MENA MAKES A DISCOVERY
Mena, the Egyptian, had found a good excuse for remaining in Athens
during the fighting, but after the battle of the Granicus Phradates had
summoned him to Halicarnassus. He was sitting in a wine-shop,
discussing topics of moment with his host. His restless mind, ever on
the alert for intelligence that he might turn to account, was gathering
information concerning the city.
"Memnon is an able general," he said. "If they had let him lead, the
war would have been over by this time."
"I wish they had, then," the host replied, drawing his cup. "That
battle on the Granicus came near to ruining me, there were so many of
my debtors who did not return."
"You can make up your loss by raising your prices when the siege begins
here," the Egyptian observed.
"Do you think there will be a siege?" the other asked anxiously.
"Of course," Mena replied. "Do you expect Alexander to turn back now
that the northern provinces are his? But with Memnon here, he will
have his trouble for his pains."
"I don't know," the shopkeeper said, shaking his head. "They say these
Macedonians are wonderful fighters, and I am not sure, after all, that
I want to see them beaten. Blood is thicker than water, and this is a
Greek city, when all is said, even though it pays tribute to Darius. I
can't see how we should be worse off under Alexander than we are now.
The Persians are robbers, and my grandfather was a B[oe]otian."
"Would you have the city surrender?" Mena demanded, in affected
surprise.
"No, of course not," the shopkeeper said hastily, taking his cue from
his customer, after the manner of his kind. "No, I would never
surrender, for our walls are so strong and high that the Macedonians
will never get through them; but we might make terms," he added
cautiously.
His embarrassment was relieved by a boy who came to tell him that two
strangers who had just entered the shop desired to speak with him. He
excused himself to the Egyptian, whose sharp eyes followed him as he
went to obey the summons. He could not suppress a start of surprise
when he saw who had sent it. The two men had taken their places at a
remote table, evidently not wishing to be remarked. They wore the garb
of light-armed foot-soldiers and their accoutrement seemed much the
worse for rough usage. One of them was of great size and strength,
with blue eyes and yellow hair which curled about his temples. The
other was smaller and more delicate in appearance. The cunning
Egyptian recognized them in an instant. They were Clearchus and Chares.
Mena knew the two young men had set out with the army of Alexander, and
that they must have had some purpose in coming to Halicarnassus.
Either they had found some clew, he thought, to Artemisia's hiding
place, or they had been sent forward from the army as spies. He
gradually shifted his position so that he might watch their
conversation with the host without danger of being recognized. Their
talk lasted long enough for Chares to drain a huge measure of wine,
after which the keeper of the shop bowed them out and returned to Mena.
"They were two Athenians," he said. "They wanted to know where
Iphicrates lives."
"Who is Iphicrates?" Mena asked innocently.
"He is an old rascal who makes his living out of the necessities of
others," the shopkeeper replied. "I dare say they want to borrow money
from him. They will have to pay well for it!"
"Did they say they wanted money?" queried Mena.
"No, they did not say why they wished to see him," was the reply.
The wily Mena drew from his companion all that he knew about
Iphicrates. He found the house without difficulty and easily learned
the details of the accident that had befallen Thais. With this
information and with what he already knew of Artemisia's disappearance,
he soon found out all the rest.
"Chares and Clearchus will attempt to rescue the two women," he
reflected. "If they succeed, Clearchus will return to Athens and
Ariston will be stripped of all he has. He will undoubtedly be thrown
into prison besides. That must not happen, now, at any rate. Chares
will probably go with Clearchus, and my worthy master will lose, not
only his revenge, but the girl that he makes himself such a fool over.
Of course he would blame me for that. This Iphicrates is a
money-lender, therefore he must have money. Let me see."
Mena's further cogitations led him to Phradates, whom he found playing
at the dice with a party of mercenary captains, who were robbing him
without shame. The Egyptian drew him aside.
"I will deliver Chares into thy hands to-night," he said, "and give
thee Thais to-morrow."
"Are you drunk?" Phradates asked bluntly.
"I mean exactly what I say," Mena replied with dignity, and he related
all that he had discovered.
