THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 '.7 
 

 
 THE 
 
 DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON
 
 All Ri'ihts Resci-ved
 
 THE DAUGHTERS 
 OF BABYLON 
 
 A NOVEL 
 
 BY 
 
 WILSON BARRETT 
 
 AND 
 
 ROBERT HICHENS 
 
 JOHN MACQUEEN 
 HASTINGS HOUSE, NORFOLK STREET j, 
 
 LONDON 
 1899
 
 Copyrighted in tlie United States of Ameyica 
 
 J. B. LirpiNcoTT Company
 
 ? 
 
 PR 
 
 THE 
 
 DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 Elcia sat by the well of Naomi. It was towards 
 evening, and the glaring heat of the sun was 
 tempered by a soft breeze full of the thrilling 
 coolness that only desert winds know. Through 
 the palms about the well the lemon light slanted 
 across the dark head, with its heavy mass of 
 hair, that was bowed as if in deep meditation or 
 in grief. In the distance, softened and sweetly 
 melancholy, there was the sound of singing voices. 
 For in the fields, among the flocks and the herds, 
 the people of Elcia's tribe, sons and daughters of 
 Israel in captivity to Babylon, chanted the hymns 
 of their ancient faith as they watched the grazing 
 cattle, tended the nibbling sheep, or wrought at 
 making packs for the camels in the doors of their 
 tents. These same tents were hidden from the 
 great eyes of Elcia, for the well lay apart, and, at 
 this moment, there were no stalwart shepherds or
 
 2 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 herdsmen discussing the tributes paid to the Baby- 
 lonish king, or, with lowered voices, whispering of 
 the hour when Israel should be free, and mourning 
 be turned into the joy that cannot live in slavery. 
 
 In such discussions Johanan, husband of Elcia, 
 loved to take a part. Young, ardent, and enthusi- 
 astic, the bondage of his people weighed upon his 
 heart, and his mind was ever occupied with that 
 desired future, in which captivity should be changed 
 into freedom, and the heavy burthen be lifted 
 from Israel's shoulders, never to lie on them 
 again. 
 
 But Elcia was a woman. She was in the dawn 
 of an opulent beauty. Her magnificent eyes, 
 deep and liquid with light, looked not to Babylon 
 with desire for its destruction. She dreamed 
 rather of love than of hatred, as is the way of 
 women, and, in her reveries, betook herself to 
 desires that were not broad and far - reaching, 
 national, and of consequence to the many, but 
 to those that were personal, limited, and of im- 
 portance to herself, and to the one or two whose 
 lives were at this time bound with hers. 
 
 She thought not of the great and distant Babylon 
 now, as she leaned alone by the well, fixing her 
 liquid eyes upon its still waters, illuminated by the 
 growing fire of the sunset sky. She thought of 
 her own life and of two who stood within its 
 circle — Johanan, her husband, and Jediah, son of 
 Zoar. And it seemed her thoughts ran sadly, for 
 her beauty was shadowed by an expression of dim 
 anxiety, and in her eyes the tears were brimming.
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 3 
 
 For, of a truth, although P21cia thought not of 
 Babylon, yet even now the Great City was stretch- 
 ing out its arms to her, unseen by her eyes. Its 
 mighty voice was calling to her, though she could 
 not hear it. Its life, with cruel subtlety, was 
 mingling with hers. For Babylon's terror and 
 magnificence, Babylon's oppression and cruelty, 
 stood up like a shadowy wall between her and 
 her husband, Johanan. She had loved him well, 
 for he was goodly and of a noble bearing, and 
 his brave and passionate eyes had spoken to her 
 heart, and stirred all the tenderness of her nature. 
 But that seemed already long ago, before he 
 thought of Babylon, and was ever with his kins- 
 men, discussing the sadness of their slavery and 
 laying plans to break the heavy chains that bound 
 them. Then he thought only of her, and forgot 
 that he was in some sort a slave, as he held her in 
 his strong arms and laid his lips on hers. But 
 now, although in truth he loved her no less, he 
 was yet caught in the meshes of the net of a wide 
 intrigue. His heart was hot with wrongs and 
 iron with resolution. It beat for his downtrodden 
 nation. Elcia wished it to beat ever and alone 
 for her. 
 
 Jediah was often at hand to speak with her of 
 this growing fanaticism of Johanan. 
 
 " He forgetteth thee when he remembereth our 
 bondage," he said. " He forgetteth thee, Elcia. 
 He saith naught to thee. But unto others " — 
 
 Jediah paused significantly, looking close into 
 the eyes of Elcia. An expression of keen anxiety
 
 4 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 woke in them, a hunger of pitiful curiosity and 
 
 eagerness. 
 
 "Unto others?" she said. "What meanest 
 thou? What saith he unto others, O Jediah ? " 
 
 " I scarce — nay, I desire not to tell thee," he 
 answered, with an assumption of uneasiness. 
 "Tis better that thou should'st be ignorant of 
 this matter. 'Tis not thy fault that thou art " — • 
 
 Again he checked himself. But hllcia was not 
 to be put off. 
 
 " Tell me, Jediah 1 " she cried, " for I will know, 
 even though it hurt me unto death." 
 
 " Well, then— to others he doth groan and 
 ever lament that his wife is barren," said Jediah 
 slowly. 
 
 Elcia uttered a cry and hid her face in her 
 hands. This reproach was like a sword struck 
 down into her heart. She quivered with the pain 
 and with the terror of it, and her cheeks grew hot 
 with shame and anger. 
 
 Jediah was a man of importance in the tribe, a 
 Lord and Judge in Israel, son of the aged Zoar, 
 whose flocks and whose herds were mighty, and 
 whose tribute to the Babylonians in sheep and in 
 cattle, in corn and in oil, was heavy, by reason of 
 his great possessions. All held Jediah in respect. 
 But Jediah was by nature pitiless and lacking in 
 bowels of mercy. He was the friend of Johanan, 
 who trusted in him above all other men. Yet he 
 often spoke with Elcia by the well at eventide, or, 
 in a more removed place, among the thickets of 
 palm trees that gave a soft shade from the heat of
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 5 
 
 noontide. And always he spoke of Johanan, and 
 of how his thoughts were with his nation and 
 remote from his wife. 
 
 And Elcia Hstened, and looked into his fierce 
 and bold eyes, until she heard and gazed to her 
 undoing. 
 
 Even now, as the sun sank lower, and the dis- 
 tant songs of the Israelites rose up in the evening 
 silence, a step sounded among the dry reeds that 
 grew thickly near the well, and Elcia, looking 
 round, beheld Jediah. 
 
 " Thou art alone, Elcia," he said. And he 
 glanced cautiously behind him to see that no 
 herdsman wandered near among the palms, that 
 no women, bearing pitchers, drew nigh from the 
 fields. " Thou art alone. But it is ever so. 
 Johanan forgetteth thee. Even now he is with 
 Ahira and with Adoram. And he speaketh not 
 of thee, but of Babylon. He thinketh not of thee, 
 but of the Great City and of the oppressors of 
 Israel. Is it not so ? " 
 
 And he drew close to her and laid his hand 
 upon hers. She answered him nothing, but the 
 shadow grew in her face. 
 
 " Should he be married who cannot hold close 
 his wife, Elcia?" continued Jediah. "No child 
 cometh to bless thy union and to bring joy unto 
 thy tent. And this thing setteth thee far from 
 thy husband, for he desireth ever to have seed 
 that they may bear his name and live long in the 
 land. Should a woman be true to one who ever 
 leaveth her to mourn alone beside the water ?
 
 6 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 Thou answerest not. Then I will tell thee. 
 She oweth him neither love nor faithfulness. 
 Rather oweth she these things to him who truly 
 loveth her, who would give his life for her sake, 
 who would, ay, who would even let the cruel 
 chains hang still upon the necks of his people 
 rather than that one sad thought should be within 
 her heart, or the dimness of tears rise up to hide 
 the sunshine from her eyes. Elcia, Elcia, when 
 wilt thou reward thy servant? When wilt thou 
 flee with me that we may hide ourselves in 
 Babylon, where alone is safety for our love, mine 
 and thine ? " 
 
 " Ah, my lord, speak not so to me," she replied, 
 and her voice was low and broken. " I dare not, 
 I dare not. And Johanan " — 
 
 " Cares not for thee. What is a woman to him 
 who is full of vain dreams of glory ? Nothing, 
 Elcia, and thou knowest it." 
 
 She bent her head lower. There was a cruel 
 jealousy in her heart, jealousy of a nation, jealousy 
 of a city. For had not the Babylonish oppressors 
 caught Johanan's soul from her in wrath? Had 
 not Babylon itself drawn him from her in 
 anger ? 
 
 " Thou art no longer anything to Johanan, 
 Elcia. Did'st thou die to-night, he would go up 
 against the Babylonians to-morrow, leaving thy 
 fair body unburied, thy lifeless heart unwept. But 
 I"— 
 
 And he drew close to her and put his arm 
 around her.
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 7 
 
 " Thou lovest me indeed ? " she asked him 
 slowly. 
 
 " So much that I am ready to leave all here for 
 thee, and to follow thee to Babylon, where we 
 may be together in safety, where we may love, 
 watched by no prying kinsmen's eyes, babbled 
 of by no heedless tongues. There, in the Great 
 City, Elcia, will I make thee forget thy sorrow 
 that now turneth thine eyes to mourning and thy 
 heart to grief Hearken unto me. Even to- 
 morrow, at sundown, there passeth a caravan for 
 Babylon. It carrieth heavy tribute to the young 
 Lord Alorus, Disguise thyself, watch well thine 
 opportunity ; say to the master of the camels that 
 thou hast need to journey to the city. I will 
 speak with him. I will be the surety for any 
 payment. I will tell thee whither thou may'st go 
 when thou reachest the end of thy journey, and 
 in some short space of time will I join thee there. 
 Say, Elcia, wilt thou go ? " 
 
 She shuddered by the well, as if the falling of 
 the night had chilled her fair limbs. 
 
 "I dare not, Jediah, I dare not," she murmured. 
 " I fear the city. I fear Babylon." 
 
 A fierce expression of contempt and anger 
 passed over his face and was gone in a moment. 
 
 " Thou hast naught to fear when I am with 
 thee," he said. " Wilt thou not go, Elcia ? Thy 
 husband will not miss thee, be sure. He con- 
 cerneth himself with thee no longer. But I think 
 of thee from the rising of the sun unto the going 
 down of the same."
 
 8 THE DAUGHTERS OE BABYLON 
 
 " Dost thou indeed love me, Jediah ? " she asked 
 him. 
 
 And she fixed her great eyes on his, 
 
 " So well that I will leave all for thee, if thou 
 wilt but trust in me." 
 
 And he bent down and kissed her. 
 
 " Wilt thou go to-morrow at sundown ? " he 
 whispered. 
 
 She felt the strength of his arms about her, and 
 she needed love. She thought of Johanan, her 
 husband, ever brooding on the wrongs of his 
 nation in bondage, ever speaking of deliverance 
 with the brethren while she was left alone. She 
 wondered if, somewhere, far off, in the great and 
 mysterious city, she might not find the joy which 
 she lacked here, among the fields, amidst a down- 
 trodden people. Something, that seemed to speak 
 defiantly and against her will, rose up in her and 
 said — 
 
 " I will go, Jediah." 
 
 " To-morrow, at sundown ? " 
 
 " To-morrow, at sundown." 
 
 " It is well, Elcia. In Babylon how I will 
 love thee ! Hush ! I see Johanan. Get thee 
 gone." 
 
 She rose and disappeared among the palms. 
 As she did so, Johanan approached the well. 
 
 " That is Elcia ? " he said to Jediah. 
 
 " Even so, Johanan. I have spoken with her of 
 what thou toldest to me." 
 
 " And she hasteneth away when I come near." 
 
 The face of Johanan, strong, manly, and courage-
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 9 
 
 ous, full of youth and of energy, grew sad, even 
 bitter. 
 
 " It is as I thought, Jediah. Tell me ! Elcia 
 cares not for me ? " 
 
 " I know not, Johanan. She is beautiful, but 
 she seemeth strange and cold, like the wind that 
 Cometh out of the desert. Thou hast done well to 
 follow my counsel and to let be. Importune her 
 not. If she seeth that thou concernest thyself 
 with other things, that thou art a man to lead 
 the brethren, and, peradventure, to lift from their 
 necks the heavy yoke beneath which they groan, 
 then will she come to thee as to her lord. It is 
 the way of women. They worship not those that 
 think of naught but them." 
 
 " Is it even so ? Thou said'st to her that thou 
 knewest how dear was she to me ? That weigheth 
 with a woman when another man speaketh it, 
 Jediah." 
 
 " I did say so, Johanan." 
 
 '* And she—? " 
 
 " Smiled, and when she saw thee coming towards 
 the well, got her up and hasted away. Better not 
 speak with her till the mood passeth, Johanan. 
 She will turn to thee again, but not now. But let 
 us talk not of Elcia longer, but of this bitterness 
 that oppresseth us." 
 
 He took Johanan gently by the hand, and they 
 walked together towards the tents, talking of the 
 Captivity of Israel. The stars came up in the 
 clear Eastern sky. And all that evening Elcia sat 
 apart in her tent, alone. Johanan came not. For
 
 lo THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 indeed he was ever with Jediah, who left him not, 
 but spoke with him of the wrongs of their sad 
 nation, and of the joy that would come with the 
 morning, when the captives would be free, and 
 their long oppressors be trampled under the feet 
 of God's ancient people. 
 
 The night fell, and at last Elcia laid her down 
 and slept. Her eyes were still wet with tears 
 when she dreamed of Babylon. 
 
 The day following, Elcia felt as one in a dream, 
 vague, wandering, and helpless. She looked at all 
 the familiar things around her — at the wide and 
 hedgeless fields of grass and green corn ; at the 
 tall reeds that rustled, with a dry sound, beside 
 the water ; at the droves of camels kneeling to 
 receive their burdens, or moving slowly with their 
 fantastic gait in long lines towards the horizon ; 
 at the peaked tents round which the children 
 played, the women gathered to chatter, and the 
 lean dogs snuffed in search of fragments of for- 
 gotten food ; at the men going forth to labour, 
 wrapped in their long robes, with sombre hoods 
 drawn over their heads to protect them from the 
 sun. She gazed at the clusters of jmlm trees and 
 at the mimosa bushes. She listened to the sing- 
 ing of the birds and to the murmur of the waters 
 and to the voices that spoke around her. And 
 always she saw things as in a dream, and she 
 heard them as from very far off. Once or twice, 
 at early dawn and in the dull heat of noontide, 
 she met Jediah. He gazed at her with his fierce
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON ii 
 
 eyes, in which there dwelt to-day a deep 
 anxiety. And he said to her — 
 
 "Thou wilt depart to-night, Elcia?" 
 
 And she answered him, scarce knowing, indeed, 
 what she said — 
 
 " To-night I will depart, Jediah." 
 
 " Leave thy tent ere sundown. I will await thee 
 in the thicket beyond the well of Naomi, to bid 
 thee farewell and to tell thee what thou must do 
 when thou goest to Babylon." 
 
 " To Babylon ! " She shivered, as if from fear, 
 and her heart was cold within her. She heard, a 
 little way off, some women laughing. Their happi- 
 ness seemed a strange and mysterious thing to 
 her. Jediah watched her closely. 
 
 " Thou wilt not fail, Elcia ? " he said. " Thou 
 wilt not stay here with the man who heedeth thee 
 not — who despiseth thee, and would fain seek 
 another wife ; one who would raise up seed unto 
 him and bless his tent with children ? " 
 
 And then she felt as if a vice tightened around 
 her heart, and she answered — 
 
 " Ere sundown I will meet thee, Jediah, in the 
 thicket beyond the well of Naomi. And I will 
 journey to Babylon to wait thee there." 
 
 Then he smiled and went his way, and in his 
 heart he laughed at the weakness of women. 
 
 Johanan, according to the counsel of Jediah, had 
 scarce spoken to Elcia in the dawn when she woke 
 within the shadow of the tent. He had gone forth 
 early, saying — 
 
 " I have much to do this day, Elcia. A man
 
 12 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 must not be slothful, staying ever with the women, 
 else is he abominable in the sight of his kinsmen 
 and of the God of his fathers. It is not the sloth- 
 ful lover of women who will deliver Israel out of 
 bondage. The God of our fathers hath indeed 
 set upon me this task, to aid in the deliverance of 
 Israel. For He hath left me lonely. Other men 
 have children to call them within the tent, to catch 
 them by the hand with tenderness and bid ' father ' 
 stay when they rise up to go forth. But our tent 
 is empty, Elcia, and no voice calleth me ' father.' " 
 
 She answered him nothing, for her heart was 
 heavy within her. And he, coming upon Jediah, 
 said to him, with bitterness — 
 
 " She loveth me not, Jediah." 
 
 " Be not afraid, Johanan," he answered. " Be a 
 strong man in Israel, and she will surely love thee, 
 ay, and worship thee, and be unto thee all that 
 thou canst desire." 
 
 And Johanan said — 
 
 " Thinkest thou so ? Thou speakest truth unto 
 me, thou who art a Judge in Israel ? " 
 
 Then Jediah smiled and answered — 
 
 " I speak truth. But, if thou wilt, ask some other 
 man how thou shalt keep the love of Elcia." 
 
 And Johanan believed Jediah, and went his way 
 heavy-hearted. 
 
 That day he had to go a journey with his camels, 
 to bear a debt from his father to the tents of a 
 neighbour. He would not return until the sun was 
 down. Jediah knew this, and that the caravan 
 that went this da}' to Babylon would be gone, and
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 13 
 
 even far towards the desert, ere ever Johanan stood 
 again in his tent door to call his wife Elcia. 
 
 When the evening drew on, but while the sun 
 was not yet red in the west of the sky, Jediah went 
 with cautious footsteps to the thicket of palm trees 
 that stood beyond the well of Naomi. It was here 
 that he would bid good-bye to Elcia and speed her 
 upon her strange and lonely journey to Babylon. 
 For he dared not go with her lest suspicion should 
 arise. There was no one in the thicket, and he 
 waited a long time, listening ever for the footsteps 
 of Elcia that came not. While he waited, anxiety 
 and a fierce anger grew within his soul. If she 
 should not come ! If some sudden weakness of 
 resolution, some woman's feebleness of heart, should 
 prompt her to shrink back from his persuading! 
 He moved restlessly, pacing about like some wild 
 beast to and fro upon the dry ground, his eyes 
 turned ever towards the well of Naomi, or to the 
 light in the sky that betokened the approach of 
 the sunset hour. The caravan would soon be 
 passing on its road towards the desert. And she 
 came not. He passed from the thicket into the 
 open ground about the well. 
 
 In his anger he was resolved to go to the tent 
 of Johanan, but ere he reached the well he saw, far 
 off, the shrouded figure of a woman coming towards 
 him, with the noble bearing that set Elcia apart 
 from all the women of her tribe. As she drew 
 near she let the garment that was before her face 
 fall, and he saw that she was weeping. When 
 they were among the palms, he said to her —
 
 14 THE DAUGHTKRS OF BABYLON 
 
 " Why art thou so late, my Elcia ? " 
 
 " I feared to come, Jediah." 
 
 " What hast thou to fear ? Am I not with thefc ? 
 Shall I not follow thee to Babylon ? " 
 
 " But to leave all — this place, my people, the well 
 beside which I dreamed in the days when — when 
 Johanan " — 
 
 "When he loved thee. Those days are gone 
 for ever." 
 
 She put forth her hand as one that is wounded, 
 and from her lips there came a cry of pain. 
 
 "For ever," repeated Jediah. "Think not of 
 them. Put them behind thee. Think of the days 
 that are before. Thou shalt see the wonders of 
 that city which is like magic to men when they 
 dream of it. Thou shalt see its palaces, its towers, 
 and the great river, even Euphrates. And I will 
 open thine eyes to love. And perchance thou 
 shalt be blest, Elcia, as other women are blest, even 
 in the bearing of children, who shall cling to thee 
 and call thee by the sweet name of ' mother.' Yea, 
 I will open thine eyes to love, and give to thee all 
 that a woman needeth and that thou hast lacked 
 so long. But hark!" He lifted his hand and 
 listened. Then he ascended the rising land beyond 
 the palms to a place from which he could see a 
 great way off. 
 
 "It is the caravan," he said, returning. " I see 
 it like a long shadow on the plain. I hear the cries 
 of the drivers and the distant noise of bells. It is 
 time for thee to depart, Elcia. Thou hast Ihy 
 bundle. Here is gold. Buy all that thou needest
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 15 
 
 in Babylon, and wait me in the house that I have 
 told thee of. Fear not. In no long time I will be 
 with thee." 
 
 She answered him nothing. For again the 
 dream floated upon her, and all things present and 
 future seemed unto her like a tale told in a dark 
 night. And in the dark night she perceived, like 
 terrible and watching eyes, the distant lights of 
 the great and renowned city. And the power of 
 Jediah lay on her like a spell. She had no will to 
 resist him, but bent before him as before a sorcerer, 
 come up out of the great desert. Already the 
 tents of her people seemed to lie a long way off, 
 and their hymns in the fields were like unto dying 
 echoes. And the well of Naomi was like unto a 
 tender thought of a thing that existeth no more. 
 
 When the sun was set, and the caravan departed 
 towards the desert, there was a woman in it who 
 wept as she journeyed. 
 
 In the darkness of night Johanan stood in the 
 door of his tent. He was weary with the heat of 
 day and with long travelling across the shadowless 
 plains. He stood in the door and looked into the 
 tent. The moon was up in the clear sky. Its 
 light streamed into the darkness, illuminating the 
 couch where each night Elcia laid her down to 
 sleep. And the eyes of Johanan turned towards 
 this spot with longing to see if the woman he loved 
 waked, waiting for his return. There was no one 
 upon the couch. The tent was empty. 
 
 Johanan stood still for a moment in perplexity.
 
 1 6 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 The hour was very late. No one was stirring. No 
 women were about. All was quiet. There was 
 scarce a breath of wind to rustle in the wide 
 leaves of the palms. He entered into the tent, 
 thinking that peradventure his eyes tricked him. 
 He approached the couch and bent over it. No 
 one was there, or had lain there that night. Then 
 a great fear came to his heart, and he rushed out 
 from the tent into the night. At first he had a 
 wild impulse to search for Elcia among the palms 
 and by the water, and his heart was alive with 
 jealousy. He hastened on like a man drunk with 
 wine, and scarce knew whither he went. He called 
 aloud in the night, " Elcia, Elcia, where art thou ? " 
 But no voice answered. Then he paused, and tried 
 to think. Could she, perchance, have wandered 
 forth, thinking to meet him on his returning way ? 
 Or could she — and his heart grew cold — have been 
 led by a dream down some strange path in sleep ? 
 He went to and fro, seeking her. He came to the 
 well of Naomi. The moonlight glittered upon the 
 water, and he seemed to see Elcia's face there. 
 But he found her not. Then he bethought him of 
 his friend Jediah, the man in whom he trusted ; 
 and he ran to Jediah's tent and found him wrapped 
 in profound slumber. He caught him by the 
 shoulders and waked him. 
 
 " Jediah," he said, " Jediah, knowest thou aught 
 of Elcia?" 
 
 Jediah gazed at him with eyes that seemed 
 heavy with sleep. 
 
 " Elcia ? " he asked, in the drowsy, inward voice
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 17 
 
 of tired men. " Elcia ? What should I know of 
 her? Is she not thy wife, and in thy tent? " 
 
 " She is not in the tent. And it is deep night 
 O Jediah, what evil hath befallen me?" 
 
 Jediah rose up from his couch. 
 
 " Elcia is not with thee ? " he said. 
 
 " Nay. I returned but now from my journey, 
 and when I stood in my tent door she was not 
 within. I have called on her. I have sought her. 
 Whither is she gone, Jediah?" 
 
 And he trembled in all his limbs, and seemed 
 like to fall. 
 
 " I know not," Jediah answered. " This is a 
 strange thing, Johanan. Did'st thou part from 
 her in anger when thou setted'st forth ? " 
 
 " Nay, but I spoke to her of our unblessed union, 
 and I did show unto her how sore was my heart 
 that we were ever childless. Ah, it was cruelly 
 done ! O Elcia ! Elcia ! " 
 
 " Let us seek her, Johanan. Let us seek her 
 together," said Jediah. And he wrapped himself 
 in his garment, and they went out into the night.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 Above the great plain in which lay the mighty 
 city of Babylon the sun blazed almost cruelly in 
 a sky that seemed made of brass, pitiless, fierce, 
 and hard. It was nearly noontide, and across 
 the plain, beyond the huge walls which enclosed 
 the city, a caravan travelled slowly towards the 
 western gate. The long lines of camels, heavily 
 laden with merchandise of spice and of ivory, of 
 perfumed oils, of alabaster and of fine linen, moved 
 onward with a fatigued and grotesque gait, 
 snarling in the sultry heat, and, with heavy and 
 irritable eyes, gazing askance at the Nubians, who 
 drove them forward. Round about them hovered 
 swarms of flies, which buzzed incessantly, and, 
 alighting upon them in thousands, crept towards 
 their eyelids, as if drawn thither by a magnet. 
 The drivers called to each other as they ran, and 
 cracked the stout thongs of the whips they carried. 
 And as the caravan approached the city, and the 
 mighty palaces, standing upon lofty platforms of 
 brickwork, the temples, and the endless rows of 
 dwelling-houses came more clearly to the view, 
 an excitement dawned in the faces of those who 
 accompanied the caravan. 
 
 IS
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 19 
 
 Dark-eyed traders, swinging to the movement 
 of the dromedaries, spoke together of the fabulous 
 wealth of the city, of the huge sums given by its 
 citizens for the pleasures that made glad their 
 hearts, of the lavish extravagance of its women, 
 who walked in the hanging gardens loaded with 
 rare jewels, having their hair bound with bands of 
 heavy gold and their fingers covered with rings, 
 while their long robes, embroidered in a thousand 
 hues, rustled till the scented air was filled with 
 music to wake the souls of men. Within those 
 gigantic walls that stretched for miles were surely 
 hoarded riches such as the world had never known 
 before in all its history — pearls brought from the 
 fisheries of Bahreim, and perchance from the deep 
 waters of Ceylon ; ebony and frankincense, bronze 
 and gold, glimmering silks and odorous cedar, 
 cottons dyed the hues of all the birds, ivory smooth 
 as the cheek of a maiden and hard as the heart of 
 a warrior when he goeth forth into battle ; the 
 skins of all beasts, and gems glittering with a light 
 inhuman. 
 
 Within those walls stood palaces like cities, 
 where instruments of music sounded in the drowsy 
 noontide and in the silver night, where the wine- 
 cup, chased with gold and set with turquoises, 
 passed from hand to hand, where the torches shed 
 their fire on the darkness and the slave - girls 
 leaped and danced beside the couches of their 
 masters. All things were bought and sold in 
 those streets and alleys : the wood cut in the 
 forests of Assyria and the women brought from
 
 20 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 far, weeping, in the inexorable caravans ; bricks, 
 beams, and doors for twelve manehs of silver ; 
 oxen and asses, statues of the great god Bel, 
 charms against evil fates and against mysterious 
 maladies, artabs of corn and shields of copper, 
 chariots wrought in bronze, coats of mail, and 
 tablets of brick. There the hucksters cried their 
 wares. There lurked the sorcerers in their my- 
 sterious dwellings, and the singing-women chanted 
 upon the walls, and the watchmen looked forth from 
 the towers. There, too, in the midst of a thousand 
 pleasures, did the learned men whose fame tra- 
 velled far to the four winds and to the four corners 
 of the world, pursue their endless studies. The 
 grave astronomers lived, like strange birds, high 
 up among those stars whose faces they knew as a 
 man knoweth the face of a friend. The sculptors 
 toiled, bringing a beautiful and lifeless life to the 
 hard substances that they loved. The librarians 
 muttered together of the thoughts of men, that 
 should be recorded for the observation of the 
 heedless and of those who know not how to think. 
 The mathematicians lost themselves in calculations, 
 treading the mazes of a crafty region where only 
 the clearest mind could go at ease. The irrigators 
 planned the wanderings of artificial rivers, and 
 the law-givers watched over the destinies of the 
 uninstructcd, and the quick-eyed men leaned over 
 the tiny gems, engraving them with tools scarce 
 visible, and the artists painted, and the weaver 
 bent above his weaving. There, in sombre 
 laboratories, the men of the healing art combined
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 21 
 
 their potions, and apart in their silent houses the 
 omen-givers drew up their treatises of divination, 
 their tables of dreams, their lists of the meanings 
 of those creatures that a traveller meets when on 
 his journey. If a blue dog enters a palace, that 
 palace will be burned. If a dog goes to a palace 
 and lies down upon a bed, that palace none with 
 his hand will take. If a man dreameth of bright 
 fire, there will surely be fire in his dwelling-place. 
 If a sheep bears a lion, the King of Babylon will 
 have no rival. And there the children cooed 
 and played among bright flowers, and the pro- 
 cessions of Bel went by with the sounding of flutes 
 and of cymbals, and the scattering of the wine-red 
 petals of roses. And the priests abased them- 
 selves before the statues of the gods — of Merodach, 
 who smote the dragon ; Tihamter, and Anu, god 
 of the sky ; and Makhir, the god of dreams ; and 
 Adar, and Ana, god of heaven. And there 
 histories were inscribed in clay, and the men 
 passed through the ways carrying seals upon their 
 wrists, and hymns were sung to the seven wicked 
 spirits, and at gateways, chased with fine gold, the 
 eunuchs lay asleep. There human beings swarmed 
 like flies ; drovers and masons, shepherds and 
 soldiers, carpenters and builders of houses, poets 
 and bankers, scribes and silversmiths. And there 
 was the sound of music by night and day. And 
 through the mighty city flowed the great river 
 Euphrates, on whose shining bosom floated the 
 daring navigators and merchants from far 
 countries, borne along on rafts of skins, or in
 
 22 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 boats fashioned of reeds and covered with 
 bitumen. Grandiose was this city and grandiose 
 its river. Men held their breath as they 
 approached it. Women wept from the fear of 
 it, or extended their longing arms to its fierce and 
 complex charms. The voices of it clamoured to 
 the skies, and the hearts of it beat like the beating 
 in the world's heart. Its laughter was like the 
 laughter of the gods, and its songs were like the 
 choruses of the morning stars. And its wonder 
 was more great than the wonder of all lands. 
 And its terror surpassed the terror of the deep 
 places beyond the mountains. 
 
 Even men of hardest nature were moved deep 
 in their souls as they approached Babylon, and in 
 this caravan, now travelling toward the western 
 gate of the city, were two who spoke together but 
 little, though they were companions, though — as 
 one believed — they were even friends. For among 
 the travellers, coming thus in the noontide to 
 Babylon, were Jediah and Johanan. Strange was 
 it that they should be together. It had fallen out 
 in this wise. When the search for Elcia was all 
 in vain, Johanan was well-nigh distraught with 
 jealousy and with despair. Now he thought his 
 wife dead in some hidden place ; now he believed 
 her fled from him with some man who loved her. 
 And when he could nowhere find her, he bethought 
 him of the wicked city Babylon, and that, per- 
 chance, she had fled thither to find safe hiding 
 among its teeming crowds. He told his thought 
 to Jediah, and Jediah answered —
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 23 
 
 (( 
 
 It may be so. As thou knowest, I am thy 
 friend. Stay thou here, for, peradventure, Elcia 
 may return in sorrow to greet thee, and I will go 
 up to Babylon to seek her there." 
 
 " Nay," said Johanan, " but I will come with thee. 
 We will go together, and surely we shall find her 
 there." 
 
 He held Jediah hard by the hand and looked 
 into his eyes, as if for hope and consolation. But 
 Jediah cast down his eyes and answered — 
 
 " Had'st thou not better stay by the tent? It 
 is far to Babylon, and why should Elcia be gone 
 thither, if, indeed, she liveth still ? " 
 
 And as he spoke the words he was seized by a 
 great terror, which seemed to shake his very soul, 
 even as the leaf of a tree is shaken by the wild 
 winds of the autumn time that come out of the 
 desolate heart of the desert. If his sin should be 
 discovered ! If his black deed should be known ! 
 What then would be his fate? He, Judge and 
 Lord in Israel — he, Jediah, son of Zoar, whom all 
 men respected — would be stoned with stones until 
 he lay dead before his father and his brethren. 
 And a dream of horror came upon him and en- 
 wrapped him, until he was like unto one who 
 walketh in darkness and in the night, companioned 
 by a spectre thatleadeth him into the dreadful places 
 of the earth and unto the dwellings of the damned. 
 
 " Better she were dead than alive in sin," Johanan 
 said, with bitterness. " But, Jediah, something 
 telleth me that she is indeed in Babylon, and that 
 thou and I shall find her there."
 
 24 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 " Thou shalt never find her, if I have to slay 
 thee to close those eyes of thine," muttered Jediah, 
 beneath his breath. 
 
 He feared deeply the presence of Johanan in 
 Babylon. Yet he dared not let him go thither 
 alone. For, alone, he might indeed come upon 
 Elcia. 
 
 So it came about that Jediah, unable to dissuade 
 Johanan from his purpose, was at last resolute to 
 accompany him to the city ; and thus the betrayer 
 and the betrayed now entered in at the western 
 gate as friends, the one stern to hide that woman 
 whom the other was so deeply purposed to find. 
 
 As they passed beneath the mighty gateway 
 and entered at length fully into the teeming life of 
 the city, they gazed about them with curious and 
 almost awestruck eyes. The streets cut each other 
 at right angles, and the houses, built of bricks 
 painted in bright colours, were tall and massive 
 and of an exceeding solidity. Even the lowest 
 of them was at the least three storeys in height. 
 Close by the entrance of the city were gardens and 
 orchards, groves of palms, and even patches of 
 land on which the corn was growing. All this 
 within the walls. Here and there the land was 
 intersected by broad canals, and here and there it 
 rose in artificial hills, so artfully constructed that it 
 seemed as if Nature herself had lifted them towards 
 the sun. Upon the houses by which the caravan 
 now passed, slowly threading its way among the 
 swarming crowds who jostled it, were many paint- 
 ings on stucco, chiefly figures of men and of
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 25 
 
 animals. Some of them seemed to be in action. 
 Some struck strange attitudes expressive of the 
 emotions. The cornices of these mansions, which 
 belonged to the wealthy Babylonians, were decor- 
 ated with bronze, some even with alabaster and 
 with bright gold. Before the walls were many 
 gardens and plantations, and beneath the trees 
 stood seats and small tables at which the owners 
 ate when the weather was, as at present, hot 
 and fine. Jediah and Johanan perceived some 
 Babylonish families thus enjoying the air beneath 
 the shade, the while slaves agitated gigantic fans 
 to keep away the swarming insects that buzzed 
 and flew on all hands. These gardens and small 
 plantations were irrigated by tiny rivulets, fed by 
 water that was drawn in buckets and poured heed- 
 fully into them by slaves. Along these rivulets 
 grevv^ vegetables, much garlic, also onions and a 
 sort of cabbage. Upon the tables beneath the 
 palms stood large vases filled with bright-coloured 
 flowers. 
 
