Elissa
by
H. Rider Haggard
Part 3 out of 3
speak so loud," answered Metem when he had closed the door and looked
suspiciously about him. "Oh! if ever I find myself safe in Tyre again,
I vow a gift, and no mean one, to each of them that has a temple
there, and they are many; for no single god is strong enough to bring
me safe out of this trouble. Have I seen the lady Elissa? Oh, yes, I
have seen her. And what think you that this innocent lamb, this
undefiled dove of yours, threatens me with now? Death! nothing less
than death, if I will not carry out her foolish wishes. More, she
means the threat, and has the strength to fulfil it, for to the lady
Baaltis is given power over the lives of men, or at the least, if she
takes life none question the authority of the goddess. Unless I do her
will I am a dead man, and that is the reward I get for mixing myself
up in your mad love affairs."
"Hold!" broke in Aziel, "and tell me, man, what is her will?"
"Her will is--what do you think? To meet you in farewell an hour
before you leave this city. Well, as my throat is at stake, by Baal!
it shall be gratified if I can find the means, though I tell you that
it is madness and nothing else. But listen to the story----" and he
repeated all that had passed. "Now," he added, "are you ready to take
the risk, Prince?"
"I should be a coward indeed if I did not," answered Aziel, "when she,
a woman, dares a heavier."
"And I am a coward, that is why I take it, for otherwise I also must
dare a heavier. But what of Issachar? This meeting can scarcely be
kept a secret from him."
Aziel thought awhile and said:--
"Go fetch him here." So Metem went, to return presently with the
Levite, to whom, without further ado, the prince told all, hiding
nothing.
Issachar listened in silence. When both Aziel and Metem had done
speaking, he said:--
"At least, I thank you, Prince, for being open with me; and now
without more words I pray you to abandon this rash plan, which can end
only in pain, and perhaps in death."
"Abandon it not, Prince," interrupted Metem, "seeing that if you do it
will certainly end in my death, for the girl is mad, and will have her
way. Or if she does not, then I must pay the price."
"Have no fear," answered Aziel smiling. "Issachar, this must be done
or----"
"Or what, Prince?"
"I will not leave the city. It is true that Sakon may thrust me from
it, but it shall be as a dead man. Nay, waste no words, since she
desires it; I must and will meet the Lady Elissa for the last time,
not as lover meets lover, but as those meet who part for ever in the
world."
"You say so, Prince; then have I your permission to accompany you?"
"Yes, if you wish it, Issachar; but there is danger."
"Danger! What care I for danger? The will of Heaven be done to me. So
be it, we will go together, but the end of it is not with us."
CHAPTER XII
THE TRYST
Two days had gone by, and at the appointed hour three figures, wrapped
in dark cloaks, might have been seen walking swiftly towards the
little entrance of the temple fortress. Although it was near to
midnight the city was still astir with men, for this very evening news
had reached it that Ithobal was advancing at the head of tens of
thousands of the warriors of the Tribes. More, it was rumoured freely
that within the next few days the siege of Zimboe would begin. Late as
it was, the council had been just summoned to the palace of Sakon to
consider the conduct of the defence, while in every street stood knots
of men engaged in anxious discussion, and from many a smithy rose the
sound of armourers at their work. Here marched parties of soldiers of
various races, there came long strings of mules laden with dried flesh
and grain; yonder a woman beat her breast, and wept loudly because her
three sons had been impressed by order of the council, two of them to
serve as archers and the third to carry blocks of stone for the
fortifications.
Passing unnoticed through all this crowd and tumult, Aziel, Issachar
and Metem entered a winding passage in the temple wall, and came to
the little gate. Metem tried it, and whispered:--
"She has kept her word; it is unlocked. Now enter to your love-tryst,
holy Issachar."
"Do you not come with us?" asked the Levite.
"No, I am too old for such adventures. Listen, I go to make ready.
Within an hour the mules with the prince's bodyguard will stand in the
archway near the small gate of the palace, for by now the baggage and
its escort await us a day's march from this accursed city. Will you
meet me there? No; I think it is best that I should come to your
chambers to fetch you, and, I pray you, let there be no delay, for it
is dangerous in many ways. When once the prince has done with his
tender interview, and wiped away his tears, there should be nothing to
stay him, since the farewell cup with Sakon has been already drunk.
Enter now swiftly before some prowling priest happens upon you, and
pray that you may come out as sound as you go in. Oh! what a sight! A
prince of Israel and an aged Levite of established reputation going to
keep a tryst at midnight with the high-priestess of Baaltis in the
sanctuary of her god! Nay, answer not; there is no time"--and he was
gone.
*****
Having passed the gate, Aziel and Issachar crept down the winding
passages of stone, groping their path by such light as fell from the
narrow line of sky above them, till at length they reached the court
of the sanctuary. Here the place was as silent as death, for the noise
from the city without could not pierce its towering walls of massive
granite.
"It is the very pit of Tophet," murmured Issachar, peering through the
dense shadows, "the house of Beelzebub, where his presence dwells.
Whither now, Aziel?"
The prince pointed to two objects that were visible in the starlight,
and answered:--
"Thither, at the foot of the pillar of El."
"Ah! I remember," said Issachar, "where the accursed woman would have
offered sacrifice, and the priests struck me down because I prophesied
to them of the wrath to come, and that is now at hand. An ill-omened
spot, indeed, and an ill-omened tryst with the fiends for witnesses.
Well, lead on, and I pray you to be brief as may be, for this place
weighs down my soul, and I feel danger in it--danger to the body and
the spirit."
So they went forward. "Be careful," whispered Aziel presently. "The
pit of sacrifice is at your feet."
"Yes, yes," he answered, "we walk upon the edge of the pit, and, in
truth, I grow fearful, for at the threshold of such places the angel
of the Lord deserts us."
"There is nothing to fear," said Aziel. But even as he spoke, although
he could not see it, a white face rose above the edge of the pit, like
that of some ghost struggling from the tomb, watched them a moment
with cold eyes, then disappeared again.
Now they were near the greater pillar, and now from its shadow glided
a black-veiled shape.
"Elissa?" murmured Aziel.
"It is I," whispered a soft voice; "but who comes with you?"
"I, Issachar," said the Levite, "who would not suffer that he of whom
I am given charge should seek such company alone. Now, priestess, say
your say with the prince yonder and let us be gone swiftly from this
blood-stained place."
"You speak harsh words to me, Issachar," she said gently, "yet I am
most glad that you have come, for, believe me, I sought no lovers'
meeting with the prince Aziel. Listen, both of you: you know that they
have consecrated me high-priestess of Baaltis against my will. Now, I
tell you, Issachar, what I have already told the prince Aziel--that I
am no longer a worshipper of Baaltis. Yes, here in her very temple I
renounce her, even though she takes my life in vengeance. Oh! since
they made me priestess I have been forced to learn all her worship,
which before I never even guessed, and to see sights that would chill
your blood to hear of them. Now I tell you, prince Aziel and Issachar,
that I will bear no more. From El and Baaltis I turn to Him you
worship, though, alas! little time is left to me in which to plead for
pardon."
"Why is little time left?" broke in Aziel.
"Because my death is very near me, Prince, for if I live, see what a
fate is mine. Either I must remain high-priestess of Baaltis and to
her day by day bow the knee, and month by month make sacrifice--of
what think you? Well, to be plain, of the blood of maids and children.
Or, perhaps, should their fears overcome their scruples, I shall be
given by the council as a peace-offering to Ithobal.
"I say that I will bear neither of these burdens of blood or shame;
they are too heavy for me. Prince, so soon as you are gone I too shall
leave this city, not in the body, but in the spirit, searching for
peace or sleep. It was for this reason that I sought to speak with you
in farewell, since in my weakness I desired that you should learn the
truth of the cause and manner of my end.
"Now you know all, and as for me there is no escape, farewell for
ever, prince Aziel, whom I have loved, and whom I can scarcely hope to
meet again, even beyond the grave." Then with a little despairing
motion of her hand she turned to go.
"Stay," said Aziel hoarsely, "we cannot be parted thus; since by your
own act you can dare to leave the world, will you not dare to fly this
place with me?"
"Perhaps, Prince," she answered with a little laugh, "but would you
dare to take me, and if so, would Issachar here suffer it? No, no; go
your own path in life, and leave me death--it is the easier way."
"In this matter I am master and not Issachar," said Aziel, "though it
be true that should it please him, he can warn the priests of El.
Listen, Elissa: either you leave this city with me, or I stay in it
with you. You hear me, Issachar?"
"I hear you," said the Levite, "but perchance before you throw more
sharp words at my head, you will suffer me to speak. Self-murder is a
crime, yet I honour this woman who would shed her own blood, rather
than the blood of the innocent in sacrifice to Baal, and who refuses
to be given in marriage to one she hates; who, moreover, has found
strength and grace to trample on her devil-worship, if so in truth she
has. If therefore she will come with us and we can escape with her,
why, let her come. Only swear to me, Aziel, that you will make no wife
of her till the king, your grandsire, has heard this tale and given
judgment on it."
"That I will swear for him," exclaimed Elissa; "is it not so, Aziel?"
"As you will, lady," he answered. "Issachar, you have my word that
until then she shall be as my sister, and no more."
"I hear and I believe you," said Issachar, adding: "And now, lady, we
go at once, so if you desire to accompany us, come."
"I am ready," she replied, "and the hour is well chosen for I shall
not be missed till dawn."
So they turned and left the temple. None stayed or hindered them, yet
although they reached the chambers of Aziel in safety, their hearts,
which should have been light, were still heavy with the presage of new
sorrow to come.
Scarcely could they have been heavier, indeed, had they seen a white-
faced woman creep from the pit of death and follow them stealthily
till they had passed from the temple into the palace doors, then turn
and run at full speed towards the college of the priests of El.
In the chamber of Aziel they found Metem.
"I rejoice to see you back again in safety, since it is more than I
thought to do," he said, while they entered, adding, as the black-
veiled shape of Elissa followed them into the room, "but who is the
third? Ah! I see, the lady Elissa. Does the Baaltis accompany us upon
our journey?"
