter +of Sakon, being the lady Baaltis duly elected, met men secretly in +the courts of the temple and accompanied them, or one of them, to the +chamber of Aziel, a prince of Israel, the guest of Sakon. Whether or no +she was about to fly with him from the city which he should have left +last night, we cannot tell, and it is needless to inquire, at least she +was with him. This, however, is sure, that they did not sin in ignorance +of our law, since with my own mouth I warned them both that if the +lady Baaltis consorts with any man not her husband duly named by her +according to her right, she must die and her accomplice with her. +Therefore, Aziel the Israelite, we give you to death, dooming you +presently to be hurled from the edge of yonder precipice." + +"I am in your power," said the prince proudly, "and you can murder if +you will, because, forsooth, I have offended against some law of Baal, +but I tell you, priest, that there are kings in Jerusalem and Egypt who +will demand my blood at your hands. I have nothing more to say except to +beseech you to spare the life of the lady Elissa, since the fault of the +meeting was not hers, but mine." + +"Prince," answered the Shadid gravely, "we know your rank and we know +also that your blood will be required at our hands, but we who serve our +gods, whose vengeance is so swift and terrible, cannot betray their law +for the fear of any earthly kings. Yet, thus says this same law, it is +not needful that you should die since for you there is a way of escape +that leads to safety and great honour, and she who was the cause of your +sin is the mistress of its gate. Elissa, holder of the spirit of Baaltis +upon earth, if it be your pleasure to name this man husband before us +all, then as the spouse of Baaltis he goes free, for he whom the Baaltis +chooses cannot refuse her gift of love, but for so long as she shall +live must rule with her as Shadid of El. But if you name him not, then +as I have said, he must die, and now. Speak." + +"It seems that my choice is small," said Elissa with a faint smile. +"Praying you to pardon me for the deed, to save your life, prince Aziel, +according to the ancient custom and privilege of the Baaltis, I name you +consort and husband." + +Now Aziel was about to answer her when the Shadid broke in hurriedly, +"So be it," he said. "Lady, we hear your choice, and we accept it as we +must, but not yet, prince Aziel, can you take your wife and with her my +place and power. Your life is safe indeed, for since the Baaltis, being +unwed, names you as her mate, you have done no sin. Yet she has sinned +and doom awaits her, for against the law she has chosen as husband one +who worships a strange god, and of all crimes that is the greatest. +Therefore, either you must take incense and before us all make offering +to El and Baaltis upon yonder altar, thus renouncing your faith and +entering into ours, or she must die and you, your rank having passed +from you with her breath, will be expelled from the city." + +Now Aziel understood the trap that had been laid for him, and saw in it +the handiwork of Sakon and Metem. Elissa having flagrantly violated the +religious law, and he, being the cause of her crime, even the authority +of the governor of the city could not prevent his daughter and his +guest from being put upon their trial. Therefore, they had arranged this +farce, for so it would seem to them, whereby both the offenders might +escape the legal consequences of their offence, trusting, doubtless, to +accident and the future to unravel this web of forced marriage, and to +free Aziel from a priestly rank which he had not sought. It was only +necessary that Elissa should formally choose him as her husband, and +that Aziel should go through rite of throwing a few grains of incense +upon an altar, and, the law satisfied, they would be both free and safe. +What Metem, and those who worked with him, had forgotten was, that this +offering of incense to Baal would be the most deadly of crimes in the +eyes of any faithful Jew--one, indeed, which, were he alone concerned, +he would die rather than commit. + +When the prince heard this decree, and the full terror of the choice +came home to his mind, his blood turned cold, and for a while his senses +were bewildered. There was no escape for him; either he must abjure his +faith at the price of his own soul, or, because of it, the woman whom +he loved, now, before his eyes, must suffer a most horrible and sudden +death. It was hideous to think of, and yet how could he do this sin in +the face of heaven and of these ministers of Satan? + +The moment was at hand; a priest held out to him a bowl of incense, a +golden bowl, he noticed idly, with handles of green stone fashioned in +the likeness of Baaltis, whose servant he was asked to declare himself. +He, Aziel of the royal house of Israel, a servant of Baal and Baaltis, +nay, a high-priest of their worship! It was monstrous, it might not be. +But Elissa? Well, she must die--if this was not a farce, and in truth +they meant to murder her; her life could not be bought at such a price. + +"I cannot do it," he gasped with dry lips, thrusting aside the bowl. + +Now all looked astonished, for his refusal had not been foreseen. +There was a pause, and once more the woman Mesa, in her character of +prosecutrix on behalf of the outraged gods, appeared before the altar, +and said in her cold voice: + +"The Jew whom the lady Baaltis has chosen as husband will not do homage +to her gods. Therefore, as Mother of the priestesses and Advocate of +Baaltis, I demand that Elissa, daughter of Sakon, be put to death, and +the throne of Baaltis be purged of one who has defiled it, lest the +swift and terrible vengeance of the goddess should fall upon this city." + +The Shadid motioned to her to be silent, and addressed Aziel:-- + +"We pray you to think a while," he said, "before you give one to death +whose only sin is that, being the high-priestess of our worship, she has +named an unbeliever to fill the throne of El and be her husband. Out of +pity for her fate we give you time to think." + +Now Sakon, taking advantage of the pause, rushed forward, and throwing +his arms about Aziel's knees, implored him in heart-breaking accents +to preserve his only child from so horrible a doom. He said that did he +refuse to save her because of his religious scruples, he would be a dog +and a coward, and the scorn of all honest men for ever. It was for love +of him that she had broken the priestly law, to violate which was death, +and although he had been warned of her danger, yet in his wickedness and +folly he had brought her to this pass. Would he then desert her now? + +But Issachar thrust him aside, and broke in with fiery words:-- + +"Hearken not to this man, Aziel," he said, "who strives to work upon +your weakness to the ruin of your soul. What! To save the life of one +woman, whose fair face has brought so much trouble upon us all, would +you deny your Lord and become the thrall of Baal and Ashtoreth? Let her +die since die she must, and keep your own heart pure, for be assured, +should you do otherwise, Jehovah, whom you renounce, will swiftly be +avenged on you and her. At the beginning I warned you, and you would not +listen. Now, Aziel, I warn you again, and woe! woe! woe! to you should +you shut your ears to my message." Then lifting his hands towards the +skies, he began to pray aloud that Aziel might be constant in his trial. + +Meanwhile, Metem, who had drawn near, spoke in a low voice:-- + +"Prince," he said, "I am not chicken-hearted, and there are so many +young women in the world that one more or less can scarcely matter; +still, although she threatened to murder me three days ago, I cannot +bear to see this one come to so dreadful a death. Prince, do not heed +the howlings of that old fanatic, but remember that after all you are +the cause of this lady's plight, and play the part of a man. Can you for +the sake of your own scruples, however worthy, or of your own soul even, +however valuable to yourself, doom the fair body of a woman who risked +all for you to such an end as that?" And shuddering he nodded towards +the gloomy precipice. + +"Is there no other way?" Aziel asked him. + +"None, I swear it. They did not wish to kill her, except that wild-cat +Mesa who seeks her place, but having put her on her public trial, if you +persist--they must. + +"This is one of the few laws which cannot be broken for favour or for +gold, since the people, who are already half-mad with fear of Ithobal, +believe that to break it would bring the curses of heaven upon their +city. Perhaps we might have found some other plan, but none of us even +dreamed that you would refuse so small a thing for the sake of a woman +whom you swore you loved." + +"A small thing!" broke in Aziel. + +"Yes, Prince, a very small thing. Remember, this offering of incense is +but a form to which you are forced against your will--you can do penance +for it afterwards when I have arranged for both of you to escape the +city. If your God can be angry with you for burning a pinch of dust +to save a woman, who at the least has dared much for you, then give me +Baal, for he is less cruel." + +Now Aziel looked towards him who held the bowl of incense. But Elissa +who all this while had stood silent, stepped forward and spoke:-- + +"Prince Aziel," she said in a calm and quiet voice, "I named you husband +to save your life, but with all my strength I pray of you, do not this +thing to save mine, which is of little value and perhaps best ended. +Remember, prince Aziel, that being what you are, a Jew, this act of +offering, however small it seems, is yet the greatest of sins, and one +with which you should not dare to stain your soul for the sake of a +woman, who has chanced to love you to your sorrow. Be guided, therefore, +by the true wisdom of Issachar and by my humble prayer. Make an end of +your doubts and let me die, knowing that we do but part a while, since +in the Gate of Death I shall wait for you, prince Aziel." + +Before Aziel could answer, the Shadid, either because his patience was +outworn, or because he wished to put him to a sharper trial, uttered a +command. "Be it done to her as she desires." + +Thereon four priests seized Elissa by the wrists and ankles. Carrying +her to the edge of the precipice, they thrust her back till she hung +over it, her long hair streaming downwards, and the red light of the +sunset shining upon her upturned ghastly face. Then they paused, waiting +for the signal to let her go. The Shadid raised his wand and said:-- + +"Is it your pleasure that this woman should die or live, prince Aziel? +Decide swiftly, for my arm is weak, and when the wand falls opportunity +for choice will have passed from you." + +Now all eyes were fixed upon the wand, and the intense silence was only +broken by Sakon's cry of despair. Metem wrung his hands in grief; even +Issachar veiled his eyes with his robe, to shut out the sight of dread, +and the priest, who bore the bowl of incense, thrust it towards Aziel +imploringly. + +For some seconds, three perhaps, though to him they seemed an age, the +heart of Aziel was racked and torn in this terrific contest. Then he +glanced at the agonized face of the doomed woman, and just as the wand +began to bend, his human love and pity conquered. + +"May He Whom I blaspheme forgive me," he murmured, adding aloud, "I will +do sacrifice." Taking the incense in his hand now he cast it into the +flames upon the altar, repeating mechanically after the Shadid: "By this +sacrifice and homage, body and soul I give myself to you and worship +you, El and Baaltis, the only true gods." + +***** + +The echo of Aziel's voice died away, and the fumes of the incense rose +in a straight dense column upon that quiet air. To his tormented mind, +it seemed as though its smoke took the form of an avenging angel, +holding in the hand a sword of flame, wherewith to drive away his +perjured soul from Heaven, as our first forefathers were driven from +the shining gates of paradise. Yes, and they were not human, those +spectators who, in the intense glow of the sunset, stood in their still +ranks and stared at him with wide and eager eyes. Surely they were +fiends red with the blood of men, fiends gathered from the Pit to bear +everlasting witness to the unpardonable sin of his apostasy. + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE MARTYRDOM OF ISSACHAR + +It was done, and from the mouths of the circle of priests and +priestesses leapt a shrill and sudden cry of triumph. For had not their +gods conquered? Had not this high-placed servant of the hated Lord of +Israel been caught by the bait of a priestess of Baaltis, and seduced by +her distress to deny and reject Him? Was not evil once more triumphant, +and must not they, its ministers, rejoice? + +Again the Shadid raised his wand and they were silent. + +"Brother you have, indeed, done well and wisely," he said, addressing +Aziel. "Now take to wife the divine lady who has chosen you," and he +pointed to Elissa, who lay prostrated on the rock. "Yes, take her and +be happy in her love, sitting in my seat, which henceforth is yours, as +ruler of the priests of El and master of their mysteries, forgetting the +follies of your former faith, and spitting on its altars. Hail to you, +Shadid, Lord of the Baaltis and chosen of El! Take him, you priests, +and with him the divine lady, his wife, to bear them in triumph to their +high house." + +"What of the Levite?" asked the woman Mesa. + +The Shadid glanced at Issachar, who all this while had stood like one +stricken to the soul, woe stamped upon his face, and a stare of horror +in his eyes. "Jew," he said, "I had forgotten you, but you also are on +your trial, who dared against the law to hold secret meeting with the +lady Baaltis. For this sin the punishment is death, nor, as I think, +would any woman name you husband to save you. Still in this hour of joy +we will be merciful; therefore do as your master did, cast incense on +the altar, uttering the appointed words, and go your way." + +"Before I make my offering on yonder altar according to your command, +I have indeed some words to say, O priest of El," answered Issachar +quietly, but in a voice that chilled the blood of those who listened. + +"First, I address myself to you, Aziel, and to you, woman," and he +pointed to Elissa, who had risen, and leaned, trembling, upon her +father. "My dream is fulfilled. Aziel, you have sinned indeed, and must +bear the appointed punishment of your sin. Yet hear a message of mercy +spoken through my lips: Because you have sinned through love and pity, +your offence is not unto death. Still shall you sorrow for it all your +life's days, and in desolation of heart and bitterness of soul shall +creep back to the feet of Him you have forsworn. + +"Woman, your spirit is noble and your feet are set in the way of +righteousness, yet through you has this offence come. Therefore your +love shall bear no fruit, nor shall the blasphemy of your beloved save +your flesh from doom. Upon this earth there is no hope for you, daughter +of Sakon; set your eyes beyond it, for there alone is hope. + +"Yonder she stands who swore our lives away?" and he fixed his burning +gaze on Mesa. "Priestess, you plotted this that you might succeed to the +throne of Baaltis; now hear your fate: You shall live to sweep the +huts and bear the babes of savages. You, priest," and he pointed to the +Shadid, "I read your heart; you design to murder this apostate whom you +greet as your successor that you may usurp his place. I show you yours: +it lies in the bellies of the jackals of the desert. + +"For you priests and priestesses of El and Baaltis, think of my words, +and raise the loud song of triumph to your gods when you yourselves are +their offering, and the red flame of the fire burns you up, all of you +save your sins, which are immortal. O citizens of an accursed city, look +on the hill-top yonder and tell me, what do you see in the light of the +dying day? A sheen of spears, is it not? They draw near to your hearts, +you whose day is done indeed, citizens of an accursed city whereof the +very name shall be forgotten, and the naked towers shall become but a +source of wonder to men unborn. + +"And now, O priest, having said my say, as you bid me, I make my +offering upon your altar." + +Then, while all stood fearful and amazed, Issachar the Levite sprang +forward, and seizing the ancient image of Baaltis, he spat upon it and +dashed the priceless consecrated thing down upon the altar, where it +broke into fragments, and was burned with the fire. + +"My offering is made," he said; "may He whom I serve accept it. Now +after the offering comes the sacrifice; son Aziel, fare you well." + +***** + +For a few moments a silence of horror and dismay fell upon the assembly +as they gazed at the shattered and burning fragments of their holy +image. Then moved by a common impulse, with curses and yells of +fury, the priests and priestesses sprang from their seats and hurled +themselves upon Issachar, who stood awaiting them with folded arms. They +smote him with their ivory rods, they rent and tore him with their hands +and teeth, worrying him as dogs worry a fox of the hills, till at length +the life was beaten and trampled out of him and he lay dead. + +Thus terribly, but yet by such a death of martyrdom as he would have +chosen, perished Issachar the Levite. + +Unarmed though he was, Aziel had sprung to his aid, but Metem and +Sakon, knowing that he would but bring about his own destruction, flung +themselves upon him and held him back. Whilst he was still struggling +with them the end came, and Issachar grew still for ever. Then, as the +sun sank and the darkness fell, Aziel's strength left him, and presently +he slipped to the ground senseless. + +***** + +Thereafter it seemed to Aziel that he was plunged in an endless and +dreadful dream, and that through its turmoil and shifting visions, he +could see continually the dreadful death of Issachar, and hear his stern +accents prophesying woe to him who renounces the God of his forefathers +to bow the knee to Baal. + +At length he awoke from that horror-haunted sleep to find himself lying +in a strange chamber. It was night, and lamps burned in the chamber, +and by their light he saw a man whose face he knew mixing a draught in +a glass phial. So weak was he that at first he could not remember the +man's name, then by slow degrees it came to him. + +"Metem," he said, "where am I?" + +The Phoenician looked up from his task, smiled, and answered:-- + +"Where you should be, Prince, in your own house, the palace of the +Shadid. But you must not speak, for you have been ill; drink this and +sleep." + +Aziel swallowed the draught and was instantly overcome by slumber. When +he awoke the sun was shining brightly through the window place, and its +rays fell upon the shrewd, kindly face of Metem, who, seated on a stool, +watched him, his chin resting in his hand. + +"Tell me all that has befallen, friend," said Aziel presently, +"since----" and he shuddered. + +"Since you were married after a new fashion and that bigoted but most +honourable fool, Issachar, went to his reward. Well, I will when you +have eaten," answered Metem as he gave him food. "First," he said, after +a while, "you have lain here for three days raving in a fever, nursed +by myself and visited by your wife the lady Baaltis, whenever she could +escape from her religious duties----" + +"Elissa! Has she been here?" asked Aziel. + +"Calm yourself, Prince, certainly she has, and, what is more, she +will be back soon. Secondly: Ithobal has been as good as his word, +and invests the city with a vast army, cutting off all supplies and +possibilities of escape. It is believed that he will try an assault +within the next week, which many think may be successful. Thirdly: to +avoid this risk it is rumoured that the priests and priestesses, at the +instance of the council, are discussing the wisdom of giving over to +the king the person of the daughter of Sakon. This, it is said, could be +done on the plea that her election as the lady Baaltis was brought about +with bribery, and is, therefore, void, as she was not chosen by the pure +and unassisted will of the goddess." + +"But," said Aziel, "she is my wife according to their religious law; how +then can she be given in marriage to another?" + +"Nay, Prince, if she is not the lady Baaltis your husbandship falls to +the ground with the rest, for you are not the Shadid, an office with +which perchance you can dispense. But all this priestly juggling means +little, the truth being that the city in its terror is ready to throw +her--or for the matter of that, Baaltis herself if they could lay hands +on her--as a sop to Ithobal, hoping thereby to appease his rage. The +lady Elissa knows her danger--but here she comes to speak for herself." + +As he spoke the curtains at the end of the chamber were drawn, and +through them came Elissa, clad in her splendid robes of office and +wearing upon her brow the golden crescent of the moon. + +"How goes it with the prince, Metem?" she asked in her soft voice, +glancing anxiously towards the couch which was half-hidden in the shadow +of the wall. + +"Look for yourself, lady," answered the Phoenician bowing before her. + +"Elissa, Elissa!" cried Aziel, raising himself and opening his arms. + +She saw and heard, then, with a low cry, she ran swiftly to him and was +wrapped in his embrace. Thus they stayed a while, murmuring words of +love and greeting. + +"Is it your pleasure that I should leave you?" asked Metem presently. +"No? Then, Prince, I would have you remember that you are still very +weak and should not give way to violent emotions." + +"Listen, Aziel," said Elissa, untwining his arms from about her neck, +"there is no time for tenderness; moreover, you should show none to one +who, in name at least, is still the high-priestess of Baaltis, though +in truth she worships her no longer. It was noble of you indeed to offer +incense upon the altar of El that my life might be saved. But when I +prayed you not, I spoke from the heart, and bitterly, bitterly do I +grieve that for my sake you should have stained your hands with such +a sin. Moreover, it will avail nothing, for the doom of the prophet +Issachar lies upon us, and I cannot escape from death, neither can you +escape remorse, and as I think, that worst of all desires--the desire +for the dead." + +"Can we not still flee the city?" asked Aziel. + +"Metem will tell you that it is impossible; day and night I am watched +and guarded, yes, Mesa dogs me from door to door. Also Ithobal holds +Zimboe so firmly in his net that no sparrow could fly out of it and he +not know. And there is worse to tell: Beloved, they purpose to give me +up as a peace-offering to Ithobal. Yes, even my father is of the plot, +for in his despair he thinks it his duty to sacrifice his daughter to +save the town, if, indeed, that will suffice to save us." + +"But you are the Baaltis and inviolate." + +"In such a time the goddess herself would not be held inviolate in +Zimboe, much less her priestess, Aziel. I have discovered that this very +night they have laid their plans to seize me. Mesa and others have been +chosen for the deed, and afterwards they think to offer me as a bribe to +Ithobal, who will take no other price." + +Aziel groaned aloud: "It were better that we should die," he said. + +She nodded and answered: "It were better that _I_ should die. But hear +me, for I also have a plan, and there is still hope, though very little. +Perhaps, as you drew near to Zimboe by the coast road, you may have +noted three miles or more from the gates of the city, and almost +overhanging the path on which you travelled, a shoulder of the mountain +where the rock is cut away, showing the narrow entrance to a cave closed +with a gate of bronze?" + +"I saw it," answered Aziel, "and was told that there was the most sacred +burying-place of the city." + +"It is the tomb of the high-priestesses of Baaltis," went on Elissa, +"and this day at sunset I must visit it to lay an offering upon the +shrine of her who was the Baaltis before me, entering alone, and closing +the gate, for it is not lawful that any one should pass in there with +me. Now, the plan is to lay hands on me as I go back from the tomb +to the palace--but I shall not go back. Aziel, I shall stay in the +tomb--nay, do not fear--not dead. I have hidden food and water there, +enough for many days, and there with the departed I shall live--till I +am of their number." + +"But if so, how can it help you, Elissa, for they will break in the +gates of the place, and drag you away?" + +"Then, Aziel, they will drag away a corpse, and that they will scarcely +care to present to Ithobal. See, I have hidden poison in my breast, and +here at my girdle hangs a dagger; are not the two of them enough to make +an end of one frail life? Should they dare to touch me, I shall tell +them through the bars that most certainly I shall drink the bane, or use +the knife; and when they know it, they will leave me unharmed, hoping to +starve me out, or trusting to chance to snare me living." + +"You are bold," murmured Aziel in admiration, "but self-murder is a +sin." + +"It is a sin that I will dare, beloved, as in past days I would have +dared it for less cause, rather than be given alive into the hands of +Ithobal; for to whoever else I may be false, to you through life and +death I will be true." + +Now Aziel groaned in his doubt and bitterness of heart; then turning to +Metem, he asked:-- + +"Have you anything to say, Metem?" + +"Yes, Prince, two things," answered the Phoenician. "First, that the lady +Elissa is rash, indeed, to speak so openly before me who might carry her +words to the council or the priests." + +"Nay, Metem, I am not rash, for I know that, although you love money, +you will not betray me." + +"You are right, lady, I shall not, for money would be of little service +to me in a city that is about to be taken by storm. Also I hate Ithobal, +who threatened my life--as you did also, by the way--and will do my best +to keep you from his clutches. Now for my second point: it is that I can +see little use in all this because Ithobal, being defrauded of you, will +attack, and then----" + +"And then he may be beaten, Metem, for the citizens will at any rate +fight for their lives, and the Prince Aziel here, who is a general +skilled in war, will fight also if he has recovered strength----" + +"Do not fear, Elissa; give me two days, and I will fight to the death," +said Aziel. + +"At the least," she went on, "this scheme gives us breathing time, and +who knows but that fortune will turn. Or if it does not, since it is +impossible for me to escape from the city, I have no better." + +"No more have I," said Metem, "for at length the oldest fox comes to his +last double. I could escape from this city, or the prince might escape, +or the lady Elissa even might possibly escape disguised, but I am sure +that all three of us could not escape, seeing that within the walls we +are watched and without them the armies of Ithobal await us. Oh! prince +Aziel, I should have done well to go, as I might have gone when you and +Issachar were taken after that mad meeting in the temple, from which I +never looked for anything but ill; but I grow foolish in my old age, and +thought that I should like to see the last of you. Well, so far we are +all alive, except Issachar, who, although bigoted, was still the most +worthy of us, but how long we shall remain alive I cannot say. + +"Now our best chance is to defeat Ithobal if we can, and afterwards in +the confusion to fly from Zimboe and join our servants, to whom I have +sent word to await us in a secret place beyond the first range of hills. +If we cannot--why then we must go a little sooner than we expected to +find out who it is that really shapes the destinies of men, and whether +or no the sun and moon are the chariots of El and Baaltis. But, Prince, +you turn pale." + +"It is nothing," said Aziel, "bring me some water, the fever still burns +in me." + +Metem went to seek for water, while Elissa knelt by the couch and +pressed her lover's hand. + +"I dare stay no longer," she whispered, "and Aziel, I know not how or +when we shall meet again, but my heart is heavy, for, alas! I think that +doom draws near me. I have brought much sorrow upon you, Aziel, and yet +more upon myself, and I have given you nothing, except that most common +of all things, a woman's love." + +"That most perfect of all things," he answered, "which I am glad to have +lived to win." + +"Yes, but not at the price that you have paid for it. I know well what +it must have cost you to cast that incense on the flame, and I pray to +your God, who has become my God, to visit the sin of it on my head and +to leave yours unharmed. Aziel, Aziel! woman or spirit, while I have +life and memory, I am yours, and yours only; clean-handed I leave +you, and if we may meet again in this or in any other world, clean and +faithful I shall come to you again. Glad am I to have lived, because in +my life I have known you and you have sworn you love me. Glad shall I be +to live again if again I may know you and hear that oath--if not, it is +sleep I seek; for life without you to me would be a hell. You grow weak, +and I must go. Farewell, and living or dead, forget me not; swear that +you will not forget me." + +"I swear it," he answered faintly; "and Heaven grant that I may die for +you, not you for me." + +"That is no prayer of mine," she whispered; and, bending, kissed him on +the brow, for he was too weak to lift his lips to hers. + +Then she was gone. + + + +CHAPTER XV + +ELISSA TAKES SANCTUARY + +Two more hours had passed, and in the evening light a procession of +priestesses might be seen advancing slowly towards the holy tomb along +a narrow road of rock cut in the mountain face. In front of this +procession, wearing a black veil over her broidered robes, walked Elissa +with downcast eyes and hair unbound in token of grief, while behind +her came Mesa and other priestesses bearing in bowls of alabaster the +offerings to the dead, food and wine, and lamps of oil, and vases filled +with perfumes. Behind these again marched the mourners, women who sang +a funeral dirge and from time to time broke into a wail of simulated +grief. Nor, indeed, was their woe as hollow as might be thought, since +from that mountain path they could see the outposts of the army of +Ithobal upon the plain, and note with a shudder of fear the spear-heads +of his countless thousands shining in the gorges of the opposing +heights. It was not for the dead Baaltis that they mourned this day, but +for the fate which overshadowed them and their city of gold. + +"May the curse of all the gods fall on her," muttered one of the +priestesses as she toiled forward beneath her load of offerings; +"because she is beautiful and pettish, we must be put to the spear, or +become the wives of savages," and she pointed with her chin to Elissa, +who walked in front, lost in her own thoughts. + +"Have patience," answered Mesa at her side, "you know the plan--to-night +that proud girl and false priestess shall sleep in the camp of Ithobal." + +"Will he be satisfied with that," asked the woman, "and leave the city +in peace?" + +"They say so," answered Mesa with a laugh, "though it is strange that +a king should exchange spoil and glory for one round-eyed, thin-limbed +girl who loves his rival. Well, let us thank the gods that made men +foolish, and gave us women wit to profit by their folly. If he wants +her, let him take her, for few will be poorer by her loss." + +"You at least will be richer," said the other woman, "and by the crown +of Baaltis. Well, I do not grudge it you, and as for the daughter of +Sakon, she shall be Ithobal's if I take her to him limb by limb." + +"Nay, sister, that is not the bargain; remember she must be delivered to +him without hurt or blemish; otherwise we shall do sacrilege in vain. Be +silent, here is the cave." + +Reaching the platform in front of the tomb, the procession of mourners +ranged themselves about it in a semi-circle. They stood with their backs +to the edge of a cliff that rose sheer for sixty feet or more from the +plain beneath, across which, but at a little distance from the foot +of the precipice ran the road followed by the caravans of merchants +in their journeys to and from the coast. Then, a hymn having been sung +invoking the blessing of the gods on the dead priestess, Elissa, as the +Baaltis, unlocked the gates of bronze with a golden key that hung at her +girdle, and the bearers of the bowls of offerings pushed them into the +mouth of the tomb, whose threshold they were not allowed to pass. Next, +with bowed heads and hands crossed upon her breast, Elissa entered the +tomb, and locking the bronze gate behind her, took up two of the bowls +and vanished with them into its gloomy depths. + +"Why did she lock the gates?" asked a priestess of Mesa. "It is not +customary." + +"Doubtless because it was her pleasure to do so," answered Mesa sharply, +though she also wondered why Elissa had locked the gate. + +When an hour was gone by and Elissa had not returned, her wonder turned +to fear and doubt. + +"Call to the lady Baaltis," she said, "for her prayers are long, and I +fear lest she should have come to harm." + +So they called, setting heir lips against the bars of the gate till +presently, Elissa, holding a lamp in her hand, came and stood before +them. + +"Why do you disturb me in the sanctuary?" she asked. + +"Lady, because they set the night watch on the walls," answered Mesa, +"and it is time to return to the temple." + +"Return then," said Elissa, "and leave me in peace. What, you cannot, +Mesa? Nay, and shall I tell you why? Because you had plotted to deliver +me this night to those who should lead me as a peace-offering to +Ithobal, and when you come to them empty-handed they will greet you with +harsh words. Nay, do not trouble to deny it, Mesa. I also have my spies, +and know all the plan; and, therefore, I have taken sanctuary in this +holy place." + +Now Mesa pressed her thin lips together and answered:-- + +"Those who dare to lay hands upon the person of the living Baaltis will +not shrink from seeking her in the company of her dead sisters." + +"I know it, Mesa; but the gates are barred, and here I have food and +drink in plenty." + +"Gates, however strong, can be broken," answered the priestess, "so, +lady, do not wait till you are dragged hence like some discovered +slave." + +"Ay," replied Elissa, with a little laugh, "but what if rather than be +thus dishonoured, I should choose to break another gate, that of my own +life? Look, traitress, here is poison and here is bronze, and I swear to +you that should any lay a hand upon me, by one or other of them I will +die before their eyes. Then, if you will, bear these bones to Ithobal +and take his thanks for them. Now, begone, and give this message to +my father and to all those who have plotted with him, that since they +cannot bribe Ithobal with my beauty, they will do well to be men, and to +fight him with their swords." + +Then she turned and left them, vanishing into the darkness of the tomb. + +Great indeed was the dismay of the councillors of Zimboe and of the +priests who had plotted with them when, an hour later, Mesa came, not to +deliver Elissa into their hands, but to repeat to them her threats and +message. In vain did they appeal to Sakon, who only shook his head and +answered:-- + +"Of this I am sure, that what my daughter has threatened that she will +certainly do if you force her to the choice. But if you will not believe +me, go ask her and satisfy yourselves. I know well what she will answer +you, and I hold that this is a judgment upon us, who first made her +Baaltis against her will, then threatened her with death because of +the prince Aziel, and now would do sacrilege to her sacred office and +violence to herself by tearing her from her consecrated throne, breaking +her bond of marriage and delivering her to Ithobal." + +So the leaders of the councillors visited the holy tomb and reasoned +with Elissa through the bars. But they got no comfort from her, for she +spoke to them with the phial of poison in her bosom and the naked dagger +in her hand, telling them what she had told Mesa--that they had best +give up their plottings and fight Ithobal like men, seeing that even if +she surrendered herself to him, when he grew weary of her the war must +come at last. + +"For a hundred years," she added, "this storm has gathered, and now it +must burst. When it has rolled away it will be known who is master of +the land--the ancient city of Zimboe, or Ithobal king of the Tribes." + +So they went back as they had come, and next day at the dawn, with a +bold face but heavy hearts, received the messengers of king Ithobal, and +told them their tale. The messengers heard and laughed. + +"We are glad," they answered, "since we, who are not in love with the +daughter of Sakon, desire war and not peace, holding as we do that +the time has come when you upstart white men--you outlanders--who have +usurped our country to suck away its wealth should be set beneath our +heel. Nor do we think that the task will be difficult for surely we have +little to fear from a city of low money seekers whose councillors cannot +even conquer the will of a single maid." + +Then in their despair the elders offered other girls to Ithobal in +marriage, as many as he would, and with them a great bribe in money. But +the envoys took their leave, saying that nothing would avail since they +preferred spear-thrusts to gold, for which they had little use, and +Ithobal, their king, had fixed his fancy on one woman alone. + +So with a heavy and foreboding heart, the city of Zimboe prepared itself +to resist attack, for as they had guessed, when he learned all, the rage +of Ithobal was great. Nor would he listen to any terms that they could +offer save one which they had no power to grant--that Elissa should be +delivered unharmed into his hands. Councils of war were held, and to +these, so soon as he was sufficiently recovered from his sickness, +the prince Aziel was bidden, for he was known to be a skilled captain; +therefore, though he had been the cause of much of their trouble, they +sought his aid. Also, should the struggle be prolonged, they hoped +through him to win Israel, and perhaps Egypt, to their cause. + +Aziel's counsel was that they should sally out against the army of +Ithobal by night, since he expected to attack and not to be attacked, +but to that advice they would not listen, for they trusted to their +walls. Indeed, in this Metem supported them, and when the prince argued +with him, he answered:-- + +"Your tactics would be good enough, Prince, if you had at your back the +lions of Judah, or the wild Arab horsemen of the desert. But here you +must deal with men of my own breed, and we Phoenicians are traders, not +fighting men. Like rats, we fight only when there is no other chance for +our lives; nor do we strike the first blow. It is true that there are +some good soldiers in the city, but they are foreign mercenaries; and +as for the rest, half-breeds and freed slaves, they belong as much to +Ithobal as to Sakon, and are not to be trusted. No, no; let us stay +behind our walls, for they at least were built when men were honest and +will not betray us." + +Now in Zimboe were three lines of defence; first, that of a single wall +built about the huts of the slaves upon the plain, then that of a double +wall of stone with a ditch between thrown round the Phoenician city, and +lastly, the great fortress-temple and the rocky heights above. These, +guarded as they were by many strongholds within whose circle the cattle +were herded, as it was thought, could only be taken with the sword of +hunger. + + + +At last the storm burst, for on the fifth morning after Elissa had +barred herself within the tomb, Ithobal attacked the native town. +Uttering their wild battle-cries, tens of thousands of his savage +warriors, armed with great spears and shields of ox-hide, and wearing +crests of plumes upon their heads, charged down upon the outer wall. +Twice they were driven back, but the work was in bad repair and too long +to defend, so that at the third rush they flowed over it like lines of +marching ants, driving its defenders before them to the inner gates. +In this battle some were killed, but the most of the slaves threw down +their arms and went over to Ithobal, who spared them, together with +their wives and children. + +Through all the night that followed, the generals of Zimboe made ready +for the onslaught which must come. Everywhere within the circuit of the +inner wall troops were stationed, while the double southern gateway, +where prince Aziel was the captain in command, was built up with loose +blocks of stone. + +A while before the dawn, just as the eastern sky grew grey, Aziel, +watching from his post above the gate of the wall, heard the fierce +war-song of the Tribes swell suddenly from fifty thousand throats and +the measured tramp of their innumerable feet. Then the day broke, and he +saw them advancing in three armies towards the three points chosen for +attack, the largest of the armies, headed by Ithobal the king, directing +its march upon the walled gate of which he was in command. + +It was a wondrous and a fearful sight, that of these hordes of plumed +warriors, their broad spears flashing in the sunrise, and their fierce +faces alight with hereditary hate and the lust of slaughter. Never had +Aziel seen such a spectacle, nor could he look upon it without dreading +the issue of the war, for if they were savages, these foes were brave as +the lions of their own plains, and had sworn by the head of their king +to drag down the sheltering walls of Zimboe with their naked hands, or +die to the last man. + +Turning his head with a sigh of doubt, Aziel found Metem standing at his +side. + +"Have you seen her?" he asked eagerly. + +"No, Prince. How could I see her at night when she sits in a tomb like a +fox in his burrow? But I have heard her." + +"What did she say? Quick man, tell me." + +"But little, Prince, for the tomb is watched and I dared not stay there +long. She sent you her greetings and would have you know that her heart +will be with you in the battle, and her prayers beseech the throne of +Heaven for your safety. Also she said that she is well, though it is +lonesome there in the grave among the bodies of the dead priestesses +of Baaltis whose spirits, as she vows, haunt her dreams, reviling her +because she desecrates their sepulchre and has renounced their god." + +"Lonesome, indeed," said Aziel with a shudder; "but tell me, Metem, had +she no other word?" + +"Yes, Prince, but not of good omen, for now as always she is sure that +her doom is at hand, and that you two will meet no more. Still she +bade me tell you that all your life long her spirit shall companion you +though it be unseen, to receive you at the last on the threshold of the +underworld." + +Aziel turned his head away, and said presently:-- + +"If that be so, may it receive me soon." + +"Have no fear, Prince," replied Metem with a grim laugh, "look yonder," +and he pointed to the advancing hosts. + +"These walls are strong and we shall beat them back," said Aziel. + +"Nay, Prince, for strong walls do not avail without strong hearts to +guard them, and those of the womanish citizens of Zimboe and their hired +soldiers are white with fear. I tell you that the prophecies of Issachar +the Levite, made yonder in the temple on the day of the sacrifice, and +again in the hour of his death, have taken hold of the people, and by +eating out their valour, fulfil themselves. + +"Men hint at them, the women whisper them in closets, and the very +children cry them in the streets. + +"More--one man last night pointed to the skies and shrieked that in them +he saw that fiery sword of doom of which the prophet spoke hanging point +downwards above the city, whereon all present vowed they saw it too, +though, as I think, it was but a cross of stars. Another tells how that +he met the very spirit of Issachar stalking through the market-place, +and that peering into the eyes of the wraith, as in a mirror, he saw a +great flame wrapping the temple walls, and by the light of it his own +dead body. This man was the priest who first struck down the holy Levite +yonder in the place of judgment. + +"Again, when the lady Mesa did sacrifice last night on behalf of the +Baaltis who has fled, the child they offered, an infant of six months, +stirred on the altar after it was dead and cried with a loud voice that +before three suns had set, its blood should be required at their hands. +That is the story, and if I do not believe it, this at least is true, +that the priestesses fled fast from the secret chamber of death, for +I met them as they ran shrieking in their terror and tearing at their +robes. But what need is there to dwell on omens, true or false, when +cowards man the walls, and the spears of Ithobal shine yonder like +all the stars of heaven? Prince, I tell you that this ancient city is +doomed, and in it, as I fear, we must end our wanderings upon earth." + +"So be it, if it must be," answered Aziel, "at the least I will die +fighting." + +"And I also will die fighting, Prince, not because I love it, but +because it is better than being butchered in cold blood by a savage with +a spear. Oh! why did you ever chance to stumble upon the lady Elissa +making her prayer to Baaltis, and what evil spirit was it which filled +your brains with this sudden madness of love towards each other? That +was the beginning of the trouble, which, but for those eyes of hers, +would have held off long enough to see us safe at Tyre, though doubtless +soon or late it must have come. But see, yonder marches Ithobal at the +head of his guard. Give me a bow, the flight is long, but perchance I +can reach his black heart with an arrow." + +"Save your strength," answered Aziel, "the range is too great, and +presently you will have enough of shooting," and he turned to talk to +the officers of the guard. + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE CAGE OF DEATH + +An hour later the attack commenced at chosen points of the double wall, +one of them being the southern gate. In front of the advancing columns +of savages were driven vast numbers of slaves, many of whom had been +captured, or had surrendered in the outer town. These men were laden +with faggots to fill the ditch, rude ladders wherewith to scale the +walls, and heavy trunks of trees to be used in breaching them. For the +most part, they were unarmed, and protected only by their burdens, which +they held before them as shields, and by the arrows of the warriors of +Ithobal. But these did little harm to the defenders, who were hidden +behind the walls, whereas the shafts of the garrison, rained on them +from above, killed or wounded the slaves by scores, who, poor creatures, +when they turned to fly, were driven onward by the spear-points of the +savages, to be slain in heaps like game in a pitfall. Still, some of +them lived, and running under the shelter of the wall, began to breach +it with the rude battering rams, and to raise the scaling ladders +till death found them, or they were worn out with excitement, fear and +labour. + +Then the real attack began. With fierce yells, the threefold