THE VISION OF DANIEL, THE VICEROY
Silent and thoughtful in the midst of the swarthy Arabian guard
commanded by Nathan the Israelite, who bore Memnon's letters to the
Great King, Clearchus and Chares rode out of the eastern gate of
Halicarnassus. Even the Theban's buoyant nature for once was subdued.
They were going to what seemed certain death, and they were leaving
behind them those they loved most on earth.
To Clearchus this thought was unbearable. He cared not what happened,
now that the last hope of rescuing Artemisia was gone. What would
become of her? Who could aid her now? He rode with his head sunk on
his breast, seeing and hearing nothing of what went on around him. A
low fever filled his veins, dulling his senses and leaving him only
half conscious of their situation. At times he imagined it was all a
dream, from which he would awake, still free to continue the search for
his lost love. Then a realization of the truth would return to him,
and he groaned aloud in his despair.
The response of the oracle of Delphi, which had supported him, now
seemed like a mockery. It had been fulfilled, he thought, when in
truth he found Artemisia in the track that Alexander's army was to
follow. The Gods had made him their sport, and he fancied them smiling
down from the heavens upon his agony. The light of the sun became
hateful to him.
So he rode, mile after mile and day after day, in listless and inert
abandonment to his fate. Who could resist the will of the Gods? He
ate almost nothing, and his strength wasted visibly, while lines of
suffering deepened on his face.
In vain Chares sought to rouse him. He returned patient answers to the
arguments of the Theban, but his power of effort was gone. In the
first stages of their journey Chares watched over him constantly to
prevent him from destroying himself in his despair.
Through Lycia, Pisidia, and Cilicia they passed, finding fresh relays
of horses at each station along the great highway that had been
established by the predecessors of Darius. Through the Amanic Gates
they galloped at last, and paused at Thapsacus, on the banks of the
mighty Euphrates, where, more than a century and a half before, the Ten
Thousand had halted in their desperate dash upon Babylon.
Chares had long ago recovered his cheerful temper. Of what lay before
them when they reached the Persian capital he had ceased to think. The
condition of Clearchus, and the fact that they had advanced so far
toward the heart of the Persian empire, made escape practically
impossible. The Theban was regarded rather as a comrade than an enemy
by the Arabs of the guard, and his unfailing good nature made the long
journey seem less wearisome.
With Nathan he had formed a solid friendship. The young Israelite,
browned by the sun and wind, was naturally taciturn and inclined to
silence. His form was active and sinewy, and his muscles seemed always
on the alert. In his dark eyes burned the mystic intelligence and
indomitable earnestness of his race. He rode usually in advance of the
little troop, and, although often he seemed wrapped in contemplation,
nothing ever escaped him. The contrast between him and the careless,
talkative Theban, with his laughing blue eyes and yellow hair, was as
complete as possible; and it may have been this very difference in
their temperaments that drew them together.
Nathan showed an extraordinary interest in all that related to
Alexander, even in his personal appearance and what he had said on this
or that occasion. He would listen by the hour while Chares talked of
the young Macedonian king, his people, and his court. No suspicion
entered the Theban's mind that Nathan was seeking information for the
use of his superiors in Babylon. He would have dismissed such a
thought as unjust. The Israelite inquired little about Alexander's
army, and seemed rather desirous of forming in his own mind a portrait
of the young leader. That he reflected deeply upon what Chares told
him was shown by the questions that he asked from time to time for the
purpose of enabling him to fill out some incomplete detail.
Chares sometimes wondered whether the interest that Nathan displayed in
Alexander could have any religious bearing. He had heard from
Aristotle of the mysterious and peculiar belief of the Israelites, who
worshipped only one God, and who would not suffer an image of Him to be
set up in their temple; but his ideas regarding their faith were
confused with stories of a hundred other equally insignificant tribes.
