THE GOVERNOR OF SYRIA
King Ninus, grandson of the mighty Shalmaneser, mounted his throne in
youth, a throne which ruled a kingdom run to seed through the slothful
reign of Shamashi-Raman; yet as his grandsire's heart had beat for war
alone, so beat the heart of Ninus, resting not till the glory of Assyria
flamed forth again.
From the city of Kalah, crumbling in decay, he began his little
conquests, conquering his neighbors and joining their strength to his,
making them friends and allies rather than slaves who bowed beneath a
yoke of might. He moulded their uncouth valor into ordered rule,
exchanging their clumsy weapons for his better tools of war, till,
presently, an army raised its head from out the mud of ignorance. A
conquered people, so long as they paid him tribute and kept their
covenants, were left in peace, their gods untroubled, their temples
sacred to their own desires; but should they revolt, then Ninus and his
grim, unpitying host returned, to leave their cities smouldering heaps
upon the plain, the heads of their chiefs set up on poles by way of
warning to all who entertained a similar unrest.
And thus, like ever widening circles in a pool, the Assyrian Empire grew
apace, until at length its confines stretched away, even to the shores
of the Sea of the Setting Sun. Beneath the rule of Ninus bowed Media
and Armenia, the roving, battle-loving Khatti, Tyre, Sidon, Edom and
Philistia. Proud Babylon was once more wedded to Assyria, albeit she
ever scratched and bit in the manner of fractious and unwilling wives.
Damascus fell, a feat which even Shalmaneser failed to compass, and the
peaceful fields of Syria were overrun, their cattle eaten by the hungry
conquerors. The dwellers on the shores of the Black and Caspian seas
were subject to the sway of Ninus, and Egypt paid him endless tribute in
precious metals and shields and swords of bronze.
And yet two kingdoms lay as stumbling blocks in the path of Assyria's
power. The one was Bactria, a land whose armies, beaten in the field,
took refuge behind the massive walls of Zariaspa, defying siege for
three long years, their turrets lined with well-fed, jeering
men-at-arms.
The other unconquered kingdom was Arabia, ruled by a wily Prince, by the
name Boabdul Ben Hutt, who chose a saddle for his throne, his sceptre a
loose-sheathed scimitar. This country abounded in a breed of swiftest
steeds which wrought King Ninus to the verge of mad desire; yet the
prize was beyond his grasp, like the fruit of a palm whose trunk he
could neither fell nor climb. And more; its inner kernel was protected
by a circling rind of desertland, far deadlier than a force of a million
warriors. Moreover this kingdom stood in constant menace to the plans of
Ninus, and so soon as an adjacent country was subdued and the armies
marched to further wars, a cloud of dusky riders would descend in a
swirling rush of sand, to obliterate the tracks of Assyria's patient
toil.
Report came now to Ninus as he sat upon his tower, and vexed him till he
fain would crucify the messengers of evil tidings. The horsemen of
Boabdul were troubling Syria with the points of spears, devouring the
fattest flocks and bearing off rich spoils which the King desired in the
building of his city. For an hour King Ninus combed his beard in
thought, then sent for Menon and spread before him a feast of fruits and
wine.
"Menon," spoke the King, when the feast was done, "to-morrow shalt thou
journey down into Arabia and seal a covenant with our worthy foe, Prince
Boabdul Ben Hutt."
Menon stared and set his goblet on the board.
"A covenant?" he asked in wonder, for he feared lest he had not heard
aright.
"Aye, a covenant of peace," King Ninus nodded gravely; "for, heed thee,
fools alone make war upon the birds of flight, while a wise man feedeth
them from his store of grain, in that they fatten against a time of
need." Menon smiled, and the King spoke on: "Go thou, then, unto
Arabia, seek out Boabdul and bear him gifts which I now make ready.
Offer them together with the love and fellowship of Assyria's lord, and
call him brother in my name. Seal, thou, a covenant whose bonds provide
that we trespass not upon one another's lands; that in all new
conquests, wherein he lendeth aid, a half of the spoils thereof shall be
his part. In turn, Arabia may call upon the arm of Ninus for the
smiting of her enemies, and the lands subdued shall be divided in two
equal shares. Accede to such demands of the noble Prince as wisdom and
justice may advocate, yet upon one point hold fast as a buck-hound's
grip, though the treaty come to grief because of it."
"And that?" asked Menon, still marvelling at the master's tone.
"Stallions!" cried the King, as he struck the table with his hairy fist.