column +rushed at the wall, and began to work the rams and scale the ladders, +while the defenders above showered spears and arrows upon them, or +crushed them with heavy stones, or poured upon their heads boiling pitch +and water, heated in great cauldrons which stood at hand. + +Time after time they were driven back with heavy loss; and, time upon +time, fresh hordes of them advanced to the onslaught. Thrice, at the +southern gate, were the ladders raised, and thrice the stormers appeared +above the level of the wall, to be hurled back, crushed and bleeding, to +the earth beneath. + +Thus the long day wore on and still the defenders held their own. + +"We shall win," shouted Aziel to Metem, as a fresh ladder was cast down +with its weight of men to the death-strewn plain. + +"Yes, here we shall win because we fight," answered the Phoenician, "but +elsewhere it may be otherwise." Indeed for a while the attack upon the +south gate slackened. + +Another hour passed and presently to the left of them rose a wild yell +of triumph, and with it a shout of "Fly to the second wall. The foe is +in the fosse!" + +Metem looked and there, down the great ditch, 300 paces to their left, +a flood of savages poured towards them. "Come," he said, "the outer wall +is lost." But as he spoke once more the ladders rose against the gates +and flanking towers and once more Aziel sprang to cast them down. When +the deed was done, he looked behind him to find that he was cut off and +surrounded. Metem and most of his men indeed had gained the inner wall +in safety, while he with twelve only of his bravest soldiers, Jews of +his own following, who had stayed to help him to throw back the ladders, +were left upon the gateway tower. Nor was escape any longer possible, +for both the plain without and the fosse within were filled with the men +of Ithobal who advanced also by hundreds down the broad coping of the +captured wall. + +"Now there is but one thing that we can do," said Aziel; "fight bravely +till we are slain." + +As he spoke a javelin cast from the wall beneath struck him upon the +breastplate, and though the bronze turned the iron point, it brought him +to his knees. When he found his feet again, he heard a voice calling +him by name, and looking down, saw Ithobal clad in golden harness and +surrounded by his captains. + +"You cannot escape, prince Aziel," cried the king; "yield now to my +mercy." + +Aziel heard, and setting an arrow to his bow, loosed it at Ithobal +beneath. He was a strong and skilful archer, and the heavy shaft pierced +the golden helmet of the king, cutting his scalp down to the bone. + +"That is my answer," cried Aziel, as Ithobal rolled upon the ground +beneath the shock of the blow. But very soon the king was up and crying +his commands from behind the shield-hedge of his captains. + +"Let the prince Aziel, and the Jews with him, be taken alive and brought +to me," he shouted. "I will give a great reward in cattle to those who +capture them unharmed; but if any do them hurt, they themselves shall be +put to death." + +The captains bowed and issued their orders, and presently Aziel and his +companions saw lines of unarmed men creeping up ladders set at every +side of the lofty tower. Again and again they cast off the ladders, till +at length, being so few, they could stir them no more because of the +weight upon them, but must hack at the heads of the stormers as they +appeared above the parapet, killing them one by one. + +In this fashion they slew many, but their arms grew weary at last, +and ever under the eye of their king, the brave savages crept upward, +heedless of death, till, with a shout, they poured over the battlements +and rushed at the little band of Jews. + +Now rather than be taken, Aziel sought to throw himself from the tower, +but his companions held him, and thus at last it came about that he was +seized and bound. + +As they dragged him to the stairway he looked across the fosse and +saw the mercenaries flying from the inner wall, although it was still +unbreached, and saw the citizens of Zimboe streaming by thousands to the +narrow gateway of the temple fortress. + +Then Aziel groaned in his heart and struggled no more, for he knew +that the fate of the ancient town was sealed, and that the prophecy of +Issachar would be fulfilled. + +***** + +A while later Aziel and those with him, their hands bound behind their +backs, were led by hide ropes tied about their necks through the army of +the Tribes that jeered and spat upon them as they passed, to a tent of +sewn hides on the plain, above which floated the banner of Ithobal. Into +this tent the prince was thrust alone, and there forced upon his knees +by the soldiers who held him. Before him upon a couch covered with a +lion skin lay the great shape of Ithobal, while physicians washed his +wounded scalp. + +"Greeting, son of Israel and Pharaoh," he said in a mocking voice; +"truly you are wise thus to do homage to the king of the world." + +"A poor jest," answered Aziel, glancing at those who held him down; +"true homage is of the heart, king Ithobal." + +"I know it, Jew, and this also you shall give me when you are humbler. +Who taught you the use of the bow? You shoot well," and he pointed to +his blood-stained helm, which was still transfixed by the arrow. + +"Nay," answered Aziel, "I shot but ill, for my arm was weary. When +next I draw a string against your breast, king Ithobal, I promise you a +straighter shaft." + +"Well said," answered the king with a laugh, "but know, dog of a +Jew, that now it is my turn to draw the string--how, I will show you +afterwards. Have they told you that the city has fallen, and that my +captains hold the gates, while the cowards of Zimboe are penned like +sheep within the temple and on the cliff-edged height above? They have +fled hither for safety, but I tell you that they would be more safe on +yonder plain, for I have the key of their stronghold, a certain passage +leading from the palace of the Baaltis to the temple; you know if it, I +think. Yes, and if I had not, very soon hunger and thirst would work for +me. + +"Well, Jew, I have won, and with less trouble than I thought, and now I +hold the great city in hostage, to save or to destroy as it shall please +me, though that arrow of yours went near to robbing me of my crown of +victory." + +"So be it," answered Aziel, indifferently; "I have played my part, now +things must go as Fate may will." + +"Yes, Jew, you fought well till they deserted you, and the doom of +cowards is little to a brave man. But what of the lady Elissa? Nay, I +know all; she has taken refuge in the tomb of Baaltis, has she not, with +poison in her bosom and bronze at her girdle to be used against her own +life, should they lay hands on her or give her to me? And all this she +does for the love of you, prince Aziel; for the love of you she refuses +to become my queen, ruling over that city which I have conquered, and +all my unnumbered tribes. + +"Do you guess now why I caused you to be taken living? I will tell you; +that you may be the bait to draw her to me. To kill you would be easy; +but how would that serve, seeing that then she herself would choose to +die? But, perchance, to save your life she will live also--yes, and give +herself to me. At least, I will try it; should the plan fail--then you +can pay the price of her pride with your blood, prince Aziel." + +"That I would do gladly," answered Aziel, "but oh! what a cross-bred +hound you are who thus can seek to torture the heart of a helpless +woman! Have you then no manhood that you can stoop to such a coward's +plot?" + +"Fool! it is because of my manhood that I do stoop to it," said Ithobal +angrily. "Doubtless you think that a mad fancy and naught else drives +me to the deed, but it is not so, although in truth my heart--like +yours--chooses this woman to be my wife and none other. That fondness +I might conquer, but look you, of all things living this lady alone has +dared to cross my will, so that to-day even the sentries on their rounds +and the savage women in the kraals tell each other of how Ithobal, the +great king of an hundred tribes, has been baffled and mocked at by a +girl who despises him because his blood is not all white. Thus I am +become a laughing-stock, and therefore I will win her, cost me what it +may." + +"And I, king Ithobal, tell you that you will not win her--no, not if you +torture me to death before her eyes." + +"That we shall see," said the king with a sneer. Then he called to his +guard and added, "Let this man and his companions be taken to the place +prepared for them." + +Now Aziel was dragged from the tent and thrust into a wooden cage, such +as were used for carrying slaves and women from place to place upon the +backs of camels. His soldiers, who had been taken with him, were thrust +also into cages, and, with himself laden upon camels that were waiting, +two cages to each camel. Then a cloth was thrown over them, and, rising +to their feet, the camels began to march. + +When they had covered a league or more of ground Aziel learned from +the motion of the camel upon which he was secured, and the sound of +the repeated blows of its drivers, that they were ascending some steep +place. At length they reached the top of it, and were unloaded from the +beasts like merchandise, but he could see nothing, for by now the night +had fallen. Then, still in the cages, they were carried to a tent, where +food and water were given them through the bars, after which, so weary +was Aziel with war, misery and the remains of recent illness, that he +fell asleep. + +At daybreak he awoke, or rather was awakened, by the sound of a familiar +voice, and, looking through his bars, perceived Metem standing before +them, guarded but unbound, with indignation written on his face, and +tears in his quick eyes. + +"Alas!" he cried, "that I should have lived to see the seed of Israel +and Pharaoh thus fastened like a wild beast in a den, while barbarians +make a mock of him. Oh! Prince, it were better that you should die +rather than endure such shame." + +"Misfortunes are the master of man, not man of his misfortunes, Metem," +said Aziel quietly, "and in them is no true disgrace. Even if I had +the means to kill myself, it would be a sin; moreover, it might bring +another to her death. Therefore, I await my doom, whatever it may be, +with such patience as I can, trusting that my sufferings and ignominy +may expiate my crimes in the sight of Him whom I renounced. But how come +you here, Metem?" + +"I came under the safe-conduct of Ithobal who gave me leave to visit +you, doubtless for some ends of his own. Have you heard, Prince, that he +holds the gates of the city, though as yet no harm has been done to it, +and that its inhabitants are crowded within the temple, and upon the +heights above; also that in his despair Sakon has fallen on his sword +and slain himself?" + +"Is it so?" answered Aziel. "Well, Issachar foretold as much. On their +own heads be the doom of these devil-worshippers and cowards. Have you +any tidings of the lady Elissa?" + +"Yes, Prince. She still sits yonder in the tomb, resolute in her +purpose, and giving no answer to those who come to reason with her." + +As he spoke the guard let fall the front of the tent so that the +sunlight flowed into it, revealing Aziel and his twelve companions, each +fast in his narrow and shameful prison. "See," said Metem, "do you know +the place?" + +The prince struggled to his knees, and saw that they were set upon the +top of a hill, built up of granite boulders, which rose eighty feet or +more from the surface of the plain. Opposite to them at a distance of +under a hundred paces was a precipice in the face of which could be seen +a cave closed with barred gates of bronze, while between the rocky hill +and the precipice ran a road. + +"I know it, Metem; there runs the path by which we travelled from the +coast, and there is the tomb of Baaltis. Why have we been brought here?" + +"The lady Elissa sits behind the bars of yonder tomb whence her view +of all that happens upon this mount must be very good indeed," answered +Metem with meaning. "Now, can you guess why you were brought here, +prince Aziel." + +"Is it that she may witness our sufferings under torment?" he asked. + +Metem nodded. + +"How will they deal with us, Metem?" + +"Wait and see," he answered sadly. + +As he spoke Ithobal himself appeared followed by certain evil-looking +savages. Having greeted Metem courteously he turned to the Hebrew +soldiers in the cages and asked them which of their number was most +prepared to die. + +"I, Ithobal, who am their leader," said Aziel. + +"No, Prince," replied Ithobal with a cruel smile, "your time is not yet. +Look, there is a man who has been wounded; to put him out of his pain +will be a kindness. Slaves, bear that Jew to the edge of the rock, +and--as the prince will wish to study a new mode of death--bring his +cage also." + +The order was obeyed, Aziel being set down upon the very verge of the +cliff. Close to him a spur of granite jutted out twenty feet or so from +the edge. At the end of the spur a groove was cut and over this groove, +suspended by a thin chain from a pole, hung a wedge of pure crystal +carefully shaped and polished. While Aziel wondered what evil purpose +this stone might serve, the slaves had fastened a fine rope to the cage +containing the wounded Hebrew soldier and secured its end. Then they set +the rope in the groove of the granite spur, and pushed the cage over the +edge of the cliff, so that it dangled in mid-air. + +"Now I will explain," said Ithobal. "This is a method of punishment that +I have borrowed from those followers of Baal who worship the sun, by +means of which Baal claims his own sacrifice, and none are guilty of the +victim's blood. You see yonder crystal--well, at any appointed hour, for +it can be hung as you will, the rays of the sun shining through it cause +the fibres of the grass rope to smoke and smoulder till at length they +part and--Baal takes his sacrifice. Should a cloud hide the sun at the +appointed hour, then, Baal having spared him, the victim is set free. +But, as you will note, at this season of the year there are no clouds. + +"What, Prince, have you nothing to say?" he went on, for Aziel had +listened in silence to the tale of this devilish device. "Well, learn +that it depends upon the lady Elissa yonder whether or not this fate +shall be yours. Send now and pray her to save you. Think what it will be +to hang as at this moment your servant hangs over that yawning gulf of +space, waiting through the long hours till at last you see the little +wreaths of smoke begin to curl from the tinder of the cord. Why! before +the end found them I have known men go mad, and, like wolves, tear with +their teeth at the wooden bars. + +"You will not. Then, Metem, do you plead for your friend. Bid the +Baaltis look forth at one hour before noon and see the sight of yonder +wretch's death, remembering that to-morrow this fate shall be her +lover's unless she foregoes her purpose of self-murder and gives herself +to me. Nay, no words! an escort shall lead you through the lower city +to the gateway of the tomb and there listen to your speech. See that +it does not fail you, merchant, unless you also seek to hang in yonder +cage. Tell the lady Elissa that to-morrow at sunrise I will come in +person for her answer. If she yields, then the prince and his companions +shall be set free and with you, Metem, to guide them, be mounted +on swift camels to carry them unharmed to their retinue beyond the +mountains. But if she will not yield, then--Baal shall take his +sacrifice. Begone." + +So, having no choice, Metem bowed and went, leaving the caged Aziel upon +the edge of the cliff, and the Hebrew soldier hanging from the spur of +rock. + +Now Aziel roused himself from the horror in which his soul was sunk, and +strove to comfort his doomed comrade, praying with him to Heaven. + +Slowly as they prayed, the hours drew on till at length, upon the +opposite cliff, he saw men whom he knew to be Metem and his escort, +approach the mouth of the tomb, and faintly heard him call through the +bars of the gateway. Turning himself in his cage, Aziel glanced at the +rope, and watched the spot of light born from the burning glass of the +crystal creep to its side. + +Now the fatal moment was at hand, and Aziel saw a little wreath of smoke +rise in the still air and bade his wretched servant close his eyes. Then +came the end. Suddenly the taut rope, eaten through by the sun's fire, +flew back and the cage with the soldier in it vanished from his sight, +while, from far below, rose the sound of a heavy fall, and from the tomb +of Baaltis rang the echo of a woman's shriek. + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +"THERE IS HOPE" + +It was dawn. Ithobal the king stood without the gates of the tomb of +Baaltis, the grey light glimmering faintly on his harness, and knocked +upon the brazen bars with the handle of his sword. + +"Who troubles me now?" said a voice within. + +"Lady, it is I, Ithobal, who, as I promised by Metem the Phoenician, am +come to learn your will as to the fate of my prisoner, the Prince Aziel. +Already he hangs above the gulf, and within one short hour, if you so +decree it, he will fall and be dashed to pieces. Or, if you so decree +it, he will be set free to return to his own land." + +"At what price will he be set free, king Ithobal?" + +"Lady, you know the price; it is yourself. Oh! I beseech you, be wise! +spare his life and your own. Listen: spare his life, and I will spare +this city which lies in the hollow of my hand, and you shall rule it +with me." + +"You cannot bribe me thus, king Ithobal. My father whom I loved is dead, +and shall I give myself to you for the sake of a city and a Faith that +would have betrayed me into your hands?" + +"Nay, but for the sake of the man to whom you are dear, you shall do +even this, Elissa. Think: if you refuse, his blood will be upon your +head, and what will you have gained?" + +"Death, which I seek, for I weary of the struggle of my days." + +"Then end it in my arms, lady. Soon this fancy will escape your mind, +and you will remain one of the mightiest queens of men." + +Elissa returned no answer, and for a while there was silence. + +"Lady," said Ithobal at length, "the sun rises and my servants yonder +await a signal." + +Then she spoke like one who hesitates. + +"Are you not afraid, king Ithobal, to trust your life to a woman won in +such a fashion?" + +"Nay," answered Ithobal, "for though you say that their fate does not +concern you, the lives of all those penned-up thousands are hostages +for my own. Should you by chance find a means to stab me unawares, then +to-night fire and sword would rage through the city of Zimboe. Nor do I +fear the future, since I know well that you who think you hate me now, +very soon will learn to love me." + +"You promise, king Ithobal, that if I yield myself you will set the +prince Aziel free; but how can I believe you who twice have tried to +murder him?" + +"Doubt me if you will, Elissa, at least, you cannot doubt your own eyes. +Look, his road to the sea runs beneath this rock. Come from the tomb and +take your stand upon it and you shall see him pass; yes, and should you +wish, speak with him in farewell that you may be sure that it is he and +alive. Further, I swear to you by my head and honour, that no finger +shall be laid upon you till he is gone by, and that no pursuit of him +shall be attempted. Now choose." + +Again there was silence for a while. Then Elissa spoke in a broken +voice. + +"King Ithobal, I have chosen. Trusting to your royal word I will stand +upon the rock and when I have seen the prince Aziel go by in safety, +then, since you desire it, you shall put your arms about me and bear +me whither you will. You have conquered me, king Ithobal! Henceforward +these lips of mine are yours and no other man's. Give the signal, I pray +you, and I will cast aside the dagger and the poison and come out living +from this tomb." + +Aziel hung in his cage over the abyss of air, awaiting death, and glad +to die, because now he was sure that Elissa had refused to purchase his +life at the expense of her own surrender. There he hung, dizzy and sick +at heart, making his prayer to heaven and waiting the end, while the +eagles that would prey upon his shattered flesh swept past him. + +Presently, from the opposing cliff, came the sound of a horn blown +thrice. Then, while Aziel wondered what this might mean, the cage in +which he lay was drawn in gently over the edge of the precipice, and +carried down the steeps of the granite hill as it had been carried up +them. + +At the foot of the hill its covering was torn aside, and he saw before +him a caravan of camels, and seated on each camel a comrade of his own. +But one camel had no rider, and Metem led it by a rope. + +The servants of Ithobal took him from the cage and set him upon this +camel, though they did not loosen the bonds about the wrists. + +"This is the command of the king," said the captain to Metem "that the +arms of the prince Aziel shall remain bound until you have travelled for +six hours. Begone in safety, fearing nothing." + +***** + +"What happens now, Metem," asked Aziel, as the camels strode forward, +"and why am I set free who was expecting death? Is this some new +artifice of yours, or has the lady Elissa----" and he ceased. + +"Upon the word of an honest merchant I cannot tell you, Prince. +Yesterday, as I was forced, I gave the message of king Ithobal to the +lady Elissa yonder in the tomb. She would answer me only one thing, +which she whispered in my ear through the bars of the holy tomb; that if +we could escape we should do so, moreover that you must have no fear for +her since she also had found a means of escape from Ithobal, and would +certainly join us upon the road." + +As Metem spoke, the camels passed round the little hill on to the path +that ran beneath the tomb of Baaltis. There, standing upon the rock +some fifty feet above them, was Elissa, and with her, but at a distance, +Ithobal the king. + +"Halt, prince Aziel," she called in a clear voice, "and hearken to my +farewell. I have bought your life, and the lives of your companions, and +you are free, for the road is clear and nothing can overtake the twelve +swiftest camels in Zimboe. Go, therefore, and be happy, forgetting +no word that has passed my lips. For all my words are true, even to a +certain promise which I made you lately by the mouth of Metem, and which +I now fulfil--that I would join you on your road lest you should deem me +faithless to the troth which I have so often sworn to you. + +"King Ithobal, this shape is yours; come now and take your prize. Prince +Aziel, my soul is yours, in life it shall companion you, and in death +await you. Prince Aziel, I come to you." Then, before he could answer +a single word, with one swift and sudden spring she hurled herself from +the cliff edge to fall crushed upon the road beneath. + +Aziel saw. In his agony he strained so fiercely at the bonds which +held him that they burst like rushes. He leapt from the camel and knelt +beside Elisa. She was not yet dead, for her eyes were open and her lips +stirred. + +"I have kept faith, keep it also, Aziel! the story is not yet done," she +gasped. Then her life flickered out, and her spirit passed. + +Aziel rose from beside the corpse and looked upward. There upon the +edge of the rock above him, leaning forward, his eyes blind with horror, +stood Ithobal the king. Aziel saw him, and a fury entered into his heart +because this man, whose jealous rage and evil doing had bred such woe +and caused the death of his beloved still lived upon the earth. By the +prince was Metem, who, for once, had no words, and from his hand he +snatched a bow, set an arrow on the string and loosed. + +The shaft rushed upwards, it smote Ithobal between the joints of his +harness so that the point of it sunk through this neck. + +"This gift, king Ithobal, from Aziel the Israelite," he cried, as the +arrow sped. + +For a moment the great man stood still, then he opened his arms wide and +of a sudden plunged downward, falling with a crash on the roadway, where +he lay dead at the side of dead Elissa. + +***** + +"The play is played, and the fate fulfilled," cried Metem. "See, the +servants of the king speed yonder with their evil tidings; let us away +lest we bide here with these two for ever." + +"That is my desire," said Aziel. + +"A desire which may not be fulfilled," answered Metem. "Come, Prince, +since we cannot go without you. Surely you do not wish to sacrifice the +lives of all of us as an offering to the great spirit of the lady who is +dead. It is one that she would not seek." + +Then Aziel knelt down and kissed the brow of the dead Elissa, and went +his way, saying no word. + +***** + +That night, when the darkness fell, the sky behind these travellers grew +red with fire. + +"Behold the end of the golden city!" said Metem. "Zimboe is food for +flames and its children for the sword. Issachar was a prophet indeed, +who foretold that it should be so." + +Aziel bowed his head, remembering that Issachar had foretold also that +for Elissa and for him there was hope beyond the grave. As he thought +it, a wind beat upon his brow and through it a soft voice seemed to +murmur to his heart:-- + +"Be of good courage: Beloved, _there is hope_." + +***** + +So, turning from the death behind him, this far away forgotten lover +set his face to the sea of Life and passed it, and long ago, at his +appointed hour, gained its further shore, to be welcomed there by her +who watched for him. + +And thus, because of the fateful and predestined loves of Aziel the +prince, and Elissa the priestess and daughter of Sakon, three thousands +years and more ago, the ancient city of Zimboe fell at the hand of king +Ithobal and his Tribes, so that to-day there remain of it nothing but a +desolate grey tower of stone, and beneath, the crumbling bones of men. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Elissa, by H. Rider Haggard + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ELISSA *** + +***** This file should be named 2855.txt or 2855.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/5/2855/ + +Produced by John Bickers; Dagny; David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/old/2855.zip b/old/2855.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ce62cae --- /dev/null +++ b/old/2855.zip diff --git a/old/lissa10.txt b/old/lissa10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..19239c1 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/lissa10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6229 @@ +***The Project Gutenberg Etext of Elissa, by H. Rider Haggard*** +#25 in our series by H. Rider Haggard + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the laws for your country before redistributing these files!!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + +This should be the first thing seen when anyone opens the book. +Do not change or edit it without written permission. The words +are carefully chosen to provide users with the information they +need about what they can legally do with the texts. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. We need your donations. + +Presently, contributions are only being solicited from people in: +Texas, Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, South Dakota, +Iowa, Indiana, and Vermont. As the requirements for other states +are met, additions to this list will be made and fund raising will +begin in the additional states. These donations should be made to: + +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +PMB 113 +1739 University Ave. +Oxford, MS 38655 + + +Title: Elissa + +Author: H. Rider Haggard + +Release Date: October, 2001 [Etext #2855] + +Edition: 10 + +***The Project Gutenberg Etext of Elissa, by H. Rider Haggard*** +******This file should be named 1rbnh10.txt or 1rbnh10.zip****** + +Etext prepared by John Bickers, jbickers@ihug.co.nz +and Dagny, dagnyj@hotmail.com + +Project Gutenberg Etexts are usually created from multiple editions, +all of which are in the Public Domain in the United States, unless a +copyright notice is included. Therefore, we usually do NOT keep any +of these books in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +We are now trying to release all our books one year in advance +of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing. +Please be encouraged to send us error messages even years after +the official publication date. + +Please note: neither this list nor its contents are final till +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg Etexts is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. A +preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment +and editing by those who wish to do so. + +Most people start at our sites at: +http://gutenberg.net +http://promo.net/pg + + +Those of you who want to download our Etexts before announcment +can surf to them as follows, and just download by date; this is +also a good way to get them instantly upon announcement, as the +indexes our cataloguers produce obviously take a while after an +announcement goes out in the Project Gutenberg Newsletter. + +http://metalab.unc.edu/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext01 +or +ftp://metalab.unc.edu/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext01 + +Or /etext00, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90 + +Just search by the first five letters of the filename you want, +as it appears in our Newsletters. + + +Information about Project Gutenberg (one page) + +We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work. The +time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours +to get any etext selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright +searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc. This +projected audience is one hundred million readers. If our value +per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2 +million dollars per hour this year as we release fifty new Etext +files per month, or 500 more Etexts in 2000 for a total of 3000+ +If they reach just 1-2% of the world's population then the total +should reach over 300 billion Etexts given away by year's end. + +The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away One Trillion Etext +Files by December 31, 2001. [10,000 x 100,000,000 = 1 Trillion] +This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers, +which is only about 4% of the present number of computer users. + +At our revised rates of production, we will reach only one-third +of that goal by the end of 2001, or about 3,333 Etexts unless we +manage to get some real funding. + +Something is needed to create a future for Project Gutenberg for +the next 100 years. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +Presently, contributions are only being solicited from people in: +Texas, Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, South Dakota, +Iowa, Indiana, and Vermont. As the requirements for other states +are met, additions to this list will be made and fund raising will +begin in the additional states. + +All donations should be made to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation and will be tax deductible to the extent +permitted by law. + +Mail to: + +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +PMB 113 +1739 University Avenue +Oxford, MS 38655 [USA] + +We are working with the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation to build more stable support and ensure the +future of Project Gutenberg. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +You can get up to date donation information at: + +http://www.gutenberg.net/donation.html + + +*** + +You can always email directly to: + +Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com> + +hart@pobox.com forwards to hart@prairienet.org and archive.org +if your mail bounces from archive.org, I will still see it, if +it bounces from prairienet.org, better resend later on. . . . + +We would prefer to send you this information by email. + + +Example command-line FTP session: + +ftp metalab.unc.edu +login: anonymous +password: your@login +cd pub/docs/books/gutenberg +cd etext90 through etext99 or etext00 through etext01, etc. +dir [to see files] +get or mget [to get files. . .set bin for zip files] +GET GUTINDEX.?? [to get a year's listing of books, e.g., GUTINDEX.99] +GET GUTINDEX.ALL [to get a listing of ALL books] + + +**The Legal Small Print** + + +(Three Pages) + +***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS**START*** +Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers. +They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with +your copy of this etext, even if you got it for free from +someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our +fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement +disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how +you can distribute copies of this etext if you want to. + +*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS ETEXT +By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +etext, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept +this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive +a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this etext by +sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person +you got it from. If you received this etext on a physical +medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request. + +ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM ETEXTS +This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etexts, +is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor Michael S. Hart +through the Project Gutenberg Association (the "Project"). +Among other things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright +on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and +distribute it in the United States without permission and +without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth +below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this etext +under the Project's "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark. + +To create these etexts, the Project expends considerable +efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain +works. Despite these efforts, the Project's etexts and any +medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other +things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged +disk or other etext medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES +But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below, +[1] the Project (and any other party you may receive this +etext from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext) disclaims all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including +legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR +UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, +INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE +OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE +POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. + +If you discover a Defect in this etext within 90 days of +receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) +you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that +time to the person you received it from. If you received it +on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and +such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement +copy. If you received it electronically, such person may +choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to +receive it electronically. + +THIS ETEXT IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS +TO THE ETEXT OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A +PARTICULAR PURPOSE. + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or +the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the +above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you +may have other legal rights. + +INDEMNITY +You will indemnify and hold the Project, its directors, +officers, members and agents harmless from all liability, cost +and expense, including legal fees, that arise directly or +indirectly from any of the following that you do or cause: +[1] distribution of this etext, [2] alteration, modification, +or addition to the etext, or [3] any Defect. + +DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm" +You may distribute copies of this etext electronically, or by +disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this +"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg, +or: + +[1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this + requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the + etext or this "small print!" statement. You may however, + if you wish, distribute this etext in machine readable + binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form, + including any form resulting from conversion by word pro- + cessing or hypertext software, but only so long as + *EITHER*: + + [*] The etext, when displayed, is clearly readable, and + does *not* contain characters other than those + intended by the author of the work, although tilde + (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may + be used to convey punctuation intended by the + author, and additional characters may be used to + indicate hypertext links; OR + + [*] The etext may be readily converted by the reader at + no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent + form by the program that displays the etext (as is + the case, for instance, with most word processors); + OR + + [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at + no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the + etext in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC + or other equivalent proprietary form). + +[2] Honor the etext refund and replacement provisions of this + "Small Print!" statement. + +[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Project of 20% of the + gross profits you derive calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation" + the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were + legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent + periodic) tax return. Please contact us beforehand to + let us know your plans and to work out the details. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +The Project gratefully accepts contributions of money, time, +public domain etexts, and royalty free copyright licenses. +If you are interested in contributing scanning equipment or +software or other items, please contact Michael Hart at: +hart@pobox.com + +*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.07.00*END* + + + + + + + +Elissa +or +The Doom of Zimbabwe + +by H. Rider Haggard + + + + +DEDICATION + +To the Memory of the Child + +Nada Burnham, + + who "bound all to her" and, while her father cut his way through + the hordes of the Ingobo Regiment, perished of the hardships of + war at Buluwayo on 19th May, 1896, I dedicate these tales--and + more particularly the last, that of a Faith which triumphed over + savagery and death. + +H. Rider Haggard. + + Ditchingham. + + + +AUTHOR'S NOTE + + Of the three stories that comprise this volume[*], one, "The + Wizard," a tale of victorious faith, first appeared some years ago + as a Christmas Annual. Another, "Elissa," is an attempt, difficult + enough owing to the scantiness of the material left to us by time, + to recreate the life of the ancient Phnician Zimbabwe, whose + ruins still stand in Rhodesia, and, with the addition of the + necessary love story, to suggest circumstances such as might have + brought about or accompanied its fall at the hands of the + surrounding savage tribes. The third, "Black Heart and White + Heart," is a story of the courtship, trials and final union of a + pair of Zulu lovers in the time of King Cetywayo. + +[*] This text was prepared from a volume published in 1900 titled + "Black Heart and White Heart, and Other Stories."--JB. + + + +NOTE + +The world is full of ruins, but few of them have an origin so utterly +lost in mystery as those of Zimbabwe in South Central Africa. Who +built them? What purpose did they serve? These are questions that must +have perplexed many generations, and many different races of men. + +The researches of Mr. Wilmot prove to us indeed that in the Middle +Ages Zimbabwe or Zimboe was the seat of a barbarous empire, whose +ruler was named the Emperor of Monomotapa, also that for some years +the Jesuits ministered in a Christian church built beneath the shadow +of its ancient towers. But of the original purpose of those towers, +and of the race that reared them, the inhabitants of medival +Monomotapa, it is probable, knew less even than we know to-day. The +labours and skilled observation of the late Mr. Theodore Bent, whose +death is so great a loss to all interested in such matters, have shown +almost beyond question that Zimbabwe was once an inland Phnician +city, or at the least a city whose inhabitants were of a race which +practised Phnician customs and worshipped the Phnician deities. +Beyond this all is conjecture. How it happened that a trading town, +protected by vast fortifications and adorned with temples dedicated to +the worship of the gods of the Sidonians--or rather trading towns, for +Zimbabwe is only one of a group of ruins--were built by civilised men +in the heart of Africa perhaps we shall never learn with certainty, +though the discovery of the burying-places of their inhabitants might +throw some light upon the problem. + +But if actual proof is lacking, it is scarcely to be doubted--for the +numerous old workings in Rhodesia tell their own tale--that it was the +presence of payable gold reefs worked by slave labour which tempted +the Phnician merchants and chapmen, contrary to their custom, to +travel so far from the sea and establish themselves inland. Perhaps +the city Zimboe was the Ophir spoken of in the first Book of Kings. At +least, it is almost certain that its principal industries were the +smelting and the sale of gold, also it seems probable that expeditions +travelling by sea and land would have occupied quite three years of +time in reaching it from Jerusalem and returning thither laden with +the gold and precious stones, the ivory and the almug trees (1 Kings +x.). Journeying in Africa must have been slow in those days; that it +was also dangerous is testified by the ruins of the ancient forts +built to protect the route between the gold towns and the sea. + +However these things may be, there remains ample room for speculation +both as to the dim beginnings of the ancient city and its still dimmer +end, whereof we can guess only, when it became weakened by luxury and +the mixture of races, that hordes of invading savages stamped it out +of existence beneath their blood-stained feet, as, in after ages, they +stamped out the Empire of Monomotapa. In the following romantic sketch +the writer has ventured--no easy task--to suggest incidents such as +might have accompanied this first extinction of the Phnician +Zimbabwe. The pursuit indeed is one in which he can only hope to fill +the place of a humble pioneer, since it is certain that in times to +come the dead fortress-temples of South Africa will occupy the pens of +many generations of the writers of romance who, as he hopes, may have +more ascertained facts to build upon than are available to-day. + + + + + +ELISSA + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE CARAVAN + +The sun, which shone upon a day that was gathered to the past some +three thousand years ago, was setting in full glory over the expanses +of south-eastern Africa--the Libya of the ancients. Its last burning +rays fell upon a cavalcade of weary men, who, together with long +strings of camels, asses and oxen, after much toil had struggled to +the crest of a line of stony hills, where they were halted to recover +breath. Before them lay a plain, clothed with sere yellow grass--for +the season was winter--and bounded by mountains of no great height, +upon whose slopes stood the city which they had travelled far to seek. +It was the ancient city of Zimboe, whereof the lonely ruins are known +to us moderns as Zimbabwe. + +At the sight of its flat-roofed houses of sun-dried brick, set upon +the side of the opposing hill, and dominated by a huge circular +building of dark stone, the caravan raised a great shout of joy. It +shouted in several tongues, in the tongues of Phnicia, of Egypt, of +the Hebrews, of Arabia, and of the coasts of Africa, for all these +peoples were represented amongst its numbers. Well might the wanderers +cry out in their delight, seeing that at length, after eight months of +perilous travelling from the coast, they beheld the walls of their +city of rest, of the golden Ophir of the Bible. Their company had +started from the eastern port, numbering fifteen hundred men, besides +women and children, and of those not more than half were left alive. +Once a savage tribe had ambushed them, killing many. Once the +pestilential fever of the low lands had taken them so that they died +of it by scores. Twice also had they suffered heavily through hunger +and thirst, to say nothing of their losses by the fangs of lions, +crocodiles, and other wild beasts which with the country swarmed. Now +their toils were over; and for six months, or perhaps a year, they +might rest and trade in the Great City, enjoying its wealth, its +flesh-pots, and the unholy orgies which, among people of the Phnician +race, were dignified by the name of the worship of the gods of heaven. + +Soon the clamour died away, and although no command was given, the +caravan started on at speed. All weariness faded from the faces of the +wayworn travellers, even the very camels and asses, shrunk, as most of +them were, to mere skeletons, seemed to understand that labour and +blows were done with, and forgetting their loads, shambled unurged +down the stony path. One man lingered, however. Clearly he was a +person of rank, for eight or ten attendants surrounded him. + +"Go," said he, "I wish to be alone, and will follow presently." So +they bowed to the earth, and went. + +The man was young, perhaps six or eight and twenty years of age. His +dark skin, burnt almost to blackness by the heat of the sun, together +with the fashion of his short, square-cut beard and of his garments, +proclaimed him of Jewish or Egyptian blood, while the gold collar +about his neck and the gold graven ring upon his hand showed that his +rank was high. Indeed this wanderer was none other than the prince +Aziel, nick-named the Ever-living, because of a curious mole upon his +shoulder bearing a resemblance to the /crux ansata/, the symbol of +life eternal among the Egyptians. By blood he was a grandson of +Solomon, the mighty king of Israel, and born of a royal mother, a +princess of Egypt. + +In stature Aziel was tall, but somewhat slimly made, having small +bones. His face was oval in shape, the features, especially the mouth, +being fine and sensitive; the eyes were large, dark, and full of +thought--the eyes of a man with a destiny. For the most part, indeed, +they were sombre and over-full of thought, but at times they could +light up with a strange fire. + +Aziel the prince placed his hand against his forehead in such fashion +as to shade his face from the rays of the setting sun, and from +beneath its shadow gazed long and earnestly at the city