The Vengeance of Beltis
So it came about that this queen, whose name I learned was Elisheba
among her own people, the Hebrews, Beltis being a title given to her
in Sidon, and I dwelt together in the palace of Tenes. Leave me she
dared not, nor would I suffer it who knew that then certainly she
would be murdered, while with me she was safe because Tenes dared not
touch one whom I sheltered, being afraid of me; one, moreover, over
whom I had placed the veil of Isis. For the rest she was glad to stay
with me whom soon she learned to love, especially after she had heard
how I pleaded for her son's life.
I, too, was glad that she should do so, both because she was a
companion to my loneliness and a protection, since Tenes could not
persecute me with his passion in her presence, and because she had
those who loved her in Sidon, certain Hebrews through whom we learned
much. Yet we were in a strange case, the queen who reigned and the
queen to whom her place was promised, dwelling together like sisters,
and both sworn to destroy him who was her husband and who desired to
be mine.
For we made a pact together, she swearing by Jehovah and I by Isis,
that we would neither rest nor stay till we saw Tenes dead and his
Sidonians with him. Oh! if I hated him and these, she, the robbed
mother, hated them worse, so deeply indeed that if only she might come
by vengeance she cared nothing for her life. She was a fierce-natured
woman, such as those of the Hebrews often are, and all her heart's
love had been given to this boy, her only child, whom Tenes butchered
at the bidding of the priests and because of his superstitions.
From the beginning this Beltis or Elisheba had hated the Sidonians and
Tenes, to whom she was given in a marriage of policy by the rulers of
Jerusalem because of her beauty and her royal blood, and now to her
they were but as wild beasts and snakes to be destroyed. Yet she was
clever also and played her part well, feigning sorrow for the wild
words she spoke in the hour of her agony and with it obedience to the
wishes of the King. She even told him in my presence that when the
time came she would be willing that I should take her crown and she
but a second place, or if it pleased him better, that she would return
to her own people. This, however, he did not desire, since he feared
lest the disgrace of so great a lady should bring the wrath of
Jerusalem upon him, or even cause the Hebrews to join his enemies.
So well did she play that part, indeed, making it appear that her
spirit was crushed and that she was one from whom there was nothing to
fear, that soon Tenes came to believe that this was so, and in order
to please me he suffered her to dwell on there in peace.
Now I have to tell of the war and of the end of Sidon. First I should
say, however, that before he sailed for Egypt, after the _Hapi_ had
been fitted with a new mast of cedar, I caused Philo to be summoned to
the palace by the help of those Jews who were the friends of Beltis.
He was brought to my presence with two merchants, disguised as one of
their company, and, while Beltis made pretence to chaffer with them
for their costly goods, I spoke with him apart.
I told him to get him to Memphis as quickly as he might, and there
make all ready as we had agreed, awaiting my message. How this would
reach him, or Noot, or both of them, I did not know. It might be by
writing, or by messenger who would bear certain tokens, or it might be
otherwise. At least when it came he must sail at once, and arriving
off the port of Sidon, every night after the setting of the sun and
before its rising, must light a flare of green fire at his masthead,
causing it to burn for the fourth part of an hour, so that I might be
sure that the ship which signalled was his and no other. Then in this
way or in that I would find means to come aboard that vessel, and the
rest was in the hands of the gods.
These things he vowed to do and departed safely with the merchants,
nor did Tenes ever learn that Philo had visited the palace.
Meanwhile Tenes was making mighty preparations for the war. He dug a
triple ditch about Sidon and heightened its walls. He hired ten
thousand Grecian mercenaries and armed the citizens. By help of the
Greeks he drove the Persian vanguard out of Phœnicia, and for a while
all went well for him and Egypt. At length came the news that the vast
army of Ochus was rolling down on Sidon, together with three hundred
triremes and five hundred transports; such an army as Phœnicia had
never seen.