 But now the sights of the streets attracted and 
 filled their eyes. Men and women buzzed, even as 
 the insects in the gardens, various in appearance, 
 in manner, and, most of all, strangely various in 
 attire. Some among them wore but one garment 
 and that a short one, but others were richly and 
 elaborately dressed in materials made in Babylon, 
 or in muslins and other fabrics imported from 
 India. They were robed in tunics of wool, or, 
 sometimes, of linen, fastened by girdles and reach- 
 ing to the thigh. Above this was a long and
 
 26 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 graceful robe, without sleeves and richly fringed, 
 opening in front and exposing, as the wearer 
 walked, the inner side of the left leg. Upon the 
 head was a thick, quilted tiara, or a species of 
 helmet, peaked and projecting forward above the 
 forehead. It was, in some cases, ornamented with 
 ribands shaped into the form of horns. Above 
 the heads of many were spread large parasols to 
 keep away the sun's rays, and from the wrists of 
 the men hung seals. Those that were priests were 
 attired in flounced robes falling to the feet, and 
 carried upon their shoulders the skin of the sacred 
 goat. The women wore ear-rings, necklaces, and 
 bracelets of gold or silver ; so also did many of the 
 men, who went mostly barefoot, though some were 
 shod with sandals, and one or two with shoes of 
 soft leather. The water-sellers beat their cups, 
 and the sellers of sweetmeats — round whom 
 gathered the children — cried in high voices their 
 wares. Here and there amid the throng a soldier 
 passed, clad in kilt and skullcap, or a dandy, 
 whose hair and beard, long and flowing, were care- 
 fully curled and drenched with strong essences. 
 Cavalry soldiers, in tightly fitting breeches fashioned 
 of plaited leather, and high boots, rode by mounted 
 upon magnificent horses with streaming manes 
 and tails. Their coloured saddles gleamed in the 
 .sunshine, and their martial bearing drew cries of 
 admiration from the women who leaned out from 
 the windows. Beggars and dogs swarmed on all 
 sides. The blind, reckless of their infirmity, 
 scrambled under the very feet of the camels and
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 27 
 
 asses. The poor stretched out their filthy hands 
 shrieking for alms. The cripples lay on the door- 
 steps, demonstrating their diseases and discovering 
 their sores. Here went by a man wrapped in the 
 snakes he charmed, there a miracle- worker bearing 
 his little boxes, his cups, and wands. A sand- 
 diviner called to the crowd to learn their destinies, 
 a maniac gibbered and sprang beneath a yellow 
 wall in the sun glare. An old man, pale and 
 malignant of countenance and girt with a black 
 girdle, played upon a pale green pipe beneath a 
 palm tree, and round his feet danced little boys 
 in fluttering white garments. A throng of sheep, 
 bleating to the shambles, mingled their hoarse 
 voices with the lowing of a herd of oxen being 
 driven to the city gate. And not only were the 
 streets full of Babylonians, born within the walls 
 of Babylon or come there from the neighbouring 
 plains, but among the crowd might be discovered 
 men from all the nations of the earth, lured thither 
 by the greatness of the place, by its pleasures, by 
 its glory, and, most especially, by its vast trade. 
 At this period it was, in fact, at the height of 
 its renown. Its luxury was immoderate. Its de- 
 bauchery surpassed conception. In Babylon men 
 gave their lives to joy as a child gives a flower to 
 the dust. Women yielded their souls to the pass- 
 ing hours. Effeminacy, bred of too great civilisa- 
 tion, already began to increase upon the growing 
 youths. The sun looked down upon a riot of 
 pleasure such as the world had never seen. And 
 at night, when the moon stole up above the mighty
 
 28 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 palaces, the monstrous walls, and the great brick 
 towers, and the hanging gardens and the wondrous 
 temple of the powerful god Bel, it shone upon 
 strange scenes of ecstasy and of sorrow, of wild, 
 even of frantic, dissipation and of profound super- 
 stition. For the people of Babylon, reckless in 
 their sins, cowered like children before the predic- 
 tions of a begging prophet, or the whispering voice 
 of a dream, and gave vast sums to propitiate the 
 gods, before whose altars they sank in abasement, 
 after orgies whose violence echoed, surely, to the 
 distant gates of heaven. 
 
 The two Israelites, Jediah and Johanan, were in 
 amaze at the thronging people in the streets, at 
 the cries and the music, and at the mighty build- 
 ings, and presently Johanan said — 
 
 "If Elcia be here, Jediah, how shall we come 
 upon her ? For here men are as the sands of the 
 sea and the women cannot be numbered. Yet, 
 while I have eyes to see and feet to walk upon, 
 will I seek her." 
 
 Even as he spoke, a blind man, tottering upon a 
 heavy stick, of brown wood, held forth his hand, 
 crying with a sad voice — 
 
 " Help the blind ! " 
 
 Jediah looked down upon him and then at 
 Johanan, and he answered slowly — 
 
 " Thou wilt seek her, thou sayest, while that 
 thou hast eyes to see. That is well, Johanan. 
 Surely, if she be indeed here, she shall not escape 
 thee." 
 
 Then he spoke no more until they reached a
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 29 
 
 wide space of ground, where the caravan stopped 
 to unload the camels and to pitch the tents for the 
 drivers and for the owners. There they must set 
 forth to seek a lodging for the night. Johanan, 
 who was possessed by but one thought, had no 
 care for himself. He gazed ever around him, 
 examining the faces of all who passed by. And 
 he cried unto Jediah — 
 
 " Seek thou a lodging, Jediah. I will go forth 
 into the street. Peradventure I may meet Elcia. 
 At sundown I will come hither again to find thee. 
 Farewell, O my friend." 
 
 And he turned away and mingled with the 
 crowd that had gathered to see the coming of 
 the caravan. 
 
 Jediah looked after him as he went, muttering 
 in his beard — 
 
 " Help the blind ! " 
 
 Then he too turned to go his w^ay to the house 
 where Elcia lodged. This was not in the wealthier 
 quarter of the city, among the palaces of the great 
 and the temples of the mighty gods, but near the 
 eastern wall, where stood many small and poor- 
 looking houses, at the base of one of the artifi- 
 cial hills reared by the Babylonians to break the 
 monotony of the flat plain in which the city lay. 
 As he passed upon his road, thinking deeply, — 
 for he was in most strange circumstances, — he 
 came presently to a street that lay at a higher 
 level. In this street were many Babylonians 
 offering their wares for sale — carpet merchants, 
 sellers of embroideries and of dyed stuffs, of
 
 30 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 perfumes, amulets, sandals, and bronzes. Among^ 
 them was a god-seller, who cried with a loud 
 voice — 
 
 " Come hither, ye who would buy gods — buy 
 them of me ! I sell the cheapest gods in Babylon. 
 Merodach, the General of all gods ; he who can 
 cure witchcraft and brain-sickness for one shekel ! 
 Ana, god of heaven, and Anatu, his consort, for 
 two shekels. Bel, the great god Bel, who ruleth 
 the evil of the south-west wind — who will give a 
 shekel for Bel ? Bel, who alone hath power to 
 dispel the seven evil spirits who seize the body, 
 who bring wastings and fevers, sickness of the 
 head, sickness of the heart, sickness of terror ; the 
 ruler of the Seven ! Who will buy him for only 
 one shekel? Only one shekel for the great god 
 Bel ! " 
 
 There were some women passing in the crowd, 
 and as Jediah, contemptuous of this superstition, 
 like all Israelites, paused to listen to the loud cry 
 of the god-seller, one of them stopped and said — 
 
 " wilt thou sell me Bel for half a shekel ? " 
 
 "Sell the great god Bel for half a shekel!" 
 cried the huckster, making wild gestures of ex- 
 travagant horror and surprise. " Nay, may the 
 accursed Seven seize me if I will sell him for less 
 than a whole shekel ! " 
 
 " But a whole shekel is food for a week," replied 
 the woman doubtfully. 
 
 " The great god Bel cures hunger for all time." 
 
 " But will he make my husband true unto mc?" 
 asked the woman, gazing at the little effigy of the
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 31 
 
 god, which the huckster displayed most temptingly 
 before her. 
 
 " There is no god like Bel for making husbands 
 true," said the man, with a crafty smile. 
 
 " Then I will even take him," said the woman 
 eagerly. " Here is my shekel." 
 
 " And here is the great god Bel," cried the 
 huckster, as he took the money and handed to 
 her the image. 
 
 Another woman who was standing near now 
 approached and said, in a low voice — 
 
 '• If indeed Bel keep husbands true, I too will 
 buy him ; but I would be sure, and, knowing my 
 husband, I will buy two of the great god Bel. 
 For, of a surety, it will take more than one to 
 keep him faithful." 
 
 "Thou art a wise woman, and wilt prosper," 
 said the god-seller, making the exchange, 
 
 " Come, child," said the woman to her little one, 
 who was clinging to her robe with one tiny hand. 
 
 " May not I too have the great god Bel, my 
 mother ? " 
 
 " Nay, but thou may'st share mine until thou 
 gettest a husband for thyself." 
 
 " But, my mother, I cannot get a husband until 
 I get a lover." And, turning to the god-seller, she 
 lisped — 
 
 " Will the great god Bel bring me a lover ? " 
 
 " Nay, child," he replied, " he is too busy watch- 
 insr the husbands. If thou would'st have one to 
 love thee, buy the goddess of all love, Ishtar." 
 
 " But what is her price ? "
 
 32 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 " Two shekels for Ishtar." 
 
 " And I have but half a shekel." 
 
 " Will not thy mother "— 
 
 " Nay, nay," answered the mother decidedly . 
 
 "Then," said the god-seller, "shalt thou have 
 her for thy half shekel ; but, in thy supplications 
 to her, tell her thou did'st pay her full price. Else 
 will she be angry and reject thy prayers." 
 
 The child took the goddess eagerly, and she and 
 her mother moved on down the crowded street, 
 worshipping their images and breathing prayers 
 to them. 
 
 Jediah, who had watched the scene with a smile 
 of contempt, muttered to him.self — 
 
 "If the great god Bel could make husbands 
 faithless ! Ay, if Johanan could forget Elcia 
 with these women of Babylon, then would I too 
 be like unto these people of superstition." 
 
 He regarded the god-seller for a moment, and 
 the man, an evil-looking creature, catching his eye, 
 extended towards him the reed panier, full of 
 images, and began to cry aloud their merits and 
 their powers. 
 
 But Jediah turned away and passed on into the 
 crowd, seeking the dwelling of Elcia.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 Elcia was housed, for the moment, near the 
 eastern gate of Babylon, from which departed 
 the caravans which travelled along the great road 
 leading from Sardis to Susa. Here passed by 
 incessantly camels, oxen and asses, and mules 
 drawing carts and waggons loaded with all de- 
 scriptions of merchandise. And the cries of the 
 drivers, the merchants, and the traders made a 
 continual music that seemed to reach the skies. 
 They travelled far away, from caravanserai to 
 caravanserai, to take unto other lands the exports 
 of Babylon, the marvellous carpets, — celebrated 
 through all the world, — the silks and the fabrics of 
 wool, broidered cunningly and woven with strange 
 designs and with figures of mythic animals, the 
 richly coloured Sindones and garments of all kinds, 
 also cylinders and many gems most curiously 
 engraved. 
 
 With some difficulty Jediah made his way 
 through the thronged and noisy thoroughfares till 
 he came to the dwelling where he thought to find 
 Elcia. It stood a little back from the public path, 
 and was built of bricks soldered together with 
 white clay. The walls were pierced with very 
 
 3
 
 34 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 small windows, and in front of the house stood 
 two or three meagre palm trees, whose great leaves, 
 yellow around the edges, looked brittle and ready- 
 to crack under the fierce rays of the sun. Upon 
 the door of this dwelling Jediah struck with his 
 staff, and in a moment an elderly man, dressed in 
 a long garment of wool, that flowed nearly to his 
 feet, came and opened to him. Jediah was about 
 to ask if Elcia was within, when she, who had, 
 indeed, been watching anxiously from the house, 
 came hurriedly to him, crying — 
 
 "Jediah, Jediah ! art thou here at last?" 
 
 He took her swiftly by the arm and drew her 
 from the door, glancing behind him as he did 
 so. 
 
 " Thou must not be seen," he whispered. 
 "Knowest thou that I have journeyed hither with 
 thy husband?" 
 
 The cheek of Elcia grew pale, and she seemed 
 like to fall. 
 
 " With Johanan ? " she murmured. 
 
 " Even so. He careth not for thee, but he is 
 wroth at thy going. And he seeketh thee now to 
 kill thee. Have a care ! " 
 
 For Elcia had stumbled upon the door-sill, and 
 now swayed forward and must have swooned upon 
 the ground had not Jediah sustained her. She 
 was trembling as in a spasm of deadly fear as he 
 laid her down upon the divan which ran round the 
 room. 
 
 " Be not afraid, Elcia," he said, " for I am with 
 thee, and Johanan shall not find thee. He shall go
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 35 
 
 back to the tents of our people and to the well of 
 Naomi even as he has come. There shall be no 
 blood upon his hands. Fear nothing." 
 
 But in his heart he said, " Shall Johanan indeed 
 go back ? Shall he indeed ever see again the 
 tents of his people and Naomi's well ? " 
 
 And he thought of the god-seller with his face 
 full of the shadow of evil things, who stood at the 
 street corner with his basket of images. In this 
 dim and poorly furnished room he seemed to see the 
 man, short, broad, with thick eyebrows meeting 
 above his nose, and long pointed teeth that stuck 
 out when he smiled upon the superstitious Baby- 
 lonish women. Why did the vision come to 
 him ? For he desired no image of the great god 
 Bel. But for the moment he put the thought 
 from him, turning to Elcia, whose beauty revived 
 in his heart the passion that was to lead him on so 
 strange a journey. She had opened her great 
 eyes, but her fair body was still shaken by a 
 spasm, and she repeated, with white lips — 
 
 "Johanan — Johanan here with thee in Babylon 1" 
 
 Jediah endeavoured to calm her with fair 
 words. 
 
 " I swear to thee, Elcia," he said, " that within 
 three days thy husband shall be where he can never 
 set his eyes on thy sweet face again." 
 
 " But where, then, will he go ? Nay, if he be 
 come hither, he will not depart. How knoweth he 
 that I am indeed in Babylon ? " 
 
 " He knoweth it not ; it is but his fancy. When 
 he hath searched in the public ways and findeth
 
 36 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 thee not, he will surely lose courage and will 
 depart." 
 
 " And he will take thee with him, Jcdiah. Is it 
 not so? Ah, why came I hither? Why did I 
 leave the tents and my people to seek this strange 
 and terrible city, where the men look so cruelly on 
 women, and where the noise of voices is as the 
 noise of the sea, or of the wind that bringeth the 
 sand out of the desert ! I am unhappy here. I 
 thought that thou would'st never come." 
 
 And she clung to him like a child that is afraid 
 in the night. 
 
 He embraced her, saying — 
 
 " Trust in me, Elcia. I will not leave thee, and 
 Johanan shall not set eyes on thee again. Have 
 no fear. Do not I love thee ? " 
 
 Then she rested in his arms and dried her tears. 
 But ever, as she listened to the voices of the 
 Babylonians without, and to the snarling of the 
 camels, the rumbling of the waggons towards the 
 great highway in the plains, and the cries and 
 vociferations of the traders and drovers, there was 
 terror in her heart. This world was strange to 
 her, and seemed as if it would take her to itself to 
 keep her for ever and to do her injury. 
 
 But Jediah was a man, strong, even though with 
 a strength unholy, bold with women, and unyield- 
 ing of purpose. He held Elcia fast in his arms, 
 and he whispered away the sounds of the city, the 
 cries of those without, even, for a moment, the 
 terror in the soul of Elcia. He taught her forget- 
 fulness as the twilight stole along the ways among
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF Bx^BYLON 37 
 
 the tall houses. She gave up her lips to his lips. 
 She yielded herself to his passion. 
 
 At the sunset hour Jediah left her and went 
 forth to return to the caravan to find Johanan. 
 He passed again the god-seller on his way. The 
 man recognised him, and, turning from the women 
 who were round about, intent on the buying of 
 charms and gods, he said to Jediah — 
 
 " Cannot I do anything for thee, stranger ? " 
 
 " Nay," said Jediah, " not to-day." 
 
 " To-morrow, then, stranger ; I will see thee 
 to-morrow. I have many things that will please 
 thee." 
 
 " To-morrow, perchance," Jediah answered, look- 
 ing into his crafty eyes as one that searcheth for 
 the soul. " To-morrow." 
 
 And he went on his way, thinking deeply, while 
 the god-seller turned again to his customers. 
 
 That night Jediah and Johanan lay in the house 
 of an Israelite, in a street over against the " House 
 of the Males," a monastic establishment which 
 furnished the great temples of the city with 
 servitors and with singers. They spoke together 
 till far into the darkness, and Johanan unlocked all 
 his heart to Jediah. 
 
 " I tell thee, Jediah, that Elcia is indeed here in 
 this great city," he said. 
 
 '* How knowest thou that, Johanan ? " said 
 Jediah, turning uneasily on his mattress, which 
 was laid upon the floor, as was the custom in the 
 poorer houses. " Hath anyone told thee, then ? " 
 
 '* Naught but my heart."
 
 38 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 " The heart is the great liar, Johanan. It leadeth 
 men in crooked paths." 
 
 And he turned again, as one that seeketh rest 
 in vain. 
 
 " It telleth me the truth. She is here, hidden in 
 some strange house of Babylon, and never will I 
 leave the city till I do find her. Nay, Jediah, if I 
 spend here all the days of the years of my earthly 
 pilgrimage, yet will I linger till I see Elcia." 
 
 " Stay, then, for ever if thou wilt," Jediah 
 answered. " But perchance thou wilt not see her, 
 nevertheless. Now let us sleep." 
 
 And there fell a silence between the two men. 
 
 A great bat, which had flown into the room, 
 beat about against the walls all through the night. 
 It was like a spirit of evil, unquiet, and seeking a 
 home. Jediah heard it, for he could not sleep. 
 
 In the morning he stood again in the street that 
 was higher than the others, among the press around 
 the god-seller. And the god-seller looked at him 
 and said — 
 
 " Thou art come again, stranger. Of a truth 
 thou seekest something of me." 
 
 " Peradventure I do. But I cannot tell thee 
 here what I desire. Can I see thee by night ? " 
 
 " Yea."" 
 
 " Where dwellest thou ? " 
 
 " Beside the eastern gate of the city, where go 
 the caravans when they depart for Sardis." 
 
 Jediah started. 
 
 " Beside the eastern gate ? Where is thy 
 house ? "
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 39 
 
 " I lodge with one named Agpul." 
 
 " Strange ! " murmured Jediah. 
 
 For it was in the house of Agpul that Elcia was 
 bestowed. 
 
 "What is strange? Must not a man lodge in 
 some house ? Would you have me sleep here in 
 the street with my gods ? Is it decent to treat the 
 great god Bel, and Merodach, and Ana, god of 
 heaven, so ? " 
 
 " Nay, nay, I meant not that. I will see thee 
 to - night, after sunset, in the house of Agpul. 
 Farewell." 
 
 The god-seller smiled till all the pointed teeth 
 of his mouth peered forth between his thick lips. 
 For he smelt money. And money was his god. 
 He cared more for it than for the great god Bel, 
 or than for Ana, god of heaven. 
 
 That evening, at sundown, when, in the hanging 
 gardens, the wonder of the world, the rich Baby- 
 lonish women walked, attended by those Indian 
 dogs that they so loved, and waited on by Nubian 
 slaves, who fanned them as they looked forth 
 across the city to the river Euphrates and the 
 plain beyond, Jediah, having taken leave of Elcia 
 in the house of Agpul by the eastern gate, stole 
 craftily into the chamber of the god-seller, whose 
 name was Migdapul. 
 
 He was not yet returned from his bartering, and 
 Jediah lay down upon a mattress to wait his 
 coming. The chamber of the god-seller was mean 
 atid dark. Two or three gaudy rugs lay upon the 
 floor of brick. Very little light entered through
 
 40 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 the two holes which served as windows. And the 
 air was hot and well - nigh suffocating. On a 
 rudely fashioned table in a corner stood an array 
 of gods, made in cedar wood, bronze, and stone. 
 They stared before them into the dimness with 
 their sightless eyes, and it seemed to Jediah as 
 if they looked into his heart and read the black 
 thoughts that were crowding on his mind as he 
 stretched his limbs along the hard mattress. 
 Under the table that was their home stood a stone 
 pitcher filled with water. Flies buzzed incessantly 
 about the room, as if seeking something that they 
 could not find. They came about Jediah in 
 swarms, desiring to settle on his beard and hands 
 and hair. They disturbed his meditations, and he 
 sprang up angrily and paced to and fro upon the 
 bricks, going softly, for Elcia was lodged near by, 
 and she thought him gone into the city. 
 
 The darkness of night came on, and still the 
 god-seller did not return. Jediah grew fiercely 
 impatient, then numb and cold, then dull and 
 heavy, passing through strangely varied changes. 
 At the last, a sense of relief struck him. He 
 suddenly paused in his walk, and, extending his 
 arms, as if in a great sigh of thankfulness, said 
 aloud — 
 
 " He Cometh not ! It is the will of God. He 
 Cometh not. I will go forth. I will not do this 
 thing." 
 
 And, as he stretched forth his arms, a great load 
 seemed to drop from him— ^a load that had lain 
 upon his heart cold, heavy, and morose, the load
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 41 
 
 of terror that lies upon the hearts of the wicked 
 and of those who defy the sweet purposes of 
 Heaven. 
 
 And there passed from before the eyes of his 
 inner being the vision that had haunted them so 
 long. In this vision he saw himself ever set, a 
 Judge, before his brother Judges, who were become 
 his accusers. He beheld his place upon the height 
 of the Judgment Seat filled by another, who called 
 upon the people over whom he had been lord to 
 pronounce the sentence of his doom. And, looking 
 forth over the sea of faces that encompassed him, 
 he saw, in all the eyes that stared upon him, no 
 soul of pity, no tenderness, no pardon. But the 
 eyes looked death, and the lips cried death, and 
 the souls desired death. Death by stones, cruel, 
 horrible ; the crushing of the image of God that 
 should be beautiful, the fierce sending of the 
 man who has done evil unprepared before the 
 throne of the great Judge who will surely judge 
 all the world. 
 
 Ah ! the veil dropped from his heart. The 
 vision passed. He seemed to see kind eyes and 
 to be near tender hearts. 
 
 And he cried again, scarce knowing that words 
 came from him — 
 
 " I will not do this thing ! " 
 
 Even as he spoke, he heard a shuffling tread 
 without. He stood still, listening intently. The 
 step came nearer. The dirty covering at the 
 doorway was pulled aside, and the god - seller 
 entered, bearing his basket of images on his arm,
 
 42 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 and showing his pointed teeth in an evil smile of 
 welcome. 
 
 " Thou art here before me, stranger," he said. 
 And he set down the basket. "It has been an 
 evil day for me. Only two Bels sold for a shekel 
 and Merodachs all left upon my hands. Of a truth, 
 I know not what is come to the people that they 
 buy not my wares. But what desirest thou ? " 
 
 " I know not if I desire anything," answered 
 Jediah, hesitating and with the speech of a man 
 affrighted. 
 
 The god - seller ceased from smiling, and his 
 square face became grim and old. 
 
 " Then why comest thou here ? For a charm 
 against the wasting sickness ? " 
 
 " I believe not in thy charms." 
 
 " Thou art an Israelite, like the maiden in 
 yonder chamber." 
 
 "Hush!" 
 
 " Why ? What meanest thou ? Dost thou know 
 her?" 
 
 " It is of her 1 would speak with thee — of her and 
 of her husband." 
 
 " She is married ? Then must she buy of me 
 a spell to " — 
 
 " Nay, nay. She will buy naught of thee. But 
 I"— 
 
 He hesitated. 
 
 " Thou wilt buy something ? Shall I show thee 
 my"— 
 
 But Jediah took him by the arm and whispered 
 in his ear —
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 43 
 
 " Dost thou do aught save to sell thy gods to 
 fools ? Dost thou not predict things for men ? " 
 
 " I do. And I would have thee to know 
 that "— 
 
 " And dost thou not help thy prophecies to 
 come true ? " 
 
 " And what if I do ? Even the gods need the 
 help of men." 
 
 " I know a man — draw near, and speak low — I 
 know a man here in this city who seeketh a 
 woman." 
 
 " There be many that do that." 
 
 " He must not find her." 
 
 " Is she in Babylon ? " 
 
 " She is here in this house." 
 
 The god-seller made a gesture with his hand 
 towards the room in which Elcia was lodged. 
 
 " The Israelitish woman ? " 
 
 " Yea. There be many blind in Babylon ? " 
 
 " 'Tis true. And 'tis a good trade, better than 
 god-selling. I would I were blind, for then should 
 I be richer than I am." 
 
 " Thou shalt be richer if — if" — 
 
 "If what?" 
 
 " If thou wilt give one more blind man to 
 Babylon." 
 
 " Give a blind man to Babylon ? What meanest 
 thou ? " 
 
 " This man I told thee of, who seeketh the 
 Israelitish woman, must not see her. And yet he 
 goeth in the streets, and he is not blind. How, 
 then, shall he not one day see her ? "
 
 44 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 Jediah and the god-seller looked at one another 
 in silence. The room was growing dark, and in 
 the darkness sounded the noise of the flies. Jediah 
 bent down and whispered — 
 
 " Canst thou not give one more blind man to 
 Babylon ? Thou hast said it is a good trade, and 
 better than the selling of gods." 
 
 The god-seller nodded. 
 
 " And the shekels ? " he whispered. 
 
 " Thou shalt have much." 
 
 Jediah named a sum. 
 
 " Wilt thou show me the man ? " 
 
 " Yea." 
 
 " When ? " 
 
 " To-morrow, when thou criest thy gods in the 
 street, ere the sun is high in the heaven. And 
 now, farewell." 
 
 " Stay ! The Israelitish woman — doth she 
 know that thou art here ? " 
 
 " She must not know." 
 
 They were in the doorway now, and the god- 
 seller, with his skinny hand, was holding up the 
 covering for Jediah to pass out. In the street 
 they could hear a shrill voice crying with endless 
 repetition one melancholy phrase — 
 
 " Help the blind ! Help the blind ! " 
 
 The god-seller smiled. 
 
 " Thou hearest ? " he said. " It is an omen." 
 
 Jediah 's face was very white, and he shuddered 
 as if with cold. 
 
 "Art thou ill, Israelite?" 
 
 " Nay, nay."
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 45 
 
 Jediah, with a great effort, pulled himself up 
 into an erect attitude. The voice of the beggar 
 died away down the dark street. Then Jediah 
 thought of Elcia, and he whispered into the ear of 
 the god-seller — 
 
 " Within three days there must be one more 
 blind man in Babylon." 
 
 " There shall be, if thou hast indeed the shekels," 
 said the god-seller. 
 
 And letting the ragged covering drop, he turned 
 back into the black chamber in which the flies 
 were now buzzing more drowsily. 
 
 On the morrow, Jediah said to Johanan — 
 
 " Wilt thou even search for Elcia to - day, 
 Johanan ? She is not here in Babylon, be sure ; 
 for why should she come hither, and with whom ? " 
 
 " That I know not, Jediah, but that she is here I 
 know. And each day will I seek until I do find 
 her." 
 
 " I will come with thee," answered Jediah, " since 
 thou wilt go. Four eyes are better than two. And 
 if Elcia is indeed here, peradventure I shall see her 
 before thou dost." 
 
 " Thou art indeed my friend, Jediah. Let us go 
 forth." 
 
 Jediah led Johanan towards the street of the 
 god-seller. 
 
 "He is a strange man, who selleth images and 
 charms," he said to Johanan. " And he is ever 
 beset by the women. Peradventure we may find 
 Elcia with him. For Babylon changeth faith, and 
 Elcia is but a woman. She may desire to learn
 
 46 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 her destiny or to purchase some sorcery to protect 
 her from the danger of the city — if she be 
 here ! " 
 
 " Ah, let us go thither. If she be there ! Where 
 is the god-seller, Jediah? Let us hasten, let us 
 hasten ! " 
 
 And Johanan drew his companion on almost 
 as one distraught. For ever he hoped to meet 
 with Elcia, When they gained the high street, 
 it chanced that Migdapul stood alone with his 
 basket before him. There were no barterers with 
 him, and no women. And it seemed indeed as if 
 he had spoken truth when he said that the selling 
 of gods was but a poor trade, and that the people 
 of Babylon sought not after Bel and after Mero- 
 dach, as in former days. 
 
 As they came towards him, Migdapul fastened 
 his small dark eyes on Johanan. He gave no sign 
 of recognition to Jediah, but began to cry his 
 wares in a loud voice. And ever his eyes looked 
 at the eyes of Johanan. 
 
 " She is not here, Jediah, she is not here," said 
 Johanan. " Let us go on, let us seek her. Per- 
 chance she is at the eastern side of the city, where 
 go the caravans to the great highway. I have not 
 sought there yet. Let us go." 
 
 But Jediah laid his hand on Johanan's arm. 
 
 "Stay awhile, Johanan," he said. "All the 
 women of the city seek the god-seller, be it to-day 
 or to-morrow, or be it yesterday. Perchance he 
 hath seen Elcia here in Babylon. Demand of 
 him, I beseech thee."
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 47 
 
 Then Johanan approached the god-seller with 
 eagerness. 
 
 " Gods ! cheap gods ! " vociferated Migdapul. 
 " The cheapest gods in Babylon. Merodach, 
 who "— 
 
 " Nay, nay, I want not thy gods ; but I would 
 speak to thee a moment," said Johanan. " Thou 
 seest many women ? Is it not so ? " 
 
 " All the women of Babylon come to me. For 
 am not I he who can sell charms against all 
 sickness ? Cannot I, with my spells, — the cheapest 
 spells in Babylon, — make the lame to walk and 
 even the blind to see ? " 
 
 As he spoke the last words he smiled curiously, 
 looking towards Jediah. But Jediah turned away 
 and gazed out over the city. 
 
 " I want not thy charms. I would speak with 
 thee of a woman." 
 
 " Thou lovest one who is false to thee ? Is it 
 not so?" 
 
 " How knowest thou that ? " said Johanan, start- 
 ing. 
 
 " Cannot I, who live ever with the gods, divine 
 more than other men ? She is an Israelitish 
 woman ? " 
 
 " Yea, yea ! Hast thou seen her in Babylon ? " 
 
 " What like is she ? " 
 
 " She is beautiful. She hath dark eyes, like the 
 deep waters, but behind them there is fire. Her 
 hair is black as jet, and she bears herself proudly. 
 She is like a queen, more than common tall ! " 
 
 " What is her name ? "
 
 48 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 " Elcia." 
 
 The god-seller affected a start of surprise. 
 
 " Elcia ! Elcia ! Nay, now, by the great god 
 Bel, it seems to me that I — and yet " — 
 
 He paused, as one plunged in deep and anxious 
 meditation. Johanan regarded him with a terrible 
 anxiety. 
 
 " Thou hast seen her ! — thou hast seen her ! " he 
 cried out. " Tell me — where is she ? Lead me 
 to her, I beseech thee ! " 
 
 But the god-seller, holding up his skinny hand, 
 checked the fervour of Johanan. 
 
 " I do not say so," he answered. " But it seemeth 
 to me that thou art right, and that there is such a 
 woman here in Babylon." 
 
 He stopped. Then he continued abruptly — 
 
 " Tell me, Israelite, — hast thou no faith in my 
 spells, no belief in my divining power? For, if 
 not, I cannot aid thee. But" — 
 
 " Yea—yea — speak on ! " 
 
 "If thou hast faith, I may do what thou desirest. 
 I may even find this woman for thee." 
 
 At these words Jediah turned round from gazing 
 on the city, and his face was dark with anger and 
 with fear. The god-seller reassured him with a 
 glance, then continued to Johanan — 
 
 ' But thou must come to me at night, and alone." 
 
 " I will come. But may not I bring my friend 
 Jediah ? " 
 
 " Doth he desire to companion thee ? " 
 
 " Nay, nay, Johanan," said Jediah hastily. " Go 
 thou alone, if indeed thou believest in the charms^
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 49 
 
 of a false religion. I will have naught to do with 
 this." 
 
 " I must believe. I will," said Johanan. 
 
 Then he lowered his voice and said to Jediah 
 apart — 
 
 " This man is not like unto other men. Did he 
 not tell me I loved one who is false to me ? " 
 
 " 'Tis true." 
 
 " How should he know it if he be not of a truth 
 a diviner? I will go to him, Jediah, by night and 
 alone." 
 
 " As thou wilt, Johanan. But I will have naught 
 to do with this thing." 
 
 "Whither shall I go, O god -seller?" said 
 Johanan, " and at what hour of the night ? " 
 
 " Meet me here when the sun goeth down, when 
 the river Euphrates is red as with blood. And I 
 will lead thee to the dwelling of a sorcerer who 
 knoweth more of secret things than any man in 
 Babylon. Together will he and I cast a spell and 
 set the woman thou seekest before thee as in a 
 vision. In a dream shalt thou see the place where 
 she abideth." 
 
 " Thou art indeed a worker of miracles. I will 
 be with thee at sundown." 
 
 Johanan turned to go. As Jediah passed by 
 the god-seller, he whispered to him — 
 
 " Thou wilt do as thou said'st to me ? Remember 
 he is poor and cannot pay thee." 
 
 And the god-seller answered — 
 
 " Ere three days are over I will give one more 
 blind man to Babylon." 
 4
 
 50 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 And then, once more, he began to cry aloud the 
 merits of his gods. 
 
 At sundown, when the great river Euphrates 
 was red as with blood, Johanan bade farewell to 
 Jediah and departed to seek the god-seller. 
 
 " I will see thee again ere the dawn cometh, 
 Jediah," he said, in going. 
 
 And Jediah looked at him and said — 
 
 " Art thou sure of that, Johanan ? " 
 
 " Or to-morrow." 
 
 Then an impulse of horror seized Jediah and he 
 caught Johanan by the skirt and cried — 
 
 " Go not to the god-seller, Johanan. Thou 
 knowest him not. He may be a man of evil, 
 with his false gods and his sorceries and his 
 divining that cometh surely from the Wicked One. 
 Stay here, I beseech thee." 
 
 But Johanan answered — 
 
 " Nay, I must even go. For hath he not 
 promised to show unto me Elcia in a vision, or in 
 a dream of the night ? Farewell, Jediah ; I will 
 see thee in the dawn." 
 
 And he drew his garment from the hand of 
 Jediah and departed. 
 
 The sun was red in the sky. There was a 
 noise of sailors' voices singing on the great river. 
 Jediah stood in the door watching Johanan as he 
 went down the street, and murmuring — 
 
 " I will see thee in the dawn. I will see thee in 
 the dawn." 
 