of the hill. + +"At length I behold thee, thanks be to God," he murmured, for he was a +worshipper of Jehovah, and not of his mother's deities, "and it is +time, since, to speak the truth, I am weary of this travelling. Now +what fortune shall I find within thy walls, O City of Gold and devil- +servers?" + +"Who can tell?" said a quiet voice at his elbow. "Perhaps, Prince, you +will find a wife, or a throne, or--a grave." + +Aziel started, and turned to see a man standing at his side, clothed +in robes that had been rich, but were now torn and stained with +travel, and wearing on his head a black cap in shape not unlike the +fez that is common in the East to-day. The man was past middle age, +having a grizzled beard, sharp, hard features and quick eyes, which +withal were not unkindly. He was a Phnician merchant, much trusted by +Hiram, the King of Tyre, who had made him captain of the merchandise +of this expedition. + +"Ah! is it you, Metem?" said Aziel. "Why do you leave your charge to +return to me?" + +"That I may guard a more precious charge--yourself, Prince," replied +the merchant courteously. "Having brought the child of Israel so far +in safety, I desire to hand him safely to the governor of yonder city. +Your servants told me that by your command they had left you alone, so +I returned to bear you company, for after nightfall robbers and +savages wander without these walls." + +"I thank you for your care, Metem, though I think there is little +danger, and at the worst I can defend myself." + +"Do not thank me, Prince; I am a merchant, and now, as in the past, I +protect you, knowing that for it I shall be paid. The governor will +give me a rich reward when I lead you to him safely, and when in years +to come I return with you still safe to the court of Jerusalem, then +the great king will fill my ship's hold with gifts." + +"That depends, Metem," replied the prince. "If my grandfather still +reigns it may be so, but he is very old, and if my uncle wears his +crown, then I am not sure. Truly you Phnicians love money. Would you, +then, sell me for gold also, Metem?" + +"I said not so, Prince, though even friendship has its price----" + +"Among your people, Metem?" + +"Among all people, Prince. You reproach us with loving money; well, we +do, since money gives everything for which men strive--honour, and +place, and comfort, and the friendship of kings." + +"It cannot give you love, Metem." + +The Phnician laughed contemptuously. "Love! with gold I will buy as +much of it as I need. Are there no slaves upon the market, and no free +women who desire ornaments and ease and the purple of Tyre? You are +young, Prince, to say that gold cannot buy us love." + +"And you, Metem, who are growing old, do not understand what I mean by +love, nor will I stay to explain it to you, for were my words as wise +as Solomon's, still you would not understand. At the least your money +cannot bring you the blessing of Heaven, nor the welfare of your +spirit in the eternal life that is to come." + +"The welfare of my spirit, Prince? No, it cannot, since I do not +believe that I have a spirit. When I die, I die, and there is an end. +But the blessing of Heaven, ah! that can be bought, as I have proved +once and again, if not with gold, then otherwise. Did I not in bygone +years pass the first son of my manhood through the fire to Baal-Sidon? +Nay, shrink not from me; it cost me dear, but my fortune was at stake, +and better that the boy should die than that all of us should live on +in penury and bonds. Know you not, Prince, that the gods must have the +gifts of the best, gifts of blood and virtue, or they will curse us +and torment us?" + +"I do not know it, Metem, for such gods are no gods, but devils, +children of Beelzebub, who has no power over the righteous. Truly I +would have none of your two gods, Phnician; upon earth the god of +gold, and in heaven the devil of slaughter." + +"Speak no ill of him, Prince," answered Metem solemnly, "for here you +are not in the courts of Jehovah, but in his land, and he may chance +to prove his power on you. For the rest, I had sooner follow after +gold than the folly of a drunken spirit which you name Love, seeing +that it works its votary less mischief. Say now, it was a woman and +her love that drove you hither to this wild land, was it not, Prince? +Well, be careful lest a woman and her love should keep you here." + +"The sun sets," said Aziel coldly; "let us go forward." + +With a bow and a murmured salute, for his quick courtier instinct told +him that he had spoken too freely, Metem took the bridle of the +prince's mule, holding the stirrup while he mounted. Then he turned to +seek his own, but the animal had wandered, and a full half hour went +by before it could be captured. + +By now the sun had set, and as there is little or no twilight in +Southern Africa it became difficult for the two travellers to find +their way down the rough hill path. Still they stumbled on, till +presently the long dead grass brushing against their knees told them +that they had lost the road, although they knew that they were riding +in the right direction, for the watch-fires burning on the city walls +were a guide to them. Soon, however, they lost sight of these fires, +the boughs of a grove of thickly-leaved trees hiding them from view, +and in trying to push their way through the wood Metem's mule stumbled +against a root and fell. + +"Now there is but one thing to be done," said the Phnician, as he +dragged the animal from the ground, "and it is to stay here till the +moon rises, which should be within an hour. It would have been wiser, +Prince, if we had waited to discuss love and the gods till we were +safe within the walls of the city, for the end of it is that we have +fallen into the hands of king Darkness, and he is the father of many +evil things." + +"That is so, Metem," answered the prince, "and I am to blame. Let us +bide here in patience, since we must." + +So, holding their mules by the bridles, they sat down upon the ground +and waited in silence, for each of them was lost in his own thoughts. + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE GROVE OF BAALTIS + +At length, as the two men sat thus silently, for the place and its +gloom oppressed them, a sound broke upon the quiet of the night, that +beginning with a low wail such as might come from the lips of a +mourner, ended in a chant or song. The voice, which seemed close at +hand, was low, rich and passionate. At times it sank almost to a sob, +and at times, taking a higher note, it thrilled upon the air in tones +that would have been shrill were they not so sweet. + +"Who is it that sings?" said Aziel to Metem. + +"Be silent, I pray you," whispered the other in his ear; "we have +wandered into one of the sacred groves of Baaltis, which it is death +for men to enter save at the appointed festivals, and a priestess of +the grove chants her prayer to the goddess." + +"We did not come of our own will, so doubtless we shall be forgiven," +answered Aziel indifferently; "but that song moves me. Tell me the +words of it, which I can scarcely follow, for her accent is strange to +me." + +"Prince, they seem to be holy words to which I have little right to +hearken. The priestess sings an ancient hallowed chant of life and +death, and she prays that the goddess may touch her soul with the wing +of fire and make her great and give her vision of things that have +been and that shall be. More I dare not tell you now; indeed I can +barely hear, and the song is hard to understand. Crouch down, for the +moon rises, and pray that the mules may not stir. Presently she will +go, and we can fly the holy place." + +The Israelite obeyed and waited, searching the darkness with eager +eyes. + +Now the edge of the great moon appeared upon the horizon, and by +degrees her white rays of light revealed a strange scene to the +watchers. About an open space of ground, some eighty paces in +diameter, grew seven huge and ancient baobab trees, so ancient indeed +that they must have been planted by the primval hand of nature rather +than by that of man. Aziel and his companion were hidden with their +mules behind the trunk of one of these trees, and looking round it +they perceived that the open space beyond the shadow of the branches +was not empty. In the centre of this space stood an altar, and by it +was placed the rude figure of a divinity carved in wood and painted. +On the head of this figure rose a crescent symbolical of the moon, and +round its neck hung a chain of wooden stars. It had four wings but no +hands, and of these wings two were out-spread and two clasped a +shapeless object to its breast, intended, apparently, to represent a +child. By these symbols Aziel knew that before him was an effigy +sacred to the goddess of the Phnicians, who in different countries +passed by the various names of Astarte, or Ashtoreth, or Baaltis, and +who in their coarse worship was at once the personification of the +moon and the emblem of fertility. + +Standing before this rude fetish, between it and the altar, whereon +lay some flowers, and in such fashion that the moonlight struck full +upon her, was a white-robed woman. She was young and very beautiful +both in shape and feature, and though her black hair streaming almost +to the knees took from her height, she still seemed tall. Her rounded +arms were outstretched; her sweet and passionate face was upturned +towards the sky, and even at that distance the watchers could see her +deep eyes shining in the moonlight. The sacred song of the priestess +was finished. Now she was praying aloud, slowly, and in a clear voice, +so that Aziel could hear and understand her; praying from her very +heart, not to the idol before her, however, but to the moon above. + +"O Queen of Heaven," she said, "thou whose throne I see but whose face +I cannot see, hear the prayer of thy priestess, and protect me from +the fate I fear, and rid me of him I hate. Safe let me dwell and pure, +and as thou fillest the night with light, so fill the darkness of my +soul with the wisdom that I crave. O whisper into my ears and let me +hear the voice of heaven, teaching me that which I would know. Read me +the riddle of my life, and let me learn wherefore I am not as my +sisters are; why feasts and offerings delight me not; why I thirst for +knowledge and not for wealth, and why I crave such love as here I +cannot win. Satisfy my being with thy immortal lore and a love that +does not fail or die, and if thou wilt, then take my life in payment. +Speak to me from the heaven above, O Baaltis, or show me some sign +upon the earth beneath; fill up the vessel of my thirsty soul and +satisfy the hunger of my spirit. Oh! thou that art the goddess, thou +that hast the gift of power, give me, thy servant, of thy power, of +thy godhead, and of thy peace. Hear me, O Heaven-born, hear me, +Elissa, the daughter of Sakon, the dedicate of thee. Hear, hear, and +answer now in the secret holy hour, answer by voice, by wonder, or by +symbol." + +The woman paused as though exhausted with the passion of her prayer, +hiding her face in her hands, and as she stood thus silent and +expectant, the sign came, or at least that chanced which for a while +she believed to have been an answer to her invocation. Her face was +hidden, so she could not see, and fascinated by her beauty as it +appeared to them in that unhallowed spot, and by the depth and dignity +of her wild prayer, the two watchers had eyes for her alone. Therefore +it happened that not until his arm was about to drag her away, did +either of them perceive a huge man, black as ebony in colour, clad in +a cloak of leopard skins and carrying in his right hand a broad-bladed +spear who, following the shadow of the trees, had crept upon the +priestess from the farther side of the glade. + +With a guttural exclamation of triumph he gripped her in his left arm, +and, despite her struggles and her shrill cry for help, began half to +drag and half to carry her towards the deep shade of the baobab grove. +Instantly Aziel and Metem sprang up and rushed forward, drawing their +bronze swords as they ran. As it chanced, however, the Israelite +caught his foot in one of the numerous tree-roots, which stood above +the surface of the ground and fell heavily upon his face. In a few +seconds, twenty perhaps, he found his breath and feet again, to see +that Metem had come up with the black giant who, hearing his approach, +suddenly wheeled round to meet him, still holding the struggling +priestess in his grasp. Now the Phnician was so close upon him that +the savage could find no time to shift the grip upon his spear, but +drove at him with the knobbed end of its handle, striking him full +upon the forehead and felling him as a butcher fells an ox. Then once +more he turned to fly with his captive, but before he had covered ten +yards the sound of Aziel's approaching footsteps caused him to wheel +round again. + +At sight of the Israelite advancing upon him with drawn sword, the +great barbarian freed himself from the burden of the girl by throwing +her heavily to the ground, where she lay, for the breath was shaken +out of her. Then snatching the cloak from his throat he wound it over +his left arm to serve as a shield, and with a savage yell, rushed +straight at Aziel, purposing to transfix him with the broad-headed +spear. + +Well was it for the prince that he had been trained in sword-play from +his youth, also, notwithstanding his slight build, that he was strong +and active as a leopard. To await the onslaught would be to die, for +the spear must pierce him before ever he could reach the attacker's +body with his short sword. Therefore, as the weapon flashed upward he +sprang aside, avoiding it, at the same time, with one swift sweep of +his sword, slashing its holder across the back as he passed him. + +With a howl of pain and rage the savage sprang round and charged him a +second time. Again Aziel leapt to one side, but now he struck with all +his force at the spear shaft which his assailant lifted to guard his +head. So strong was the blow and so sharp the heavy sword, that it +shore through the wood, severing the handle from the spear, which fell +to the ground. Casting away the useless shaft, the warrior drew a long +knife from his girdle, and before Aziel could strike again faced him +for the third time. But he no longer rushed onward like a bull, for he +had learnt caution; he stood still, holding the skin cloak before him +shield fashion, and peering at his adversary from over its edge. + +Now it was Aziel's turn to take the offensive, and slowly he circled +round the huge barbarian, watching his opportunity. At length it came. +In answer to a feint of his the protecting cloak was dropped a little, +enabling him to prick its bearer in the neck, but only with the point +of his sword. The thrust delivered, he leapt back, and not too soon, +for forgetting his caution in his fury, the savage charged straight at +him with a roar like that of a lion. So swift and terrible was his +onset that Aziel, having no time to spring aside, did the only thing +possible. Gripping the ground with his feet, he bent his body forward, +and with outstretched arm and sword, braced up his muscles to receive +the charge. Another instant, and the leopard skin cloak fluttered +before him. With a quick movement of his left arm he swept it aside; +then there came a sudden pressure upon his sword ending in a jarring +shock, a flash of steel above his head, and down he went to the ground +beneath the weight of the black giant. + +"Now there is an end," he thought; "Heaven receive my spirit." And his +senses left him. + +When they returned again, Aziel perceived dimly that a white-draped +figure bent over him, dragging at something black which crushed his +breast, who, as she dragged, sobbed in her grief and fear. Then he +remembered, and with an effort sat up, rolling from him the corpse of +his foe, for his sword had pierced the barbarian through breast and +heart and back. At this sight the woman ceased her sobbing, and said +in the Phnician tongue:-- + +"Sir, do you indeed live? Then the protecting gods be thanked, and to +Baaltis the Mother I vow a gift of this hair of mine in gratitude." + +"Nay, lady," he answered faintly, for he was much shaken, "that would +be a pity; also, if any, it is my hair which should be vowed." + +"You bleed from the head," she broke in; "say, stranger, are you +deeply wounded." + +"I will tell you nothing of my head," he replied, with a smile, +"unless you promise that you will not offer up your hair." + +"So be it, stranger, since I must; I will give the goddess this gold +chain instead; it is of more worth." + +"You would do better, lady," said the shrill voice of Metem again, who +by now had found his wits again, "to give the gold chain to me whose +scalp has been broken in rescuing you from that black thief." + +"Sir," she answered, "I am grateful to you from my heart, but it is +this young lord who killed the man and saved me from slavery worse +than death, and he shall be rewarded by my father." + +"Listen to her," grumbled Metem. "Did I not rush in first in my folly +and receive what I deserved for my pains? But am I to have neither +thanks nor pay, who am but an old merchant; they are for the young +prince who came after. Well, so it ever was; the thanks I can spare, +and the reward I shall claim from the treasury of the goddess. + +"Now, Prince, let me see your hurt. Ah! a cut on the ear, no more, and +thank your natal star that it is so, for another inch and the great +vein of the neck would have been severed. Prince, if you are able, +draw out your sword from the carcase of that brute, for I have tried +and cannot loosen the blade. Then perhaps this lady will guide us to +the city before his fellows come to seek him, seeing that for one +night I have had a stomach full of fighting." + +"Sirs, I will indeed. It is close at hand, and my father will thank +you there; but if it is your pleasure, tell me by what names I shall +make known to him you whose rank seems to be so high?" + +"Lady, I am Metem the Phnician, captain of the merchandise of the +caravan of Hiram, King of Tyre, and this lord who slew the thief is +none other than the prince Aziel, the twice royal, for he is grandson +to the glorious King of Israel, and through his mother of the blood of +the Pharaohs of Egypt." + +"And yet he risked his life to save me," the girl murmured astonished; +then dropping to her knees before Aziel, she touched the ground with +her forehead in obeisance, giving him thanks, and praising him after +the fashion of the East. + +"Rise, lady," he broke in, "because I chance to be a prince I have not +ceased to be a man, and no man could have seen you in such a plight +without striking a blow on your behalf." + +"No," added Metem, "none; that is, as you happen to be noble and young +and lovely. Had you been old and ugly and humble, then the black man +might have carried you from here to Tyre ere I risked my neck to stop +him, or for the matter of that, although he will deny it, the prince +either." + +"Men do not often show their hearts so clearly," she answered with +sarcasm. "But now, lords, I will guide you to the city before more +harm befalls us, for this dead man may have companions." + +"Our mules are here, lady; will you not ride mine?" asked Aziel. + +"I thank you, Prince, but my feet will carry me." + +"And so will mine," said Aziel, ceasing from a prolonged and fruitless +effort to loosen his sword from the breast-bone of the savage, "on +such paths they are safer than any beasts. Friend, will you lead my +mule with yours?" + +"Ay, Prince," grumbled Metem, "for so the world goes with the old; you +take the fair lady for company and I a she-ass. Well, of the two give +me the ass which is more safe and does not chatter." + +Then they started, Aziel leaving his short sword in the keeping of the +dead man. + +"How are you named, lady?" he said presently, adding "or rather I need +not ask; you are Elissa, the daughter of Sakon, Governor of Zimboe, +are you not?" + +"I am so called, though how you know it I cannot guess." + +"I heard you name yourself, lady, in the prayer you made before the +altar." + +"You heard my prayer, Prince?" she said starting. "Do you not know +that it is death to that man who hearkens to the prayer of a priestess +of Baaltis, uttered in her holy grove? Still, none know it save the +goddess, who sees all, therefore I beseech you for your own sake and +the sake of your companion, say nothing of it in the city, lest it +should come to the ears of the priests of El." + +"Certainly it would have been death to you had I /not/ chanced to hear +it, having lost my way in the darkness," answered the prince laughing. +"Well, since I did hear it I will add that it was a beautiful prayer, +revealing a heart high and pure, though I grieve that it should have +been offered to one whom I hold to be a demon." + +"I am honoured," she answered coldly; "but, Prince, you forget that +though you, being a Hebrew, worship Him they call Jehovah, or so I +have been told, I, being of the blood of the Sidonians, worship the +lady Baaltis, the Queen of Heaven the holy one of whom I am a +priestess." + +"So it is, alas!" he said, with a sigh, adding:-- + +"Well, let us not dispute of these matters, though, if you wish, the +prophet Issachar, the Levite who accompanies me, can explain the truth +of them to you." + +Elissa made no reply, and for a while they walked on in silence. + +"Who was that black robber whom I slew?" Aziel asked presently. + +"I am not sure, Prince," she answered, hesitating, "but savages such +as he haunt the outskirts of the city seeking to steal white women to +be their wives. Doubtless he watched my steps, following me into the +holy place." + +"Why, then, did you venture there alone, lady?" + +"Because, to be heard, such prayers as mine must be offered in +solitude in the consecrated grove, and at the hour of the rising of +the moon. Moreover, cannot Baaltis protect her priestess, Priest, and +did she not protect her?" + +"I thought, lady, that I had something to do with the matter," he +answered. + +"Ay, Prince, it was your hand that struck the blow which killed the +thief, but Baaltis, and no other, led you to the place to rescue me." + +"I understand, lady. To save you, Baaltis, laying aside her own power, +led a mortal man to the grove, which it is death that mortal man +should violate." + +"Who can fathom the way of the gods?" she replied with passion, then +added, as though reasoning with a new-born doubt, "Did not the goddess +hear my prayer and answer it?" + +"In truth, lady, I cannot say. Let me think. If I understood you +rightly, you prayed for heavenly wisdom, but whether or not you have +gained it within this last hour, I do not know. And then you prayed +for love, an immortal love. O, maiden, has it come to you since yonder +moon appeared upon the sky? And you prayed----" + +"Peace!" she broke in, "peace and mock me not, or, prince that you +are, I will publish your crime of spying upon the prayer of a +priestess of Baaltis. I tell you that I prayed for a symbol and a +sign, and the prayer was answered. + +"Did not the black giant spring upon me to bear me away to be his +slave--his, or another's? And is he not a symbol of the evil and the +ignorance which are on the earth and that seek to drag down the beauty +and the wisdom of the earth to their own level? Then the Phnician ran +to rescue me and was defeated, since the spirit of Mammon cannot +overcome the black powers of ill. Next you came and fought hard and +long, till in the end you slew the mighty foe, you a Prince born of +the royal blood of the world----" and she ceased. + +"You have a pretty gift of parable, lady, as it should be with one who +interprets the oracles of a goddess. But you have not told me of what +I, your servant, am the symbol." + +She stopped in her walk and looked him full in the face. + +"I never heard," she said, "that either the Jews or the Egyptians, +being instructed, were blind to the reading of an allegory. But, +Prince, if you cannot read this one it is not for me, who am but a +woman, to set it out to you." + +Just then their glances met, and in the clear moonlight Aziel saw a +wave of doubt sweep over his companion's dark and beautiful eyes, and +a faint flush appear upon her brow. He saw, and something stirred at +his heart that till this hour he had never felt, something which even +now he knew it would trouble him greatly to escape. + +"Tell me, lady," he asked, his voice sinking almost to a whisper, "in +this fable of yours am I even for an hour deemed worthy to play the +part of that immortal love embodied which you sought so earnestly a +while ago?" + +"Immortal love, Prince," she answered, in a new voice, a voice low and +deep, "is not for one hour, but for all hours that are and are to be. +You, and you alone, can know if you would dare to play such a part as +this--even in a fable." + +"Perchance, lady, there lives a woman for whom it might be dared." + +"Prince, no such woman lives, since immortal love must deal, not with +the flesh, but with the spirit. If a spirit worthy to be thus loved +and worshipped now wanders in earthly shape upon the world, seeking +its counterpart and its completion, I cannot tell. Yet were it so, and +should they chance to meet, it might be happy for such brave spirits, +for then the answer to the great riddle would be theirs." + +Wondering what this riddle might be, Aziel bent towards her to reply, +when suddenly round a bend in the path but a few paces from them came +a body of soldiers and attendants, headed by a man clad in a white +robe and walking with a staff. This man was grey-headed and keen-eyed, +thin in face and ascetic in appearance, with a brow of power and a +bearing of dignity. At the sight of the pair he halted, looking at +them in question, and with disapproval. + +"Our search is ended," he said in Hebrew, "for here is he whom we +seek, and alone with him a heathen woman, robed like a priestess of +the Groves." + +"Whom do you seek, Issachar?" asked Aziel hurriedly, for the sudden +appearance of the Levite disturbed him. + +"Yourself, Prince. Surely you can guess that your absence has been +noted. We feared lest harm should have come to you, or that you had +lost your path, but it seems that you have found a guide," and he +stared at his companion sternly. + +"That guide, Issachar," answered Aziel, "being none other than the +lady Elissa, daughter of Sakon, governor of this city, and our host, +whom it has been my good fortune to rescue from a woman-stealer yonder +in the grove of the goddess Baaltis." + +"And whom it was my bad fortune to try to rescue in the said grove, as +my broken head bears witness," added Metem, who by now had come up, +dragging the two mules after him. + +"In the grove of the goddess Baaltis!" broke in the Levite with a +kindling eye, and striking the ground with his staff to emphasise his +words. "You, a Prince of Israel, alone in the high place of +abomination with the priestess of a fiend? Fie upon you, fie upon you! +Would you also walk in the sin of your forefathers, Aziel, and so +soon?" + +"Peace!" said Aziel in a voice of command; "I was not in the grove +alone or by my own will, and this is no time or place for insults and +wrangling." + +"Between me and those who seek after false gods, or the women who +worship them, there is no peace," replied the old priest fiercely. + +Then, followed by all the company, he turned and strode towards the +gates of the city. + + + +CHAPTER III + +ITHOBAL THE KING + +Two hours had gone by, and the prince Aziel, together with his +retinue, the officers of the caravan, and many other guests, were +seated at a great feast made in their honour, by Sakon, the governor +of the city. This feast was held in the large pillared hall of Sakon's +house, built beneath the northern wall of the temple fortress, and not +more than a few paces from its narrow entrance, through which in case +of alarm the inhabitants of the palace could fly for safety. All down +this chamber were placed tables, accommodating more than two hundred +feasters, but the principal guests were seated by themselves upon a +raised das at the head of the hall. Among them sat Sakon himself, a +middle-aged man stout in build, and thoughtful of face, his daughter +Elissa, some other noble ladies, and a score or more of the notables +of the city and its surrounding territories. + +One of these strangers immediately attracted the attention of Aziel, +who was seated in the place of honour at the right of Sakon, between +him and the lady Elissa. This man was of large stature, and about +forty years of age; the magnificence of his apparel and the great gold +chain set with rough diamonds which hung about his neck showing him to +be a person of importance. His tawny complexion marked him of mixed +race. This conclusion his features did not belie, for the brow, nose, +and cheek-bones were Semitic in outline, while the full, prominent +eyes, and thick, sensuous lips could with equal certainty be +attributed to the Negroid stock. In fact, he was the son of a native +African queen, or chieftainess, and a noble Phnician, and his rank no +less than that of absolute king and hereditary chief of a vast and +undefined territory which lay around the trading cities of the white +men, whereof Zimboe was the head and largest. Aziel noticed that this +king, who was named Ithobal, seemed angry and ill at ease, whether +because he was not satisfied with the place which had been allotted to +him at the table, or for other reasons, he could not at the time +determine. + +When the meats had been removed, and the goblets were filled with +wine, men began to talk, till presently Sakon called for silence, and +rising, addressed Aziel:-- + +"Prince," he said, "in the name of this great and free city--for free +it is, though we acknowledge the king of Tyre as our suzerain--I give +you welcome within our gates. Here, far in the heart of Libya, we have +heard of the glorious and wise king, your grandfather, and of the +mighty Pharaoh of Egypt, whose blood runs also within your veins. +Prince, we are honoured in your coming, and for the asking, whatever +this land of gold can boast is yours. Long may you live; may the +favour of those gods you worship attend you, and in the pursuit of +wisdom, of wealth, of war, and of love, may the good grain of all be +garnered in your bosom, and the wind of prosperity winnow out the +chaff of them to fall beneath your feet. Prince, I have greeted you as +it behoves me to greet the blood of Solomon and Pharaoh; now I add a +word. Now I greet you as a father greets the man who has saved his +only and beloved daughter from death, or shameful bondage. Know you, +friends, what this stranger did since to-night's moonrise? My daughter +was at worship alone yonder without the walls, and a great savage set +on her, purposing to bear her away captive. Ay, and he would have done +it had not the prince Aziel here given him battle, and, after a fierce +fight, slain him." + +"No great deed to kill a single savage," broke in the king Ithobal, +who had been listening with impatience to Sakon's praises of this +high-born stranger. + +"No great deed you say, King," answered Sakon. "Guards, being in the +body of the man and set it before us." + +There was a pause, till presently six men staggered up the hall +bearing between them the corpse of the barbarian, which, still covered +with the leopard skin mantle, they threw down on the edge of the das. + +"See!" said one of the bearers, withdrawing the cloak from the huge +body. Then pointing to the sword which still transfixed it, he added, +"and learn what strength heaven gives to the arms of princes." + +Such as the guests as were near enough rose to look at the grizzly +sight, then turned to offer their congratulations to the conqueror. +but there was one of them--the king Ithobal--who offered none; indeed, +as his eyes fell upon the face of the corpse, they grew alight with +rage. + +"What ails you, King? Are you jealous of such a blow?" asked Sakon, +watching him curiously. + +"Speak no more of that thrust, I pray you," said Aziel, "for it was +due to the weight of the man rushing on the sword, which after he was +dead I could not find the power to loosen from his breast-bone." + +"Then I will do you that service, Prince," sneered Ithobal, and, +setting his foot upon the breast of the corpse, with a sudden effort +of his great frame, he plucked out the sword and cast it down upon the +table. + +"Now, one might think," said Aziel, flushing with anger, "that you, +King, who do a courtesy to a man of smaller strength, mean a +challenge. Doubtless, however, I am mistaken, who do not understand +the manners of this country." + +"Think what you will, Prince," answered the chieftain, "but learn that +he who lies dead before us by your hand--as you say--was no slave to +be killed at pleasure, but a man of rank, none other, indeed, than the +son of my mother's sister." + +"Is it so?" replied Aziel, "then surely, King, you are well rid of a +cousin, however highly born, who made it his business to ravish +maidens from their homes." + +By way of answer to these words Ithobal sprang from his seat again, +laying hand upon his sword. But before he could speak or draw it, the +governor Sakon addressed him in a cold and meaning voice:-- + +"Of your courtesy, King," he said, "remember that the prince here is +my guest, as you are, and give us peace. If that dead man was your +cousin, at least he well deserved to die, not at the hand of one of +royal blood, but by that of the executioner, for he was the worst of +thieves--a thief of women. Now tell me, King, I pray you, how came +your cousin here, so far from home, since he was not numbered in your +retinue?" + +"I do not know, Sakon," answered Ithobal, "and if I knew I would not +say. You tell me that my dead kinsman was a thief of women, which, in +Phnician eyes, must be a crime indeed. So be it; but thief or no +thief, I say that there is a blood feud between me and the man who +slew him, and were he great Solomon himself, instead of one of fifty +princelets of his line, he should pay bitterly for the dead. +To-morrow, Sakon, I will meet you before I leave for my own land, for +I have words to speak to you. Till then, farewell!"--and rising, he +strode down the hall, followed by his officers and guard. + +***** + +The sudden departure of king Ithobal in anger was the signal for the +breaking up of the feast. + +"Why is that half-bred chief so wrath with me?" asked Aziel in a low +voice of Elissa as they followed Sakon to another chamber. + +"Because--if you would know the truth--he set his dead cousin to +kidnap me, and you thwarted him," she answered, looking straight +before her. + +Aziel made no reply, for at that moment Sakon turned to speak with +him, and his face was anxious. + +"I crave your pardon, Prince," he said, drawing him aside, "that you +should have met with such insults at my board. Had it been any other +man who spoke thus to you, by now he had rued his words, but this +Ithobal is the terror of our city, for if he chooses he can bring a +hundred thousand savages upon us, shutting us within our walls to +starve, and cutting us off from the working of the mines whence we win +gold. Therefore, in this way or that, he must be humoured, as indeed +we have humoured him and his father for years, though now," he added, +his brow darkening, "he demands a price that I am loth to pay," and he +glanced towards his daughter, who stood watching them at a little +distance, looking most beautiful in her white robes and ornaments of +gold. + +"Can you not make war upon him, and break his power?" asked Aziel, +with a strange anxiety, guessing that this price demanded by Ithobal +was none other than Elissa, the woman whom he had rescued, and whose +wisdom and beauty had stirred his heart. + +"It might be done, Prince, but the risk would be great, and we are +here to work the mines and grow rich in trade--not to make war. The +policy of Zimboe has always been a policy of peace." + +"I have a better and cheaper plan," said a calm voice at his elbow-- +that of Metem. "It is this: Slip a bow-string over the brute's head as +he lies snoring, and pull it tight. An eagle in a cage is easy to deal +with, but once on the wing the matter is different." + +"There is wisdom in your counsel," said Sakon, in a hesitating voice. + +"Wisdom!" broke in Aziel; "ay, the wisdom of the assassin. What, noble +Sakon, would you murder a sleeping guest?" + +"No, Prince, I would not," he answered hastily; "also, such a deed +would bring the Tribes upon us." + +"Then, Sakon, you are more foolish than you used to be," said Metem +laughing. "A man who will not despatch a foe, whenever he can catch +him, by means fair or foul, is not the man to govern a rich city set +in the heart of a barbarous land, and so I shall tell Hiram, our king, +if ever I live to see Tyre again. As for you, most high Prince, +forgive the humblest of your servants if he tells you that the +tenderness of your heart and the nobility of your sentiments will, I +think, bring you to an early and evil end;" and, glancing towards +Elissa as though to put a point upon his words, Metem smiled +sarcastically and withdrew. + +At this moment a messenger, whose long white hair, wild eyes and red +robe announced him to be a priest of El, by which name the people of +Zimboe worshipped Baal, entered the room, and whispered something into +the ear of Sakon which seemed to disturb him much. + +"Pardon me, Prince, and you, my guests, if I leave you," said the +governor, "but I have evil tidings that call me to the temple. The +lady Baaltis is seized with the black fever, and I must visit her. For +an hour, farewell." + +This news caused consternation among the company, and in the general +confusion that followed its announcement Aziel joined Elissa, who had +passed on to the balcony of the house, and was seated there alone, +looking out over the moonlit city and the plains beyond. At his +approach she rose in token of respect, then sat herself down again, +motioning him to do likewise. + +"Give me of your wisdom, lady," he said. "I thought that Baaltis was +the goddess whom I heard you worshipping yonder in the grove; how, +then, can she be stricken with a fever?" + +"She is the goddess," Elissa answered smiling; "but the /lady/ Baaltis +is a woman whom we revere as the incarnation of that goddess upon +earth, and being but a woman in her hour she must die." + +"Then, what becomes of the incarnation of the goddess?" + +"Another is chosen by the college of the priests of El, and the +company of the priestesses of Baaltis. If that lady Baaltis who is +dead chances to leave a daughter, it is usual for the lot to fall upon +her; if not, upon such one of the noble maidens as may be chosen." + +"Does the lady Baaltis marry, then?" + +"Yes, Prince, within a year of her consecration, she must choose +herself a husband, and he may be whom she will, provided only that he +is of white blood, and does public sacrifice to El and Baaltis. Then +after she has named him, this husband takes the title of Shadid, and +for so long as his wife shall live he is the high priest of the god +El, and clothed with the majesty of the god, as his wife is clothed +with the majesty of Baaltis. But should she die, another wins his +place." + +"It is a strange faith," said Aziel, "which teaches that the Lord of +Heaven can find a home in mortal breasts. But, lady, it is yours, so +of it I say no more. Now tell me, if you will, what did you mean when +you said that this barbarian king, Ithobal, set the savage whom I slew +to kidnap you? Do you know this, or do you suspect it only?" + +"I suspected it from the first, Prince, and for good reasons; +moreover, I read it in the king's face as he looked upon the corpse, +and when he perceived me among the feasters." + +"And why should he wish to carry you away this brutally, lady, when he +is at peace with the great city?" + +"Perchance, Prince, after what passed to-night you can guess," she +answered lowering her eyes. + +"Yes, lady, I can guess, and though it is shameful that such an one +should dare to think of you, still, since he is a man, I cannot blame +him overmuch. But why should he press his suit in this rough and +secret fashion instead of openly as a king might do?" + +"He may have pressed it openly and been repulsed," she replied in a +low voice. "But if he could have carried me to some far fortress, how +should I flout him there, that is, if I still lived? There, with no +price to pay in gold or lands or power, he would have been my master, +and I should have been his slave till such time as he wearied of me. +That is the fate from which you have saved me, Prince, or rather from +death, for I am not one who could bear such shame at the hands of a +man I hate." + +"Lady," he said bowing, "I think that perhaps for the first time in my +life I am glad to-night that I was born." + +"And I," she answered, "who am but a Phnician maiden, am glad that I +should have lived to hear one who is as royal in thought and soul as +he is in rank speak thus to me. Oh! Prince," she added, clasping her +hands, "if your words are not those of empty courtesy alone, hear me, +for you are great, a Lord of the Earth whom none refuse, and it may be +in your power to give me aid. Prince, I am in a sore strait, for that +danger from which I prayed to be delivered this night presses me hard. +Prince, it is true that Ithobal has been refused my hand, both by +myself and by my father, and therefore it was that he strove to steal +me away. But the evil is not done with, for the great nobles of the +city and the chief priests of El came to my father at sunset and +prayed him that he would let Ithobal take me, seeing that otherwise in +his rage he will make war upon Zimboe. When a man placed as is my +father must choose between the safety of thousands and the honour and +happiness of one poor girl, what will his answer be, think you?" + +"Now," said Aziel, "save that no wrong can right a wrong, I almost +grieve that I cried shame upon the counsel of Metem. Sweet lady, be +sure of this, that I will give all I have, even to my life, to protect +you from the vile fate you dread--yes, all I have--except my soul." + +"Ah!" she cried with a sudden flash of her dark eyes, "all except your +soul. If we women could find the man who would risk both life and soul +for us, then, were he but a slave, we would worship him as never man +was worshipped since Baaltis mounted her heavenly throne." + +"Were I not a Hebrew you would tempt me, lady," Aziel answered +smiling, "but being one I may not risk my soul even were such a prize +within my reach." + +"Nay, Prince," she broke in, "I did but jest; forget my words, for +they were wrung from a heart torn with fears. Oh! did you know the +terror of this half-savage Ithobal which oppresses me, you would +forgive me all--a terror that to-night lies upon me with a tenfold +weight." + +"Why so, lady?" + +"Doubtless because it is nearer," Elissa whispered, but her beautiful +pleading eyes and quivering lips seemed to belie her words and say, +"because /you/ are near, and a change has come upon me." + +For the second time that day Aziel's glance met hers, and for the +second time a strange new pang that was more pain than joy, and yet +half-divine, snatched at his heart-strings, for a while numbing his +reason and taking from him the power of speech. + +"What was it?" he wondered vaguely. He had seen many lovely faces, and +many noble women had shown him favour, but why had none of them +stirred him thus? Could it be that this stranger Gentile maiden was +his soul-mate--she whom he was destined to love above all upon the +earth, nay, whom he did already love, and so soon? + +"Lady," he said, taking a step towards her, "lady----" and he paused. + +Elissa bowed her dark head till her gold-bedecked and scented hair +almost fell upon his feet, but she made no answer. + +Then another voice broke upon the silence, a clear, strident voice +that said:-- + +"Prince, forgive me, if for the second time to-day I disturb you; but +the guests have gone; your chamber is made ready, and, not knowing the +customs of the women of this country, I sought you, little guessing +that, at such an hour, I should find you alone with one of them." + +Aziel looked up, although there was no need for him to do so, for he +knew that voice well, to see the tall form of the Levite Issachar +standing before them, a cold light of anger shining in his eyes. + +Elissa saw also, and, with some murmured words of farewell, she turned +and went, leaving them together. + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE DREAM OF ISSACHAR + +For a moment there was silence, which Aziel broke, saying:-- + +"It seems to me, Issachar, that you are somewhat over zealous for my +welfare." + +"I think otherwise, Prince," replied the Levite sternly. "Did not your +grandsire give you into my keeping, and shall I not be faithful to my +trust, and to a higher duty than any which he could lay upon me?" + +"Your meaning, Issachar?" + +"It is plain, Prince; but I will set it out. The great king said to me +yonder in the hall of his golden palace at Jerusalem, 'To others, men +of war, I have given charge of the body of my grandson to keep him +safe. To you, Issachar the Levite, who have fostered him, I give +charge over his soul to keep it safe--a higher task, and more +difficult. Guard him, Issachar, from the temptation of strange +doctrines and the whisperings of strange gods, but guard him most of +all from the wiles of strange women who bow the knee to Baal, for such +are the gate of Gehenna upon earth, and those who enter by it shall +find their place in Tophet.'" + +"Truly my grandsire speaks wisely on this matter as on all others," +answered Aziel, "but still I do not understand." + +"Then I will be more clear, Prince. How comes it that I find you alone +with this beautiful sorceress, this worshipper of the she-devil, +Baaltis, with whom you should scorn even to speak, except such words +as courtesy demands?" + +"Is it then forbidden to me," asked Aziel angrily, "to talk with the +daughter of my host, a lady whom I chanced to save from death, of the +customs of her country and the mysteries of worship?" + +"The mysteries of worship!" answered Issachar scornfully. "Ay! the +mysteries of the worship of that fair body of hers, that ivory chalice +filled with foulness--whereof, if a man drink, his faith shall be +rotted and his soul poisoned. The mysteries of that worship was it, +Prince, that caused you but now to lean towards this woman as though +to embrace her, with words of love burning in your heart if not +between your lips? Ah! these witches of Baaltis know their trade well; +they are full of evil gifts, and of the wisdom given to them by the +fiend they serve. With touch and sigh and look they can stir the blood +of youth, having much practice in the art, till it seethes within the +veins and drowns conscience in its flood. + +"Nay, Prince, hear the truth," continued Issachar. "Till moonrise you +had never seen this woman, and now your quick blood is aflame, and you +love her. Deny it if you can--deny it on your honour and I will +believe you, for you are no liar." + +Aziel thought for a moment and answered:-- + +"Issachar, you have no right to question me on this matter, yet since +you have adjured me by my honour, I