One morning Tenes came to my chamber and told of the march of Ochus,
Beltis withdrawing herself. He was in a very evil case, for he
trembled and even forgot to say sweet words or to devour me with his
eyes after his fashion. I asked him why his hand shook and his lips
were pale, he, who as a warrior king, should be rejoicing at the
prospect of battle. He answered because of a dream he had dreamed, in
which he seemed to see himself defeated by the Persians and cast down
living from the wall of the city. Then he added these words:
"You, Lady, promised to show me how to conquer the world. Do so, I
pray you, for I say that my heart is afraid and I know not how I shall
stand against Ochus."
Now I laughed at him and answered,
"So at last you come to me for counsel, Tenes, who for days have been
wondering for how long you would be content to take that of Mentor of
Rhodes and of the King of Cyprus. Well, what would you learn?"
"I would learn how I may defeat the Persians, Lady, the Persians who
pour upon us like a flood through a broken wall."
"I do not know, Tenes. To me it seems impossible. I think that dream
of yours is coming true, Tenes, that is----" And I ceased.
"What, then, must I do, Lady? What is your meaning?"
"I mean that you are mad to fight Ochus."
"But I am fighting Ochus."
"Those who have been enemies may become friends, King Tenes. Have I
not told you that you would be safer as the ally of Ochus than as his
foe? What is Egypt to you that you should destroy yourself to save
Nectanebes?"
"Egypt may be little, Lady, but Sidon is much. The Sidonians are
pledged to this war and the hand of Ochus might be heavy on them."
Again I laughed and answered,
"Which is dearer to a man, his own life or those of others? Fight and
die if you will, O King; or make peace and perchance let others die if
you will, O King. They say that Ochus is generous and knows how to
reward those who serve him."
"Do you mean that I should make a pact with him and betray my people?"
he asked hoarsely.
"Aye, my words may be so read. Hearken. You have great ambitions. You
would win the world--and me. My wisdom tells me that only thus can you
win the world--and me. Continue this war, and very soon you will lose
me and all that you will command of Earth shall be such small part of
it as hides your bones. Now make your choice and trouble me no more,
who in truth find little joy in timid hearts that fear to take hold of
opportunity. Therefore, follow your counsel or my own, I care not
which who would be gone back to Egypt to seek a higher destiny than
that of consort to a conquered slave."
"Whatever I may lose, you I cannot lose," he said slowly. "Also your
mind is mine. This Persian is too strong for me, and on Egypt I cannot
lean too hard lest it break beneath me. These Sidonians, also, are
rebellious and murmur against me. I think that they would kill me if
they dared, who now call me Child-murderer because I gave my son in
sacrifice to please the priests."
"Mayhap, King," I answered carelessly, "since mobs are fickle. I
repeat that the wise man and he who would be great does not think of
others but of himself."
"I will consult with my General, Mentor the Greek, for he is
far-sighted," he said, and left me.
"The poison works," I thought to myself as I watched him go. Then I
called Beltis and told her all that had passed between her lord and
me. She listened and asked,
"Why do you lead Tenes down this road, Ayesha?"
"Because of the pit at the end of it," I answered. "Have not your
spies told us that this Ochus is implacable? He will make a pact with
Tenes and then he will destroy him. Such at least is the counsel that
comes to me from Heaven, which he has angered, as I think."
"Then I pray that Tenes may follow it, Ayesha, so long as it hurls him
down to hell, and the Sidonians with him."
As it chanced he did, for it was of a sort that his false heart loved.
The rest may be told in few words. Tenes sent his minister,
Thessalion, another crafty fellow, to make a treaty with Ochus. These
were the terms of this treaty: That he, Tenes, should surrender Sidon
and in payment receive the royalty of Egypt after it had been
conquered, and of all Phœnicia also, and with it that of Cyprus.
Ochus swore these gifts to him and continued his advance. When he
reached a certain spot, he halted. Then Tenes, as he had undertaken to
do, led out a hundred of the chief citizens of Sidon to a Council of
the States of Phœnicia, or so he said.