 That night he did not close his eyes, but tossed 
 on his mattress upon the floor. The great bat
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 51 
 
 wheeled and circled about the room, stirring the 
 hot air with its dusky wings. The sweat stood 
 upon Jediah's brow and his eyes stared, as if 
 he saw something terrible in the darkness. He 
 dreaded the coming of the dawn. Horror in- 
 vaded his heart, and he counted the hours till the 
 air seemed to grow colder in presage of the morn- 
 ing. He listened, straining his ears. But there 
 was no sound without. All Babylon seemed to 
 be sleeping ; princes in their palaces and hucksters 
 in their hovels, trader and noble, law-giver and 
 law-breaker. It was deadly silent. Only the bat 
 stirred and seemed to grow ever wilder in its 
 flight It beat the walls and uttered a remote and 
 yet penetrating little cry that was like a cry of 
 pain or fear. To Jediah it was as the cry of a 
 spirit. His hair shifted upon his head and he sat 
 up on his mattress, supporting himself with his 
 hands. Why did he listen? What did he expect 
 to hear ? The call of a man in the street without 
 or the song of a woman by her window ? No, he 
 listened not for that. The air now seemed to him 
 to become very cold, damp also, as wind that 
 bloweth from a river or from the long marshes 
 where the mists sleep in the darkness. He knew 
 that the dawn was very near, and he thought of 
 the words of Johanan, " I will see thee in the 
 dawn." He was listening for the footfalls of Jo- 
 hanan. Each moment he expected to hear them, 
 far away, at the end of the thoroughfare, pass- 
 ing before the portals of the " House of the Males." 
 Now he saw a very faint glimmer in the narrow
 
 5 2 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 apertures of the wall and the grotesque shadow of 
 the bat passing and repassing, swaying and dart- 
 ing. The glimmer grew, and ever as it grew 
 Jcdiah listened more intently, leaning forward 
 with lips apart and muscles braced and tightened 
 till they stood up upon his body. And as the 
 first beam of light appeared he did indeed hear a 
 distant footstep. It was far away, but coming 
 slowly onward, slowly, slowly down the street. 
 It drew nearer and nearer, and Jediah muttered 
 to himself, " It is he ! It is Johanan ! " 
 
 How loud it was now, beating in his ears like the 
 drums beaten in the processions of the great god 
 Bel. It deafened him. It sounded in his heart. 
 He covered his ears with his hands, and his hands 
 were cold and damp with the dews of terror. And 
 the noise of the feet ceased. Surely Johanan was 
 stopping before the house. He would strike upon 
 the door with his staff now. He would strike. 
 Jediah strained his ears. There came a hard 
 knock upon the outer door, and then a voice, like 
 the voice of one who wailed aloud in horrible 
 despair, cried — 
 
 " Help the blind ! " 
 
 Throwing his hands abroad as if to ward off a 
 blow, Jediah sank back upon his mattress, burying 
 himself in the coarse woollen covering, hiding his 
 eyes from the light, closing his ears from the 
 voice. But he still heard it pealing like a trumpet 
 in his soul — 
 
 " Help the blind ! Help the blind ! "
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 Three months later Jediah returned alone to 
 the tents of his people. His face was lined as 
 with care, and he appeared to be already older by- 
 some years than when he departed from the well 
 of Naomi with Johanan to seek Elcia in the great 
 city of Babylon. So deeply doth sin weigh upon 
 the shoulders of a man and steal into the secret 
 places of his heart. Those months in Babylon 
 had been ever fraught with anxiety and burdened 
 with horror. Ever had Jediah heard the distant 
 sound of footsteps, the beating of a staff upon a 
 door, the terrible and despairing cry of a man that 
 is blind. Even the pressure ol the arms of Elcia 
 had not availed to keep out the sound that haunted 
 him like a cruel echo by day and by night. In- 
 deed, when he was with Elcia in the house the 
 terror came more near, and he felt that the blind 
 man entered and stood at his side, gazing upon 
 him with eyes that were sightless, and that yet 
 could see into his very soul Sometimes he cried 
 aloud, and started up trembling. And Elcia was 
 affrighted, and asked him — 
 
 " What is ill with thee, Jediah ? Thou starest as 
 if someone were before thee." 
 
 53
 
 54 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 And he answered her — 
 
 "And is there not indeed someone — there — 
 there ? " 
 
 " Nay, there is nothing. Turn thee, and sleep 
 again." 
 
 And she laid her hand upon the dews of his 
 forehead, and gave him to drink. But sleep came 
 not to the porches of his eyes, and ever the horror 
 gathered more thickly about his heart, till he could 
 neither rest nor be at peace for a moment. Then 
 he grew to hate the woman for desire of whom he 
 had betrayed the man who trusted in him, and to 
 hate himself when he was with her. He was cruel 
 and bitter to her, till she trembled at his approach 
 and would have fled at the sound of his voice. And 
 at last he rose in the night, while she slept, and stole 
 from the dwelling-house like a thief fearing dis- 
 covery, and, finding a caravan that was setting 
 forth from Babylon to gather in tribute from the 
 captive Israelites, he joined it, and returned alone 
 to the tents of his people and to Zoar his father. 
 Zoar was glad at his return, for he loved him, and 
 Naomi, the wife of Zoar, stepmother to Jediah 
 and own mother to Lemuel, who was yet a 
 lad and away from the tents, shepherd to an 
 Israelite afar among the hills — Naomi wept 
 with joy. For, though she loved best her own 
 son Lemuel, yet she loved also Jediah, deeming 
 him a man of great virtue, and one to whom 
 the whole tribe looked as Lord and Judge. Yet 
 soon she learned to fear Jediah, who was now 
 ever stern and cold, relentless as law-giver and
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 55 
 
 hard to those about him. Sometimes she asked 
 Zoar — 
 
 " What has come to thy son Jediah, O my 
 husband ? " 
 
 And Zoar answered her — 
 
 " He that is Judge is not as other men. From 
 him Cometh the law, and he holdeth in his hands 
 the scales of Justice. How, then, should he be soft 
 in heart, inclining ever to mercy, as doth a woman ? " 
 
 Then Naomi bowed her head in the tent, and 
 said — 
 
 " Thou art right, O my husband. Jediah is not 
 as other men, but a Judge in Israel." 
 
 Now in Israel there was a law which was thus 
 written : — 
 
 " If a damsel be betrothed unto a man, and 
 another man take her, then shall ye bring them 
 both out unto the gate of the city, and ye shall 
 stone them with stones, that they both die." 
 
 It chanced that, soon after the return of Jediah 
 from Babylon, a certain Israelite had stolen from 
 his own brother the maiden to whom that one was 
 betrothed, and had taken her unto himself in love. 
 Therefore the brother came up unto Jediah, de- 
 manding the punishment of these guilty ones 
 according to the law of his fathers. 
 
 "Justice, O Jediah!" he cried aloud. " My joy 
 is taken from me, my peace is broken upon the 
 earth for ever. Give me justice ! " 
 
 And Jediah answered him — 
 
 " Fear not. Thou shalt have justice while I am 
 a law-giver in Israel."
 
 56 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 Then he called together the Judges, and con- 
 voked all the people for a certain day to gather 
 about the Judgment Seat that was set in the midst 
 of the plain before the tents. And on the day 
 appointed he went forth from his tent, wrapping 
 his robe about him. His face was stern and 
 cold. His lips were set in his beard, and his eyes, 
 fierce as the eyes of a hawk when it falleth upon 
 its prey, stared before him, looking neither to the 
 right hand nor to the left. All those that saw 
 him feared him that day, and even the little 
 children shrank to the side of the way when he 
 approached. When he came in sight of the Judg- 
 ment Seat he saw that there was a great crowd 
 about it, and he heard the murmur of many voices, 
 like the long murmur of the waves of the sea upon 
 the sand. For all the people had come in from 
 their labours in the fields, and from tending the 
 flocks and the herds, to hear the pronouncing of 
 the Judgment, and to assist at the payment of the 
 penalty, if indeed the sentence of the law should 
 be given. Here were all the shepherds and the 
 drovers, those that planted, and those that drove 
 the asses and that laded the camels, old and young, 
 men, women, and children — all were gathered 
 about the Judgment Seat. There, too, was Zoar, 
 with his wife Naomi. And with them there was 
 a very young maiden, by name Elna, one of the 
 most beautiful of all the daughters of Israel. Her 
 hair was dark, and flowed down upon her shoulders 
 almost to her feet. She had blue eyes, and her 
 mouth was like a flower. But now her cheek was
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 57 
 
 pale, and in her eyes the tears were gathering. For 
 she had great fear of the terrors of the inexorable 
 Law, and knew not what was to come. The Judg- 
 ment Seat was a great seat of stone, and before it 
 there was a step. And at the foot of this step, in 
 the midst of all the people, watched by all eyes, 
 spoken of by all lips, stood together the man and 
 the woman who were to be judged. They looked 
 not up, but cast their eyes down to the ground, 
 longing to hide themselves from the press of the 
 people, and from the gaze of those who regarded 
 them so pitilessly. As Jediah drew near there was 
 a murmur from the crowd, who drew aside to let 
 him pass to join the other Judges. These stood 
 together by the Judgment Seat, with the priest of 
 the tribe, and with the elders of the people. Then 
 the trumpet sounded, and the Judges mounted upon 
 their seat, Zoar being in the midst, with Jediah 
 upon his right hand. And the priest cried aloud — 
 " Blessed be the name of the Lord ! " 
 And all the people answered and said — 
 " We praise His holy name." 
 Only the man and the woman were silent, 
 trembling in the knowledge of their guilt and 
 of the punishment that was to come upon them. 
 And the tears welled up under the white lids of 
 the eyes of the young maiden Elna, who stood 
 with Naomi, and ran down upon her cheeks. For 
 she was pitiful and tender-hearted. 
 Then rose up a Judge, and he said — 
 " Men of Israel, of the house of Zoar ! If a man 
 is betrothed unto a woman, and another man take
 
 58 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 her, what shall be their punishment? What saith 
 the law ? " 
 
 " Their punishment shall be death." 
 
 And the Judge said, speaking with a loud voice 
 that all might hear him — 
 
 " Shall they not be stoned with stones until they 
 die ? " 
 
 And all the people cried out — 
 
 " They shall be stoned with stones until they 
 die." 
 
 Then the Judge said, turning to him that was 
 betrothed to the maiden who was now summoned 
 to judgment — 
 
 " Speak thou, Manael. Testify the wrong that 
 hath been done to thee." 
 
 And Manael, standing by the Judgment Seat, 
 said with exceeding great bitterness — 
 
 *' I, Manael, eldest born of my father's house, a 
 tender of flocks and of herds in Israel, do testify 
 and do swear that I was betrothed unto this maid, 
 Martha, by my father Abirah. Answer, O my 
 father. Did'st thou not indeed give this woman 
 unto me for wife ? " 
 
 Then Abirah, a man well stricken in years, 
 testified and said — 
 
 " It is true. I did give this woman unto thee." 
 
 Then the Judge said to the maiden — 
 
 " Answer thou, O woman. Wast not thou be- 
 trothed unto this man,Manael,by his father Abirah?" 
 
 And the maiden bowed her head and said in a 
 voice scarce audible — 
 
 « Yea."
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 59 
 
 Then the Judge said to the man — 
 
 ' And thou — answer thou. Did'st thou not know 
 that this woman was betrothed unto thy brother ? " 
 
 And the man answered — 
 
 " I did know it." 
 
 " And, knowing it, did'st thou steal her from thy 
 brother and take her unto thyself in love ? " 
 
 And the man answered — 
 
 " Yea." 
 
 Then the Judge, turning to his brethren upon 
 the Judgment Seat, said unto them — 
 
 "What shall be the sentence of the law upon 
 this man and this woman ? " 
 
 And the Judges answered and said— 
 
 " They shall be taken out and stoned with stones 
 that they both die." 
 
 Only Jediah answered not with the others. His 
 throat was dry and parched as the wind in the 
 desert, and there was a singing within his ears. 
 And it seemed to him as if he stood at the step 
 of the Judgment Seat, and that all the people 
 looked upon him and cried, " He is guilty ! Let 
 him go forth and be stoned with stones until he 
 die." 
 
 " Jediah, son of Zoar, thou that art a Judge in 
 Israel, why answerest thou not? What shall be 
 the sentence upon this man and this woman ? " 
 
 Then Jediah called upon his soul, and said in a 
 low voice that the people could not hear — 
 
 " They shall both be stoned with stones that 
 they — m ay — d i e. " 
 
 And he sank back in his seat and put his hands
 
 6o THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 before his face. For he seemed to pronounce his 
 own condemnation. 
 
 Then the Judge, for the last time, turned to the 
 people and said unto them — 
 
 " What shall be done unto this man and unto 
 this woman ? " 
 
 And all the people answered — 
 
 " They shall be stoned with stones that they 
 may die." 
 
 Then the Judge cried and said to the people — 
 
 " It is finished. Let justice be done in the name 
 of the Lord." 
 
 And the trumpet sounded and the priest said in 
 a loud voice — 
 
 " Praise the name of the Lord ! " 
 
 And all the people answered and said — 
 
 " We praise His holy name." 
 
 Then all the Judges stood up in the Judgment 
 Seat, and the people ran from every side ; the 
 elders and the fathers, and the men come in from 
 the fields and from far off in the plains, the camel- 
 drivers and the shepherds and many women. Yea, 
 the women were in the forefront of the press. And 
 they laid their hands upon the young man and the 
 maiden who stood before the Judgment Seat. And 
 they all cried aloud — 
 
 " To the place of stones ! To the place of 
 stones ! " 
 
 Then the maiden screamed with terror, and cried 
 for mercy ; but the people heeded her not. But 
 they seized and carried her, dragging her from the 
 Judgment Seat. And they tore the young man
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 6i 
 
 from her, buffeting him and grasping him with 
 their hands. And he too called for mercy, repent- 
 ing of what he had done. And stretching out his 
 arms to the Judges, who stood ever upon the lofty 
 seat, he caught the skirt of Jediah's robe with his 
 fingers, crying in a lamentable voice — 
 
 " Mercy, Jediah, son of Zoar ! Mercy ! mercy ! " 
 
 Then Jediah leaned down where he stood, and 
 tore away his robe from the grasp of the young 
 man, and thrust him backwards down among the 
 press of the people, and cried out — 
 
 " Not mercy, but justice ! " 
 
 And all the people caught up the cry and 
 shouted — 
 
 " Not mercy, but justice ! Justice in Israel ! 
 Justice ! justice ! " 
 
 Only the young maid Elna joined not her voice 
 with the others. She wept bitterly and clung to 
 Naomi, hiding her face that she might not see the 
 tumult and the seizing of these guilt}^ ones. But 
 when she heard this great shout, she, with her weak 
 voice of a child, cried — 
 
 " Nay, nay. Mercy ! mercy ! " 
 
 Jediah heard her, and he turned him on the 
 Judgment Seat and looked down to where she 
 was standing. Her face, soft as a flower, was 
 turned upward to him as if in appeal. The tears 
 streamed down upon her tender cheeks, and when 
 she saw that Jediah looked at her, she held forth 
 her two little hands towards him and cried again 
 with all her strength — 
 
 " Help them ! Help them ! Mercy ! mercy ! "
 
 62 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 Her cry struck like a sharp blade of steel into 
 his heart. He sprang forward as if he would 
 arrest the throng who were hurrying towards the 
 place of stones. But he was powerless. Already 
 the guilty maiden, half dead with fear, was being 
 borne beyond his sight. He saw her white face, 
 like the face of a corpse, tossed upon the sea of 
 humanity as a lily upon the waves of the stormy 
 deep. He saw her arms hanging, her long hair, in 
 which rude hands were thrust, flowing down among 
 the trampling feet of the shrieking crowd. She 
 fell, and was raised up again and carried onward 
 to meet her doom. And behind her, the young 
 man who had loved her to their undoing was 
 hurried onward with blows and with scornful 
 words. He too was pale, and his eyes stared 
 before him, but there was courage in his face. 
 Now that death was close upon him, he called 
 upon all the strength of his heart. He bore him- 
 self as a man should, and there was even a sort of 
 glory upon him, as if, by paying the penalty of his 
 sin, he was purged from his sin and could look 
 upward again to the great God of his fathers and 
 say with confidence — 
 
 " Thou wilt pardon me ! " 
 
 He disappeared from the eyes of Jediah. There 
 fell a silence. And then there was the sound of 
 stones dropping upon the hard ground. And then 
 there was again a silence. 
 
 Jediah stepped down slowly from the Judgment 
 Seat. His limbs were trembling, but his face was 
 grave and stern as he came up to Naomi. The
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 63 
 
 little maid Elna sprang towards him, sobbing and 
 seizing his robe with her tiny hands. Hiding her 
 face there, she cried — 
 
 " Oh, save them — save them ! Mercy ! mercy ! " 
 
 And then she wailed bitterly. Jediah took her 
 by the hand and lifted her in his arms. Her 
 childish beauty spoke to his heart Her bitter 
 grief moved his stern nature. 
 
 " There is no mercy for the wicked," he said. 
 "Knowest thou not that?" 
 
 The child only wept the more. Then it seemed 
 as if a voice that he would fain have put from him 
 spoke within Jediah, out of his soul, whether he 
 would or no. And he said — 
 
 " The deeds that we do, whether good or evil, 
 return to us again to give us our reward. They 
 may tarry long on their journey, as tarry the great - 
 caravans that come from the desert. And per- 
 adventure we may say unto ourselves that they 
 will never come. But there surely dawneth a day 
 when they do stand before us, and in their hand 
 they do bear the gift — life for the good, death for 
 the evil." 
 
 He ceased from speaking. And then suddenly 
 a great fear came upon him. He put down the 
 little maid from his arms, and he went away alone 
 into the darkness of his tent. 
 
 And that night he wept sore. And his soul was 
 full of terror.
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 Four years passed, with their sixteen seasons of 
 labours in the fields and pleasures in the city, their 
 births, marriages, and deaths. Elcia had never 
 returned from distant Babylon to the tents of 
 her kindred. Nor had Jediah again gone up 
 unto Babylon. He knew not the measure of her 
 fate. He had forgotten her beauty. The voice of 
 his passion for her had long been silent in his 
 heart. But the voice of his conscience was not 
 stilled by the years. He was become a hard and a 
 morose man, inflexible even to cruelty as a Judge, 
 and reserved to those about him. Yet, although 
 all tenderness seemed to have been driven out 
 from his soul, the murmur of desire that is 
 natural in man was wakeful in him as the 
 murmur is wakeful in the sea ; and when the 
 maiden Elna, who had so wept at the bitter 
 scene of the judgment in the plains, grew up 
 into the first fulness of beauty, Jediah cast his 
 eyes upon her and desired her to be his wife. 
 She knew not love, being so youthful. Nor did 
 she know at all what joy life can bring to a maid 
 when she loves. So, when Jediah asked her in 
 marriage, she knew not how to say him nay ; and 
 
 61
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 65 
 
 Zoar, his father, betrothed them, as was the 
 custom in Israel. Yet was Elna ever afraid of 
 the hardness of Jediah and of the fierceness of 
 his eyes, in which seemed to burn a light more 
 pitiless than the light of any torch, and of the 
 sound of his voice, which was cold as the night 
 wind that blows out of the desert. Nevertheless 
 did she look up to and respect him. For he was 
 a Judge and law-giver in Israel, and a man of con- 
 sideration to all his tribe. But respect is not love. 
 And this Elna knew, to the sorrow of her heart, 
 when she knew Lemuel, own son to Naomi and 
 half-brother to Jediah. 
 
 This one, who had been long away from the 
 tents, serving a master as shepherd of the flocks, 
 returned to the tents of his father and of his 
 mother soon after the betrothal of Jediah with 
 Elna. He was now a man, strong of courage, 
 stalwart and well - knit of figure, with a brave 
 and open countenance and a heart fearless as 
 a lion's. His brown hair clustered thickly about 
 his brows. The muscles of his arms were as 
 iron, his voice was clear as the voice of a bell, 
 and his heart was hot with the fire of patriot- 
 ism. He loved his country and his people with 
 no ordinary love such as loses itself in words 
 and in useless regrets. Their captivity in a land 
 of bondage oppressed him as a sad and baleful 
 dream oppresses a sleeper in the watches of the 
 night. And the longing of his soul was to free 
 them from this bondage in which they laboured, 
 and to set them again in their own country. 
 
 5
 
 66 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 Gifted with eloquence and with the power of 
 moving the heart of crowds, dauntless in courage, 
 shrinking from no labour, and careless of fatigue, 
 Lemuel, although young in years, was already 
 looked to by many as a regenerator and as a 
 possible Messiah. He was known among all the 
 Israelites. Men spoke of him — whispering low — 
 in Babylon. Some said he was a prophet inspired 
 by God. Others that he was a dreamer and a 
 visionary. But all his people knew the courage 
 that burned in him like a flame, and the single- 
 purposed devotion that set him apart from his 
 brethren. They loved him. And Elna, when she 
 saw him, loved him too. 
 
 That was terrible to her. For now was she 
 betrothed to his brother Jediah, and must not 
 look at any other man. And Lemuel, deep in 
 his soul, loved Elna, youth drawing instinctively 
 towards youth and single heart to single heart. 
 But he put the thought of the maiden from him, 
 busying himself with his labours in the fields and 
 among the brethren. For there was now a widely 
 extending movement in Israel, secret and ever 
 surreptitious, yet persistent and hopeful, towards 
 freedom. Already there were men who looked 
 forward to the end of captivity, and women who 
 whispered to their little ones that they should not 
 die — as they were born — in slavery. A strange 
 hope ran through Israel, murmured from mouth 
 to mouth, in the ways of Babylon and among the 
 green corn in the fields, and on the waters of the 
 river Euphrates, and in the silent places among
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON G7 
 
 the hills. A glowing confidence arose — how or 
 why, men could not tell. Perhaps it came from 
 the courage of Lemuel. For one man can set a 
 spark to a torch that will light a world. One man 
 that truly believes can create belief in a universe 
 of men. And at the time now written of hope 
 grew ever in Israel, and there were many secret 
 conclaves both in Babylon and in the surrounding 
 country. 
 
 One afternoon, towards the sunset hour, some 
 Israelites were gathered about the well of Naomi. 
 Hezron, a shepherd, seated upon a stone, was 
 playing a melancholy air upon a reed pipe, 
 cunningly fashioned and tinted a pale green. 
 Ababa and other Israelites were lying upon the 
 warm ground, fashioning packs for camels. Some 
 women were drawing water from the well to fill 
 the pitchers which they bore upon their heads, 
 and three or four little children played gaily 
 together among the palm trees. Their laughter 
 and their merry shouting rang out in the evening 
 air. They knew naught of slavery, naught of the 
 grinding misery of those who dwell in bondage. 
 They danced to Hezron's pipe and chattered 
 together as happily as if they were in their own 
 land, far from the whip of the taskmaster and 
 from the voice of the oppressor. But theii 
 mothers often gazed at them with sorrow and 
 kissed them with tears. And then, for a moment, 
 they too looked sorrowful, wondering as children 
 will, and sensitive to the grief of those about 
 them.
 
 68 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 Presently Hezroii put down his pipe, as Sabaal, 
 followed by three or four men bearing water-skins^, 
 came towards the well of Naomi, saying — 
 
 "Haste, haste! Hither, idlers! Help to fill 
 these skins. The Lord Alorus is at hand with 
 his taskmasters. If thou would'st not taste their 
 whips, to work ! " 
 
 Sabaal was a slave to Alorus, who was a great 
 lord in Babylon, and was now come hither with 
 his master, who was gathering in tribute from 
 Israel. 
 
 " Nay, Sabaal," said Adoram, another Israelite, 
 " let not the Babylonians use their whips on us. 
 We are not the slaves of Alorus as thou art. We 
 are free." 
 
 Sabaal turned upon him with a sort of fury, and 
 his face, cunning and sinister, was dark with anger, 
 as he replied — 
 
 " Free art thou ! An Israelite, and free ! Free I 
 Ay, and for that thou payest tribute unto 
 Babylon — in flocks, in herds, in corn, and in toil. 
 Thou art free, O sons of Israel, and therefore thy 
 best bone and sinew goeth to Babylon, to hew her 
 stone, bake her bricks, and build her palaces, while 
 thy fairest daughters are stolen to fill them ! 
 Free ! Ay, even as Israel was free in Egypt 
 before the prophet led her chosen people through 
 the Red Sea out into the wilderness. Free ! 
 Babylon holds thee beneath her feet ; ye are 
 slaves — slaves — slaves ! And ye sleep and rot 
 in her chains. Will ye never awake?" 
 
 " Ay, Sabaal," answered Adoram, " ay, when
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 69 
 
 "that a second Messiah doth come to tell us the 
 ■dawn is at hand." 
 
 Sabaal paused by the well for a moment, as if in 
 thought. Then he said in an under voice — 
 
 " Both prophet and dawn may be nearer than 
 thou thinkest, Adoram." 
 
 " Prophet ! Dost thou mean Lemuel ? " said 
 Adoram eagerly. 
 
 " Hold thy peace ! hold thy peace ! " returned 
 Sabaal quickly. 
 
 He turned again towards the men with the 
 water-skins, crying — 
 
 " Haste with those skins ! Haste ! haste 1 " 
 
 There was a bustle round about the well. The 
 men bent to draw the water, filling the mighty 
 skins till they swelled into strange and bloated 
 shapes. While they were thus occupied, Sabaal, 
 speaking aside to another Israelite, one named 
 Ahira, whispered — 
 
 " Find a time to speak with me alone. I will 
 place thee near me on our march. If thou art a 
 true son of Israel, thou may'st help her prophet 
 yet. 
 
 Ahira's dark face and brilliant eyes gleamed 
 with a light of energy. He bent his head in 
 response, but he uttered no word. And Sabaal, 
 moving away from him, pushed the men with 
 the water-skins from the wellside, crying aloud 
 in a strident voice — 
 
 " Haste, men, haste! Thou — and thou ! " 
 
 The men hurried at his bidding, and he drove 
 them on before him towards the camp of the
 
 70 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 Lord Alorus. Hezron, who had laid down his 
 pipe and had risen from the stone on wliich he 
 had been seated, watched the retreating form of 
 Sabaal till it disappeared in the distance and the 
 sound of his shouting voice died away into 
 silence ; then he turned to a woman, Tirzah, 
 and said — 
 
 " That is a strange man, that Sabaal ; strange 
 and violent. He hath been much with Lemuel 
 since the Lord Alorus brought him hither. Time 
 after time among the palm trees have I seen them 
 in close converse, and ever have they parted hastily 
 when discovered." 
 
 " Nay, but that is a strange thing, Hezron," 
 answered Tirzah ; " for what can there be in 
 common between Lemuel and Sabaal, slave to 
 Alorus ? " 
 
 " I know not," answered Hezron. 
 
 " It seemeth to me," said Ahira, who was seated 
 on the fallen trunk of a giant palm, " that Lemuel 
 desireth, peradventure, to learn news of Babylon, 
 of her people and of her ways. 'Tis a dangerous 
 and terrible city to the stranger within its gates. 
 And they say that no man who tarrieth there for 
 long ever returns unchanged." 
 
 While he was speaking, some women passed by 
 towards the well, bearing their pitchers. They 
 lingered, giving heed to the conversation as the 
 sun sank lower in the sky. 
 
 " Nay," rejoined Tirzah ; " but what of our Lord 
 Jediah ? In the years that are gone he went up to 
 Babylon — ay, and he tarried there a long time."
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 71 
 
 " And sayest thou that he returned to our tents 
 unchanged, Tirzah ? " 
 
 " Nay, now I bethink me, he came back stern 
 and hard, and, being Judge, showed himself the 
 most severe and unrelenting in all Judea. But 
 what could Babylon have to do with that? " 
 
 "Ask Sabaal," responded Ahira mysteriously. 
 " Trust him who hath fallen himself to be most 
 unmerciful to others." 
 
 All the Israelites who stood listening gathered 
 more closely about the speaker, with exclamations 
 of wonder and of excitement. And Tirzah cried 
 out — 
 
 " Fallen ! Jediah, our Lord and Judge, fallen ? 
 What art thou saying?" 
 
 " What I do know. Sabaal hath been long 
 slave in Babylon, and he knoweth many in the 
 city, ay, even the Babylonians. For he is a 
 cunning man and full of craft." 
 
 "And what saith Sabaal, Ahira?" 
 
 " When Elcia, wife of Johanan, fled our tents and 
 went to Babylon, it was at the bidding of Jediah." 
 
 " Nay," cried Tirzah, " such a thing is not pos- 
 sible ! " 
 
 " Sabaal hath told me that it was so. He 
 learned it from one Migdapul, a Babylonian, who 
 selleth gods to the foolish women of the city." 
 
 " But Johanan went up to Babylon with our 
 Lord Jediah." 
 
 " Ay, and what befell him there ? Someone in 
 the city seized him, and, carrying him into a secret 
 place, put out his eyes."
 
 72 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 " But why did they do this dreadful thing, 
 Ahira ? " 
 
 " That he might not find Elcia." 
 
 " And by whose order was it done ? " 
 
 " 'Twas never known. Some say it was the 
 deed of Elcia." 
 
 " A maiden ! Nay, nay ; such work is not for 
 women." 
 
 " And some say " — here he lowered his voice 
 and looked cautiously around — " some say that 
 Jediah himself was the cause." 
 
 " Better had they slain him at once," exclaimed 
 Tirzah. 
 
 " True, but men fear blood-guiltiness." 
 
 " How horrible ! How horrible ! " 
 
 " Mayhap it was Johanan's sight against Jediah's 
 life, and " — 
 
 " And ' if a damsel is betrothed unto one man, 
 and another take her, then shall ye bring them both 
 out unto the gates of the city, and ye shall stone 
 them with stones until they die.' Thus saith the 
 law." 
 
 " Ay," said Ahira, breaking into a grim laugh. 
 " And yet, how men will risk even stoning unto 
 death — when they do love ! Now " — 
 
 He paused, looking at the women who stood 
 near. They moved onward to the well, and he 
 continued— 
 
 " Lemuel loveth his brother's betrothed, Elna " — 
 
 " What ! " exclaimed Tirzah. " Hush ! What 
 art thou saying ? " 
 
 " The very truth, I do assure thee. Hast thou
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 73 
 
 not eyes to see? And Elna, betrothed unto 
 Jediah, loveth Lemuel." 
 
 " Silence ! To say that is to endanger Lemuel's 
 life and the hopes of captive Israel. But lo ! here 
 Cometh Elna. If she should have heard thee ! " 
 
 Indeed at this moment Elna came towards the 
 well. She was now a lovely maiden. Her face 
 was oval and fair-complexioned, with dark blue 
 eyes under long lashes. Her figure was tall and 
 slim almost as a boy's, and her long curling black 
 hair streamed down over her shoulders and made 
 a cloud above her white and noble brow. Her ex- 
 pression was innocent and tender, but rather sad, 
 as if some secret apprehension oppressed her. 
 Now, as she came forward to the two men, she 
 said anxiously — 
 
 " What sayest thou ? What danger threateneth 
 Lemuel ? " 
 
 " Nay, nay — heed not, Elna," said Tirzah 
 hastily. 
 
 The women from the well had once again drawn 
 near. Elna looked round upon them questioningly 
 as she repeated — 
 
 " What danger unto Lemuel ? Why do you all 
 look so strange ? What danger ? Speak thou, 
 Ahira." 
 
 " Nay, 'tis but maids' gossip," answered Ahira 
 cautiously. " But, in very sooth, Babylon is a 
 dangerous place for one like Lemuel, who loves 
 his people. Our brothers groan in slavery under 
 the Babylonish yoke — it may be, when Lemuel 
 comes among them that they will turn to Zoar's
 
 74 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 son as unto a new deliverer. Is not that danger 
 enough ? " 
 
 " Alas !" said Elna, with agitation, "and Lemuel 
 will not pause to think of danger." 
 
 " Lemuel is brave, reckless. He needs a friend 
 to teach him caution," said Tirzah. " But is he 
 indeed resolved to leave all and go to Babylon ? " 
 
 " Yea, he is resolved," said Elna. 
 
 " Who goeth with him ? " asked Tirzah. 
 
 " None. He goeth alone." 
 
 " Nay," interrupted Ahira, " he will go with 
 Alorus, and Alorus is mighty in Babylon." 
 
 " Alorus may be his host," said Elna, still with 
 great anxiety, " but Alorus is of the oppressors- — 
 not of our people. His hand would be raised 
 against Lemuel, not for him, did Lemuel strive for 
 freedom." 
 
 "Hush!" said Tirzah. "Here be Zoar and 
 Jediah." 
 
 As she spoke, those that were gathered around 
 her moved off to their work, but not ere Jediah, 
 whose fierce eyes had seen their idleness, had 
 cried out — 
 
 " To your work ! Must the sun go down ere 
 the herds be watered ? Hence ! " 
 
 Then he turned towards Zoar and spoke with 
 him in a low voice. 
 
 Zoar was now become very old. His long 
 white beard flowed down upon his breast. His 
 gait was somewhat feeble, and his sight was grow- 
 ing dim. But his spirit was still proud and un- 
 quenchable, his heart still kind and just. He was
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 75 
 
 respected by all, but — more — he was beloved. 
 Jediah too was greatly aged in the years that 
 had passed since his return from Babylon. His 
 hair was streaked here and there with grey. His 
 face had become more rugged and forbidding, his 
 mouth hard and lined. But his tall figure was 
 erect and his aspect commanding. He looked a 
 man born to rule, and certain to rule cruelly. Now 
 he gazed in surprise at Elna, who had fallen on 
 her knees at the feet of Zoar, crying — 
 
 " A boon, my father ! " 
 
 " What is thy need, my daughter ? " answered 
 Zoar tenderly. 
 
 She cast a frightened and abashed glance 
 towards Jediah. Then she replied — 
 
 " I beseech thee, my lord, let not Lemuel, thy 
 son, go forth to Babylon unattended." 
 
 " What matter is it of thine what Lemuel 
 doth ? " interrupted Jediah sternly. 
 
 Elna rose from her knees, but still gazed im- 
 ploringly at Zoar, as she said — 
 
 "Is it not ordained that I wed his brother ? 
 And may not a sister " — 
 
 " My mother needs thee," Jediah said roughly. 
 " My father and I have weightier matters " — 
 
 " What weightier matters than my brother's 
 safety canst thou have, O my lord ? " asked Elna, 
 striving to control her emotion. 
 
 " The sons of Zoar are not wont to seek their 
 safety at the hands of their women," said Jediah, 
 casting a piercing glance upon her. 
 
 " But, tell me, daughter," said Zoar, sitting down
 
 76 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 upon a tree trunk to rest his aged limbs, " tell me 
 what peril threatens Lemuel." 
 
 " O my father, it is said among the people that 
 ■our brethren who are slaves in Babylon may look 
 to the coming of Lemuel as to a deliverer." 
 
 " That is but the gossip of the women," said 
 Jediah. " Go hence, Elna." 
 