His attention was aroused one day by a sudden change in the young
Israelite. He became both restless and abstracted. Often he returned
no answer to the questions that the Theban put to him, and there seemed
to be an unusual luminous depth in his dark eyes. At times his lips
moved as though he were conversing with unseen companions. There was a
strangeness in his actions and expression that caused even the heedless
Theban to feel a vague uneasiness. Toward nightfall, Clearchus, as
though drawn by some undefinable bond of sympathy, rode forward and
took his place beside Nathan. It was the first time that this had
happened since they left Halicarnassus, and Chares watched them with
amazement. Neither spoke, but each appeared conscious of the other's
presence, and Chares imagined that there was more animation in
Clearchus' glance when they halted for the night. At the same time he
had a dim sense that something was going on between them that he could
not understand.
After the evening meal Nathan sat before the tent that he always
occupied with his two prisoners when they spent the night away from
human habitation. Clearchus lay beside him, with his head resting on
his hand. The Arabs were sleeping in a group beside the tethered
horses.
In the measureless depths of the sky the great stars blazed with a
steady light. Strange cries of night birds came from the broad river,
sweeping silently past them in the darkness. The howl of a jackal
sounded faintly in the distance.
Nathan's face was turned toward the south, as though his eyes could see
there the walls of the city in whose narrow streets he had played with
his companions as a boy. Presently he began to speak.
"He will requite His enemies and those who scorn Him," the Israelite
said. "Terrible is His wrath!"
"Is He more powerful than Zeus?" said Clearchus, seeming to comprehend
what Nathan meant.
"Yea," Nathan answered solemnly. "Thy Gods are as nothing before Him.
Baal He overthrew in Babylon with all his brood."
"I have heard that it was the Persians and not thy people who smote
Nebuchadnezzar," Clearchus replied. "Is He the God of the Persians,
too?"
"They paid Him honor under the name of Ormazd," the Israelite replied.
"While they were faithful to Him, nothing could stand against them; but
they have turned their faces from Him, and their time has come. He
hath weighed them in His balance, one by one--Chaldean, Egyptian,
Assyrian, Ph[oe]nician, and Mede. He hath given the victory into their
hands; and one by one hath He smitten them until they were humbled in
the dust. There is no God but God."
"What hath He done for thee?" the Athenian asked.
"He hath delivered me out of the snares of mine enemies," Nathan
replied earnestly, "even when they compassed me about in wrath. Once
and again hath He brought my people out of bondage because they
worshipped Him alone. He hath made good His promise. He hath never
failed us in our hour of need. By the mouths of His holy men hath He
given us knowledge of that which is to come; and now once more He will
show to the sons of men His wrath and His favor. He shall put down the
mighty from their seats."
Chares saw that Nathan's hands were trembling as they lay clasped upon
his knees and that drops of moisture glistened upon his forehead.
"His word was given to Daniel, viceroy of the Great King, Belshazzar,
in the palace at Susa by the waters of the river Ulai in the time of my
fathers' fathers," the Israelite continued. "The mysteries of the
future were laid bare to him by Gabriel, Jehovah's servant; and behold,
he saw standing before the river, a ram with two horns; and the two
horns were high, but one was higher than the other, and the higher came
up last. He saw the ram pushing westward and northward and southward,
so that no beasts might stand against him. Neither was there any that
could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will and
became great. Lo, these are the words of Daniel, the viceroy.
"And as he stood considering, behold, an he goat came from the West on
the face of the whole earth and he touched not the ground. And the he
goat had a great horn between his eyes; and that was thy king, who
cometh. And while Daniel looked, he saw the he goat come close to the
ram and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast
him down to the ground and stamped upon him, and there was none that
could deliver the ram from him. These things were seen of Daniel in
olden times; and the hour is at hand."
There was silence for a moment, and then Clearchus said slowly:--
"If it is written that Alexander shall overthrow the Great King, why
dost thou lead us captives to Babylon?"
"I know not," Nathan replied, "but the command was laid upon me, and it
is Jehovah's will that I should obey. Were it not so, He would have
told me. How can we know His ways? Who are we that we should question
His wisdom? Yet in the end, I have faith that it will be well with
thee; for to Him nothing is impossible."
It was long before Clearchus closed his eyes in sleep that night. He
lay looking upward at the tranquil and steadfast stars and revolving in
his mind the words of the Israelite. Could it be that a Divinity
greater than all others existed in the universe, whose will ruled all
things? The idea took possession of him, and at the same time hope was
renewed in his breast. The Gods whom he had honored had deserted him;
perhaps the God of Israel could help him.