Howbeit, presently they found themselves in the camp of Ochus who
butchered them to the last man, all save Tenes himself, who returned
to Sidon with a tale of an ambush from which he had escaped.
Then it was I saw that the end drew near, and in a ship, which not
Tenes, but the captains of the Sidonians sent to Nectanebes at Memphis
to pray for more aid, I caused a faithful Jew to sail, one sworn to
the service of Beltis, who carried with him hidden in the hollow sole
of his sandal a letter addressed to Noot and to Philo, praying that
Philo would sail at once and do all those things that had been agreed
upon between us. Also night by night I sent out my spirit, or rather
my thought, to seek the spirit of Noot, as he had taught me to do, and
it seemed to me that answers came from Noot telling me that he read my
thought and would do those things which I desired.
The chief men of the Sidonians held a council in the great hall of the
palace. Hidden behind curtains in a gallery of the hall, Beltis and I
saw and heard all that passed at this council, over which Tenes
presided as King. Bitter was the talk of those lords, for doubts were
abroad. They thought it very strange that Tenes alone should have
escaped from that ambush. Yet like the liar that he was, he cozened
them with false tales, showing them also that the gods of the
Sidonians had preserved his life, that he in his turn might preserve
theirs. Yes, he said this and other things, he the knave and traitor,
who already plotted to destroy them all.
At this council the Sidonians took a desperate road. Day by day many
were escaping from the city by sea and otherwise. Already nigh a third
of the people had gone, and among them some thousands of the best
soldiers, so that the captains saw that soon the great city would be
left with few to defend her. Therefore they came to this resolve--to
burn all their ships so that no more could flee upon them, and to set
watches at the gates and round the walls with orders to slay any who
might attempt flight by land.
Fearing for his life, Tenes consented to these deeds, swearing that he
desired but one thing, to conquer or to die with the citizens of
Sidon.
So it came about that soon the darkness was made as light as day by
the flames which sprang from over a hundred vessels of war besides a
multitude of smaller ships, while the Sidonians, watching them burn
from the roofs of their houses, beat their breasts and moaned. For now
they knew they were cut off and must conquer or perish.
The ships of Ochus watched the port of Sidon, though somewhat
carelessly because it was known to him that its harbours were empty,
and the vast army of Ochus rolled down in countless hosts upon its
walls.
Hour by hour spies came in with terrible reports, causing the hearts
of the Sidonians to melt with fear. For now they understood that all
hope of victory was gone and that they were doomed, though as yet they
did not know that it was their king who had betrayed them.
Another council was held, at which Beltis and I watched as before, and
there it was agreed that the city should throw itself upon the mercy
of Ochus. Tenes affected to protest and at last to allow himself to be
overruled, as I, to whom he came day by day for guidance, put it into
his black heart to do. Heralds were sent to the camp of Ochus,
offering to surrender upon honourable terms, and while they were
absent bloody sacrifices of children and others were made to Dagon and
his company in the Holy Place before the temple, till its pavements
ran red with blood. For thus these cruel folk hoped to propitiate
Heaven and to win mercy from Ochus.
The heralds returned bearing the word of Ochus. He said that if five
hundred of the chief citizens came out unarmed and made submission to
him, he would grant their prayer and spare Sidon; but if they did not,
that he would pull it stone from stone and slaughter all who lived
within its walls. Also one of the Persian ambassadors who accompanied
them brought a secret letter for Tenes. This letter Tenes, who by now
did nothing without my counsel, read to me.
It was brief. This was its substance:
If he would put Sidon into his hands, Ochus swore to Tenes by his most
solemn Persian oaths advancement greater than he had ever dreamed; and
to Mentor the Rhodian and the general of the Grecian and Egyptian
Mercenaries, he swore a vast sum in gold and one of the first commands
in the Persian army. If Tenes would not do this, then Ochus proposed
to make peace with Sidon for a while but afterward to destroy it. To
Tenes himself, however, he promised death at the hands of the
Sidonians themselves, to whom all his treachery should be revealed.