"Yes," answered Aziel shortly.
"Then with her high Grace on the one side and the holy Issachar on the
other it should not lack for blessings. Surely that evil must be great
from which, separately or together, they are unable to defend us. But,
lady, if I may ask it, have you bid farewell to your most honoured
father?"
"Torment me not," murmured Elissa.
"Indeed, I did not wish to, though you may remember that not so long
ago you threatened to silence me for ever. Well, doubtless your
departure is too hurried for farewells, and, fortunately, foreseeing
it, I have provided spare mules. So my deeds are kinder than my words.
I go to see that all is prepared. Now eat before you start; presently
I will return for you," and he left the chamber.
When he had gone they gathered round the table on which stood food,
but could touch little of it; for the hearts of all three of them were
filled with sad forebodings. Soon they heard a noise as of people
talking excitedly outside the palace gates.
"It is Metem with the mules," said Aziel.
"I hope so," answered Elissa.
Again there was silence, which, after a while, was broken by a loud
knocking at the door.
"Rise," said Aziel, "Metem comes for us."
"No, no," cried Elissa, "it is Doom that knocks, not Metem."
As the words passed her lips the door was burst open, and through it
poured a mob of armed priests, at the head of whom marched the Shadid.
By his side was his daughter Mesa, in whose pale face the eyes burned
like torches in a wind.
"Did I not tell you so?" she said in a shrill voice, pointing at the
three. "Behold the Lady Baaltis and her lover, and with them that
priest of a false faith who called down curses upon our city."
"You told us indeed, daughter," answered the Shadid; "pardon us if we
were loth to believe that such a thing could be." Then with a cry of
rage he added, "Take them."
Now Aziel drew his sword, and sprang in front of Elissa to protect
her, but before he could strike a blow it was seized from behind, and
he was gripped by many hands, gagged, bound and blindfolded. Then like
a man in a dream he felt himself carried away through long passages,
till at length he reached an airless place, where the gag and bandages
were removed.
"Where am I?" Aziel asked.
"In the vaults of the temple," answered the priests as they left the
prison, barring its great door behind them.
CHAPTER XIII
THE SACRILEGE OF AZIEL
How long he lay in his dungeon, lost in bitter thought and tormented
by fears for Elissa, Aziel could not tell, for no light came there to
mark the passage of the hours. In the tumult of his mind, one terrible
thought grew clear and ever clearer; he and Elissa had been taken red-
handed, and must pay the price of their sin against the religious
customs of the city. For the Baaltis to be found with any man who was
not her husband meant death to him and her, a doom from which there
was little chance of escape.
Well, to his own fate he was almost indifferent, but for Elissa and
Issachar he mourned bitterly. Truly the Levite and Metem had been wise
when they cautioned him, for her sake and his own, to have nothing to
do with a priestess of Baal. But he had not listened; his heart would
not let him listen--and now, unless they were saved by a miracle--or
Metem--in the fulness of their youth and love, the lives of both of
them were forfeited.
Worn out with sore fears and vain regrets Aziel fell at length into a
heavy sleep. He was awakened by the opening of the door of his
dungeon, and the entry of priests--grim, silent men who seized and
blindfolded him. Then they led him away up many stairs, and along
paths so steep that from time to time they paused to rest, till at
length he knew, by the sound of voices, that he had reached some place
where people were assembled. Here the bandage was removed from his
eyes. He stepped backwards, recoiling involuntarily at the glare of
light that poured upon him from the setting sun, whereon, uttering an
exclamation, those who stood near seized and held him. Presently he
saw the reason. He was standing on the brink of a precipice at the
back of and dominating the dim and shadow-clad city, while far beneath
him lay a gloomy rift along which ran the trade road to the coast.
Here in this dizzy spot was a wide space of rock, walled in upon three
sides. The precipice formed the fourth side of its square, in which,
seated upon stones that seemed to have been set there in semi-circles
to serve as judgment chairs, were gathered the head priests and
priestesses of El and Baaltis, clad in their sacerdotal robes. To the
right and left of these stood knots of favoured spectators, among whom
Aziel recognised Metem and Sakon, while at his side, but separated
from him by armed priests, were Elissa herself, wrapped in a dark
veil, and Issachar. Lastly, in front of him, a fire flickered upon a
little altar, and behind the altar stood a shrine containing a
symbolical effigy of Baaltis fashioned of gold, ivory and wood to the
shape of a woman with a hundred breasts.
Seeing all this, Aziel understood that they three had been brought
here for trial, and that the priests and priestesses before him were
their judges. Indeed, he remembered that the place had been pointed
out to him as one where those who had offended against the gods were
carried for judgment. Thence, if found guilty, such unfortunates were
hurled down the face of the precipice and left, a shapeless mass of
broken bone, to crumble on the roadway at its foot.
After a long and solemn pause, at a sign from the Shadid, he who had
been the husband of the dead Baaltis, the veil was removed from
Elissa. At once she turned, looked at Aziel, and smiled sadly.
"Do you know the fate that waits us?" the prince asked of Issachar in
Hebrew.
"I know, and I am ready," answered the old Levite, "for since my soul
is safe I care little what these dogs may do to my body. But, oh! my
son, I weep for you, and cursed be the hour when first you saw that
woman's face."
"Spare to reproach me in my misfortune," murmured Elissa; "have I not
enough to bear, knowing that I have brought death upon him I love? Oh!
curse me not, but pray that my sins may be forgiven me."
"That I will do gladly, daughter," replied Issachar more gently, "the
more so that, although you seem to be the cause of them, these things
can have happened only by the will of Heaven. Therefore I was wrong to
revile you, and I ask your pardon."
Before she could answer the Shadid commanded silence. At the same
moment the woman Mesa stepped from behind the effigy of the goddess on
the shrine.
"Who are you and what do you here?" asked the Shadid, as though he did
not know her.
"I am Mesa, the daughter of her who was the lady Baaltis," she
answered, "and my rank is that of Mother of the priestesses of
Baaltis. I appear to give true evidence against her, who is the
anointed Baaltis, against the Israelitish stranger named Aziel, and
the priest of the Lord of the Jews."
"Lay your hand upon the altar and speak, but beware what you speak,"
said the Shadid.
Mesa bowed her head, took the oath of truth by touching the altar with
her fingers, and began:--
"From the time that she was appointed I have been suspicious of the
lady Baaltis."
"Why were you suspicious?" asked the Shadid.
The witness let her eyes wander towards Metem, then hesitated.
Evidently for some reason of her own she did not wish to implicate
him.
"I was suspicious," she answered, "because of certain words that came
from the lips of the Baaltis, when she had been thrown into the holy
trance before the fire of sacrifice. As is my accustomed part, I bent
over her to hear and to announce the message of the gods, but in place
of the hallowed words there issued babblings about this Hebrew
stranger and of a meeting to be held with him at one hour before
moonrise by the pillar of El in the courtyard of the temple.
Thereafter for several nights as was my duty I hid myself in the pit
of offerings in the courtyard and watched. Last night at an hour
before the moonrise the Lady Baaltis came disguised by the secret way
and waited at the pillar, where presently she was joined by the Jew
Aziel and the Levite, who spoke with her.
"What they said I could not hear, because they were too far from me,
but at length they left the temple and I traced them to the chambers
of the Jew Aziel, in the palace of Sakon. Then, Shadid, I warned you,
and the priests and you accompanied me and took them. Now, as Mother
of the priestesses, I demand that justice be done upon these wicked
ones, according to the ancient custom, lest the curse of Baaltis
should fall upon this city."
When she had finished her evidence, with a cold stare of triumphant
hate at her rival, Mesa stepped to one side.
"You have heard," said the Shadid addressing his fellow-judges. Do you
need further testimony? If so, it must be brief, for the sun sinks."
"Nay," answered the spokesman, "for with you we took the three of them
together in the chamber of the prince Aziel. Set out the law of this
matter, O Judge, and let justice be done according to the strict
letter of the law--justice without fear or favour."
"Hearken," said the Shadid. "Last night this woman Elissa, the
daughter of Sakon, being the lady Baaltis duly elected, met men
secretly in the courts of the temple and accompanied them, or one of
them, to the chamber of Aziel, a prince of Israel, the guest of Sakon.
Whether or no she was about to fly with him from the city which he
should have left last night, we cannot tell, and it is needless to
inquire, at least she was with him. This, however, is sure, that they
did not sin in ignorance of our law, since with my own mouth I warned
them both that if the lady Baaltis consorts with any man not her
husband duly named by her according to her right, she must die and her
accomplice with her. Therefore, Aziel the Israelite, we give you to
death, dooming you presently to be hurled from the edge of yonder
precipice."
"I am in your power," said the prince proudly, "and you can murder if
you will, because, forsooth, I have offended against some law of Baal,
but I tell you, priest, that there are kings in Jerusalem and Egypt
who will demand my blood at your hands. I have nothing more to say
except to beseech you to spare the life of the lady Elissa, since the
fault of the meeting was not hers, but mine."
"Prince," answered the Shadid gravely, "we know your rank and we know
also that your blood will be required at our hands, but we who serve
our gods, whose vengeance is so swift and terrible, cannot betray
their law for the fear of any earthly kings. Yet, thus says this same
law, it is not needful that you should die since for you there is a
way of escape that leads to safety and great honour, and she who was
the cause of your sin is the mistress of its gate. Elissa, holder of
the spirit of Baaltis upon earth, if it be your pleasure to name this
man husband before us all, then as the spouse of Baaltis he goes free,
for he whom the Baaltis chooses cannot refuse her gift of love, but
for so long as she shall live must rule with her as Shadid of El. But
if you name him not, then as I have said, he must die, and now.
Speak."
"It seems that my choice is small," said Elissa with a faint smile.
"Praying you to pardon me for the deed, to save your life, prince
Aziel, according to the ancient custom and privilege of the Baaltis, I
name you consort and husband."
