PARTED
Thus arguing according to his lights, the chief directed that Sarchedon
should be secured once more, and, much to the dissatisfaction of the
troop, that they should place him on their horses in rotation,
journeying by turns on foot. Although Ishtar failed to make as good
terms for her lover as for herself, she had in no way forfeited the
protection she acquired so discreetly, and rode by their leader's side,
at the head of the band, as an honoured guest rather than the captive of
his bow and spear. Nevertheless, all her thoughts were engrossed by his
welfare whom she so dearly loved; her whole mind was bent on forming
some scheme for his security and freedom. Alas! it was to no purpose
that she wrung her hands and racked her brain. Sarchedon had fallen into
the power of men for whom human life and human suffering were of less
account than the wormwood that lay bruised beneath their horses' feet.
If a captive proved troublesome, what matter? It was but the push of a
spear, and they were rid of him once for all.
Nevertheless, these children of Anak, though possessing themselves on
occasion with the strong hand of whatsoever they desired, had yet, like
other spoilers, peaceful relations with certain traders whose
propensities for barter could be of inestimable value to men against
whom every gate was barred, every wall guarded, through all the cities
of the plain. With these merchants their dealings were honourable
enough, the man of trade seldom failing to make exorbitant profit from
his transactions with the man of war. This mutual barter comprised
almost every one of the ruder articles required for support or
destruction of life. Horses, arms, camels, dates, bread, honey,
mare's-milk cheeses, even goodly raiment of needlework, were exchanged
freely; while a fair-faced maiden to adorn the tent, a stalwart youth to
keep the herds, were more than all other merchandise sought after and
desired.
Thus it came to pass that Sarchedon, though out of favour with his
captors--who, like most practised horsemen, cared not to journey much on
foot--escaped a fate that seemed imminent each time some wrathful giant
dismounted to make room for the prisoner, and swore freely, by his gods,
that if this inconvenience was to continue through another day, he would
take such order with the Assyrian as should prevent him from ever riding
on horseback again.
Night was falling fast when the troop approached the encampment of their
tribe; a temporary residence to be broken up and removed at an hour's
notice, on the slightest occasion. Rude goats'-hair tents were scattered
here and there, scarcely visible in the deepening gloom. Two or three
camels lay at rest amongst half a score of horses, fastened by the
forefoot, that neighed, screamed, and fought savagely, whenever the
loosening of their tethers permitted them to approach each other within
striking distance. A few giants, sauntering lazily about, took little
notice of the new arrivals, and their tall stately women scarcely lifted
veil for a glance of curiosity, so busied were they in twisting
bowstrings, repairing harness, grinding corn, pressing cheeses, or
baking loaves in the embers of a scanty fire for their lords; but two
swarthy travel-worn men, looking like dwarfs amongst the towering
figures that surrounded them, came forward to accost the chief with
words of extravagant welcome and looks of eager curiosity. These were
traders from the north, who examined the veiled figure of Ishtar with
professional interest, expecting, no doubt, to secure a golden profit by
her purchase.
In this hope they were disappointed. With extreme courtesy the chief of
the Anakim conducted her to a tent standing beside his own, in which,
after a long loving look at Sarchedon, she disappeared, and was seen no
more.
The Anakim seemed well pleased to find these dealers, with whom they had
so often traded, thus inmates of their camp. The leader, after disposing
of his fair guest by consigning her to the care of a stately beauty,
tender of heart as she was gigantic of frame, came out to meet them, and
at once broached a proposal that found immediate favour with his
followers.
"The captive is a goodly youth," said he; "a stout warrior, an expert
archer--tall and strong too for an Assyrian. What say you? These
northern merchants are our brothers--shall we not sell him to them for a
price?"
"Let him go," exclaimed his listeners with one accord; "he is fair, he
is precious, he is a man, even amongst the children of Anak. But the
traders from the north have eaten of our bread and drunken from our cup.
All we possess is theirs, and they shall have him--at a price!"
Then the elder of the traders--keen-eyed, voluble, energetic--put in his
word:
"You have many mouths to feed, my brothers, here within your tents.
Millet grows scarce, and the wells are running dry from day to day. We
also have a long journey before us in the desert. Our water-skins are
empty, our camels over-loaded. What have we to do with a captive who
eats and drinks, yet must be carried from day to day like a bale of
goods? How are your servants to bring this encumbrance with them from
city to city, till they reach their home in the mountains beyond the
great rivers of the plain?"