 But Elna, carried away by her emotion, heeded 
 not his command. She seized the thin and 
 wrinkled hand of Zoar, and reiterated in a 
 trembling voice — 
 
 " Zoar, I beseech thee, hearken unto thy 
 servant ! " 
 
 " Go hence," said Jediah, more roughly. " Art 
 thou betrothed unto me and dost not obey the 
 words of my mouth?" 
 
 "But— but"— 
 
 She still hesitated, trembling but determined. 
 And at this moment Lemuel himself entered, 
 bearing in his mighty arms a lamb of the flocks 
 that was sick and that he tended with all the care 
 and love of a woman. For he was kind to all 
 things that were weak and suffering. Jediah cast 
 a dark glance upon him, and then said sternly — 
 
 " I have spoken ! " 
 
 " Brother ! " said Lemuel, looking with deep pity 
 at the beautiful eyes of Elna, which were full of 
 tears. 
 
 " Go hence ! " exclaimed Jediah furiously, with 
 a movement towards Elna as if to thrust her 
 away. 
 
 " Elna," said Lemuel gently, interposing himself
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 77 
 
 between them, "my mother calls thee. Go to 
 her." 
 
 Elna stood still for a moment, looking up into 
 his face. Then she turned away to go, mur- 
 muring — 
 
 " My lord, I obey." 
 
 "Stay, Elna," said Jediah, taking a sudden step- 
 forward towards her, " stay ! Tell us — whom dost 
 thou obey ? " 
 
 And he glanced jealously from her to Lemuel, 
 who had set down the lamb under the shade of 
 a bush and now stood with his bare aims folded 
 and his eyes fixed ever on Elna. 
 
 The maiden hesitated, casting down her eyes. 
 
 " Whom ? " reiterated Jediah. 
 
 " Him who is my lord," Elna replied at length, 
 in a very low voice. 
 
 And then, without daring to lift her eyes, she 
 turned away and disappeared among the trees, 
 going towards the tents. 
 
 " Him who is my lord ? " said Jediah. " Lord of 
 what ? Her body or her soul ? " 
 
 And he looked at Lemuel, as if for an answer. 
 
 " Why speak so harshly to Elna, my brother ? " 
 said Lemuel quietly. 
 
 " I spoke to my betrothed wife. Must I fashion 
 my words to please thee ? " 
 
 Lemuel seemed about to make a hot reply to the 
 sneering question, but with an effort he controlled 
 himself, and, going up to Zoar, who still sat, . 
 resting, upon the tree trunk, said to him — 
 
 " Of what was Elna speaking, my father? "
 
 78 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 " Of Babylon and of our brethren who are bond- 
 slaves there, my son — and of their dreams." 
 
 "What are their dreams, my father?" 
 
 " They do dream of a deliverer." 
 
 " Ah ! " said Jediah, with cynical bitterness. 
 " They wait for a deliverer ! Now, as ever, there 
 is one to come who will restore Israel and make 
 her again a nation. Dreams indeed ! Dreams ! " 
 
 " Dreams ! " said Lemuel, and a great light came 
 into his eyes, as if he saw some bright and beauti- 
 ful vision afar off among the coloured clouds of 
 the fair evening sky. "It may be, but so they 
 dreamed in Egypt, and the deliverer came. 
 Father ! father ! a new prophet hath arisen in 
 the land, and he hath foretold the fall of the 
 mighty — yea, even of Babylon — and the coming 
 together of the tribes of Israel. Thus hath he 
 spoken : ' He that scattered Israel will gather him, 
 and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock. And 
 He will turn his mourning into joy, and will 
 comfort him, and he shall come again from the 
 land of the enemy.'" 
 
 " Dreams, I tell thee," said Jediah scornfully. 
 " Dreams ! dreams ! Shall we go up against Baby- 
 lon with our reaping-hooks and with our sickles? 
 And shall her walls and her gates open at our 
 approach ? Shall the shepherd's crook indeed 
 prevail against the sword and the spear?" 
 
 " So the shepherd David prevailed against the 
 giant of the Philistines," answered Lemuel, with a 
 brave enthusiasm. "Israel a nation!" 
 
 He clasped his hands together as if he prayed,
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 79 
 
 and his whole countenance was inspired with 
 glowing courage and hope. But Jediah, crossincj 
 over to the well and taking in his hand a pitcher, 
 answered coldly — 
 
 " Israel will be no more a nation. God's curse 
 is upon the people." 
 
 He bent down his head to drink. Then, lifting 
 himself up again, he added — 
 
 " Go up unto Babylon, brother. Behold her in 
 her mightiness, and then return unto our tents to 
 toil for her tribute." 
 
 " Tribute ! " said Zoar feebly. " Ay, while ye 
 are talking, the Lord Alorus waits for our tribute, 
 and it is yet uncounted. Come, Jediah, thine arm. 
 Lemuel, my son, put all these vain dreams from 
 thee. Hearken not unto them. Be not deceived 
 by the diviners and the false prophets that tell 
 thee, ' Thou shalt not serve the king that reigneth 
 in Babylon.' For it is the Lord's will. Even so 
 doth He punish us for our transgressions. Sub- 
 mit thy neck to the yoke, my son. Submit in 
 patience." 
 
 He rose up slowly and heavily, for he was old 
 and weary. Then leaning upon the arm of Jediah, 
 he walked away, repeating in a feeble voice — 
 
 " Submit, ay — the yoke — the yoke ! " 
 
 But Lemuel remained alone beside the well, 
 nothing daunted. For he was young and brave 
 and strong. Life lay before him with all its 
 shining deeds and golden promises — life, with 
 its mighty struggles and its great achievements. 
 How then could he fear?
 
 8o THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 "Submit!" he said to himself. "Nay, is not 
 this submission itself a sin ? Ever in bondage ! 
 As we served in Egypt, so now we serve in 
 Babylon. And there is no strange nation that 
 is not strong enough to make Israel a slave. 
 But — but " — and he smiled with a proud con- 
 fidence — " it is not for ever. It shall not be for 
 ever. Ah, Sabaal ! is it thou ? " 
 
 Sabaal came to the well swiftly, and sat down 
 at its edge, by Lemuel, who continued — 
 
 " Ah, Sabaal ! is it but a dream, as my father 
 telleth me ? Are we born slaves ? Is bondage 
 our inheritance ? Are my father and brother wiser 
 than we, who counsel me to stay in the tents and 
 forget this vision of freedom ? " 
 
 " There are those who are born to serve and 
 those who are born to rule. If thou art weak 
 or afraid, turn back — sta}' by the knees of thy 
 mother. Babylon, with its strife, is not for thee. 
 Be thine the shepherd's crook and the harvester's 
 sickle." 
 
 Sabaal spoke deliberately, fixing his cunning eyes 
 upon Lemuel to note the effect of his words. 
 
 " Here, at least, there is peace," said Lemuel. 
 " Peace and " — 
 
 " And Elna ? " 
 
 " Elna ! What sayest thou ? Elna is betrothed 
 to my brother Jediah." 
 
 " And therein lies thy peace ? When Jediah 
 espouses Elna, Lemuel will rejoice, and in Jediah's 
 love Lemuel will find happiness ! " 
 
 " Hush, Sabaal ! hush ! " said Lemuel, with a
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 8i 
 
 look of pain. " Thou art indeed right. There 
 can be no peace nor happiness for me where Elna 
 dwells as Jediah's wife. But what further news ? " 
 
 " At least a score of those who travel with us 
 can be relied upon to strike for us. The road is 
 dark over the desert. Knives are sharp and silent, 
 and Alorus, the Babylonian, is our foe. Let the 
 sons of Zoar strike where there are none to see." 
 
 And, while he spoke, he caught Lemuel eagerly 
 by the arm and leaned forward, peering into his 
 face. But Lemuel moved back as if in horror, and 
 answered — 
 
 " Ah ! is it thus that Israel is to be freed ? In 
 darkness and with the knife of the assassin ? 
 Nay ! Our God is the God of battles, not of 
 murder." 
 
 " But He hath delivered the Lord Alorus, who 
 is our enemy, into our hands." 
 
 " No more, Sabaal ! no more ! " exclaimed 
 Lemuel. " Alorus is our guest. He hath tasted 
 salt with us, and his life is sacred." 
 
 " I counsel thee " — 
 
 " Thou counsellest according to thy wisdom," 
 answered Lemuel, with decision, " I judge accord- 
 ing to mine. I have spoken. To thy work ! " 
 
 Sabaal had got up. He stood now, looking 
 angered and cowed. Keeping his eyes on the 
 ground, he said slowly — 
 
 " Those who await thee in Babylon will ask 
 much of thee. Take heed, O son of Zoar, lest 
 they weigh thee in the balance and find thee 
 wanting."
 
 82 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 Then he moved away, his head bent upon his 
 breast, his thick Hps curled in a malignant smile. 
 
 " Are these the instruments chosen by a right- 
 eous God to free His people?" thought Lemuel. 
 " Is there no choice between murder and bondage 
 for our race? Shall I forget the dreams? Shall 
 I endure and stay in my father's tents? And 
 Elna— Elna"— 
 
 Unwittingly he spoke the last words aloud. A 
 soft voice answered him — 
 
 " Did'st thou call me, Lemuel ? " 
 
 And he beheld Elna standing near him, with 
 her great blue eyes fixed upon his face. 
 
 " Nay, my sister," answered Lemuel, with forced 
 indifference. " Nay, I called thee not." 
 
 " Art thou angered with me ? " 
 
 " No," answered Lemuel, moving away as if 
 to leave her. " Why should I be angered with 
 thee ? " 
 
 " Art thou going ? " asked the maiden, and she 
 made a movement as if to detain him, then hesi- 
 tated, and slightly retreated as if in confusion. 
 
 " Why should I stay ? " asked Lemuel, pausing. 
 
 " It may be that I shall not speak to thee alone 
 again — if, indeed, thou wilt go to Babylon." 
 
 " I must go thither. And, perchance, it will be 
 better if we two speak not alone again." 
 
 Elna moved towards the well, saying softly — 
 
 " Why art thou so changed to me, Lemuel?" 
 
 " Changed ? Ah, Elna, thou knowest that I am 
 changeless. Thou knowest each thought of my 
 heart."
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON S3 
 
 " Once I deemed so," she replied, seating herself 
 by the well and looking down into its deep and 
 still waters, " but that seems long, long ago. And 
 now " — 
 
 " Thou knowest them still. But I may never 
 utter them, for that way waiteth dishonour and 
 death. Let us part." 
 
 " Part thus ? " 
 
 "How else?" 
 
 " Once thou wert kinder to me." 
 
 " Once I dared to be kind. That time is 
 past." 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 " Remember thou art the betrothed wife of my 
 brother Jediah." 
 
 " Yea, and I was betrothed as a child, ere even 
 I knew myself and my own heart. Now I know 
 I love him not." 
 
 " But thou art betrothed, and by the law thou 
 art his." 
 
 " By the law of man, yes. But what of God's 
 law? By His will my love was given unto thee. 
 Shall I, knowing this, give myself to Jediah? — 
 breaking the law of God to fulfil the law of man? 
 Living a lie — a lifelong lie — degrading my body 
 and forswearing my soul ? No ! Sooner than 
 that, I would give back my soul to Him who 
 made it ! " 
 
 And as she spoke she drew from her bosom a 
 knife, and ran her delicate fingers along the blade 
 with a motion that was almost caressing. Lemuel 
 looked at her for a moment with horror. Then
 
 84 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 he laid his hand upon the knife, took it from her^ 
 and exclaimed — 
 
 " Elna, my Elna ! for pity's sake make not my 
 task the harder ! We must do that which is right 
 and just. I will leave my father's house to-night 
 — God of our people grant never to return to it I 
 There is no light, no day, no hope for me here, 
 where thou livest, w^fe of Jediah. Away from thee 
 there is but darkness, night, despair — and yet I 
 must go. For the burthen of duty is heavy upon 
 me. Help me to bear it, Elna." 
 
 And as he spoke he leaned down to her and 
 took her two hands in his. She trembled, swaying 
 towards him as if she w^ould hide her face in his 
 bosom. But suddenly he dropped her hands and 
 sprang to his feet. He had seen Jediah approach- 
 ing among the palms. And even at the same 
 moment came the Lord Alorus with his friend 
 Menanahim, and other Babylonians from the 
 opposite direction. Jediah, his face white with 
 anger, strode towards his brother, his arm upraised 
 as if to strike him, but Alorus interposed, looking- 
 from one to the other with an amused smile. 
 
 " Stay ! " he said, " stay ! " 
 
 His eye fell upon Elna, who stood with her eyes 
 downcast, while her lovely face was suffused with 
 blushes. 
 
 " Ah ! " he continued, " it is the beautiful Elna I 
 Maiden, I am thy slave. Lemuel, how I do envy 
 thee ! " 
 
 " I do not understand thy words, my lord," said 
 Lemuel, looking his brother full in the face.
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 85 
 
 " Nay, then thou art not quick-witted, shepherd. 
 See, Menanahim, is not this a gem worthy of e'en 
 a Babylonish setting?" 
 
 "A gem so rare is best unset," Menanahim 
 answered, laughing. " It should be kept where 
 none can gaze upon it save its owner. Such 
 gems do make even the honest rogues. Now I, 
 for instance, I am esteemed fairly honest, and yet 
 — Ah, well, friend Lemuel, lock up thy gem." 
 
 And he gazed impudently at Elna, and turn- 
 ing, smiled significantly at the Babylonians who 
 accompanied the Lord Alorus. 
 
 " My lords are pleased to jest," said Lemuel 
 calmly, though his eyes shone with the light of 
 anger. " Elna, wilt thou go and tell my father, 
 Zoar, that the Lord Alorus waits," 
 
 Elna bowed her head and moved towards the 
 tents, but Alorus stopped her, saying gaily — 
 
 " Nay, maiden, rob us not of thy beauty so soon. 
 We will go and find him together." 
 
 " He comes hither, my lord," said Lemuel 
 quietly, " and so spares our pains." 
 
 The aged Zoar indeed approached, accompanied 
 and assisted by his faithful wife, Naomi, to whom 
 Alorus inclined himself in half-satirical obeisance, 
 crying — 
 
 " Here is the fount of beauty ! Source of much 
 loveliness, we are thy grateful slaves." 
 
 " How shall I answer my lord that understand 
 not his speech ? " answered Naomi, with quiet 
 <3ignity. 
 
 " Do not thine eyes answer for thee," said
 
 86 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 Alorus, " those eyes that are so like unto this 
 maid's — thy child." 
 
 " Nay, my lord, Elna is not my child," said 
 Naomi. 
 
 " She is like unto thee." 
 
 " She is the child of my dead sister." 
 
 " She is more than fair," returned Alorus. 
 
 Then going close up to Elna, and with the easy 
 impudence of a conqueror among slaves, he said 
 to her — 
 
 " Maiden, I pray thee do no: hate me." 
 
 "Why should I hate my lord?" asked Elna, 
 shrinking back. 
 
 " Because this night I do take thy lover from 
 thee to Babylon." 
 
 " My lord ! " cried Elna. 
 
 "Whom dost thou mean?" said Lemuel, step- 
 ping forward till he stood before Alorus. 
 
 " He is not her lover 1 " exclaimed Jediah. " The 
 maiden is betrothed unto me." 
 
 Alorus started with feigned and exaggerated 
 astonishment. 
 
 "To thee? A mistake indeed! A dull and 
 stupid mistake ! I crave pardon. I judged by — 
 Ah, well, Lemuel, so much the better. Then 
 thou art free — free to taste the sweets that wait 
 for thee in Babylon." 
 
 Lemuel made no reply, but Naomi, with all the 
 sweet anxiety of a tender mother, cried — 
 
 " Ah, sir, you will take care of my son ! This 
 Babylon of thine is, they tell me, as treacherous as 
 she is beautiful."
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 87 
 
 " Treacherous she may be," replied Alorus, " but 
 she is beautiful, sitting in glory upon Euphrates' 
 banks. Her streets are rows of palaces, towering 
 terrace upon terrace, fragrant with flowers that 
 perfume the whole air. For Babylon doth 
 Lebanon grow her cedars and sweet-smelling 
 woods ; Assyria her grapes. Tyre and Sidon 
 exist only to weave our silks and samites. Egypt 
 toils in brass and in gold to deck our homes, our 
 horses, and our own tenderly nurtured bodies ; 
 while all the mines of Araby and of Ophir yield 
 their tribute to deck our women. Ah ! our 
 women ! How lovely they are ! And foremost 
 among them all ranks one who, like her fabled 
 namesake, is a goddess, towards whom men's love 
 doth flow as naturally as doth the river to the sea. 
 Ishtar ! The fair and radiant Ishtar ! Jediah, 
 did'st thou ever see Ishtar? " 
 
 " Nay, my lord," answered Jediah. 
 
 " She came to Babylon some four or five years 
 
 ago." 
 
 Jediah started slightly. A strange thought had 
 been born in his mind, he knew not why. 
 
 "She is like one of thy women," continued 
 Alorus. " Tall, with hair and eyes like the night 
 and the shining stars, and the most cunning 
 dimples about her mouth." 
 
 " Can it be Elcia? " murmured Jediah to himself. 
 
 Aloud, and hastily, he said — 
 
 "My Lord Alorus, the tally of the tribute is 
 here. Wilt thou not verify it, and give thy receipt 
 and seal ? "
 
 88 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 " Nay, nay," answered Alorus, with dandified 
 pettishness, as he arranged the great golden 
 bracelets starred with uncut jewels that bedecked 
 his arms. " These details I leave to Kcdemoth 
 here. Kedemoth, do thou verify it. Bring it with 
 thee to the tents." 
 
 He looked again towards Elna. Then he said 
 to Jediah — 
 
 "She is thy betrothed, sayest thou ? Then will 
 we leave thee with her. By thy countenance I 
 divine that thou would'st speak with her alone. 
 Hither, my people ! Hither, Zoar ! " 
 
 He burst into a laugh, and calling to those 
 around him, turned away from the well, followed 
 by the whole company. Elna seemed as if she 
 would fain go with Naomi, but Jediah stopped 
 her, saying — 
 
 " Nay, Elna, stay awhile. I would speak with 
 thee here and now." 
 
 " Yes, my lord," she answered submissively. 
 
 When all the people were gone, Jediah said — 
 
 " Elna, this night Lemuel " — 
 
 But, ere he could say more, Elna, speaking with 
 great agitation, said — 
 
 " My lord, thou hast heard what this man halh 
 said of Babylon — the life he hath described. 
 Shall Lemuel go forth alone ? " 
 
 "It is his own desire to go," answered Jediah, 
 with bitter coldness. *' Lemuel is no babe nor 
 girl. I went alone — why not he ? " 
 
 " There are dangers for Lemuel that existed not 
 for thee. Thou knowest what our people may
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 89 
 
 expect of him. Wilt thou let him go forth 
 alone ? " 
 
 " Why this concern for Lemuel's safety ? " 
 
 " Is he not thy brother ? " 
 
 " Brother ! " exclaimed Jediah, with an angry 
 gesture. " Ah, most tender sister ! No other 
 feeling moves thee — eh ? " 
 
 " What other feeling could move me, my lord ? " 
 
 " Love ! Thinkest thou, then, that I am blind, 
 a child, bereft of sight, of reason ? Doth a sister 
 tremble when a brother draweth nigh? Doth her 
 heart throb, sending the hot blood surging to her 
 brow when a brother speaketh ? Or do her eyes 
 brim over with gushing tears when a brother is 
 absent ? " 
 
 " And this "— 
 
 " And this I have seen and known in thee for 
 Lemuel. Even now thine eyes do seek the 
 ground — the blush of shame is on thy cheek. 
 Thy breath cometh quick. All these things are 
 truths that give the words thy tongue dare not 
 utter." 
 
 "O my lord," cried Elna passionately, "if 
 indeed all this be true — if in my heart there is no 
 love for thee — if all that is pure and good and true 
 calls out aloud in me against the law that gives 
 me unto thee for wife — wilt thou still hold me to 
 the bond ? " 
 
 " Yea," said Jediah sternly, " yea, unto death." 
 
 "Ah! why— why?" 
 
 " Because thou dost love him. Because I do 
 hate him for this love of thine; and as I have
 
 90 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 suffered, seeing thy heart was his, so shall he 
 suffer, knowing thy body is nnine." 
 
 " I beg of thee, Jediah, hearken to me ! " said 
 Elna imploringly. "This union of our hands, 
 which love doth not cement, can bring but evil 
 unto thee and me. I beseech thee, give me back 
 my troth — even though I ne'er see Lemuel more. 
 Let me be free ! " 
 
 •' Thou shalt be that "— 
 
 " When ? When, Jediah ? " 
 
 " When that I am dead. Thou knowest our 
 law — death to the woman who breaks her troth, 
 death to the man with whom she is false." 
 
 " Ah ! thou art merciless, pitiless, without bowels 
 of tenderness or remorse. But thou art not omni- 
 potent. Thou hast the law to aid thee, and all 
 its power to enforce it on me. I stand alone, with 
 naught but love to help me. Yet a woman's love 
 hath proved ere now too strong for all the laws 
 of man. What hath been may be again. Man's 
 law can slay my body ; it can never kill my 
 love." 
 
 She spoke with all the vehemence of one com- 
 pletely carried away by a flood of emotion that 
 rendered her careless of all save the necessity of 
 expressing herself fully and completely. And, on 
 the last words, she drew back from Jediah with a 
 gesture almost of hatred, and hurried away towards 
 the tent of Naomi. Her heart beat with a violence 
 that nearly choked her. The blood coursed in her 
 cheeks. But she no longer felt any sensation of 
 fear. Indeed, a wave of almost wild courage ran
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 91 
 
 through her, and, for the moment, she was careless 
 of fate, careless of all save love alone. 
 
 And the fierce emotion that surged in Elna had 
 not left Jediah unmoved. He too was carried out 
 of himself, and, as she left him, he cried out in 
 a loud voice to an Israelite who passed by, laden 
 with packs for the camels of Alorus' caravan — 
 
 " Jozadah ! Jozadah ! " 
 
 The Israelite stopped. He was a lean and 
 hungry-looking man, poorly clad and of an evil 
 countenance. His eyes, which were unusually 
 small for one of his race, were set near together in 
 his head beneath projecting brows. And his gait 
 was habitually gentle and cringing, like that of a 
 dog which has been often beaten. 
 
 " Come hither, Jozadah," said Jediah imperiously. 
 
 Jozadah advanced a few steps. 
 
 *' What is thy will, my lord ? " he asked, in a 
 whining voice. 
 
 " Jozadah," said Jediah, coming close to him^ 
 "thou art poor." 
 
 " My lord hath spoken. Would it were not 
 so." 
 
 *' Thou hast neither flocks, nor herds, nor fields, 
 nor pastures." 
 
 " My lord knoweth these things are true." 
 
 While he was speaking the last words, Tirzah 
 came into sight among the palms, unseen by the 
 two men. As she was drawing near to them, 
 Jediah said — 
 
 " And yet, Jozadah, beggar as thou art, thou 
 hast set thine eyes and thy. heart on Tirzah."
 
 92 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 On hearing her name spoken, the woman, full 
 of curiosity, hid herself behind the trunk of a tree, 
 from which concealment she could hear all that 
 went on without being observed. 
 
 " Tirzah is very fair," said Jozadah obsequiously, 
 and casting his eyes upon the ground, " and my 
 lord knoweth that even a beggar may have a heart 
 like other men." 
 
 " Ay, but Tirzah's father is prudent ; not like 
 to. give his daughter to a man whose whole stock 
 of worldly goods is the few poor rags that cover 
 him." 
 
 " All this thy servant knows." 
 
 " And," said Jediah, watching the beggar with 
 his fierce and bird-like eyes, " dost thou know 
 likewise that Lemuel, my brother, hath cast an 
 eye of longing upon her ? " 
 
 Jozadah started as if he had been struck with 
 the lash of a Babylonish taskmaster, and Tirzah 
 crept a little nearer among the trees. 
 
 " Nay, my lord," said Jozadah, and his voice 
 was hoarse with passion, " I know not that." 
 
 But Jozadah put his hand upon the long knife 
 that hung at his girdle of camel's hair. 
 
 " He shall not have her," he muttered. " He 
 shall not have her." 
 
 "Why should he? To-night he goeth to 
 Babylon. Babylon is a dangerous city." 
 
 " Ay, so they say." 
 
 " There are ever brawls there and strife. A 
 dark night, Jozadah, a quick thrust of a knife," 
 he touched the knife at the beggar's girdle, as if
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 93 
 
 almost unconsciously, " one more body to fling 
 into the waters of Euphrates." 
 
 " Ay. And then, my lord, and then ? " 
 
 " Those fields that once were Ezra's, a score of 
 cattle, ten score of sheep — and Tirzah to dwell in 
 thy tent and share thy happiness." 
 
 Jozadah looked up under his thick eyebrows 
 with unutterable cunning. 
 
 " And my lord sayeth that all these things are 
 mine if — if" — 
 
 " If, by some chance, — such as happeneth in 
 great cities, — I must e'en mourn a brother's death 
 in Babylon." 
 
 " That were not difficult. But the mind of my 
 lord may change. He will give his servant bond 
 for the fields, the flocks, the herds? " 
 
 " I shall not fail thee, Jozadah. For I would 
 fain see all men — and thee — happy, especially 
 thee, Jozadah." 
 
 " My lord is good." 
 
 "But come — come to my tent; there is but 
 little time. For thou art going up to Babylon 
 to-night, I think? Is it not so?" 
 
 " My lord hath spoken," said Jozadah. 
 
 And he smiled as he crept away after Jediah. 
 
 When they were gone, Tirzah came forth from 
 her place of hiding. Her face was pale with 
 horror, and she gazed around as if seeking help. 
 Presently she made a beckoning gesture with her 
 hand, and, after two or three minutes, Elna 
 appeared, running to her. 
 
 " What is the matter, Tirzah ? " cried Elna
 
 94 THP: daughters of BABYLON 
 
 anxiously. " How thou dost tremble ! And the 
 pale shade of death is surely on thy cheek ! What 
 ails thee?" 
 
 " Death's pale shade is indeed about me — and 
 thee, my Elna. Even here — here doth he hover, 
 ready to strike. Oh, Elna — Lemuel " — 
 
 She stopped. Her lips were dry and her tonjjue 
 refused to speak. But Elna caught her by the 
 shoulders with a wild anxiety, crying — 
 
 " What of Lemuel ? Speak, and quickly I " 
 
 " Jediah hath promised Jozadah lands and flocks 
 and herds and — and me, even me, to be his wife — 
 if Lemuel dies in Babylon." 
 
 Elna turned as white as was Tirzah. 
 
 " God of our people ! " she exclaimed. " He 
 would have Jozadah slay him ! " 
 
 " Even so. This very night Jozadah goeth to 
 Babylon. Thou knowest what will come of this. 
 For Lemuel goeth alone, with none to warn him 
 or to watch over him." 
 
 " Alone ! " exclaimed Elna, and her face was 
 alight with a sudden resolution that made her 
 look strong and courageous, almost as a man. 
 " That shall he not I One, at least, shall be there 
 who loveth him and who would die for him." 
 
 " One ! Whom dost thou mean ? " 
 
 " Myself, Tirzah, myself! Help me to fly hence 
 to save the man we love. For thou dost love 
 Lemuel, even as all must. Nay, there is no shame 
 in love 1 Come, Tirzah, come ! Love and the 
 right shall conquer hate and wrong. Come with 
 me ! Come ! "
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 95 
 
 And she drew Tirzah away towards the tents, 
 moving almost joyously. For in action each 
 human being can find solace for the sorrow that 
 oppresseth and the dread that draweth nigh. 
 
 • • • • . ■ • * 
 
 At the falling of night, the caravan which was 
 to accompany the Lord Alorus to Babylon was 
 ready to depart, and Alorus himself, standing 
 before the tents, took ceremonious leave of the 
 asred Zoar. The tribute was all collected. The 
 heavy packs had been fastened upon the backs 
 of the snarling camels. Now, through the soft 
 air of the evening, rang the note of a steer's horn, 
 giving the signal of departure. All the people of 
 the tribe were gathered together to witness the 
 going of the caravan and to bid farewell to 
 Lemuel. Only Elna was not there. Naomi wept. 
 For this parting from her youngest born was 
 bitter unto her as death. Alorus and the Baby 
 lonians of his train were assembled, and Alorus, 
 speaking to Zoar, said — 
 
 " I hear the signal, and the night falleth. Fare- 
 well, Zoar." 
 
 " Is my lord content ? " answered Zoar. " Have 
 I paid him in full ? " 
 
 " Indeed," replied Alorus, "thou art most liberal 
 of all the sons of Israel. Trust me, Zoar ; I hate 
 to be sent hither to exact tribute of one who is so 
 much my friend." 
 
 " Thou but doest thy master's bidding, my 
 lord." 
 
 " Most true, Zoar. And yet, 'tis well when 'tis
 
 g6 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 over — and 'tis over now. My camels are loaded 
 with thy wealth, and yet none can see that 
 thou art the poorer. Such flocks hast thou, 
 such harvests, such pastures — and such lovel}'' 
 maidens ! " 
 
 " My lord will not speak of them in Babylon ? " 
 
 " Nay, Zoar, not I. Why, she would swoop upon 
 thee, and, like a herd of locusts, eat thee up. Nay, 
 Zoar, thou hast proved my friend, and I will prove 
 thine." 
 
 " My lord is good." 
 
 Alorus, after inclining himself before Naomi, 
 walked towards the caravan, followed by his train. 
 The horn again sounded, and Naomi, with a cry of 
 anguish, clasped Lemuel in her arms. 
 
 " My son ! " she murmured, sobbing, " my young- 
 est born ! " 
 
 Lemuel returned her caresses. He too was 
 deeply moved, but he bore himself, as ever, bravely 
 and nobly. 
 
 " My son," said Naomi, striving again to be 
 calm, " thou goest among strangers, worshippers 
 of strange gods. Thou wert ever obedient, loving, 
 and faithful. Thou wilt not ever be tempted to 
 forget the God of thy fathers ? " 
 
 " Nay, my mother," answered Lemuel, and he 
 fell at her feet. 
 
 She laid her hands upon his head, saying" 
 solemnly — 
 
 " My blessing be upon thee, O son of my soul ! " 
 
 Zoar turned to the crowd that stood by, watch- 
 ing and strangely moved.
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 97 
 
 " Lift up your voices, O my people ! " he said. 
 " Sing ye His praises, and give thanks unto Him. 
 Sing ye the hymn of parting." 
 
 The people obeyed with full hearts, and as the 
 voices rang out Lemuel bade farewell to those he 
 loved, kissing the little children who clung about 
 his knees. As the music died away he came to 
 his brother Jediah, who stood a little apart, with 
 his eyes cast moodily upon the ground. 
 
 "Farewell, my brother," Lemuel said, holding 
 forth his hand. 
 
 " Farewell," responded Jediah coldly, and without 
 looking towards him. 
 
 Lemuel, as if chilled and hurt, hesitated for a 
 moment. Then, coming close to Jediah and putting 
 his arm around his brother, he said to him — 
 
 " Jediah, thou art the eldest born of our father 
 Zoar, and unto thee is given the firstfruits of the 
 land and the flocks, and — and the jewel of our 
 tribe, Elna." 
 
 " Elna ! " said Jediah sternly. " And what sayest 
 thou of her ? " 
 
 "Cherish her, my brother. Guard this jewel 
 tenderly, as the apple of thine eye." 
 
 " I will surely guard her, Lemuel," answered 
 Jediah, with a dark frown. 
 
 " Farewell, my brother." 
 
 " Farewell," said Jediah, drawing away from 
 Lemuel. 
 
 Once more Lemuel knelt before Zoar and 
 Naomi. The horn again sounded. 
 
 " Farewell, my father and my mother," he said, 
 7
 
 98 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 and his voice was low from his emotion. " And 
 may the God of Israel so deal with me if I prove 
 not worthy of thee. Thy blessing, father." 
 
 The people that stood by bowed their heads 
 reverently, and Zoar, spreading abroad his hands, 
 said — 
 
 "The God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob 
 be with thee and keep thee, my son, my son ! " 
 
 It was now growing rapidly dark. Lemuel rose 
 up. It was time to depart, yet for one moment 
 he lingered, looking towards the tents. Jediah 
 watched him, and knew well why he hesitated. 
 But no one came from the tents. No shadowy 
 figure stood in the tent door of Naomi. The tears 
 rose in Lemuel's eyes. He turned away and 
 walked slowly into the gathering darkness, 
 
 " My son ! my son ! " wailed Naomi. 
 
 " Come to the tent, my wife, and pray with me 
 for the safety of thy son in the great Babylon," 
 said Zoar. " Come, my people." 
 
 And, taking her by the hand, he led her tenderly 
 away, followed by all those about him. 
 
 The darkness had fallen. The caravan was 
 already on its way, when the slight figure of a boy 
 stole softly by the well of Naomi, taking the direc- 
 tion of the caravan. The boy paused for a moment 
 beside the well and looked up at the stars. 
 
 " Give me strength, O God ! " he whispered, in a 
 prayer. " Give me strength for my task ! For 
 where my love goeth there will I follow, even 
 though he leadeth me into the valley of the 
 Shadow of Death ! "
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 99 
 
 Then he grasped his staff and set bravely forth 
 into the night. 
 
 Lemuel, in the caravan, was heavy-hearted. 
 
 He knew not that Elna, casting aside all maidenly 
 fear with the robe of a maiden, stole through the 
 darkness, led by her love. Babylon, that great and 
 mighty city, called her too, because it called him, 
 Babylon stretched forth her arms and shone with 
 all her torches, and murmured with all her voices. 
 So, in a bygone year, had Babylon called unto 
 another Israelitish maiden, even unto Elcia. She 
 too had forsaken the tents of her people, and had 
 heard the singing voices die in her ears as she fled 
 away to the city of glory and of terror. And she 
 too — but how differently ! — had become a pilgrim 
 through darkness and strange dangers, driven by 
 the prompting of what she thought was love. 
 
 Elna would not fear the lights, the voices, 
 the unknown people, or the unknown gods they 
 worshipped. She was strong with love, the boy 
 Elna. 
 
 And so the caravan journeyed, and far off in 
 Babylon, Ishtar — who once was Elcia — slept in 
 her palace upon the banks of Euphrates. 
 
 And the slaves lay about her feet, holding their 
 instruments of music. 
 
 She slept, in the soft and sweet night — and 
 dreamed. 
 
 And in the dream, her soul, released by slumber 
 from the worldly bonds that held it fast by day, 
 was again beside the well of Naomi. It stood 
 with the soul of Elna beneath the stars, as if the
 
 lOO THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 soul that waked and the soul that slept met and 
 mingled, as do the souls, most surely, — here or 
 elsewhere, — of all loving women. 
 
 They touched hands and lips. Eyes looked into 
 eyes. Heart joined heart in the mystery that is 
 the mystery of longing and the mystery of pain. 
 It was but for a moment — prophetic and quickly 
 gone. Then Ishtar stirred from her sleep upon 
 her couch of gold. 
 
 She raised herself up, thinking to see the long 
 reeds rustle beside Naomi's well, the shadowy tents 
 upon the dim and endless plain. 
 