Now Aziel was about to answer her when the Shadid broke in hurriedly,
"So be it," he said. "Lady, we hear your choice, and we accept it as
we must, but not yet, prince Aziel, can you take your wife and with
her my place and power. Your life is safe indeed, for since the
Baaltis, being unwed, names you as her mate, you have done no sin. Yet
she has sinned and doom awaits her, for against the law she has chosen
as husband one who worships a strange god, and of all crimes that is
the greatest. Therefore, either you must take incense and before us
all make offering to El and Baaltis upon yonder altar, thus renouncing
your faith and entering into ours, or she must die and you, your rank
having passed from you with her breath, will be expelled from the
city."
Now Aziel understood the trap that had been laid for him, and saw in
it the handiwork of Sakon and Metem. Elissa having flagrantly violated
the religious law, and he, being the cause of her crime, even the
authority of the governor of the city could not prevent his daughter
and his guest from being put upon their trial. Therefore, they had
arranged this farce, for so it would seem to them, whereby both the
offenders might escape the legal consequences of their offence,
trusting, doubtless, to accident and the future to unravel this web of
forced marriage, and to free Aziel from a priestly rank which he had
not sought. It was only necessary that Elissa should formally choose
him as her husband, and that Aziel should go through rite of throwing
a few grains of incense upon an altar, and, the law satisfied, they
would be both free and safe. What Metem, and those who worked with
him, had forgotten was, that this offering of incense to Baal would be
the most deadly of crimes in the eyes of any faithful Jew--one,
indeed, which, were he alone concerned, he would die rather than
commit.
When the prince heard this decree, and the full terror of the choice
came home to his mind, his blood turned cold, and for a while his
senses were bewildered. There was no escape for him; either he must
abjure his faith at the price of his own soul, or, because of it, the
woman whom he loved, now, before his eyes, must suffer a most horrible
and sudden death. It was hideous to think of, and yet how could he do
this sin in the face of heaven and of these ministers of Satan?
The moment was at hand; a priest held out to him a bowl of incense, a
golden bowl, he noticed idly, with handles of green stone fashioned in
the likeness of Baaltis, whose servant he was asked to declare
himself. He, Aziel of the royal house of Israel, a servant of Baal and
Baaltis, nay, a high-priest of their worship! It was monstrous, it
might not be. But Elissa? Well, she must die--if this was not a farce,
and in truth they meant to murder her; her life could not be bought at
such a price.
"I cannot do it," he gasped with dry lips, thrusting aside the bowl.
Now all looked astonished, for his refusal had not been foreseen.
There was a pause, and once more the woman Mesa, in her character of
prosecutrix on behalf of the outraged gods, appeared before the altar,
and said in her cold voice:
"The Jew whom the lady Baaltis has chosen as husband will not do
homage to her gods. Therefore, as Mother of the priestesses and
Advocate of Baaltis, I demand that Elissa, daughter of Sakon, be put
to death, and the throne of Baaltis be purged of one who has defiled
it, lest the swift and terrible vengeance of the goddess should fall
upon this city."
The Shadid motioned to her to be silent, and addressed Aziel:--
"We pray you to think a while," he said, "before you give one to death
whose only sin is that, being the high-priestess of our worship, she
has named an unbeliever to fill the throne of El and be her husband.
Out of pity for her fate we give you time to think."
Now Sakon, taking advantage of the pause, rushed forward, and throwing
his arms about Aziel's knees, implored him in heart-breaking accents
to preserve his only child from so horrible a doom. He said that did
he refuse to save her because of his religious scruples, he would be a
dog and a coward, and the scorn of all honest men for ever. It was for
love of him that she had broken the priestly law, to violate which was
death, and although he had been warned of her danger, yet in his
wickedness and folly he had brought her to this pass. Would he then
desert her now?
But Issachar thrust him aside, and broke in with fiery words:--
"Hearken not to this man, Aziel," he said, "who strives to work upon
your weakness to the ruin of your soul. What! To save the life of one
woman, whose fair face has brought so much trouble upon us all, would
you deny your Lord and become the thrall of Baal and Ashtoreth? Let
her die since die she must, and keep your own heart pure, for be
assured, should you do otherwise, Jehovah, whom you renounce, will
swiftly be avenged on you and her. At the beginning I warned you, and
you would not listen. Now, Aziel, I warn you again, and woe! woe! woe!
to you should you shut your ears to my message." Then lifting his
hands towards the skies, he began to pray aloud that Aziel might be
constant in his trial.
Meanwhile, Metem, who had drawn near, spoke in a low voice:--
"Prince," he said, "I am not chicken-hearted, and there are so many
young women in the world that one more or less can scarcely matter;
still, although she threatened to murder me three days ago, I cannot
bear to see this one come to so dreadful a death. Prince, do not heed
the howlings of that old fanatic, but remember that after all you are
the cause of this lady's plight, and play the part of a man. Can you
for the sake of your own scruples, however worthy, or of your own soul
even, however valuable to yourself, doom the fair body of a woman who
risked all for you to such an end as that?" And shuddering he nodded
towards the gloomy precipice.
"Is there no other way?" Aziel asked him.
"None, I swear it. They did not wish to kill her, except that wild-cat
Mesa who seeks her place, but having put her on her public trial, if
you persist--they must.
"This is one of the few laws which cannot be broken for favour or for
gold, since the people, who are already half-mad with fear of Ithobal,
believe that to break it would bring the curses of heaven upon their
city. Perhaps we might have found some other plan, but none of us even
dreamed that you would refuse so small a thing for the sake of a woman
whom you swore you loved."
"A small thing!" broke in Aziel.
"Yes, Prince, a very small thing. Remember, this offering of incense
is but a form to which you are forced against your will--you can do
penance for it afterwards when I have arranged for both of you to
escape the city. If your God can be angry with you for burning a pinch
of dust to save a woman, who at the least has dared much for you, then
give me Baal, for he is less cruel."
Now Aziel looked towards him who held the bowl of incense. But Elissa
who all this while had stood silent, stepped forward and spoke:--
"Prince Aziel," she said in a calm and quiet voice, "I named you
husband to save your life, but with all my strength I pray of you, do
not this thing to save mine, which is of little value and perhaps best
ended. Remember, prince Aziel, that being what you are, a Jew, this
act of offering, however small it seems, is yet the greatest of sins,
and one with which you should not dare to stain your soul for the sake
of a woman, who has chanced to love you to your sorrow. Be guided,
therefore, by the true wisdom of Issachar and by my humble prayer.
Make an end of your doubts and let me die, knowing that we do but part
a while, since in the Gate of Death I shall wait for you, prince
Aziel."
Before Aziel could answer, the Shadid, either because his patience was
outworn, or because he wished to put him to a sharper trial, uttered a
command. "Be it done to her as she desires."
Thereon four priests seized Elissa by the wrists and ankles. Carrying
her to the edge of the precipice, they thrust her back till she hung
over it, her long hair streaming downwards, and the red light of the
sunset shining upon her upturned ghastly face. Then they paused,
waiting for the signal to let her go. The Shadid raised his wand and
said:--
"Is it your pleasure that this woman should die or live, prince Aziel?
Decide swiftly, for my arm is weak, and when the wand falls
opportunity for choice will have passed from you."
Now all eyes were fixed upon the wand, and the intense silence was
only broken by Sakon's cry of despair. Metem wrung his hands in grief;
even Issachar veiled his eyes with his robe, to shut out the sight of
dread, and the priest, who bore the bowl of incense, thrust it towards
Aziel imploringly.
For some seconds, three perhaps, though to him they seemed an age, the
heart of Aziel was racked and torn in this terrific contest. Then he
glanced at the agonized face of the doomed woman, and just as the wand
began to bend, his human love and pity conquered.
"May He Whom I blaspheme forgive me," he murmured, adding aloud, "I
will do sacrifice." Taking the incense in his hand now he cast it into
the flames upon the altar, repeating mechanically after the Shadid:
"By this sacrifice and homage, body and soul I give myself to you and
worship you, El and Baaltis, the only true gods."
*****
The echo of Aziel's voice died away, and the fumes of the incense rose
in a straight dense column upon that quiet air. To his tormented mind,
it seemed as though its smoke took the form of an avenging angel,
holding in the hand a sword of flame, wherewith to drive away his
perjured soul from Heaven, as our first forefathers were driven from
the shining gates of paradise. Yes, and they were not human, those
spectators who, in the intense glow of the sunset, stood in their
still ranks and stared at him with wide and eager eyes. Surely they
were fiends red with the blood of men, fiends gathered from the Pit to
bear everlasting witness to the unpardonable sin of his apostasy.
CHAPTER XIV
THE MARTYRDOM OF ISSACHAR
It was done, and from the mouths of the circle of priests and
priestesses leapt a shrill and sudden cry of triumph. For had not
their gods conquered? Had not this high-placed servant of the hated
Lord of Israel been caught by the bait of a priestess of Baaltis, and
seduced by her distress to deny and reject Him? Was not evil once more
triumphant, and must not they, its ministers, rejoice?
Again the Shadid raised his wand and they were silent.
"Brother you have, indeed, done well and wisely," he said, addressing
Aziel. "Now take to wife the divine lady who has chosen you," and he
pointed to Elissa, who lay prostrated on the rock. "Yes, take her and
be happy in her love, sitting in my seat, which henceforth is yours,
as ruler of the priests of El and master of their mysteries,
forgetting the follies of your former faith, and spitting on its
altars. Hail to you, Shadid, Lord of the Baaltis and chosen of El!
Take him, you priests, and with him the divine lady, his wife, to bear
them in triumph to their high house."
"What of the Levite?" asked the woman Mesa.
The Shadid glanced at Issachar, who all this while had stood like one
stricken to the soul, woe stamped upon his face, and a stare of horror
in his eyes. "Jew," he said, "I had forgotten you, but you also are on
your trial, who dared against the law to hold secret meeting with the
lady Baaltis. For this sin the punishment is death, nor, as I think,
would any woman name you husband to save you. Still in this hour of
joy we will be merciful; therefore do as your master did, cast incense
on the altar, uttering the appointed words, and go your way."
"Before I make my offering on yonder altar according to your command,
I have indeed some words to say, O priest of El," answered Issachar
quietly, but in a voice that chilled the blood of those who listened.