Lastly an answer was demanded without delay.
"What shall I say to Ochus, Lady?" asked Tenes of me.
"I know not," I answered. "Honour would seem to demand that you should
lay down your life and save Sidon and her citizens, if only for a
while. Yet, O King, what is honour? How will honour help you when you
have been torn to pieces by the maddened mob upon yonder Holy Place,
and your spirit has gone to Baal, or wherever the spirits of those
sacrificed to Moloch may go. Will this empty honour give you that
great advancement of which the Persian speaks, which doubtless will
carry with it the rule of Phœnicia and of Egypt, and perchance also
that of the East? For Ochus being mortal, Tenes, once you have brought
him to his death, as I can show you how to do, who is fitter than
yourself to fill his throne? Lastly, will death with honour bring me
whom you desire to your side, King Tenes? I have spoken, now judge,"
and lifting my veil, I sat and smiled at him.
"It is not safe," he said. "All hangs on Mentor and the Greeks. Unless
they join in the plot the Sidonians will fight to the last with their
aid, and when they discover my traffic with Ochus they will slay me.
And if I fly to Ochus and the Sidonians fight, then mayhap he will
slay me as one who has helped him nothing. But if Mentor joins us,
then we can open the gates to the Persians and ourselves go out safe
to reap our reward."
"There speaks a great man," I said, "one who is fore-sighted, one not
tied by petty scruples; there speaks such a one as I would take to be
my lord. Aye, there speaks a man fit to rule the world, to whom the
great advancement the Persian promises is but the first rung in the
ladder of glorious triumph--that ladder which reaches to the very
stars. Already these Sidonians hate you, Tenes. I saw them mutter when
you passed among them yesterday; aye, and one laid his hand upon his
dagger, but another checked him, having a look in his eyes that seemed
to say--'Not yet.' If once they learn the truth, Tenes, perchance soon
you also will lie on the altar of sacrifice and be cast living into
the fiery jaws of Dagon, where your son went before you, Tenes. Why do
you not send for Mentor and search his mind?"
So Mentor was sent for, and meanwhile I gave Tenes my hand to kiss.
Yes, I even suffered this that I might fix him the more firmly on my
hook.
Mentor came. He was a burly Greek, a great soldier with a keen brain
behind his laughing eyes; one who loved gold and wine and women, and
for these and high place and generalship was ready to sell his sword
to whoever bid the most.
Tenes set out the matter to him very craftily and showed him the
writing of Ochus. He listened, then asked,
"And what does this veiled Daughter of Isis think? I remember hearing
in Egypt where she was held the first of Oracles and named Child of
Wisdom, that her prophecies never fail to fulfil themselves."
"The Daughter of Isis thinks that among the Persians Mentor will grow
tall, but that here among the Sidonians he will be felled like a
forest tree and go to feed a mighty fire, such a fire as consumed the
fleets of Sidon awhile ago."
Thus I answered, and when Mentor heard my words, he laughed and said
that he was of the same mind, which without doubt was true, for
afterward I learned that already he had been in treaty with Ochus.
So he and Tenes struck hands upon their bargain, the most infamous
perhaps that was ever made by men, since it gave to slaughter forty
thousand or more who trusted to them.
Thus was signed the doom of an accursed people, that doom which I was
destined to bring upon their heads, and thus was Tenes sent down the
road to hell. Only Mentor prospered greatly for a while in the service
of the Persians, and what was the end of him I do not know. After all,
he was but one of many who flit from master to master as advantage
leads them. Doubtless long ago the world has forgotten him, his
Grecian cunning, his generalship, and his treachery.
