IN THE DESERT
Once more in the saddle, once more in the light of day, once more in the
boundless desert, free as the wild ass devouring the plain, the
long-winged hawk darting across the sun. Sarchedon set his horse to its
speed, and circled round the troop of warriors who accompanied him, in
sheer ecstasy of liberty and motion. How could he refrain? Was it not
life itself to feel beneath his limbs the old familiar swerve, and swing
and long elastic bound? fingering with light and skilful touch the
quivering rein, to which every motion answered, like the chord of an
instrument responsive to the practised hand of a musician? to borrow
from the animal under him, till each quality seemed his own, the speed
of a wild deer, the strength of a mountain bull, and the gentle generous
courage peculiar to a good horse alone? Yes, it was worth long days and
nights of captivity, of restless slumber and weary waking, of listless
apathy and dull sickening despair, to back a steed, wear sword on thigh,
and shake a javelin in the pure still air of the wilderness once again.
He said as much to Sethos, while they turned in the saddle to look their
last on the great pyramids of Egypt, sinking into the plain behind them.
The cup-bearer, moderating his companion's pace, like his own, to the
springing walk of their pure-bred steeds, expressed, as usual, his
earnest desire to behold the walls, pinnacles, and brazen gates of great
Babylon, with her pleasures and her repose.
"A place, my friend," said Sethos, "that I was sore afraid you would
never see again. A fallen man in the desert is more commonly picked up
by jackals than Israelites; and it is not every horse that would take
another rider back, as did Merodach, to the very spot where he laid his
master on the sand. By the belt of Nimrod, I always said, for camp or
march, charge or chase, I have not found such a steed in the Great
King's host as the white horse with the wild eye."
"Brave Merodach!" answered Sarchedon; "I would I were across him now.
Bold, gentle, and true, I never saw him frightened, and I never felt him
tired."
"He was scared that night, nevertheless," said Sethos. "He came by me
like a stone out of a sling, even as I reached the middle gate in the
southern wall; but the archers on watch turned him back, and when I
caught his bridle, he let me lead him through the crowded streets like a
dog. By the brows of Ashtaroth, it was a night not to be forgotten in
Babylon, while the great tower of Belus has one brick standing on
another."
"Was there a tumult, then?" asked Sarchedon. "Our countrymen need but
little to stir them into action at a festival."
"Not so much a tumult," answered the cup-bearer, "as a great awe and
horror over all. The streets were thick with people; but men looked in
each other's faces, and scarce dared ask what might come next. Some told
me that the skies were raining fire and brimstone on the temple of Baal,
and that ere dawn of morning the whole city was to be consumed; some
that the Bactrians had vanquished our Great King's host, all scattered
about in the plain; that their elephants could be seen from the walls,
and that even now the fiercest of their mountaineers were advancing to
the assault."
Sarchedon laughed.
"Such tidings should have vexed you but little," said he. "Did you not
remember how we put them to flight by the Red Lake, from which our
warriors drank so freely, believing it was wine? I slew three of their
slingers at its very brim with my own hand."
"I remembered nothing," answered Sethos, "but that when they drew the
sword they smote and spared not, old men and maidens, mothers and
children, the warrior in harness, and the wounded at their feet. If the
Bactrians were in truth over the wall, I bethought me whether it were
not best to leap on Merodach, and gallop back into the desert from
whence I came."
"It was a stout-hearted resolution," laughed Sarchedon, who knew the
cup-bearer's courage to be beyond suspicion, but had not forgotten the
disinclination to hard work, hard fare, and hard blows his friend was
never ashamed of owning. "And what prevented this dignified retreat of
the Great King's chief officer before an old woman's fable of an
impossible attack?"
"Speak not lightly of women, old or young," returned Sethos. "If these
make love, those make pottage; and thus two of man's chief needs are
satisfied. I repeat, I had begun to think gravely of flight, when I met
one in the crowd who was neither man nor woman precisely, but a priest
of Baal. He told me that his god descended at nightfall in a chariot of
fire, and had carried the Great King back with him to the stars. This
was the light I saw flaring in the sky over the city, while I approached
the gate."
"I saw it too," observed Sarchedon. "When I fell heavily to the ground,
there passed before my eyes, as it were, a sheet of flame, and then I
remember nothing more, till I found myself on an ass's back, faint and
weak, swaying from side to side, but supported by that good old man who
picked me off the sand."