will be open with you. I do not +know if I love this woman, who, as you say, is a stranger to me, but +it is true that my heart turns towards her like flowers to the sun. +Till to-day I had never seen her, yet when my eyes first fell upon her +face yonder in that accursed grove, it seemed to me that I had been +born only that I might find her. It seemed to me even that for ages I +had known her, that for ever she was mine and that I was hers. Read me +the riddle, Issachar? Is this but passion born of youth and the sudden +sight of a fair woman? That cannot be, for I have known others as +fair, and have passed through some such fires. Tell me, Issachar, you +who are old and wise and have seen much of the hearts of men, what is +this wave that overwhelms me?" + +"What is it, Prince? It is witchery; it is the wile of Beelzebub +waiting to snatch your soul, and if you hearken to it you shall pass +through the fire--through the fire to Moloch, if not in the flesh, +then in the spirit, which is to all eternity. Oh! not in vain do I +fear for you, my son, and not without reason was I warned in a dream. +Listen: Last night, as I lay in my tent yonder upon the plain, I +dreamed that some danger overshadowed you, and in my sleep I prayed +that your destiny might be revealed to me. As I prayed thus, I heard a +voice saying, 'Issachar, you seek to learn the future; know then that +he who is dear to you shall be tried in the furnace indeed. Yes, +because of his great love and pity, he shall forswear his faith, and +with death and sorrow he shall pay the price of his sin.' + +"Then I was troubled and besought Heaven that you, my son, might be +saved from this unknown temptation, but the voice answered me:-- + +"'Of their own will only can they who were one from the beginning be +held apart. Through good and ill let them work each other's woe or +weal. The goal is sure, but they must choose the road.' + +"Now as I wondered what these dark sayings might mean, the gloom +opened and I saw you, Aziel, standing in a grove of trees, while +towards you with outstretched hands drew a veiled woman who bore upon +her brow the golden bow of Baaltis. Then fire raged about you, and in +the fire I beheld many things which I have forgotten, and moving +through it was the Prince of Death, who slew and slew and spared not. +So I awoke heavy at heart, knowing that there had fallen on me who +love you a shadow of doom to come." + +In these latter days any educated man would set aside Issachar's wild +vision as the vapourings of a mind distraught. But Aziel lived in the +time of Solomon, when men of his nation guided their steps by the +light of prophecy, and believed that it was the Divine pleasure, by +means of dreams and wonders and through the mouths of chosen seers, to +declare the will of Jehovah upon earth. To this faith, indeed, we +still hold fast, at least so far as that period and people are +concerned, seeing that we acknowledge Isaiah, David, and their +company, to have been inspired from above. Of that company Issachar +the Levite was one, for to him, from his youth up, voices had spoken +in the watches of the night, and often he had poured his warnings and +denunciations into the ears of kings and peoples, telling them with no +uncertain voice of the consequences of sin and idolatry, and of +punishment to come. This Aziel, who had been his ward and pupil, knew +well, and therefore he did not mock at the priest's dream or set it +aside as naught, but bowed his head and listened. + +"I am honoured indeed," he said with humility, "that the destiny of my +poor soul and body should be a thing of weight to those on high." + +"Of your poor soul, Aziel?" broke in Issachar. "That soul of yours, of +which you speak so lightly, is of as great value in the eyes of Heaven +as that of any cherubim within its gates. The angels who fell were the +first and chiefest of the angels, and though now we are clad with +mortal shape in punishment of our sins, again redeemed and glorified +we can become among the mightiest of their hosts. Oh! my son, I +beseech you, turn from this woman while there yet is time, lest to you +her lips should be a cup of woe and your soul shall pay the price of +them, sharing the hell of the worshippers of Ashtoreth." + +"It may be so," said Aziel; "but, Issachar, what said the voice? That +this, the woman of your dream and I were one from the beginning? +Issachar, you believe that the lady Elissa is she of whom the voice +spoke in your sleep and you bid me turn from her because she will +bring me sin and punishment. In truth, if I can, I will obey you, +since rather than forswear my faith, as your dream foretold, I would +die a hundred deaths. Nor do I believe that for any bribe of woman's +love I shall forswear it in act or thought. Yet if such things come +about it is fate that drives me on, not my will--and what man can flee +his fate? But even though this lady be she whom I am doomed to love, +you say that because she is heathen I must reject her. Shame upon the +thought, for if she is heathen it is through ignorance, and it may be +mine to change her heart. Because I stand in danger shall I suffer her +who, as you tell me, was one with me from the beginning, to be lost in +that hell of Baal of which you speak? Nay, your dream is false. I will +not renounce my faith, but rather will win her to share it, and +together we shall triumph, and that I swear to you, Issachar." + +"Truly the evil one has many wiles," answered the Levite, "and I did +ill to tell you of my dream, seeing that it can be twisted to serve +the purpose of your madness. Have your will, Aziel, and reap the fruit +of it, but of this I warn you--that while I can find a way to thwart +it, never, Prince, shall you take that witch to your bosom to be the +ruin of your life and soul." + +"Then, Issachar, on this matter there may be war between us!" + +"Ay! there is war," said the Levite, and left him. + +***** + +The sun was already high in the heavens when Aziel awoke from the deep +and dreamless sleep which followed on the excitements and exhaustion +of the previous day. After his servants had waited upon him and robed +him, bringing him milk and fruit to eat, he dismissed them, and sat +himself down by the casement of his chamber to think a while. + +Below him lay the city of flat-roofed houses enclosed with a double +wall, without the ring of which were thousands of straw huts, shaped +like bee-hives, wherein dwelt natives of the country, slaves or +servants of the occupying Phnician race. To Aziel's right, and not +more than a hundred paces from the governor's house in which he was, +rose the round and mighty battlements of the temple, where the +followers of El and Baaltis worshipped, and the gold refiners carried +on their business. At intervals on its flat-topped walls stood towers +of observation, alternating with pointed monoliths of granite and +soapstone columns supporting vultures, rudely carved emblems of +Baaltis. Between these towers armed soldiers walked continually, +watching the city below and the plain beyond, for though the mission +of the Phnicians here was one of peaceful gain it was evident that +they considered it necessary to be always prepared for war. On the +hillside above the great temple towered another fortress of stone--a +citadel deemed to be impregnable even should the temple fall into the +hands of an enemy--while on the crest of the precipitous slope, +stretching as far to right and left as the eye could reach, were many +smaller detached strongholds. + +The scene that Aziel saw from his window was a busy one, for beneath +him a market was being held in an open square in the city. Here, +sheltered from the sun by grass-thatched booths, the Phnician +merchants who had been his companions in their long and perilous +journey from the coast were already in treaty with numerous customers, +hoping, not in vain, to recoup themselves amply for the toils and +dangers which they had survived. Beneath these booths were spread +their goods; silks from Cos, bronze weapons and copper rods, or ingots +from the rich mines of Cyprus, linens and muslins from Egypt; beads, +idols, carven bowls, knives, glass ware, pottery in all shapes, and +charms made of glazed faience or Egyptian stone; bales of the famous +purple cloth of Tyre; surgical instruments, jewellery, and objects of +toilet; scents, pots of rouge, and other unguents for the use of +ladies in little alabaster and earthenware vases; bags of refined +salt, and a thousand other articles of commerce produced or stored in +the workshops of Phnicia. These the chapmen bartered for raw gold by +weight, tusks of ivory, ostrich feathers, and girls of approved +beauty, slaves taken in war, or in some instances maidens whom their +unnatural parents or relatives did not scruple to sell into bondage. + +In another portion of the square, provisions and stock, alive and +dead, were being offered for sale, for the most part by natives of the +country. Here were piles of vegetables and fruits grown in the +gardens, sacks of various sorts of grain, bundles of green forage from +the irrigated lands without the walls, calabashes full of curdled +milk, thick native beer and trusses of reed for thatching. Here again +were oxen, mules and asses, or great bucks such as we now know as +eland or kudoo, carried in on rough litters of boughs to be disposed +of by parties of savage huntsmen who had shot them with arrows or +trapped them in pitfalls. Every Eastern tribe and nation seemed to be +represented in the motley crowd. Yonder stalked savages, naked except +for their girdles, and armed with huge spears, who gazed with +bewilderment on the wonders of this mart of the white man; there moved +grave, long-bearded Arab merchants or Phnicians in their pointed +caps, or bare-headed white-robed Egyptians, or half-bred mercenaries +clad in mail. Their variety was without end, while from them came a +very babel of different tongues as they cried their wares, bargained +and quarrelled. + +Aziel gazed at this novel sight with interest, till, as he was +beginning to weary of it, the crowd parted to right and left, leaving +a clear lane across the market-place to the narrow gate of the temple. +Along this lane advanced a procession of the priests of El clad in red +robes, with tall red caps upon their heads, beneath which their +straight hair hung down to their shoulders. In their hands were gilded +rods, and round their necks hung golden chains, to which were attached +emblems of the god they worshipped. They walked two-and-two to the +number of fifty, chanting a melancholy dirge, one hand of each priest +resting upon his fellow's shoulder, and as they passed, with the +exception of certain Jews, all the spectators uncovered, while some of +the more pious of them even fell upon their knees. + +After the priests came a second procession, that of the priestesses of +Baaltis. These women, who numbered at least a hundred, were clad in +white, and wore upon their heads a gauze-like veil that fell to the +knees, and was held in place by a golden fillet surmounted with the +symbol of a crescent moon. Instead of the golden rods, however, each +of them held in her left hand a growing stalk of maize, from the +sheathed cob of which hung the bright tassel of its bloom. On her +right wrist, moreover, a milk-white dove was fastened by a wire, both +corn and dove being tokens of that fertility which, under various +guises, was the real object of worship of these people. The sight of +these white-veiled women about whose crescent-decked brows the doves +fluttered, wildly striving to be free, was very strange and beautiful +as they advanced also singing a low and melancholy chant. Aziel +searched their faces with his eyes while they passed slowly towards +him, and presently his heart bounded, for there among them, clasping +the dove she bore to her breast, as though to still its frightened +strugglings, was the Lady Elissa. He noticed, too, that as she went +beneath the palace walls, she glanced at the window-place of his +chamber, but without seeing him for he was seated in the shadow. + +Presently the long line of priestesses, followed by hundreds of +worshippers, had vanished through the tortuous and narrow entrance of +the temple, and Aziel leaned back to think. + +There, among the principal votaries of a goddess, the wickedness of +whose worship was a scandal and a by-word even in the ancient world, +walked the woman to whom he felt so strangely drawn and with whom, if +there were any truth in the visions of Issachar and the mysterious +warnings of his own soul, his fate was intertwined. As he thought of +it a sudden revulsion filled his heart. She was wise and beautiful, +and she seemed innocent, but Issachar was right; this girl was the +minister of an abominable creed; nay, for aught he knew, she was +herself defiled with its abominations, and her wisdom but an evil gift +from the evil powers she served. Could he, a prince of the royal blood +of the House of Israel and of the ancient Pharaohs of Khem, desire to +have anything to do with such an one, he a child of the Chosen People, +a worshipper of the true and only God? Yesterday she had thrown a +spell upon him, a spell of black magic, or the spell of her imperial +beauty, which, it mattered not, but to-day he was the lord of his own +mind, and would shake himself free of it and her. + +***** + +In the market-place below, the Levite Issachar also had watched the +passing of the priests and priestesses of El and Baaltis. + +"Tell me, Metem," he asked of the Phnician who stood beside him, his +head respectfully uncovered, "what mummery is this?" + +"It is no mummery, worthy Issachar, but a ceremony of public +sacrifice, which is to be offered in the temple yonder, for the +recovery from her sickness of the Lady Baaltis, the high-priestess." + +"Where then is the offering. I see none, unless it be those doves that +are tied to the wrists of the women?" + +"Nay, Issachar," answered Metem smiling darkly, "the gods ask nobler +blood than that of doves. The offering is within, and it is the first- +born child of a priestess of Baaltis." + +"O Lord of Heaven!" said Issachar lifting up his eyes, "how long will +you suffer that this murderous and accursed race should defile the +face of earth?" + +"Softly, friend," broke in Metem, "I have read your Scriptures, and is +it not set out in them that your great forefather was commanded to +offer up his first-born in such a sacrifice?" + +"Blaspheme not," answered the Jew. "He was commanded indeed, that his +heart might be proved, but his hand was stayed. He Whom I worship +delights not in the blood of children." + +Here Issachar broke off, suddenly recognising the lady Elissa among +the white-robed priestesses. Watching her, he noted her glance at the +window of Aziel's chamber, and saw what she could not see, that the +prince was seated there. "This daughter of Satan spreads her nets," he +muttered between his teeth. Then a thought struck him, and he added +aloud, "Say, Metem, is it permitted to strangers to witness the rites +in yonder temple?" + +"Surely," answered the Phnician; "that is, if they guard their +tongues, and do nothing to offend." + +"Then I desire to see them, Metem, and so doubtless does the prince +Aziel. Therefore, if it is your will, do me the service to enter his +chamber in the palace where he is sitting, and bid him to a great +ceremony that goes forward in the temple. And, Metem, if he asks what +that ceremony is, I charge you, say only that a dove is to be +sacrificed. + +"I will wait for you at the gate of the temple, but do not tell him +that I send you on this errand. Metem, you love gain; remember that if +you humour me in this and other matters which may arise, doing my +bidding faithfully, I have the treasury of Jerusalem to draw upon." + +"No ill paymaster," replied Metem cheerfully. "Certainly I will obey +you in all things, holy Issachar, as the king commanded me yonder in +Judea." + +"Now," he reflected to himself, as he went upon his message, "I see +how the bird flies. The prince Aziel is in love with the lady Elissa, +or far upon the road to it, as at his age it is right and proper that +he should be, after a twelve months' journey by sea and land with +never a pretty face to sigh for. The holy Issachar, on the other hand, +is minded that his charge shall have naught to do with a priestess of +Baaltis, as, his age and calling considered, is also right and proper. +Then there is that black savage Ithobal, who wishes to win the girl, +and the girl herself, who after the fashion of her sex, will probably +play them all off one against the other. Well, so much the better for +me, since I shall be a richer man even than I am before this affair is +done with. I have two hands, and gold is gold whoever be the giver," +and smiling craftily to himself Metem passed into the palace. + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE PLACE OF SACRIFICE + +Suddenly Aziel, looking up from his reverie, saw the Phnician bowing +before him, cap in hand. + +"May the Prince live for ever," he said, "yet if he suffer melancholy +to overcome him thus, his life, however long, will be but sad." + +"I was only thinking, Metem," answered Aziel with a start. + +"Of the lady Elissa, whom you rescued, Prince? Ah! I guessed as much. +She is beautiful, is she not--I have never seen the equal of those +dreamy eyes and that mysterious smile--and learned also, though +myself, in a woman I prefer the beauty without the learning. It is a +pity now that she should chance to be a priestess of our worship, for +that will not please the holy Issachar whom, I fear, Prince, you find +a stern guide for the feet of youth." + +"Your business, merchant?" broke in Aziel. + +"I crave your pardon, Prince," answered the Phnician, spreading out +his hands in deprecation. "I struck a good bargain for my wares this +morning, and drank wine to seal it, therefore, let me be forgiven if I +have spoken too freely in your presence, Prince. This is my business: +Yonder in the temple they celebrate a service which it is lawful for +strangers to witness, and as the opportunity is rare, I thought that, +having heard something of our mysteries in the grove last night, you +might wish to see the office. If this be so, I am come to guide you." + +"Aziel's first impulse was to refuse to go; indeed, the words of +dismissal were on his lips when another purpose entered his mind. For +this once he would look upon these abominations and learn what part +Elissa played in them, and thus be cured for ever of the longings that +had seized him. + +"What is the ceremony?" he asked. + +"A sacrifice for the recovery of the lady Baaltis who is sick, +Prince." + +"And what is the sacrifice?" asked Aziel. + +"A dove, as I am told," was the indifferent answer. + +"I will come with you, Metem." + +"So be it, Prince. Your retinue awaits you at the gate." + +At the main entrance to the palace Aziel found his guard and other +servants gathered there to escort him. With them was Issachar, whom he +greeted, asking him if he knew the errand upon which they were bent. + +"I do, Prince; it is to witness the abomination of a sacrifice of +these heathens." + +"Will you then accompany me there, Issachar?" + +"Where my lord goes I go," answered the Levite gravely. "Moreover, +Prince, if you have your reasons for wishing to see this devil- +worship, I may have mine." + +Then they set out, Metem guiding them. At the north gate of the +temple, which was not more than a yard in width, the Phnician spoke +to the guards on duty, who drew back to let them pass. In single file, +for the passages were too narrow to allow of any other means of +progression, they threaded the tortuous and mazy paths of the great +building, passing between huge walls built of granite blocks laid +without mortar, till at length they reached a large open space. Here +the ceremony had already begun. Almost in the centre of this space, +which was paved with blocks of granite, stood two conical towers, the +larger of which measured thirty feet in height and the smaller about +half as much. These towers, also build of blocks of stone, were, as +Metem informed them, sacred to and emblematical of the gods El and +Baaltis. In front of them was a platform surmounted by a stone altar, +and between them, built in a pit in the ground, burned a great furnace +of wood. All the centre of the enclosure was occupied by the +marshalled ranks of the priests and priestesses. Without this sacred +ring stood the closely packed masses of spectators, amongst whom Aziel +and his following were given place, though some of the more pious +worshippers murmured audibly at the admission of these Jews. + +When they entered, the companies of priests and priestesses were +finishing a prayer, the sentences of which they chanted alternately +with strange effect. In part it was formal, and in part an improvised +supplication to the protecting gods to restore health to that woman or +high-priestess who was known as the lady Baaltis. The prayer ended, a +beautiful bold-faced girl advanced to an open space in front of the +altar, and with a sudden movement threw off her white robe, revealing +herself to the spectators in a many-coloured garment of gauze, through +which her fair flesh gleamed. + +The black hair of this woman was adorned with a coronet of scarlet +flowers and hung loose about her; her feet and arms were naked, and in +each hand she held a knife of bronze. Very slowly she began to dance, +her painted lips parted as though to speak, and her eyes, brightened +with pigments, turned up to heaven. By degrees her movements grew more +rapid, till at length, as she whirled round, her long locks streamed +out straight upon the air and the crown of flowers looked like a +scarlet ring. Suddenly the bronze knife in her right hand flashed, and +a spot of red appeared above her left breast; then the knife in the +left hand flashed, and another spot appeared over the right breast. At +each stroke the multitude cried, "/Ah!/" as with one voice, and then +were silent. + +Now the maddened dancer, ceasing her whirlings, leapt high into the +air, clashing the knives above her head and crying, "Hear me, hear me, +Baaltis!" + +Again she leapt, and this time the answer that came from her lips was +spoken in another voice, which said, "I am present. What seek you?" + +A third time the priestess leapt, replying in her own voice, "Health +for thy servant who is sick." Then came the answer in the second voice +--"I hear you, but I see no sacrifice." + +"What sacrifice would'st thou, O Queen? A dove?" + +"Nay." + +"What then, Queen?" + +"One only, the first-born child of a woman." + +As this command, which they supposed to be divine and from above, +issued out of the lips of the gashed and bleeding Pythoness, the +multitude that hitherto had listened in perfect silence, shouted +aloud, while the girl herself, utterly exhausted, fell to the earth +swooning. + +Now the high priest of El, who was named the Shadid, none other indeed +than the husband of her who lay sick, sprang upon the platform and +cried:-- + +"The goddess has spoken by the mouth of her oracle. She who is the +mother of all demands one life out of the many she has given, that the +Lady Baaltis, who is her priestess upon earth, may be recovered of her +sickness. Say, who will lay down a life for the honour of the goddess, +and that her regent in this land may be saved alive?" + +Now--for all this scene had been carefully prepared--a woman stepped +forward, wearing the robe of a priestess, who bore in her arms a +drugged and sleeping child. + +"I, father," she cried in a shrill, hard voice, though her lips +trembled as she spoke. "Let the goddess take this child, the first- +fruit of my body, that our mother the Lady Baaltis may be cured of her +sickness, and that I, her daughter, may be blessed by the goddess, and +through me, all we who worship her." And she held out the little +victim towards him. + +The Shadid stretched out his arms to take it, but he never did take +it, for at that moment appeared upon the platform the tall and bearded +figure of Issachar clad in his white robes. + +"Hold!" he cried in a loud, clear voice, "and touch not the innocent +child. Spawn of Satan, would you do murder to appease the devils whom +you worship? Well shall they repay you, people of Zimboe. Oh! mine +eyes are open and I see," he went on, shaking his thin arms above his +head in a prophetic frenzy. "I see the sword of the true God, and it +flames above this city of idolaters and abominations. I see this place +of sacrifice, and I tell you that before the moon is young again it +shall run red with the blood of you, idol worshippers, and of you, +women of the groves. The heathen is at your gates, ye followers of +demons, and my God sends them as He sends the locusts of the north +wind to devour you like grass, to sweep you away like the dust of the +desert. Cry then upon El and Baaltis, and let El and Baaltis save you +if they can. Doom is upon you; Azrael, angel of death, writes his name +upon your foreheads, every one of you, giving your city to the owls, +your bodies to the jackals, and your souls to Satan----" + +Thus far the priests and the spectators had listened to Issachar's +denunciations in bewildered amazement not unmixed with fear. Now with +a roar of wrath they awoke, and suddenly he was dragged from the +platform by a score of hands and struck down with many blows. Indeed, +he would then and there have been torn to pieces had not a guard of +soldiers, knowing that he was Sakon's guest and in the train of the +prince Aziel, snatched him from the maddened multitude, and borne him +swiftly to a place of safety without the enclosure. + +While the tumult was at its height, a Phnician, who had arrived in +the temple breathless with haste, might have been seen to pluck Metem +by the sleeve. + +"What is it?" Metem asked of the man, who was his servant. + +"This: the lady Baaltis is dead. I watched as you bade me, and, as she +had promised to do, in token of the end, her woman waved a napkin from +the casement of that tower where she lies." + +"Do any know of this?" + +"None." + +"Then say no word of it," and Metem hurried off in search of Aziel. + +Presently he found him seeking for Issachar in company with his +guards. + +"Have no fear, Prince," Metem said, in answer to his eager questions, +"he is safe enough, for the soldiers have borne the fool away. Pardon +me that I should speak thus of a holy man, but he has put all our +lives in danger." + +"I do not pardon you," answered Aziel hotly, "and I honour Issachar +for his act and words. Let us begone from this accursed place whither +you entrapped me." + +Before Metem could reply a voice cried, "Close the doors of the +sanctuary, so that none can pass in or go out, and let the sacrifice +be offered." + +"Listen, Prince," said Metem, "you must stay here till the ceremony is +done." + +"Then I tell you, Phnician," answered Aziel, "that rather than suffer +that luckless child to be butchered before my eyes I will cut my way +to it with my guards, and rescue it alive." + +"To leave yourself dead in place of it," answered Metem sarcastically; +"but, see, a woman desires to speak with you," and he pointed to a +girl in the robe of a priestess, whose face was hidden with a veil, +and who, in the tumult and confusion, had worked her way to Aziel. + +"Prince," whispered the veiled form, "I am Elissa. For your life's +sake keep still and silent, or you will be stabbed, for your words +have been overheard, and the priests are mad at the insult that has +been put upon them." + +"Away with you, woman," answered Aziel; "what have I to do with a girl +of the groves and a murderess of children?" + +She winced at his bitter words, but said quietly:-- + +"Then on your own head be your blood, Prince, which I have risked much +to keep unshed. But before you die, learn that I knew nothing of this +foul sacrifice, and that gladly would I give my own life to save that +of yonder child." + +"Save it, and I will believe you," answered the prince, turning from +her. + +Elissa slipped away, for she saw that the priestesses, her companions, +were reforming their ranks, and that she must not tarry. When she had +gone a few yards, a hand caught her by the sleeve, and the voice of +Metem, who had overheard something of this talk, whispered in her +ear:-- + +"Daughter of Sakon, what will you give me if I show you a way to save +the life of the child, and with it that of the prince, and at the same +time to make him think well of you again?" + +"All my jewels and ornaments of gold, and they are many," she answered +eagerly. + +"Good; it is a bargain. Now listen: The lady Baaltis is dead; she died +a few minutes since, and none here know it save myself and one other, +my servant, nor can any learn it, for the gates are shut. Do you be, +therefore, suddenly inspired--of the gods--and say so, for then the +sacrifice must cease, seeing that she for whom it was to be offered is +dead. Do you understand?" + +"I understand," she answered, "and though the blasphemy bring on me +the vengeance of Baaltis, yet it shall be dared. Fear not, your pay is +good," and she pressed forward to her place, keeping the veil wrapped +about her head till she reached it unobserved, for in the general +confusion none had noticed her movements. + +When the noise of shouting and angry voices had at length died away, +and the spectators were driven back outside the sacred circle, the +priest upon the platform cried:-- + +"Now that the Jew blasphemer has gone, let the sacrifice be offered, +as is decreed." + +"Yea, let the sacrifice be offered," answered the multitude, and once +more the woman with the sleeping child stepped forward. But before the +priest could take it another figure approached him, that of Elissa, +with arms outstretched and eyes upturned. + +"Hold, O priest!" she said, "for the goddess, breathing on my brow, +inspires me, and I have a message from the goddess." + +"Draw near, daughter, and speak it in the ears of men," the priest +answered wondering, for he found it hard to believe in such +inspiration, and indeed would have denied her a hearing had he dared. + +So Elissa climbed the platform, and standing upon it still with +outstretched hands and upturned face, she said in a clear voice:-- + +"The goddess refuses the sacrifice, since she has taken to herself her +for whom it was to have been offered--the Lady Baaltis is dead." + +At this tidings a groan went up from the people, partly of grief for +the loss of a spiritual dignitary who was popular, and partly of +disappointment because now the sacrifice could not be offered. For the +Phnicians loved these horrible spectacles, which were not, however, +commonly celebrated by daylight and in the presence of the people. + +"It is a lie," cried a voice, "but now the Lady Baaltis was living." + +"Let the gates be opened, and send to see whether or no I lie," said +Elissa, quietly. + +Then for a while there was silence while a priest went upon the +errand. At length he was seen returning. Pushing his way through the +crowd, he mounted the platform, and said:-- + +"The daughter of Sakon speaks truth; alas! the lady Baaltis is dead." + +Elissa sighed in relief, for had her tidings proved false she could +scarcely have hoped to escape the fury of the crowd. + +"Ay!" she cried, "she is dead, as I told you, and because of your sin, +who would have offered human sacrifice in public, against the custom +of our faith and city and without the command of the goddess." + +***** + +Then in sullen silence the priests and priestesses reformed their +ranks, and departed from the sanctuary, whence they were followed by +the spectators, the most of them in no good mood, for they had been +baulked of the promised spectacle. + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE HALL OF AUDIENCE + +When Elissa reached her chamber after the break up of the procession, +she threw herself upon her couch, and burst into a passion of tears. +Well might she weep, for she had been false to her oath as a +priestess, uttering as a message from the goddess that which she had +learnt from the lips of man. More, she could not rid herself of the +remembrance of the scorn and loathing with which the Prince Aziel had +looked upon her, or of the bitter insult of his words when he called +her, "a girl of the groves, and a murderess of children." + +It chanced that, so far as Elissa was concerned, these charges were +utterly untrue. None could throw a slur upon her, and as for these +rare human sacrifices, she loathed the very name of them, nor, unless +forced to it, would she have been present had she guessed that any +such offering was intended. + +Like most of the ancient religions, that of the Phnicians had two +sides to it--a spiritual and a material side. The spiritual side was a +worship of the far-off unknown divinity, symbolised by the sun, moon +and planets, and visible only in their majestic movements, and in the +forces of nature. To this Elissa clung, knowing no truer god, and from +those forces she strove to wring their secret, for her heart was deep. +Lonely invocations to the goddess beneath the light of the moon +appealed to her, for from them she seemed to draw strength and +comfort, but the outward ceremonies of her faith, or the more secret +and darker of them, of which in practice she knew little, were already +an abomination in her eyes. And now what if the Jew prophet spoke +truly? What if this creed of hers were a lie, root and branch, and +there did lie in the heavens above a Lord and Father who heard and +answered the prayers of men, and who did not seek of them the blood of +the children He had given? + +A great doubt took hold of Elissa and shook her being, and with the +doubt came hope. How was it--if her faith were true--that when she +took the name of the goddess in vain, nothing had befallen her? She +desired to learn more of this matter, but who was to teach her? The +Levite turned from her with loathing as from a thing unclean, and +there remained, therefore, but the prince Aziel, who had put her from +him with those bitter words of scorn. Ah! why did they pain her so, +piercing her heart as with a spear? Was it because--because--he had +grown dear to her? Yes, that was the truth. She had learned it even as +he cursed her; all her quick southern blood was alight with a new +fire, the like of which she had never known before. And not her blood +only, it was her spirit--her spirit that yearned to his. Had it not +leapt within her at the first sight of him as to one most dear, one +long-lost and found again? She loved him, and he loathed her, and oh! +her lot was hard. + +As Elissa lay brooding thus in her pain, the door opened and Sakon, +her father, hurried into the chamber. + +"What is it that chanced yonder?" he asked, for he had not been +present in the sanctuary, "and, daughter, why do you weep?" + +"I weep, father, because your guest, the prince Aziel, has called me +'a girl of the groves, and a murderess of children,'" she replied. + +"Then, by my head, prince that he is, he shall answer for it to me," +said Sakon, grasping at his sword-hilt. + +"Nay, father, since to him I must have seemed to deserve the words. +Listen." And she told him all that had passed, hiding nothing. + +"Now it seems that trouble is heaped upon trouble," said the Phnician +when she had finished, "and they were mad who suffered the prince and +that fierce Issachar to be present at the sacrifice. Daughter, I tell +you this: though I am a worshipper of El and Baaltis, as my fathers +were before me, I know that Jehovah of the Jews is a great and +powerful Lord, and that His prophets do not prophesy falsely, for I +have seen it in my youth, yonder in the coasts of Sidon. What did +Issachar say? That before the moon was young again, this temple should +run red with blood? Well, so it may happen, for Ithobal threatens war +against us, and for your sake, my daughter." + +"How for my sake, father?" she asked heavily, as one who knew what the +answer would be. + +"You know well, girl. Ever since you danced before him at the great +welcoming feast I made in his honour a month ago the man is besotted +of you; moreover, he is mad with jealousy of this new-comer, the +prince Aziel. He has demanded public audience of me this afternoon, +and I have it privately that then he will formally ask you in marriage +before the people, and if he is refused will declare war upon the +city, with which he has many an ancient quarrel. Yes, yes, king +Ithobal is that sword of God which the Jew said he saw hanging over +us, and should it fall it will be because of you, Elissa." + +"The Jew did not say that, father; he said it would be because of the +sins of the people and their idolatries." + +"What does it matter what he said?" broke in Sakon hastily. "How shall +I answer Ithobal?" + +"Tell him," she replied with a strange smile, "that he does wisely to +be jealous of the prince Aziel." + +"What! Of the stranger who this very day reviled you in words of such +shame, and so soon?" asked her father astonished. + +Elissa did not speak in answer; she only looked straight before her, +and nodded her head. + +"Had ever man such a daughter?" Sakon went on in petulant dismay. +"Truly it is a wise saying which tells that women love those best who +beat them, be it with the tongue or with the fist. Not but what I +would gladly see you wedded to a prince of Israel and of Egypt rather +than of this half-bred barbarian, but the legions of Solomon and of +Pharaoh are far away, whereas Ithobal has a hundred thousand spears +almost at our gate." + +"There is no need to speak of such things, father," she said, turning +aside, "since, even were I willing, the prince would have nought to do +with me, who am a priestess of Baaltis." + +"The matter of religion might be overcome," suggested Sakon; "but, no, +for many reasons it is impossible. Well, this being so, daughter, I +may answer Ithobal that you will wed him." + +"I!" she said; "I wed that black-hearted savage? My father, you may +answer what you will, but of this be sure, that I will go to my grave +before I pass as wife to the board of Ithobal." + +"Oh! my daughter," pleaded Sakon, "think before you say it. As his +wife at least you, who are not of royal blood, will be a queen, and +the mother of kings. But if you refuse, then either I must force you, +which is hateful to me, or there will be such a war as the city has +not known for generations, for Ithobal and his tribes have many +grievances against us. By the gift of yourself, for a while, at any +rate, you can, as it chances, make peace between us, but if that is +withheld, then blood will run in rivers, and perhaps this city, with +all who live in it, will be destroyed, or at the least its trade must +be ruined and its wealth stolen away." + +"If it is decreed that all these things are to be, they will be," +answered Elissa calmly, "seeing that this war has threatened us for +many years, and that a woman must think of herself first, and of the +fate of cities afterwards. Of my own free will I shall never take +Ithobal for husband. Father, I have said." + +"Of the fate of cities, yes; but how of my fate, and that of those we +love? Are we all to be ruined, and perhaps slaughtered, to satisfy +your whim, girl?" + +"I did not say so, father. I said that of my own free will I would not +wed Ithobal. If you choose to give me to him you have the right to do +it, but know then that you give me to my death. Perhaps it is best +that it should be thus." + +Sakon knew his daughter well, and it did not need that he should +glance at her face to learn that she meant her words. Also he loved +her, his only child, more dearly than anything on earth. + +"In truth my strait is hard, and I know not which way to turn," he +said, covering his face with his hand. + +"Father," she replied, laying her fingers lightly on his shoulder, +"what need is there to answer him at once? Take a month, or if he will +not give it, a week. Much may happen in that time." + +"The counsel is wise," he said, catching at this straw. "Daughter, be +in the great hall of audience with your attendants three hours after +noon, for then we must receive Ithobal boldly in all pomp, and deal +with him as best we may. And now I go to ask peace for the Levite from +the priests of El, and to discover whom the sacred colleges desire to +nominate as the new Baaltis. Doubtless it will be Mesa, the daughter +of her who is dead, though many are against her. Oh! if there were no +priests and no women, this city would be easier to govern," and with +an impatient gesture Sakon left the room. + +**** + +It was three o'clock in the afternoon, and the great hall of audience +in Zimboe was crowded with a brilliant assemblage. There sat Sakon, +the governor, and with him his council of the notables of the city; +there were prince Aziel and among his retinue, Issachar the prophet, +fierce-eyed as ever, though hardly recovered from the rough handling +he had experienced in the temple. There were representatives of the +college of the priests of El. There were many ladies, wives and +daughters of dignitaries and wealthy citizens, and with them a great +crowd of spectators of all classes gathered in the lower part of the +hall, for a rumour had spread about that the farewell audience given +by Sakon to King Ithobal was likely to be stormy. + +When all were gathered, a herald announced that Ithobal, King of the +Tribes, waited to take his leave of Sakon, Governor of Zimboe, before +departing to his own land on the morrow. + +"Let him be admitted," said Sakon, who looked weary and ill at ease. +Then as the herald bowed and left, he turned and whispered something +into the ear of his daughter Elissa, who stood behind his chair, her +face immovable as that of an Egyptian Sphinx, but magnificently +apparelled in gleaming robes and jewelled ornaments--which Metem, +looking on them, reflected with satisfaction were now his property. + +Presently, preceded by a burst of savage music, Ithobal entered. He +was gorgeously arrayed in a purple Tyrian robe decked with golden +chains, while on the brow, in token of his royalty, he wore a golden +circlet in which was set a single blood-red stone. Before him walked a +sword-bearer carrying a sword of ceremony, a magnificent ivory-handled +weapon encrusted with rough gems and inlaid with gold, while behind +him, clad in barbaric pomp, marched a number of counsellors and +attendants, huge and half-savage men who glared wonderingly at the +splendour of the place and its occupants. As the king came, Sakon rose +from his chair of state and, advancing down the hall, took him by the +hand and led him to a similar chair placed at a little distance. + +Ithobal seated himself and looked around the hall. Presently his +glance fell upon Aziel, and he scowled. + +"Is it common, Sakon," he asked, "that the seat of a prince should be +set higher than that of a crowned king?" And he pointed to the chair +of Aziel, which was placed a little above his own upon the das. + +The governor was about to answer when Aziel said coldly:-- + +"Where it was pointed out to me that I should sit, there I sat, +though, for aught I care, the king Ithobal may take my place. The +grandson of Pharaoh and of Solomon does not need to dispute for +precedence with the savage ruler of savage tribes." + +Ithobal sprang to his feet and cried, grasping his sword:-- + +"By my father's soul, you shall answer for this, Princelet." + +"You should have sworn by your mother's soul, King Ithobal," replied +Aziel quietly, "for doubtless it is the black blood in your veins that +causes you to forget your courtesy. For the rest, I answer to no man +save to my king." + +"Yet there is one other who will make you answer," replied Ithobal, in +a voice thick with rage, "and here he is," and he drew his sword and +flashed it before the prince's eyes. "Or if you fear to face him, then +the wands of my slaves shall cause you to cry me pardon." + +"If you desire to challenge me to combat, king Ithobal, for this +purpose only I am your servant, though the fashion of your challenging +is not that of any nation which I know." + +Before Ithobal could reply, Sakon cried out in a loud voice:-- + +"Enough, enough! Is this a place for brawling, king Ithobal, and would +you seek to fix a quarrel upon my guest, the prince Aziel, here in my +council chamber, and to bring upon me the wrath of Israel, of Tyre, +and of Egypt? Be sure that the prince shall cross no swords with you; +no, not if I have to set him under guard to keep him safe. To your +business, king Ithobal, or I break up this assembly and send you under +escort to our gates." + +Now his counsellors plucked Ithobal by the sleeve and whispered to him +some advice, which at last he seemed to take with an ill grace, for, +turning, he said, "So be it. This is my business, Sakon: For many +years I and the countless tribes whom I rule have suffered much at the +hands of you Phnicians, who centuries ago settled here in my country +as traders. That you should trade we are content, but not that you +should establish yourselves as a sovereign power, pretending to be my +equals who are my servants. Therefore, in the name of my nation, I +demand that the tribute which you pay to me for the use of the mines +of gold shall henceforth be doubled; that the defences of this city be +thrown down; and that you cease to enslave the natives of the land to +labour in your service. I have spoken." + +Now as these arrogant demands reached their ears, the company +assembled in the hall murmured with anger and astonishment, then +turned to wait for Sakon's answer. + +"And if we refuse these small requests of yours, O King?" asked the +governor sarcastically, "what then? Will you make war upon us?" + +"First tell me, Sakon, if you do refuse them?" + +"In the name of the cities of Tyre and Sidon whom I serve, and of +Hiram my master, I refuse them one and all," answered Sakon with +dignity. + +"Then, Sakon, I am minded to bring up a hundred thousand men against +you and to sweep you and your city from the face of earth," said +Ithobal. "Yet I remember that I also have Phnician blood in my veins +mixed with the nobler and more ancient blood at which yonder upstart +jeers, and therefore I would spare you. I remember also that for +generations there has been peace and amity between my forefathers and +the Council of this city, and therefore I would spare you. Behold, +then, I build a bridge whereby you may escape, asking but one little +thing of you in proof that you are indeed my friend, and it is that +you give me your daughter, the lady Elissa, whom I seek to make my +queen. Think well before you answer, remembering that upon this answer +may hang the lives of all who listen to you, ay, and of many thousand +others." + +For a while there was silence in the assemblage, and every eye was +fixed upon Elissa, who stood neither moving nor speaking, her face +still set like that of a Sphinx, and almost as unreadable. Aziel gazed +at her with the rest, and his eyes she felt alone of all the hundreds +that were bent upon her. Indeed, so strongly did they draw her, that +against her own will she turned her head and met them. Then +remembering what had passed between herself and the prince that very +day, she coloured faintly and looked down, neither the glance nor the +blush escaping the watchful Ithobal. + +Presently Sakon spoke:-- + +"King Ithobal," he said, "I am honoured