"My turn has come sooner than I expected," Phradates cried exultingly.
He lost no time in seeking Memnon, with whom he held a long
consultation.
Save for the military patrols, the streets of Halicarnassus were
deserted that night when Chares and Clearchus approached the dwelling
of Iphicrates. They kept the darker side of the way and advanced with
caution, halting at every sound. They had laid aside their weapons,
which they knew would be useless in case of attack and which might
excite suspicion should they be noticed. In front of the house they
stopped to listen. Not a sound broke the stillness and nobody was in
sight. In one of the upper windows a light was burning.
"She is there!" Clearchus said, pointing to the gleam.
"How shall we make her understand who we are?" Chares asked.
Clearchus picked up a pebble from the street and tossed it at the
window. The first trial failed, but at the second the stone entered
the opening.
"Back now until we see her!" the Theban said, drawing Clearchus into an
angle of the opposite wall.
In a moment a woman's head, with hair unbound, appeared at the window
against the light.
"It is Artemisia!" Clearchus cried, unable to control himself in the
rush of his joy. He started forward and stood in the full moonlight
with his arms outstretched.
"Artemisia!" he called softly.
"Clearchus, my love, is it thou?" she replied, in the same tone.
"Yes, we have come to save thee," he answered. "Canst thou come to us?"
"I will try," she said. "Thais is here with me."
She vanished from the window, and Clearchus advanced eagerly toward the
door. Before he had taken three steps a score of men seemed to rise
out of the ground around him. The trap set by Phradates had been
sprung.
"Seize them!" the Tyrian cried in a shrill voice.
In an instant, Clearchus had been overcome. Chares, who had remained
in the angle of shadow, sprang forward with a cry of rage. He reached
Phradates before the soldiers could stop him, and dealt the Tyrian a
blow that sent him down in an inanimate heap ten yards away; but, as he
did so, a dozen men leaped upon him and bore him to the earth.
Clearchus was struggling like a madman with his captors, but to no
purpose.
"They have us," the Theban said coolly. "Let us show ourselves men."
With a groan Clearchus submitted; and the guard, having bound their
arms behind them, dragged them to their feet.
"At least, that Ph[oe]nician coward has his deserts," Chares exclaimed
with a laugh, glancing at the senseless form of his enemy. "I hope I
have killed him!"
Part of the guard marched them quickly away, while the rest remained
behind to care for Phradates. As long as the house could be seen,
Clearchus kept his eyes upon the window, hoping for another glimpse of
Artemisia, but he saw her not.
It was necessary for the soldiers who had stayed behind with Phradates
to summon a physician before he could be brought back to consciousness.
His life had been saved by the fact that he threw up his right hand to
protect himself from Chares' terrible blow. The bones of his wrist had
been broken and splintered so badly that the physician doubted whether
he would ever be able to use his hand again.
In the morning Iphicrates received orders to join the citizen levy that
had been raised to defend the walls of the city; and Phradates, with a
retinue of slaves and attendants, took possession of the house. The
money-lender protested bitterly against the service demanded of him,
but his entreaties were in vain. He had not even time to make
provision for the security of his valuables before he was hurried away,
and he was forced to accept the assistance which the sympathetic Mena
pressed upon him. He revealed to the Egyptian, with many lamentations,
the hiding-places of his hoard, promising to reward him liberally if he
would bring it to him. Mena found not only the gold of which
Iphicrates had spoken, but much more that had been so cunningly
concealed in the walls of the house that Iphicrates had deemed it
unnecessary to allude to it. So expeditious was Mena's search that he
was able to report to Iphicrates, before nightfall, that the soldiers
had anticipated him and had carried everything away.
"I am ruined!" cried the wretched man, turning pale and wiping the
drops from his brow. "The savings of a lifetime of toil have been
taken from me! Ah, the robbers! Would that I had them here before me!"
"Take hope," Mena replied soothingly. "The fortunes of war may bring
thee more than thou hast lost, and it is better, at any rate, that thy
gold should have fallen into the hands of thy friends rather than into
those of the Macedonians."