"You will sell him for a talent of gold in the first market you enter,"
was the answer. "Is he not a comely youth? Fair and strong, and of a
ruddy countenance? We have taken no such prey since we rode, without
ceasing, four days and nights to spoil the City of Palms, by the western
sea."
"The Assyrians have more slaves than enough," answered the trader,
"since they brought captives up from Egypt, by scores and by hundreds,
at the chariot-wheels of the Great King. Nevertheless, are we not
brothers? You shall deliver him as a gift, and take two suits of
raiment in exchange."
"He is yours, my brother," said the chief, "and my tents are yours; my
horses, my camels, my handmaidens; the sword on my thigh, and the bow in
my hand. But shall I give my brother ripened dates and receive from him
only their broken shells? Add to the raiment a measure of myrrh, at
least, and three cruses of oil."
"With a new pack-saddle," suggested a bystander, whose own
camel-furniture had reached the last stage of decay; while a dozen more
took up the cry, insisting on such articles as each thought necessary to
his own comfort or equipment.
"Some twisted rope for hobbles!"
"A bale of silk from Tyre!"
"Two skins of wine of Eshcol!"
"An embossed girdle!"
"A shield of brass!"
"A score of new bowstrings!"
"Or fifty shekels of silver, and no more said," exclaimed the trader,
turning from side to side, with the air of a man overcome by his own
liberality.
"Add to them a hundred," urged the chief; "and go thy way, thou and thy
camels and thy servants, with the goodly slave I have given thee."
"One hundred shekels, and he is mine," returned the trader, placing his
hand on the Assyrian's shoulder in token of ownership; and thus becoming
the possessor of Sarchedon at something less than the price of a good
horse.
Regret was fruitless--resistance impossible. Bound hand and foot, he
could but grind his teeth, and submit.
The merchants made ready their camels forthwith, taking advantage of the
coolness of night to journey through the desert, and guiding their
course by the pilotage of the stars. So noiseless was their departure,
after the bustle of concluding their bargain subsided, that they had
disappeared with her lover in the darkness, ere Ishtar knew they were
clear of the encampment. Seeking the spot where she had last seen
Sarchedon, to find it empty, the maddening truth flashed upon her, and
she could bear no more. Sick, faint, despairing, she uttered one
plaintive cry, and fell senseless on the sand.
The first of the tribe who found her, lifted that drooping form, with
the ease and something of the pitiful admiration with which he would
have picked up a broken lily, and bore her gently to the chiefs tent.
Here she was tended carefully during the night, its gigantic owner
stepping softly to its entrance at intervals to assure himself of her
state. With morning she was able to rise, and as her faculties resumed
their vigour, she realised the whole force of the blow that had fallen.
Ishtar's nature, however, was one which is only found amongst women.
Shrinking instinctively from everything approaching to pain or
danger--fond, trusting, sensitive, and docile--she could yet brave and
endure all things on behalf of those she loved; identifying herself so
wholly with their welfare as to forget her own fears, her own weakness,
and combining with the martyr's patient courage that cheerful energy,
which, looking only to duty, overcomes, by sheer persistence, the
difficulties it ignores. Sorrow might bend, but could not break her
spirit. Like certain flowers which, tread them down as you will, lift
their fair heads directly the crushing footstep has passed on, it rose,
for all its meekness, the more invincible, because of its misfortunes.
Satisfied that Sarchedon was fairly gone, she set herself the one single
task of recovering him. Was he sold into captivity? He must be bought
back. Was he lost? He must be found. That should now be her sole object
in life; and no sooner did she feel strong enough to stand upright than
she began her work without wasting another moment in consideration or
delay.
Seeking the chief of the Anakim, whom she found without the encampment
leading his mare to water, she placed herself in his path, standing
erect and motionless till he approached. Then she rent her garment to
the hem, and, lifting a handful of sand, poured it over her head.
"The servant of my lord is in sore distress and perplexity," said she:
"to whom should she come for help, but to him of whose bread and salt
she has eaten within the shadow of his tents?"
The mare was rubbing her head caressingly against his breast; he pushed
her away, extending both arms in token of sincerity, and replied, "All
that I have, my life, and the lives of my tribe, herds and horses, bows
and spears, are at the disposal of my guest."