 But, instead, she saw the gleaming of the river 
 and the golden lights of Babylon. Then the tears 
 fell from her eyes, and she cried aloud to her 
 slaves — 
 
 " Sing to me. Sing softly. I would sleep again." 
 
 And as their soft and sad voices rose in the 
 night, she saw the shadowy figure of a slim boy, 
 with a maiden's eyes, bend above her where she 
 lay. 
 
 She stretched forth her arms. But there was 
 nothing. 
 
 And the slaves sang on, and played upon their 
 instruments, until Ishtar dreamed again.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 When Elcia was deserted by Jediah in Babylon, 
 her great beauty became both her great danger 
 and her worldly salvation. Had she been stronger 
 in character than she was, she might have perished 
 honourably of starvation, being left in poverty and 
 utterly without friends in the great city of the 
 strangers. Being at that time weak, and ignorant 
 of the ways of a complicated and glittering life, 
 she fell into the hands of Migdapul, the god-seller, 
 and within four years became the famous Ishtar, 
 the Queen of Beauty, at whose feet sat the Baby- 
 lonish lords, the wealthy merchants and traders, 
 and the effeminate dandies of the city. Her lovers 
 and her friends knew not her history, whence she 
 came or who she was. They scarcely cared to 
 know. The power of her loveliness silenced all 
 tongues. Men were content to look upon her and 
 to worship. Some strove to look beyond her won- 
 derful eyes, down into her heart. These strove in 
 vain. Every woman is an enigma. Ishtar was 
 more enigmatic than her sisters, and so more 
 strangely attractive unto men, who love ever to 
 beat out their hearts against that which they can 
 never understand. If she had a heart, she allowed 
 
 101
 
 102 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 no one to hear its pulsation. She permitted no 
 one to dwell within it. For her worshippers she 
 had caprices, but no adoration. They said, at last, 
 that she was without a heart, and this legend drew 
 men to her. Each one, perhaps, hoped to create 
 in her what she lacked. Each desired to win the 
 favour denied to all his rivals. All failed. Ishtar 
 remained mysteriously cold. And yet her face 
 was passionate. Her eyes were full of sombre 
 meaning. It seemed as if she must have felt and 
 suffered once, perhaps very long ago, ere ever she 
 ruled in Babylon. There was even about her a 
 terror, as of night and of dead days. Her long 
 black hair, in which the jewels shone, was like 
 a cloud about her. Her cheeks were pale, like 
 smooth ivory. And there was often a delicate 
 weariness in her poses, and in her movements the 
 subtlety of an eternal languor. She spent long hours 
 reclining on the silken cushions of a golden couch 
 beneath the trees of her palace garden, which over- 
 looked the great river and the terraces of the city. 
 And in those hours she seemed to dream, although 
 her eyes were seldom closed in sleep. All the 
 cries of the town, softened by distance into fairy 
 voices, came up to her, and the sounds of distant 
 music and the songs of the sailors of all lands 
 Upon the flowing river. She heard the far-off 
 beating of drums as the religious processions went 
 by to the temples of the strange gods, the clash of 
 cymbals, the thin flutter of flutes. She heard the 
 cool wind of night rustling in the palm trees 
 above her head. And sometimes all these noises,
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 103 
 
 mingling together curiously, died down and away, 
 and there seemed to come over the city a 
 mysterious hush. Then, in the silence, as she 
 gazed upward at the blue sky, she heard the bleat- 
 ing of sheep and the chatter of women about a 
 well. She closed her eyes and saw tents and long 
 green pastures and everlasting plains. And in her 
 ■ears there was the whisper of a shepherd's pipe 
 and the trickle of a melancholy tune. Then her 
 eyes filled with tears, and she turned to her slaves 
 and cried — 
 
 " Play to me! — play! Sing me the songs, the 
 love-songs of Babylon ! Music ! music ! " 
 
 And she stretched out her lovely arms like one 
 that is sick and desires comfort, but ever finds it 
 not. The slaves obeyed her command. They 
 fluted and plucked the strings of their lutes, and 
 they lifted up their soft voices in singing. Then 
 Ishtar heard no more the bleating of the flocks 
 and the pipe of the shepherd. And the tears fled 
 from her eyes, and she said to herself — 
 
 " I will be happy ! For am I not a queen in 
 Babylon ? " 
 
 And she summoned her lovers, and she feasted, 
 and called the dancing-girls and the sorcerers and 
 the diviners. And there was revelry in the palace 
 by the river. And all the people of Babylon 
 spoke of the glory of Ishtar. 
 
 Migdapul, the god-seller, who combined many 
 professions and knew many men and women of 
 curious occupation in Babylon, was become a 
 sort of paid servant of Ishtar. He was often
 
 I04 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 at her palace, and he received many com- 
 mands in secret from her and ministered to the 
 pleasures with which she filled her life. The 
 woman whose heart is sad often seeks to drown 
 her sorrow in imperious caprices. So it was with 
 Ishtar. Since no man really moved her, she was 
 ever searching for some new lover, hoping to find 
 in him that which was lacking in all the others. 
 Migdapul, who learned what strangers entered 
 Babylon, sought out those whom he thought 
 might please Ishtar, and led them to the palace 
 on the river bank. And so it came to pass that 
 he, ever on the watch, took note of the arrival of 
 Lemuel in the caravan of the Lord Alorus. Now, 
 Lemuel, simple shepherd though he was, had more 
 of manly beauty than falls to the lot of most 
 men. He was untainted by city pleasures, untired 
 by the dissipations that sapped the strength and 
 tarnished the faces of the Babylonians. His bear- 
 ing was noble. LI is eyes were clear and his 
 cheeks glowed with the brilliant colouring of 
 health. When Migdapul saw Lemuel, he thought 
 " Surely this man would please the Lady Ishtar," 
 and presently he sought an interview with her, to 
 tell her of the arrival in Babylon of the beautiful 
 shepherd. 
 
 Ishtar's palace, which stood on one of the arti- 
 ficial hills of Babylon, was built of enamelled 
 bricks, rosy in hue and covered with a shining 
 glaze that made them look almost like jewels. It 
 was set upon a great platform of brickwork and 
 was of vast extent, containing mighty halls and
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 105 
 
 chambers crammed with exquisite furniture, with 
 carved figures of black basalt, with architectural 
 ornaments, with bronzes, inscriptions, silks, em- 
 broideries, and vessels of chased gold and silver, 
 in many cases set with gigantic barbaric gems. 
 The gardens were extraordinary, even for Babylon, 
 the city of gardens. One of them, in which Ishtar 
 generally reclined when she desired to hear music 
 or to see the dancing-girls leap and posture, was 
 square in form, nearly four hundred feet each way, 
 and rested upon tiers of arches and on walls of 
 colossal thickness. Trees and shrubs flourished 
 here abundantly, growing to a great size, and 
 affording a delicious shade from the heat of the 
 sun, even at high noontide. Innumerable foun- 
 tains cast their silver spray towards heaven, and 
 long beds of flowers made patches of gorgeous 
 colour. There was also an artificial reservoir, 
 along whose banks grew aquatic plants and in 
 whose depths fish floated to and fro like restless 
 shadows. Set about this garden were couches 
 and tables, made of carved wood and of precious 
 metals, and great piles of embroidered silken 
 cushions, on which the guests of Ishtar lay, eating 
 sweetmeats from silver caskets, listening to the 
 sound of citharas and breathing the perfumes and 
 spices that smoked in vases of beaten bronze. 
 
 It was into this garden that Migdapul, the god- 
 seller, was introduced by a black slave when he 
 came to tell Ishtar of the arrival of the beautiful 
 shepherd, Lemuel, in Babylon. The air was warm, 
 for it was noon, and Ishtar lay upon a couch.
 
 'io6 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 fanned by two slaves who sat at her feet, waving 
 slowly to and fro the feathers of huge birds set in 
 staffs of gold. In sheer weariness of spirit she had 
 ■dismissed her lovers, and when Migdapul entered, 
 inclining himself obsequiously almost to the ground, 
 she was alone, but for her attendants. 
 
 " Hail, beautiful Lady Ishtar ! " said the god- 
 seller, standing at a little distance from her couch. 
 " Hail ! " 
 
 And he bowed again with exaggerated servility. 
 Ishtar scarcely turned her head towards him. She 
 looked weary, and her great eyes were cloudy v/ith 
 •discontent. 
 
 "Why art thou here?" she murmured indiffer- 
 ently. " On what foolish errand comest thou ? " 
 
 " On an errand for thy pleasure, lady." 
 
 " My pleasure ? " Ishtar reiterated, with a sigh 
 ■of complete lassitude. " And how canst thou give 
 pleasure to me ? " 
 
 " Am I not ever zealous for thy delight ? " 
 
 " It is seldom that thou delightest me. But tell 
 me thy errand and be gone, I am not well to-day, 
 ■and would be alone." 
 
 She leaned lower on the couch, stretching her 
 delicate limbs and playing idly with the jewelled 
 bracelets that covered her white arms. The slaves, 
 with impassive faces, totally devoid of expres- 
 sion, continued to fan her with the regularity of 
 machines, 
 
 " There is a stranger come to Babylon, lady," 
 began Migdapul. 
 
 " That happens every day."
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 107 
 
 " He arrived in the train of the Lord Alorus. 
 He is young and well-favoured." 
 
 •' What of it ? What is that to me ? " 
 
 " Thou hast seen many men in Babylon, lady, 
 but none like unto him. For he is stronger than 
 the strongest, and hath an air more brave than all 
 the soldiers of the city. By the great god Bel, he 
 is beautiful." 
 
 Ishtar closed her eyes. She had no air of 
 listening to the god-seller. 
 
 He came close to her couch, and bending lower 
 to her ear, he said — 
 
 " He is a youthful shepherd come in from the 
 plains and from the tents of captive Israel." 
 
 Ishtar started slightly and opened her eyes. 
 
 " What is his name ? " she asked. 
 
 " Lemuel, lady." 
 
 Ishtar raised herself on one arm. The weariness 
 had gone from her face, and a faint eagerness 
 flickered in her deep eyes. 
 
 " Lemuel ! " she repeated. " It is a name of 
 Israel, truly. Thou sayest this shepherd is well- 
 favoured ? " 
 
 " By the great god Merodach, he " — 
 
 " Why hath he left his flocks to come up unto 
 Babylon ? " 
 
 " That I know not, lady. Perchance he is tired 
 of the simple life of the plains. In sooth I should 
 love it not for my part." 
 
 " Thou ! Thou art of Babylon. Thou knowest 
 naught else." 
 
 " There is much to know in Babylon, lady."
 
 io8 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 " Too much — too much," murmured Ishtar, with 
 a bitter contempt. 
 
 " Or, perchance, the Lord Alorus took the 
 shepherd to be one of his servitors." 
 
 Ishtar was silent for a moment. She seemed to 
 be lost in thought. At length she said — 
 
 " Go to the Lord Alorus. Tell him I make a 
 feast to-night, and bid him to come and to bring 
 his shepherd with him. Dost thou understand ? " 
 
 " Yes, lady." 
 
 Ishtar's lips curved in a smile that was not with- 
 out cruelty. She struck a silver gong that stood 
 upon a table by her side. . A eunuch, richly dressed 
 in a silk robe covered with jewelled embroidery, 
 appeared. 
 
 " I shall make a feast to-night," she said. " Com- 
 mand the musicians, the diviners, the Indian 
 dancers." 
 
 The eunuch made an obeisance and withdrew. 
 Then Ishtar turned again to Migdapul. 
 
 " We will show thy simple shepherd the glories 
 of Babylon to-night," she said. And her eyes 
 glittered almost fiercely. " He is come hither 
 from the country plains and from hearing the 
 voices of the flocks and the herds. To-night he 
 shall hear my voice and the voices of the singers. 
 He shall look upon the dancers dancing to the 
 citherns. And his comely simplicity shall be en- 
 lightened. Poor Israelite ! " 
 
 She laughed aloud. 
 
 " Go, Migdapul," she added. " Bear my mes- 
 sage. And — stay — here is something for thee."
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 109 
 
 She took a ring from her finger and put it 
 into his hand. He burst forth into a torrent of 
 thanks. 
 
 " Go," she said. " Go— I am sick of thy babble." 
 
 And she turned her face from him and lay back 
 as one who would sleep. 
 
 But when he was gone she did not sleep. She 
 called her attendants and gave orders for a great 
 feast. And when the evening came, she bade her 
 slaves attire her in magnificent robes and bring 
 forth the finest of her jewels to deck her hair and 
 her bosom. 
 
 The night fell, and the sky was thick with stars 
 above the great palace of Ishtar. She came forth 
 into the garden above the arches to await her 
 guests. She was clad in a sfndone, a long 
 garment of extremely fine muslin, of a deep red 
 hue, with a delicate pattern of gold birds and a 
 deep fringe of gold that fell about her feet. In 
 her black hair, on her neck and arms, gleamed 
 enormous red jewels set in heavy gold, and in her 
 hand she carried a gigantic fan of red feathers that 
 sprang from sticks of gold. Her face was pale as 
 ivory, and her dark eyes shone with an unwonted 
 eagerness. 
 
 In the garden the Persian and Nubian slaves 
 had arranged many couches and divans of ebony, 
 ivory, cedar wood, and other precious materials, on 
 which lay piles of white, blue, and scarlet silken 
 cushions, elaborately embroidered with curious 
 patterns and with figures of mythical beasts 
 and of birds. Torches, flaming in bronze stands.
 
 no THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 flared forth upon the night, mingh'ng their fierce 
 lustre with the pale Hght of the rising moon. 
 Upon the ground were spread rich carpets — those 
 marvellous carpets for which Babylon was so 
 famous. They were made of the finest wool, 
 exquisitely wo\'en, amazingly brilliant in colour^ 
 and covered with complicated and sometimes 
 humorous patterns, representing griffins and 
 strange beasts of Lower Asia. The air was 
 heavy with the perfume of flowers and of frank- 
 incense which smoked in vases of chased silver. 
 The moonbeams glittered on the artificial water^ 
 and beyond the alabaster terrace wall could be 
 seen a superb panorama of Babylon, gleaming 
 with myriads of lights like a fairy city in a 
 wonderful dream, 
 
 Ishtar approached this wall, and, leaning upon 
 the balustrade, looked out over the city. The 
 romance of it touched her far less than the wicked- 
 ness of it. For she had learned to know it too 
 well to think of it as a fairy wonder, as an en- 
 chanted abode of light and colour and artistry 
 and pleasure. The glory of it rose up to her in 
 the night like flame and smoke from the pit. The 
 cries of it sounded in her ears like the cries of 
 demons. And its music was melancholy and 
 foreboding. The long lines of lights, stretching 
 far out on every side into the shadowy darkness 
 of the immense plain, were like terrible eyes of the 
 v.'ild and devouring beasts that haunt the waste 
 places of the desert. And the wind that blew 
 softly above the walls of the palaces and temples
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON iii 
 
 seemed to her cold with the breath of some- 
 coming unknown fate. Sometimes she wondered 
 why Babylon was so terrible to her, why she could 
 not be happy. She was rich. She was wor- 
 shipped. Her name was great throughout the 
 city. Luxury surrounded her. All the hard 
 things of life were smoothed away before her 
 pretty feet. All the pleasures of the world 
 trooped around her in smiling squadrons. Her 
 lovers gave her passion ; .ler slaves, faithful ser- 
 vitude ; her musicians, exquisite melodies ; her 
 dancers, sinuous grace and the songs of gestures. 
 For her the diviners ruled the stars. For her 
 prayers were murmured in the temples of the gods.. 
 For her men had suffered and had died. She 
 had her sacrifices like Merodach, and like Ana, the 
 "■od of heaven. She was more than a name to the 
 Babylonians. She was a superstition, and on the 
 " day of rest for the heart," the Sabbath of the 
 city, there were those who worshipped her as they 
 never worshipped the images that ruled in silence, 
 motionless above the shrines where superstition 
 fell to plead for worldly joys and everlasting 
 rewards hereafter. 
 
 And yet Ishtar's heart was desolate and full of 
 those mysterious and pathetic echoes which dwell 
 in solitary places, and Ishtar's soul was bitter with 
 an exceeding great bitterness. Only sometimes, 
 in wild dissipation, in the abandonments of pas- 
 sion, could she lose for a while her sense of despair, 
 the cruel sensation of lovelessness that filled her 
 world with blackness even when her lovers lay at
 
 112 THE DAUGHTERS OE BABYLON 
 
 her feet upon the silken cushions, and the wine- 
 cup passed from hand to hand. 
 
 To-night, even, as she leaned out from her 
 hanging garden, her soul was heavy within her 
 like a thing of lead. Her momentary excitement 
 had died away, and tears rose in her eyes as she 
 gaxed at the lights of the city, till they swam in a 
 blurred mist and wavered and faded. And she 
 drooped her dark head upon her arms, and longed 
 for peace and rest. 
 
 That dwelt far off, in the green plains, among the 
 flocks and the herds, not here under the palms and 
 cypress trees in which torches were fastened till 
 they sparkled with shaded fire. Then Ishtar, with 
 one of those great gestures that come from the 
 soul, stretched forth her arms above the city, as 
 if she called silently to the distant silence of the 
 plain. The huge red jewels shone fiercely in the 
 torchlight and the moonlight. The golden brace- 
 lets gleamed. The long red robe, with its golden 
 birds hiding their quaint and demure heads in the 
 rich dimness of the folds, flowed out in the soft 
 night wind, and the hanging sleeves of embroidery 
 fell backward from the white arms. She stood 
 there almost like some majestic and inhuman thing, 
 and from the depths of her heart arose a great and 
 voiceless cry : " Take me away — away — to the 
 spaces of the stars, to the silver shadows of the 
 moon, to the ebony solitudes of the night — where 
 no men are — no voices — no hands to touch me — ■ 
 no lips to lie on mine ! Take me away — away ! " 
 
 She felt something that pushed against her robe,
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 113 
 
 and she dropped her arms with a sigh, and turned 
 from the terrace. One of her dogs, a Persian grey- 
 hound, was tr}'ing to attract her attention. She 
 bent down and kissed its narrow head, laid her 
 hand on the silver collar that circled its neck, and 
 led it with her to a couch, on which she sank, 
 keeping the dog at her side. 
 
 " Let the instruments of music play," she said 
 to a slave. " Scatter red flowers upon the carpets. 
 It is the hour for the feast." 
 
 The slave - girls plucked their citherns. The 
 flutes rose coolly from the shadows of the cypresses, 
 and the psalteries quivered to her ears as a rosy 
 cloud of scented flowers fell around her. Then 
 from the court of her palace, conducted by slaves, 
 came the favoured Babylonians who were her 
 guests of the night. And, as they entered, from 
 an open chamber of the palace rose the voices of 
 girls singing — 
 
 " Softly glides the moon along heaven's way. 
 She draws her veil of cloud across her face, 
 She doth not wish to pry where love doth wait. 
 Be thou as kind as she, and close the gate." 
 
 A trumpet sounded loudly. Then the voices rose 
 more softly — 
 
 " Yes, close the gate. 
 Draw the curtains close 
 And close the gate. 
 Let love commune with love alone. 
 And close the gate. 
 Let no eyes see — let no ears hear ; 
 Guard well the gate." 
 
 The voices and the instruments faded away, as 
 8
 
 114 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 if the singers and the players witlidrew themselves 
 to the inner courts of the palace. And as the last 
 faint note sank into silence, Alorus entered the 
 garden, surrounded by several magnificently attired 
 Babylonish nobles and attendants, among whom 
 was Lemuel. 
 
 Alorus, whose arms were covered with jewels,, 
 and whose thick black hair, which curled naturall}', 
 was elaborately knotted and decked with golden 
 ornaments, advanced towards Ishtar with a jaunty 
 and dandified gait, and bent low before her. 
 
 " Queen of the night," he said, " more lovely art 
 thou than the silver moon, or than any star. I, 
 like all men, am thy slave, and am here at thy 
 gracious bidding." 
 
 Ishtar extended her hand to his lips, but her 
 eyes were turned upon the throng of his attendants. 
 She bowed to several of them, then, turning to 
 Alorus, who remained beside her in an attitude of 
 ostentatious submission, she said — 
 
 " And thy new attendant, the shepherd Lemuel ? " 
 
 "Thou would'st speak with him, fairest lady?" 
 
 Ishtar bent her head. 
 
 " Lemuel," said Alorus, " the Lady Ishtar would 
 speak with thee. Come hither." 
 
 Lemuel, who had been standing quietly behind 
 the gorgeous Babylonians, obeyed the command 
 of Alorus, and, moving from his place, came before 
 the couch of Ishtar. Her greyhound fawned upon 
 him instantly, and licked his hands with affection. 
 Lemuel was simply attired in a white tunic that 
 fell only to his knees, and was confined at the
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 115 
 
 waist by a broad girdle of dyed wool. His arms 
 were bare, and on his feet he wore sandals. His 
 brown hair, which was not elaborately plaited, as 
 was the hair of the Babylonians, clustered in curls 
 about his broad and noble forehead, and his frank 
 brown eyes looked, unabashed, into the great eyes 
 of Ishtar. His whole person breathed a quiet 
 dignity, mingled with a manly simplicity that 
 seemed born of the very essence of fearlessness, 
 and the obeisance that he made seemed rather 
 the inclination of strength before beauty than of 
 a slave before a queen of Babylon. Ishtar looked 
 up at him, and a strange interest quickened in her 
 eyes. 
 
 For when she saw, set in the midst of the coarse 
 and laughing Babylonians, this noble and sincere 
 shepherd, fearless, godly, and strong with a strength 
 unsapped by deeds of evil, her heart went back to 
 the days when she was happy and sinless, when 
 she sat in the tent door and looked out upon the 
 plain, shading her eyes to catch the first glimpse 
 of her husband, Johanan, as he returned, singing, 
 from his labours in the fields. How long ago that 
 seemed ! And o'er what a deep gulf did she gaze 
 upon her lovely life of innocence ! 
 
 "Thou art new in Babylon?" she asked Lemuel. 
 And there was a quiver of strange emotion in her 
 voice. 
 
 " Yes, lady." 
 
 " What of the city thinkest thou ? " 
 
 " I know not yet, lady. Babylon is not learnt 
 in a day. It hath surely many secrets."
 
 ii6 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 As he spoke his eyes looked piercingly into 
 hers, and she felt herself tremble. She cast down 
 her eyes and said, with a forced laugh, to Alorus — 
 
 " Thou hearest what saith the stranger, Alorus ? " 
 
 " Ay, and it is true. But what is a city without 
 its secrets ? Tame as would be a woman without 
 hers, at which no mere man can even guess. Is it 
 not so, Menanahim ? " 
 
 '■ It is even so," said Menanahim, looking con- 
 temptuously at Lemuel. " Methinks our simple 
 shepherd here would be surprised indeed could his 
 wit of the plains understand the marvels and the 
 mysteries of Babylon." 
 
 " Perhaps even his wit can understand the mys- 
 tery of beauty that is like unto the sun in his 
 glory," said Lemuel calmly. 
 
 And again he looked into the eyes of Ishtar. 
 She smiled at him and answered — 
 
 " And darest thou fix thine eyes upon the sun ? 
 Fearest thou not blindness ? " 
 
 As she spoke she rose up and stood before him 
 in the light of the torches. Beneath her robe the 
 voluptuous beauty of the curves of her exquisite 
 limbs could be seen, half concealed, half revealed 
 by the cunning arrangement and disposal of her 
 falling draperies. A sort of insolence crept into 
 her face, as if she felt the splendour of her own 
 power, the glory of the spell of face and form 
 before which all men made obeisance. 
 
 She lifted her hand to her veil of spangled 
 golden tissue and seemed as if she would draw it 
 before her face as she added —
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 117 
 
 " Shall the sun draw its veil of clouds across its 
 face ? " 
 
 " Nay," answered Lemuel ; " let not all the land 
 be dark. Spare us the light, and we will veil our 
 eyes. Without the sun we perish." 
 
 " Ah ! " said Menanahim, with a sneer, "-there 
 spoke the husbandman, brooding o'er his harvest. 
 Our good friend Lemuel, as a born tiller of the 
 land, is full of the sun and rain ; without them 
 must he indeed perish." 
 
 " So must thou, O lord of Babylon," retorted 
 Lemuel. " Lacking Israel's flocks and harvest, 
 even so fine a lord as Menanahim might, like unto 
 a whining beggar of the streets, go clamouring for 
 bread." 
 
 " Not at the heels of an upstart Israelite," said 
 Menanahim fiercely. 
 
 " Take heed, O lord, lest thou find thyself not 
 at, but under the heels of some upstart Israelite," 
 returned Lemuel. 
 
 " Barest thou ? " began Menanahim furiously, as 
 he thrust his hand into his girdle and drew forth 
 a jewelled knife. 
 
 But Ishtar touched his arm with a queenly 
 gesture of command, and said — 
 
 " Enough, Menanahim ! The retort was fair. 
 Let be, I say. Even as the shepherd's wits are 
 keener than thine, so may his steel be. Nay, I 
 said ' Enough ' ! " 
 
 As she spoke the last words she stood up be- 
 tween the two men, drawing herself to her full 
 height. Menanahim, scowling with anger, slowly
 
 iiS THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 returned the knife to its place, muttering to him- 
 self— 
 
 " Another time — another time, shepherd ! " 
 
 Alorus and the Babylonians who stood around 
 burst into laughter, and began to overwhelm 
 Menanahim with mock felicitations. But Lemuel, 
 who seemed totally unmoved, stood calmly in his 
 place without a word. Only the muscles that 
 started under the smooth skin of his arms betrayed 
 his readiness for combat and the excitement that 
 stirred within him. Ishtar looked at him with 
 growing admiration, which she scarcely strove to 
 conceal. For the libertine life of Babylon had 
 stripped from her much of woman's beautiful and 
 precious reserve. Then, seeing by the fury of 
 Menanahim's countenance that the banter of his 
 companions was likely to drive away his last 
 remnant of self-control, she said, raising her 
 voice — 
 
 " And now, my lords, I beseech you stand no 
 longer as if you were about to leave me. Let us 
 sit and see the dancing of the Indian girls and 
 drink the wines that are brought from far." 
 
 She clapped her hands together. 
 
 " Summon the dancers," she cried, " and let wine 
 be brought. Lemuel, hast thou ever seen the 
 strange dancers from India?" 
 
 " Nay, lady." 
 
 " Hast thou drunk the purple wine ? " 
 
 " Nay, lady, but the water from the well of 
 Naomi beside the tents of my people." 
 
 Ishtar started, and for a moment her face was
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 119 
 
 contorted as if by pain. Then, with a curious sort 
 of violence, she cried — 
 
 " Sit thou here at my feet on this silken cushion. 
 Thou shalt taste the wonders of Babylon ere ever 
 the moon mounts higher in the sky above the 
 cypress yonder. Put thy lips to the wine-cup and 
 drink to the sun that shines upon thee ! " 
 
 As she spoke, one of the slaves, kneeling, handed 
 her a silver vessel in the form of a mythical dragon, 
 filled to the mouth with wine. She touched her 
 own lips with it and then gave it to Lemuel. He 
 feigned to drink, saying — 
 
 " To the sun. Lady Ishtar ! " 
 
 Then, handing the dragon to the Lord Alorus, 
 he reclined at the feet of Ishtar, who leaned to- 
 wards him from the couch whereon she sank, 
 fianning his face with the great red feathers of her 
 fan. The Babylonians disposed themselves around 
 her. Some wandered away along the paths of the 
 garden. Some walked aside, speaking to the 
 beautiful slave-girls. Menanahim leaned alone by 
 a cypress tree, regarding Ishtar and Lemuel with 
 eyes that darted flame. Alorus stood behind the 
 couch of Ishtar, resting one hand upon it, and now 
 and then, with an affected playfulness, touching the 
 red jewels that gleamed in the dark tresses of her 
 hair. There was a moment of silent expectation, 
 then a strain of distant and melancholy music stole 
 through the garden, accompanied by the dull and 
 reiterated hum of a shrouded gong beaten far off 
 and the soft clash of cymbals. In a dark court of 
 the palace, that opened on the garden through a
 
 120 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 yawning arch, coloured lights began to twinkle. 
 And presently through this archway floated a string 
 of Indian girls, bearing tiny torches. Their thin 
 robes of purple muslin, spangled with a silver de- 
 sign of conventional flowers, scarcely hid their slim 
 forms. On their uplifted arms jingled quantities 
 of loose bracelets of silver, and in their floating 
 hair were purple flowers and dark green leaves. 
 
 Moving with a slow and undulating gait, they 
 passed by the Babylonians, taking no sort of heed 
 of their exclamations of admiration, and made 
 their sinuous way to a gorgeous carpet that was 
 spread before the couch of Ishtar. Then, arranging 
 themselves in a sort of pattern, they began to 
 dance one of those curious and almost terrible 
 dances that seem to be handed on as a tradition 
 from one generation of women to another in the 
 curious and terrible countries of the East. In the 
 light of the torches and of the moon, to the 
 far-off beat of the barbarous music, they leaped 
 and gesticulated, swaying their attenuated bodies, 
 trembling their white arms, on which the silver 
 bracelets jangled, with a cruel and clashing per- 
 sistence. The expressions on their dark and 
 unfathomable faces were intellectual and very sad, 
 totally unself-conscious, like expressions of statu- 
 ettes. But their movements gradually became 
 more and more vehement, as if their bodies were 
 full of excitement, while their minds remained 
 watchful, cold, and reserved. They leaped high 
 into the air with an incomparable activity beside 
 the silver fountains, which leaped in emulation.
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 121 
 
 Their long dark eyes stared into the violet air of 
 the night, as if they looked at something distressing 
 and very far away. They were sombre as the 
 black cypresses that cast long shadows upon the 
 garden walls. They were cruel as fate is cruel. 
 And the distant music which accompanied them 
 was savage and sweet at the same time, yearning 
 and unkind, like many passionate women. 
 
 The Babylonians leaned forward towards these 
 leaping figures, fascinated. Their lips parted in 
 their beards. Their hands mechanically beat time. 
 Unconsciously they swayed their bodies to the soft 
 clash of the cymbals. They forgot to pass the 
 wine -cup. They forgot to speak or to laugh. 
 Mystery ran over them like a wave. Even a sort 
 of fear overtook them. And in the violet night 
 they lay upon their cushions like engrossed men 
 in a dream who will never cease from gazing at 
 dancers who will dance for ever. Ishtar no longer 
 moved to and fro the golden sticks and the huge 
 red feathers of her fan. She, too, leaned a little 
 nearer to Lemuel. Her eyes were fixed upon his 
 face, and an expression of tenderness had come 
 into them, of tenderness that was full of melan- 
 choly. Beyond the terrace wall the multitudinous 
 lights of Babylon twinkled in the night. Lemuel 
 looked at the dancers for a while, but rather with 
 disgust than with any other sensation. Then he 
 turned his eyes 'to the lights of the city, and his 
 thoughts passed beyond them to the empty plain 
 beyond, and travelled, as in some spectral caravan,, 
 to the tents of his people beside the well of Naomi»
 
 122 THE DAUGHTERS OE BABYLON 
 
 to the tent of the maiden Ehia. There was his 
 heart, so far away from Babylon and from the 
 queen of its beauty, who leaned towards him, striv- 
 ing to read the meaning of his face. And a great 
 sadness and oppression overtook him, helped by 
 the gesticulations and mysterious faces of the 
 dancers, and by the romantic loveliness of the 
 night, and by the wandering tunes of the hidden 
 instruments in the blackness of the palace court. 
 His whole being cried out to Elna. All this music 
 called to her. And then he thought of Jediah, her 
 husband, holding her in unyielding arms, and a 
 black bitterness flowed into his soul. 
 
 " Dost thou love the wonders of Babylon, shep- 
 herd?" whispered the soft voice of Ishtar in his 
 ear. " Dost thou love its women and its wine- 
 cups, its music and its moon ? See how she 
 mounts above the cypresses and the palms." 
 
 The moon was indeed now higher in the heaven, 
 and her light, pouring over the garden, made the 
 illumination from the quivering torches seem 
 dusky and horribly artificial. All the staring 
 faces of the Babylonians were touched with silver 
 radiance, and the floating robes of the dancers 
 looked like the gossamer robes of elves. 
 
 Lemuel, full of the bitterness of his thought, 
 turned to Lshtar. 
 
 " Thy city is indeed beautiful, lady," he answered. 
 
 " And I, shepherd ? " 
 
 " Thou art the most beautiful of its wonders." 
 
 Ishtar smiled. 
 
 " If indeed thou thinkest so," she said, lowering
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 123 
 
 her voice to a whisper, " why stay with the Lord 
 Alorus?" 
 
 Lemuel looked at her with a sort of naive surprise 
 that she found enchanting. 
 
 " Why not stay here with me ? E'en now I seek 
 a new attendant. Wilt thou enter into my ser- 
 vice? I have my court, as doth the King of 
 Babylon. Wilt thou be among my courtiers and 
 be lodged within the mighty walls of my palace ? " 
 
 Lemuel glanced around him, at the Indian girls 
 leaping in the moonlight, at the coarse faces of the 
 watching Babylonians, at the slaves who reclined 
 farther away upon the terrace. This palace, he 
 mused, was a true centre of the life of Babylon. 
 Hither came all the great men of the city to 
 worship at the shrine of beauty ; idlers, dandies, 
 politicians, priests and merchants, actors and poets, 
 the players of music and the sorcerers and diviners. 
 Nowhere could he spy out the nakedness of Baby- 
 lon, learn its ways and its secrets, its cruelties and 
 its captives, more surely than here. In no other 
 place, perchance, could he do his people greater 
 service than here, within the courts of the most 
 famous woman of Babylon. Rapidly these thoughts 
 ran through his mind. He turned again to Ishtar 
 and he said — 
 
 " Lady, if my Lord Alorus consenteth, I would 
 stay here with thee." 
 
 " All the world consents to do my bidding," she 
 answered proudly. " Alorus ! " 
 
 "What desireth Ishtar?" asked Alorus, with- 
 drawing his eyes from the dancers.
 
 134 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 " Thy shepherd will stay here at my side and 
 will be among the number of mine attendants." 
 
 The lips of Alorus curled in a smile that was 
 full of meaning. 
 
 " As thou wilt, lady," he replied. 
 
 Then he bent down to her and whispered — 
 
 " Is the heart of Ishtar caught by simplicity ? " 
 
 '* Or by truth," she answered, with an accent 
 almost of emotion. Then she burst into a laugh, 
 and cried aloud — 
 
 " Enough of dancing ! Bring more wine. And 
 summon the charmers and the diviners. We will 
 speed the night more merrily. Drink, my lords, 
 and you, Menanahim — drink ye all to simplicity ! " 
 
 She lifted the wine-cup, and, with her eyes 
 fastened on Lemuel, she drained it to the dregs. 
 