"I have no friends," Iphicrates wailed. "I will appeal to Memnon
himself!"
"Give yourself no concern about that," the Egyptian replied hastily.
"I have already complained to my master, and he has promised to see
that the soldiers are punished. He is generous, and he feels that it
was partly his fault that this misfortune has come upon thee."
Iphicrates clasped his hand and thanked him with tears. Mena left him
to his drill and hastened to make provision for the secret conveyance
of the gold to Tyre. Phradates remained in ignorance of the whole
transaction, having matters of more importance to occupy his thoughts
than the ruin of an old miser.
Artemisia passed the night in an agony of suspense and weeping. Thais
did her utmost to comfort her, though her own heart was scarcely less
troubled than that of her younger companion. It was by representing
that, weak as they were, they might be the only persons in the city who
could aid Clearchus and Chares, and that they must not abandon
themselves to despair that she finally persuaded Artemisia to sleep.
While she talked, her swift mind was busy with plans. She had heard
that the Persian officials were venal, and that anything in the empire
might be had for a price. She knew that the purchase of a general or a
viceroy was beyond her means, but she hoped that the jailers who had
the two young men in charge, whoever they were, might be bribed by her
jewels to let them escape. It was with a kind of exaltation that she
made a mental account of the gems, thinking that the price she had paid
for them might not have been in vain. The question that most occupied
her mind was what temper Phradates would be in, for she doubted not
that he would seek to take advantage of her situation. Finding
Artemisia quiet at last, she lay down and resolutely closed her eyes.
As soon as the Tyrian had occupied the house, his slaves brought food
and wine in his name to the young women. Thais accepted it.
"Tell thy master that we have no women to dress us," she said.
"How can you receive anything from that man?" Artemisia exclaimed
indignantly, when the slaves had gone.
"If I had my wish, I would drive this through his heart," Thais
replied, catching up a small dagger that she sometimes carried in her
bosom. "My desire to aid Chares and Clearchus is no less strong than
thine; but we are women and we must fight as we can, not as we would.
So hide thy grief if thou canst, for it will win pity neither for them
nor for thee."
Artemisia looked at her splendid beauty, heightened by the smouldering
fire in her eyes. "I feel that I am a child," she said, embracing her.
"I know nothing of the world and I am afraid. I will trust thee in all
things."
Thais returned her caress. "Our lovers are in the net," she said, "but
you remember in the story that it was the mouse that freed the lion.
If Phradates sends us the women, he is still my slave, though we are in
his power, and we may hope. Now, let us eat."
They had scarcely finished when Mena knocked at the door and ushered in
two women of Cyprus, with gleaming black eyes and slender, agile forms.
"My master, the noble Phradates, sends you these," he said, bowing low
before Thais.
"Phradates hath our thanks," she replied gravely. "Tell him that we
hope to express our gratitude to him in person."
Mena withdrew, and Thais immediately commanded the women to dress her
and Artemisia. To this task she gave her whole attention, directing
every step with the minutest care, to the least fold of the saffron
chiton. She chose for her adornment a topaz necklace that seemed to
sparkle with inward fire. Artemisia she robed simply in white, with a
white rose in her soft, brown hair.
There was an unwonted stir in the house. Slaves came and went with
messages. The sound of men's voices rose from below. Thais was
restless and uneasy. She paced backward and forward, stopping now and
then before the polished mirror to examine once more the lustrous coils
of her hair, or the arrangement of her silken chiton. She seemed
expectant, and at every footfall turned her face toward the door; but
the morning wore on, and Phradates did not come. Finally she sent one
of the Cyprian women down, on pretence of fetching water, to learn what
was going on. The woman returned with the news that the Tyrian was
there, but of Chares and Clearchus she could learn nothing.
Thais hesitated for a moment. "Go down again," she said at last, "and
tell Phradates that we are ready to receive him."
The woman took the message, but she came back almost immediately,
saying that Phradates had left the house.
Thais stamped her foot. "Then we must wait," she said regretfully. "O
that I were a man this day!"