"These must I have, to add to the glory of my stud, to draw my chariots
and to fill the stalls of my stables here at Nineveh. Look to it,
Menon, three thousand steeds of the noblest stock will Boabdul send each
year; and for the which he may ask his price in maidens or other
merchandise. The steeds, my friend, the godly steeds of Barbary!"
For a space the King and his faithful general spoke thoughtfully of
matters pertaining to the truce, then Menon rose to take his leave; but
Ninus detained him further.
"When the covenant shall be sealed," said he, "send messengers with the
terms thereof to my allies in the South; likewise dispatch a trusty
courier to me, then journey into Syria. In Syria thou wilt wait upon
its Governor, one Surbat by name, a drowsy man who ruleth with the
wisdom of a sheep. Send me his head; and when he, thus, shall be
removed from office, rule thou in his stead--yet wisely and with
wakefulness."
Menon's cheeks grew red with pride at the honours which his master was
about to heap upon him, and he would have fallen to his knees in
gratitude, but the King restrained him.
"Nay, listen," said he, "the hills of Syria are fat with the fat of
plenty, their vast tribes rich in cattle and in sheep, while Ninus hath
grievous need of food in the building of his city. Pinch them with tax,
my son, till their veins run dry, yet spare their skins that they puff
again for a later need. I, myself, will send a messenger unto Surbat,
advising him of my will in the change of rule, albeit as to the smiting
of his neck, I will leave it till thou comest on him suddenly."
Once more Menon sought to sink upon his knee, but Ninus took his hands
and raised him, saying, with a smile:
"Nay, spare thy thanks till the lion's hide is dried; for, remember, I
send thee down to Syria for Surbat's head. Rule boldly, but with craft,
lest perchance I may some day send for still another head. And now,
farewell."
Menon journeyed down the Tigris in a barge whose sweeps were manned by
swart Phoenicians; and beside the guard accompanying him, there were
certain slaves who bore provisions and the royal gifts for Arabia's
Prince. By day and night they travelled swiftly till they came to the
town of Kutha, where they crossed by land to the Euphrates and embarked
in another boat. Thence they floated for many days on the current of
this muddy stream, and rested at last by Burwar, a league below the site
where Babylon, the Queen of Cities, would some day rise. Here they
dispatched an Arab messenger unto Boabdul Ben Hutt, and sat down to wait
the pleasure of the Prince and an escort through the desertlands.
At length the escort came, a band of turbaned savages who stole like
ghosts across the sands on the backs of lurching camels; whose weapons
and trappings gave no sound; whose visages were hardened to the breath
of heated winds and the sting of burning dust. Their Sheik bade Menon
welcome in his master's name, and strapped the gifts of Ninus on a
vicious lead-beast's hump. He mounted the leader and seven of his
men-at-arms, but the others, together with the slaves and servants, he
commanded to remain behind.
There were those of Menon's guard who sat uneasy in their seats, because
of the strangeness in the gait of these awsome beasts; and one, when his
camel floundered from its knees, clutched wildly at nothing and pitched
headlong to the earth, to arise from the dust with curses, amid the
laughter of the Bedouins.
Now it is not good to mock at a Babylonian in distress, so he, one
Babus, nursed a certain soreness of his pride which was like to bring
the cause of Menon into bitter stress, yet the time was not yet come.
For the space of eleven days the cavalcade fared westward through the
trackless wastes, the sky a brazen lake of fire, the plains a tawny,
dizzy sea that seemed to heave with endless waves of sand. In the hours
of noon they rested long beneath the shade of canopies, and slept; then
took up their flight again, to shiver through the cool of night when a
huge moon leapt with wondrous suddenness from beneath the world and
raced away along his curving, star-lit path. And thus they journeyed
till the dawn of the twelfth red day, when Menon spied the fringe of a
green oasis as it rose from the desert's rim. Like a cool, sweet
dewdrop it seemed to lie in the core of a yellow leaf, and after a weary
ride at quickened pace the travellers came upon the outposts of
Boabdul's camp.
Here the Assyrians were conducted into tents of skins, that of Menon
being sumptuous in appointment; it was deep, commodious, and provided
with silent slaves to wait upon the chieftain's needs. One servant bore
a cooling draught of wine, while another prepared a bath--a tub devised
of a camel's hide supported on stakes which were driven in the earth.
The juice of the grape was sweet to Menon's swollen tongue, but the bath
was like unto the spirit of a loved one who took him in her arms and
kissed away his weariness. In the water he lingered listlessly, at
rest, at peace, while his thirsty pores drank in the precious moisture;
then a black attendant clothed him in a filmy robe, and a rich repast
was spread. There were dates and figs, with cakes of pounded grain;
there was wine in jeweled cups, and melons chilled in the depths of
Boabdul's wells. The Assyrian ate and was satisfied, then sank upon a
couch, to slumber dreamlessly throughout the day, throughout the night,
till at dawn the tingling blood ran knocking at his heart with the
message that he lived again.