"First, I address myself to you, Aziel, and to you, woman," and he
pointed to Elissa, who had risen, and leaned, trembling, upon her
father. "My dream is fulfilled. Aziel, you have sinned indeed, and
must bear the appointed punishment of your sin. Yet hear a message of
mercy spoken through my lips: Because you have sinned through love and
pity, your offence is not unto death. Still shall you sorrow for it
all your life's days, and in desolation of heart and bitterness of
soul shall creep back to the feet of Him you have forsworn.
"Woman, your spirit is noble and your feet are set in the way of
righteousness, yet through you has this offence come. Therefore your
love shall bear no fruit, nor shall the blasphemy of your beloved save
your flesh from doom. Upon this earth there is no hope for you,
daughter of Sakon; set your eyes beyond it, for there alone is hope.
"Yonder she stands who swore our lives away?" and he fixed his burning
gaze on Mesa. "Priestess, you plotted this that you might succeed to
the throne of Baaltis; now hear your fate: You shall live to sweep the
huts and bear the babes of savages. You, priest," and he pointed to
the Shadid, "I read your heart; you design to murder this apostate
whom you greet as your successor that you may usurp his place. I show
you yours: it lies in the bellies of the jackals of the desert.
"For you priests and priestesses of El and Baaltis, think of my words,
and raise the loud song of triumph to your gods when you yourselves
are their offering, and the red flame of the fire burns you up, all of
you save your sins, which are immortal. O citizens of an accursed
city, look on the hill-top yonder and tell me, what do you see in the
light of the dying day? A sheen of spears, is it not? They draw near
to your hearts, you whose day is done indeed, citizens of an accursed
city whereof the very name shall be forgotten, and the naked towers
shall become but a source of wonder to men unborn.
"And now, O priest, having said my say, as you bid me, I make my
offering upon your altar."
Then, while all stood fearful and amazed, Issachar the Levite sprang
forward, and seizing the ancient image of Baaltis, he spat upon it and
dashed the priceless consecrated thing down upon the altar, where it
broke into fragments, and was burned with the fire.
"My offering is made," he said; "may He whom I serve accept it. Now
after the offering comes the sacrifice; son Aziel, fare you well."
*****
For a few moments a silence of horror and dismay fell upon the
assembly as they gazed at the shattered and burning fragments of their
holy image. Then moved by a common impulse, with curses and yells of
fury, the priests and priestesses sprang from their seats and hurled
themselves upon Issachar, who stood awaiting them with folded arms.
They smote him with their ivory rods, they rent and tore him with
their hands and teeth, worrying him as dogs worry a fox of the hills,
till at length the life was beaten and trampled out of him and he lay
dead.
Thus terribly, but yet by such a death of martyrdom as he would have
chosen, perished Issachar the Levite.
Unarmed though he was, Aziel had sprung to his aid, but Metem and
Sakon, knowing that he would but bring about his own destruction,
flung themselves upon him and held him back. Whilst he was still
struggling with them the end came, and Issachar grew still for ever.
Then, as the sun sank and the darkness fell, Aziel's strength left
him, and presently he slipped to the ground senseless.
*****
Thereafter it seemed to Aziel that he was plunged in an endless and
dreadful dream, and that through its turmoil and shifting visions, he
could see continually the dreadful death of Issachar, and hear his
stern accents prophesying woe to him who renounces the God of his
forefathers to bow the knee to Baal.
At length he awoke from that horror-haunted sleep to find himself
lying in a strange chamber. It was night, and lamps burned in the
chamber, and by their light he saw a man whose face he knew mixing a
draught in a glass phial. So weak was he that at first he could not
remember the man's name, then by slow degrees it came to him.
"Metem," he said, "where am I?"
The Phœnician looked up from his task, smiled, and answered:--
"Where you should be, Prince, in your own house, the palace of the
Shadid. But you must not speak, for you have been ill; drink this and
sleep."
Aziel swallowed the draught and was instantly overcome by slumber.
When he awoke the sun was shining brightly through the window place,
and its rays fell upon the shrewd, kindly face of Metem, who, seated
on a stool, watched him, his chin resting in his hand.
"Tell me all that has befallen, friend," said Aziel presently,
"since----" and he shuddered.
"Since you were married after a new fashion and that bigoted but most
honourable fool, Issachar, went to his reward. Well, I will when you
have eaten," answered Metem as he gave him food. "First," he said,
after a while, "you have lain here for three days raving in a fever,
nursed by myself and visited by your wife the lady Baaltis, whenever
she could escape from her religious duties----"
"Elissa! Has she been here?" asked Aziel.
"Calm yourself, Prince, certainly she has, and, what is more, she will
be back soon. Secondly: Ithobal has been as good as his word, and
invests the city with a vast army, cutting off all supplies and
possibilities of escape. It is believed that he will try an assault
within the next week, which many think may be successful. Thirdly: to
avoid this risk it is rumoured that the priests and priestesses, at
the instance of the council, are discussing the wisdom of giving over
to the king the person of the daughter of Sakon. This, it is said,
could be done on the plea that her election as the lady Baaltis was
brought about with bribery, and is, therefore, void, as she was not
chosen by the pure and unassisted will of the goddess."
"But," said Aziel, "she is my wife according to their religious law;
how then can she be given in marriage to another?"
"Nay, Prince, if she is not the lady Baaltis your husbandship falls to
the ground with the rest, for you are not the Shadid, an office with
which perchance you can dispense. But all this priestly juggling means
little, the truth being that the city in its terror is ready to throw
her--or for the matter of that, Baaltis herself if they could lay
hands on her--as a sop to Ithobal, hoping thereby to appease his rage.
The lady Elissa knows her danger--but here she comes to speak for
herself."
As he spoke the curtains at the end of the chamber were drawn, and
through them came Elissa, clad in her splendid robes of office and
wearing upon her brow the golden crescent of the moon.
"How goes it with the prince, Metem?" she asked in her soft voice,
glancing anxiously towards the couch which was half-hidden in the
shadow of the wall.
"Look for yourself, lady," answered the Phœnician bowing before her.
"Elissa, Elissa!" cried Aziel, raising himself and opening his arms.
She saw and heard, then, with a low cry, she ran swiftly to him and
was wrapped in his embrace. Thus they stayed a while, murmuring words
of love and greeting.
"Is it your pleasure that I should leave you?" asked Metem presently.
"No? Then, Prince, I would have you remember that you are still very
weak and should not give way to violent emotions."
"Listen, Aziel," said Elissa, untwining his arms from about her neck,
"there is no time for tenderness; moreover, you should show none to
one who, in name at least, is still the high-priestess of Baaltis,
though in truth she worships her no longer. It was noble of you indeed
to offer incense upon the altar of El that my life might be saved. But
when I prayed you not, I spoke from the heart, and bitterly, bitterly
do I grieve that for my sake you should have stained your hands with
such a sin. Moreover, it will avail nothing, for the doom of the
prophet Issachar lies upon us, and I cannot escape from death, neither
can you escape remorse, and as I think, that worst of all desires--the
desire for the dead."
"Can we not still flee the city?" asked Aziel.
"Metem will tell you that it is impossible; day and night I am watched
and guarded, yes, Mesa dogs me from door to door. Also Ithobal holds
Zimboe so firmly in his net that no sparrow could fly out of it and he
not know. And there is worse to tell: Beloved, they purpose to give me
up as a peace-offering to Ithobal. Yes, even my father is of the plot,
for in his despair he thinks it his duty to sacrifice his daughter to
save the town, if, indeed, that will suffice to save us."
"But you are the Baaltis and inviolate."
"In such a time the goddess herself would not be held inviolate in
Zimboe, much less her priestess, Aziel. I have discovered that this
very night they have laid their plans to seize me. Mesa and others
have been chosen for the deed, and afterwards they think to offer me
as a bribe to Ithobal, who will take no other price."
Aziel groaned aloud: "It were better that we should die," he said.
She nodded and answered: "It were better that /I/ should die. But hear
me, for I also have a plan, and there is still hope, though very
little. Perhaps, as you drew near to Zimboe by the coast road, you may
have noted three miles or more from the gates of the city, and almost
overhanging the path on which you travelled, a shoulder of the
mountain where the rock is cut away, showing the narrow entrance to a
cave closed with a gate of bronze?"
"I saw it," answered Aziel, "and was told that there was the most
sacred burying-place of the city."
"It is the tomb of the high-priestesses of Baaltis," went on Elissa,
"and this day at sunset I must visit it to lay an offering upon the
shrine of her who was the Baaltis before me, entering alone, and
closing the gate, for it is not lawful that any one should pass in
there with me. Now, the plan is to lay hands on me as I go back from
the tomb to the palace--but I shall not go back. Aziel, I shall stay
in the tomb--nay, do not fear--not dead. I have hidden food and water
there, enough for many days, and there with the departed I shall live
--till I am of their number."
"But if so, how can it help you, Elissa, for they will break in the
gates of the place, and drag you away?"
"Then, Aziel, they will drag away a corpse, and that they will
scarcely care to present to Ithobal. See, I have hidden poison in my
breast, and here at my girdle hangs a dagger; are not the two of them
enough to make an end of one frail life? Should they dare to touch me,
I shall tell them through the bars that most certainly I shall drink
the bane, or use the knife; and when they know it, they will leave me
unharmed, hoping to starve me out, or trusting to chance to snare me
living."
"You are bold," murmured Aziel in admiration, "but self-murder is a
sin."
"It is a sin that I will dare, beloved, as in past days I would have
dared it for less cause, rather than be given alive into the hands of
Ithobal; for to whoever else I may be false, to you through life and
death I will be true."
Now Aziel groaned in his doubt and bitterness of heart; then turning
to Metem, he asked:--
"Have you anything to say, Metem?"
"Yes, Prince, two things," answered the Phœnician. "First, that the
lady Elissa is rash, indeed, to speak so openly before me who might
carry her words to the council or the priests."
"Nay, Metem, I am not rash, for I know that, although you love money,
you will not betray me."