"It was true enough," continued Sethos, "though told by a priest. While
I was riding about on a fool's errand, uncertain where to turn my
bridle, and you were galloping to and fro, with diverse wild purposes I
do not yet clearly understand, but which seem to have cost you somewhat
dear, our Great King went up into his Talar to pour out a drink-offering
to Baal. The god must have been thirsty, since he came down to wet his
beard with wine in person, and Ninus must have been in milder mood than
usual to mount the flaming chariot at his desire. Well, the Thirteen
have gained a stern comrade, and the land of Shinar has lost the
stoutest warrior that ever crossed a steed."
"We shall see his like no more," answered the other. "He was the last of
those mighty men begotten by Nimrod to rule over the sons of Ashur with
sword and spear. But it is written in the stars that the Great King
lives for ever; and though Ninus be gone, doth not Ninyas his son reign
in his stead?"
"Doubtless," was the reply. "So soon as the father set foot in his
flaming chariot, the diadem of Ashur blazed on the son's bright comely
brow. By the glory of Shamash, he shone beautiful as morning when he
showed himself to the people with the royal circle over his head, the
royal sceptre in his hand. There was a something changed in him too; I
know not what--a dignity of bearing, a smoothness of gesture, a quiet
courtesy to all--and he looked in his dazzling raiment more like a god
than a king."
"Was there, then, no outbreak?" asked Sarchedon. "Unlike old Nineveh,
the people of Babylon must be reined with the strong hand, in great and
sudden changes such as these."
"With the strong hand!" exclaimed Sethos. "Why, the spearmen of the
queen's host were drawn up in battle array by hundreds at the corner of
every street, while bowmen clustered on wall and tower like locusts
about a fig-tree. No man dared murmer if he would; and I think none who
looked in his fair face could have desired a nobler king than Ninyas."
"And the queen?" said Sarchedon. "How fares it with Semiramis in her
woe?"
"The queen remains hidden in her palace," replied his friend; "not to be
seen of men while she makes her moan, rending her garments and
scattering ashes on her head. Alas for the pride of her beauty, the pomp
and power of her dominion! Surely her glory passed away with the smoke
of the great sacrifice. Ninus ruled half the earth with his frown, and
she ruled Ninus with her smile. But all is changed now."
"Has she, then, so little influence over her son?" asked Sarchedon,
reining his horse to a halt in his preoccupation, while he pondered on
his own future, and how it might be affected by these strange
unlooked-for events.
Ninyas, he had reason to believe, loved him but little; and the
queen--he scarcely dared think of the terms on which he stood with the
queen. In every direction his path seemed beset with difficulties. But
for Ishtar, he could have been satisfied to remain in Egypt for ever,
even in the dungeon--Ishtar, whom perhaps he was never to see again. He
recalled the words of the magician; but their comfort was very vague and
hollow, compared with the steadfast belief of Sadoc, whom no troubles
seemed to perplex, no anticipations of evil to overcome. He almost
envied the carelessness of his light-hearted comrade, who proceeded with
his narrative as though it were but the detail of a lion-hunt or a
festival.
"Ninyas seems resolved to reign in person--a great king, not only in
name, but in authority, who bears sword as well as sceptre, and tarries
longer in the seat of judgment than at the banquet of wine. I could not
have believed a man's nature might be thus changed in the putting on of
a tiara. When I prostrated myself in his presence, it seemed as though
years had passed since he dismissed me in the desert, and rode back
unattended into Babylon. Yet the interval was less than a day. And
Merodach: he sent for the good horse to his royal stables, and caressed
him fondly with his own hand."
"Merodach loves not strangers," replied Sarchedon. "But if Ninyas
desires him, how shall his servant say him nay? Is not my life in the
hands of the Great King? Something warns me, nevertheless, that the
horse finds more favour in his sight than the rider."
"You speak thus in your ignorance," said Sethos. "Had he lost the great
ruby from the handle of his sword, he could scarce have looked more
anxious, more concerned. If you find not that you are first in favour
when we return, never believe a king's cup-bearer again. Is it not for
this I ride at your right hand so humble even now? Think of us when you
come to high honour; but do not forget you owe more to your horse than
your friend."
"I can well believe it," returned the other, smiling. "I have always
trusted less in the man than the beast. Nevertheless, I am loath to be
ungrateful, and will take care to remember both."
"Had I not been leading Merodach through the streets," continued Sethos,
"I should not have been seen of Assarac; but the priest, knowing the
white horse afar off, bade some archers clear a passage, and beckoned me
to his presence. When he learned all I had to tell, how I had left you
but a short space before the horse came flying by me riderless through
the desert, he seemed unusually thoughtful and concerned: you know how
rarely his face betrays his thoughts, how good or evil seem powerless to
affect him, and yet there came a frown on his brow, a wicked fire in his
eyes, while he listened to my tale. I could hardly learn whether he was
pleased or angered, anxious for your safety or eager to know your fate.