When, once more he had eaten and was conducted from his tent, Menon
found the camp astir with the life and bustle of moving warriors, of
shifting sentinels, and horsemen who led their steeds to water and
provided feed. Through groves of palms he could see a vast array of
tents which stretched away to the uttermost edges of the green oasis,
while on the plains beyond white clouds of riders wheeled and darted to
and fro. The great red sun arose, and with its coming Menon and his
men-at-arms were led before Arabia's Prince.
Boabdul Ben Hutt stood waiting in the opening of his royal tent, a youth
of lordly mien, with a proud, disdainful beauty stamped upon his
beardless face. About his head was wound the folds of a milk-white
turban whose tall aigret was caught in the clasp of a splendid emerald.
His robe was wrought with precious gems and threads of gold, while a
jeweled scimitar swung from his studded belt.
In Assyria's tongue he greeted Menon and his followers, bidding them
welcome to his couch and board, for the Prince was schooled in the
speech of many lands. He questioned them as to the health of the King,
their master, and sought to know if the messengers had rested from their
tedious march; and then, when the rind of courtesy was pealed away,
Boabdul demanded that the meat of Assyria's quest be laid upon the
palate of his understanding.
So Menon spoke as Ninus had desired, calmly, craftily, setting forth the
marked advantage of a union with his lord. He touched with truth upon
Assyria's wants, yet pointed out Arabia's crying needs. He laid the
terms of treaty before the Prince till the scales of justice balanced to
a grain of sand; then, he called Boabdul brother in his monarch's name
and asked for stallions from the plains of Barbary.
The Arab listened in the patience of his race, albeit a frown of anger
now rode upon his brow, while his fingers fluttered about the hilt of
his keen-edged scimitar. When Menon ceased to speak Boabdul spurned the
gifts of Ninus with his foot and loosed the bridle of his fiery tongue.
"What!" he stormed. "Is Arabia's Prince an owl? Shall he blink at the
glory of Assyria's sun, while foxes pluck out feathers from his tail?
My stallions! No! Go back to thy master who would pillage where he
conquereth not, and lead him a bridled jackal for his stud. Go! Say
that Boabdul knoweth not a brother of his name, and bear him as my gift
thy two palms heaped with dust!"
A close-packed ring of Bedouins girt the messengers round about, and
those who understood passed whispered words to their fellow warriors,
till soon a threatening murmur rose, and many a scimitar itched to leave
its sheath.
Now Babus, the Babylonian--he whose pride was sore because of his fall
from the camel's back--spoke out unbidden and flung a taunt in the teeth
of the angry Prince, whereat an Arab impaled the offender on his lance,
so that Babus writhed upon the earth, and died. The Assyrian guard
would have drawn their swords to avenge the stroke, and of a certainty
would have lost their lives and marred their master's truce, but Menon
wheeled upon them with a word of sharp command.
"Peace!" he cried. "The mouth of a braying ass is closed with the dust
which wise Boabdul sendeth as a gift to Ninus." He paused, to set a
chain of gold about the neck of the Arab who had wrought the deed, then
turned to the Prince with palms held downward. "See, my lord," he
smiled, "my hands are empty now. What, then, shall I bear to Ninus who
waiteth at Nineveh for a seal of truce?"
"The jackal!" flashed Boabdul. "Bear him that!"
"Nay," spoke Menon, pointing to the corpse of Babus at his feet, "thy
second gift will I also put to use in devouring the flesh of this fallen
fool, whom my lord will forget, aye, even as a generous Prince forgeteth
wrath."
The Bedouins nodded among themselves and smiled, for they loved the turn
of a crafty tongue, yet the Prince ceased not to scowl.
"And why," he asked, "if Ninus would call me brother of his heart, doth
Ninus not come in person to my tents, or seek a council on some middle
ground?"
"Because," replied the messenger, "he buildeth a city on the Tigus
river-bank; a city so vast that none save he alone may direct the
rearing of its walls and palaces."
"Oho!" the Arab scoffed. "So the master thatcheth huts, and sendeth a
hired servant where he dare not risk the peril of his neck."
Menon flushed, but checked a hot retort upon his lips, and held the eyes
of Prince Boabdul in a level gaze.
"Aye, truly," he answered, with a slow, unangered speech, "I am but an
humble servant of my King; and yet I lead his hosts to battle, even as
thou, my lord, lead those of thine honored father, whom I learn, with
sorrow, is too infirm by reason of his years to bear the stress of war."