"You are right, lady, I shall not, for money would be of little
service to me in a city that is about to be taken by storm. Also I
hate Ithobal, who threatened my life--as you did also, by the way--and
will do my best to keep you from his clutches. Now for my second
point: it is that I can see little use in all this because Ithobal,
being defrauded of you, will attack, and then----"
"And then he may be beaten, Metem, for the citizens will at any rate
fight for their lives, and the Prince Aziel here, who is a general
skilled in war, will fight also if he has recovered strength----"
"Do not fear, Elissa; give me two days, and I will fight to the
death," said Aziel.
"At the least," she went on, "this scheme gives us breathing time, and
who knows but that fortune will turn. Or if it does not, since it is
impossible for me to escape from the city, I have no better."
"No more have I," said Metem, "for at length the oldest fox comes to
his last double. I could escape from this city, or the prince might
escape, or the lady Elissa even might possibly escape disguised, but I
am sure that all three of us could not escape, seeing that within the
walls we are watched and without them the armies of Ithobal await us.
Oh! prince Aziel, I should have done well to go, as I might have gone
when you and Issachar were taken after that mad meeting in the temple,
from which I never looked for anything but ill; but I grow foolish in
my old age, and thought that I should like to see the last of you.
Well, so far we are all alive, except Issachar, who, although bigoted,
was still the most worthy of us, but how long we shall remain alive I
cannot say.
"Now our best chance is to defeat Ithobal if we can, and afterwards in
the confusion to fly from Zimboe and join our servants, to whom I have
sent word to await us in a secret place beyond the first range of
hills. If we cannot--why then we must go a little sooner than we
expected to find out who it is that really shapes the destinies of
men, and whether or no the sun and moon are the chariots of El and
Baaltis. But, Prince, you turn pale."
"It is nothing," said Aziel, "bring me some water, the fever still
burns in me."
Metem went to seek for water, while Elissa knelt by the couch and
pressed her lover's hand.
"I dare stay no longer," she whispered, "and Aziel, I know not how or
when we shall meet again, but my heart is heavy, for, alas! I think
that doom draws near me. I have brought much sorrow upon you, Aziel,
and yet more upon myself, and I have given you nothing, except that
most common of all things, a woman's love."
"That most perfect of all things," he answered, "which I am glad to
have lived to win."
"Yes, but not at the price that you have paid for it. I know well what
it must have cost you to cast that incense on the flame, and I pray to
your God, who has become my God, to visit the sin of it on my head and
to leave yours unharmed. Aziel, Aziel! woman or spirit, while I have
life and memory, I am yours, and yours only; clean-handed I leave you,
and if we may meet again in this or in any other world, clean and
faithful I shall come to you again. Glad am I to have lived, because
in my life I have known you and you have sworn you love me. Glad shall
I be to live again if again I may know you and hear that oath--if not,
it is sleep I seek; for life without you to me would be a hell. You
grow weak, and I must go. Farewell, and living or dead, forget me not;
swear that you will not forget me."
"I swear it," he answered faintly; "and Heaven grant that I may die
for you, not you for me."
"That is no prayer of mine," she whispered; and, bending, kissed him
on the brow, for he was too weak to lift his lips to hers.
Then she was gone.
CHAPTER XV
ELISSA TAKES SANCTUARY
Two more hours had passed, and in the evening light a procession of
priestesses might be seen advancing slowly towards the holy tomb along
a narrow road of rock cut in the mountain face. In front of this
procession, wearing a black veil over her broidered robes, walked
Elissa with downcast eyes and hair unbound in token of grief, while
behind her came Mesa and other priestesses bearing in bowls of
alabaster the offerings to the dead, food and wine, and lamps of oil,
and vases filled with perfumes. Behind these again marched the
mourners, women who sang a funeral dirge and from time to time broke
into a wail of simulated grief. Nor, indeed, was their woe as hollow
as might be thought, since from that mountain path they could see the
outposts of the army of Ithobal upon the plain, and note with a
shudder of fear the spear-heads of his countless thousands shining in
the gorges of the opposing heights. It was not for the dead Baaltis
that they mourned this day, but for the fate which overshadowed them
and their city of gold.
"May the curse of all the gods fall on her," muttered one of the
priestesses as she toiled forward beneath her load of offerings;
"because she is beautiful and pettish, we must be put to the spear, or
become the wives of savages," and she pointed with her chin to Elissa,
who walked in front, lost in her own thoughts.
"Have patience," answered Mesa at her side, "you know the plan--
to-night that proud girl and false priestess shall sleep in the camp
of Ithobal."
"Will he be satisfied with that," asked the woman, "and leave the city
in peace?"
"They say so," answered Mesa with a laugh, "though it is strange that
a king should exchange spoil and glory for one round-eyed, thin-limbed
girl who loves his rival. Well, let us thank the gods that made men
foolish, and gave us women wit to profit by their folly. If he wants
her, let him take her, for few will be poorer by her loss."
"You at least will be richer," said the other woman, "and by the crown
of Baaltis. Well, I do not grudge it you, and as for the daughter of
Sakon, she shall be Ithobal's if I take her to him limb by limb."
"Nay, sister, that is not the bargain; remember she must be delivered
to him without hurt or blemish; otherwise we shall do sacrilege in
vain. Be silent, here is the cave."
Reaching the platform in front of the tomb, the procession of mourners
ranged themselves about it in a semi-circle. They stood with their
backs to the edge of a cliff that rose sheer for sixty feet or more
from the plain beneath, across which, but at a little distance from
the foot of the precipice ran the road followed by the caravans of
merchants in their journeys to and from the coast. Then, a hymn having
been sung invoking the blessing of the gods on the dead priestess,
Elissa, as the Baaltis, unlocked the gates of bronze with a golden key
that hung at her girdle, and the bearers of the bowls of offerings
pushed them into the mouth of the tomb, whose threshold they were not
allowed to pass. Next, with bowed heads and hands crossed upon her
breast, Elissa entered the tomb, and locking the bronze gate behind
her, took up two of the bowls and vanished with them into its gloomy
depths.
"Why did she lock the gates?" asked a priestess of Mesa. "It is not
customary."
"Doubtless because it was her pleasure to do so," answered Mesa
sharply, though she also wondered why Elissa had locked the gate.
When an hour was gone by and Elissa had not returned, her wonder
turned to fear and doubt.
"Call to the lady Baaltis," she said, "for her prayers are long, and I
fear lest she should have come to harm."
So they called, setting heir lips against the bars of the gate till
presently, Elissa, holding a lamp in her hand, came and stood before
them.
"Why do you disturb me in the sanctuary?" she asked.
"Lady, because they set the night watch on the walls," answered Mesa,
"and it is time to return to the temple."
"Return then," said Elissa, "and leave me in peace. What, you cannot,
Mesa? Nay, and shall I tell you why? Because you had plotted to
deliver me this night to those who should lead me as a peace-offering
to Ithobal, and when you come to them empty-handed they will greet you
with harsh words. Nay, do not trouble to deny it, Mesa. I also have my
spies, and know all the plan; and, therefore, I have taken sanctuary
in this holy place."
Now Mesa pressed her thin lips together and answered:--
"Those who dare to lay hands upon the person of the living Baaltis
will not shrink from seeking her in the company of her dead sisters."
"I know it, Mesa; but the gates are barred, and here I have food and
drink in plenty."
"Gates, however strong, can be broken," answered the priestess, "so,
lady, do not wait till you are dragged hence like some discovered
slave."
"Ay," replied Elissa, with a little laugh, "but what if rather than be
thus dishonoured, I should choose to break another gate, that of my
own life? Look, traitress, here is poison and here is bronze, and I
swear to you that should any lay a hand upon me, by one or other of
them I will die before their eyes. Then, if you will, bear these bones
to Ithobal and take his thanks for them. Now, begone, and give this
message to my father and to all those who have plotted with him, that
since they cannot bribe Ithobal with my beauty, they will do well to
be men, and to fight him with their swords."
Then she turned and left them, vanishing into the darkness of the
tomb.
Great indeed was the dismay of the councillors of Zimboe and of the
priests who had plotted with them when, an hour later, Mesa came, not
to deliver Elissa into their hands, but to repeat to them her threats
and message. In vain did they appeal to Sakon, who only shook his head
and answered:--
"Of this I am sure, that what my daughter has threatened that she will
certainly do if you force her to the choice. But if you will not
believe me, go ask her and satisfy yourselves. I know well what she
will answer you, and I hold that this is a judgment upon us, who first
made her Baaltis against her will, then threatened her with death
because of the prince Aziel, and now would do sacrilege to her sacred
office and violence to herself by tearing her from her consecrated
throne, breaking her bond of marriage and delivering her to Ithobal."
So the leaders of the councillors visited the holy tomb and reasoned
with Elissa through the bars. But they got no comfort from her, for
she spoke to them with the phial of poison in her bosom and the naked
dagger in her hand, telling them what she had told Mesa--that they had
best give up their plottings and fight Ithobal like men, seeing that
even if she surrendered herself to him, when he grew weary of her the
war must come at last.
"For a hundred years," she added, "this storm has gathered, and now it
must burst. When it has rolled away it will be known who is master of
the land--the ancient city of Zimboe, or Ithobal king of the Tribes."
So they went back as they had come, and next day at the dawn, with a
bold face but heavy hearts, received the messengers of king Ithobal,
and told them their tale. The messengers heard and laughed.
"We are glad," they answered, "since we, who are not in love with the
daughter of Sakon, desire war and not peace, holding as we do that the
time has come when you upstart white men--you outlanders--who have
usurped our country to suck away its wealth should be set beneath our
heel. Nor do we think that the task will be difficult for surely we
have little to fear from a city of low money seekers whose councillors
cannot even conquer the will of a single maid."
Then in their despair the elders offered other girls to Ithobal in
marriage, as many as he would, and with them a great bribe in money.
But the envoys took their leave, saying that nothing would avail since
they preferred spear-thrusts to gold, for which they had little use,
and Ithobal, their king, had fixed his fancy on one woman alone.