 That night Lemuel lay in the palace of Ishtar. 
 But he dreamed of Elna and of the plains where 
 rose the tents of his people.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 Three days later, in one of the crowded streets of 
 Babylon, not far from the great temple of Bel- 
 Merodach and the Mound of Amram, Sabaal, the 
 Israelitish slave of the Lord Alorus, stopped a 
 water-carrier who was beating his cups together to 
 attract the attention of the passing multitude, and, 
 making a peculiar sign to him with the fingers, said 
 to him in a low voice — 
 
 " Israel in bondage ! " 
 
 The man instantly gave a counter-sign, reply- 
 ing— 
 
 " Israel free ! " 
 
 " Your report, Elkanus," whispered Sabaal. 
 
 *' Ten of the house of Josias, six of the house of 
 Eleasor, four of the house of Joahaz." 
 
 " Tis good. We meet to-night at moonrise, 
 behind the house of Maaleh." 
 
 " So be it," answered the water-carrier, and, in 
 response to an imperative sign from Sabaal, he 
 was about to continue his occupation, when sud- 
 denly he started and exclaimed — 
 
 " Look !— look yonder ! " 
 
 "Guard thyself!" responded Sabaal angrily. 
 *' Have a care, lest we be suspected. What now ? " 
 
 125
 
 126 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 " Yonder ! yonder ! " said Elkanus. " Jediah, 
 son of Zoar ! " 
 
 " Jediah in Babylon ! " exclaimed Sabaal hastily. 
 " What mcaneth this ? " 
 
 And, gazing into the crowd, he saw Jediah 
 slowly approaching, accompanied by Adoram. 
 They were engaged in earnest conversation, and 
 Jediah gesticulated as he talked, in the manner of 
 a man excited and moved to anger. 
 
 " Is Jediah with us ? " whispered the water- 
 carrier. 
 
 " No, against us, and his coming hither bodes 
 naught but evil. Go thy way. To-night ! " 
 
 "To-night!" replied Elkanus. "Water! water 1 
 Clear water ! Sweet water ! " 
 
 He struck his cups together vigorously, and passed 
 on through the street. 
 
 Meanwhile, Sabaal moved into the shadow of a 
 gigantic archway through which lay the path to 
 the riverside, and, leaning against the wall, pre- 
 pared to observe the proceedings of Jediah. This 
 one came on towards the arch. He was closely 
 muffled in a burnous with an enormous hood, and 
 his manner was cautious and watchful. 
 
 " Look upon them all," he said to Adoram ; " let 
 not one face escape thee. We shall find them. 
 We must. Seek ! seek ! " 
 
 " These endless streets daze me," replied Adoram. 
 " And the noise thereof deafens me. Let us give 
 up the search." 
 
 And he paused, as one that is weary. 
 
 Jediah turned upon him furiousl}'.
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 127 
 
 " Give up the search ! " he exclaimed. " I tell 
 thee that I will neither rest nor sleep till these 
 guilty ones be found and, before all the people, 
 dragged to judgment." 
 
 " To judgment ! " said Adoram, in horror. 
 " They two 1 Elna and thine own brother 1 " 
 
 " Brother ! That bond is broken. Lemuel's life 
 is forfeit, and I will exact the penalty — yea, even 
 to the uttermost." 
 
 " But there may be some error," said Adoram ", 
 "she may not be with him." 
 
 Jediah made a gesture of contemptuous im- 
 patience. 
 
 " Seek Lemuel and learn," continued Adoram. 
 
 " Seek him in the house of Ishtar ? " said Jediah 
 suspiciously. 
 
 " Why not ? " 
 
 " I know not," answered Jediah, dropping his 
 head on his breast, " I know not. But they say 
 this Ishtar is a dangerous woman, and hath many 
 M'iles for men." 
 
 " And thou dost fear to meet her ? " asked 
 Adoram, staring into the face of his companion. 
 
 " I have not said I fear." 
 
 " Nay," said Adoram, coming a little closer, 
 " but surely fear is in thine eyes." 
 
 " Thou liest ! " said Jediah, turning from him 
 angrily. "Why should I fear this woman Ishtar? " 
 
 " I know not." 
 
 "Nor I," murmured Jediah to himself "For 
 why should Ishtar be — It is a foolish fancy." 
 
 At this moment there was the beating of a staff
 
 128 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 on the stones near to them, and a lamentable voice 
 cried with piercing yet mechanical energy — 
 " Help the blind ! Help the blind ! " 
 Jcdiah started, as if he had been struck with a 
 thong. The cry recalled to him the night in which, 
 years ago, he lay in a house of Babylon over against 
 the " House of the Males" and listened in the dark 
 hours to the beating of the great bat about the 
 chamber. He remembered how his heart waited 
 in terror, as the dawn drew near, for a far-away 
 step at the end of the street, for the tapping of a 
 staff upon the stones of the way. The bat, like 
 some spirit of evil, uttered its thin and sinister 
 note. A pale light grew at the window. He saw 
 the wings of the creature, its grotesque shadow 
 flying along the walls. The sweat burst forth 
 upon his forehead now, for it seemed to him that 
 he was back in the past, that he heard the beating 
 of a staff upon his door, and that this lamentable 
 cry came from a voice that he knew, from the voice 
 of one who had been his friend and who had trusted 
 in him. 
 
 He turned sharply round and beheld a tall man, 
 clothed in filthy rags. His hair and beard were 
 white, and he looked, at first sight, of a great age. 
 Yet there was something in his gait and move- 
 ments that seemed to betoken youth, disguised 
 by sorrow, poverty, and the benediction of some 
 terrible tragedy. Where his eyes should have 
 looked forth upon the sunlit world were two deep 
 holes, like wounds, in which the flesh was dis- 
 coloured and dry and horrible to gaze upon. The
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 129 
 
 flics buzzed about these empty holes and settled 
 around their edges in multitudes. And the sound 
 of their hideous activity brought back to Jediah 
 the sound of the flies in the chamber of the god- 
 seller long ago, when he waited for the coming of 
 Migdapul while the darkness fell. The man beat 
 continually with his staff, and held forth one thin 
 hand, demanding alms. 
 
 " Help the blind ! Help the blind ! " he cried 
 again. 
 
 Jediah made a step backwards, involuntarily 
 thrusting abroad his hands. But Adoram, bending 
 to give the blind man alms, suddenly exclaimed — 
 
 " Why, let me look upon thee ! Surely, surely 
 thou art Johanan, husband of Elcia ! " 
 
 " Yea," answered the blind man, " I am Johanan 
 — blind, deceived, deserted Johanan. And who 
 art thou ? Come hither. Nay, tell me not. Let 
 me pass my hands across thy face, and " — - 
 
 He paused. Then, lifting his lean hands, he 
 stroked Adoram's face with a pathetic and trem- 
 bling movement of anxious inquiry. 
 
 " I am " — began Adoram. 
 
 But Johanan stopped him. 
 
 " A.h, no ! " he wailed. " Tell me not ! Let me 
 learn for m.yself. I must teach myself. For I 
 seek one who is hard to find. Wait." 
 
 Again he passed his thin hands over the coun- 
 tenance of Adoram, sensitively, almost greedily, 
 laying his fingers on the Israelite's eyelids, on his 
 lips, on his hair and forehead. Then suddenly he 
 cried —
 
 I30 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 " I know thee ! Thou art of the tribe of Zoar. 
 Wait awhile— wait ! Ah, yea — thou art Adoram ! " 
 
 As he spoke, Jediah moved hastily, going back- 
 wards as if in deadly fear. Johanan caught the 
 sound. He lifted one hand to his ear and listened. 
 Then he said — 
 
 " Is it not so ? Art thou not indeed Adoram ? " 
 
 "Yea, I am Adoram. But what dost thou in 
 Babylon? And how camest thou into this 
 sorrowful condition ? " 
 
 " I seek my lost wife," said the blind man. " I 
 seek my Elcia." 
 
 Again Jediah moved a step away. 
 
 "There is someone with thee," exclaimed Jo- 
 hanan. "Who is it?" 
 
 " Why " — began Adoram. 
 
 But Jediah suddenly caught him by the arm 
 and thrust one hand over his mouth. 
 
 " Why doth he not speak ? " continued Johanan. 
 "Is he too of the tribe of Zoar? He doth not 
 answer ! Doth he fear to speak ? Ask him if he 
 knoweth aught of the man who stole my Elcia 
 from me, the wife of my bosom — of those who 
 tore out my eyes. Answer me, I say ! Who is 
 by thy side ? " 
 
 The blind man had become greatly excited. 
 His suspicions were aroused by the strange silence 
 of Adoram's companion. And he now moved for- 
 ward, spreading out his hands to grasp this pre- 
 sence that he could not see. Adoram was about 
 to speak, but Jediah dragged him away. He 
 resisted, crying —
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 131 
 
 " Art thou mad ? Art thou mad, I say ? What 
 ails thee ? " 
 
 " Silence ! " hissed Jediah into his ear. " Silence, 
 I say 1 Come, come ! " 
 
 And he pulled him frantically on into the midst 
 of the crowd. But the blind man had heard his 
 voice, despite his precaution. 
 
 " Jediah, son of Zoar, who was my friend ! " Jo- 
 hanan cried, " Jediah ! What doth he in Babylon ? 
 Why does he fear to speak to blind Johanan ? " 
 
 " H'st ! h'st!" said Sabaal, coming cautiously 
 out of the shadow of the archway where he had 
 been concealed. 
 
 " Who speaks ? " said Johanan. 
 
 "That was Jediah., son of Zoar, who was here 
 but now." 
 
 " What ! Sabaal ! Yea, it was even Jediah. I 
 heard his voice. But why doth he fear me? I 
 was his friend. Dost hear? His friend." 
 
 " I know not, but " — he hesitated, musing darkly, 
 — " perchance I can make a guess. But enough 1 
 Let thine ears be ever on the alert, Johanan. 
 Thou goest sometimes to the palace of Ishtar to 
 ask alms. Is it not so ? " 
 
 " It is so." 
 
 "If thou canst get speech with Lemuel, who 
 abideth there, give him this cylinder. It contains 
 the names and the abiding-places of the leaders of 
 the brethren." 
 
 He handed to him, surreptitiously, a cylinder. 
 This was a sort of hollow tube, and within it, 
 inscribed on a film of clay which, when wet, was
 
 132 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 used by the dwellers in Babylon as a writing 
 material, were the names of the Israelites who 
 were chiefly concerned in the movement for 
 Israel's freedom. Then he whispered — 
 
 " Thou understandest ? Be guarded." 
 
 " As of my life ! " answered Johanan, concealing 
 the cylinder swiftly in his bosom. 
 
 Sabaal hastened away, and Johanan, once more 
 striking with his stick upon the stones of the street, 
 hfted up his voice and renewed his melancholy cry — 
 
 " Help the blind ! Help the blind ! " 
 
 Among the Babylonians who thronged the 
 street, buying from the hucksters and talking 
 gaily to the women who strolled along the 
 shadowed side of the way or looked out from 
 the windows, were Menanahim and some of the 
 courtiers from the royal palace, which stood on 
 an artificial mound to the north of the hill of 
 Amram, with which it was connected by a broad 
 causeway supported on arches. And even as 
 Johanan lifted up his voice, Meraioth, a rich woman 
 of the town, came down the street with Lemuel, 
 who was now richly attired in liabylonish garments 
 and who wore upon his arms and neck golden orna- 
 ments presented to him by Ishtar. As they came 
 up to the place where Menanahim was standing, 
 Meraioth said — 
 
 " And so, having wooed the man unavailingly, 
 the lady bought him as her slave. And then " — 
 
 "What happened then?" asked Lemuel simply. 
 
 Meraioth burst into a laugh, which was echoed 
 by all the courtiers.
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 133 
 
 '* What ever happens when a woman buys a 
 handsome man ? " 
 
 The laugh rang out again, and some Babylonish 
 women, who had gathered round, joined in it, 
 responding impudently to the significant glances 
 of the men. But Lemuel said gravely — 
 
 " And thou canst laugh at this ? " 
 
 " And canst not thou ? " sneered Menanahim, 
 with the dandified lisp that he affected. " It is 
 a merry jest." 
 
 " It is new to me to regard such things as jests," 
 said Lemuel. 
 
 " Ah ! but thou art new to Babylon," said 
 Meraioth. 
 
 " Indeed I am — and to the ways of her people. 
 Pardon my simplicity." 
 
 " Nay," said Menanahim, " it is refreshing as the 
 water-springs in a desert. For simplicity in man, 
 at least in Babylon, is so rare." 
 
 " As rare in her men as innocence in her 
 women ? " asked Lemuel quietly. 
 
 Meraioth turned to Menanahim. Her tinted 
 lips curled in a smile of irony. 
 
 " Innocence ! " she cried. " Ha, ha, ha ! What 
 should a daughter of Babylon do with innocence?" 
 
 " What indeed ? " echoed her companions. 
 
 " The daughters of my people regard it as h 
 priceless jewel," said Lemuel. " I have ever been 
 taught to reverence it." 
 
 " Then, my simple shepherd," said Menanahim, 
 playing with the seal that dangled from his wrist, 
 " then thou hast much to learn, and hast been most
 
 134 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 vilely taught. Innocence ! A mental blindness 
 that leadeth its possessor into every moral slough 
 and pitfall." 
 
 " Unless 'tis guided by the ear of instinct." 
 
 " Instinct ! " said Meraioth ; " a woman's in- 
 stinct ! When did the instinct of a woman fail 
 to misguide her to her natural enemy, man ? " 
 
 "Man is woman's natural protector," said Lemuel. 
 
 " Is he, shepherd ? " laughed Menanahim, 
 bending with mock courtesy. "Is he? Then is 
 he the most unnatural of created things. For 
 never doth he follow nature's promptings. Ah ! 
 my poor, untaught guardian of the innocent lamb 
 — study the elders of thy flocks, or, better still, 
 go learn of Ishtar. Ishtar is just the tutor thou 
 requirest." 
 
 And he looked jealously askance at the magnifi- 
 cent figure of Lemuel, which contrasted cruelly 
 with his own meagre form and face lined with 
 dissipation. 
 
 " I am content to learn at Ishtar's feet," said 
 Lemuel, " and for that learning would risk my 
 very life." 
 
 He spoke significantly, looking calmly around 
 him at the tittering Babylonians. 
 
 "Help the blind!" cried the melancholy voice 
 of Johanan, who still lingered in the street, and 
 whose sharp ears had caught the sound of Lemuel's 
 speech. 
 
 Lemuel looked round and saw the poor beggar, 
 who carried his thin hand to his bosom, in which 
 the cylinder lay hidden.
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 135 
 
 " Friends," he said to the Babylonians, " will ye 
 not go on to the palace of Ishtar to await my 
 coming there? " 
 
 " But why tarriest thou ? " said Meraioth, 
 " Hath our merry jest indeed shocked thee so 
 much that thou would'st leave us ? " 
 
 " Nay," answered Lemuel, " but I am in Babylon 
 to learn her ways, understand her jests, and study 
 her griefs. And I would be alone awhile to watch 
 the crowd of those that pass." 
 
 " Oh, have thy way, shepherd," said Menanahim. 
 " But thou wilt have jestings enough at Ishtar's 
 feet and grief enough to give thee lifelong study, 
 my poor simplicity ! Do but sow rubies in Ishtar's 
 field — thy crop of grief will surely follow." 
 
 As he spoke he made a p'-ofound obeisance 
 before Lemuel. All the courtiers followed his 
 example, as if saluting the king himself. Then, 
 retreating backwards before him, they burst into a 
 peal of laughter, and turning, strolled away down 
 the street, talking gaily and making a thousand 
 jests, saluting the pretty women and throwing alms 
 to the beggars who thronged about their footsteps. 
 
 Lemuel looked after them, murmuring to him- 
 self— 
 
 " Perchance the grief will not be mine alone, fair 
 Lady Ishtar." 
 
 " Help the blind ! " cried Johanan, drawing near. 
 
 " Hold thine hands, father," said Lemuel, giving 
 him an alms. 
 
 " Israel in bondage, son of Zoar ! " whispered 
 Johanan
 
 136 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 " Israel free, Johanan, son of Elihud," whispered 
 Lemuel, in return. 
 
 Then, going closer, he added softly — 
 
 " What is thy news ? " 
 
 "Deign to place another coin in my hands," 
 said Johanan. 
 
 And as Lemuel did so he secretly passed to 
 him the cylinder containing the names of the 
 chiefs of the brethren. Lemuel scanned them 
 eagerly. 
 
 " The names of our friends and their dwelling- 
 places," he said. " I thank thee." 
 
 " Guard well the cylinder," murmured the blind 
 man. " It is charged with death and fate." 
 
 " It is in safe keeping," answered Lemuel, as he 
 concealed it in his silken robe. 
 
 " Water, my lord ! Cool and sweet for those 
 who thirst ! " cried the voice of Elkanus. 
 
 Lemuel turned from the blind man, saying — 
 
 " Thou here, Elkanus ! Thy news ? " 
 
 "The brethren murmur, O Lemuel." 
 
 " At what ? " 
 
 " At thy constant presence in the house of that 
 daughter of Babylon, Ishtar," exclaimed the voice 
 of Sabaal, who suddenly stole out of the crowd to 
 Lemuel's side, followed at a little distance by 
 Jozadah, the hireling of Jediah. "Thy brethren 
 groan beneath the lashes of this wanton and of her 
 lovers, while thou art ever at her feet, hearkening 
 to her lustful songs and joining in her shameless 
 revelry." 
 
 While he spoke a number of wild-looking men
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 137 
 
 of the rabble, bearing staffs, had been gathering 
 furtively round Lemuel, and as Jozadah added — 
 
 " Ay, he's a traitor and would betray us to the 
 Babylonians ! Kill him ! kill him ! " they rushed 
 upon Lemuel, joining in the cry. 
 
 But Lemuel drew his sword, and seizing Jozadah 
 and holding him fast with one powerful hand, he 
 exclaimed — 
 
 " And hearken thou, Jozadah, spy and traitor ! 
 I am at Ishtar's feet for no love of her or of her 
 kind. I have no love save one, and her I left by 
 Naomi's well, never to see again. For that love's 
 sake came I hither. It is strong enough to keep 
 me undefiled even in that place of sin and lust, the 
 house of Ishtar. Let the brethren be comforted ; 
 I am at Ishtar's feet to drag our enemies to the 
 dust. And amid all the glare of gems and of 
 wanton beauty, there is in my brain and heart 
 but one thought — Israel in bondage, and but one 
 desire — Israel free ! " 
 
 He flung Jozadah to the ground, while the 
 crowd, changed already from enemies into friends, 
 broke forth into cries of approval and admiration. 
 
 " Go hence ! " he said to Jozadah, who lay 
 trembling at his feet. " Go hence, ere I stain my 
 sword with thy base blood ! " 
 
 Jozadah, rising to his feet in terror, made off, 
 throwing many a timorous glance behind him. 
 Then Lemuel, putting aside the Israelites who 
 thronged about him, strode away in the direction 
 of Ishtar's palace. 
 
 He was already within sight of its monstrous
 
 138 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 walls of gleaming red brick, when he encountered 
 Menanahim, who was hurrying, breathless, towards 
 him. 
 
 " Whom seekest thou, my lord ? " he asked. 
 
 Menanahim stopped. 
 
 " Thee, O favoured mortal ! " he answered, 
 endeavouring to conceal the bitterness of his 
 jealousy. " By the Seven, the all-powerful Seven, 
 Zi-ana-ana be they conjured ! but thou art the 
 most favoured or unfavoured mortal. For I, after 
 much seeking among women, I — I, Menanahim, 
 versed in the ways of these our plagues and 
 blessings, our slaves and despots, those whom we 
 much despise and much obey, whom we fondle 
 and fear, discard, yet cannot live without — even I 
 cannot decide whether 'tis good or evil for thee ; 
 but sooth it is either because thou art new to 
 them — and the newest toy doth ever catch the eye 
 of child and woman — or for some other charm, 
 but sooth it is that many of these, our daughters 
 of Babylon, have looked upon thee with an eye 
 of favour, and so — and so " — 
 
 " Take breath, my lord," interrupted Lemuel ; 
 " and if thou hast a message, pray give it to thy 
 servant." 
 
 " I was travelling toward that — that same 
 message." 
 
 " Hast thou not reached thy journey's end?" 
 
 "Almost, shepherd, but in sooth it is a weary 
 road that a poor man doth tread that hath a 
 woman at both ends and a third to watch him at 
 the half-way."
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 139 
 
 " Well ?— thy message ? " 
 
 " Verily, O shepherd of Israel, these sheep, these 
 lambs of ours," — and he pointed to the towering 
 palace of Ishtar, — " yea, even the choice ones of 
 the flock of the lambs of Babylon, — do bleat them- 
 selves hoarse for thee. Though, indeed, what they 
 do in thee behold " — 
 
 " I come to them," said Lemuel, cutting him 
 short. 
 
 And, followed by Menanahim, he mounted to the 
 palace.
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 Almost at the same time that the events related 
 in the preceding chapter were taking place, in 
 another quarter of the city a great crowd of Baby- 
 lonians had assembled to see a procession pass by 
 to the mighty temple of Bel - Merodach. This 
 temple lay to the north of the Mound of Kasr, 
 and was a huge pile of brickwork, of quadrilateral 
 shape, with an almost flat top and precipitous 
 sides. Millions of bricks had been used in its 
 construction. These bricks were made of the 
 tenacious mud found on the alluvial plains, mixed 
 with chopped straw. Before they became dry 
 they were placed on each other, and the heat of 
 the sun caked them together. They were cemented 
 often with a material composed of bitumen and 
 other substances, and covered with a glaze of rich 
 enamel, lustrous and brilliant to the eyes. The 
 gates of the temple were made of solid brass. But 
 the most remarkable of its features were its eight 
 towers, which were raised one on the top of 
 the other as if they would climb into the highest 
 heaven. On the outside of these towers a path 
 had been built which wound up and up round them 
 till it reached the summit. There were seats by 
 
 140
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 141 
 
 the way, on which those who were weary might 
 rest and enjoy a magnificent view over Babylon. 
 Below this temple, outside the vast precinct 
 within which it was enclosed, there was a square, 
 in which stood palm trees and flashing fountains, 
 and here the people had assembled to see the pro- 
 cession of the god pass by. The little children 
 were held up in the arms of their devout and 
 superstitious mothers. The men raised them- 
 selves on their toes to see the better. The 
 beggars, for the moment, forgot their sores and 
 their necessities, and the whole mass of human 
 beings was moved by but one impulse, the impulse 
 of worship, as the great image, fashioned in pure 
 gold that gleamed in the sunshine, was borne by. 
 Before it came radiantly beautiful maidens, crowned 
 with flowers and attired in rich stuffs, who sprang 
 and danced as David may have danced before the 
 ark, expressing religious enthusiasm by ardent 
 bodily exercises, by fantastic gestures, even by 
 cries and wild exclamations, which increased the 
 excitement of the multitude. They scattered 
 flowers along the path of the god, twisted like 
 Dervishes, and were untiring in agility. Under 
 the glare of the sun they seemed almost like 
 radiant humming - birds, or birds of Paradise. 
 Their long hair streamed down and floated in 
 a cloud round their lissom bodies, and their little 
 feet twinkled in the golden sandals which they 
 wore instead of shoes. Behind them came the 
 minstrels, playing on cymbals, beating drums, and 
 plucking the frail strings of citherns. And behind
 
 142 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 them again the singers solemnly walked, uplifting 
 their voices in a great chorus — 
 
 " O Thou who reignest above the Seven, 
 And rulcst the evil of the South-West wind ! 
 Burn up our enemies, lead us to heaven ; 
 In chains and torture thou our foemen bind. 
 Keep thou the Nanitar from us — wicked he 
 Who would thy slaves assail and bring them woe. 
 Oh, send thy sun to light and set us free, 
 While to Arali let our foemen go." 
 
 The shout of the singers filled the sparkling air 
 as they passed on through the mob, glancing 
 neither to the right nor the left. Then came the 
 priests, wearing the sacred skins of animals, and 
 then the statue of the god, borne aloft on the 
 shoulders of four men, and followed by more 
 priests, singers, minstrels, dancers, and servitors 
 of the temple. As it went by, all the people made 
 obeisance, saving only the Jews. These turned 
 aside or shrank away in horror. But few heeded 
 them. For the Babylonians, though given over to 
 money-making, to gluttony, and to dissipation of 
 every kind, were intensely superstitious, and, in 
 looking upon the effigy of the god, they had for 
 the moment but one thought, one prayer — to be 
 taken up at last, after death and the passing of 
 the soul from earthly things, to the summit of 
 the great mountain hidden in eternal cloud, the 
 mountain of the East, the mountain of the 
 world, where the apex of the firmament rested, 
 and the golden stars hung round like the 
 lamps in the temples of Babylon. Here would 
 ascend only the souls of the great and of the
 
 I 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 143 
 
 good from the world of the dead which lay in 
 dimness far below the earth, where all was dark- 
 ness and terrible gloom, and the spirits flitted to 
 and fro like bats, with naught to eat save dust 
 alone. This dread region was barred by seven 
 gates, and in the midst of it sat the rulers of 
 Hades on a throne of solid gold, beneath which 
 ran eternally the gushing waters of life. And 
 Merodach alone — he who now went by to his 
 temple with the great tower and the portals of 
 brass — could raise up the spirits of the dead from 
 darkness into the world of everlasting light. So 
 all the people prostrated themselves, kissing the 
 hem of the priests' garments, and bending their 
 souls to prayer, while the music sounded ever, and 
 the chorus rang out — 
 
 " O Thou who reignest above the Seven, 
 Burn up our enemies, lead us to heaven ! " 
 
 So engrossed were all the people in gazing upon 
 the god and in murmuring their prayers to it, that 
 but few noticed a pale and travel-worn boy who 
 entered the square in the wake of the procession, 
 leaning wearily upon a staff, and moving slowly as 
 one exhausted with fatigue. This boy had a 
 beautiful face lit by blue eyes, his hair was dark, 
 and his mouth was red as a rose, while the delicate 
 smallness of his hands and feet seemed almost like 
 that of a girl. He looked very young, scarcely 
 seventeen, and had a strange air of helplessness 
 and of bewilderment in the throng and in the 
 press of the multitude. Among all this multitude,
 
 144 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 at first only one human being noticed him, and 
 this was a buxom fiuit-girl who was seated upon 
 the marble steps of a house with her big basket at 
 her feet. Her sense of religion did not prevent her 
 from keeping an eye on her worldly prosperity, 
 and, on perceiving this fatigued wanderer, she 
 cried out in a ringing voice — 
 
 " Ripe fruit ! Sweet grapes 1 " 
 
 The boy hesitated, and looked eagerly towards 
 her basket, in which the fruit lay temptingly sur- 
 rounded by fresh green leaves. 
 
 " I parch with thirst," he murmured. " Child, 
 are those costly?" he added, pointing to the grapes. 
 
 " Wert thou a daughter of Babylon, they would 
 be," replied the girl gaily; " but since thou art but a 
 stranger boy, and hast bright eyes and a face goodly 
 to look upon, they shall not be costly unto thee." 
 
 And, as she spoke, she cast upon him a glance 
 full of open admiration. 
 
 The boy drew forth a coin and gave it to her, 
 saying — 
 
 " Will that sufnce ? " 
 
 " For thee to pay? Yea, sweet shepherd," replied 
 the girl, handing to him a goodly bunch of purple 
 
 grapes 
 
 fa' 
 
 " How knowest thou me for a shepherd ? " asked 
 
 the boy. 
 
 " Firstly, thou art timid, like the sheep ; then 
 
 thou art not of Babylon, else had'st thou praised 
 
 mine eyes and my form and face, as I even now 
 
 praised thine. Thou art from the plains, art thou 
 
 not?"
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 145 
 
 " I am," said the boy more feebly, " and weary 
 with my long travel." 
 
 The girl moved and made room on the step 
 beside her. 
 
 " Sit thou here," she said coaxingly. 
 
 The boy obeyed. 
 
 " Hast thou come from very far ? " the girl con- 
 tinued, looking closely into his white face. 
 
 " Yea." 
 
 •' And did'st thou walk ? " 
 
 " Yea." 
 
 " Art thou not an Israelite? " 
 
 The boy hesitated for a moment. Then he said — 
 
 " I am." 
 
 " A pretty boy, a stranger, and an Israelite," 
 said the girl musingly ; " beware lest they do sell 
 thee into slavery." 
 
 " They will not dare ! " exclaimed the boy, with 
 a sudden flash of energy ; " I am a free wom — " 
 
 " What ? " cried the girl. 
 
 " I say I am free." 
 
 " 'Twill avail thee but little to say thou art free, 
 unless thou hast friends to protect thee. Our lords 
 of Babylon look upon all Israelites as their lawful 
 bondsmen. It was but yesterday we had a riot in 
 the streets, and every Israelite who was at hand was 
 taken and whipped and sold in the market-place." 
 
 " Alas ! " cried the boy, trembling visibly and 
 shrinking against the wall. 
 
 " Why," said the fruit-girl, " thou art trembling ! 
 Thou art a very timid boy, even for a shepherd." 
 
 "Nay, but I never saw a city like unto this 
 10
 
 14^ THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 before, and the noise, the people, the great build- 
 ings — all do oppress me." 
 
 " But why did'st thou come to Babylon ? " 
 
 " That I may not tell," answered the boy. 
 
 He hesitated. Then he put an arm around th.e 
 girl's shoulder, and said more impulsively — 
 
 " And yet — let me look into thine eyes — yea, I 
 will trust thee." 
 
 " Thou mayest," said the girl, " for I do swear I 
 like thee well." 
 
 " I came, then, to seek one called Lemuel, son of 
 Zoar, an Israelite. Knowest thou aught of him ? " 
 
 " Who doth not ? " exclaimed the girl. " Why, 
 all the city speaks of him. Ls he thy lord ? " 
 
 " My lord ? Ah, yes ! " 
 
 " I saw him abroad in the city but this very 
 morning." 
 
 The boy suddenly started up, exclaiming — 
 
 " Here ? O Lemuel ! Lemuel ! " 
 
 " Well," said the fruit-girl, staring in amazement, 
 " that's strange ! So might a girl call out the name 
 of her lover. This same Lemuel must be a gentle 
 master, if thou dost love him thus." 
 
 " Yes, yes — he is, he is ! " said the boy, still with 
 excitement. "But whither went he? Who was 
 with him ? Where is he now? " 
 
 " Well, he went hence with some of Ishtar's fine 
 lords and ladies." 
 
 "Lshtar! What is Ishtar ? " 
 
 " One who maketh men mad with love — and 
 who selleth her love to the highest bidder. That 
 is the way in Babylon, shepherd."
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 147 
 
 " Can love be bought and sold ? " 
 
 " Yea. And so Ishtar grows rich and queens 
 it over kings and princes." 
 
 '•' And — and Lemuel ? " asked the boy. 
 
 " Is ever at her feet, and she, for a miracle, doth 
 leave all others at a beckon from his finger, though 
 he be but poor." 
 
 " But — but he — doth not love her ? Lemuel 
 could not indeed love such a woman." 
 
 " Ah, boy, when thou art older thou wilt be 
 wiser. Men — and I speak who have met many, 
 selling my fruit here in the streets — men are 
 strange creatures and unaccountable." 
 
 The boy's white face grew whiter, and his delicate 
 limbs trembled more piteously, as he cried in a 
 lamentable voice — 
 
 "But he — Lemuel — could not! I know him. 
 Ah, help! help!" 
 
 The fruit - girl sprang up, knocking over her 
 basket. 
 
 "What aileth thee?" she cried. "The blood 
 forsakes thy cheek ! " 
 
 Even as she spoke, the boy wavered and dropped 
 down at her very feet. The fruit-girl, in terror, 
 cried aloud for help, and the crowd, now ready for 
 any diversion, since the god had been borne within 
 the precinct of his temple, began to gather round 
 the prostrate shepherd, who lay to all appearance 
 lifeless on the stones. 
 
 As they were all uttering exclamations and 
 buzzing with comments, a loud and authoritative 
 voice exclaimed —
 
 148 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 "What hath happened? Room, I say! room! 
 Stand clear there ! " 
 
 And the Lord Alorus, accompanied by several 
 richly dressed attendants, pushed his way through 
 the throng. 
 
 " What is this, girl ? " he said to the fruit-seller. 
 
 "This boy hath swooned," she answered pite- 
 ously. 
 
 " The heat of the day "— 
 
 " Nay, my lord, I think not so. 'Tis something 
 concerning his master, Lemuel, so please you." 
 
 " Lemuel ! " said Alorus. 
 
 And, bending down, he lifted the boy's head on 
 his arm, and gazed into the white face. 
 
 " By Baal ! " he murmured, in astonishment, 
 " 'tis the lovely Elna ! Give me some water ! " 
 he cried aloud. 
 
 Elkanus, the water-carrier, pushed his way to the 
 step and handed him water in a gourd. Alorus 
 put the gourd to the lips of Elna, who stirred and 
 stretched forth one hand, as if seeking help. 
 
 " 'Tis a pretty boy," said the fruit-girl, " but 
 weak as a girl." 
 
 " Thou speakest truth," said Alorus, smiling. 
 " As weak as a girl, in very sooth." 
 
 At this moment Elna recovered her senses some- 
 what. She sat up, stared wildly round, and, seeing 
 all the strange faces watching her, cried out in 
 terror — 
 
 " Ah, release me ! — I have done no harm ! Let 
 me go ! " 
 
 As she spoke she rose, trembling, to her feet,
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 149 
 
 and took her staff from the hands of a Babylonian 
 who had picked it up. 
 
 "Thou art safe — boy," said Alorus, with 
 meaning. 
 
 " Boy ! " said Elna. " Ah, yes, — I know now. 
 But Lemuel," — she passed her hand across her 
 eyes, — " where is " — 
 
 She turned round and beheld Alorus smiling at 
 her^ 
 
 "Ah, the Lord Alorus !" she exclaimed. "How 
 came I thus ? " 
 
 "He knoweth thee, my lord," said the fruit-girl, 
 in surprise, " Dost thou know him ? " 
 
 " Should I not, girl," said Alorus, laughing, " see- 
 ing that this boy is one of my slaves ? " 
 
 " Slave ! " said Elna, in terror. " I — a slave ! 
 Nay, nay ! " 
 
 Alorus went up to her, caught her by the arm, 
 and whispered — 
 
 " Admit it ! Own that thou art my slave, or 
 thou art lost." 
 
 " Slave ! " murmured Elna. " Ah, Lemuel 1 " 
 
 And she looked appealingly at Alorus. 
 
 " Own it," he whispered, " and I will take thee 
 unto Lemuel. I am thy friend." 
 
 " I can trust thee ? " said Elna, gazing at him 
 doubtfully and with fear in her lovely eyes. 
 
 " Yes, yes." 
 
 'He turned to one of his attendants. 
 
 " Hither, Jael," he said. " This boy is my slave. 
 None have I of more value to me. On thy head 
 be it if he escapes thee."
 
 ISO THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 As he spoke the attendants surrounded EIna. 
 But she shrank away from them, crying — 
 
 " Let me go ! — I can walk now. I shall not faint 
 again. I can walk — but do not touch me, I pray 
 thee." 
 