Again the Bedouins murmured among themselves, but now in approval of the
Assyrian's words, yet Boabdul checked them with a frowning glance, and
their tongues were stilled.
Of a truth the Prince was pleased in secret at the covenant which Ninus
offered, yet would not seem too eager of his own desires. Therefore he
feigned a marked disfavor to the plan, in hope that the treaty might
lean more lightly on the shoulders of Arabia.
"And this master of thine," he asked, with a dash of scorn, "is he then
so high in power that the world must kneel before his kingly nod? Is he
mightier than I, Boabdul Ben Hutt, who sweepeth the land with sword and
flame? who ruleth from the desert to the lip of the western sea and
balanceth a kingdom on the edge of his whetted scimitar? Speak, servant
of thy King! Would Ninus face me, man to man, and still be conqueror?"
"As to that," smiled Menon, openly, "I may not say. Long have I known
my master as a father and a friend, yet remember not that he boasted of
his deeds."
Now the words of Menon were the words of bald untruth, for Ninus was a
very prince of braggarts, causing a record of his feats of arms to be
graven on mighty tablets, the which were designed for the wondering eyes
of men who should follow after him. But Menon was unafraid, and the
sting of his calm reproof was as a spur in the flanks of the Arab's
rage.
"I would to my gods," he cried, "that this builder of huts were here at
hand, in that I prove a weapon on his teeth!"
"Alas!" sighed Menon, "he is far away at Nineveh, where he trusteth some
day to receive Boabdul as his honoured guest."
"And thou," the Arab sneered; while he trembled with fury because of the
other's unruffled mien, "thou who bearest the terms of this foolish
truce and shieldeth thy master's insolence, wilt thou dare face me,
afoot or astride a steed?"
"Aye," said Menon, as he took Boabdul's measure thoughtfully; "if
thereby our treaty may be sealed--with all my heart."
"Come!" cried the Arab fiercely. "Come cross thy blade with mine; and
if I fall, the treaty shall be made in accord with the covenants set
forth. If not, a second council shall be held, whereat thy King shall
sue for peace upon his knees."
Beneath the shade of date-palms a circle of warriors was formed, and in
its centre the two prepared to battle for the terms of truce. Their
robes were laid aside lest the folds become entangled with their legs,
and they stood forth naked except for waist cloths girt about their
loins. The Arab was lean and wiry to the litheness of a cat, with
corded thews that lay in knots upon his dusky skin. The Assyrian's
flesh, though pale with the tint of a northern clime, was firm and hard,
its muscles rippling smoothly with the movement of his limbs. He was
taller and of longer reach, well schooled in the arts of war, and
possessed of a lynx-eyed watchfulness as a match to the speed of his
nimbler foe.
Boabdul wielded his curving scimitar, which was weighted at its point,
and held a tiny target upon his arm in easy grace, while Menon was armed
with a shield of bronze and a heavy two-edged sword, the gifts of
Memetis, an Egyptian prince held hostage at the court of Ninus.
For a moment the two stood motionless, each striving to note a weakness
in the other's guard, each ready for thrust or parry should an opening
chance; then the Arab crouched and began to move in circles round and
round. Menon, making a pivot of his heel, turned slowly with his
hawk-like adversary, presenting a steady front to every point of menace
or attack, and daring the Arab with his smiling eyes. Of a sudden
Boabdul feinted with an under-thrust, recovered, and lashed out wickedly
at Menon's head; yet the scimitar only rasped along the edge of a
waiting sword, and the Arab bounded back beyond the danger line. Again
and again he sought an opening, and was met by a steady, cool defense,
while the watching Bedouins and Assyrian men-at-arms cheered lustily for
their champions.
Stung by repeated failure, Boabdul's blood ran hot within his veins, and
the battle waxed in fierceness and in speed. As the leopard springs, so
the Arab darted in and out, his scimitar a wheel of light, a weapon in
every spoke, that now rang sharply on a shield of bronze or gritted
against a sword; the while Prince Menon fixed his gaze on the Arab's
eyes and waited a whisper from his gods.
In circles they stamped the earth, amid the din of hoarse, wild cries of
men who lusted for a sight of blood; and then a shout went up, for a
crimson stream ran trickling down the Assyrian's thigh. The crafty
Boabdul, too, had seen, and he bounded to a fresh attack, but Menon
caught the blow on his brazen shield and turned the stroke aside; then
swiftly, and with all his strength he smote the foeman's target with the
flat of his heavy sword. His gods had whispered, for the Arab's arm
hung numbed and useless at his side.