He tarried but an instant. Leaders and warriors were thronging round him
for orders, and you would have thought him captain of a host setting the
battle in array, rather than priest and eunuch preparing a sacrifice for
his gods. He seemed calm enough while he gave his directions; but the
same evil look gleamed in his eyes again when he bade me yield up
Merodach in charge to his attendants, and return at day break to the
palace. What more was done in Babylon that night must be related by
others; for I was wearied sore, and when I lay down, without so much as
taking off my harness, I slept as sound as all the Pharaohs--who live
for ever--in their tombs."
"And with daybreak you learned what had befallen Ninus?" asked
Sarchedon. "Of a truth, my friend, you must have felt that you woke to a
new world."
"Not so," replied the other. "In the city, save that the guards had been
doubled, all was orderly and unchanged. The prophets of the grove had
discontinued their leapings and howlings and brandishing of knives. The
priests of Baal were busy cleaning gore and garbage from their temple.
In the royal palace I found the old servants of Ninus, with the queen's
archers, as usual, keeping their listless watch. When I prostrated
myself at the threshold, it seemed as though I must needs fill the
king's cup, and give him to drink with the first rays of the morning
sun."
"A good old practice," observed Sarchedon, "and, if I know him, not to
be discontinued by Ninyas during his reign."
"You do _not_ know him, it seems," replied the other; "for I came no
nearer his presence than the golden-winged bull in the middle of the
Great Court. Here I was stopped by Assarac, who bade me attend the king
armed and mounted within an hour at the southern wall. When I tendered
the wine-cup, he laughed, and said these old-world practices were to be
discontinued for the future; but I have no fear I shall lose my office,
nevertheless."
"You are little given to despair," said his friend; "I know that of
old."
"As chance would have it," resumed Sethos, in perfect good faith, "I
fell in with Kalmim, wearing her garment rent and her hair about her
face, but otherwise little vexed with woe; and she found time to bid me
keep heart, for that none of my honours, said she, would be taken away,
but rather new rewards added thereto; and in this she spoke truth,
though I scarce believed her at the time, for I thought Ninyas would
have done well to place me on his right hand in sight of all the people.
So I got to saddle with a heavy heart, and hastened me to the southern
wall, where I found the king and but two attendants--mountain-men, well
skilled to take a prey. Ninyas rode to and fro amongst the vineyards on
Merodach, turning the beast to his hand as though it had borne him ever
since it wore a bridle."
Sarchedon's face fell.
"I shall never ride him again," said he. "When a man has once backed a
horse like Merodach, he would take him by force from his own brother."
"Ninyas seemed to love him well," replied Sethos, "for his palm was
never off neck or shoulder, and I swear by Ashur I saw him once press
his lips against the horse's crest. But he seemed strangely hurried and
restless, holding little discourse with me, but consulting eagerly the
mountain-men who accompanied us. One of these bade me point out the
exact spot at which Merodach passed me in his flight, and of this I
could make sure because I remembered how a single palm was growing there
by a spring. When we reached it, Ninyas laid the rein on Merodach's
neck, and, lo, the horse broke eagerly into a gallop, stretching away
over the desert at speed, so that it cost us some trouble to keep him in
sight. The king never touched his bridle, but let the beast bear him how
and where it would. My horse was already failing under me, when they
halted at a spot where lay a splintered arrow and a few large bones
picked white and bare. Merodach stood still, snorting and trembling,
while the tears fell from the king's eyes. Then the mountain-men
alighted, and showed how a human body had lain here the night before,
and how it had been lifted carefully by one whose footmarks were to be
traced, deep and wide, under his burden. Also, how others had gathered
round, leading their asses; and even boasted they could distinguish the
prints of that on which the fallen man had been disposed. "Can you track
them?" asked the king in a hoarse whisper; and he promised a reward of
camels and oxen, costly raiment, and a talent of gold each, if they
could follow up the chase successfully, and return with good tidings of
its result.
"The mountain-men earned their wages fairly. It was not long ere they
brought back to Babylon such intelligence as seemed to cause the king no
little concern and anxiety. But that his royal word was passed, I think
Ninyas would have impaled them both, having no better news to tell. They
had traced you into Egypt, they said, and had left you lying in prison
by the decree of Pharaoh, under sentence of death. I would have given
you up, my friend, then; but our young king, it seems, abandons not his
servants at their greatest need. He sent for me to the royal palace, and
though I entered not his presence, I was received in the outer chamber
by Assarac, who clad me in a dress of honour, and threw a chain of gold
about my neck. You never saw such workmanship! Had the links been but of
bronze, they were so wrought as to be worth a score of camels each. They
prate of their gold and silver down yonder," added Sethos, with a
backward nod, "but I would defy the whole of Egypt, with all her
furnaces, to produce such a chain as that!"