So with a heavy and foreboding heart, the city of Zimboe prepared
itself to resist attack, for as they had guessed, when he learned all,
the rage of Ithobal was great. Nor would he listen to any terms that
they could offer save one which they had no power to grant--that
Elissa should be delivered unharmed into his hands. Councils of war
were held, and to these, so soon as he was sufficiently recovered from
his sickness, the prince Aziel was bidden, for he was known to be a
skilled captain; therefore, though he had been the cause of much of
their trouble, they sought his aid. Also, should the struggle be
prolonged, they hoped through him to win Israel, and perhaps Egypt, to
their cause.
Aziel's counsel was that they should sally out against the army of
Ithobal by night, since he expected to attack and not to be attacked,
but to that advice they would not listen, for they trusted to their
walls. Indeed, in this Metem supported them, and when the prince
argued with him, he answered:--
"Your tactics would be good enough, Prince, if you had at your back
the lions of Judah, or the wild Arab horsemen of the desert. But here
you must deal with men of my own breed, and we Phœnicians are traders,
not fighting men. Like rats, we fight only when there is no other
chance for our lives; nor do we strike the first blow. It is true that
there are some good soldiers in the city, but they are foreign
mercenaries; and as for the rest, half-breeds and freed slaves, they
belong as much to Ithobal as to Sakon, and are not to be trusted. No,
no; let us stay behind our walls, for they at least were built when
men were honest and will not betray us."
Now in Zimboe were three lines of defence; first, that of a single
wall built about the huts of the slaves upon the plain, then that of a
double wall of stone with a ditch between thrown round the Phœnician
city, and lastly, the great fortress-temple and the rocky heights
above. These, guarded as they were by many strongholds within whose
circle the cattle were herded, as it was thought, could only be taken
with the sword of hunger.
At last the storm burst, for on the fifth morning after Elissa had
barred herself within the tomb, Ithobal attacked the native town.
Uttering their wild battle-cries, tens of thousands of his savage
warriors, armed with great spears and shields of ox-hide, and wearing
crests of plumes upon their heads, charged down upon the outer wall.
Twice they were driven back, but the work was in bad repair and too
long to defend, so that at the third rush they flowed over it like
lines of marching ants, driving its defenders before them to the inner
gates. In this battle some were killed, but the most of the slaves
threw down their arms and went over to Ithobal, who spared them,
together with their wives and children.
Through all the night that followed, the generals of Zimboe made ready
for the onslaught which must come. Everywhere within the circuit of
the inner wall troops were stationed, while the double southern
gateway, where prince Aziel was the captain in command, was built up
with loose blocks of stone.
A while before the dawn, just as the eastern sky grew grey, Aziel,
watching from his post above the gate of the wall, heard the fierce
war-song of the Tribes swell suddenly from fifty thousand throats and
the measured tramp of their innumerable feet. Then the day broke, and
he saw them advancing in three armies towards the three points chosen
for attack, the largest of the armies, headed by Ithobal the king,
directing its march upon the walled gate of which he was in command.
It was a wondrous and a fearful sight, that of these hordes of plumed
warriors, their broad spears flashing in the sunrise, and their fierce
faces alight with hereditary hate and the lust of slaughter. Never had
Aziel seen such a spectacle, nor could he look upon it without
dreading the issue of the war, for if they were savages, these foes
were brave as the lions of their own plains, and had sworn by the head
of their king to drag down the sheltering walls of Zimboe with their
naked hands, or die to the last man.
Turning his head with a sigh of doubt, Aziel found Metem standing at
his side.
"Have you seen her?" he asked eagerly.
"No, Prince. How could I see her at night when she sits in a tomb like
a fox in his burrow? But I have heard her."
"What did she say? Quick man, tell me."
"But little, Prince, for the tomb is watched and I dared not stay
there long. She sent you her greetings and would have you know that
her heart will be with you in the battle, and her prayers beseech the
throne of Heaven for your safety. Also she said that she is well,
though it is lonesome there in the grave among the bodies of the dead
priestesses of Baaltis whose spirits, as she vows, haunt her dreams,
reviling her because she desecrates their sepulchre and has renounced
their god."
"Lonesome, indeed," said Aziel with a shudder; "but tell me, Metem,
had she no other word?"
"Yes, Prince, but not of good omen, for now as always she is sure that
her doom is at hand, and that you two will meet no more. Still she
bade me tell you that all your life long her spirit shall companion
you though it be unseen, to receive you at the last on the threshold
of the underworld."
Aziel turned his head away, and said presently:--
"If that be so, may it receive me soon."
"Have no fear, Prince," replied Metem with a grim laugh, "look
yonder," and he pointed to the advancing hosts.
"These walls are strong and we shall beat them back," said Aziel.
"Nay, Prince, for strong walls do not avail without strong hearts to
guard them, and those of the womanish citizens of Zimboe and their
hired soldiers are white with fear. I tell you that the prophecies of
Issachar the Levite, made yonder in the temple on the day of the
sacrifice, and again in the hour of his death, have taken hold of the
people, and by eating out their valour, fulfil themselves.
"Men hint at them, the women whisper them in closets, and the very
children cry them in the streets.
"More--one man last night pointed to the skies and shrieked that in
them he saw that fiery sword of doom of which the prophet spoke
hanging point downwards above the city, whereon all present vowed they
saw it too, though, as I think, it was but a cross of stars. Another
tells how that he met the very spirit of Issachar stalking through the
market-place, and that peering into the eyes of the wraith, as in a
mirror, he saw a great flame wrapping the temple walls, and by the
light of it his own dead body. This man was the priest who first
struck down the holy Levite yonder in the place of judgment.
"Again, when the lady Mesa did sacrifice last night on behalf of the
Baaltis who has fled, the child they offered, an infant of six months,
stirred on the altar after it was dead and cried with a loud voice
that before three suns had set, its blood should be required at their
hands. That is the story, and if I do not believe it, this at least is
true, that the priestesses fled fast from the secret chamber of death,
for I met them as they ran shrieking in their terror and tearing at
their robes. But what need is there to dwell on omens, true or false,
when cowards man the walls, and the spears of Ithobal shine yonder
like all the stars of heaven? Prince, I tell you that this ancient
city is doomed, and in it, as I fear, we must end our wanderings upon
earth."
"So be it, if it must be," answered Aziel, "at the least I will die
fighting."
"And I also will die fighting, Prince, not because I love it, but
because it is better than being butchered in cold blood by a savage
with a spear. Oh! why did you ever chance to stumble upon the lady
Elissa making her prayer to Baaltis, and what evil spirit was it which
filled your brains with this sudden madness of love towards each
other? That was the beginning of the trouble, which, but for those
eyes of hers, would have held off long enough to see us safe at Tyre,
though doubtless soon or late it must have come. But see, yonder
marches Ithobal at the head of his guard. Give me a bow, the flight is
long, but perchance I can reach his black heart with an arrow."
"Save your strength," answered Aziel, "the range is too great, and
presently you will have enough of shooting," and he turned to talk to
the officers of the guard.
CHAPTER XVI
THE CAGE OF DEATH
An hour later the attack commenced at chosen points of the double
wall, one of them being the southern gate. In front of the advancing
columns of savages were driven vast numbers of slaves, many of whom
had been captured, or had surrendered in the outer town. These men
were laden with faggots to fill the ditch, rude ladders wherewith to
scale the walls, and heavy trunks of trees to be used in breaching
them. For the most part, they were unarmed, and protected only by
their burdens, which they held before them as shields, and by the
arrows of the warriors of Ithobal. But these did little harm to the
defenders, who were hidden behind the walls, whereas the shafts of the
garrison, rained on them from above, killed or wounded the slaves by
scores, who, poor creatures, when they turned to fly, were driven
onward by the spear-points of the savages, to be slain in heaps like
game in a pitfall. Still, some of them lived, and running under the
shelter of the wall, began to breach it with the rude battering rams,
and to raise the scaling ladders till death found them, or they were
worn out with excitement, fear and labour.
Then the real attack began. With fierce yells, the threefold column
rushed at the wall, and began to work the rams and scale the ladders,
while the defenders above showered spears and arrows upon them, or
crushed them with heavy stones, or poured upon their heads boiling
pitch and water, heated in great cauldrons which stood at hand.
Time after time they were driven back with heavy loss; and, time upon
time, fresh hordes of them advanced to the onslaught. Thrice, at the
southern gate, were the ladders raised, and thrice the stormers
appeared above the level of the wall, to be hurled back, crushed and
bleeding, to the earth beneath.
Thus the long day wore on and still the defenders held their own.
"We shall win," shouted Aziel to Metem, as a fresh ladder was cast
down with its weight of men to the death-strewn plain.
"Yes, here we shall win because we fight," answered the Phœnician,
"but elsewhere it may be otherwise." Indeed for a while the attack
upon the south gate slackened.
Another hour passed and presently to the left of them rose a wild yell
of triumph, and with it a shout of "Fly to the second wall. The foe is
in the fosse!"
Metem looked and there, down the great ditch, 300 paces to their left,
a flood of savages poured towards them. "Come," he said, "the outer
wall is lost." But as he spoke once more the ladders rose against the
gates and flanking towers and once more Aziel sprang to cast them
down. When the deed was done, he looked behind him to find that he was
cut off and surrounded. Metem and most of his men indeed had gained
the inner wall in safety, while he with twelve only of his bravest
soldiers, Jews of his own following, who had stayed to help him to
throw back the ladders, were left upon the gateway tower. Nor was
escape any longer possible, for both the plain without and the fosse
within were filled with the men of Ithobal who advanced also by
hundreds down the broad coping of the captured wall.
"Now there is but one thing that we can do," said Aziel; "fight
bravely till we are slain."
As he spoke a javelin cast from the wall beneath struck him upon the
breastplate, and though the bronze turned the iron point, it brought
him to his knees. When he found his feet again, he heard a voice
calling him by name, and looking down, saw Ithobal clad in golden
harness and surrounded by his captains.
"You cannot escape, prince Aziel," cried the king; "yield now to my
mercy."
Aziel heard, and setting an arrow to his bow, loosed it at Ithobal
beneath. He was a strong and skilful archer, and the heavy shaft
pierced the golden helmet of the king, cutting his scalp down to the
bone.