 And she took a few steps forward, moving with 
 difficulty and with a wavering gait. The attend- 
 ants, crowding about her, would have supported 
 her, but, with feeble hands, she tried to thrust them 
 away, exclaiming — 
 
 " No, no ! Touch me not ! I am well now — 
 quite well ! " 
 
 But even as she spoke the words she staggered 
 again and would have fallen, had not Alorus him- 
 self caught her in his arms, and, lifting her up 
 some steps that led to an archway on the eastern 
 side of the square, disappeared with her towards 
 his palace. 
 
 The crowd began quickly to separate and to 
 resume their occupations, interrupted by the pro- 
 cession of the god and this subsequent incident. 
 Soon the fruit-girl sat alone with her basket. 
 
 Her eyes were still fixed on the archway 
 through which Alorus and the shepherd boy had 
 disappeared, and she thought to herself — 
 
 " Poor boy! And he so dreaded slavery ! Truly, 
 Babylon is a cruel city." 
 
 Then, lifting up her clear young voice, she cried 
 again and again — 
 
 " Grapes ! Sweet grapes ! Who will buy sweet 
 grapes ? "
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 On the evening of the same day, Ishtar's retinue 
 of slaves were arranging the silken cushions and 
 the golden and ivory couches upon the terrace of 
 her palace garden. Almost every night she held 
 a sort of gay court under the palms and the 
 cypress trees. The Indians, or the Babylonish 
 maidens, danced, the charmers of snakes ex- 
 hibited their reptiles, and the air was full of the 
 soft glimmer of distant music. Hither came all 
 the flower of the youth of the city, all the great 
 nobles, all the dandies, and, more strangely, perhaps, 
 many men of learning — astrologers, politicians, and 
 soothsayers. For Ishtar knew how to attract the 
 thinkers and the philosophers as well as the empty- 
 headed and the idly frivolous. Her face was 
 beautiful, but she was no mask without a brain 
 or soul behind it. And there were men who 
 worshipped her for her mind even more than for 
 her great eyes and her magnificent bearing. 
 
 The slaves were alone in the garden, for Ishtar 
 was within the palace feasting with some guests, 
 and the sound of far - away citherns and flutes 
 stole out to the shadowy spaces beside the water. 
 Down in the city the red and yellow lights were 
 
 151
 
 153 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 beginning to twinkle, and the soft darkness of 
 night closed rapidly round. 
 
 The slaves, as they went about their work, 
 chattered among themselves of the doings of their 
 lady, of the despair of her lovers, of the rich gifts 
 that were ever being offered at her shrine, of a 
 thousand things. Sometimes they broke forth 
 into laughter, but the laughter was low and 
 hushed, and even the chatter seemed submissive 
 and surreptitious. As they were heaping up a 
 pile of cushions by one of the fountains, Sabaal, 
 the slave of Alorus, entered the garden by some 
 marble steps that led to a lower terrace, and, 
 coming upon one of the slaves, said to him — 
 
 " My Lord Alorus cometh hither. Where is 
 Ishtar?" 
 
 " Ask where is Lemuel," the slave replied 
 significantly. 
 
 Two or three of his companions laughed. 
 
 " Where is Lemuel, then ? " said Sabaal. 
 
 *' Even where Ishtar is," answered the slave, 
 who was a captive Israelite. " This our deliverer ! 
 Ever at the feet of this daughter of Babylon, 
 hearkening to her wanton love-songs and gazing 
 upon her charms ! " 
 
 An angry look crossed the dark face of Sabaal, 
 but he answered — 
 
 " Thou wrongest Lemuel. He is here not for 
 the sake of Ishtar but of Israel. Where can he 
 so easily spy out the nakedness of the land as 
 among these drunken lords who revel in Ishtar's 
 palace? Lemuel is true, but we who are weak
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 153 
 
 must work by guile. Trust him as thou would'st 
 trust thyself." 
 
 " Sayest thou " — began the slave. 
 
 But Sabaal suddenly whispered — 
 
 " My master ! Silence ! 
 
 Even as he spoke the Lord Alorus approached, 
 attended by his slaves, and said to the slaves of 
 Ishtar, who bowed before him — 
 
 " Where is thy lady ? " 
 
 " Within the inner gates, O lord," replied the 
 slave who had spoken with Sabaal. 
 
 " Go, tell her I have come as bidden," said 
 Alorus. 
 
 The slaves of Ishtar retired towards the palace 
 court, and Alorus, turning to Sabaal, said — 
 
 " Remain thou here, Sabaal, and be at my side 
 when the Lady Ishtar comes hither." 
 
 " I will be at my lord's bidding," said Sabaal, 
 with the deep servility that he ahvays displayed 
 towards his possessor. 
 
 Alorus walked slowly along the terrace and 
 returned. He seemed to be deep in thought. 
 Presently, he lifted up his head and said to 
 Sabaal — 
 
 " Sabaal, a new slave hath been added to my 
 household " — 
 
 He paused. 
 
 " Yea, my lord ? " said Sabaal. 
 
 "A boy," continued Alorus, "one — Amos. He 
 hath gone to my palace under the care of Jael. 
 This — ah — this boy is precious in my sight, 
 although a slave. See that he is well cared for
 
 154 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 when thou returnest. Let him have the chamber 
 next unto mine own. Set him no task, but let 
 one of the handmaidens be sent to him. He is 
 but young, and the rouc^h ways of the men slaves 
 may affright him. Dost understand ? " 
 
 " I understand, my lord," answered Sabaal. 
 
 " As thou dost with him," said Alorus, with 
 emphasis, "so shalt thou win my favour. If any 
 harm come to him, on thy head be it. Remain 
 thou here. I would be alone for a while." 
 
 And on the last words he moved slowly away 
 down one of the small and shaded paths of the 
 garden, still bending down his head as if in pro- 
 found thought. As he went, the whole demeanour 
 of Sabaal abruptly changed. The servility died 
 out of his face and his bearing. He half started 
 forward, with one strong arm raised as if to do 
 violence to his master, while he muttered between 
 his teeth — 
 
 " Thy favour ! Thine ! Ah, when my hand is 
 on thy throat, my knife in thy heart, thou wilt 
 grant me all the favour I care to take at thy hands 
 — thy dying groans, thou arrogant Babylonian ! " 
 
 And then, as if fatigued by the rage that 
 possessed him, he flung himself down upon the 
 ground, beneath an immense cypress tree, and 
 buried his head in his arms. To the murmur of 
 music within the palace of Ishtar was now added 
 the sound of song, very soft and distant, but clear 
 and tender in the night. As Sabaal crouched 
 beneath the cypress tree, hot with the fury of his 
 wrongs and of his servitude, he heard the singing
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 155 
 
 as a man may hear echoes in an evil dream of the 
 night. The voices seemed to him like the voices 
 of devils, mocking his wrongs and the wrongs 
 of his persecuted people. And, with a muttered 
 imprecation on Babylon and on all within her 
 mighty walls, he was about to thrust his fingers 
 into his ears when he heard another sound beside 
 the music, a cautious and hesitating footstep upon 
 the terrace near him. He raised his head and 
 saw, standing full in the light of the rising moon, 
 the slight figure of a boy, who appeared to be 
 listening to the music within the palace. This 
 boy, after a moment's pause, stole very cautiously 
 forward, as if intending to gain the archwa}' of 
 the first court of the palace. But Sabaal, starting 
 up with the swiftness of a panther, intercepted 
 him and exclaimed — 
 
 " Whither goest thou ? " 
 
 The boy uttered a cry of surprise. 
 
 " Sabaal ! " 
 
 Then he shrank away, concealing his face in the 
 folds of the garment he wore. 
 
 " Whither goest thou ? " repeated Sabaal roughly, 
 coming towards him. 
 
 " What is that to thee ? " answered the boy, 
 without lifting his face. 
 
 "Who art thou?" continued Sabaal. 
 
 " I seek my master," said the boy. 
 
 "Who is thy master?" 
 
 " Lemuel, son of Zoar." 
 
 Sabaal made a movement of surprise. Then he 
 said with caution —
 
 156 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 "What wantest thou with Lemuel, son of Zoar ? " 
 " I — I have a — a message for him," murmured 
 the boy with obvious hesitation. 
 " From whom ? " 
 
 The boy was silent for an instant ; then he said, 
 slowly and timidly — 
 
 " From my Lord Alorus." 
 
 "So! so!" exclaimed Sabaal. " Left'st thou 
 but now the Lord Alorus ? " 
 " But — but a short time since." 
 " And he sent thee hither with a message, thou 
 sayest ? " 
 
 " Have I not said ? " 
 
 " Yea, thou hast — that which is false. The Lord 
 Alorus hath sent thee with no message hither, for 
 he is himself within." 
 
 " Ah ! " exclaimed the boy. 
 
 And he turned suddenly as if to flee. But 
 Sabaal caught him fast by the wrist, crying — 
 " Now let me see thy face ! " 
 " No, no ! " cried the boy. 
 " I will, I tell thee ! " said Sabaal angrily. 
 And he seized the boy in his arms, swung him 
 round, and tore the robe from his face, exclaiming — 
 " Thou fool ! Let me look on thee ! " 
 Then, as he saw the boy's face in the moonlight, 
 he cried — 
 "Elna!" 
 
 " Yea," Elna answered, drooping her head. 
 " Mad, wicked girl ! What brought thee hither ? " 
 " Love," she answered, in a low voice, while her 
 cheeks were stained with scarlet.
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 157 
 
 " Love for whom ? " 
 
 " My lord." 
 
 " Thy lord ? Jediah ? " 
 
 " Jediah ! — nay, Lemuel." 
 
 " Thou art here to seek Lemuel ? " 
 
 " Yea." 
 
 " And thou hast left our people to seek Lemuel 
 in Babylon, and in a garb that, for a woman, is an 
 abomination and a sin ? " 
 
 " I count naught sinful that I do to protect the 
 man I love," answered Elna, with sudden firmness. 
 
 " Protect him ! " said Sabaal, with contempt. 
 " Foolish maid ! thou art more like to destroy him. 
 Lemuel hath sterner work than dallying with a 
 love-sick girl. He is in danger." 
 
 *' For that came I hither," said Elna proudly. 
 "I will share it." 
 
 " Ay, and thou wilt double it," retorted Sabaal 
 roughly. "Get thee hence ! " 
 
 But Elna stood her ground bravely. All her 
 timidity seemed to have left her. She faced 
 Sabaal now with fearless eyes, as she ansv/ered, 
 unflinchingly — 
 
 " Not until I have looked on him for whom I 
 have come up to this accursed city." 
 
 " Accursed, indeed ! " said Sabaal, " and accursed 
 be thou if thou dost hinder or destroy the work 
 that Lemuel hath to do within its walls. Wilt 
 thou hence, I say ? " 
 
 " Not until I have seen him." 
 
 As he said the last words, unperceived of him 
 or of Elna, Lemuel came forth from the inner
 
 158 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 court of the palace and advanced into the garden. 
 Sabaal sprang upon Elna and laid his hands on 
 her throat, crying furiously — 
 
 " Sooner than that, these hands shall choke 
 thee!" 
 
 " Help ! " she shrieked. " Help, my lord ! help ! 
 Lemuel, Lemuel ! " 
 
 " Silence, thou madwoman ! " cried Sabaal, forcing 
 her backward towards the steps that led to the lower 
 terrace. 
 
 But Lemuel, hearing a voice cry out his name, 
 and seeing the struggle between Sabaal and Elna, 
 sprang forward, exclaiming — - 
 
 "Who calleth upon me? Sabaal, let the boy 
 go!" 
 
 ** Nay, he is a spy, a traitor," returned Sabaal, 
 still forcing Elna towards the steps. " Look not 
 on his face." 
 
 " Let him go ! " reiterated Lemuel, in a com- 
 manding voice. 
 
 " Nay, I will not ! " cried Sabaal. 
 
 And he cast his cloak over Elna's face. 
 
 " I will see his face," exclaimed Lemuel, ad- 
 vancing. 
 
 " To look on him is death " said Sabaal. 
 
 But Lemuel, heedless of his words, caught him 
 by the throat, and hurled him to the ground, 
 saying — 
 
 " Did I not tell thee to let him go ? Now, boy — • 
 Elna ! " 
 
 Elna, who was panting from excitement and 
 from the violence to which she had been subjected,
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 159 
 
 made no reply. She could not speak. She could 
 only stand before Lemuel with downcast eyes and 
 heaving bosom. 
 
 "What hath brought thee hither?" exclaimed 
 Lemuel, in profound amazement. 
 
 " My love for thee," whispered Elna. 
 
 And she sank down against the alabaster wall 
 of the terrace, resting her lovely dark head among 
 a cloud of huge red flowers that climbed and clung 
 there. Lemuel bent over her for an instant as if 
 to take her in his arms. Then he controlled 
 himself, and said to Sabaal — 
 
 " Sabaal, go hence and keep the Lord Alorus 
 from coming hither," 
 
 " And leave thee with this maid ? " said Sabaal 
 bitterly. 
 
 "Yea." 
 
 " I entreat thee, Lemuel, think of thy danger ! " 
 
 " I care naught for danger." 
 
 " The sacred cause of Israel " — 
 
 " No cause of Israel is more sacred than the 
 honour of her daughters. Do as I bid thee. Go ! " 
 
 Sabaal, whose eyes gleamed with fury and a 
 rage of disappointment, clenched his sinewy hands 
 together, as if he refrained but with difficulty from 
 rushing upon Lemuel to do him violence. 
 
 " Accursed be the woman ! " he hissed, " and 
 thrice accursed be thou if, for her sake, thou dost 
 betray those who have trusted in thee ! " 
 
 Then, with an inarticulate exclamation that was 
 almost like the snarl of some savage animal, he 
 slipped away into the shades towards the palace.
 
 i6o THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 When he had gone, Lemuel bent down and 
 raised Elna up in his arms. She was gradually 
 recovering, and now looked up more confidently 
 into his face. 
 
 " How earnest thou hither ? " he asked her 
 tenderly. 
 
 " I followed the caravan," 
 
 "And in this attire?" 
 
 " Yea," she answered. 
 
 " Unknown to my father ? " 
 
 " Yea." 
 
 " And to my brother ? " 
 
 " Even so." 
 
 " Dost thou know, my Elna, that to do this is 
 a crime in the eyes of our people ? A crime for 
 which there is but one punishment — even death ? " 
 
 Elna's thoughts flew back to that day when, as a 
 child, she stood beneath the Judgment Seat and 
 cried, with her pitiful little voice, to Jediah for 
 mercy, while the stern crowd hurried the man and 
 the maiden, taken in sin, towards the place of 
 stones. She saw again, as in a vision, their pale 
 and agonised faces. She heard the cruel stones 
 falling — falling around them. Yet she answered 
 and said to Lemuel, with no tremor in her soul — 
 
 " I fear it not." 
 
 And she spake that which was the truth. 
 
 " Death not alone to thee, Elna," continued 
 Lemuel, " but to the man whom thou hast fled to." 
 
 " It was to save thee from death that I came 
 hither," she answered. And now, indeed, there 
 was fear in her voice.
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON i6i 
 
 " What meanest thou ? " asked Lemuel. 
 
 " Thy brother Jediah hath laid snares for thy 
 destruction and hath plotted for thy death." 
 
 An expression of deep surprise came into the 
 face of Lemuel. 
 
 "Impossible!" he exclaimed, "Jediah is harsh 
 and stern, but just — and I am his brother." 
 
 " And his rival, Lemuel. The night thou did'st 
 depart for Babylon, Tirzah overheard him offer 
 Jozadah a bribe to slay thee." 
 
 " Jozadah ! Ah, now I understand ! It was 
 he who attacked me even this very day in 
 a street of the city — who would have slain 
 me ! " 
 
 Elna trembled in his arms. 
 
 " How horrible ! " she murmured. " Ah, Lemuel, 
 — leave this accursed Babylon! Let us go — now 
 — now ! " 
 
 And she rose up, as if to flee. But Lemuel 
 stood still, and, looking upon her with unutterable 
 tenderness, said to her — 
 
 " And thou hast braved the desert, the perils of 
 Babylon, and the penalty of the law to tell me of 
 this treachery ? " 
 
 " Yea," she answered. 
 
 Then a shade came across her face, and she 
 added — 
 
 " And to find thee at the feet of another." 
 
 " Thou too dost doubt me, Elna ? Dost thou — 
 canst thou believe that I am in this woman's house 
 for love of her ? " 
 
 " How else ? " she said, the suspicious thoughts 
 II
 
 1 62 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 of a loving woman growing in her heart, — " how 
 else ? They have said " — 
 
 "And who are ' they ' ? " he interposed. " ' They * 
 are the murderers of reputations. ' They have 
 said ! ' Trust not in them. I tell thee, I am 
 here for the sake of our captive brethren." 
 
 " Thou speakest indeed truth to me ? " she said, 
 still with an accent of doubt. 
 
 She came close to him and, putting her small 
 hands on his heart, gaxed into his eyes. 
 
 " Dost thou doubt me ? " he said. 
 
 " Ah, no ! " she cried, laying her head against his 
 heart. " I trust thee now and always," 
 
 But suddenly Lemuel loosed his arms from 
 about her and put her back from him. 
 
 " Alorus Cometh ! " he whispered. " Stand away ! 
 Hide thyself!" 
 
 He motioned hastily with his hand toward some 
 palm trees, ^and, quick as thought, Elna darted 
 into the shadow. A crowd of Babylonians was 
 indeed approaching from the palace, attended by 
 numerous slaves who carried fans and torches. In 
 the forefront of the crowd walked Alorus, with 
 his usual affected and almost feminine gait, and 
 as he drew near to Lemuel he said — 
 
 " Here is the truant ! Verily, good shepherd, thou 
 art bold to show this neglect of thine hostess. See 
 where she doth come to bring thee to account." 
 
 The Babylonians drew aside, and a number of 
 the female slaves of Ishtar advanced, scattering 
 flowers for their mistress to walk upon. Lshtar 
 herself followed them, walking slowly, like a queen.
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 163 
 
 She was attired to-night in a flowing robe of silk, 
 purple as the clear sky at midnight, and em- 
 broidered with raised stars of silver, in each of 
 which was set a glowing sapphire of enormous 
 size and incomparable lustre. Round her superb 
 throat was a great collar of various precious gems, 
 and more jewels glittered on her arms, in her ears, 
 and in the heavy masses of her hair; while her 
 waist was girt with a chain of wrought silver, from 
 which hung strings of pearls. Her wonderful dark 
 eyes searched the garden as she advanced, and 
 when she perceived Lemuel standing by Alorus in 
 the glare of the torches, she said — 
 
 " Ah, thou art here ! Why did'st thou leave 
 the feast?" 
 
 " The wise man doth not seek to drain all life's 
 happiness at one draught," answered Lemuel. 
 
 " Did'st thou hear that, Menanahim ? " said 
 Ishtar, with a smile, to the haggard courtier who 
 was close at her side. 
 
 " Yes," he answered ; " our shepherds are quick 
 to learn." 
 
 " He is but a poor shepherd who hath not 
 learned to know a sheep when he seeth one," said 
 Lemuel to Menanahim. 
 
 Then, bowing low before Ishtar, while the slaves 
 stood silently around her, he added — 
 
 " With such a tutor, who could be slow ? To 
 learn of Ishtar is but to follow instinct. As 
 instinct leadeth the camel to the oasis and to the 
 waters, so follow I man's instinct, which leadeth 
 me out of the desert of common mortals to the
 
 1 64 THE DAUGHTERS OE BABYLON 
 
 oasis where dvvelleth and reigneth the goddess 
 Ishtar." 
 
 " Better and better," said Ishtar gaily. " 'Twas 
 well and sweetly said. But, alas ! " and her face 
 looked for a moment clouded, " thine instinct, or 
 something less flattering to thy queen, led thee 
 not to, but from my side. How interpretest thou 
 that ? " 
 
 " I feared to be drunk with too much joy. And 
 I longed to walk apart, lady, and think on thee 
 alone and in silence." 
 
 Ishtar extended her hand to him with a gesture 
 of affection. " Thou thinkest ever on me ? " she 
 asked tenderly. 
 
 But ere ever Lemuel could reply there was the 
 noise of a struggle in the garden. One of the slaves 
 of Alorus had chanced upon the place where Elna 
 lay hid, and now sought to drag her forth, crying — 
 
 " Eor what evil purpose art thou here ? Why 
 hidest thou thus among the trees of the garden ? 
 Come forth, I say, — come into the light." 
 
 Elna resisted, and, woman-like, cried out as the 
 slave laid his rough hands upon her delicate flesh. 
 And Ishtar, hearing the noise, exclaimed — 
 
 " What was that cry ? " 
 
 At this moment Elna got free from the slave 
 and rushed towards the steps of the terrace. But 
 she was stopped by Alorus, who moved suddenly 
 forward and intercepted her. 
 
 " Let me pass 1 " she cried desperately. 
 
 "Who is this boy?" said Ishtar. "Hold the 
 torch, slaves ! Who is he ? 
 
 >>
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 165 
 
 " My slave, Ishtar," said Alorus, coming forward, 
 still holding Elna fast. 
 
 " Thy slave ! " exclaimed Lemuel. " Thou 
 liest ! " 
 
 " Guard thy tongue, Israelite ! " said Alorus 
 angrily, and putting his hand on the knife that 
 hung at his girdle. 
 
 " She — he is no slave of thine," reiterated 
 Lemuel, while Ishtar gazed from one to the other 
 in growing anger. 
 
 " No ? " responded Alorus sarcastically. " Let 
 him decide. Answer, boy," and he turned upon 
 Elna. " Tell these lords — art thou not my slave ? " 
 
 Then he whispered to her — 
 
 " Deny it, and Lemuel's death is sure ! " 
 
 He paused, but Elna made no answer. 
 
 " Art thou not my slave ? " he repeated, in a 
 louder and more authoritative voice. 
 
 Elna cast a terrified glance towards Lemuel. 
 Then she said in a trembling voice — 
 
 " I am slave unto my lord." 
 
 " "What doth she mean ? " said Lemuel, as if 
 half to himself 
 
 " A pretty boy, indeed," said Ishtar to Alorus. 
 " He is new to me. When did'st thou purchase 
 him ? " 
 
 '* Even this very day," replied Alorus. " He is 
 from Israel, Lemuel. Knowest thou him?" 
 
 And he pulled at his pointed and scented beard 
 and smiled cruelly as he spoke the words. 
 
 " I know not all Israelites," said Lemuel. 
 
 " Strange thou dost not recognise this one ! "
 
 1 66 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 " Are all who dwell in liabylon known to thee ? " 
 retorted Lemuel. 
 
 Ishtar had now sunk down upon a couch. She 
 leaned forward and tapped the arm of Alorus with 
 the great fan she carried. 
 
 " What demon of discord hath entered, unbidden, 
 to my feast to-night? Let us chase him hence. 
 He loveth not good wine. Hither! Slaves, pass 
 the wine-cup. Lemuel, come hither. Rest upon 
 this couch by me." 
 
 Lemuel obeyed the command of Ishtar, and 
 reclined upon the cushions at her side. But his 
 eyes were still ever fixed upon Elna, to whom the 
 Lord Alorus now said — 
 
 " Ay, and do thou, Amos, — that is thy name, 
 is it not ? — do thou stand by my side and wait 
 upon me." 
 
 At these words Lemuel sprang up from the 
 couch of Lshtar, exclaiming — 
 
 " Nay, that shall not be ! " 
 
 "Why not? "asked Ishtar, frowning and press- 
 ing her white fingers so closely against the ebony 
 sticks of the fan she carried that one of them 
 broke in two. " Why not ? What ! shall Alorus 
 not choose his own slaves ? " 
 
 " Yea, lady— but "— 
 
 " Well ?" demanded Ishtar imperiously. 
 
 " 'Tis scarce a compliment to the hostess to 
 despise her servitors," answered Lemuel, striving 
 to control his emotion. 
 
 " So do not I," interrupted Alorus, carelessly 
 sprinkling himself with essence out of a silver
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 167 
 
 bottle. " But this boy is an Israelite, and I take 
 great interest in all things of Israel. Why, there 
 was a dispute but now in the palace between 
 Menanahim and myself as to the punishment of 
 certain crimes against the laws of Israel. Amos 
 shall decide who was in the right. Answer, boy. 
 Is it lawful or no for a maid to put on man's 
 attire ? " 
 
 And he turned to Elna and looked impudently 
 into her white face. She cast down her eyes and 
 stood in silence, trembling. 
 
 " Come," urged Alorus ; " surely thou dost know ! 
 Answer." 
 
 " Let me answer, my lord," suddenly cried the 
 slave Sabaal, fixing his piercing and excited eyes 
 on Lemuel. " It is not lawful. And the woman 
 is an abomination in the sight of the people." 
 
 " I spake not unto thee," cried Alorus pettishly. 
 " Answer only when thou art questioned. This 
 other thing I, too, would know. If a maid is 
 betrothed unto one man, and another take her, 
 what is the punishment for both ? Thou canst 
 not be ignorant. Come, answer." 
 
 " I will answer," said Lemuel, moving a step 
 forward. " The punishment is death." 
 
 Ishtar, who had half risen on her couch, leaning 
 upon one arm, suddenly fell back on the cushions, 
 with a movement that was like a shudder. Her 
 face, always pale, had become of a dusky colour, 
 grey like the clouds before dawn. And her huge 
 eyes stared like the eyes of one taken by 
 fever.
 
 i68 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 " To one or to both ? " said Alorus, facing 
 
 Lemuel. 
 
 " To both," answered Lemuel. " They shall be 
 stoned with stones until they die." 
 
 " I will no more of this," Ishtar cried sharply. 
 "Who careth for these silly laws of a captive 
 nation ? Who heedeth them ? Pass round the wine." 
 
 And, as she spoke, she shivered, as if with cold. 
 
 Alorus caught hold of Elna. 
 
 " Amos," he said, " do thou fill thee a cup and 
 drink to thy master and to Babylon." 
 
 And he bent down over her till his beard 
 touched against her delicate cheek. 
 
 " That shall not be ! " exclaimed Lemuel. " Let 
 be ! " 
 
 And seizing Alorus in his strong hands, he 
 flung him away from Elna. Alorus drew his 
 knife, and crying — 
 
 " Insolent Israelite ! Dost thou dare lay hands 
 upon me ? " was about to attack Lemuel, when 
 Ishtar, starting up from her couch, exclaimed — 
 
 " What is this, my lords ? Come hither, boy. I 
 would look at thee more closely." 
 
 Elna reluctantly approached Ishtar, who took 
 hold of her by the wrists, and cried to a slave — 
 
 " I command thee, hold a torch to this boy's 
 face." 
 
 The slave obeyed, and Ishtar gazed long and 
 fixedly into the face of Elna. 
 
 " Who art thou ? " she asked at length. 
 
 "Amos, my slave," said Alorus, laughing 
 affectedly. " Servant of my body."
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 169 
 
 " Thou liest ! " said Lemuel. 
 
 Ishtar bent closer to regard Elna, on whose face 
 fell the strong yellow glare of the torch flame. 
 
 " This his slave ! " she cried suddenly. " A 
 woman ! " 
 
 And she thrust Elna from her with violence. 
 Then, glancing from Alorus to Lemuel, while her 
 dark eyes flashed fire, she exclaimed vehemently — 
 
 " Ah, now I understand ! Verily, Ishtar is 
 flattered that men should, at her feast, brawl over 
 another woman ! " 
 
 She turned again upon Elna. 
 
 " Who art thou, girl ? " she demanded. 
 
 " I will tell thee," said Lemuel. " She is Elna, 
 of the tribe of Zoar, betrothed unto Jediah, my 
 brother." 
 
 "What?" exclaimed Ishtar. 
 
 And on the word her voice rose strangely, in a 
 sort of cry that startled even the impassive slaves 
 who stood around immovably. 
 
 " I have said," answered Lemuel. 
 
 " Elna of Zoar ! " repeated Ishtar unevenly. 
 " Betrothed unto Jediah, thy brother ? " 
 
 " Yea, lady," added Alorus, " and hither fled from 
 Jediah with his brother, thy favoured shepherd — 
 Lemuel." 
 
 " A faithful courtier to thee, indeed, lady," sneered 
 Menanahim, with a triumphant smile of bitter 
 satisfaction. 
 
 " She hath not fled hither with me," exclaimed 
 Lemuel. 
 
 But Ishtar would not hear him. She seemed to
 
 I/O THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 tower above all those who stood with her in her 
 wrath and astonishment. 
 
 " Jediah's betrothed fled to Babylon with 
 another ! " she cried, " and that other thee, O 
 Lemuel ! Verily, the simplicity and virtue of the 
 plains doth somewhat confound the guile and vice 
 of Babylon ! " 
 
 Then, moving towards Elna with arm extended 
 as if to strike her, she said with concentrated 
 fury — 
 
 "O cunning Israelite! We are but children 
 after all, we daughters of Babylon ! " 
 
 At this moment one of the slaves of Alorus 
 darted up the white steps of the terrace, and, 
 kneeling before his master, cried — 
 
 " My Lord Alorus ! " 
 
 " What now ? " asked Alorus. 
 
 " Jediah of Zoar is at thy gate, craving instant 
 audience. He bade me say that if the dwelling or 
 abiding-place of Elna of Zoar be known unto thee, 
 he prayeth that thou wilt direct him thither." 
 
 " Verily, he cometh at a goodly time," rejoined 
 Alorus. " What shall I do, O Ishtar ? " 
 
 The face of Ishtar had become cold and fixed 
 as the face of a statue. Deep lines were cut in 
 her broad forehead, and her eyes glittered with 
 cruel fire. 
 
 " Let Jediah wait," she said, in a level and ring- 
 ing voice, each word of which was clear, penetrat- 
 ing, and vibrant in the night. " Let him wait and 
 suffer. Take thy slave, Alorus," — and she thrust 
 the trembling Elna towards him, — " she is thine
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 171 
 
 handmaiden by the law of Babylon, to do with as 
 thou wilt." 
 
 Then, drawing herself up to her full height, she 
 looked towards Lemuel and exclaimed — 
 
 " So, simple shepherd, so doth Ishtar deal with 
 thee." 
 
 But Lemuel sprang upon Alorus, crying fiercely — 
 
 " Let go, thou insolent Babylonian ! " 
 
 Ishtar clapped her hands together. 
 
 " Guards ! hither, hither ! " she called in a loud 
 voice. " Protect me and my guests against that 
 traitor." 
 
 In answer to her cry, the guards of the palace 
 rushed forward, flung themselves upon Lemuel, 
 and, after a short but sharp struggle, held him fast. 
 
 " So, for the second time, must Ishtar suffer 
 degradation at the hands of one of the tribe of 
 Zoar," continued Ishtar bitterly, " but this time 
 not with meekness. Take this girl, Alorus. She 
 is thy slave, thy chattel." 
 
 But Lemuel, though in the hands of the guards 
 of Ishtar, was neither daunted nor conquered. His 
 noble face was heroic with courage and with pride, 
 as he exclaimed in a ringing voice — 
 
 " At his body's and his soul's peril let him take 
 her ! Let but one hair of her fair head be defiled, and 
 there is no guard, no lord, no prince, no king that 
 can save the life of the defiler ! Limb from limb 
 shall he be torn, and the dogs of the street shall 
 lap up his blood." 
 
 " No dog of an Israelite shall lap up, or even 
 spill, the blood of a Babylonian," retorted Alorus
 
 172 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 furiously. " Mongrels that ye are ! Babylon in 
 her might hath enslaved Israel, and in her might 
 shall crush Israel for ever and ever ! " 
 
 " Babylon may enslave but can never crush His 
 people," said Lemuel. 
 
 A wild light had come into his eyes. It seemed 
 to shine from the bright places of his soul. It was 
 like a burning fire and like a great torch kindled 
 by the hands of the angels. He stood up among 
 the glittering guards of the stranger like a hero 
 standing upon a throne, or like a prophet before 
 an altar. And raising his voice till it rang through 
 the night like unto the sound of a trumpet, he 
 exclaimed — 
 
 " I tell ye all that Israel shall endure when 
 Babylon and her might have passed away like a 
 dream and are clean put away and forgotten." 
 
 The Babylonians, who pressed round Lemuel, 
 burst into a roar of laughter, and Menanahim, see- 
 ing his rival held fast and unable to do him injury, 
 approached him, spat on him venomously, and 
 cried — 
 
 " Thou fool I Babylon forgotten ! Hear this 
 cur of Israel, my lords ! Hear him, great Lady 
 Ishtar ! And look on Babylon ! Look at her in 
 her mightiness, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty 
 of the Chaldeans ! " 
 
 As he spoke he turned to the terrace wall of 
 the garden of Ishtar, and with a gesture of dandi- 
 fied exultation he leaned forth over the mighty 
 city which lay below, its thousands upon thousands 
 of lights gleaming afar in the night like a sea of
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 173 
 
 flame. All the Babylonians instinctively moved 
 forward. Even the guards who held Lemuel could 
 not resist the general impulse. From this height 
 the aspect of the city was magnificent, and its 
 extent seemed endless. The moonlight shone 
 down on the gigantic palaces that were like unto 
 towns enclosed within their solid walls — on the 
 temples of the gods, with their vast courts and 
 their sevenfold towers aspiring towards the stars 
 —on the endless network of streets and gardens 
 and squares and plantations — on the great river 
 Euphrates, on whose waters swam the silver moon- 
 rays, where crowded the ships of the traders from 
 all lands of the East, from India, Persia, and 
 Arabia. The voices of the swarming crowds rose 
 up to the terrace like music in the night ; cries of 
 children, songs of sailors, melodies of flutes and of 
 citherns from the hanging gardens of the king, 
 the beat of drums from the soldiers' quarters, the 
 clash of cymbals from the houses where danced 
 the beautiful girls, the shouts of those that feasted, 
 the laughter of those that loved. And the glory 
 of the city, and of its marvellous life, and of its 
 riches, and of its power, and of its joy, seemed to 
 hang in the still air like a cloud of incense. Could 
 this pass away ? Not while the world hung in the 
 firmament and the ocean roared in the bed of the 
 world ! And again, looking down on their city 
 and on its magnificence, the Babylonians laughed 
 with triumph in the night. But Lemuel, as if 
 endowed with supernatural strength, suddenly 
 broke from the guards that would have held him.
 