indeed that you should seek my +daughter as your queen, but she is my only child, whom I love, and I +have sworn to her that I will not force her to marry against her will, +whoever be the suitor. Therefore, King, take your answer from her own +lips, for whatever it be it is my answer." + +"Lady," said Ithobal, "you have heard your father's words; be pleased +to say that you look with favour upon my suit, and that you will deign +to share my throne and power." + +Elissa took a step forward on the das and curtseyed low before the +king. + +"O King!" she said, "I am your handmaid, and great indeed is the +favour that you would do your servant. Yet, King, I Pray of you search +out some fairer woman of a more royal rank to share your crown and +sceptre, for I am all unworthy of them, and to those words on this +matter which I have spoken in past days I have none to add." Then +again she curtseyed, adding, "King, I am your servant." + +Now a murmur of astonishment went up from the audience, for few of +them thought it possible that Elissa, who, however beautiful, was but +the daughter of a noble, could refuse to become the wife of a king. +Ithobal alone did not seem to be astonished, for he had expected this +answer. + +"Lady," he said, repressing with an effort the passions which were +surging within him, "I think that I have something to offer to the +woman of my choice, and yet you put me aside as lightly as though I +had neither name, nor power, nor station. This, as it seems to me, can +be read in one way only, that your heart is given elsewhere." + +"Have it as you will, King," answered Elissa, "my heart is given +elsewhere." + +"And yet, lady, not four suns gone you swore to me that you loved no +man. Since then it seems that you have learned to love, and swiftly, +and it is yonder Jew whom you have chosen." And he pointed to the +prince Aziel. + +Again Elissa coloured, this time to the eyes, but she showed no other +sign of confusion. + +"May the king pardon me," she said, "and may the prince Aziel, whose +name has thus been coupled with mine, pardon me. I said indeed that my +heart was given elsewhere, but I did not say it was given to any man. +May not the heart of a mortal maid-priestess be given to the Ever- +living?" + +Now for a moment the king was silenced, while a murmur of applause at +her ready wit went round the audience. But before it died away a voice +at the far end of the hall called out:-- + +"Perchance the lady does not know that yonder in Egypt, and in +Jerusalem also, prince Aziel is named the Ever-living." + +Now it was Elissa's turn to be overcome. + +"Nay, I knew it not," she said; "how should I know it? I spoke of that +Dweller in the heavens whom I worship----" + +"And behold, the title fits a dweller on the earth whom you must also +worship, for such omens do not come by chance," cried the same voice, +but from another quarter of the crowded hall. + +"I ask pardon," broke in Aziel, "and leave to speak. It is true that +owing to a certain birth-mark which I bear, among the Egyptians I have +been given the bye-name of the Ever-living, but it is one which this +lady can scarcely have heard, therefore jest no more upon a chance +accident of words. Moreover, if you be men, cease to heap insult upon +a woman. I who am almost a stranger here have not dared to ask the +lady Elissa for her favour." + +"Ay, but you will ask and she will grant," answered the same voice, +the owner of which none could discover--for he seemed to speak from +every part of the chamber. + +"Indeed," went on Aziel, not heeding the interruption, "the last words +between us were words of anger, for we quarrelled on a matter of +religion." + +"What of that?" cried the voice; "love is the highest of religions, +for do not the Phnicians worship it?" + +"Seize yonder knave," shouted Sakon, and search was made but without +avail. Afterwards, however, Aziel remembered that once, when they were +weather-bound on their journey from the coast, Metem had amused them +by making his voice sound from various quarters of the hut in which +they lay. Then Ithobal rose and said:-- + +"Enough of this folly; I am not here to juggle with words, or to +listen to such play. Whether the lady Elissa spoke of the gods she +serves or of a man is one to me. I care not of whom she spoke, but for +her words I do care. Now hearken, you city of traders: If this is to +be thy answer, then I break down that bridge which I have built, and +it is war between you and my Tribes, war to the end. But let her +change her words, and whether she loves me or loves me not, come to be +my wife, and, for my day, the bridge shall stand; for once that we are +wed I can surely teach her love, or if I cannot, at least it is she I +seek with or without her love. Reflect then, lady, and reply again, +remembering how much hangs upon your lips." + +"Do you think, king Ithobal," Elissa answered, looking at him with +angry eyes, "that a woman such as I am can be won by threats? I have +spoken, king Ithobal." + +"I know not," he replied; "but I do know that she can be won by force, +and then surely, lady, your pride shall pay the price, for you shall +be mine, but not my queen." + +Now one of the council rose and said:-- + +"It seems, Sakon, that there is more in this matter than whether or no +the king Ithobal pleases your daughter. Is the city then to be plunged +into a great war, of which none can see the end, because one woman +looks askance upon a man? Better that a thousand girls should be +wedded where they would not than that such a thing should happen. +Sakon, according to our ancient law you have the right to give your +daughter in marriage where and when you will. We demand, therefore, +that for the good of the commonwealth, you should exercise this right, +and hand over the lady Elissa to king Ithobal." + +This speech was received with loud and general shouts of approval, for +no Phnician audience would have been willing to sacrifice its +interests for a thing so trivial as the happiness of a woman. + +"Between the desire of a beloved daughter to whom I have pledged my +word and my duty to the great city over which I rule, my strait is +hard indeed," answered Sakon. "Hearken, king Ithobal, I must have +time. Give me eight days from now in which to answer you, for if you +will not, I deny your suit." + +Ithobal seemed about to refuse the demand of Sakon. Then once more his +counsellors plucked him by the sleeve, pointing out to him that if he +did this, it was likely that none of them would leave the city alive. +At some sign from the governor, they whispered, the captains of the +guard were already hastening from the hall. + +"So be it, Sakon," he said. "To-night I camp without your walls, which +are no longer safe for one who has threatened war against them, and on +the eighth day from this see to it that your heralds being me the Lady +Elissa and peace--or I make good my threat. Till then, farewell." And +placing himself in the midst of his company king Ithobal left the +hall. + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE BLACK DWARF + +Some two hours had passed since the break-up of the assembly in the +great hall. Prince Aziel was seated in his chamber, when the keeper of +the door announced that a woman was without who desired to speak with +him. He gave orders that she should be admitted, and presently a +veiled figure entered the room and bowed before him. + +"Be pleased to unveil, and to tell me your business," he said. + +With some reluctance his visitor withdrew the wrapping from her head, +revealing a face which Aziel recognised as one that he had seen among +the waiting women who attended on Elissa. + +"My message is for your ear, Prince," she said, glancing at the man +who had ushered her into the chamber. + +"It is not my custom to receive strangers thus alone," said the +prince; "but be it as you will," and he motioned to the servant to +retire without the door. "I await your pleasure," he added, when the +man had gone. + +"It is here," she answered, and drew from her bosom a little papyrus +roll. + +"Who wrote this?" he asked. + +"I know not, Prince; it was given to me to pass on to you." + +Then he opened the roll and read. It ran thus: "Though we parted with +bitter words, still in my sore distress I crave the comfort of your +counsel. Therefore, since I am forbidden to speak with you openly, +meet me, I beseech you, at moonrise in the palace garden under the +shade of the great fig tree with five roots, where I shall be +accompanied only by one I trust. Bring no man with you for my safety's +sake.--Elissa." + +Aziel thrust the scroll into his robe, and thought awhile. Then he +gave the waiting lady a piece of gold and said:-- + +"Tell her who sent you that I obey her words. Farewell." + +This message seemed to puzzle the woman, who opened her lips to speak. +Then, changing her mind, she turned and went. + +Scarcely had she gone when the Phnician, Metem, was ushered into the +room. + +"O Prince," he said maliciously, "pardon me if I caution you. Yet in +truth if veiled ladies flit thus through your apartments in the light +of day, it will reach the ears of the holy but violent Issachar, of +whose doings I come to speak. Then, Prince, I tremble for you." + +Aziel made a movement half-impatient and half-contemptuous. "The woman +is a serving-maid," he said, "who brought me a message that I +understand but little. Tell me, Metem, for you know this place of old, +does there stand in the palace garden a great fig tree with five +roots?" + +"Yes, Prince; at least such a tree used to grow there when last I +visited this country. It was one of the wonders of the town, because +of its size. What of it?" + +"Little, except that I must be under it at moonrise. See and read, +since whatever you may say of yourself, you are, I think, no traitor." + +"Not if I am well paid to keep counsel, Prince," Metem answered with a +smile. Then he read the scroll. + +"I am glad that the noble lady brings an attendant with her," he said +as he returned it, with a bow. "The gossips of Zimboe are censorious, +and might misinterpret this moonlight meeting, as indeed would Sakon +and Issachar. Well, doves will coo and maids will woo, and unless I +can make money out of it the affair is none of mine." + +"Have I not told you that there is no question of wooing?" asked the +prince angrily. "I go only to give her what counsel I can in the +matter of the suit of this savage, Ithobal. The lady Elissa and I have +quarrelled beyond repair over that accursed sacrifice----" + +"Which her ready wit prevented," put in Metem. + +"But I promised last night that I would help her if I could," the +prince went on, "and I always keep my word." + +"I understand, Prince. Well, since you turn from the lady, whose name +with yours is so much in men's mouths just now, doubtless you will +give her wise counsel, namely, to wed Ithobal, and lift the shadow of +war from this city. Then, indeed, we shall all be grateful to you, for +it seems that no one else can move her stubbornness. And, by the way: +If, when she has listened to your wisdom, the daughter of Sakon should +chance to explain to you that the sight of this day's attempted +sacrifice filled her with horror, and that she parted with every jewel +she owns to put an end to it--well, her words will be true. But, since +you have quarrelled, they will have no more interest for you, Prince, +than has my talk about them. So now to other matters." And Metem began +to speak of the conduct of Issachar in the sanctuary, and of the +necessity of guarding him against assassination at the hands of the +priests of El as a consequence of his religious zeal. Presently he was +gone, leaving Aziel somewhat bewildered. + +Could it be true, as she herself had told him, and as Metem now +asserted, that Elissa had not participated willingly in the dark rites +in the temple? If so he had misjudged her and been unjust; indeed, +what atonement could suffice for such words as he had used towards +her? Well, to some extent she must have understood and forgiven them, +otherwise she would scarcely have sought his aid, though he knew not +how he could help her in her distress. + +***** + +When Elissa returned from the assembly, she laid herself down to rest, +worn out in mind and body. Soon sleep came to her, and with the sleep +dreams. At first these were vague and shadowy, then they grew more +clear. She dreamed that she saw a dim and moonlit garden, and in it a +vast tree with twisted roots that seemed familiar to her. Something +moving among the branches of this tree attracted her attention, but +for a long while she watched it without being able to discover what it +was. Now she saw. The moving thing was a hideous black dwarf with +beady eyes, who held in his hand a little ivory tipped bow, on the +string of which was set an arrow. Her consciousness concentrated +itself upon this arrow, and though she knew not how, she became aware +that it was poisoned. What was the dwarf doing in the tree with a bow +and poisoned arrow, she wondered? Suddenly a sound seemed to strike +her ear, the sound of a man's footsteps walking over grass, and she +perceived that the figure of the dwarf, crouched upon the bough, +became tense and alert, and that his fingers tightened upon the bow- +string until the blood was driven from their yellow tips. Following +the glance of his wicked black eyes, she saw advancing through the +shadow a tall man clad in a dark robe. Now he emerged into a patch of +moonlight and stood looking around him as though he were searching for +some one. Then the dwarf raised himself to his knees upon the bough, +and, aiming at the bare throat of the man, drew the bow-string to his +ear. At this moment the victim turned his head and the moonlight shone +full upon his face. It was that of the prince Aziel. + +***** + +Elissa awoke from her vision with a little cry, then rose trembling, +and strove to comfort herself in the thought that although it was so +very vivid she had dreamed but a dream. Still shaken and unnerved, she +passed into another chamber, and made pretence to eat of the meal that +was made ready for her, for it was now the hour of sunset. While she +was thus employed, it was announced that the Phnician, Metem, desired +to speak with her, and she commanded that he should be admitted. + +"Lady," he said bowing, so soon as her attendants had withdrawn to the +farther end of the chamber, "you can guess my errand. This morning I +gave you certain tidings which proved both true and useful, and for +those tidings you promised a reward." + +"It is so," she said, and going to a chest she drew from it an ivory +casket full of ornaments of gold and among them necklaces and other +objects set with uncut precious stones. "Take them," she said, "they +are yours; that is, save this gold chain alone, for it is vowed to +Baaltis." + +"But lady," he asked, "how can you appear before Ithobal the king thus +robbed of all your ornaments?" + +"I shall not appear before Ithobal the king," she answered sharply. + +"You say so! Then what will the prince Aziel think of you when he sees +you thus unadorned?" + +"My beauty is my adornment," she replied, "not these gems and gold. +Moreover, it is nought to me what he thinks, for he hates me, and has +reviled me." + +Metem lifted his eyebrows incredulously and went on: "Still, I will +not deprive you of this woman's gear. Look now, I value it, and at no +high figure," and drawing out his writer's palette and a slip of +papyrus, he wrote upon it an acknowledgment of debt, which he asked +her to sign. + +"This document, lady," he said, "I will present to your father--or +your husband--at a convenient season, nor do I fear that either of +them will refuse to honour it. And now I take my leave, for you--have +an appointment to keep--and," he added with emphasis, "the time of +moonrise is at hand." + +"Your meaning, I pray you?" she asked. "I have no appointment at +moonrise, or at any other hour." + +Metem bowed politely, but in a fashion which showed that he put no +faith in her words. + +"Again I ask your meaning, merchant," she said, "for your dark +hintings are scarcely to be borne." + +The Phnician looked at her; there was a ring of truth in her voice. + +"Lady," he said, "will you indeed deny, after I have seen it written +by yourself, that within some few minutes you meet the prince Aziel +beneath a great tree in the palace gardens, there--so said the scroll +--to ask his aid in this matter of the suit of Ithobal?" + +"Written by myself?" she said wonderingly. "Meet the prince Aziel +beneath a tree in the palace gardens? Never have I thought of it." + +"Yet, lady, the scroll I saw purported to be written by you, and your +own woman bore it to the prince. As I think, she sits yonder at the +end of the chamber, for I know her shape." + +"Come hither," called Elissa, addressing the woman. "Now tell me, what +scroll was this that you carried to-day to the prince Aziel, saying +that I sent you?" + +"Lady," answered the girl confusedly, "I never told the prince Aziel +that you sent him the scroll." + +"The truth, woman, the truth," said her mistress. "Lie not, or it will +be the worse for you." + +"Lady, this is the truth. As I was walking through the market-place an +old black woman met me, and offered me a piece of gold if I would +deliver a letter into the hand of the prince Aziel. The gold tempted +me, for I had need of it, and I consented; but of who wrote the letter +I know nothing, nor have I ever seen the woman before." + +"You have done wrong, girl," said Elissa, "but I believe your tale. +Now go." + +When she had gone, Elissa stood for a while thinking; and, as she +thought, Metem saw a look of fear gather on her face. + +"Say," she asked him, "is there anything strange about the tree of +which the scroll tells?" + +"Its size is strange," he answered, "and it has five roots that stand +above the ground." + +As he spoke Elissa uttered a little cry. + +"Ah!" she said, "it is the tree of my dream. Now--now I understand. +Swift, oh! come with me swiftly, for see, the moon rises," and she +sprang to the door followed by the amazed Metem. + +Another minute, and they were speeding down the narrow street so fast +that those who loitered there turned their heads and laughed, for they +thought that a jealous husband pursued his wife. As Elissa fumbled at +the hasp of the door of the garden, Metem overtook her. + +"What means this hunt?" he gasped. + +"That they have decoyed the prince here to murder him," she answered, +and sped through the gateway. + +"Therefore we must be murdered also. A woman's logic," the Phnician +reflected to himself as he panted after her. + +Swiftly as Elissa had run down the street, here she redoubled her +speed, flitting through the glades like some white spirit, and so +rapidly that her companion found it difficult to keep her in view. At +length they came to a large open space of ground where played the +level beams of the rising moon, striking upon the dense green foliage +of an immense tree that grew there. Round this tree Elissa ran, +glancing about her wildly, so that for a few seconds Metem lost sight +of her, for its mass was between them. When he saw her again she was +speeding towards the figure of a man who stood in the open, about ten +paces from the outer boughs of the tree. To this she pointed as she +came, crying out aloud, "Beware! Beware!" + +Another moment and she had almost reached the man, and still pointing +began to gasp some broken words. Then, suddenly in the bright +moonlight, Metem saw a shining point of light flash towards the pair +from the darkness of the tree. It would seem that Elissa saw it also; +at least, she leapt from the ground, her arm lifted above her head as +though to catch the object. Then as her feet once more touched the +earth her knees gave way, and she fell down with a moan of pain. Metem +running on towards her, as he went perceived a shape, which looked +like that of a black dwarf, slip from the shadow of the tree into some +bushes beyond where it was lost. Now he was there, to find Elissa +half-seated, half-lying on the ground, the prince Aziel bending over +her, and fixed through the palm of her right hand, which she held up +piteously, a little ivory-pointed arrow. + +"Draw it out from the wound," he panted. + +"It will not help me," she answered; "the arrow is poisoned." + +With an exclamation, Metem knelt beside her, and, not heeding her +groans of pain, drew the dart through the pierced palm. Then he tore a +strip of linen from his robe, and knotting it round Elissa's wrist, he +took a broken stick that lay near and twisted the linen till it almost +cut into her flesh. + +"Now, Prince," he said, "suck the wound, for I have no breath for it. +Fear not, lady, I know an antidote for this arrow poison, and +presently I will be back with the salve. Till then, if you would live, +do not suffer that bandage to be loosed, however much it pains you," +and he departed swiftly. + +Aziel put his lips to the hurt to draw out the poison. + +"Nay," she said faintly, trying to pull away her hand, "it is not +fitting, the venom may kill you." + +"It seems that it was meant for me," he answered, "so at the worst I +do take but my own." + +Presently, directing Elissa to hold her hand above her head, he put +his arms about her and carried her a hundred paces or more into the +open glade. + +"Why do you move me?" she asked, her head resting on his shoulder. + +"Because whoever it was that shot the arrow may return to try his +fortune a second time, and here in the open his darts cannot reach +us." Then he set her down upon the grass and stood looking at her. + +"Listen, prince Aziel," Elissa said after a while, "the venom with +which these black men soak their weapons is very strong, and unless +Metem's salve be good, it may well chance that I shall die. Therefore +before I die I wish to say a word to you. What brought you to this +place to-night?" + +"A letter from yourself, lady." + +"I know it," she said, "but I did not write that letter; it was a +snare, set, as I think, by the king Ithobal, who would do you to death +in this way or in that. A messenger of his bribed my waiting-maid to +deliver it, and afterwards I learnt the tale from Metem. Then, +guessing all, I came hither to try to save you." + +"But how could you guess all, lady?" + +"In a strange fashion, Prince." And in a few words she told him her +dream. + +"This is marvellous indeed, that you should be warned of my danger by +visions," he said wondering, and half-doubtingly. + +"So marvellous, Prince, that you do not believe me," Elissa answered. +"I know well what you think. You think that a woman to whom this very +morning you spoke such words as women cannot well forgive, being +revengeful laid a plot to murder you, and then, being a woman, changed +her mind. Well, it is not so; Metem can prove it to you!" + +"Lady, I believe you," he said, "without needing the testimony of +Metem. But now the story grows still more strange, for if you had done +me no wrong, how comes it that to preserve me from harm you set your +tender flesh between the arrow and one who had reviled you?" + +"It was by chance," she answered faintly. "I learnt the truth and ran +to warn you. Then I saw the arrow fly towards your heart, and strove +to grasp it, and it pierced me. It was by chance, by such a chance as +made me dream your danger." And she fainted. + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +AZIEL PLIGHTS HIS TROTH + +At first Aziel feared that the poison had done its work, and that +Elissa was dead, till placing his hand upon her heart he felt it +beating faintly, and knew that she did but swoon. To leave her to seek +water or assistance was impossible, since he dared not loose his hold +of the bandage about her wrist. So, patiently as he might, he knelt at +her side awaiting the return of Metem. + +How beautiful her pale face seemed there in the moonlight, set in its +frame of dusky hair. And how strange was this tale of hers, of a dream +that she had dreamed, a dream which, to save his own, led her to offer +her life to the murderer's arrow. Many would not believe it, but he +felt that it was true; he felt that even if she wished it she could +not lie to him, for as he had known since first they met, their souls +were open to each other. Yes, having thus been warned of his danger, +she had offered her life for him--for him who that morning had called +her, unjustly so Metem said, "a girl of the groves and a murderess." +How came it that she had done this, unless indeed she loved him as--he +loved her? + +Aziel could no longer palter with himself, it was the truth. Last +night when Issachar accused him, he had felt this, although then he +would not admit it altogether, and now to-night he knew that his fate +had found him. They would say that, after the common fashion of men, +he had been conquered by a lovely face and form and a brave deed of +devotion. But it was not so. Something beyond the flesh and its works +and attributes drew him towards this woman, something that he could +neither understand nor define (unless, indeed, the vision of Issachar +defined it), but of which he had been conscious since first he set +eyes upon her face. It was possible, it was even probable, that before +another hour had gone by she would have passed beyond his reach, into +the deeps of death, whither for a while he could not follow her. Yet +he knew that the knowledge that she never could be his would not +affect the love of her which burnt in him, for his desire towards her +was not altogether a desire of the earth. + +Aziel bent down over the swooning girl, looking into her pale face, +till her lips almost touched his own, and his breath beating on her +brow seemed to give her life again. Now she stirred, and now she +opened her eyes and gazed back at him a while, deeply and with +meaning, even as he gazed at her. + +He spoke no word, for his lips seemed to be smitten with silence, but +his heart said, "I love you, I love you," and her heart heard it, for +she whispered back:-- + +"Bethink you who and what I am." + +"It matters not, for we are one," he replied. + +"Bethink you," she said again, "that soon I may be dead and lost to +you." + +"It cannot be, for we are one," he replied. "One we have been, one we +are to-day, and one we shall be through all the length of life and +death." + +"Prince," she said again, "once more and for the last time I say: +Bethink you well, for it comes upon me that your words are true, and +that if I take that which to-night you offer, it will be for ever and +for aye." + +"For ever and aye, let it be," Aziel said, leaning towards her. + +"For ever and for aye, let it be," she repeated, holding up her lips +to his. + +And thus in the silent moonlit garden they plighted their strange +troth. + +***** + +"Lady," said a voice in their ears, the voice of Metem, "I pray you +let me dress your hand, for there is no time to lose." + +Aziel looked up to see the Phnician bending over them with a sardonic +smile, and behind him the tall form of Issachar, who stood regarding +them, his arms folded on his breast. + +"Holy Issachar," went on Metem with malice, "be pleased to hold this +lady's hand, since it seems that the prince here can only tend her +lips." + +"Nay," answered the Levite, "what have I to do with this daughter of +Baaltis? Cure her if you can, or if you cannot, let her die, for so +shall a stone of stumbling be removed from the feet of the foolish." +And he glanced indignantly at Aziel. + +"Had it not been for this same stone at least the feet of the foolish +by now would have pointed skywards. The gods send me such a stone if +ever a black dwarf draws a poisoned arrow at me," answered Metem, as +he busied himself with his drugs. Then he added, "Nay, Prince, do not +stop to answer him, but hold the lady's hand to the light." + +Aziel obeyed, and having washed out the wound with water, Metem rubbed +ointment into it which burnt Elissa so sorely that she groaned aloud. + +"Be patient beneath the pain, lady," he said, "for if it has not +already passed into your blood, this salve will eat away the poison of +the arrow." + +Then half-leading and half-carrying her, they brought her back to the +palace. Here Metem gave her over into the care of her father, telling +him as much of the story as he thought wise, and cautioning him to +keep silent concerning what had happened. + +At the door of the palace Issachar spoke to Aziel. + +"Did I dream, Prince," he said, "or did my ears indeed hear you tell +that idolatress that you loved her for ever, and did my eyes see you +kiss her on the lips?" + +"It seems that you saw and heard these things, Issachar," said Aziel, +setting his face sternly. "Now hear this further, and then I pray you +give me peace on this matter of the lady Elissa: If in any way it is +possible, I shall make her my wife, and if it be not possible, then +for so long as she may live at least I will look upon no other woman." + +"Then that is good news, Prince, to me, who am charged with your +welfare, for be sure, if I can prevent you, you shall never mix your +life with that of this heathen sorceress." + +"Issachar," the prince replied, "I have borne much from you because I +know well that you love me, and have stood to me in the place of a +father. But now, in my turn, I warn you, do not seek to work harm to +the lady Elissa, for in striking her you strike me, and such blows may +bring my vengeance after them." + +"Vengeance?" mocked the Levite. "I fear but one vengeance, and it is +not yours, nor do I listen to the whisperings of love when duty points +the path. Rather would I see you dead, prince Aziel, then lured down +to hell by the wiles of yonder witch." + +Then before Aziel could answer he turned and left him. + +***** + +As Issachar went to his own chamber full of bitterness and +indignation, he passed the door of Elissa's apartments, and came face +to face with Metem issuing from them. + +"Will the woman live?" he asked of him. + +"Be comforted, worthy Issachar. I think so; that is, if the bandage +does not slip. I go to tell the prince." + +"Gladly would I give a hundred golden shekels to him who brought me +tidings that it had slipped and the woman with it, down to the arms of +her father Beelzebub," broke in the Levite passionately. + +"Pretty words for a holy man," said Metem, feigning amazement. "Well, +Issachar, I will do most things for good money, but to shift that +bandage would be but murder, and this I cannot work even for the gold +and to win your favour." + +"Fool," answered Issachar, "did I ask you to do murder? I do not fight +with such weapons; let the woman live or die as it is decreed. Nay, +enter my chamber, for I would speak with you, who are a cunning man +versed in the craft of courts. Listen now: I love this prince Aziel, +for I have reared him from his childhood, and he has been a son to me +who have none. More, I am sent hither to this hateful land to watch +him and hold him from harm, and for all that chances to him I must +account. And now, what has chanced? This woman, Elissa, by her +witcheries----" + +"Softly, Issachar; what witcheries does she need beyond those lips and +form and eyes?" + +"By her witcheries, I tell you, has ensnared him so that now he swears +that he will wed her." + +"What of it, Issachar? He might travel far to find a lovelier woman." + +"What of it, do you ask, remembering who he is? What of it, when you +know his faith, and that this fair idolater will sap it, and cause him +to cast away his soul? What of it, when with your own ears you heard +him swear to love her through all the deeps of life and death? Man, +are you mad?" + +"No, but some might say that you are, holy father, who forget that I +am also of this religion which you revile. But for good or ill, so the +matter stands; and now what is it that you wish of me?" + +"I wish that you should make it impossible that the prince Aziel +should take this woman to wife. Not by murder, indeed, for 'thou shalt +not kill,' saith the law, but by bringing it about that she should +marry the king Ithobal, or if that fail, in any other fashion which +seems good to you." + +"'Thou shalt not kill,' saith your law; tell me then, Issachar, does +it say also that thou shalt hand over a woman to a fate that she +chances to hold to be worse than death? Doubtless it is foolish of +her, and we should not heed such woman's folly. Yet this one has a +certain strength of will, and I question if all the elders of the city +will bring her living to the arms of Ithobal." + +"It is nought to me, Metem, if she weds Ithobal, or weds him not, save +that I do not love this heathen man, and surely her temper and her +witcheries would bring ruin on him. What I would have you do is to +prevent her from marrying Aziel; the way I leave to you." + +"And what should I be paid for this service, holy Issachar?" + +The Jew thought and answered, "A hundred golden shekels." + +"Two hundred gold shekels," replied Metem reflectively, "nay, I am +sure you said /two/ hundred, Issachar. At least, I do not work for +less, and it is a small sum enough, seeing that to earn it I must take +upon myself the guilt of severing two loving hearts. But I know well +that you are right, and that this would be an evil marriage for the +prince Aziel, and also for the lady Elissa, who then day by day and +year by year must bear the scourge of your reproaches, Issachar. +Therefore I will do my best, not for the money indeed, but because I +see herein a righteous duty. And now here is parchment, give me the +lamp that I may prepare the bond." + +"My word is my bond, Phnician," answered the Levite haughtily. + +Metem looked at him. "Doubtless," he said, "but you are old, and this +is--a rough country where accidents chance at times. Still, the thing +would read very ill, and, as you say, your word is your bond. Only +remember, Issachar, two hundred shekels, bearing interest at two +shekels a month. And now you are weary, holy Issachar, with plotting +for the welfare of others, and so am I. Farewell, and good dreams to +you." + +The Levite watched him go, muttering to himself, "Alas that I should +have fallen to such traffic with a knave, but it is for your sake and +for your soul's sake, O Aziel my son. I pray that Fate be not too +strong for me and you." + +***** + +For two days from this night Elissa lay almost senseless, and by many +it was thought that she would die. But when Metem saw her on the +morning after she had been wounded, and noted that her arm was but +little swollen, and had not turned black, he announced that she would +certainly live, whatever the doctors of the city might declare. +Thereon Sakon, her father, and Aziel blessed him, but Issachar said +nothing. + +As the Phnician was walking through the market-place early on the +next day an aged black woman, whom he did not know, accosted him, +saying that she had a message for his ear from the king Ithobal who +was camped without the city and who desired to see the merchandise +that he had brought with him from the coasts of Tyre. Now Metem had +already sold all his wares at a great advantage; still, as he would +not neglect this opportunity of trade, he purchased others from his +fellow merchants, and loading two camels with them, set out for the +camp of Ithobal, riding on a mule. By midday he had reached it. The +camp was pitched near water in a pleasant grove of trees, and on one +of these not far from the tent of Ithobal Metem noted that there hung +the body of a black dwarf. + +"Behold the fate of him who shoots at the buck and hits the doe. Well, +I have always said that murder is a dangerous game, since blood calls +out for blood," thought Metem as he rode towards the tent. + +At its door stood king Ithobal looking very huge and sullen in the +sunlight. Metem dismounted and prostrated himself obsequiously. + +"May the King live for ever," he said, "the great King, the King to +whom all the other kings of the earth are as the little gods to Baal, +or the faint stars to the sun." + +"Rise, and cease from flatteries," said Ithobal shortly; "I may be +greater than the other kings, but at least you do not think it." + +"If the king says so, so let it be," replied Metem calmly. "A woman +yonder in the market-place told me that the king wished to trade for +my merchandise. So I have brought the best of it; priceless goods that +which much toil I have carried hither from Tyre," and he pointed to +the two camels laden with the inferior articles which he had +purchased, and began to read the number and description of the goods +from his tablets. + +"What value do you set upon the whole of them, merchant?" asked +Ithobal. + +"To the traders of the country so much, but to you, O King, so much +only," and he named a sum twice that which he had paid in the city. + +"So be it," assented Ithobal indifferently; "I do not haggle over +wares. Though your price is large, presently my treasurer shall weigh +you out the gold." + +There was a moment's pause, then Metem said:-- + +"The trees in this camp of yours bear evil fruit, O King. If I might +ask, why does that little black monkey hang yonder." + +"Because he tried to do murder with his poisoned arrows," answered +Ithobal sullenly. + +"And failed? Well, it must comfort you to think that he did fail if he +was of the number of your servants. It is strange now that some knave +unknown attempted murder last night in the palace gardens, also with +poisoned arrows. I say attempted, but as yet I cannot be sure that he +did not succeed." + +"What!" exclaimed Ithobal, "was----" and he stopped. + +"No, King, prince Aziel was not hit; the Lady Elissa took that shaft +through her hand, and lies between life and death. I am doctoring her, +and had it not been for my skill she would now be stiff and black--as +the rogue who shot the arrow." + +"Save her," said Ithobal hoarsely, "and I will pay you a doctor's fee +of a hundred ounces of pure gold. Oh! had I but known, the clumsy fool +should not have died so easily." + +Metem took out his tablets and made a note of the amount. + +"Take comfort, King," he said, "I think that I shall earn the fee. But +to speak truth, this matter looks somewhat ugly, and your name is +mentioned in it. Also it is said that your cousin, the great man whom +the prince Aziel slew, was charged to abduct a certain lady by your +order." + +"Then false tales are told in Zimboe, and not for the first time," +answered Ithobal coldly. "Listen, merchant, I have a question to ask +of you. Will the prince Aziel meet me in single combat with whatever +weapons he may choose?" + +"Doubtless, and--pardon me if I say it--slay you as he slew your +cousin, for he is a fine swordsman, who has studied the art in Egypt, +where it is understood, and your strength would not avail against him. +But your question is already answered, for though the prince would be +glad enough to fight you, Sakon will have none of it. Have you nothing +else to ask me, King?" + +Ithobal nodded and said:-- + +"Listen, merchant. I know your repute of old, that you love money and +will do much to gain it, and that you are craftier than any hill-side +jackal. Now, if you can do my will, you will have more wealth than +ever you won in your life before." + +"The offer sounds good in a poor man's ears, King, but it depends upon +what is your will." + +Ithobal went to the door of the tent, and commanded the sentries who +stood without to suffer none to disturb him or draw near. Then he +returned and said:-- + +"I will tell you, but beware that you do not betray my counsels in +this or in any other matter, for I have sharp ears and a long arm. You +know how things are between me and the lady Elissa and her father +Sakon and the city which he governs. They stand thus: Unless within +eight days she is given to me in marriage, I have sworn that I will +make war upon Zimboe. Ay, and I will make it, for, filled with hate +for the white man, already the great tribes are gathering to my +banners in ten armies, each of them ten thousand strong. Once let them +march beneath yonder walls, and before they leave it Zimboe, city of +gold, shall be nothing but a heap of ruins, and a habitation of the +dead. Such shall be my vengeance; but I seek love more than vengeance, +for what will it avail me to butcher all that people of traders if--as +well may chance in the accidents of war--I lose her whom I desire, +whose beauty shall be my crown of crowns, and whose mind shall make me +great indeed? + +"Therefore, Metem, if may be, I would win her without war; let the war +come afterwards, as come it must, for the time is ripe. And though she +turned from me, this I should have done, had it not been for yonder +prince Aziel, whom she met in a strange fashion, and straightway +learned to love. Now the thing is more difficult. Nay, while the +prince Aziel can take her to wife it is well-nigh impossible, since no +threats of war or ruin can turn a woman's heart from him she seeks--to +him she flies. Therefore, I ask you----" + +"Your pardon, King," Metem broke in, "I see that you, like your rival, +are so besotted with the beauty of this girl, that in all with which +she has to do you have lost the rule of your own reason. I would save +you perchance from saying words to which I do not wish to listen, and +when you find a quiet mind again, that you may regret having spoken. +If you were about to require of me that I should cause or be privy to +the death of the prince Aziel, you would require it in vain; yes, even +if you were willing to pay me gold in mountains, and gems in camel +loads. With murder I will have nothing to do; moreover, the prince, +your rival, is my friend and master, and I will not harm him. Further, +I may tell you that after the adventure of last night none will be +able to come near him to hurt a hair of his head, seeing that through +daylight and through darkness he is guarded by two men." + +"With a woman's body to set before him as a shield," said Ithobal +bitterly. "But you speak too fast; I was not about to ask you to kill +this man, or even to procure his death, because I know it would be +useless, but rather that you should so contrive that he cannot take +Elissa. How you contrive it I care nothing, so that she is not harmed. +You may kidnap him, or stir up the city against him, as one destined +to be the source of war, and cause him to be despatched back to the +great sea, or bribe the priests of El to hide him away, or what you +will, if only you separate him from this woman for ever. Say, +merchant, are you willing to undertake the task, or must my good gold +go elsewhere?" + +Metem pondered awhile and answered:-- + +"I think that I will undertake it, King; that is, if we come to terms, +though whether I shall succeed is another matter. I will undertake it +not only because I seek to enrich myself, but because I and others who +serve him think it is a very evil thing that this prince, Aziel, whose +blood is the most royal in the whole world, without the consent of the +great king of Israel, his grandfather, should wed the daughter of a +Phnician officer, however beautiful and loving she may be. Also I +love yonder city, which I have known for forty years, and would not +see it plunged in a bloody war and perhaps destroyed because a certain +man desires to call a certain girl his sweetheart. And now if I +succeed in this, what will you give me?" + +Ithobal named a great sum. + +"King," replied Metem, "you must double it, for that amount you speak +of I shall be forced to spend in bribes. More; you must give me the +gold now, before I leave your camp, or I will do nothing." + +"That you may steal it--and do nothing," laughed Ithobal angrily. + +"As you will, King. Such are my terms; if they do not please you, +well, let me go. But if you accept them, I will sign a bond under +which if within eight days I do not make it impossible for the prince +Aziel to marry the lady Elissa, you may reclaim so much of the gold as +I do not prove to you to have been spent upon your service, and no +bond of Metem the Phnician was ever yet dishonoured. No, on second +thought I will learn wisdom from Issachar the Levite and put my hand +to no writing which it would pain me that some should read. King, my +sworn word must content you. Another thing, soon war may break out, or +I may be forced to fly. Therefore, I demand of you a pass sealed with +your seal that will enable me to ride with twenty men and all my goods +and treasure, even through the midst of your armies. Moreover you +shall swear the great oath to me that notice of this pass will be +given to your generals and that it shall be respected to the letter. +Do you consent to these terms?" + +"I consent," said the king presently. + +***** + +That evening Metem returned to the city of Zimboe, but those who led +his two camels little guessed that now they were laden, not with +merchandise, but with treasure. + + + +CHAPTER IX + +GREETING TO THE BAALTIS + +When Metem accepted bribes from Issachar and from Ithobal, in +consideration of his finding means to make the union of Aziel and +Elissa impossible, he had already thought out his scheme. It was one +which, while promoting, as he considered, the true welfare of the +lovers, if successful would separate them effectually and for ever. + +It will be remembered that Elissa had explained to the prince how, on +the death of the lady Baaltis, another woman was elected by the +colleges of the priests and priestesses to fill her place. This lady +could marry, indeed she was expected to do so, but her husband must +take the title of Shadid, and for her lifetime act as high-priest of +El. Therefore, thought Metem, if it could be brought about that Elissa +should be chosen as the new Baaltis, it was obvious that there would +be an end of the possibility of her marriage to Aziel. Then, in order +to wed her, he must renounce his own religion--a thing which no Jew +would do--and pose as the earthly incarnation of one whom he +considered a false divinity or a devil. + +Indeed, not only marriage, but any further intimacy between the pair +would be rendered impracticable, for upon this point the religious +law, lax enough in many particulars, was very strict. In fact, so +strict was it that for the lady Baaltis of the day to be found alone +with any man meant death to her and him. The reason of this severity +was that she was supposed to represent the goddess; and her husband, +the Shadid, a god, so that any questionable behaviour on her part +became an insult to the most powerful divinities of Heaven, which +could only be atoned by the death of their unworthy incarnations. That +these laws were actual and not formal only was proved by the instance +that within the hundred years before the birth of Elissa, a lady +Baaltis had been executed for some such offence, having been hurled +indeed from the topmost pinnacle of the fortress above the temple to +the foot of the precipice beneath. + +All these sacerdotal customs were familiar to Metem, who argued from +them that to procure the nomination of Elissa as the Baaltis would be +to build an impassable wall between her and the prince Aziel. Also, by +way of compensation, that office would confer upon her the highest +dignity and honour which could be attained by any woman in the city. +Moreover, her election would place her beyond the reach of the +persecutions of Ithobal, since as lady Baaltis she was entitled to +choose her own husband without hindrance or appeal, provided only that +he was of pure white