"That is my answer," cried Aziel, as Ithobal rolled upon the ground
beneath the shock of the blow. But very soon the king was up and
crying his commands from behind the shield-hedge of his captains.
"Let the prince Aziel, and the Jews with him, be taken alive and
brought to me," he shouted. "I will give a great reward in cattle to
those who capture them unharmed; but if any do them hurt, they
themselves shall be put to death."
The captains bowed and issued their orders, and presently Aziel and
his companions saw lines of unarmed men creeping up ladders set at
every side of the lofty tower. Again and again they cast off the
ladders, till at length, being so few, they could stir them no more
because of the weight upon them, but must hack at the heads of the
stormers as they appeared above the parapet, killing them one by one.
In this fashion they slew many, but their arms grew weary at last, and
ever under the eye of their king, the brave savages crept upward,
heedless of death, till, with a shout, they poured over the
battlements and rushed at the little band of Jews.
Now rather than be taken, Aziel sought to throw himself from the
tower, but his companions held him, and thus at last it came about
that he was seized and bound.
As they dragged him to the stairway he looked across the fosse and saw
the mercenaries flying from the inner wall, although it was still
unbreached, and saw the citizens of Zimboe streaming by thousands to
the narrow gateway of the temple fortress.
Then Aziel groaned in his heart and struggled no more, for he knew
that the fate of the ancient town was sealed, and that the prophecy of
Issachar would be fulfilled.
*****
A while later Aziel and those with him, their hands bound behind their
backs, were led by hide ropes tied about their necks through the army
of the Tribes that jeered and spat upon them as they passed, to a tent
of sewn hides on the plain, above which floated the banner of Ithobal.
Into this tent the prince was thrust alone, and there forced upon his
knees by the soldiers who held him. Before him upon a couch covered
with a lion skin lay the great shape of Ithobal, while physicians
washed his wounded scalp.
"Greeting, son of Israel and Pharaoh," he said in a mocking voice;
"truly you are wise thus to do homage to the king of the world."
"A poor jest," answered Aziel, glancing at those who held him down;
"true homage is of the heart, king Ithobal."
"I know it, Jew, and this also you shall give me when you are humbler.
Who taught you the use of the bow? You shoot well," and he pointed to
his blood-stained helm, which was still transfixed by the arrow.
"Nay," answered Aziel, "I shot but ill, for my arm was weary. When
next I draw a string against your breast, king Ithobal, I promise you
a straighter shaft."
"Well said," answered the king with a laugh, "but know, dog of a Jew,
that now it is my turn to draw the string--how, I will show you
afterwards. Have they told you that the city has fallen, and that my
captains hold the gates, while the cowards of Zimboe are penned like
sheep within the temple and on the cliff-edged height above? They have
fled hither for safety, but I tell you that they would be more safe on
yonder plain, for I have the key of their stronghold, a certain
passage leading from the palace of the Baaltis to the temple; you know
if it, I think. Yes, and if I had not, very soon hunger and thirst
would work for me.
"Well, Jew, I have won, and with less trouble than I thought, and now
I hold the great city in hostage, to save or to destroy as it shall
please me, though that arrow of yours went near to robbing me of my
crown of victory."
"So be it," answered Aziel, indifferently; "I have played my part, now
things must go as Fate may will."
"Yes, Jew, you fought well till they deserted you, and the doom of
cowards is little to a brave man. But what of the lady Elissa? Nay, I
know all; she has taken refuge in the tomb of Baaltis, has she not,
with poison in her bosom and bronze at her girdle to be used against
her own life, should they lay hands on her or give her to me? And all
this she does for the love of you, prince Aziel; for the love of you
she refuses to become my queen, ruling over that city which I have
conquered, and all my unnumbered tribes.
"Do you guess now why I caused you to be taken living? I will tell
you; that you may be the bait to draw her to me. To kill you would be
easy; but how would that serve, seeing that then she herself would
choose to die? But, perchance, to save your life she will live also--
yes, and give herself to me. At least, I will try it; should the plan
fail--then you can pay the price of her pride with your blood, prince
Aziel."
"That I would do gladly," answered Aziel, "but oh! what a cross-bred
hound you are who thus can seek to torture the heart of a helpless
woman! Have you then no manhood that you can stoop to such a coward's
plot?"
"Fool! it is because of my manhood that I do stoop to it," said
Ithobal angrily. "Doubtless you think that a mad fancy and naught else
drives me to the deed, but it is not so, although in truth my heart--
like yours--chooses this woman to be my wife and none other. That
fondness I might conquer, but look you, of all things living this lady
alone has dared to cross my will, so that to-day even the sentries on
their rounds and the savage women in the kraals tell each other of how
Ithobal, the great king of an hundred tribes, has been baffled and
mocked at by a girl who despises him because his blood is not all
white. Thus I am become a laughing-stock, and therefore I will win
her, cost me what it may."
"And I, king Ithobal, tell you that you will not win her--no, not if
you torture me to death before her eyes."
"That we shall see," said the king with a sneer. Then he called to his
guard and added, "Let this man and his companions be taken to the
place prepared for them."
Now Aziel was dragged from the tent and thrust into a wooden cage,
such as were used for carrying slaves and women from place to place
upon the backs of camels. His soldiers, who had been taken with him,
were thrust also into cages, and, with himself laden upon camels that
were waiting, two cages to each camel. Then a cloth was thrown over
them, and, rising to their feet, the camels began to march.
When they had covered a league or more of ground Aziel learned from
the motion of the camel upon which he was secured, and the sound of
the repeated blows of its drivers, that they were ascending some steep
place. At length they reached the top of it, and were unloaded from
the beasts like merchandise, but he could see nothing, for by now the
night had fallen. Then, still in the cages, they were carried to a
tent, where food and water were given them through the bars, after
which, so weary was Aziel with war, misery and the remains of recent
illness, that he fell asleep.
At daybreak he awoke, or rather was awakened, by the sound of a
familiar voice, and, looking through his bars, perceived Metem
standing before them, guarded but unbound, with indignation written on
his face, and tears in his quick eyes.
"Alas!" he cried, "that I should have lived to see the seed of Israel
and Pharaoh thus fastened like a wild beast in a den, while barbarians
make a mock of him. Oh! Prince, it were better that you should die
rather than endure such shame."
"Misfortunes are the master of man, not man of his misfortunes,
Metem," said Aziel quietly, "and in them is no true disgrace. Even if
I had the means to kill myself, it would be a sin; moreover, it might
bring another to her death. Therefore, I await my doom, whatever it
may be, with such patience as I can, trusting that my sufferings and
ignominy may expiate my crimes in the sight of Him whom I renounced.
But how come you here, Metem?"
"I came under the safe-conduct of Ithobal who gave me leave to visit
you, doubtless for some ends of his own. Have you heard, Prince, that
he holds the gates of the city, though as yet no harm has been done to
it, and that its inhabitants are crowded within the temple, and upon
the heights above; also that in his despair Sakon has fallen on his
sword and slain himself?"
"Is it so?" answered Aziel. "Well, Issachar foretold as much. On their
own heads be the doom of these devil-worshippers and cowards. Have you
any tidings of the lady Elissa?"
"Yes, Prince. She still sits yonder in the tomb, resolute in her
purpose, and giving no answer to those who come to reason with her."
As he spoke the guard let fall the front of the tent so that the
sunlight flowed into it, revealing Aziel and his twelve companions,
each fast in his narrow and shameful prison. "See," said Metem, "do
you know the place?"
The prince struggled to his knees, and saw that they were set upon the
top of a hill, built up of granite boulders, which rose eighty feet or
more from the surface of the plain. Opposite to them at a distance of
under a hundred paces was a precipice in the face of which could be
seen a cave closed with barred gates of bronze, while between the
rocky hill and the precipice ran a road.
"I know it, Metem; there runs the path by which we travelled from the
coast, and there is the tomb of Baaltis. Why have we been brought
here?"
"The lady Elissa sits behind the bars of yonder tomb whence her view
of all that happens upon this mount must be very good indeed,"
answered Metem with meaning. "Now, can you guess why you were brought
here, prince Aziel."
"Is it that she may witness our sufferings under torment?" he asked.
Metem nodded.
"How will they deal with us, Metem?"
"Wait and see," he answered sadly.
As he spoke Ithobal himself appeared followed by certain evil-looking
savages. Having greeted Metem courteously he turned to the Hebrew
soldiers in the cages and asked them which of their number was most
prepared to die.
"I, Ithobal, who am their leader," said Aziel.
"No, Prince," replied Ithobal with a cruel smile, "your time is not
yet. Look, there is a man who has been wounded; to put him out of his
pain will be a kindness. Slaves, bear that Jew to the edge of the
rock, and--as the prince will wish to study a new mode of death--bring
his cage also."
The order was obeyed, Aziel being set down upon the very verge of the
cliff. Close to him a spur of granite jutted out twenty feet or so
from the edge. At the end of the spur a groove was cut and over this
groove, suspended by a thin chain from a pole, hung a wedge of pure
crystal carefully shaped and polished. While Aziel wondered what evil
purpose this stone might serve, the slaves had fastened a fine rope to
the cage containing the wounded Hebrew soldier and secured its end.
Then they set the rope in the groove of the granite spur, and pushed
the cage over the edge of the cliff, so that it dangled in mid-air.
"Now I will explain," said Ithobal. "This is a method of punishment
that I have borrowed from those followers of Baal who worship the sun,
by means of which Baal claims his own sacrifice, and none are guilty
of the victim's blood. You see yonder crystal--well, at any appointed
hour, for it can be hung as you will, the rays of the sun shining
through it cause the fibres of the grass rope to smoke and smoulder
till at length they part and--Baal takes his sacrifice. Should a cloud
hide the sun at the appointed hour, then, Baal having spared him, the
victim is set free. But, as you will note, at this season of the year
there are no clouds.