"You were wise not to bring it with you," observed Sarchedon. "They are
skilful thieves, and would have stolen it from round your very throat
while you slept."
The cup-bearer's swarthy cheek reddened.
"I gave it away," said he, "for all my haste, ere I laid hand on bridle
to ride southward. I know not if 'tis so with _you_, Sarchedon, but I
can keep nothing from a woman that she desires of me--not even the
secret of my dearest friend. They seem to have some strange power over
our wills, like that by which I turn this good horse under me with the
rein."
Sarchedon thought of Ishtar, and held his peace.
"The eunuch's directions," continued Sethos, "were brief enough. He
wastes few words, you know, when there is need of action. "You will
mount at noon," said he, "and ride without delay to the steps of
Pharaoh's throne, wherever he may be. You will take valuable presents.
Such a troop will accompany you as can protect you from violence or
insult. To Pharaoh's own face you will deliver the words of the Great
King, bidding him the salutation of brotherhood and peace, but demanding
the body of his Assyrian prisoner alive and unhurt. If he refuse, or if
a hair of Sarchedon's head have fallen, you will break your bow asunder,
and cast the fragments at his feet, telling him you will return to claim
them with an army of the sons of Ashur, to which the last that entered
Egypt was but as the lizard in the garden to the mighty monster of the
Nile. Be lavish, peremptory, and bold. The king hath spoken." You may
believe, my friend, that I turned my head more than once, thinking I
might be taking my last look of beautiful Babylon. To beard Pharaoh on
his throne with a handful even of the bravest horsemen in Assyria seemed
an action savouring little of wisdom or common prudence; but, as the old
king used to swear, Nisroch strikes with him who trusts his own right
hand. So, when I _did_ find myself in Pharaoh's presence, I spoke out as
if the hosts of Assyria stood in array a bowshot from my back. Small
reason had I to complain of my reception. A king in person could not
have been greeted with a nobler welcome. What riches! what luxury! what
splendour! I would we had taken their whole country when we fought so
hard to cross their river under the old king's leadership. Pharaoh must
have been weakened to some purpose, or he had scarce listened patiently
to a demand which seemed well-nigh a defiance. There was delay, indeed,
ere they produced you, and I feared for a time you had been slain in one
of their secret dungeons; but I took my bow from my back in presence of
Phrenes, and made as though I would break it across my knee. The old man
turned white with fear, and that very day I beheld you at the banquet of
wine, seated in a place of honour and apparelled like a king's son. Then
my heart leaped within me; for I knew that we were both safe, and might
hope to drink the wine of Damascus within the walls of Babylon once
more. I would we had a cup of it now!"
Sarchedon was silent. His friend's account of the means by which an
imprisonment that seemed so hopeless had been cancelled, a decree of
Pharaoh reversed, perplexed him more and more.
That he should have attained thus suddenly to the favour of Ninyas, on
accession of the latter to his father's throne, was perhaps to be
accounted for by one of those caprices to which he had already seen men
owe great honours and promotion under the authority of a despot; but
that the king should have ridden in person to discover his track, should
have actually shed tears of pity for his supposed fate, was so strange,
that he left to future events the solution of such a riddle, resolving
for the present to content himself with the improvement in his
prospects, and the hope that, when free and amongst his own countrymen,
he might succeed in obtaining some traces of the fate of Ishtar, some
clue to the perpetrators of that outrage by which Arbaces lost his
life. Deep in his own heart he swore never to rest until he had
recovered his lost love and avenged the slaughter of her father--blood
for blood.
Thus journeying northward through the plain, at a rate which promised
ere many more furlongs were passed to bring them across the confines of
Egypt into their own land of Shinar, they observed a cloud of dust
rising on the sky-line behind them, and extending so far along the
horizon that it threatened to encompass their little troop in its
embrace. Swiftly as they travelled, it seemed to advance more swiftly
still. The Assyrian horsemen looked in each other's faces with blank
dismay, but none liked to be the first in expressing a hideous
apprehension that curdled at each man's heart. Nevertheless, reins were
instinctively tightened and horses pressed to increased speed. Presently
Sethos laid his hand on his companion's bridle-arm, and pointed
ominously to the rear.
"Behold the red simoon!" he whispered. "The demon of the desert has
spread his wings from side to side, and there is no escape. It is the
will of Nisroch. When he breathes in our faces, we must die?"