blood, which Ithobal was not. + +Having thought the matter out, and convinced himself that such a +course would not only benefit his own pocket, but prove to the lasting +advantage of all concerned, Metem, filled with a glow of righteous +zeal, set about his task with the promptitude and cunning of his race. +It was not an easy task, for although she had enemies and rivals, the +daughter of the dead Baaltis, Mesa by name, was considered to be +certain of election at the poll of the priests and priestesses. This +ceremony was to take place within two days. Nothing discouraged, +however, by the scant time at his disposal or other difficulties, +without her knowledge or that of her father, Metem began his canvass +on behalf of Elissa. + +First with a great sum of gold he bought over the ex-Shadid, the +husband of the late lady Baaltis. As it chanced, this worthy had +quarrelled with his daughter. Therefore it followed that he would +prefer to see some stranger chosen in her place in the hope that, +notwithstanding his years, by choosing him in marriage she might +confirm him in his position of spouse to the goddess. + +All Metem's further negotiations need not be followed: money played a +part in most of them; jealousy and dislike in some. A few there were +also whom he won over by urging the beauty and wisdom of Elissa, and +her extraordinary fitness for the post, as evinced by her recent +inspiration in the temple! He found his most powerful allies, however, +among the members of the council of the city. To these grandees he +pointed out that Elissa was a woman of great strength of character, +who would certainly never consent to be forced into a marriage with +Ithobal, although her refusal should mean a desperate war, and that +her father was so much under her influence that he could not be +brought to put pressure upon her. Therefore it was obvious that the +only way out of the difficulty was her election as Baaltis. This must +prove a perfect answer to the suit of the savage king, since the +goddess could not be compelled, and even Ithobal, fearing the +vengeance of Heaven, would shrink from offering her violence. + +There support gained, having first sworn him to secrecy, he attacked +Sakon himself, using similar arguments with him. He pointed out, in +addition, that if the governor hoped to see his daughter married to +prince Aziel, who was in love with her, however dazzling might be the +prospects of such a match, it would certainly bring upon him the +present wrath of Ithobal, and, in all probability, future trouble with +the Courts of Egypt, of Israel, and through them, of Tyre. Thus +working in many ways, Metem laboured incessantly to win his end, so +that when at last the hour of election came he awaited its issue, +fairly confident of success. + +It was on this same afternoon that for the first time since she had +received the arrow which was meant for his heart, Aziel was admitted +to see Elissa. Now at length her recovery was certain, although she +had not shaken off her weakness, and her right arm and wrist were +still stiff and swollen. Except for two or three of her women, who +were seated at their work behind a screen near the far end of the +great chamber, she was alone, lying upon a couch in the recess of the +window-place. Advancing to her, Aziel bent down to kiss her wounded +hand. + +"Nay," said Elissa, hiding it beneath the folds of her robe, "it is +still black and unsightly with the poison." + +"The more reason that I should kiss it, seeing how the stain came +there," he answered. + +Her eyes met his, and she whispered, "Not my hand, but my brow, +Prince, for so I shall be crowned." + +He pressed his lips upon her forehead, and replied:-- + +"Queen of my heart you are already, and though the throne be humble it +is sure. The life you saved is yours, and no other's." + +"I did but repay a debt," she answered; "but speak of it no more. +Gladly would I have died to save you; should such choice arise, would +you do so for me, I wonder?" + +"There is little need to ask such a question, lady; for your sake I +would not only die, I would even endure shame--that is worse than +death." + +"Sweet words, Aziel," she answered, smiling, "of which we shall learn +the value when the hour of trial comes, as come, I think, it will. You +told me but now that you were mine, and no other's; but is it so? I +have heard the story of a certain princess of Khem with whom your name +was mingled. Tell me, if you will, what was it that set you journeying +to this far city of ours?" + +"The desire to find you," he answered smiling; then seeing that she +still looked at him with questioning eyes, he added, "Nay, this is the +truth, if you seek truth. Indeed, it is the best that I should tell +you, since it seems that already you have heard something of the tale. +A while ago I was sent to the Court of the Pharaoh of Egypt, by the +will of my grandsire, the king of Israel, upon an embassy of +friendship, and to escort thence a certain beautiful princess, my +cousin, who was affianced by treaty to an uncle of mine, a great +prince of Israel. This I did, showing to the lady courtesy, and no +more. But the end of the matter was that when we came to Jerusalem the +princess refused to be married to my uncle, to whom she was +betrothed----" and he hesitated. + +"Nay, be not timid, Prince," said Elissa sharply; "continue, I pray +you. I have heard that the lady added somewhat to her refusal." + +"That is so, Elissa. She declared before the king that she would wed +no man except myself only, whereon my uncle was very angry, and +accused me of playing him false, which, indeed, I had not done." + +"Although the lady was so fair, Aziel? But what said the great king?" + +"He said that never having seen him to whom she was affianced, he +would not suffer that she should be forced into marriage with him +against her will. Yet that her will might be uninfluenced, he +commanded that I should be sent upon a long journey. That was his +judgment, lady." + +"Yes, but not all of it; surely he added other words?" she broke in +eagerly. + +"He added," continued Aziel, with some reluctance, "that if while I +was on this journey the princess changed her mind, and chose to wed my +uncle, it would be well. But, when I returned from it, if she had not +changed her mind, and chose--to marry me--then it would be well also, +and, though he was little pleased, with this saying my uncle must be +satisfied." + +"It does not satisfy me, prince Aziel," Elissa answered, the tears +starting to her dark eyes. "I know full well that the lady will not +change her mind, and take a man who is in years, and whom she hates, +in place of one who is young, and whom she loves. Therefore, when you +return hence to Jerusalem, by the king's command you will wed her." + +"Nay, Elissa; if I am already married that cannot be," he said. + +"In Judea, Prince, I am told that men take more wives than one; also, +they divorce them," she replied; then added, "Oh, return not there +where I shall lose you. If, indeed, you love me, I pray you return not +there." + +Before he could answer, a sound of singing and of all sorts of music +caught Aziel's ear. Looking through the casement, he saw a great +procession of the priests and priestesses of El and Baaltis clad in +their festal robes and accompanied by many dignitaries of the city, a +multitude of people and bands of musicians, advancing across the +square towards the door of the palace. + +"Why, what passes?" he exclaimed. As he spoke the door opened and two +richly arrayed heralds, wands of office in their hands, entered and +prostrated themselves before Elissa. + +"Greeting to you, most noble and blessed lady, the chosen of the +gods!" they cried with one voice. "Prepare, we beseech you, to hear +glad tidings, and to receive those who are sent to tell them." + +"Glad tidings?" said Elissa. "Has Ithobal then withdrawn his suit?" + +"Nay, lady; it is not of Ithobal that the messengers come to speak." + +"Then I cannot receive them," she said, sinking back in apprehension. +"I am still ill and weak, and I pray to be excused." + +"Nay, lady," answered the herald, "that which they have to tell will +cure your sickness." + +Again Elissa protested. Before the words had left her lips there +appeared in the doorway he who had been husband of the dead Baaltis, +followed by priests and priestesses, by Sakon her father, with whom +was Metem, and many other nobles and dignitaries. + +"All hail, lady!" they cried, prostrating themselves before her. "All +hail, lady, chosen of the gods!" + +Elissa looked at them bewildered. + +"Your pardon," she said, "I do not understand." + +Then, rising from his knees, he who was still the Shadid until his +successor was appointed, addressed her as spokesman. + +"Listen," he said, "and learn, lady, the great thing that has befallen +you. Know, O divine One, that by the inspiration of El and Baaltis, +rulers of the heavens, the colleges of the priests and priestesses of +the city, following the voice of the oracles and the pointing of the +omens, have set you in that high place which death has emptied. +Greeting to you, holder of the spirit of the goddess! Greeting to the +Baaltis!" + +"I did not seek this honour," she murmured in the silence that +followed, "and I refuse it. The throne of the goddess is Mesa's right; +let her take it, or if she will not, then find some other woman who is +more worthy." + +"Lady," said the Shadid, "these words become you well, but it has +pleased the gods to choose you and not my daughter, the lady Mesa, or +any other woman, and the choice of the gods may not be set aside. Till +death shall take you, you and you alone are the lady Baaltis whom we +obey." + +"Must I then be made divine against my will," she pleaded, and turned +to Aziel as though for counsel. + +"Be pleased to stand back, prince Aziel," said the stern voice of the +Shadid, interposing. "Remember that henceforth no man may speak to the +Baaltis save he whom she names with the name of Shadid to be her +husband. Henceforward you are parted, since to seek her company would +be to cause her death." + +Now understanding that the doom of life-long separation had fallen +upon them like the sudden sword of fate, Aziel and Elissa gazed at +each other in despair. Then, before either of them could speak a word, +at a sign from the Shadid, the priestesses closed round Elissa. +Throwing a white veil over her head, they broke into a joyful pan of +song, and half-led, half-carried her from the chamber to enthrone her +in the palace of the goddess, which was henceforth to be her home. + +Presently all the company, including the waiting women, having joined +the procession, the chamber was empty, with the exception of Aziel, +Metem and Issachar the Levite, who, drawn by the sound of singing, had +entered the place unnoticed. + +"Take comfort, Prince," said the Phnician in a half-bantering voice, +"if you and the lady Baaltis are truly dear to each other she may +still be yours, for you have but to bow the knee to El, and she will +name you Shadid and husband." + +"Blaspheme not," cried Issachar sternly. "Shall a worshipper of the +God of Israel do sacrifice to a demon to win a woman's smile?" + +"That time will prove," answered Metem, shrugging his shoulders; "at +least it is certain that he will win it in no other way. Prince," he +added, changing his tone, "if you have any such thoughts, abandon +them, I pray of you, for on this matter the law may not be broken. The +man spoke truth, moreover, when he told you that should you be found +with the Baaltis, not being her husband, you would cause her death." + +Aziel took no notice of his words, but turning to the Levite, he asked +in a quiet voice:-- + +"Did you plot this to separate us, Issachar? If so, you shall live to +mourn the deed." + +"Listen, Prince," broke in Metem, "it was not Issachar who plotted +that the lady Elissa should be chosen Baaltis, but I, or at least I +helped the plot. Shall I tell you why I did this? It was to save you +and her, and if possible to prevent a great war also. You could not +wed this woman who is not of your race, or rank, or religion; and if +you could, it would bring about a struggle that must cost thousands +their lives, and this city its wealth. Nor could you make of her less +than a wife, seeing that she is well-born and that you are her +father's guest. Therefore for your own sake it is best that she should +be placed beyond your reach. For her sake also it is best, since she +is ambitious and born to rule, who henceforth will be clothed with +power for all her days. Moreover, had it been otherwise, in the end +she must have passed to that savage Ithobal, whom she hates. Now this +is scarcely possible, for the lady Baaltis can wed no man who is not +of pure white blood, and whom she does not choose of her own free +will. That is a decree which may not be broken even by Ithobal. So +revile me not, but thank me, though for a little while your heart be +sore." + +"My heart is sore indeed," answered Aziel, "and if you think your +words be wise, their medicine does not soothe, Phnician. You may have +laboured for my welfare and for that of the lady Elissa, or, like the +huckster that you are, for your own advantage, or for both--I know +not, and do not care to know. But this I know, that you, and Issachar +also, are striving to snare Fate in a web of sand, and that Fate will +be too strong for it and you. I love this woman and she loves me, +because such is our destiny, and no barriers which man may build can +serve to separate us. Also of this I am assured, that by your plots +you draw the evils you would ward away upon the heads of us all, for +from them shall spring war, and deaths, and misery. + +"For the rest, do not think, Metem and Issachar, that I, whom you +betrayed, and the woman you have ruined with a crown of greatness she +did not seek, are clay to be moulded at your will. It is another hand +than yours which fashioned the vessel of our destiny; nor can you stay +our lips from drinking of the pure wine that fills it. Farewell," and +with a grave inclination of the head he left the room. + +Metem watched him go, then he turned to Issachar and said:-- + +"I have earned my hire well, and you must pay the price, but now it +troubles me to think that I touched this business. Why it is I cannot +say, but it comes upon me that the prince speaks truth, and that no +plot of ours can avail to separate these two who were born to each +other, although it well may happen that we shall unite them in death +alone. Issachar," he added with fierce conviction, "I will not take +your gold, for it is the price of blood! I tell you it is the price of +blood!" + +"Take it or no, as you will, Phnician," answered the Levite; "at +least I am well pleased that the promise of it bought your service. +Even should the prince Aziel discharge this day's work with his young +life, it is better that he should perish in the body than that he +should lose his soul for the bribe of a woman's passing beauty. +Whatever else be lost, that is saved to him, since those sorceress +lips of hers are set beyond his reach. An Israelite cannot mate with +the oracle of Baaltis, Metem." + +"You say so, Issachar, but I have seen men climb high to pluck such +fruit. Yes, I have seen them climb even when they knew that they must +fall before the fruit was reached." + +Then he went also, leaving Issachar alone and oppressed with a dread +of the future which was none the less real because it could not be +defined. + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE EMBASSY + +Weak as she was still with recent illness, half-fainting also from the +shock of the terrible and unexpected fate which had overtaken her, +Elissa was borne in triumph to the palace that now was hers. Around +her gilded litter priestesses danced and sang their wild chants, half- +bacchanalian and half-religious; before it marched the priests of El, +clashing cymbals and crying, "Make way, make way for the new-born +goddess! Make way for her whose throne is upon the horned moon!" while +all about the multitude of spectators prostrated themselves in +worship. + +Elissa was borne in triumph. Vaguely she heard the shouts and music, +dimly she saw the dancing-girls and the bowing crowds. But all the +while her heart was alive with pain and her brain, crushed beneath the +menace of this misery, could grasp nothing clearly save the +completeness of her loss. Loss! Yes, she was lost indeed. One short +hour ago and she was rejoicing in the presence of the man she loved, +and who, as she believed, loved her, while in her mind rose visions of +some happy life with him far away from this city and the dark rites of +the worshippers of Baal. And now she found herself the chief priestess +of that worship which already she had learned to fear if not to hate. +More, as its priestess, till death should come to comfort her, she was +cut off for ever from him whom she adored, cut off also from the hope +of that new spiritual light which had begun to dawn upon her soul. + +Elissa looked upon the beautiful women who leapt and sang about her +litter, listening to the clash of their ornaments of gold, and as she +listened and looked her eyes seemed to gain power to behold the +spirits within them. Surely she could see these, dark and hideous +things, with shifting countenances, terrible to look on, and +themselves wearing in their eyes of flame a stamp of eternal terror, +while in her ears the music of their golden necklaces was changed to a +clank as of fetters and of instruments of torment. Yes; and there +before the dancers in the red cloud of dust which rose from their +beating feet, floated the dim shape of that demon of whom she had been +chosen the high-priestess. + +Look at her mocking, inhuman countenance, and her bent brow of power! +Look at her spread and flaming hair and her hundred hands outstretched +to grasp the souls of men! Hark! the clamour of the cymbals and the +cry of the dancers blended together and became her voice, a dreadful +voice that gave greeting to her princess, promising her pride of place +and life-long power in payment for her service. + +"I desire none of these," her heart seemed to answer; "I desire him +only whom I have lost." + +"Is it so?" replied the Voice. "Then bid him burn incense upon my +altar and take him to yourself. Have I not given you enough of beauty +to snare a single soul from among the servants of my enemy the God of +the Jews?" + +"Nay, nay!" her heart cried; "I will not tempt him to do this evil +thing." + +"Yea, yea!" mocked the phantom Voice; "for your sake he shall burn +incense upon my altar." + +***** + +The phantasy passed, and now the golden gates of the palace of Baaltis +rolled open before Elissa. Now, too, the priestesses bore her to the +golden throne shaped like a crescent moon, and threw over her a black +veil spangled with stars, symbol of the night. Then having shut out +the uninitiated, they worshipped her after their secret fashion till +she sank down upon the throne overcome with fear and weariness. Then +at last they carried her to that wonder of workmanship and allegorical +art, the ivory bed of Baaltis, and laid her down to sleep. + +***** + +At dawn upon the following day an embassy, headed by Sakon, governor +of the city, in whose train were Metem and Aziel, went to the camp of +Ithobal. The mission of these envoys was to give the king answer to +his suit, for he refused to come to Zimboe unless he were allowed to +bring a larger force than it was thought prudent to admit into the +city gates. At some distance from the tents they halted, while +messengers were sent forward inviting Ithobal to a conference on the +plain, as it seemed scarcely safe to trust themselves within the stout +thorn fence which had been built about the camp. Metem, who said that +he had no fear of the king, went with these men, and on reaching the +/zeriba/ was at once bidden to the pavilion of Ithobal. He found the +great man pacing its length sullenly. + +"What seek you here, Phnician?" he asked, glancing at him over his +shoulder. + +"My fee, King. The king was pleased to promise me a hundred ounces of +gold if I saved the life of the Lady Elissa. I come, therefore, to +assure him that my skill has prevailed against the poisoned arrow of +that treacherous dog of the desert, which pierced her hand as she +spoke with the prince Aziel the other night, and to claim my reward. +Here is a note of the amount," and he produced his tablets. + +"If half of what I hear is true, rogue," answered Ithobal savagely, +"the tormentor and the headsman alone could satisfy all my debt to +you. Say, merchant, what return have you made me for that sackful of +gold which you bore hence some few days gone?" + +"The best of all returns, King," answered Metem cheerfully, although +in truth he began to feel afraid. "I have kept my word, and fulfilled +the command of the king. I have made it impossible that the prince +Aziel should wed the daughter of Sakon." + +"Yes, rogue, you have made it impossible by causing her to be +consecrated Baaltis, and thus building a barrier which even I shall +find too hard to climb. It is scarcely to be hoped that now she will +choose me of her own will, and to offer violence to the Baaltis is a +sacrilege from which any man--yes, even a king--may shrink, for such +deeds draw the curse of Heaven. Know that for this service I am minded +to settle my account with you in a fashion of which you have not +thought. Have you heard, Phnician, that the chiefs of certain of my +tribes love to decorate their spear-shafts with the hide of white men, +and to bray their flesh into a medicine which gives courage to its +eater?" + +With this pleasing and suggestive query Ithobal paused, and looked +towards the door of the tent as though he were about to call his +guard. + +Now Metem's blood ran cold, for he knew that this royal savage was not +one who uttered idle threats. Yet the coolness and cunning which had +so often served him well did not fail him in his need. + +"I have heard that your people have strange customs," he answered with +a laugh, "but I think that even a spear-shaft would scarcely gain +beauty from my wrinkled hide, and if anything, the eating of my flesh +would make tradesmen and not warriors of your chiefs. Well, let the +jest pass, and listen. King, in all my schemings one thought never +crossed my mind, namely, that you were a man to suffer scruples to +stand between you and the woman you would win. You think that now she +is a goddess? Well, if that be so--and it is not for me to say--who +could be a fitter mate for the greatest king upon the earth than a +goddess from the heavens? Take her, king Ithobal, take her, and this I +promise you, that when your armies are encamped without the walls, the +priests of El will absolve you of the crime of aspiring to the fair +lips of Baaltis." + +"The lips of Baaltis," broke in Ithobal; "do you think that I shall +find them sweet when another man has rifled them? Secret chambers are +many yonder in the palace of the gods, and doubtless the Jew will find +his way there." + +"Nay, King, for between these two I have indeed built a wall which +cannot be climbed. The worshipper of the Lord of Israel may not +traffic with the high-priestess of Ashtoreth. Moreover, I shall bring +it about that ere long Prince Aziel's face is set seawards." + +"Do that, and I will believe you, merchant, though it would be better +if you could bring it about that his face was set earthwards, as I +will if I can. Well, this time I spare you, though be sure that if +aught miscarry, you shall pay the price, how, I have told you. Now I +go to talk with these traders, these outlanders, of Zimboe. Why do you +wait? You are dismissed and--alive." + +Metem looked steadily at the tablets which he still held in his hand. + +"I have heard," he said humbly, "that the king Ithobal, the great +king, always pays his debts, and as I--an outlander--shall be leaving +Zimboe shortly under his safe conduct, I desire to close this small +account." + +Ithobal went to the door of his tent and commanded that his treasurer +should attend him, bringing money. Presently he came, and at his +lord's bidding weighed out one hundred ounces of gold. + +"You are right, Phnician," said Ithobal; "I always pay my debts, +sometimes in gold and sometimes in iron. Be careful that I owe you no +more, lest you who to-day are paid in gold, to-morrow may receive the +iron, weighed out in the fashion of which I have spoken. Now, begone." + +Metem gathered up the treasure, and hiding it in his ample robe, bowed +himself from the royal presence and out of the thorn-hedged camp. + +"Without doubt I have been in danger," he said to himself, wiping his +brow, "since at one time that black brute, disregarding the sanctity +of an envoy, had it in his mind to torture and to kill me. So, so, +king Ithobal, Metem the Phnician is also an honest merchant who +'always pays his debts,' as you may learn in the market-places of +Jerusalem, of Sidon and of Zimboe, and I owe you a heavy bill for the +fright you have given me to-day. Little of Elissa's company shall you +have if I can help it; she is too good for a cross-bred savage, and if +before I go from these barbarian lands I can set a drop of medicine in +your wine, or an arrow in your gizzard, upon the word of Metem the +Phnician, it shall be done, king Ithobal." + +***** + +When Metem reached Sakon and the envoys, he found that a message had +already been sent to them announcing that Ithobal would meet them +presently upon the plain outside his camp. But still the king did not +come; indeed, it was not until Sakon had despatched another messenger, +saying that he was about to return to the city, that at length Ithobal +appeared at the head of a bodyguard of black troops. Arranging these +in line in front of the camp, he came forward, attended by twelve or +fourteen counsellors and generals, all of them unarmed. Half-way +between his own line and that of the Phnicians, but out of bowshot of +either, he halted. + +Thereon Sakon, accompanied by a similar number of priests and nobles, +among whom were Aziel and Metem, all of them also unarmed, except for +the knives in their girdles, marched out to meet him. Their escort +they left drawn up upon the hillside. + +"Let us to business, King," said Sakon, when the formal words of +salutation had passed. "We have waited long upon your pleasure, and +already troops move out from the city to learn what has befallen us." + +"Do they then fear that I should ambush ambassadors?" asked Ithobal +hotly. "For the rest, is it not right that servants should bide at the +door of their king till it is his pleasure to open?" + +"I know not what they fear," answered Sakon, "but at least we fear +nothing, for we are too many," and he glanced at his soldiers, a +thousand strong, upon the hillside. "Nor are the citizens of Zimboe +the servants of any man unless he be the king of Tyre." + +"That we shall put to proof, Sakon," said Ithobal; "but say, what does +the Jew with you?" and he pointed to Aziel. "Is he also an envoy from +Zimboe?" + +"Nay, King," answered the prince laughing, "but my grandsire, the +mighty ruler of Israel, charged me always to take note of the ways of +savages in peace and war, that I might learn how to deal with them. +Therefore, I sought leave to accompany Sakon upon this embassy." + +"Peace, peace!" broke in Sakon. "This is no time for gibes. King +Ithobal, since you did not dare to venture yourself again within the +walls of our city, we have come to answer the demands you made upon us +in the Hall of Audience. You demanded that our fortifications should +be thrown down, and this we refuse, since we do not court destruction. +You demanded that we should cease to enslave men to labour in the +mines, and to this we answer that for every man we take we will pay a +tax to his lawful chief, or to you as king. You demanded that the +ancient tribute should be doubled. To this, out of love and +friendship, and not from fear, we assent, if you will enter into a +bond of lasting peace, since it is peace we seek, and not war. King, +you have our answer." + +"Not all of it, Sakon. How of that first condition--that Lady Elissa +the fair, your daughter, should be given me to wife?" + +"King, it cannot be, for the gods of heaven have taken this matter +from our hands, anointing the lady Elissa their high-priestess." + +"Then as I live," answered Ithobal with fury, "I will take her from +the hands of the gods and anoint her my dancing-woman. Do you think to +make a mock of me, you people of Zimboe, whom I have honoured by +desiring one of your daughters in marriage? You seek to trick me with +your priests' juggling that you may keep her to be the toy of yonder +princeling? So be it, but I tell you that I will tear your city stone +from stone, and anoint its ruins with your blood. Yes, your young men +shall labour in the mines for me, and your high-born maidens shall +wait upon my queens. Listen, you"--and he turned to his generals--"Let +the messengers who are ready start east and west, and north and south, +to the chiefs whose names you have, bidding them to meet me with their +tribesmen, at the time and place appointed. When next I speak with +you, Elders of Zimboe, it shall be at the head of a hundred thousand +warriors." + +"Then, King, on your hands be all the innocent lives that these words +of yours have doomed, and may the weight of their wasted blood press +you down to ruin and death." + +Thus answered Sakon proudly, but with pale lips, for do what they +would to hide it, something of the fear they felt for the issue of +this war was written on the faces of all his company. + +Ithobal turned upon his heel, deigning no reply, but as he went he +whispered a word into the ear of two of his captains, great men of +war, who stayed behind the rest of his party searching for something +upon the ground. Sakon and his counsellors also turned, walking +towards their escort, but Aziel lingered a little, fearing no danger, +and being curious to learn what the men sought. + +"What do you seek, captains?" he asked courteously. + +"A gold armlet that one of us has lost," they answered. + +Aziel let his eyes wander on the ground, and not far away perceived +the armlet half-hidden in a tussock of dry grass, where, indeed, it +had been placed. + +"Is this the ring?" he asked, lifting it and holding it towards them. + +"It is, and we thank you," they answered, advancing to take the +ornament. + +The next moment, before Aziel even guessed their purpose, the captains +had gripped him by either arm and were dragging him at full speed +towards their camp. Understanding their treachery and the greatness of +his danger, he cried aloud for help. Then throwing himself swiftly to +the ground, he set his feet against a stone that chanced to lie in +their path in such fashion that the sudden weight tore his right arm +from the group of the man that held him. Now, quick as thought, Aziel +drew the dagger from his girdle, and, still lying upon his back, +plunged it into the shoulder of the second man so that he loosed him +in his pain. Next he sprang to his feet, and, leaping to one side to +escape the rush of his captors, ran like a deer towards the party of +Sakon, who had wheeled round at the sound of his cry. + +Ithobal and his men had turned also and sped towards them, but at a +little distance they halted, the king shouting aloud:-- + +"I desired to hold this foreigner, who is the cause of war between us, +hostage for your daughter's sake, Sakon, but this time he has escaped +me. Well, it matters nothing, for soon my turn will come. Therefore, +if you and he are wise, you will send him back to the sea, for thither +alone I promise him safe conduct." + +Then without more words he walked to his camp, the gates of which were +closed behind him. + +***** + +"Prince Aziel," said Sakon, as they went towards the city, "it is ill +to speak such words to an honoured guest, but it cannot be denied that +you bring much trouble on my head. Twice now you have nearly perished +at the hands of Ithobal, and should that chance, doubtless I must earn +the wrath of Israel. On your behalf, also, the city of Zimboe is this +day plunged into a war that well may be her last, since it is because +you have grown suddenly dear to her that my daughter has continued to +refuse the suit of Ithobal, and because of his outraged pride at this +refusal that he has raised up the nations against us. Prince, while +you remain in this city there is no hope of peace. Do not, therefore, +hate me, your servant, if I pray of you to leave us while there is yet +time." + +"Sakon," answered Aziel, "I thank you for your open speech, and will +pay you back in words as honest as your own. Gladly would I go, for +here nothing but sorrow has befallen me, were it not for one thing +which to you may seem little, but to me, and perhaps to another, is +all in all. I love your daughter as I have never loved a woman before, +and as my mind is to hers, so is hers to mine. How, then, can I go +hence when the going means that I must part from her for ever?" + +"How can you stay here, Prince, when the staying means that you must +bring her to shame and death, and yourself with her? Say now, are you +prepared, for the sake of this maiden, to abandon the worship of your +fathers and to become the servant of El and Baaltis?" + +"You know well that I am not so prepared, Sakon. For nothing that the +world could give me would I do this sin." + +"Then, Prince, it is best that you should go, for that and no other is +the price you must pay if you would win my daughter Elissa. Should you +seek to do so by other means, I tell you that neither your high rank +nor the power of my rule and friendship, nor pity for your youth and +hers, can save you both from death, since to forgive you then would be +to bring down the wrath of its outraged gods upon Zimboe. Oh! Prince, +for your own sake and for the sake of her whom both you and I love +thus dearly, linger no longer in temptation, but turn your back upon +it as a brave man should, for so shall my blessing follow you to the +grave and your years be filled with honour." + +Aziel covered his eyes with his hand, and thought a while; then he +answered:-- + +"Be it as you will, friend. I go, but I go broken-hearted." + + + +CHAPTER XI + +METEM SELLS IMAGES + +Upon reaching the palace, Aziel went to the apartments of Issachar. +Finding no keeper at the door, he entered, to discover the old priest +kneeling in prayer at the window, which faced towards Jerusalem. So +absorbed was he in his devotions that it was not until he had ended +them and risen that Issachar saw Aziel standing in the chamber. + +"Behold, an answer to my prayer," he said. "My son, they told me that +some fresh danger had overtaken you, though none knew its issue. +Therefore it was that I prayed, and now I see you unharmed." And +taking him in his arms, he embraced him. + +"It is true that I have been in danger, father," answered Aziel, and +he told him the story of his escape from Ithobal. + +"Did I not pray thee not to accompany this embassy?" + +"Yes, father, yet I have returned in safety. Listen: I come with +tidings which you will think good. Not an hour ago I promised Sakon +that I would leave Zimboe, where it seems my presence breeds much +trouble." + +"Good tidings, indeed!" exclaimed Issachar, "and never shall I know a +peaceful hour until we have seen the last of the towers of this doomed +city and its accursed people of devil-worshippers." + +"Yes, good for you, father, but for me most ill, for here I shall +leave my youth and happiness. Nay, I know what you think; that this is +but some passing fancy bred of the pleasant beauty of a woman, but it +is not so. I say that from the moment when first I saw Elissa, she +became life of my life, and soul of my soul and that I go hence +beggared of joy and hope, and carrying with me a cankering memory +which shall eat my heart away. You deem her a witch, one to whom +Baaltis has given power to drag the minds of men to their destruction, +but I tell you that her only spell is the spell of her love for me, +also that she whom you named so grossly is no longer the servant of +the demon Baaltis." + +"Elissa not the servant of Baaltis? How comes she then to be her high- +priestess? Aziel, your passion has made you mad." + +'She is high-priestess because Metem and others brought about her +election without her will, urged on to it by I know not whom." And he +looked hard at Issachar, who turned away. "But what matters it who did +the ill deed," he continued, "since this, at least, is certain, that +here my presence breeds sorrow and bloodshed, and therefore I must go +as I have promised." + +"When do we depart, Prince?" queried Issachar. + +"I know not, it is naught to me. Here comes Metem, ask of him." + +"Metem," said the Levite, "the prince desires to leave Zimboe and +march to the coast, there to take ship to Tyre. When can your caravan +be ready?" + +"So I have heard, Issachar, for Sakon tells me that he has come to an +agreement with the prince upon this matter. Well, I am glad to learn +it, for troubles thicken here, and I think that the woe you prophesied +is not far from this city of Zimboe where every man seeks to serve his +own hand, and is ready to sell his neighbour. When can the caravan be +got ready? Well, the night after next; at least, we can start that +night. To-morrow evening, so soon as the sun is down, I will send on +the camels by ones and twos, and with them the baggage and treasure, +to a secret place I know of in the mountains, where we and the +prince's guard can follow upon the mules and join them. As it chances, +I have a safe conduct from Ithobal. Still I should not wish to put his +troops into temptation by marching through them with twenty laden +camels, or to lose certain earnings of my own that will be hidden in +the baggage. Moreover, if our departure becomes known, half the city +would wish to join us, having no love of soldiering, and misdoubting +them much of the issue of this war with Ithobal." + +"As you will," said Issachar, "you are captain of the caravan, and +charged with the safety of the prince upon his journeyings. I am ready +whenever you appoint, and the quicker that hour comes, the more praise +you will have from me." + +"Come with me, I wish to speak with you," said Aziel to the Phnician +as they left the presence of Issachar. "Listen," he added, when they +had reached his chamber, "we leave this city soon, and I have +farewells to make." + +"To the Baaltis?" suggested Metem. + +"To the lady Elissa. I desire to send her a letter of farewell; can +you deliver it into her own hand?" + +"It may be managed, Prince, at a price--nay, from you I ask no price. +I have still some images that I wish to sell, and we merchants go +everywhere, even into the presence of the Baaltis if it pleases her to +admit them. Write your scroll and I will take it, though, to be plain, +it is not a task which I should have sought." + +So Aziel wrote slowly and with care. Then having sealed the writing he +gave it to Metem. + +"Your face is sat, Prince," he said, as he hid it in his robe, "but, +believe me, you are doing what is right and wise." + +"It may be so," answered Aziel, "yet I would rather die than do it, +and may my curse lie heavy upon the heads of those who have so wrought +that it must be done. Now, I pray you, deliver this scroll into the +hands of her you know, and bring me the answer if there be any, +betraying it to none, for I will double whatever sum is offered for +that treachery." + +"Have no fear, Prince," said Metem quietly, but without taking +offence, "this errand is undertaken for friendship, not for profit. +The risk is mine alone; the gain--or loss--is yours." + +***** + +An hour later the Phnician stood in the palace of the gods, +demanding, under permit from Sakon, governor of the city, to be +admitted into the presence of the Baaltis, to whom he desired to sell +certain sacred images cunningly fashioned in gold. Presently it was +announced that he was allowed to approach, and the officers of the +temple led him through guarded passages, to the private chambers of +the priestesses. Here he found Elissa in a long, low hall, sweet with +scented woods, rich with gold, and supported by pillars of cedar. + +She was seated alone at the far end of this hall, beneath the window- +plate, clad in her white robes of office, richly broidered with +emblems of the moon. Her women, most of whom were employed in needle- +work, though some whispered idly to each other, were gathered at the +lower end of the hall near to its door. + +Metem saluted them as he entered, and they detained him, answering his +greeting by requests for news and with jests, not too refined, or by +demands for presents of jewels, in return for which they promised him +the blessings of the goddess. To each he made some apt reply, for even +the priestesses of Baaltis could not abash Metem. But while he bandied +words, his quick eyes noted one of their number who did not join in +this play. She was a spare, thin-lipped woman whom he knew for Mesa, +the daughter of the dead Baaltis, who had been a rival candidate for +the throne of the high-priestess when Elissa was chosen in her place. + +When he entered the hall Mesa was seated upon a canvas stool, a little +apart from the others, her chin resting upon her hand, staring with an +evil look towards the place where Elissa was enthroned. Nor did her +face grow more gentle at the sight of the cunning merchant, for she +knew well it was through his plots and bribery that she had been +ousted from her mother's place. + +"A woman to be feared," thought Metem to himself as, shaking off the +priestesses, he passed her upon his way up the long chamber. Presently +he had reached the end of it, and was saluting the presence of the +Baaltis by kneeling and touching the carpet with his brow. + +"Rise, Metem," said Elissa, "and set out your business, for the hour +of the sunset prayer is at hand, and I cannot talk long with you." + +So he rose, and, looking at her while he laid out his store of images, +saw that her face was sad, and that her eyes were full of a strange +fear. + +"Lady," he said, "on the second night from now I depart from this city +of yours, and glad shall I be to leave it living. Therefore I have +brought you these four priceless images of the most splendid +workmanship of Tyre, thinking that it might please you to purchase +them for the service of the goddess." + +"You depart," she whispered; "alone?" + +"No lady, not alone; the holy Issachar goes with me, also the escort +of the prince Aziel--and the prince himself, whose presence is no +longer desired in Zimboe." Here he stopped, for he saw that Elissa was +about to betray her agitation, and whispered, "Be not foolish, for you +are watched; I have a letter for you. Lady," he continued in a louder +voice, "if it will please you to examine this precious image in the +light, you will no longer hesitate or think the price too high," and +bowing low he led the way behind the throne, whither Elissa followed +him. + +Now they were standing beneath the window-place, which they faced, and +hidden from the gaze of the women by the gilded back of the high seat. + +"Here," he said, thrusting the parchment into her hand, "read quickly, +and return it to me." + +She snatched the roll from him, and as her eyes devoured the lines, +her face fell in, and her lips grew pale with anguish. + +"Be brave," murmured Metem, for his heart was stirred to pity; "it is +best for all that he should go." + +"For him, perchance it is best," she answered; as with an unwilling +hand she gave him back the letter which she dared not keep, "but what +of me? Oh! Metem, what of me?" + +"Lady," he said sadly, "I have no words to soothe your sorrow save +that the gods have willed it thus." + +"What gods?" she asked fiercely; "not those they bid me worship." She +shuddered, then went on, "Metem, be pitiful! Oh! if ever you have +loved a woman, or have been loved of one, for her sake be pitiful. I +must see him for the last time in farewell, and you can help me to +it." + +"I! In the name of Baal, how?" + +"When do you have to leave the city, Metem?" + +"At moonrise on the night after next." + +"Then an hour before moonrise I will be in the temple, whither I can +come by the secret way that leads thither from this palace, and he can +enter there, for the little gate shall be left unbarred. Pray him to +meet me, then--for the last time." + +"Lady," he urged, "this is but madness, and I refuse. You must find +another messenger." + +"Madness or not it is my will, and beware how you thwart me in it, +Metem, for at least I am the Lady Baaltis, and have power to kill +without question. I swear to you that if I do not see him, you shall +never leave this city living." + +"A shrewd argument, and to the point," said Metem reflectively. "Well, +I have prepared myself a rock-hewn tomb at Tyre, and do not wish that +my graven sarcophagus of best Egyptian alabaster should be wasted, or +sold to some upstart for a song." + +"As assuredly it will be, if you do not obey me in this matter, Metem. +Remember--an hour before moonrise, at the foot of the pillar of El in +the inner court of the temple." + +As she spoke Metem started, for his quick ears had caught a sound. + +"O Queen divine," he said in a loud voice, as he led the way to the +front of the throne, "you are a hard bargainer! Were there many such, +a poor trader could not make a living. Ah! here is one who knows the +value of such priceless works of art," and he pointed to Mesa, who, +with folded arms and downcast eyes, stood within five paces of the +throne, as near, indeed, as custom allowed her to approach. "Lady," he +went on addressing you, "you will have heard the price I asked; say, +now, is it too much?" + +"I have heard nothing, sir. I stand here, waiting the return of my +holy mistress that I may remind her that the hour of sunset prayer is +at hand." + +"Would that I had so fair a mentor," exclaimed Metem, "for then I +should lose less time." But to himself he said, "She /has/ heard +something, though I think but little," then added aloud: "Well judge +between us, lady. Is fifty golden shekels too much for these images +which have been blessed and sprinkled with the blood of children by +the high priest of Baal at Sidon?" + +Mesa lifted her cold eyes and looked at them. "I think it too much," +she said, "but it is for the lady Baaltis to judge. Who am I that I +should open my lips in the presence of the lady Baaltis?" + +"I have appealed to the oracle, and it has spoken against me," said +Metem, wringing his hands in affected dismay. "Well, I abide the +result. Queen, you offered me forty shekels and for forty you shall +take them, for the honour of the holy gods, though in truth I lose ten +shekels by the bargain. Give your order to the treasurer, and he will +pay me to-morrow. So now farewell," and bowing till his forehead +touched the ground, he kissed the hem of her robe. + +Elissa bent her head in acknowledgment of the salute, and as he rose +her eyes met his. In them was written a warning which he could not +fail to understand, and although she did not speak, her lips seemed to +shape the word, "Remember." + +Ten minutes later Metem stood in the chamber of Aziel. + +"Has she seen the letter, and what did she answer?" asked the prince, +springing up almost as he passed the threshold. + +"In