"What, Prince, have you nothing to say?" he went on, for Aziel had
listened in silence to the tale of this devilish device. "Well, learn
that it depends upon the lady Elissa yonder whether or not this fate
shall be yours. Send now and pray her to save you. Think what it will
be to hang as at this moment your servant hangs over that yawning gulf
of space, waiting through the long hours till at last you see the
little wreaths of smoke begin to curl from the tinder of the cord.
Why! before the end found them I have known men go mad, and, like
wolves, tear with their teeth at the wooden bars.
"You will not. Then, Metem, do you plead for your friend. Bid the
Baaltis look forth at one hour before noon and see the sight of yonder
wretch's death, remembering that to-morrow this fate shall be her
lover's unless she foregoes her purpose of self-murder and gives
herself to me. Nay, no words! an escort shall lead you through the
lower city to the gateway of the tomb and there listen to your speech.
See that it does not fail you, merchant, unless you also seek to hang
in yonder cage. Tell the lady Elissa that to-morrow at sunrise I will
come in person for her answer. If she yields, then the prince and his
companions shall be set free and with you, Metem, to guide them, be
mounted on swift camels to carry them unharmed to their retinue beyond
the mountains. But if she will not yield, then--Baal shall take his
sacrifice. Begone."
So, having no choice, Metem bowed and went, leaving the caged Aziel
upon the edge of the cliff, and the Hebrew soldier hanging from the
spur of rock.
Now Aziel roused himself from the horror in which his soul was sunk,
and strove to comfort his doomed comrade, praying with him to Heaven.
Slowly as they prayed, the hours drew on till at length, upon the
opposite cliff, he saw men whom he knew to be Metem and his escort,
approach the mouth of the tomb, and faintly heard him call through the
bars of the gateway. Turning himself in his cage, Aziel glanced at the
rope, and watched the spot of light born from the burning glass of the
crystal creep to its side.
Now the fatal moment was at hand, and Aziel saw a little wreath of
smoke rise in the still air and bade his wretched servant close his
eyes. Then came the end. Suddenly the taut rope, eaten through by the
sun's fire, flew back and the cage with the soldier in it vanished
from his sight, while, from far below, rose the sound of a heavy fall,
and from the tomb of Baaltis rang the echo of a woman's shriek.
CHAPTER XVII
"THERE IS HOPE"
It was dawn. Ithobal the king stood without the gates of the tomb of
Baaltis, the grey light glimmering faintly on his harness, and knocked
upon the brazen bars with the handle of his sword.
"Who troubles me now?" said a voice within.
"Lady, it is I, Ithobal, who, as I promised by Metem the Phœnician, am
come to learn your will as to the fate of my prisoner, the Prince
Aziel. Already he hangs above the gulf, and within one short hour, if
you so decree it, he will fall and be dashed to pieces. Or, if you so
decree it, he will be set free to return to his own land."
"At what price will he be set free, king Ithobal?"
"Lady, you know the price; it is yourself. Oh! I beseech you, be wise!
spare his life and your own. Listen: spare his life, and I will spare
this city which lies in the hollow of my hand, and you shall rule it
with me."
"You cannot bribe me thus, king Ithobal. My father whom I loved is
dead, and shall I give myself to you for the sake of a city and a
Faith that would have betrayed me into your hands?"
"Nay, but for the sake of the man to whom you are dear, you shall do
even this, Elissa. Think: if you refuse, his blood will be upon your
head, and what will you have gained?"
"Death, which I seek, for I weary of the struggle of my days."
"Then end it in my arms, lady. Soon this fancy will escape your mind,
and you will remain one of the mightiest queens of men."
Elissa returned no answer, and for a while there was silence.
"Lady," said Ithobal at length, "the sun rises and my servants yonder
await a signal."
Then she spoke like one who hesitates.
"Are you not afraid, king Ithobal, to trust your life to a woman won
in such a fashion?"
"Nay," answered Ithobal, "for though you say that their fate does not
concern you, the lives of all those penned-up thousands are hostages
for my own. Should you by chance find a means to stab me unawares,
then to-night fire and sword would rage through the city of Zimboe.
Nor do I fear the future, since I know well that you who think you
hate me now, very soon will learn to love me."
"You promise, king Ithobal, that if I yield myself you will set the
prince Aziel free; but how can I believe you who twice have tried to
murder him?"
"Doubt me if you will, Elissa, at least, you cannot doubt your own
eyes. Look, his road to the sea runs beneath this rock. Come from the
tomb and take your stand upon it and you shall see him pass; yes, and
should you wish, speak with him in farewell that you may be sure that
it is he and alive. Further, I swear to you by my head and honour,
that no finger shall be laid upon you till he is gone by, and that no
pursuit of him shall be attempted. Now choose."
Again there was silence for a while. Then Elissa spoke in a broken
voice.
"King Ithobal, I have chosen. Trusting to your royal word I will stand
upon the rock and when I have seen the prince Aziel go by in safety,
then, since you desire it, you shall put your arms about me and bear
me whither you will. You have conquered me, king Ithobal! Henceforward
these lips of mine are yours and no other man's. Give the signal, I
pray you, and I will cast aside the dagger and the poison and come out
living from this tomb."
Aziel hung in his cage over the abyss of air, awaiting death, and glad
to die, because now he was sure that Elissa had refused to purchase
his life at the expense of her own surrender. There he hung, dizzy and
sick at heart, making his prayer to heaven and waiting the end, while
the eagles that would prey upon his shattered flesh swept past him.
Presently, from the opposing cliff, came the sound of a horn blown
thrice. Then, while Aziel wondered what this might mean, the cage in
which he lay was drawn in gently over the edge of the precipice, and
carried down the steeps of the granite hill as it had been carried up
them.
At the foot of the hill its covering was torn aside, and he saw before
him a caravan of camels, and seated on each camel a comrade of his
own. But one camel had no rider, and Metem led it by a rope.
The servants of Ithobal took him from the cage and set him upon this
camel, though they did not loosen the bonds about the wrists.
"This is the command of the king," said the captain to Metem "that the
arms of the prince Aziel shall remain bound until you have travelled
for six hours. Begone in safety, fearing nothing."
*****
"What happens now, Metem," asked Aziel, as the camels strode forward,
"and why am I set free who was expecting death? Is this some new
artifice of yours, or has the lady Elissa----" and he ceased.
"Upon the word of an honest merchant I cannot tell you, Prince.
Yesterday, as I was forced, I gave the message of king Ithobal to the
lady Elissa yonder in the tomb. She would answer me only one thing,
which she whispered in my ear through the bars of the holy tomb; that
if we could escape we should do so, moreover that you must have no
fear for her since she also had found a means of escape from Ithobal,
and would certainly join us upon the road."
As Metem spoke, the camels passed round the little hill on to the path
that ran beneath the tomb of Baaltis. There, standing upon the rock
some fifty feet above them, was Elissa, and with her, but at a
distance, Ithobal the king.
"Halt, prince Aziel," she called in a clear voice, "and hearken to my
farewell. I have bought your life, and the lives of your companions,
and you are free, for the road is clear and nothing can overtake the
twelve swiftest camels in Zimboe. Go, therefore, and be happy,
forgetting no word that has passed my lips. For all my words are true,
even to a certain promise which I made you lately by the mouth of
Metem, and which I now fulfil--that I would join you on your road lest
you should deem me faithless to the troth which I have so often sworn
to you.
"King Ithobal, this shape is yours; come now and take your prize.
Prince Aziel, my soul is yours, in life it shall companion you, and in
death await you. Prince Aziel, I come to you." Then, before he could
answer a single word, with one swift and sudden spring she hurled
herself from the cliff edge to fall crushed upon the road beneath.
Aziel saw. In his agony he strained so fiercely at the bonds which
held him that they burst like rushes. He leapt from the camel and
knelt beside Elisa. She was not yet dead, for her eyes were open and
her lips stirred.
"I have kept faith, keep it also, Aziel! the story is not yet done,"
she gasped. Then her life flickered out, and her spirit passed.
Aziel rose from beside the corpse and looked upward. There upon the
edge of the rock above him, leaning forward, his eyes blind with
horror, stood Ithobal the king. Aziel saw him, and a fury entered into
his heart because this man, whose jealous rage and evil doing had bred
such woe and caused the death of his beloved still lived upon the
earth. By the prince was Metem, who, for once, had no words, and from
his hand he snatched a bow, set an arrow on the string and loosed.
The shaft rushed upwards, it smote Ithobal between the joints of his
harness so that the point of it sunk through this neck.
"This gift, king Ithobal, from Aziel the Israelite," he cried, as the
arrow sped.
For a moment the great man stood still, then he opened his arms wide
and of a sudden plunged downward, falling with a crash on the roadway,
where he lay dead at the side of dead Elissa.
*****
"The play is played, and the fate fulfilled," cried Metem. "See, the
servants of the king speed yonder with their evil tidings; let us away
lest we bide here with these two for ever."
"That is my desire," said Aziel.
"A desire which may not be fulfilled," answered Metem. "Come, Prince,
since we cannot go without you. Surely you do not wish to sacrifice
the lives of all of us as an offering to the great spirit of the lady
who is dead. It is one that she would not seek."
Then Aziel knelt down and kissed the brow of the dead Elissa, and went
his way, saying no word.
*****
That night, when the darkness fell, the sky behind these travellers
grew red with fire.
"Behold the end of the golden city!" said Metem. "Zimboe is food for
flames and its children for the sword. Issachar was a prophet indeed,
who foretold that it should be so."
Aziel bowed his head, remembering that Issachar had foretold also that
for Elissa and for him there was hope beyond the grave. As he thought
it, a wind beat upon his brow and through it a soft voice seemed to
murmur to his heart:--
"Be of good courage: Beloved, /there is hope/."
*****
So, turning from the death behind him, this far away forgotten lover
set his face to the sea of Life and passed it, and long ago, at his
appointed hour, gained its further shore, to be welcomed there by her
who watched for him.
And thus, because of the fateful and predestined loves of Aziel the
prince, and Elissa the priestess and daughter of Sakon, three
thousands years and more ago, the ancient city of Zimboe fell at the
hand of king Ithobal and his Tribes, so that to-day there remain of it
nothing but a desolate grey tower of stone, and beneath, the crumbling
bones of men.
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