The five hundred went out to the Persian camp to plead with Ochus,
bearing palm branches in their hands; yea, they went with light
hearts, for Tenes had told them that certainly their prayer would be
granted and that he knew this from the lips of Ochus himself. Led by
the priesthoods of the various gods--oh! how it rejoiced me to see
those vile and cruel priests in that company!--they went, but not one
of them returned again, for Ochus received them with mockeries and
reviling, and to make sport for himself and his soldiers, told them to
run back to Sidon. Then he loosed his horsemen on them and slew them
with swords and javelins and set their heads on stakes around the
walls.
When the Sidonians knew and saw, they went mad with rage and terror.
They gathered themselves by thousands in the Holy Place and had it not
been for Mentor and his Greeks, would have stormed the palace, for now
they were sure that Tenes had betrayed them. Indeed Beltis had made
the truth of this treachery known through the Hebrews who served her.
Also they clamoured that I, Ayesha, should be led forth and
sacrificed, saying that it was the presence of a priestess of Isis in
the city which had caused their gods to desert them. For a little
while I was afraid, who remembered what had chanced upon the ship
_Hapi_ when Tenes would have suffered me to be thrown to the deep to
satisfy the superstitions of the sailors. Therefore thinking it best
to be bold, I sent for Tenes and said to him,
"If by evil chance I should be slain, O King, then know that I have it
from the goddess whom I serve that you with whose lot mine is
intertwined will die within an hour. I, Tenes, am the bright star of
your fortunes, and if I set, farewell to them and you."
"I know it," he answered, "as I know that without you I can never rise
to be king of the world. Therefore I will defend you to the last;
also, beauteous one, I desire you for my wife. Yet," he added, "some
might think that this star of your wisdom has hitherto led my feet
into dark and evil places," and he looked at me doubtfully.
"Fear nothing," I answered. "'Tis ever darkest before the dawn and out
of evil arises good. Great glory awaits you, Tenes, or rather great
glory awaits both of us. History will embalm your name, Tenes." But to
myself I thought that it was the Persians who would embalm his body,
unless indeed they cast it to the dogs!
Now every evening after sundown it was my custom to walk upon the flat
roof of the palace and look out over the ocean which, also for reasons
my own, rising early, I did before the dawn. That night while I walked
I put up my prayers to Heaven, for though I played so bold a game, its
odds seemed to be gathering against me. Doubtless, as it deserved,
this hateful Sidon would fall, but when its walls were crashing down,
with what should I protect my head? I did not know. Yet it is true
that never did I lose faith. Always I knew that I was the instrument
of that Strength which directs the fate of men and nations, that what
I did was because I was driven and commanded so to do for reasons that
were dark to me; moreover, that I was not an instrument to be broken
and thrown aside. Nay, however strait the path and however great the
perils that beset it, I was sure that I should walk it with safety,
because it was fated that I should do so, though whither it would lead
me I could not tell in those days when I was but as other women are.
Still I put up my prayer to Heaven and scanned the horizon with my
eyes.
Lo! far away beyond the lights of the watching triremes of Ochus, so
far that it seemed almost set upon the surface of the sea, burned a
faint green fire. For the fourth part of an hour it burned, and went
out. Then I knew that my words had reached Egypt, whether in the
writing or by the swift path of the spirit, and that Noot or Philo had
come to save me.
Before the dawn once more I climbed to the roof of the palace, and
behold! far away again the green fire burned upon the bosom of the
deep, telling me that out yonder the great trireme waited for my
coming. Aye, but how was I to come?
Tenes the vile and Mentor the venal played their parts well. They
opened the gates of the outmost wall which the Greeks held, and let in
the Persians whom these Greeks greeted as brothers, having at times
served under them in the past. The Sidonians saw and knew that the
dice had fallen against them; knew too that they were loaded dice.
They gathered in the Holy Place and raved for the blood of Tenes who
cowered behind a curtain and hearkened to them. Beltis and I, playing
our parts, came to comfort him.
"Be brave!" I said gently. "The road to the kingship of the world is
steep and difficult. Yet when the peak is gained, how glorious, O
Conqueror, will be the prospect spread out before your eyes."
"It is steep and difficult indeed," he muttered, wiping his brow with
the fringe of his broidered robe.