the name of all the gods of all the nations I pray you not to +speak so loud," answered Metem when he had closed the door and looked +suspiciously about him. "Oh! if ever I find myself safe in Tyre again, +I vow a gift, and no mean one, to each of them that has a temple +there, and they are many; for no single god is strong enough to bring +me safe out of this trouble. Have I seen the lady Elissa? Oh, yes, I +have seen her. And what think you that this innocent lamb, this +undefiled dove of yours, threatens me with now? Death! nothing less +than death, if I will not carry out her foolish wishes. More, she +means the threat, and has the strength to fulfil it, for to the lady +Baaltis is given power over the lives of men, or at the least, if she +takes life none question the authority of the goddess. Unless I do her +will I am a dead man, and that is the reward I get for mixing myself +up in your mad love affairs." + +"Hold!" broke in Aziel, "and tell me, man, what is her will?" + +"Her will is--what do you think? To meet you in farewell an hour +before you leave this city. Well, as my throat is at stake, by Baal! +it shall be gratified if I can find the means, though I tell you that +it is madness and nothing else. But listen to the story----" and he +repeated all that had passed. "Now," he added, "are you ready to take +the risk, Prince?" + +"I should be a coward indeed if I did not," answered Aziel, "when she, +a woman, dares a heavier." + +"And I am a coward, that is why I take it, for otherwise I also must +dare a heavier. But what of Issachar? This meeting can scarcely be +kept a secret from him." + +Aziel thought awhile and said:-- + +"Go fetch him here." So Metem went, to return presently with the +Levite, to whom, without further ado, the prince told all, hiding +nothing. + +Issachar listened in silence. When both Aziel and Metem had done +speaking, he said:-- + +"At least, I thank you, Prince, for being open with me; and now +without more words I pray you to abandon this rash plan, which can end +only in pain, and perhaps in death." + +"Abandon it not, Prince," interrupted Metem, "seeing that if you do it +will certainly end in my death, for the girl is mad, and will have her +way. Or if she does not, then I must pay the price." + +"Have no fear," answered Aziel smiling. "Issachar, this must be done +or----" + +"Or what, Prince?" + +"I will not leave the city. It is true that Sakon may thrust me from +it, but it shall be as a dead man. Nay, waste no words, since she +desires it; I must and will meet the Lady Elissa for the last time, +not as lover meets lover, but as those meet who part for ever in the +world." + +"You say so, Prince; then have I your permission to accompany you?" + +"Yes, if you wish it, Issachar; but there is danger." + +"Danger! What care I for danger? The will of Heaven be done to me. So +be it, we will go together, but the end of it is not with us." + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE TRYST + +Two days had gone by, and at the appointed hour three figures, wrapped +in dark cloaks, might have been seen walking swiftly towards the +little entrance of the temple fortress. Although it was near to +midnight the city was still astir with men, for this very evening news +had reached it that Ithobal was advancing at the head of tens of +thousands of the warriors of the Tribes. More, it was rumoured freely +that within the next few days the siege of Zimboe would begin. Late as +it was, the council had been just summoned to the palace of Sakon to +consider the conduct of the defence, while in every street stood knots +of men engaged in anxious discussion, and from many a smithy rose the +sound of armourers at their work. Here marched parties of soldiers of +various races, there came long strings of mules laden with dried flesh +and grain; yonder a woman beat her breast, and wept loudly because her +three sons had been impressed by order of the council, two of them to +serve as archers and the third to carry blocks of stone for the +fortifications. + +Passing unnoticed through all this crowd and tumult, Aziel, Issachar +and Metem entered a winding passage in the temple wall, and came to +the little gate. Metem tried it, and whispered:-- + +"She has kept her word; it is unlocked. Now enter to your love-tryst, +holy Issachar." + +"Do you not come with us?" asked the Levite. + +"No, I am too old for such adventures. Listen, I go to make ready. +Within an hour the mules with the prince's bodyguard will stand in the +archway near the small gate of the palace, for by now the baggage and +its escort await us a day's march from this accursed city. Will you +meet me there? No; I think it is best that I should come to your +chambers to fetch you, and, I pray you, let there be no delay, for it +is dangerous in many ways. When once the prince has done with his +tender interview, and wiped away his tears, there should be nothing to +stay him, since the farewell cup with Sakon has been already drunk. +Enter now swiftly before some prowling priest happens upon you, and +pray that you may come out as sound as you go in. Oh! what a sight! A +prince of Israel and an aged Levite of established reputation going to +keep a tryst at midnight with the high-priestess of Baaltis in the +sanctuary of her god! Nay, answer not; there is no time"--and he was +gone. + +***** + +Having passed the gate, Aziel and Issachar crept down the winding +passages of stone, groping their path by such light as fell from the +narrow line of sky above them, till at length they reached the court +of the sanctuary. Here the place was as silent as death, for the noise +from the city without could not pierce its towering walls of massive +granite. + +"It is the very pit of Tophet," murmured Issachar, peering through the +dense shadows, "the house of Beelzebub, where his presence dwells. +Whither now, Aziel?" + +The prince pointed to two objects that were visible in the starlight, +and answered:-- + +"Thither, at the foot of the pillar of El." + +"Ah! I remember," said Issachar, "where the accursed woman would have +offered sacrifice, and the priests struck me down because I prophesied +to them of the wrath to come, and that is now at hand. An ill-omened +spot, indeed, and an ill-omened tryst with the fiends for witnesses. +Well, lead on, and I pray you to be brief as may be, for this place +weighs down my soul, and I feel danger in it--danger to the body and +the spirit." + +So they went forward. "Be careful," whispered Aziel presently. "The +pit of sacrifice is at your feet." + +"Yes, yes," he answered, "we walk upon the edge of the pit, and, in +truth, I grow fearful, for at the threshold of such places the angel +of the Lord deserts us." + +"There is nothing to fear," said Aziel. But even as he spoke, although +he could not see it, a white face rose above the edge of the pit, like +that of some ghost struggling from the tomb, watched them a moment +with cold eyes, then disappeared again. + +Now they were near the greater pillar, and now from its shadow glided +a black-veiled shape. + +"Elissa?" murmured Aziel. + +"It is I," whispered a soft voice; "but who comes with you?" + +"I, Issachar," said the Levite, "who would not suffer that he of whom +I am given charge should seek such company alone. Now, priestess, say +your say with the prince yonder and let us be gone swiftly from this +blood-stained place." + +"You speak harsh words to me, Issachar," she said gently, "yet I am +most glad that you have come, for, believe me, I sought no lovers' +meeting with the prince Aziel. Listen, both of you: you know that they +have consecrated me high-priestess of Baaltis against my will. Now, I +tell you, Issachar, what I have already told the prince Aziel--that I +am no longer a worshipper of Baaltis. Yes, here in her very temple I +renounce her, even though she takes my life in vengeance. Oh! since +they made me priestess I have been forced to learn all her worship, +which before I never even guessed, and to see sights that would chill +your blood to hear of them. Now I tell you, prince Aziel and Issachar, +that I will bear no more. From El and Baaltis I turn to Him you +worship, though, alas! little time is left to me in which to plead for +pardon." + +"Why is little time left?" broke in Aziel. + +"Because my death is very near me, Prince, for if I live, see what a +fate is mine. Either I must remain high-priestess of Baaltis and to +her day by day bow the knee, and month by month make sacrifice--of +what think you? Well, to be plain, of the blood of maids and children. +Or, perhaps, should their fears overcome their scruples, I shall be +given by the council as a peace-offering to Ithobal. + +"I say that I will bear neither of these burdens of blood or shame; +they are too heavy for me. Prince, so soon as you are gone I too shall +leave this city, not in the body, but in the spirit, searching for +peace or sleep. It was for this reason that I sought to speak with you +in farewell, since in my weakness I desired that you should learn the +truth of the cause and manner of my end. + +"Now you know all, and as for me there is no escape, farewell for +ever, prince Aziel, whom I have loved, and whom I can scarcely hope to +meet again, even beyond the grave." Then with a little despairing +motion of her hand she turned to go. + +"Stay," said Aziel hoarsely, "we cannot be parted thus; since by your +own act you can dare to leave the world, will you not dare to fly this +place with me?" + +"Perhaps, Prince," she answered with a little laugh, "but would you +dare to take me, and if so, would Issachar here suffer it? No, no; go +your own path in life, and leave me death--it is the easier way." + +"In this matter I am master and not Issachar," said Aziel, "though it +be true that should it please him, he can warn the priests of El. +Listen, Elissa: either you leave this city with me, or I stay in it +with you. You hear me, Issachar?" + +"I hear you," said the Levite, "but perchance before you throw more +sharp words at my head, you will suffer me to speak. Self-murder is a +crime, yet I honour this woman who would shed her own blood, rather +than the blood of the innocent in sacrifice to Baal, and who refuses +to be given in marriage to one she hates; who, moreover, has found +strength and grace to trample on her devil-worship, if so in truth she +has. If therefore she will come with us and we can escape with her, +why, let her come. Only swear to me, Aziel, that you will make no wife +of her till the king, your grandsire, has heard this tale and given +judgment on it." + +"That I will swear for him," exclaimed Elissa; "is it not so, Aziel?" + +"As you will, lady," he answered. "Issachar, you have my word that +until then she shall be as my sister, and no more." + +"I hear and I believe you," said Issachar, adding: "And now, lady, we +go at once, so if you desire to accompany us, come." + +"I am ready," she replied, "and the hour is well chosen for I shall +not be missed till dawn." + +So they turned and left the temple. None stayed or hindered them, yet +although they reached the chambers of Aziel in safety, their hearts, +which should have been light, were still heavy with the presage of new +sorrow to come. + +Scarcely could they have been heavier, indeed, had they seen a white- +faced woman creep from the pit of death and follow them stealthily +till they had passed from the temple into the palace doors, then turn +and run at full speed towards the college of the priests of El. + +In the chamber of Aziel they found Metem. + +"I rejoice to see you back again in safety, since it is more than I +thought to do," he said, while they entered, adding, as the black- +veiled shape of Elissa followed them into the room, "but who is the +third? Ah! I see, the lady Elissa. Does the Baaltis accompany us upon +our journey?" + +"Yes," answered Aziel shortly. + +"Then with her high Grace on the one side and the holy Issachar on the +other it should not lack for blessings. Surely that evil must be great +from which, separately or together, they are unable to defend us. But, +lady, if I may ask it, have you bid farewell to your most honoured +father?" + +"Torment me not," murmured Elissa. + +"Indeed, I did not wish to, though you may remember that not so long +ago you threatened to silence me for ever. Well, doubtless your +departure is too hurried for farewells, and, fortunately, foreseeing +it, I have provided spare mules. So my deeds are kinder than my words. +I go to see that all is prepared. Now eat before you start; presently +I will return for you," and he left the chamber. + +When he had gone they gathered round the table on which stood food, +but could touch little of it; for the hearts of all three of them were +filled with sad forebodings. Soon they heard a noise as of people +talking excitedly outside the palace gates. + +"It is Metem with the mules," said Aziel. + +"I hope so," answered Elissa. + +Again there was silence, which, after a while, was broken by a loud +knocking at the door. + +"Rise," said Aziel, "Metem comes for us." + +"No, no," cried Elissa, "it is Doom that knocks, not Metem." + +As the words passed her lips the door was burst open, and through it +poured a mob of armed priests, at the head of whom marched the Shadid. +By his side was his daughter Mesa, in whose pale face the eyes burned +like torches in a wind. + +"Did I not tell you so?" she said in a shrill voice, pointing at the +three. "Behold the Lady Baaltis and her lover, and with them that +priest of a false faith who called down curses upon our city." + +"You told us indeed, daughter," answered the Shadid; "pardon us if we +were loth to believe that such a thing could be." Then with a cry of +rage he added, "Take them." + +Now Aziel drew his sword, and sprang in front of Elissa to protect +her, but before he could strike a blow it was seized from behind, and +he was gripped by many hands, gagged, bound and blindfolded. Then like +a man in a dream he felt himself carried away through long passages, +till at length he reached an airless place, where the gag and bandages +were removed. + +"Where am I?" Aziel asked. + +"In the vaults of the temple," answered the priests as they left the +prison, barring its great door behind them. + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE SACRILEGE OF AZIEL + +How long he lay in his dungeon, lost in bitter thought and tormented +by fears for Elissa, Aziel could not tell, for no light came there to +mark the passage of the hours. In the tumult of his mind, one terrible +thought grew clear and ever clearer; he and Elissa had been taken red- +handed, and must pay the price of their sin against the religious +customs of the city. For the Baaltis to be found with any man who was +not her husband meant death to him and her, a doom from which there +was little chance of escape. + +Well, to his own fate he was almost indifferent, but for Elissa and +Issachar he mourned bitterly. Truly the Levite and Metem had been wise +when they cautioned him, for her sake and his own, to have nothing to +do with a priestess of Baal. But he had not listened; his heart would +not let him listen--and now, unless they were saved by a miracle--or +Metem--in the fulness of their youth and love, the lives of both of +them were forfeited. + +Worn out with sore fears and vain regrets Aziel fell at length into a +heavy sleep. He was awakened by the opening of the door of his +dungeon, and the entry of priests--grim, silent men who seized and +blindfolded him. Then they led him away up many stairs, and along +paths so steep that from time to time they paused to rest, till at +length he knew, by the sound of voices, that he had reached some place +where people were assembled. Here the bandage was removed from his +eyes. He stepped backwards, recoiling involuntarily at the glare of +light that poured upon him from the setting sun, whereon, uttering an +exclamation, those who stood near seized and held him. Presently he +saw the reason. He was standing on the brink of a precipice at the +back of and dominating the dim and shadow-clad city, while far beneath +him lay a gloomy rift along which ran the trade road to the coast. + +Here in this dizzy spot was a wide space of rock, walled in upon three +sides. The precipice formed the fourth side of its square, in which, +seated upon stones that seemed to have been set there in semi-circles +to serve as judgment chairs, were gathered the head priests and +priestesses of El and Baaltis, clad in their sacerdotal robes. To the +right and left of these stood knots of favoured spectators, among whom +Aziel recognised Metem and Sakon, while at his side, but separated +from him by armed priests, were Elissa herself, wrapped in a dark +veil, and Issachar. Lastly, in front of him, a fire flickered upon a +little altar, and behind the altar stood a shrine containing a +symbolical effigy of Baaltis fashioned of gold, ivory and wood to the +shape of a woman with a hundred breasts. + +Seeing all this, Aziel understood that they three had been brought +here for trial, and that the priests and priestesses before him were +their judges. Indeed, he remembered that the place had been pointed +out to him as one where those who had offended against the gods were +carried for judgment. Thence, if found guilty, such unfortunates were +hurled down the face of the precipice and left, a shapeless mass of +broken bone, to crumble on the roadway at its foot. + +After a long and solemn pause, at a sign from the Shadid, he who had +been the husband of the dead Baaltis, the veil was removed from +Elissa. At once she turned, looked at Aziel, and smiled sadly. + +"Do you know the fate that waits us?" the prince asked of Issachar in +Hebrew. + +"I know, and I am ready," answered the old Levite, "for since my soul +is safe I care little what these dogs may do to my body. But, oh! my +son, I weep for you, and cursed be the hour when first you saw that +woman's face." + +"Spare to reproach me in my misfortune," murmured Elissa; "have I not +enough to bear, knowing that I have brought death upon him I love? Oh! +curse me not, but pray that my sins may be forgiven me." + +"That I will do gladly, daughter," replied Issachar more gently, "the +more so that, although you seem to be the cause of them, these things +can have happened only by the will of Heaven. Therefore I was wrong to +revile you, and I ask your pardon." + +Before she could answer the Shadid commanded silence. At the same +moment the woman Mesa stepped from behind the effigy of the goddess on +the shrine. + +"Who are you and what do you here?" asked the Shadid, as though he did +not know her. + +"I am Mesa, the daughter of her who was the lady Baaltis," she +answered, "and my rank is that of Mother of the priestesses of +Baaltis. I appear to give true evidence against her, who is the +anointed Baaltis, against the Israelitish stranger named Aziel, and +the priest of the Lord of the Jews." + +"Lay your hand upon the altar and speak, but beware what you speak," +said the Shadid. + +Mesa bowed her head, took the oath of truth by touching the altar with +her fingers, and began:-- + +"From the time that she was appointed I have been suspicious of the +lady Baaltis." + +"Why were you suspicious?" asked the Shadid. + +The witness let her eyes wander towards Metem, then hesitated. +Evidently for some reason of her own she did not wish to implicate +him. + +"I was suspicious," she answered, "because of certain words that came +from the lips of the Baaltis, when she had been thrown into the holy +trance before the fire of sacrifice. As is my accustomed part, I bent +over her to hear and to announce the message of the gods, but in place +of the hallowed words there issued babblings about this Hebrew +stranger and of a meeting to be held with him at one hour before +moonrise by the pillar of El in the courtyard of the temple. +Thereafter for several nights as was my duty I hid myself in the pit +of offerings in the courtyard and watched. Last night at an hour +before the moonrise the Lady Baaltis came disguised by the secret way +and waited at the pillar, where presently she was joined by the Jew +Aziel and the Levite, who spoke with her. + +"What they said I could not hear, because they were too far from me, +but at length they left the temple and I traced them to the chambers +of the Jew Aziel, in the palace of Sakon. Then, Shadid, I warned you, +and the priests and you accompanied me and took them. Now, as Mother +of the priestesses, I demand that justice be done upon these wicked +ones, according to the ancient custom, lest the curse of Baaltis +should fall upon this city." + +When she had finished her evidence, with a cold stare of triumphant +hate at her rival, Mesa stepped to one side. + +"You have heard," said the Shadid addressing his fellow-judges. Do you +need further testimony? If so, it must be brief, for the sun sinks." + +"Nay," answered the spokesman, "for with you we took the three of them +together in the chamber of the prince Aziel. Set out the law of this +matter, O Judge, and let justice be done according to the strict +letter of the law--justice without fear or favour." + +"Hearken," said the Shadid. "Last night this woman Elissa, the +daughter of Sakon, being the lady Baaltis duly elected, met men +secretly in the courts of the temple and accompanied them, or one of +them, to the chamber of Aziel, a prince of Israel, the guest of Sakon. +Whether or no she was about to fly with him from the city which he +should have left last night, we cannot tell, and it is needless to +inquire, at least she was with him. This, however, is sure, that they +did not sin in ignorance of our law, since with my own mouth I warned +them both that if the lady Baaltis consorts with any man not her +husband duly named by her according to her right, she must die and her +accomplice with her. Therefore, Aziel the Israelite, we give you to +death, dooming you presently to be hurled from the edge of yonder +precipice." + +"I am in your power," said the prince proudly, "and you can murder if +you will, because, forsooth, I have offended against some law of Baal, +but I tell you, priest, that there are kings in Jerusalem and Egypt +who will demand my blood at your hands. I have nothing more to say +except to beseech you to spare the life of the lady Elissa, since the +fault of the meeting was not hers, but mine." + +"Prince," answered the Shadid gravely, "we know your rank and we know +also that your blood will be required at our hands, but we who serve +our gods, whose vengeance is so swift and terrible, cannot betray +their law for the fear of any earthly kings. Yet, thus says this same +law, it is not needful that you should die since for you there is a +way of escape that leads to safety and great honour, and she who was +the cause of your sin is the mistress of its gate. Elissa, holder of +the spirit of Baaltis upon earth, if it be your pleasure to name this +man husband before us all, then as the spouse of Baaltis he goes free, +for he whom the Baaltis chooses cannot refuse her gift of love, but +for so long as she shall live must rule with her as Shadid of El. But +if you name him not, then as I have said, he must die, and now. +Speak." + +"It seems that my choice is small," said Elissa with a faint smile. +"Praying you to pardon me for the deed, to save your life, prince +Aziel, according to the ancient custom and privilege of the Baaltis, I +name you consort and husband." + +Now Aziel was about to answer her when the Shadid broke in hurriedly, +"So be it," he said. "Lady, we hear your choice, and we accept it as +we must, but not yet, prince Aziel, can you take your wife and with +her my place and power. Your life is safe indeed, for since the +Baaltis, being unwed, names you as her mate, you have done no sin. Yet +she has sinned and doom awaits her, for against the law she has chosen +as husband one who worships a strange god, and of all crimes that is +the greatest. Therefore, either you must take incense and before us +all make offering to El and Baaltis upon yonder altar, thus renouncing +your faith and entering into ours, or she must die and you, your rank +having passed from you with her breath, will be expelled from the +city." + +Now Aziel understood the trap that had been laid for him, and saw in +it the handiwork of Sakon and Metem. Elissa having flagrantly violated +the religious law, and he, being the cause of her crime, even the +authority of the governor of the city could not prevent his daughter +and his guest from being put upon their trial. Therefore, they had +arranged this farce, for so it would seem to them, whereby both the +offenders might escape the legal consequences of their offence, +trusting, doubtless, to accident and the future to unravel this web of +forced marriage, and to free Aziel from a priestly rank which he had +not sought. It was only necessary that Elissa should formally choose +him as her husband, and that Aziel should go through rite of throwing +a few grains of incense upon an altar, and, the law satisfied, they +would be both free and safe. What Metem, and those who worked with +him, had forgotten was, that this offering of incense to Baal would be +the most deadly of crimes in the eyes of any faithful Jew--one, +indeed, which, were he alone concerned, he would die rather than +commit. + +When the prince heard this decree, and the full terror of the choice +came home to his mind, his blood turned cold, and for a while his +senses were bewildered. There was no escape for him; either he must +abjure his faith at the price of his own soul, or, because of it, the +woman whom he loved, now, before his eyes, must suffer a most horrible +and sudden death. It was hideous to think of, and yet how could he do +this sin in the face of heaven and of these ministers of Satan? + +The moment was at hand; a priest held out to him a bowl of incense, a +golden bowl, he noticed idly, with handles of green stone fashioned in +the likeness of Baaltis, whose servant he was asked to declare +himself. He, Aziel of the royal house of Israel, a servant of Baal and +Baaltis, nay, a high-priest of their worship! It was monstrous, it +might not be. But Elissa? Well, she must die--if this was not a farce, +and in truth they meant to murder her; her life could not be bought at +such a price. + +"I cannot do it," he gasped with dry lips, thrusting aside the bowl. + +Now all looked astonished, for his refusal had not been foreseen. +There was a pause, and once more the woman Mesa, in her character of +prosecutrix on behalf of the outraged gods, appeared before the altar, +and said in her cold voice: + +"The Jew whom the lady Baaltis has chosen as husband will not do +homage to her gods. Therefore, as Mother of the priestesses and +Advocate of Baaltis, I demand that Elissa, daughter of Sakon, be put +to death, and the throne of Baaltis be purged of one who has defiled +it, lest the swift and terrible vengeance of the goddess should fall +upon this city." + +The Shadid motioned to her to be silent, and addressed Aziel:-- + +"We pray you to think a while," he said, "before you give one to death +whose only sin is that, being the high-priestess of our worship, she +has named an unbeliever to fill the throne of El and be her husband. +Out of pity for her fate we give you time to think." + +Now Sakon, taking advantage of the pause, rushed forward, and throwing +his arms about Aziel's knees, implored him in heart-breaking accents +to preserve his only child from so horrible a doom. He said that did +he refuse to save her because of his religious scruples, he would be a +dog and a coward, and the scorn of all honest men for ever. It was for +love of him that she had broken the priestly law, to violate which was +death, and although he had been warned of her danger, yet in his +wickedness and folly he had brought her to this pass. Would he then +desert her now? + +But Issachar thrust him aside, and broke in with fiery words:-- + +"Hearken not to this man, Aziel," he said, "who strives to work upon +your weakness to the ruin of your soul. What! To save the life of one +woman, whose fair face has brought so much trouble upon us all, would +you deny your Lord and become the thrall of Baal and Ashtoreth? Let +her die since die she must, and keep your own heart pure, for be +assured, should you do otherwise, Jehovah, whom you renounce, will +swiftly be avenged on you and her. At the beginning I warned you, and +you would not listen. Now, Aziel, I warn you again, and woe! woe! woe! +to you should you shut your ears to my message." Then lifting his +hands towards the skies, he began to pray aloud that Aziel might be +constant in his trial. + +Meanwhile, Metem, who had drawn near, spoke in a low voice:-- + +"Prince," he said, "I am not chicken-hearted, and there are so many +young women in the world that one more or less can scarcely matter; +still, although she threatened to murder me three days ago, I cannot +bear to see this one come to so dreadful a death. Prince, do not heed +the howlings of that old fanatic, but remember that after all you are +the cause of this lady's plight, and play the part of a man. Can you +for the sake of your own scruples, however worthy, or of your own soul +even, however valuable to yourself, doom the fair body of a woman who +risked all for you to such an end as that?" And shuddering he nodded +towards the gloomy precipice. + +"Is there no other way?" Aziel asked him. + +"None, I swear it. They did not wish to kill her, except that wild-cat +Mesa who seeks her place, but having put her on her public trial, if +you persist--they must. + +"This is one of the few laws which cannot be broken for favour or for +gold, since the people, who are already half-mad with fear of Ithobal, +believe that to break it would bring the curses of heaven upon their +city. Perhaps we might have found some other plan, but none of us even +dreamed that you would refuse so small a thing for the sake of a woman +whom you swore you loved." + +"A small thing!" broke in Aziel. + +"Yes, Prince, a very small thing. Remember, this offering of incense +is but a form to which you are forced against your will--you can do +penance for it afterwards when I have arranged for both of you to +escape the city. If your God can be angry with you for burning a pinch +of dust to save a woman, who at the least has dared much for you, then +give me Baal, for he is less cruel." + +Now Aziel looked towards him who held the bowl of incense. But Elissa +who all this while had stood silent, stepped forward and spoke:-- + +"Prince Aziel," she said in a calm and quiet voice, "I named you +husband to save your life, but with all my strength I pray of you, do +not this thing to save mine, which is of little value and perhaps best +ended. Remember, prince Aziel, that being what you are, a Jew, this +act of offering, however small it seems, is yet the greatest of sins, +and one with which you should not dare to stain your soul for the sake +of a woman, who has chanced to love you to your sorrow. Be guided, +therefore, by the true wisdom of Issachar and by my humble prayer. +Make an end of your doubts and let me die, knowing that we do but part +a while, since in the Gate of Death I shall wait for you, prince +Aziel." + +Before Aziel could answer, the Shadid, either because his patience was +outworn, or because he wished to put him to a sharper trial, uttered a +command. "Be it done to her as she desires." + +Thereon four priests seized Elissa by the wrists and ankles. Carrying +her to the edge of the precipice, they thrust her back till she hung +over it, her long hair streaming downwards, and the red light of the +sunset shining upon her upturned ghastly face. Then they paused, +waiting for the signal to let her go. The Shadid raised his wand and +said:-- + +"Is it your pleasure that this woman should die or live, prince Aziel? +Decide swiftly, for my arm is weak, and when the wand falls +opportunity for choice will have passed from you." + +Now all eyes were fixed upon the wand, and the intense silence was +only broken by Sakon's cry of despair. Metem wrung his hands in grief; +even Issachar veiled his eyes with his robe, to shut out the sight of +dread, and the priest, who bore the bowl of incense, thrust it towards +Aziel imploringly. + +For some seconds, three perhaps, though to him they seemed an age, the +heart of Aziel was racked and torn in this terrific contest. Then he +glanced at the agonized face of the doomed woman, and just as the wand +began to bend, his human love and pity conquered. + +"May He Whom I blaspheme forgive me," he murmured, adding aloud, "I +will do sacrifice." Taking the incense in his hand now he cast it into +the flames upon the altar, repeating mechanically after the Shadid: +"By this sacrifice and homage, body and soul I give myself to you and +worship you, El and Baaltis, the only true gods." + +***** + +The echo of Aziel's voice died away, and the fumes of the incense rose +in a straight dense column upon that quiet air. To his tormented mind, +it seemed as though its smoke took the form of an avenging angel, +holding in the hand a sword of flame, wherewith to drive away his +perjured soul from Heaven, as our first forefathers were driven from +the shining gates of paradise. Yes, and they were not human, those +spectators who, in the intense glow of the sunset, stood in their +still ranks and stared at him with wide and eager eyes. Surely they +were fiends red with the blood of men, fiends gathered from the Pit to +bear everlasting witness to the unpardonable sin of his apostasy. + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE MARTYRDOM OF ISSACHAR + +It was done, and from the mouths of the circle of priests and +priestesses leapt a shrill and sudden cry of triumph. For had not +their gods conquered? Had not this high-placed servant of the hated +Lord of Israel been caught by the bait of a priestess of Baaltis, and +seduced by her distress to deny and reject Him? Was not evil once more +triumphant, and must not they, its ministers, rejoice? + +Again the Shadid raised his wand and they were silent. + +"Brother you have, indeed, done well and wisely," he said, addressing +Aziel. "Now take to wife the divine lady who has chosen you," and he +pointed to Elissa, who lay prostrated on the rock. "Yes, take her and +be happy in her love, sitting in my seat, which henceforth is yours, +as ruler of the priests of El and master of their mysteries, +forgetting the follies of your former faith, and spitting on its +altars. Hail to you, Shadid, Lord of the Baaltis and chosen of El! +Take him, you priests, and with him the divine lady, his wife, to bear +them in triumph to their high house." + +"What of the Levite?" asked the woman Mesa. + +The Shadid glanced at Issachar, who all this while had stood like one +stricken to the soul, woe stamped upon his face, and a stare of horror +in his eyes. "Jew," he said, "I had forgotten you, but you also are on +your trial, who dared against the law to hold secret meeting with the +lady Baaltis. For this sin the punishment is death, nor, as I think, +would any woman name you husband to save you. Still in this hour of +joy we will be merciful; therefore do as your master did, cast incense +on the altar, uttering the appointed words, and go your way." + +"Before I make my offering on yonder altar according to your command, +I have indeed some words to say, O priest of El," answered Issachar +quietly, but in a voice that chilled the blood of those who listened. + +"First, I address myself to you, Aziel, and to you, woman," and he +pointed to Elissa, who had risen, and leaned, trembling, upon her +father. "My dream is fulfilled. Aziel, you have sinned indeed, and +must bear the appointed punishment of your sin. Yet hear a message of +mercy spoken through my lips: Because you have sinned through love and +pity, your offence is not unto death. Still shall you sorrow for it +all your life's days, and in desolation of heart and bitterness of +soul shall creep back to the feet of Him you have forsworn. + +"Woman, your spirit is noble and your feet are set in the way of +righteousness, yet through you has this offence come. Therefore your +love shall bear no fruit, nor shall the blasphemy of your beloved save +your flesh from doom. Upon this earth there is no hope for you, +daughter of Sakon; set your eyes beyond it, for there alone is hope. + +"Yonder she stands who swore our lives away?" and he fixed his burning +gaze on Mesa. "Priestess, you plotted this that you might succeed to +the throne of Baaltis; now hear your fate: You shall live to sweep the +huts and bear the babes of savages. You, priest," and he pointed to +the Shadid, "I read your heart; you design to murder this apostate +whom you greet as your successor that you may usurp his place. I show +you yours: it lies in the bellies of the jackals of the desert. + +"For you priests and priestesses of El and Baaltis, think of my words, +and raise the loud song of triumph to your gods when you yourselves +are their offering, and the red flame of the fire burns you up, all of +you save your sins, which are immortal. O citizens of an accursed +city, look on the hill-top yonder and tell me, what do you see in the +light of the dying day? A sheen of spears, is it not? They draw near +to your hearts, you whose day is done indeed, citizens of an accursed +city whereof the very name shall be forgotten, and the naked towers +shall become but a source of wonder to men unborn. + +"And now, O priest, having said my say, as you bid me, I make my +offering upon your altar." + +Then, while all stood fearful and amazed, Issachar the Levite sprang +forward, and seizing the ancient image of Baaltis, he spat upon it and +dashed the priceless consecrated thing down upon the altar, where it +broke into fragments, and was burned with the fire. + +"My offering is made," he said; "may He whom I serve accept it. Now +after the offering comes the sacrifice; son Aziel, fare you well." + +***** + +For a few moments a silence of horror and dismay fell upon the +assembly as they gazed at the shattered and burning fragments of their +holy image. Then moved by a common impulse, with curses and yells of +fury, the priests and priestesses sprang from their seats and hurled +themselves upon Issachar, who stood awaiting them with folded arms. +They smote him with their ivory rods, they rent and tore him with +their hands and teeth, worrying him as dogs worry a fox of the hills, +till at length the life was beaten and trampled out of him and he lay +dead. + +Thus terribly, but yet by such a death of martyrdom as he would have +chosen, perished Issachar the Levite. + +Unarmed though he was, Aziel had sprung to his aid, but Metem and +Sakon, knowing that he would but bring about his own destruction, +flung themselves upon him and held him back. Whilst he was still +struggling with them the end came, and Issachar grew still for ever. +Then, as the sun sank and the darkness fell, Aziel's strength left +him, and presently he slipped to the ground senseless. + +***** + +Thereafter it seemed to Aziel that he was plunged in an endless and +dreadful dream, and that through its turmoil and shifting visions, he +could see continually the dreadful death of Issachar, and hear his +stern accents prophesying woe to him who renounces the God of his +forefathers to bow the knee to Baal. + +At length he awoke from that horror-haunted sleep to find himself +lying in a strange chamber. It was night, and lamps burned in the +chamber, and by their light he saw a man whose face he knew mixing a +draught in a glass phial. So weak was he that at first he could not +remember the man's name, then by slow degrees it came to him. + +"Metem," he said, "where am I?" + +The Phnician looked up from his task, smiled, and answered:-- + +"Where you should be, Prince, in your own house, the palace of the +Shadid. But you must not speak, for you have been ill; drink this and +sleep." + +Aziel swallowed the draught and was instantly overcome by slumber. +When he awoke the sun was shining brightly through the window place, +and its rays fell upon the shrewd, kindly face of Metem, who, seated +on a stool, watched him, his chin resting in his hand. + +"Tell me all that has befallen, friend," said Aziel presently, +"since----" and he shuddered. + +"Since you were married after a new fashion and that bigoted but most +honourable fool, Issachar, went to his reward. Well, I will when you +have eaten," answered Metem as he gave him food. "First," he said, +after a while, "you have lain here for three days raving in a fever, +nursed by myself and visited by your wife the lady Baaltis, whenever +she could escape from her religious duties----" + +"Elissa! Has she been here?" asked Aziel. + +"Calm yourself, Prince, certainly she has, and, what is more, she will +be back soon. Secondly: Ithobal has been as good as his word, and +invests the city with a vast army, cutting off all supplies and +possibilities of escape. It is believed that he will try an assault +within the next week, which many think may be successful. Thirdly: to +avoid this risk it is rumoured that the priests and priestesses, at +the instance of the council, are discussing the wisdom of giving over +to the king the person of the daughter of Sakon. This, it is said, +could be done on the plea that her election as the lady Baaltis was +brought about with bribery, and is, therefore, void, as she was not +chosen by the pure and unassisted will of the goddess." + +"But," said Aziel, "she is my wife according to their religious law; +how then can she be given in marriage to another?" + +"Nay, Prince, if she is not the lady Baaltis your husbandship falls to +the ground with the rest, for you are not the Shadid, an office with +which perchance you can dispense. But all this priestly juggling means +little, the truth being that the city in its terror is ready to throw +her--or for the matter of that, Baaltis herself if they could lay +hands on her--as a sop to Ithobal, hoping thereby to appease his rage. +The lady Elissa knows her danger--but here she comes to speak for +herself." + +As he spoke the curtains at the end of the chamber were drawn, and +through them came Elissa, clad in her splendid robes of office and +wearing upon her brow the golden crescent of the moon. + +"How goes it with the prince, Metem?" she asked in her soft voice, +glancing anxiously towards the couch which was half-hidden in the +shadow of the wall. + +"Look for yourself, lady," answered the Phnician bowing before her. + +"Elissa, Elissa!" cried Aziel, raising himself and opening his arms. + +She saw and heard, then, with a low cry, she ran swiftly to him and +was wrapped in his embrace. Thus they stayed a while, murmuring words +of love and greeting. + +"Is it your pleasure that I should leave you?" asked Metem presently. +"No? Then, Prince, I would have you remember that you are still very +weak and should not give way to violent emotions." + +"Listen, Aziel," said Elissa, untwining his arms from about her neck, +"there is no time for tenderness; moreover, you should show none to +one who, in name at least, is still the high-priestess of Baaltis, +though in truth she worships her no longer. It was noble of you indeed +to offer incense upon the altar of El that my life might be saved. But +when I prayed you not, I spoke from the heart, and bitterly, bitterly +do I grieve that for my sake you should have stained your hands with +such a sin. Moreover, it will avail nothing, for the doom of the +prophet Issachar lies upon us, and I cannot escape from death, neither +can you escape remorse, and as I think, that worst of all desires--the +desire for the dead." + +"Can we not still flee the city?" asked Aziel. + +"Metem will tell you that it is impossible; day and night I am watched +and guarded, yes, Mesa dogs me from door to door. Also Ithobal holds +Zimboe so firmly in his net that no sparrow could fly out of it and he +not know. And there is worse to tell: Beloved, they purpose to give me +up as a peace-offering to Ithobal. Yes, even my father is of the plot, +for in his despair he thinks it his duty to sacrifice his daughter to +save the town, if, indeed, that will suffice to save us." + +"But you are the Baaltis and inviolate." + +"In such a time the goddess herself would not be held inviolate in +Zimboe, much less her priestess, Aziel. I have discovered that this +very night they have laid their plans to seize me. Mesa and others +have been chosen for the deed, and afterwards they think to offer me +as a bribe to Ithobal, who will take no other price." + +Aziel groaned aloud: "It were better that we should die," he said. + +She nodded and answered: "It were better that /I/ should die. But hear +me, for I also have a plan, and there is still hope, though very +little. Perhaps, as you drew near to Zimboe by the coast road, you may +have noted three miles or more from the gates of the city, and almost +overhanging the path on which you travelled, a shoulder of the +mountain where the rock is cut away, showing the narrow entrance to a +cave closed with a gate of bronze?" + +"I saw it," answered Aziel, "and was told that there was the most +sacred burying-place of the city." + +"It is the tomb of the high-priestesses of Baaltis," went on Elissa, +"and this day at sunset I must visit it to lay an offering upon the +shrine of her who was the Baaltis before me, entering alone, and +closing the gate, for it is not lawful that any one should pass in +there with me. Now, the plan is to lay hands on me as I go back from +the tomb to the palace--but I shall not go back. Aziel, I shall stay +in the tomb--nay, do not fear--not dead. I have hidden food and water +there, enough for many days, and there with the departed I shall live +--till I am of their number." + +"But if so, how can it help you, Elissa, for they will break in the +gates of the place, and drag you away?" + +"Then, Aziel, they will drag away a corpse, and that they will +scarcely care to present to Ithobal. See, I have hidden poison in my +breast, and here at my girdle hangs a dagger; are not the two of them +enough to make an end of one frail life? Should they dare to touch me, +I shall tell them through the bars that most certainly I shall drink +the bane, or use the knife; and when they know it, they will leave me +unharmed, hoping to starve me out, or trusting to chance to snare me +living." + +"You are bold," murmured Aziel in admiration, "but self-murder is a +sin." + +"It is a sin that I will dare, beloved, as in past days I would have +dared it for less cause, rather than be given alive into the hands of +Ithobal; for to whoever else I may be false, to you through life and +death I will be true." + +Now Aziel groaned in his doubt and bitterness of heart; then turning +to Metem, he asked:-- + +"Have you anything to say, Metem?" + +"Yes, Prince, two things," answered the Phnician. "First, that the +lady Elissa is rash, indeed, to speak so openly before me who might +carry her words to the council or the priests." + +"Nay, Metem, I am not rash, for I know that, although you love money, +you will not betray me." + +"You are right, lady, I shall not, for money would be of little +service to me in a city that is about to be taken by storm. Also I +hate Ithobal, who threatened my life--as you did also, by the way--and +will do my best to keep you from his clutches. Now for my second +point: it is that I can see little use in all this because Ithobal, +being defrauded of you, will attack, and