And now it was Menon's turn to forsake the waiting game and push his
foeman to the wall. The fresher of the two, because of his calm
defense, he pressed upon the Prince without a feather-weight of mercy,
nor gave him pause. In vain Boabdul fought with all his skill to regain
an aggressor's vantage ground, yet could not, for his blade was now his
shield, while Menon warded blows with either arm. Still the battle was
not yet won. The Arab strove by a score of cunning tricks to lure his
enemy into faulty guard or a weakness of attack. He even sought with
taunts and mockery to tilt the even temper of his foe; but Menon pressed
him closer still and laughed--which troubled Boabdul grievously. Once
the wily Arab flung himself upon the earth and slashed at the other's
legs, but Menon leaped and the stroke passed harmlessly beneath, while
the Prince regained his feet and moved backward on the run.
They closed again for a final test of strength and artifice, twisting,
thrusting, showering blows that were turned aside or evaded by a
shifting foot, each panting in his toil, each weary but undismayed;
then, of a sudden, Menon locked his sword in the curve of the Arab's
scimitar, and, grunting, heaved it from Boabdul's grasp. The Prince, in
an effort to elude the snare, reeled backward, tripped, and rolled upon
the earth. In a flash the Assyrian sprang upon him and pressed his
point beneath the dusky chin.
With screams of rage the circling Arabs lowered their spears to swoop
upon the victor and save the vanquished if they might, but Menon flung
his shield arm up in warning.
"Back!" he cried, "or by the crown of Ishtar will I slit his throat!"
The sons of the desert halted, as a steed is curbed, each poised for a
savage thrust, each waiting in awesome dread for a thread of life to
snap, while Boabdul Ben Hutt gazed upward into Menon's eyes, though the
brand of fear burned not upon his cheek.
"Strike, dog!" he groaned, in the shame and anguish of defeat; but Menon
tossed his sword away and stretched forth his hands that the fallen one
might rise.
In silence stared the Bedouins; in silence Boabdul rose and looked in
puzzled wonder on his conqueror.
"Assyrian," he asked at length, "why now is thy blade unstained, when a
twist of fortune gave me over into thy hand?"
"My lord," spoke Menon solemnly, and yet with a certain twinkling of the
eye, "I seek to seal a covenant with Arabia's Prince; not with Boabdul
dead."
The Arabian had looked on death, and knew that the wine of life was
sweet to him; so anger departed utterly, and humor seized him till he
laughed aloud.
"Now by my father's beard," he cried, as he caught the Assyrian's hands
in his and pressed them against his breast, "if Ninus keepeth faith as
he chooseth messengers, right gladly will I call him Brother of my
Soul!"
Then a mighty cheer arose, whose echoes rolled far out across the
plains--a cheer for Ninus, lord of all Assyria--and another, louder,
longer still, for the lion-hearted messenger. It had come upon the
Arabs that Menon not once had sought to strike a fatal blow, but had
stood before the desert's fiercest scimitar, undaunted, staking all upon
his strength, and had spared where he might have slain.
They led him unto Boabdul's tent, where the Prince's aged leech
administered to his wound. They bathed and anointed him lest he suffer
hurt because of his heated blood, and clothed him in raiment from
Boabdul's royal chests.
The treaty was duly sealed, to stand between two kingdoms through the
march of years; and neither monarch once broke its covenants, albeit the
links thereof were oft' times strained by jealousies and the wild unrest
of evil men.
When the terms of peace were closed to the smallest point, then Menon
and his followers abode with the Prince for the space of seven days,
wherein the hours of light were passed in hunting and in sports of arms,
while the nights were given o'er to feasts and revelry. The guests were
regaled at a kingly board, where wine cups circled till the thirsts of
men could ask no more, their senses steeped in the charms of music and
of maidens who danced unveiled before their eyes.
In the hour of parting Boabdul took the Assyrian to his heart and bade
him think on Araby as a tent-flap ever held aside; and more, he made the
gift of a noble steed from the plains of Barbary, a brother stallion to
the one which he himself bestrode. With the steed went an Indian slave
whom the Prince called Huzim, a giant from the Indus, with shoulders of
mighty girth and whose bow no arm save his alone could draw.
So Menem, in sadness, parted from his host and journeyed into Syria,
where he came upon Surbat, the drowsy Governor thereof. This man he
removed from office and sent the head of him to Nineveh, taking council
with the gods of craft that he save his own.
Then he rode upon the back of Syria, as a mahout drives a fractious
elephant, goading with a goad of tax, till the hills resounded with its
echoed trumpetings.