Had he but seen the look which Beltis cast upon him, standing behind
him with folded arms and humble air, perchance he would have thought
it steeper still.
"Let us talk," I said, "for the end draws near. What is your plan? How
will you and we, your queens, escape from this city?"
"All is prepared," he answered. "At the King's wharf, to which a
covered way runs from the palace, in the house where the royal boats
are moored, is my own barge that, being thus secured, escaped burning
with the ships. In this barge, which is manned with Greeks to whom a
great reward is promised and who wait in the boathouse day and night,
we will row from the harbour for a hidden bay three leagues down the
coast where we will land and be escorted thence to the encampment of
the Great King. Yet perchance it may be wiser that I should be with
Mentor to welcome Ochus when he enters to take peaceful possession of
the city. If so, Daughter of Isis, you will do well to leave it by
yourself, or with the lady Beltis if she wishes to accompany you, and
to meet me in the camp of Ochus."
"Perhaps that would be better," I answered, "since it might not be
thought seemly that the great King Tenes should slip away to his ally
by night. Nay, let him rather march out as a monarch should. Only then
we must have authority to act as occasion may direct."
"Aye, Lady, take this ring," and slipping the royal signet from his
finger he gave it to me. "It will be obeyed by all who see it;
moreover, I will issue certain orders. So long as we meet again at
last, we whose fates are intertwined, it matters not by what separate
roads we travel."
"It matters not at all, my lord Tenes," I answered as swiftly I hid
away the signet.
It was just then, at the hour of sunset, that Mentor entered the
chamber. No longer was he gay and light-hearted; indeed his brows were
bent and his eyes full of trouble.
"By Zeus!" he said, "a dreadful thing has happened. In their despair
these Sidonians of yours, King Tenes, have taken counsel together.
They have determined that rather than fall into the hands of Ochus,
they will burn the city and with it themselves and their wives and
children. Yes, uttering the curse of all the gods upon you, thus they
have determined. Look, the fires begin!"
We went to the window-places and gazing from them, saw desperate men
rushing to and fro with lighted torches of cedar wood in their hands,
while other men drove mobs of screaming women and children into the
houses, yes, and into the temples, and shut the doors upon them. Here
and there, too, from the roofs of these houses rose wisps of smoke
that soon were mingled with flame. East and west and north and south,
through the great city of Sidon arose that smoke and flame. Everywhere
also mobs of the people whose courage failed them and who did not
desire to die thus were rushing toward the gates and into the camp of
the Greeks. In this fashion, I believe, that from ten to twenty
thousand of the inhabitants of Sidon escaped, though afterward Ochus
the cruel slew many of them and enslaved the rest.
I looked, I saw, and my heart melted within me. Hateful as were these
insolent, bloodstained folk, I grieved that I should have had any hand
in bringing their reward upon them. After all, they were brave and
would have fought to the end, who now made expiation by a great
self-sacrifice, which was also brave. Oh! if I could I would have
lifted that doom from off them. Then I remembered that it was not I
who did these things, but Fate which made of me its instrument;
remembered also that only thus could I escape the foul hands of Tenes.
I turned to look upon that traitor. He trembled, and trembling tried
to seem brave; he laughed, and in the midst of his laughter burst into
tears.
"Behold the fate of those who would have slain their king! Truly the
gods are just," he said. "Now let us fly to the great Ochus and
receive from him his royal welcome and reward. Truly the gods are
just!"
He turned about seeking for Mentor, but Mentor had gone. There
remained in that chamber only Beltis the Queen, he, and I, Ayesha.
Beltis glided to the door and made it fast. Then she came to Tenes and
before he guessed her purpose, snatched the gold-hilted sword from his
belt. She stood before him with fierce white face and blazing eyes.
"Truly the gods are just," she repeated in a low and terrible voice.