then----" + +"And then he may be beaten, Metem, for the citizens will at any rate +fight for their lives, and the Prince Aziel here, who is a general +skilled in war, will fight also if he has recovered strength----" + +"Do not fear, Elissa; give me two days, and I will fight to the +death," said Aziel. + +"At the least," she went on, "this scheme gives us breathing time, and +who knows but that fortune will turn. Or if it does not, since it is +impossible for me to escape from the city, I have no better." + +"No more have I," said Metem, "for at length the oldest fox comes to +his last double. I could escape from this city, or the prince might +escape, or the lady Elissa even might possibly escape disguised, but I +am sure that all three of us could not escape, seeing that within the +walls we are watched and without them the armies of Ithobal await us. +Oh! prince Aziel, I should have done well to go, as I might have gone +when you and Issachar were taken after that mad meeting in the temple, +from which I never looked for anything but ill; but I grow foolish in +my old age, and thought that I should like to see the last of you. +Well, so far we are all alive, except Issachar, who, although bigoted, +was still the most worthy of us, but how long we shall remain alive I +cannot say. + +"Now our best chance is to defeat Ithobal if we can, and afterwards in +the confusion to fly from Zimboe and join our servants, to whom I have +sent word to await us in a secret place beyond the first range of +hills. If we cannot--why then we must go a little sooner than we +expected to find out who it is that really shapes the destinies of +men, and whether or no the sun and moon are the chariots of El and +Baaltis. But, Prince, you turn pale." + +"It is nothing," said Aziel, "bring me some water, the fever still +burns in me." + +Metem went to seek for water, while Elissa knelt by the couch and +pressed her lover's hand. + +"I dare stay no longer," she whispered, "and Aziel, I know not how or +when we shall meet again, but my heart is heavy, for, alas! I think +that doom draws near me. I have brought much sorrow upon you, Aziel, +and yet more upon myself, and I have given you nothing, except that +most common of all things, a woman's love." + +"That most perfect of all things," he answered, "which I am glad to +have lived to win." + +"Yes, but not at the price that you have paid for it. I know well what +it must have cost you to cast that incense on the flame, and I pray to +your God, who has become my God, to visit the sin of it on my head and +to leave yours unharmed. Aziel, Aziel! woman or spirit, while I have +life and memory, I am yours, and yours only; clean-handed I leave you, +and if we may meet again in this or in any other world, clean and +faithful I shall come to you again. Glad am I to have lived, because +in my life I have known you and you have sworn you love me. Glad shall +I be to live again if again I may know you and hear that oath--if not, +it is sleep I seek; for life without you to me would be a hell. You +grow weak, and I must go. Farewell, and living or dead, forget me not; +swear that you will not forget me." + +"I swear it," he answered faintly; "and Heaven grant that I may die +for you, not you for me." + +"That is no prayer of mine," she whispered; and, bending, kissed him +on the brow, for he was too weak to lift his lips to hers. + +Then she was gone. + + + +CHAPTER XV + +ELISSA TAKES SANCTUARY + +Two more hours had passed, and in the evening light a procession of +priestesses might be seen advancing slowly towards the holy tomb along +a narrow road of rock cut in the mountain face. In front of this +procession, wearing a black veil over her broidered robes, walked +Elissa with downcast eyes and hair unbound in token of grief, while +behind her came Mesa and other priestesses bearing in bowls of +alabaster the offerings to the dead, food and wine, and lamps of oil, +and vases filled with perfumes. Behind these again marched the +mourners, women who sang a funeral dirge and from time to time broke +into a wail of simulated grief. Nor, indeed, was their woe as hollow +as might be thought, since from that mountain path they could see the +outposts of the army of Ithobal upon the plain, and note with a +shudder of fear the spear-heads of his countless thousands shining in +the gorges of the opposing heights. It was not for the dead Baaltis +that they mourned this day, but for the fate which overshadowed them +and their city of gold. + +"May the curse of all the gods fall on her," muttered one of the +priestesses as she toiled forward beneath her load of offerings; +"because she is beautiful and pettish, we must be put to the spear, or +become the wives of savages," and she pointed with her chin to Elissa, +who walked in front, lost in her own thoughts. + +"Have patience," answered Mesa at her side, "you know the plan-- +to-night that proud girl and false priestess shall sleep in the camp +of Ithobal." + +"Will he be satisfied with that," asked the woman, "and leave the city +in peace?" + +"They say so," answered Mesa with a laugh, "though it is strange that +a king should exchange spoil and glory for one round-eyed, thin-limbed +girl who loves his rival. Well, let us thank the gods that made men +foolish, and gave us women wit to profit by their folly. If he wants +her, let him take her, for few will be poorer by her loss." + +"You at least will be richer," said the other woman, "and by the crown +of Baaltis. Well, I do not grudge it you, and as for the daughter of +Sakon, she shall be Ithobal's if I take her to him limb by limb." + +"Nay, sister, that is not the bargain; remember she must be delivered +to him without hurt or blemish; otherwise we shall do sacrilege in +vain. Be silent, here is the cave." + +Reaching the platform in front of the tomb, the procession of mourners +ranged themselves about it in a semi-circle. They stood with their +backs to the edge of a cliff that rose sheer for sixty feet or more +from the plain beneath, across which, but at a little distance from +the foot of the precipice ran the road followed by the caravans of +merchants in their journeys to and from the coast. Then, a hymn having +been sung invoking the blessing of the gods on the dead priestess, +Elissa, as the Baaltis, unlocked the gates of bronze with a golden key +that hung at her girdle, and the bearers of the bowls of offerings +pushed them into the mouth of the tomb, whose threshold they were not +allowed to pass. Next, with bowed heads and hands crossed upon her +breast, Elissa entered the tomb, and locking the bronze gate behind +her, took up two of the bowls and vanished with them into its gloomy +depths. + +"Why did she lock the gates?" asked a priestess of Mesa. "It is not +customary." + +"Doubtless because it was her pleasure to do so," answered Mesa +sharply, though she also wondered why Elissa had locked the gate. + +When an hour was gone by and Elissa had not returned, her wonder +turned to fear and doubt. + +"Call to the lady Baaltis," she said, "for her prayers are long, and I +fear lest she should have come to harm." + +So they called, setting heir lips against the bars of the gate till +presently, Elissa, holding a lamp in her hand, came and stood before +them. + +"Why do you disturb me in the sanctuary?" she asked. + +"Lady, because they set the night watch on the walls," answered Mesa, +"and it is time to return to the temple." + +"Return then," said Elissa, "and leave me in peace. What, you cannot, +Mesa? Nay, and shall I tell you why? Because you had plotted to +deliver me this night to those who should lead me as a peace-offering +to Ithobal, and when you come to them empty-handed they will greet you +with harsh words. Nay, do not trouble to deny it, Mesa. I also have my +spies, and know all the plan; and, therefore, I have taken sanctuary +in this holy place." + +Now Mesa pressed her thin lips together and answered:-- + +"Those who dare to lay hands upon the person of the living Baaltis +will not shrink from seeking her in the company of her dead sisters." + +"I know it, Mesa; but the gates are barred, and here I have food and +drink in plenty." + +"Gates, however strong, can be broken," answered the priestess, "so, +lady, do not wait till you are dragged hence like some discovered +slave." + +"Ay," replied Elissa, with a little laugh, "but what if rather than be +thus dishonoured, I should choose to break another gate, that of my +own life? Look, traitress, here is poison and here is bronze, and I +swear to you that should any lay a hand upon me, by one or other of +them I will die before their eyes. Then, if you will, bear these bones +to Ithobal and take his thanks for them. Now, begone, and give this +message to my father and to all those who have plotted with him, that +since they cannot bribe Ithobal with my beauty, they will do well to +be men, and to fight him with their swords." + +Then she turned and left them, vanishing into the darkness of the +tomb. + +Great indeed was the dismay of the councillors of Zimboe and of the +priests who had plotted with them when, an hour later, Mesa came, not +to deliver Elissa into their hands, but to repeat to them her threats +and message. In vain did they appeal to Sakon, who only shook his head +and answered:-- + +"Of this I am sure, that what my daughter has threatened that she will +certainly do if you force her to the choice. But if you will not +believe me, go ask her and satisfy yourselves. I know well what she +will answer you, and I hold that this is a judgment upon us, who first +made her Baaltis against her will, then threatened her with death +because of the prince Aziel, and now would do sacrilege to her sacred +office and violence to herself by tearing her from her consecrated +throne, breaking her bond of marriage and delivering her to Ithobal." + +So the leaders of the councillors visited the holy tomb and reasoned +with Elissa through the bars. But they got no comfort from her, for +she spoke to them with the phial of poison in her bosom and the naked +dagger in her hand, telling them what she had told Mesa--that they had +best give up their plottings and fight Ithobal like men, seeing that +even if she surrendered herself to him, when he grew weary of her the +war must come at last. + +"For a hundred years," she added, "this storm has gathered, and now it +must burst. When it has rolled away it will be known who is master of +the land--the ancient city of Zimboe, or Ithobal king of the Tribes." + +So they went back as they had come, and next day at the dawn, with a +bold face but heavy hearts, received the messengers of king Ithobal, +and told them their tale. The messengers heard and laughed. + +"We are glad," they answered, "since we, who are not in love with the +daughter of Sakon, desire war and not peace, holding as we do that the +time has come when you upstart white men--you outlanders--who have +usurped our country to suck away its wealth should be set beneath our +heel. Nor do we think that the task will be difficult for surely we +have little to fear from a city of low money seekers whose councillors +cannot even conquer the will of a single maid." + +Then in their despair the elders offered other girls to Ithobal in +marriage, as many as he would, and with them a great bribe in money. +But the envoys took their leave, saying that nothing would avail since +they preferred spear-thrusts to gold, for which they had little use, +and Ithobal, their king, had fixed his fancy on one woman alone. + +So with a heavy and foreboding heart, the city of Zimboe prepared +itself to resist attack, for as they had guessed, when he learned all, +the rage of Ithobal was great. Nor would he listen to any terms that +they could offer save one which they had no power to grant--that +Elissa should be delivered unharmed into his hands. Councils of war +were held, and to these, so soon as he was sufficiently recovered from +his sickness, the prince Aziel was bidden, for he was known to be a +skilled captain; therefore, though he had been the cause of much of +their trouble, they sought his aid. Also, should the struggle be +prolonged, they hoped through him to win Israel, and perhaps Egypt, to +their cause. + +Aziel's counsel was that they should sally out against the army of +Ithobal by night, since he expected to attack and not to be attacked, +but to that advice they would not listen, for they trusted to their +walls. Indeed, in this Metem supported them, and when the prince +argued with him, he answered:-- + +"Your tactics would be good enough, Prince, if you had at your back +the lions of Judah, or the wild Arab horsemen of the desert. But here +you must deal with men of my own breed, and we Phnicians are traders, +not fighting men. Like rats, we fight only when there is no other +chance for our lives; nor do we strike the first blow. It is true that +there are some good soldiers in the city, but they are foreign +mercenaries; and as for the rest, half-breeds and freed slaves, they +belong as much to Ithobal as to Sakon, and are not to be trusted. No, +no; let us stay behind our walls, for they at least were built when +men were honest and will not betray us." + +Now in Zimboe were three lines of defence; first, that of a single +wall built about the huts of the slaves upon the plain, then that of a +double wall of stone with a ditch between thrown round the Phnician +city, and lastly, the great fortress-temple and the rocky heights +above. These, guarded as they were by many strongholds within whose +circle the cattle were herded, as it was thought, could only be taken +with the sword of hunger. + + + +At last the storm burst, for on the fifth morning after Elissa had +barred herself within the tomb, Ithobal attacked the native town. +Uttering their wild battle-cries, tens of thousands of his savage +warriors, armed with great spears and shields of ox-hide, and wearing +crests of plumes upon their heads, charged down upon the outer wall. +Twice they were driven back, but the work was in bad repair and too +long to defend, so that at the third rush they flowed over it like +lines of marching ants, driving its defenders before them to the inner +gates. In this battle some were killed, but the most of the slaves +threw down their arms and went over to Ithobal, who spared them, +together with their wives and children. + +Through all the night that followed, the generals of Zimboe made ready +for the onslaught which must come. Everywhere within the circuit of +the inner wall troops were stationed, while the double southern +gateway, where prince Aziel was the captain in command, was built up +with loose blocks of stone. + +A while before the dawn, just as the eastern sky grew grey, Aziel, +watching from his post above the gate of the wall, heard the fierce +war-song of the Tribes swell suddenly from fifty thousand throats and +the measured tramp of their innumerable feet. Then the day broke, and +he saw them advancing in three armies towards the three points chosen +for attack, the largest of the armies, headed by Ithobal the king, +directing its march upon the walled gate of which he was in command. + +It was a wondrous and a fearful sight, that of these hordes of plumed +warriors, their broad spears flashing in the sunrise, and their fierce +faces alight with hereditary hate and the lust of slaughter. Never had +Aziel seen such a spectacle, nor could he look upon it without +dreading the issue of the war, for if they were savages, these foes +were brave as the lions of their own plains, and had sworn by the head +of their king to drag down the sheltering walls of Zimboe with their +naked hands, or die to the last man. + +Turning his head with a sigh of doubt, Aziel found Metem standing at +his side. + +"Have you seen her?" he asked eagerly. + +"No, Prince. How could I see her at night when she sits in a tomb like +a fox in his burrow? But I have heard her." + +"What did she say? Quick man, tell me." + +"But little, Prince, for the tomb is watched and I dared not stay +there long. She sent you her greetings and would have you know that +her heart will be with you in the battle, and her prayers beseech the +throne of Heaven for your safety. Also she said that she is well, +though it is lonesome there in the grave among the bodies of the dead +priestesses of Baaltis whose spirits, as she vows, haunt her dreams, +reviling her because she desecrates their sepulchre and has renounced +their god." + +"Lonesome, indeed," said Aziel with a shudder; "but tell me, Metem, +had she no other word?" + +"Yes, Prince, but not of good omen, for now as always she is sure that +her doom is at hand, and that you two will meet no more. Still she +bade me tell you that all your life long her spirit shall companion +you though it be unseen, to receive you at the last on the threshold +of the underworld." + +Aziel turned his head away, and said presently:-- + +"If that be so, may it receive me soon." + +"Have no fear, Prince," replied Metem with a grim laugh, "look +yonder," and he pointed to the advancing hosts. + +"These walls are strong and we shall beat them back," said Aziel. + +"Nay, Prince, for strong walls do not avail without strong hearts to +guard them, and those of the womanish citizens of Zimboe and their +hired soldiers are white with fear. I tell you that the prophecies of +Issachar the Levite, made yonder in the temple on the day of the +sacrifice, and again in the hour of his death, have taken hold of the +people, and by eating out their valour, fulfil themselves. + +"Men hint at them, the women whisper them in closets, and the very +children cry them in the streets. + +"More--one man last night pointed to the skies and shrieked that in +them he saw that fiery sword of doom of which the prophet spoke +hanging point downwards above the city, whereon all present vowed they +saw it too, though, as I think, it was but a cross of stars. Another +tells how that he met the very spirit of Issachar stalking through the +market-place, and that peering into the eyes of the wraith, as in a +mirror, he saw a great flame wrapping the temple walls, and by the +light of it his own dead body. This man was the priest who first +struck down the holy Levite yonder in the place of judgment. + +"Again, when the lady Mesa did sacrifice last night on behalf of the +Baaltis who has fled, the child they offered, an infant of six months, +stirred on the altar after it was dead and cried with a loud voice +that before three suns had set, its blood should be required at their +hands. That is the story, and if I do not believe it, this at least is +true, that the priestesses fled fast from the secret chamber of death, +for I met them as they ran shrieking in their terror and tearing at +their robes. But what need is there to dwell on omens, true or false, +when cowards man the walls, and the spears of Ithobal shine yonder +like all the stars of heaven? Prince, I tell you that this ancient +city is doomed, and in it, as I fear, we must end our wanderings upon +earth." + +"So be it, if it must be," answered Aziel, "at the least I will die +fighting." + +"And I also will die fighting, Prince, not because I love it, but +because it is better than being butchered in cold blood by a savage +with a spear. Oh! why did you ever chance to stumble upon the lady +Elissa making her prayer to Baaltis, and what evil spirit was it which +filled your brains with this sudden madness of love towards each +other? That was the beginning of the trouble, which, but for those +eyes of hers, would have held off long enough to see us safe at Tyre, +though doubtless soon or late it must have come. But see, yonder +marches Ithobal at the head of his guard. Give me a bow, the flight is +long, but perchance I can reach his black heart with an arrow." + +"Save your strength," answered Aziel, "the range is too great, and +presently you will have enough of shooting," and he turned to talk to +the officers of the guard. + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE CAGE OF DEATH + +An hour later the attack commenced at chosen points of the double +wall, one of them being the southern gate. In front of the advancing +columns of savages were driven vast numbers of slaves, many of whom +had been captured, or had surrendered in the outer town. These men +were laden with faggots to fill the ditch, rude ladders wherewith to +scale the walls, and heavy trunks of trees to be used in breaching +them. For the most part, they were unarmed, and protected only by +their burdens, which they held before them as shields, and by the +arrows of the warriors of Ithobal. But these did little harm to the +defenders, who were hidden behind the walls, whereas the shafts of the +garrison, rained on them from above, killed or wounded the slaves by +scores, who, poor creatures, when they turned to fly, were driven +onward by the spear-points of the savages, to be slain in heaps like +game in a pitfall. Still, some of them lived, and running under the +shelter of the wall, began to breach it with the rude battering rams, +and to raise the scaling ladders till death found them, or they were +worn out with excitement, fear and labour. + +Then the real attack began. With fierce yells, the threefold column +rushed at the wall, and began to work the rams and scale the ladders, +while the defenders above showered spears and arrows upon them, or +crushed them with heavy stones, or poured upon their heads boiling +pitch and water, heated in great cauldrons which stood at hand. + +Time after time they were driven back with heavy loss; and, time upon +time, fresh hordes of them advanced to the onslaught. Thrice, at the +southern gate, were the ladders raised, and thrice the stormers +appeared above the level of the wall, to be hurled back, crushed and +bleeding, to the earth beneath. + +Thus the long day wore on and still the defenders held their own. + +"We shall win," shouted Aziel to Metem, as a fresh ladder was cast +down with its weight of men to the death-strewn plain. + +"Yes, here we shall win because we fight," answered the Phnician, +"but elsewhere it may be otherwise." Indeed for a while the attack +upon the south gate slackened. + +Another hour passed and presently to the left of them rose a wild yell +of triumph, and with it a shout of "Fly to the second wall. The foe is +in the fosse!" + +Metem looked and there, down the great ditch, 300 paces to their left, +a flood of savages poured towards them. "Come," he said, "the outer +wall is lost." But as he spoke once more the ladders rose against the +gates and flanking towers and once more Aziel sprang to cast them +down. When the deed was done, he looked behind him to find that he was +cut off and surrounded. Metem and most of his men indeed had gained +the inner wall in safety, while he with twelve only of his bravest +soldiers, Jews of his own following, who had stayed to help him to +throw back the ladders, were left upon the gateway tower. Nor was +escape any longer possible, for both the plain without and the fosse +within were filled with the men of Ithobal who advanced also by +hundreds down the broad coping of the captured wall. + +"Now there is but one thing that we can do," said Aziel; "fight +bravely till we are slain." + +As he spoke a javelin cast from the wall beneath struck him upon the +breastplate, and though the bronze turned the iron point, it brought +him to his knees. When he found his feet again, he heard a voice +calling him by name, and looking down, saw Ithobal clad in golden +harness and surrounded by his captains. + +"You cannot escape, prince Aziel," cried the king; "yield now to my +mercy." + +Aziel heard, and setting an arrow to his bow, loosed it at Ithobal +beneath. He was a strong and skilful archer, and the heavy shaft +pierced the golden helmet of the king, cutting his scalp down to the +bone. + +"That is my answer," cried Aziel, as Ithobal rolled upon the ground +beneath the shock of the blow. But very soon the king was up and +crying his commands from behind the shield-hedge of his captains. + +"Let the prince Aziel, and the Jews with him, be taken alive and +brought to me," he shouted. "I will give a great reward in cattle to +those who capture them unharmed; but if any do them hurt, they +themselves shall be put to death." + +The captains bowed and issued their orders, and presently Aziel and +his companions saw lines of unarmed men creeping up ladders set at +every side of the lofty tower. Again and again they cast off the +ladders, till at length, being so few, they could stir them no more +because of the weight upon them, but must hack at the heads of the +stormers as they appeared above the parapet, killing them one by one. + +In this fashion they slew many, but their arms grew weary at last, and +ever under the eye of their king, the brave savages crept upward, +heedless of death, till, with a shout, they poured over the +battlements and rushed at the little band of Jews. + +Now rather than be taken, Aziel sought to throw himself from the +tower, but his companions held him, and thus at last it came about +that he was seized and bound. + +As they dragged him to the stairway he looked across the fosse and saw +the mercenaries flying from the inner wall, although it was still +unbreached, and saw the citizens of Zimboe streaming by thousands to +the narrow gateway of the temple fortress. + +Then Aziel groaned in his heart and struggled no more, for he knew +that the fate of the ancient town was sealed, and that the prophecy of +Issachar would be fulfilled. + +***** + +A while later Aziel and those with him, their hands bound behind their +backs, were led by hide ropes tied about their necks through the army +of the Tribes that jeered and spat upon them as they passed, to a tent +of sewn hides on the plain, above which floated the banner of Ithobal. +Into this tent the prince was thrust alone, and there forced upon his +knees by the soldiers who held him. Before him upon a couch covered +with a lion skin lay the great shape of Ithobal, while physicians +washed his wounded scalp. + +"Greeting, son of Israel and Pharaoh," he said in a mocking voice; +"truly you are wise thus to do homage to the king of the world." + +"A poor jest," answered Aziel, glancing at those who held him down; +"true homage is of the heart, king Ithobal." + +"I know it, Jew, and this also you shall give me when you are humbler. +Who taught you the use of the bow? You shoot well," and he pointed to +his blood-stained helm, which was still transfixed by the arrow. + +"Nay," answered Aziel, "I shot but ill, for my arm was weary. When +next I draw a string against your breast, king Ithobal, I promise you +a straighter shaft." + +"Well said," answered the king with a laugh, "but know, dog of a Jew, +that now it is my turn to draw the string--how, I will show you +afterwards. Have they told you that the city has fallen, and that my +captains hold the gates, while the cowards of Zimboe are penned like +sheep within the temple and on the cliff-edged height above? They have +fled hither for safety, but I tell you that they would be more safe on +yonder plain, for I have the key of their stronghold, a certain +passage leading from the palace of the Baaltis to the temple; you know +if it, I think. Yes, and if I had not, very soon hunger and thirst +would work for me. + +"Well, Jew, I have won, and with less trouble than I thought, and now +I hold the great city in hostage, to save or to destroy as it shall +please me, though that arrow of yours went near to robbing me of my +crown of victory." + +"So be it," answered Aziel, indifferently; "I have played my part, now +things must go as Fate may will." + +"Yes, Jew, you fought well till they deserted you, and the doom of +cowards is little to a brave man. But what of the lady Elissa? Nay, I +know all; she has taken refuge in the tomb of Baaltis, has she not, +with poison in her bosom and bronze at her girdle to be used against +her own life, should they lay hands on her or give her to me? And all +this she does for the love of you, prince Aziel; for the love of you +she refuses to become my queen, ruling over that city which I have +conquered, and all my unnumbered tribes. + +"Do you guess now why I caused you to be taken living? I will tell +you; that you may be the bait to draw her to me. To kill you would be +easy; but how would that serve, seeing that then she herself would +choose to die? But, perchance, to save your life she will live also-- +yes, and give herself to me. At least, I will try it; should the plan +fail--then you can pay the price of her pride with your blood, prince +Aziel." + +"That I would do gladly," answered Aziel, "but oh! what a cross-bred +hound you are who thus can seek to torture the heart of a helpless +woman! Have you then no manhood that you can stoop to such a coward's +plot?" + +"Fool! it is because of my manhood that I do stoop to it," said +Ithobal angrily. "Doubtless you think that a mad fancy and naught else +drives me to the deed, but it is not so, although in truth my heart-- +like yours--chooses this woman to be my wife and none other. That +fondness I might conquer, but look you, of all things living this lady +alone has dared to cross my will, so that to-day even the sentries on +their rounds and the savage women in the kraals tell each other of how +Ithobal, the great king of an hundred tribes, has been baffled and +mocked at by a girl who despises him because his blood is not all +white. Thus I am become a laughing-stock, and therefore I will win +her, cost me what it may." + +"And I, king Ithobal, tell you that you will not win her--no, not if +you torture me to death before her eyes." + +"That we shall see," said the king with a sneer. Then he called to his +guard and added, "Let this man and his companions be taken to the +place prepared for them." + +Now Aziel was dragged from the tent and thrust into a wooden cage, +such as were used for carrying slaves and women from place to place +upon the backs of camels. His soldiers, who had been taken with him, +were thrust also into cages, and, with himself laden upon camels that +were waiting, two cages to each camel. Then a cloth was thrown over +them, and, rising to their feet, the camels began to march. + +When they had covered a league or more of ground Aziel learned from +the motion of the camel upon which he was secured, and the sound of +the repeated blows of its drivers, that they were ascending some steep +place. At length they reached the top of it, and were unloaded from +the beasts like merchandise, but he could see nothing, for by now the +night had fallen. Then, still in the cages, they were carried to a +tent, where food and water were given them through the bars, after +which, so weary was Aziel with war, misery and the remains of recent +illness, that he fell asleep. + +At daybreak he awoke, or rather was awakened, by the sound of a +familiar voice, and, looking through his bars, perceived Metem +standing before them, guarded but unbound, with indignation written on +his face, and tears in his quick eyes. + +"Alas!" he cried, "that I should have lived to see the seed of Israel +and Pharaoh thus fastened like a wild beast in a den, while barbarians +make a mock of him. Oh! Prince, it were better that you should die +rather than endure such shame." + +"Misfortunes are the master of man, not man of his misfortunes, +Metem," said Aziel quietly, "and in them is no true disgrace. Even if +I had the means to kill myself, it would be a sin; moreover, it might +bring another to her death. Therefore, I await my doom, whatever it +may be, with such patience as I can, trusting that my sufferings and +ignominy may expiate my crimes in the sight of Him whom I renounced. +But how come you here, Metem?" + +"I came under the safe-conduct of Ithobal who gave me leave to visit +you, doubtless for some ends of his own. Have you heard, Prince, that +he holds the gates of the city, though as yet no harm has been done to +it, and that its inhabitants are crowded within the temple, and upon +the heights above; also that in his despair Sakon has fallen on his +sword and slain himself?" + +"Is it so?" answered Aziel. "Well, Issachar foretold as much. On their +own heads be the doom of these devil-worshippers and cowards. Have you +any tidings of the lady Elissa?" + +"Yes, Prince. She still sits yonder in the tomb, resolute in her +purpose, and giving no answer to those who come to reason with her." + +As he spoke the guard let fall the front of the tent so that the +sunlight flowed into it, revealing Aziel and his twelve companions, +each fast in his narrow and shameful prison. "See," said Metem, "do +you know the place?" + +The prince struggled to his knees, and saw that they were set upon the +top of a hill, built up of granite boulders, which rose eighty feet or +more from the surface of the plain. Opposite to them at a distance of +under a hundred paces was a precipice in the face of which could be +seen a cave closed with barred gates of bronze, while between the +rocky hill and the precipice ran a road. + +"I know it, Metem; there runs the path by which we travelled from the +coast, and there is the tomb of Baaltis. Why have we been brought +here?" + +"The lady Elissa sits behind the bars of yonder tomb whence her view +of all that happens upon this mount must be very good indeed," +answered Metem with meaning. "Now, can you guess why you were brought +here, prince Aziel." + +"Is it that she may witness our sufferings under torment?" he asked. + +Metem nodded. + +"How will they deal with us, Metem?" + +"Wait and see," he answered sadly. + +As he spoke Ithobal himself appeared followed by certain evil-looking +savages. Having greeted Metem courteously he turned to the Hebrew +soldiers in the cages and asked them which of their number was most +prepared to die. + +"I, Ithobal, who am their leader," said Aziel. + +"No, Prince," replied Ithobal with a cruel smile, "your time is not +yet. Look, there is a man who has been wounded; to put him out of his +pain will be a kindness. Slaves, bear that Jew to the edge of the +rock, and--as the prince will wish to study a new mode of death--bring +his cage also." + +The order was obeyed, Aziel being set down upon the very verge of the +cliff. Close to him a spur of granite jutted out twenty feet or so +from the edge. At the end of the spur a groove was cut and over this +groove, suspended by a thin chain from a pole, hung a wedge of pure +crystal carefully shaped and polished. While Aziel wondered what evil +purpose this stone might serve, the slaves had fastened a fine rope to +the cage containing the wounded Hebrew soldier and secured its end. +Then they set the rope in the groove of the granite spur, and pushed +the cage over the edge of the cliff, so that it dangled in mid-air. + +"Now I will explain," said Ithobal. "This is a method of punishment +that I have borrowed from those followers of Baal who worship the sun, +by means of which Baal claims his own sacrifice, and none are guilty +of the victim's blood. You see yonder crystal--well, at any appointed +hour, for it can be hung as you will, the rays of the sun shining +through it cause the fibres of the grass rope to smoke and smoulder +till at length they part and--Baal takes his sacrifice. Should a cloud +hide the sun at the appointed hour, then, Baal having spared him, the +victim is set free. But, as you will note, at this season of the year +there are no clouds. + +"What, Prince, have you nothing to say?" he went on, for Aziel had +listened in silence to the tale of this devilish device. "Well, learn +that it depends upon the lady Elissa yonder whether or not this fate +shall be yours. Send now and pray her to save you. Think what it will +be to hang as at this moment your servant hangs over that yawning gulf +of space, waiting through the long hours till at last you see the +little wreaths of smoke begin to curl from the tinder of the cord. +Why! before the end found them I have known men go mad, and, like +wolves, tear with their teeth at the wooden bars. + +"You will not. Then, Metem, do you plead for your friend. Bid the +Baaltis look forth at one hour before noon and see the sight of yonder +wretch's death, remembering that to-morrow this fate shall be her +lover's unless she foregoes her purpose of self-murder and gives +herself to me. Nay, no words! an escort shall lead you through the +lower city to the gateway of the tomb and there listen to your speech. +See that it does not fail you, merchant, unless you also seek to hang +in yonder cage. Tell the lady Elissa that to-morrow at sunrise I will +come in person for her answer. If she yields, then the prince and his +companions shall be set free and with you, Metem, to guide them, be +mounted on swift camels to carry them unharmed to their retinue beyond +the mountains. But if she will not yield, then--Baal shall take his +sacrifice. Begone." + +So, having no choice, Metem bowed and went, leaving the caged Aziel +upon the edge of the cliff, and the Hebrew soldier hanging from the +spur of rock. + +Now Aziel roused himself from the horror in which his soul was sunk, +and strove to comfort his doomed comrade, praying with him to Heaven. + +Slowly as they prayed, the hours drew on till at length, upon the +opposite cliff, he saw men whom he knew to be Metem and his escort, +approach the mouth of the tomb, and faintly heard him call through the +bars of the gateway. Turning himself in his cage, Aziel glanced at the +rope, and watched the spot of light born from the burning glass of the +crystal creep to its side. + +Now the fatal moment was at hand, and Aziel saw a little wreath of +smoke rise in the still air and bade his wretched servant close his +eyes. Then came the end. Suddenly the taut rope, eaten through by the +sun's fire, flew back and the cage with the soldier in it vanished +from his sight, while, from far below, rose the sound of a heavy fall, +and from the tomb of Baaltis rang the echo of a woman's shriek. + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +"THERE IS HOPE" + +It was dawn. Ithobal the king stood without the gates of the tomb of +Baaltis, the grey light glimmering faintly on his harness, and knocked +upon the brazen bars with the handle of his sword. + +"Who troubles me now?" said a voice within. + +"Lady, it is I, Ithobal, who, as I promised by Metem the Phnician, am +come to learn your will as to the fate of my prisoner, the Prince +Aziel. Already he hangs above the gulf, and within one short hour, if +you so decree it, he will fall and be dashed to pieces. Or, if you so +decree it, he will be set free to return to his own land." + +"At what price will he be set free, king Ithobal?" + +"Lady, you know the price; it is yourself. Oh! I beseech you, be wise! +spare his life and your own. Listen: spare his life, and I will spare +this city which lies in the hollow of my hand, and you shall rule it +with me." + +"You cannot bribe me thus, king Ithobal. My father whom I loved is +dead, and shall I give myself to you for the sake of a city and a +Faith that would have betrayed me into your hands?" + +"Nay, but for the sake of the man to whom you are dear, you shall do +even this, Elissa. Think: if you refuse, his blood will be upon your +head, and what will you have gained?" + +"Death, which I seek, for I weary of the struggle of my days." + +"Then end it in my arms, lady. Soon this fancy will escape your mind, +and you will remain one of the mightiest queens of men." + +Elissa returned no answer, and for a while there was silence. + +"Lady," said Ithobal at length, "the sun rises and my servants yonder +await a signal." + +Then she spoke like one who hesitates. + +"Are you not afraid, king Ithobal, to trust your life to a woman won +in such a fashion?" + +"Nay," answered Ithobal, "for though you say that their fate does not +concern you, the lives of all those penned-up thousands are hostages +for my own. Should you by chance find a means to stab me unawares, +then to-night fire and sword would rage through the city of Zimboe. +Nor do I fear the future, since I know well that you who think you +hate me now, very soon will learn to love me." + +"You promise, king Ithobal, that if I yield myself you will set the +prince Aziel free; but how can I believe you who twice have tried to +murder him?" + +"Doubt me if you will, Elissa, at least, you cannot doubt your own +eyes. Look, his road to the sea runs beneath this rock. Come from the +tomb and take your stand upon it and you shall see him pass; yes, and +should you wish, speak with him in farewell that you may be sure that +it is he and alive. Further, I swear to you by my head and honour, +that no finger shall be laid upon you till he is gone by, and that no +pursuit of him shall be attempted. Now choose." + +Again there was silence for a while. Then Elissa spoke in a broken +voice. + +"King Ithobal, I have chosen. Trusting to your royal word I will stand +upon the rock and when I have seen the prince Aziel go by in safety, +then, since you desire it, you shall put your arms about me and bear +me whither you will. You have conquered me, king Ithobal! Henceforward +these lips of mine are yours and no other man's. Give the signal, I +pray you, and I will cast aside the dagger and the poison and come out +living from this tomb." + +Aziel hung in his cage over the abyss of air, awaiting death, and glad +to die, because now he was sure that Elissa had refused to purchase +his life at the expense of her own surrender. There he hung, dizzy and +sick at heart, making his prayer to heaven and waiting the end, while +the eagles that would prey upon his shattered flesh swept past him. + +Presently, from the opposing cliff, came the sound of a horn blown +thrice. Then, while Aziel wondered what this might mean, the cage in +which he lay was drawn in gently over the edge of the precipice, and +carried down the steeps of the granite hill as it had been carried up +them. + +At the foot of the hill its covering was torn aside, and he saw before +him a caravan of camels, and seated on each camel a comrade of his +own. But one camel had no rider, and Metem led it by a rope. + +The servants of Ithobal took him from the cage and set him upon this +camel, though they did not loosen the bonds about the wrists. + +"This is the command of the king," said the captain to Metem "that the +arms of the prince Aziel shall remain bound until you have travelled +for six hours. Begone in safety, fearing nothing." + +***** + +"What happens now, Metem," asked Aziel, as the camels strode forward, +"and why am I set free who was expecting death? Is this some new +artifice of yours, or has the lady Elissa----" and he ceased. + +"Upon the word of an honest merchant I cannot tell you, Prince. +Yesterday, as I was forced, I gave the message of king Ithobal to the +lady Elissa yonder in the tomb. She would answer me only one thing, +which she whispered in my ear through the bars of the holy tomb; that +if we could escape we should do so, moreover that you must have no +fear for her since she also had found a means of escape from Ithobal, +and would certainly join us upon the road." + +As Metem spoke, the camels passed round the little hill on to the path +that ran beneath the tomb of Baaltis. There, standing upon the rock +some fifty feet above them, was Elissa, and with her, but at a +distance, Ithobal the king. + +"Halt, prince Aziel," she called in a clear voice, "and hearken to my +farewell. I have bought your life, and the lives of your companions, +and you are free, for the road is clear and nothing can overtake the +twelve swiftest camels in Zimboe. Go, therefore, and be happy, +forgetting no word that has passed my lips. For all my words are true, +even to a certain promise which I made you lately by the mouth of +Metem, and which I now fulfil--that I would join you on your road lest +you should deem me faithless to the troth which I have so often sworn +to you. + +"King Ithobal, this shape is yours; come now and take your prize. +Prince Aziel, my soul is yours, in life it shall companion you, and in +death await you. Prince Aziel, I come to you." Then, before he could +answer a single word, with one swift and sudden spring she hurled +herself from the cliff edge to fall crushed upon the road beneath. + +Aziel saw. In his agony he strained so fiercely at the bonds which +held him that they burst like rushes. He leapt from the camel and +knelt beside Elisa. She was not yet dead, for her eyes were open and +her lips stirred. + +"I have kept faith, keep it also, Aziel! the story is not yet done," +she gasped. Then her life flickered out, and her spirit passed. + +Aziel rose from beside the corpse and looked upward. There upon the +edge of the rock above him, leaning forward, his eyes blind with +horror, stood Ithobal the king. Aziel saw him, and a fury entered into +his heart because this man, whose jealous rage and evil doing had bred +such woe and caused the death of his beloved still lived upon the +earth. By the prince was Metem, who, for once, had no words, and from +his hand he snatched a bow, set an arrow on the string and loosed. + +The shaft rushed upwards, it smote Ithobal between the joints of his +harness so that the point of it sunk through this neck. + +"This gift, king Ithobal, from Aziel the Israelite," he cried, as the +arrow sped. + +For a moment the great man stood still, then he opened his arms wide +and of a sudden plunged downward, falling with a crash on the roadway, +where he lay dead at the side of dead Elissa. + +***** + +"The play is played, and the fate fulfilled," cried Metem. "See, the +servants of the king speed yonder with their evil tidings; let us away +lest we bide here with these two for ever." + +"That is my desire," said Aziel. + +"A desire which may not be fulfilled," answered Metem. "Come, Prince, +since we cannot go without you. Surely you do not wish to sacrifice +the lives of all of us as an offering to the great spirit of the lady +who is dead. It is one that she would not seek." + +Then Aziel knelt down and kissed the brow of the dead Elissa, and went +his way, saying no word. + +***** + +That night, when the darkness fell, the sky behind these travellers +grew red with fire. + +"Behold the end of the golden city!" said Metem. "Zimboe is food for +flames and its children for the sword. Issachar was a prophet indeed, +who foretold that it should be so." + +Aziel bowed his head, remembering that Issachar had foretold also that +for Elissa and for him there was hope beyond the grave. As he thought +it, a wind beat upon his brow and through it a soft voice seemed to +murmur to his heart:-- + +"Be of good courage: Beloved, /there is hope/." + +***** + +So, turning from the death behind him, this far away forgotten lover +set his face to the sea of Life and passed it, and long ago, at his +appointed hour, gained its further shore, to be welcomed there by her +who watched for him. + +And thus, because of the fateful and predestined loves of Aziel the +prince, and Elissa the priestess and daughter of Sakon, three +thousands years and more ago, the ancient city of Zimboe fell at the +hand of king Ithobal and his Tribes, so that to-day there remain of it +nothing but a desolate grey tower of stone, and beneath, the crumbling +bones of men. + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Elissa, by H. Rider Haggard + diff --git a/old/lissa10.zip b/old/lissa10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..668d741 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/lissa10.zip |