"My lord speaks well," answered Ishtar. "But words are vain. Like the
flight of a bird through the air, they leave no track. It is the steed
and the camel that stamp their mark on the sand."
"The tongues of the Anakim are small and feeble," said he, "their arms
long and weighty. Desire of me what you will. It is a gift, before it is
asked."
"What have you done with the Assyrian?" she murmured eagerly. "How fares
he? Whither is he gone? You will not deceive me!"
"You are my guest," returned the chief, "and I _cannot_ deceive you. The
Assyrian is sold into captivity; ere now he has journeyed many a furlong
over the plain towards the city of the Great King."
"Is he, then, bound for Babylon?" she asked, with something of hope
rising in her eyes.
"I know not, of a surety," was his answer. "Yet I think these northern
traders, possessing so goodly a captive, would hardly pass within a few
days' journey of the great city, and fail to visit its market. They will
treat him well, and if he finds friends to redeem him, he may soon be
free. No doubt in Babylon he will sell for nearly a talent of gold, and
we let him go at a hundred shekels of silver! Half the price of a camel!
Truly there is injustice in the desert as in the city!"
This reflection was unheard by Ishtar, being indeed but the echo of the
chief's own thoughts, and spoken aside, as it were, into the ear of his
mare.
There seemed a vague hope, then, of seeing Sarchedon once again. The
girl seized her protector's hand, and, stooping but a little, pressed it
against her forehead.
"You will take me under safe conduct to the gates of Babylon?" said she.
He pondered, looking very grave.
"Will you not abide with us in our tents?" he asked. "Will you be cooped
up in the walls of a city, when you might roam over the desert free as
the wild ass on the plain? Take thought, damsel, once more, as a man
fits a new bowstring when his arrow has missed its aim."
"Had I a quiverful," she replied, "I can see but one mark for them all!"
"You are my guest," said he stoutly; "and go where you will, it is my
duty to speed you safely on your way. You shall ride this my own mare,
the most precious of my possessions, and Lotus-flower, swift, easy,
gentle, will bear you like flowing water. But I must leave you, damsel,
under cover of night, in the vineyards that fringe the great city. If,
for every horseman who leaps to the saddle when I shake my spear, I
could muster a score, then should you enter Babylon through a breach of
fifty cubits in the wall. But a wolf or a jackal would meet with more
mercy than a child of Anak from the Assyrians when they set upon him, a
hundred to one! I have spoken."
Their journey was begun accordingly. Ishtar, mounted on the chief's
favourite mare, led by its owner, and guarded by a score of the stalwart
sons of Anak, journeyed in security and comfort through the wilderness,
until they reached its confines, and entered a territory over which
Ninus, and more especially Semiramis, had thrown the protection of their
severe and pitiless laws. Here they lay hidden by day, advancing swiftly
and silently under cover of night; and Ishtar could not withhold her
admiration from the extraordinary skill and sagacity shown by these
professional spoilers in concealing their encampment on their march. On
such expeditions as the present, they were careful to ride their mares;
for these animals, docile and gentle, either loose or picketed, never
disclosed their presence by those paroxysms of neighing and screaming to
which their less tractable brothers were exceedingly prone.
At length, soon after dawn, Ishtar found herself alone with the chief at
an easy distance from the great city. Taking the ass of a poor peasant,
who dared not even protest against the spoliation, he had dismounted his
guest from the high-bred mare, and placed her on the humbler animal's
back. The troop had been left many a league in the desert. Their leader,
at the utmost personal risk, was within a short ride of Babylon. It was
time to depart, and thus he bade his charge farewell:
"May thy corn never fail nor thy well run dry! May thy vines yield a
hundredfold, and men-children play round thy feet! Thou camest into my
tent like the breeze from the mountain. Though the breeze passeth on,
the tent is glad because of the coolness it hath left. The desert is
boundless, and we scour it far and wide. Behold! Where rides a son of
Anak, there hast thou a brother. I have spoken."
He swung himself on the mare from which he had lately dismounted, caught
Lotus-flower by the bridle, and sped away like the wind.
She watched the gigantic form till it disappeared amongst the dust
raised by those two fleet animals, of which toil and privation seemed in
no way to diminish the mettle or speed; then she looked towards Great
Babylon, towering in state, with her glittering pinnacles, her flashing
gates, her frowning, forbidding walls, and felt that she had lost a
friend.