"Fool, do you not know what welcome Ochus will give you yonder and
what rewards? Hearken! That false Greek, Mentor, told me of these but
now, or pitying my lot, he offered me his love and to take me to
safety. After I had refused him, he went his way while you stared from
the window-place."
"What words are these, Woman?" gasped Tenes. "Ochus is my ally; Ochus
will greet me well who have served him well. Let us be going."
"Ochus will greet you thus, O Tenes; I have it from the mouth of
Mentor who has it from Ochus himself. Slowly he will cause you, a
king, to be beaten to death with rods, which is the fate the Persians
give to slaves and traitors. Then he will stuff your body with spices
and tie it to the masthead of his ship, that when presently he sails
for Egypt it may be a warning to Nectanebes the Pharaoh whom also you
have betrayed."
"It is a lie, it is a lie!" shouted Tenes. "Daughter of Isis, tell
this mad woman that it is a lie."
I stood still, answering nothing, and Beltis went on,
"Tenes, Fate is upon you. Will you meet it less bravely than the
meanest of the thousands of this people whom you have given to doom?
Take my last counsel and leap from yonder window, that you who have
lived a coward and a traitor may at least die a man."
He gnashed his teeth, he stared about him. He even went to the
window-place and looked out as though he would brave the deed.
"I dare not," he muttered, "I dare not. The gods are just; they will
save me who sacrificed my son to them."
Then he knelt down in the window-place and began to pray to Moloch
whose brazen image showed redly in the gathering gloom.
"Take your sword, Tenes, if you dare not leap, and make an end," said
the cold voice of the fierce-faced Hebrew lady who stood behind him,
whilst I, Ayesha, watched all this play as a spirit might that is afar
from the affairs of earth, wondering how it would end.
But Tenes only answered,
"Nay, sharp steel is worse than steep air. I would live, not die. The
gods are just, the gods are just!"
Then he went on praying to Moloch.
Queen Beltis grasped the handle of the short sword with both her hands
and with all her strength drove it down between the broad shoulders of
Tenes.
"Aye, dog of a Sidonian," she cried, "the gods are very just, or at
the least my God is just, and here--child-slayer--is the justice!"
Tenes screamed aloud, then struggled to his feet and stood striking at
the air, the short sword still fixed in his back, a dreadful sight to
behold.
"Would you murder me, Jewess?" he babbled, and staggered after her,
still beating at the air with his clenched fist.
"Nay," she answered, ever retreating before him, "I would but give you
your due, or some of it. Go, garner the rest in Gehenna's deep, O
butcher of children and traitor blacker than the world has ever seen.
Die, hound! Die, lurking jackal who would have mumbled the bones of
greatness left by the full-fed Persian lion. Die, slaughterer of the
son that sprang from us, and go meet his spirit in the world below,
telling him that Elisheba his mother, a woman of the royal house of
Israel, the Queen whom you had rejected, sent you thither. Die, while
the city, the great City of the Seas, burns with the fires that your
treachery has lighted and the cries of its tortured citizens ring in
your ears. Pass with them to Gehenna and there strike your account,
having their fire-shrivelled souls for witnesses and Moloch and Baal
and Ashtoreth for judges and for company. Die, dog, die! and while
your brain darkens, remember to the last that it was Elisheba, the
robbed mother, who gave you to drink of the cup of death."
So she reviled, ever flitting before him, while he staggered slowly
after her round the great chamber. At length he could no more and fell
at my feet, grasping my robe,
"Daughter of Isis," he babbled, "whom I desired and would have made my
queen, save me! Is this the great advancement that you swore to me?"
"Aye, mighty Tenes," I answered, "since death is the greatest of all
advancements. In death be king of Phœnicia, of Egypt and of the East,
since surely there you will stand above all thrones, powers, and
dominions. In death all things will be yours, O traitor Tenes, who
would have done violence to the daughter of Isis, everything save
Ayesha's self, who here bids you farewell, vile Tenes."
Then, wailing and moaning, he died, and thus robbed Ochus of his
vengeance upon a tool of which he had no further need.