 174 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 He sprang forward upon the terrace, and, lifting 
 his arms towards heaven, he cried in a voice that 
 surely travelled down to the multitudes below — 
 
 " I do look at Babylon, but through the eyes of 
 the prophet of my people ; and I behold her glory 
 darkened, her beauty trampled in the dust, her 
 walls thrown down, her gates of brass broken. I 
 see her become as a wilderness where no man 
 dwelleth, but the wild beasts of the desert dwell 
 therein. Her temples shall be a house for dragons, 
 her courts shall echo the roar of the winds of the 
 desolate lands. She shall be a city where no man 
 walketh, neither doth any son of man pass thereby. 
 No king, no nation can oppress Israel's people and 
 not be accursed. Thus hath He spoken, and what 
 He ordained shall be. Hearken unto Him, O 
 Babylon, for the days of thy might are numbered, 
 and the hour of thy doom is at hand ! " 
 
 As he spoke the Babylonians shrank and trem- 
 bled, and when he ceased there was a deadly hush. 
 All those who stood around him looked forth over 
 the great and mighty city as if they expected to 
 see fire come down out of heaven and consume it 
 before their terror-stricken eyes. They listened, 
 as if for the voice of its wailing and for the cries 
 and lamentations of its despair. But the sound of 
 its music rang on unaltered, its myriads of lights 
 still gleamed along the plain. Then fury shook 
 them. They turned upon Lemuel almost like wild 
 beasts, and Menanahim cried — 
 
 " Strike the traitor down ! Death to him ! 
 Death! death!"
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 175 
 
 The guards leaped forward, flashing forth their 
 knives ; but Ishtar rushed between them and 
 Lemuel, and covering him with her purple robe, 
 she cried — 
 
 " No ! touch him not ! His life is mine. I will 
 that he goes free 1 "
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 J EDI AH was consumed with that passion which 
 corrodeth a man even Hke an acid, the passion of 
 jealousy. He had been in Babylon now for some 
 days, yet he had never set his eyes upon Elna — 
 nor had he seen Lemuel, for a strange fear kept 
 his feet ever away from the mighty palace of 
 Ishtar on the borders of Euphrates. Time after 
 time, indeed, had he clamoured at the portals of 
 the mansion of the Lord Alorus, but he had not 
 yet been admitted within the walls of the outer 
 precinct. His heart began to burn within him like 
 fire, and his soul was filled with a rage which ever 
 increased upon him. At night he could not sleep, 
 but paced to and fro in his chamber like an animal 
 pent within its cage. By day he walked ever in 
 the crowded streets of the city, scanning the 
 passers-by with wolfish eyes, and alarming many 
 of the women by his disordered gait and by his 
 savage gestures. He had encountered Migdapul, 
 the god-seller, and had inquired of him the truth 
 as to the famous Ishtar, But Migdapul, who was 
 now devoted to the service of the most powerful 
 woman in Babylon, and feared her anger, -took 
 no heed of him, but called him "cursed dog of 
 
 176
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 177 
 
 Israel," and so departed about other business. 
 Jediah was near to being desperate. Sometimes 
 he bethought him of his words, spoken so long ago 
 to Elna : " The deeds that we do, whether good or 
 evil^ return to us again to give us our reward. 
 They may tarry long on their journey . . , but 
 there surely dawneth a day when they do stand 
 before us, and in their hand they do bear the gift 
 — life for the good, death for the evil." 
 
 And then he trembled and was afraid. But 
 ever the hatred and the jealousy leaped up again 
 within him, and he was resolved to be avenged 
 upon Lemuel and upon his own betrothed. 
 
 Meanwhile, Elna was hidden within the palace 
 of Alorus, surrounded by immoderate luxury and 
 sick with terror of the future. Alorus dwelt at 
 some distance from Ishtar, not far from the im- 
 mense palace of the king. His mansion, like 
 those of most of the great lords, was placed upon 
 a huge platform of brick, was of vast extent, and 
 contained every possible appurtenance of wealth 
 and beauty. Within the walls there were numer- 
 ous courts, hanging gardens, chambers hung with 
 stuffs of all colours and with embroideries, furni- 
 ture made of precious metals, masses of jewels, 
 ivory, exquisite carpets, rugs, and high vases in 
 which flowers bloomed, while fountains filled the 
 scented air with the ripple of a hushed music. 
 The retinue of his slaves was great, and he had 
 guards as magnificently attired as those of the 
 king himself. Yet, so far, all his power, all 
 his luxury, all his lustful devotion, all his pomp 
 12
 
 178 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 and his pride, had made no impression upon the 
 simple Israelitish maiden to whose fancy he had 
 striven to appeal in every way that his passionate 
 imagination could devise. And now, in the after- 
 noon of one of the brilliant days of the hot and 
 sultry season, he dismissed 4;he slaves who waited 
 in one of the halls of his palace, and calling unto 
 him only Sabaal, said to him — 
 
 " Well, Sabaal ? What tidings ? " 
 
 " Nothing will move her, my lord," said Sabaal. 
 " The maiden is resolute against my lord's de- 
 mands. She is obdurate." 
 
 " She is a woman," replied Alorus, glancing at 
 himself, with effeminate vanity, in a square of 
 shining copper which served him as a mirror, 
 " and a wise one. The woman who is not ob- 
 durate for a time is a fool." 
 
 He cast himself into a great chair hung with 
 red silk, leaned his arm negligently upon a marble 
 table, and continued — 
 
 " Elna is no fool. But she is a woman, and she 
 will yield." 
 
 " She is a daughter of Israel, my lord, and not 
 of Babylon," murmured Sabaal, with a travesty of 
 modest submissiveness. 
 
 " She is a daughter of Eve, thou slave, and, be 
 her birthplace Babylon or Judea, she will yield." 
 
 " My lord is master," said Sabaal, with a cring- 
 ing obeisance, " but his slave would warn him 
 against wronging the maiden Elna. Naught but 
 evil can come to my lord, if evil come through 
 him to Elna."
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 179 
 
 "Thy lord is master, indeed," returned Alorus 
 proudly, " and heeds not the warnings of a slave. 
 Thy lord is willing to risk the evil that may come 
 through Elna." 
 
 " Yet let my lord beware " — began Sabaal. 
 
 But Alorus cut him short angrily. 
 
 " Thy lord will beware," he said. " There is the 
 whip and scourge for thee as for others. Tell 
 Elna that thy lord, and hers, awaits her here. 
 
 Go ! " 
 
 Sabaal hesitated for a moment. His face was 
 fierce and forbidding, and his sinewy hands 
 worked as if he longed to fly at the throat of 
 his master. But with a great effort, controlling 
 himself, he muttered " So be it," and crept out of 
 the hall, going towards the chamber in which Elna 
 was confined. 
 
 Alorus looked at himself again in the mirror 
 with much complacence. He stroked his carefully 
 washed and scented beard with his fingers, which 
 were covered with enormous rings. Then he 
 spread abroad his robe of white and gold silk, 
 and smiled proudly. 
 
 "By Baal, but these Israelites are growing 
 troublesome!" he said to himself. "They need 
 more of the whip and scourge, and they shall 
 have it. What now ? " he said aloud, as a run- 
 ning slave entered and bent low at his fee 
 
 "One Jediah, son of Zoar, waits thy pleasure, 
 my lord. He hath knocked on thy palace portals 
 many times of late." 
 
 " Jediah ! So let him wait. And tell this son
 
 i8o THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 of Zoar that he shall know what is my pleasure 
 later. Go ! " 
 
 The slave vanished, going softly. Alorus 
 muttered — 
 
 " Verily, the whole tribe of Zoar do gather 
 round this maiden Elna, as doth a hive of bees 
 about their queen. Ah I " 
 
 He did not rise from his seat, but lay back, half 
 closing his sensual eyes as Elna advanced, bend- 
 ing down her blue eyes to the ground. She was 
 dressed in a rich robe, forced upon her by the 
 orders of Alorus. But she wore no trappings or 
 ornaments. After standing before Alorus for a 
 moment in silence, she said, in a low and scarce 
 audible voice — 
 
 " What would you with me ? " 
 
 Alorus raised himself upon the chair and leaned 
 forward towards her, running his bold eyes ov^er 
 her fair form with admiration. 
 
 " A goodly sight, indeed ! " he said. " A fairer 
 one could not be found in Babylon." 
 
 " What would you with me ? " asked Elna 
 again. 
 
 " Where are the jewels that I did leave for 
 thee?" said Alorus. 
 
 " Where thou did'st leave them," she answered, 
 pointing to a large golden casket which stood 
 on a table at a little distance. 
 
 Alorus rose up, went to the table, and opened 
 the casket. 
 
 " Untouched ! " he exclaimed. 
 
 " Yea."
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON i8i' 
 
 " And unlocked upon ? " he asked curiously. 
 
 " And unlocked upon." 
 
 He put his hand into the casket and drew forth 
 a great chain of emeralds. 
 
 " Look upon them now," he said, holding them 
 up in the sunlight till they shone and glittered 
 like things alive. " See, here are jewels that 
 might have decked Sheba's fair queen — rubies 
 beyond price — amethysts a Pharaoh might envy." 
 
 He advanced a step towards her, holding the 
 chain of emeralds still in his hands. 
 
 " Let me clasp this round thy neck," he said 
 coaxingly, and assuming a conquering look which 
 he thought irresistible. 
 
 But Elna moved back from him. 
 
 " No," she said quietly. " I want not thy 
 jewels. This robe I wear until I am free to 
 replace it with one that more befits my race 
 and needs. Only one other thing will I take 
 at thy hands." 
 
 " What is that, fair Israelite ? " cried Alorus. 
 
 " My liberty," said Elna proudly. " How darest 
 thou withhold it ? " 
 
 " Dare ! " exclaimed Alorus, bursting into a fit 
 of laughter. " Dare ! Knowest thou that thou 
 art my slave ? " 
 
 " I am not thy slave," she answered, with con- 
 tempt. " And I demand my freedom. Justice ! 
 justice ! There must be laws in Babylon, even 
 for the daughters of Israel." 
 
 " There are laws in Babylon, fair Elna, 
 especially for the daughters of Israel — laws that
 
 1 82 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 make their masters masters indeed. Thou art 
 my slave, — by thine own admission, — slave to 
 do my bidding, be that bidding what it may. 
 Slave to toil and spin, to wait my word, or 
 beck, or nod — to come and to go how and 
 whence I will." 
 
 And, as he spoke, he came towards her, stretch- 
 ing forth his hands. Elna retreated before him. 
 
 "Thou art a man, at least," she said, "even 
 though a Babylonian — and wilt not wrong thy 
 manhood." 
 
 "Nay, fair Israelite," returned Alorus, "since 
 first I saw thee in the tents of Zoar I loved 
 thee." 
 
 " Loved me ! " cried Elna, with bitter scorn. 
 
 " Well, desired thee, then, — if thou wilt have it 
 so. Be wise. Force me not to use my power 
 rather than yield to thine. There is naught 
 that I cannot give thee out of my wealth — 
 nothing that the heart of woman can desire 
 shall be denied thee. Thou shalt be envied — 
 ay, even by Ishtar herself" 
 
 " Ishtar ! " cried Elna, and, on the word, she 
 ran to the window, that looked out from a great 
 height on to the court of the palace. " Ishtar ! 
 Rather than be like unto her, I would be as the 
 leper without the gates." 
 
 And she pointed forth towards the beggars 
 who sat for ever at the palace portals in hope of 
 alms. 
 
 " I love ! " she said, " I love ! — but I love not 
 thee. He whom I love loves me, and such as
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 183 
 
 I am — body, mind, heart, soul — are his and only 
 his. I risked my life leaving him to whom I was 
 betrothed. I would risk that life again and again 
 to keep myself unstained and true to him I love. 
 Let that suffice — and let me go." 
 
 " No ! " exclaimed Alorus fiercely. " Sooner 
 than lose thee, I would lose my life." 
 
 And he sprang impetuously towards Elna. But 
 two strong hands caught him suddenly by the 
 throat and forced him backward, while a voice 
 said sternly — 
 
 " Take heed lest both be lost." 
 
 " Lemuel ! " cried Elna joyfully. 
 
 " My guard ! " gasped Alorus, struggling 
 violently to release himself from Lemuel. " My 
 guard ! " 
 
 " Thy guard ! " said Lemuel. " Can it be that 
 the mighty Alorus is afraid ? " 
 
 And, as he spoke, he released him, with a 
 gesture of scorn. Alorus stood still for a 
 moment, panting for breath and supporting him- 
 self against a huge vase of bronze that stood in 
 the centre of the hall. 
 
 "Afraid!" he said at last. "Why art thou 
 here ? " 
 
 " Canst thou ask ? " 
 
 " Yea ; this is my house. It is the custom of 
 Babylon to" — 
 
 " I know but little of the customs of Babylon," 
 said Lemuel scornfully. 
 
 " True, shepherd, — and heed even less the 
 customs of Israel."
 
 1 84 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 '" It is the custom of Israel to protect the 
 honour of her daughters." 
 
 " And the law to slay their seducers," retorted 
 Alorus. 
 
 As he spoke, Elna made a movement towards 
 Lemuel, as if instinctively she sought to protect 
 him. 
 
 " Even so," said Lemuel. " I do not seek to 
 deny it." 
 
 " Then is thy life forfeit unto Israel's law." 
 
 " That shall be as Israel's Judges shall decide." 
 
 " Of whom thy brother, Jediah, is one," said 
 Alorus, casting a malignant glance on Elna. 
 
 " Yea," said Lemuel. 
 
 And he too gazed towards Elna, with a depth 
 of pity and suffering in his eyes. Alorus hesitated. 
 A keen struggle was going on within his soul, 
 a struggle between the evil and the good. He 
 was not, by nature, entirely wicked, but he had 
 been coarsened and corrupted by the foul life of 
 Babylon, and his better self had been thrust down 
 into the depths and scarcely allowed to look ever 
 upon the Hi;ht. And he desired Elna with all his 
 body. At last he said slowly — 
 
 " Lemuel, I have no quarrel with thee. Go 
 hence in peace." 
 
 " Not without this maid. If I go, she goeth too." 
 
 " This maid is my slave," said Alorus. 
 
 " She is no slave. For her and for all the house 
 of Zoar tribute hath been paid. She is no more 
 thy slave than am I. She is here against her 
 will. Is not that so, Elna ? Speak ! "
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 185 
 
 " Yea, my lord," said Elna, moving a step nearer 
 to Lemuel. 
 
 " And it is thy desire that thou should'st go 
 hence with me ? " 
 
 " Such is my desire." 
 
 The dark cloud came again upon the face of 
 Alorus, 
 
 " One moment, Israelite," he said. " That it 
 may not ever be charged upon me that I will- 
 ingly resigned the custody of my slave, let me, 
 at least, have a witness present who will testify 
 for me hereafter." 
 
 " To that I agree," answered Lemuel. 
 
 Alorus smiled and struck a silver gong. A 
 slave appeared. 
 
 " That lord who waited for me but now," said 
 Alorus, " waits he still ? " 
 
 " Yea, my lord," said the slave. 
 
 " Bid him come hither." 
 
 The slave made a low obeisance and departed. 
 Alorus strode across the hall to a doorway over 
 which was hung a heavy rose-coloured curtain. 
 Holding the curtain up with one hand, he turned 
 to Lemuel and said — 
 
 " Lemuel, 1 have no wish to harm thee. Even 
 now thou may'st go in peace if thou wilt. Even 
 for thine own good I beseech thee to go." 
 
 " And I tell thee," answered Lemuel firmly, 
 " that unless this maid do go with me I will 
 not go." 
 
 Alorus let the curtain fall. His face had again 
 become hard and cruel.
 
 1 86 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 " Then there is naught left for me but to call 
 my witness hither," he said. 
 
 Going to another door, he cried in a loud voice — 
 
 " Jediah, son of Zoar, enter." 
 
 On hearing his words, Elna uttered a cry of 
 terror. And when the wild and disordered figure 
 of Jediah appeared in answer to the summons of 
 Alorus, she shrieked — 
 
 "Jediah! O Lemuel, save me!" and clung to 
 him for protection. 
 
 Jediah, whose face was pale as death, and whose 
 eyes glittered like burning coals of fire, came for- 
 ward slowly. He looked upon Elna and upon 
 Lemuel. Then raising his hands on high, he 
 said — 
 
 " Found ! And together ! God of my fathers, L 
 thank Thee ! " 
 
 He dropped his hands and stood in silence. 
 But his terrible eyes never left Elna and Lemuel. 
 
 " Welcome, Jediah," said Alorus, with a jaunty 
 affectation of geniality. " Welcome. As thou 
 seest, thy brother is here before thee." 
 
 " So I perceive, my lord," answered Jediah. 
 
 " And this maiden, too, is kith of thine, is she 
 not?" 
 
 " She is my betrothed wife, my lord," answered 
 Jediah, with exceeding great bitterness. 
 
 " Ay, So thou did'st tell me when last I saw 
 thee. This is a happy meeting indeed ! " 
 
 " A meeting that I have desired," said Jediah. 
 " Indeed, it was to ask my lord to aid me in my 
 search for this maiden that I came hither."
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OE BABYLON 187 
 
 " What would'st thou with me — and Ehia ? " 
 asked Lemuel proudly. 
 
 " I do desire that thou — and this woman — do 
 return with me — home," said Jediah, clenching his 
 hands together. 
 
 " For what purpose ? " asked Lemuel. 
 
 " Canst thou not guess ? " said Jediah, still in 
 the same cold and deadly voice. 
 
 " Knowing thee, my brother," replied Lemuel, " it 
 is not hard to guess. It is well that thou hast 
 come. I must indeed speak with thee." 
 
 He turned to Alorus. 
 
 " What I would say concerns not thee, my lord," 
 he added, " so, by thy leave, we will withdraw." 
 
 " Thou hast my leave to go," said Alorus. 
 
 " Come, Elna," said Lemuel. 
 
 " Ah, no ! " interposed Alorus. " I said thou — 
 but not this maiden." 
 
 Lemuel's face was, for a moment, contorted with 
 contempt and anger. But he quickly controlled 
 himself, and said to his brother — 
 
 " Brother, this man — thy friend — doth claim 
 Elna as his slave." 
 
 " Slave ! " exclaimed Jediah. " His slave ! 
 What ! Weary of thee too ! And so soon ! She 
 is not slow, being in Babylon, to catch the 
 Babylonish way." 
 
 " Brother ! " retorted Lemuel, with difficulty 
 restraining his rising anger, " thou hast been 
 seemingly wronged, and thy wrath, perhaps, is 
 just. But those words are cruelly unjust, and 
 thou dost know it."
 
 1 88 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 "Unjust? To whom ? " said Jediah. "To the 
 wantons of Babylon? If any suffer by the 
 comparison, surely it is they. They make no 
 pretence, at least, but ply their trade openly, 
 and all do know it is their trade. But this woman 
 acts the virtuous maid, and recking nothing of 
 honour, love, wounded hearts, or broken lives, doth 
 covertly, and with the guile of the serpent, steal 
 from one man's arms unto another's. The 
 traitress ! the " — 
 
 " Stop ! " exclaimed Lemuel. 
 
 He, as Jediah, was white with wrath. But he 
 did not lose his self-control, although he clenched 
 his hands together in his robe and his eyes shone 
 with anger. 
 
 " Stop ! Not even from thee will I hear one 
 word of slander against this maid, who is as pure 
 as when she left our tents, as when she left her 
 mother's knee. Wrong is she in that she forsook 
 thee and her people to come to this false city, but, 
 on my life, her sin ends there." 
 
 " That shall be judged by Israel," said Jediah, 
 trembling with passion. " By Israel and by 
 Israel's law." 
 
 " She hath sinned against thee — indeed, against 
 herself — but against no law of Israel," returned 
 Lemuel. 
 
 " Israel shall determine that, and shall judge 
 thee," said Jediah, "thou renegade from faith and 
 trust and kin ! Come, both of ye, to the home ye 
 have outraged." 
 
 He made a step forward and stretched out his
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 189 
 
 arm as if he would drag Elna from the palace 
 of Alorus. But Lemuel placed himself by the 
 maiden's side. 
 
 " I have no fear," he said. " Elna, what sayest 
 thou ? " 
 
 " I hither carne to Babylon to seek the man I 
 do love," she answered bravely. " His command, 
 and naught but his command in all this world, 
 can send me home again. And not even at his 
 bidding will I give myself unto another, I have 
 said." 
 
 And she looked up into Lemuel's face with 
 exultation, as if in this confession she released her 
 soul from bondage. 
 
 " Thou hast heard, Jediah, my brother," said 
 Lemuel. " Wilt thou still hold her to a bond so 
 hateful ? " 
 
 " Yea," cried Jediah furiously, almost as a man 
 taken by a fit. " Yea, until the law hath done me 
 justice. Justice ! I call for justice ! Justice on 
 the adulterer and the adultress ! Justice and the 
 law ! Death— death to both ! " 
 
 '•' Who is it calls so loudly for truth and justice ?" 
 said a woman's voice. 
 
 Jediah started violently and laid his hand on 
 the marble table by which he stood, as if he sought 
 for support. Alorus, who had been watching the 
 previous scene with an interest he did not attempt 
 to disguise, turned hastily and bent low as if 
 before a queen. Elna and Lemuel, side by side, 
 did not move, but waited calmly, as if bravely 
 prepared for any fate. And Ishtar, whose voice it
 
 I90 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 was that had spoken, came forward slowly, till she 
 stood in the midst of the hall. 
 
 " Who is it calls so loudly ? " she repeated. 
 " Can it be Jediah, son of Zoar?" 
 
 " Elcia ! " whispered Jediah, under his breath. 
 
 Ishtar smiled coldly. 
 
 " Elcia ! " she said. " Nay, Ishtar — Ishtar of 
 Babylon. Is it possible that Ishtar, whose name 
 is known throughout all the world, can be unknown 
 to Jediah?" 
 
 " Ishtar — I — I " — stammered Jediah, with white 
 lips. 
 
 " I am Ishtar," she replied. " Look on me." 
 
 In one hand she held her long veil of white 
 Indian muslin, and she stood, straight and tall as 
 a queen, facing this man, who cowered before her 
 as if he would fain have sunk down into the 
 ground. 
 
 "But thou, Jediah, did'.st call for 'justice and 
 the law.' Who in this company hath outraged 
 the law?" 
 
 Jediah drew his breath huskily. He pointed, 
 with a shaking hand, to Lemuel and to Elna. 
 
 " That man — and that — woman," he said 
 hoarsely. 
 
 Ishtar gazed fixedly at Elna. 
 
 " What is this maid to thee, Jediah ? " she asked. 
 
 " My betrothed wife," he answered, casting 
 down his fierce eyes before her glance. 
 
 Ishtar burst into a peal of laughter and sank 
 down upon a couch. 
 
 " Forgive me, Alorus ! " .she exclaimed. " Nay,
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 191 
 
 forgive me ! But — but Jediah's betrothed wife a 
 fugitive ! Jediah's betrothed wife flying from his 
 arms to seek her love in Babylon ! How strange ! 
 How very strange ! " 
 
 She suddenly rose up again, and, addressing 
 Lemuel, said more gravely — 
 
 " And art thou — thou, the stern, unyielding 
 Lemuel — the guilty one ? " 
 
 " There is no guilt here, lady," said Lemuel 
 calmly. "This maid hath been impetuous, 
 thoughtless, perchance — but she is, as I am, 
 innocent of the sin my brother hath charged 
 upon us." 
 
 " Innocent ! " cried Jediah passionately. " A 
 lie ! She and thou alike do lie ! Ye are guilty 
 both ! Think not to deceive me ! " 
 
 " No," said Ishtar, turning upon him ; " thou 
 must know too well the ways of those charged 
 with such a sin — being a Judge in Israel — to be 
 misled." 
 
 Jediah ground his teeth together. By his wild 
 bearing and contorted features it was easy to see 
 that passion was driving him on towards the con- 
 fines of madness. 
 
 " These twain must come with me ! " he exclaimed, 
 in a choked voice. 
 
 " This maiden shall not go with thee against her 
 will," said Lemuel. " She shall not while I have 
 life." 
 
 " No, by Baal ! " cried Alorus, " nor with thee 
 either, thou simple shepherd, while there is law in 
 Babylon."
 
 192 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 Even as he spoke there was a clash of arms 
 without, the curtain that hung over the great en- 
 trance door was thrust roughly aside, and a guard 
 of soldiers entered, led by an officer of the king's 
 palace. 
 
 " What means this intrusion ? " said Alorus. 
 
 The officer signed to him to be silent, and, look- 
 ing around him, said to Lemuel — 
 
 " Art thou Lemuel, son of Zoar ? " 
 
 " I am," said Lemuel. 
 
 The officer turned to Elna. 
 
 " And thou — art thou Elna, the Lsraelite?" 
 
 " Yea," said Elna. 
 
 " My lord the king — may he live for ever — his 
 signet and his mandate. It is the will of my lord 
 the king that these two be cast into prison." 
 
 Alorus, Ishtar, and the Babylonians inclined their 
 heads at the mention of the king's name. But 
 Lemuel said quietly, and facing the soldiers un- 
 flinchingly — 
 
 " For what crime ? " 
 
 " For treason," replied the officer. " It is bruited 
 abroad through all the city that thou hast foretold 
 the destruction of Babylon, the destruction of our 
 mighty lord the king." 
 
 " But this maid is innocent," responded Lemuel. 
 " Arrest me, if thou wilt, but let her go." 
 
 "The king's command is that I deliver both 
 into his hands," said the officer. "His will is my 
 law." 
 
 And at a sign from him the soldiers surrounded 
 Elna and Lemuel.
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 193 
 
 Suddenly Lemuel put his hands to his breast. 
 He had thought of the precious cylinder confided 
 to him by the blind man, Johanan. In it were 
 the names and abodes of all the brethren who 
 were working for the freedom of Israel. These 
 must not fall into the hands of the king, or all 
 would be lost. In a moment his resolution was 
 taken. 
 
 " Ere I go," he said to the officer, " I would speak 
 with the Lady Ishtar." 
 
 The officer hesitated. 
 
 " What desirest thou " — he began. 
 
 But Ishtar stepped forward and said authorita- 
 tively — 
 
 " I will be answerable unto my lord the king. 
 Let this man speak to me." 
 
 " Alone," said Lemuel firmly. 
 
 " Stand apart," said Ishtar. 
 
 The officer, awed by her beauty, instinctively 
 obeyed her commands. The soldiers, at his order, 
 stood back. Alorus moved away, wondering. 
 Then Ishtar said softly to Lemuel — 
 
 " What would'st thou, Lemuel ? " 
 
 " Lady," he answered, " wilt thou do me a great 
 service in mine hour of need ? " 
 
 " Teach me how," she replied earnestly. 
 
 He touched his breast. 
 
 " I have here a cylinder," he said. " On it are 
 the names of many of my brethren, whose lives 
 are forfeit if it be seen. I shall be searched, this 
 tablet found. For their sakes take it from me 
 and destroy it." 
 13
 
 194 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 " But this is treason unto the king," she 
 answered. 
 
 " I await my prisoner, lady," the officer cried. 
 
 " By thy love for me ! " whispered Lemuel. 
 
 Ishtar stood in silence. Then she murmured — 
 
 " Give me the tablet." 
 
 Lemuel bent low as if to kiss her hand. As he 
 did so Lshtar drew the cylinder from his bosom 
 and hid it in her own. 
 
 The guards again surrounded Elna and Lemuel. 
 Jediah stood watching, silently. He seemed ex- 
 hausted with passion, and his cruel face was as if 
 cut in stone. 
 
 Lemuel put his hand on Elna's. 
 
 " Be comforted, Elna," he said. " Thou art inno- 
 cent. No harm shall come to thee," 
 
 " I have no fear," she answered, " so thy fate be 
 mine." 
 
 Lemuel's hand closed on hers more firmly. 
 Then turning to the officer, he said — 
 
 " Sir, I am ready ! " 
 
 There was a clash of steel, a crash of marching 
 feet, then Ishtar and Alorus stood alone in the 
 palace hall. 
 
 Jediah had slunk away without a word.
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 The great dungeons of Babylon lay over against 
 the eastern wall of the city, and were of vast ex- 
 tent and of immense solidity. Within their con- 
 fines were courts in which the more favoured of the 
 prisoners took exercise, dwellings for the numerous 
 jailers, and endless rows of tiny cells, guarded by 
 stout doors provided with locks and bars and 
 pierced by small gratings through which but little 
 light and air could enter. To this gloomy abode 
 of crime and misery, of tyranny and torture, Elna 
 and Lemuel were now to be conducted by order of 
 the great king of Babylon. Two or three of the 
 jailers, Babylonians of the lowest order, uncouth, 
 unkempt, dissipated and drunken, were already 
 gathered together in the outer court of the prison, 
 awaiting the entry of the latest captives who had 
 fallen under the displeasure of the tyrant who 
 sat upon the throne. They rested upon a bench 
 of stone, and drank copious draughts of a cheap 
 sort of beer much loved by the people of the lower 
 orders. And while they drank they gossiped as 
 ever of the wretched prisoners in their charge, 
 and of those likely to be brought to the dungeons 
 in the near future. Said one, lifting his head, on 
 
 196
 
 196 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 which the rough hair grew long, from the cup of 
 metal to which he had just been putting his thick 
 lips — 
 
 " Here's a goodly lot come in of late ! Some for 
 the sword, some for the fiery furnace. Thieves, 
 murderers, and they that do refuse to worship the 
 golden image our lord the king hath provided. 
 Of a surety some are hard to please ! Had they 
 been asked to bow the knee to an image of common 
 clay, now — but to one of gold ! Of a height of 
 threescore cubits and a breadth of six cubits, and 
 sweet music prepared for them, too! Bah! what 
 can they want ? " 
 
 " The great god Bel alone knows," returned 
 another. " But why do these men refuse to worship 
 the golden image ? " 
 
 The first jailer shook his head, and a clumsy 
 and puzzled expression came over his red face. 
 
 " Why ? " he ejaculated. " Eh, why ? Well, be- 
 cause — because they are Israelites. Why else ? " 
 
 " Is that a reason?" said his companion. 
 
 " Reason enough. They're a stiff-necked race." 
 
 " If they be stiff-necked and cannot bend, then 
 let them burn, I say." 
 
 The other burst out into a harsh laugh. 
 
 " Burn ! Yea, frizzle — so we be rid of them and 
 get some peace." 
 
 He took another long draught from the cup, 
 smacked his lips, and passed his hand across them. 
 
 "If our lord the king" — he began. 
 
 But just then there was a loud knocking at the 
 prison portals! The jailer started up.
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 197 
 
 " Here be more of them ! " he cried. " Ugh ! there 
 is no peace here." 
 
 He shuffled off to unlock the gate A guard of 
 soldiers entered, conducting Elna and Lemuel. 
 
 " Lock these two prisoners in here, and come 
 thou with me," said the officer of the king. " The 
 governor will instruct thee further concerning 
 them." 
 
 " But who are they ? " asked the jailer, gazing in 
 staring surprise at the lovely white face of Elna 
 and at the noble figure and heroic bearing of 
 Lemuel. " For what crime against the king are 
 they come hither ? " 
 
 " I will tell thee," said the officer, and he walked 
 apart for a moment with the jailer, leaving Elna 
 and Lemuel together. For the soldiers had fallen 
 out of their ranks, and had departed to their 
 quarters after conducting the prisoners within the 
 court of the dungeon. Only two men remained 
 on guard at the great door which opened on to the 
 street of the city. Elna, almost overcome with 
 grief and terror, stood with her beautiful head 
 drooping, while tears that she strove in vain to 
 repress coursed down her white cheeks. Lemuel 
 looked upon her with a passion of pity. 
 
 " Nay, Elna," he said to her gently, " weep not. 
 'Thou wilt not falter ! Thou hast been so brave 
 until now." 
 
 " Yea, my beloved," she answered, through her 
 tears, " for until now my heart was filled ever with 
 the hope of finding thee, and that hope strengthened 
 me. I found thee at last, light of my soul, and
 
 198 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 darkness fell from me as night flicth before the 
 sun. But now that I must lose thee again, and 
 may not have for my solace even the pleasant 
 pain of seeking thee, my heart faileth me indeed, 
 and my courage is well-nigh gone." 
 
 " Nay, Elna," said Lemuel, drawing a little closer 
 to her, and glancing towards the two sentries, who 
 stood immovable at their posts. "If thou hast been 
 spared until now, thou wilt not now be cast down 
 for ever. There is great might in love — more 
 strength therein than in the swords of thousands, 
 yea, even though they be wielded by the mightiest 
 of the men of battle. Let our love uplift thee, 
 
 my beloved. Beyond these walls, Elna, — look, 
 
 1 see a land of plenty ! " 
 
 As he spoke, that strange light of enthusiasm, 
 which had so moved even the indifferent Baby- 
 lonians gathered in the palace garden of Lshtar, 
 flamed up once more in his eyes. And he seemed 
 to see a vision afar off. 
 
 " I see a land of green pastures and pleasant 
 vineyards, girt about with cedars and sweet-smell- 
 ing trees — sweeter even than those of Lebanon — 
 and orchards of ripe fruit, and gardens of bright 
 flowers, and fountains of clear water. And the 
 land is rich with harvests, with flocks and herds. 
 And, Elna — listen ! There is one who goeth down 
 among her maidens to water the lambs and the 
 young goats ; and behold ! though her hair is white, 
 and she is well stricken in }-ears, and her children 
 and her children's children are with her and about 
 her, she is upright, and her foot is fleet still as the
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 199 
 
 young fawn's, and her eyes are bright, Hke twin 
 stars in a dark sky. And there is one who standeth 
 at the door of his tent, and although he too is old 
 the love-light is in his eyes as he watcheth his 
 spouse ; and, for all his years, I know him ! It is 
 Lemuel — thy Lemuel, O soul of my soul ! — faithful 
 and true unto thee, as he was and as he will be 
 unto the end of time and the coming of the eternal ! " 
 "Dost thou indeed see this vision?" she whispered. 
 And her face was transformed, as if she walked 
 in the midst of a great light. 
 
 " Lideed and indeed," he murmured. " And 
 there is no prison here, for our life is yonder. Nor 
 can these walls divide us," — and he pointed towards 
 the gloomy cells, — " for our hearts and souls are 
 one." 
 
 As he ceased to speak, and she turned towards 
 him with a radiant gesture of courage and of con- 
 fidence, the jailer returned from speaking with the 
 officer. 
 
 " Come hither, maiden ! " he cried roughly. "Thou 
 shalt soon be where no man can see thy bright 
 eyes and thy tender cheeks." 
 
 And, so saying, he seized her brutally by the 
 arm, and led her away to one of the cells. She 
 made no resistance. Only, as she turned to go, 
 she cast one look of trust upon Lemuel. Her 
 courage had returned to her. She was no longer 
 fearful. She looked beyond the present, and 
 Lemuel's bravery renewed hers. 
 
 The heavy door of the cell closed upon her, and 
 Lemuel stood alone.
 
 200 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 " And now, come thou with me," said the jailer, 
 returning. " Thou shalt have no further commerce 
 with thy fair maiden. Here wilt thou lie, in this 
 chamber, and other garments shall be found for 
 thee and for thy companion." 
 
 As he spoke he unbarred the door of a low and 
 filthy prison cell, and signed unto Lemuel to enter. 
 The cell was full of black darkness, and ere Lemuel 
 obeyed the jailer's command, he turned his eyes 
 once more to the light of the sun and to the fair 
 beauty of the clear blue sky. Then he moved to 
 cross the lintel of the cell door ; but, even as he 
 did so, the great portals of the prison opened, and 
 a company of the king's guards entered, followed 
 by a woman whose face was covered by a long 
 white veil. 
 
 "Who art thou?" exclaimed the jailer, with his 
 hand laid still upon the door. 
 
 The woman, advancing quickly towards him, 
 threw back her veil, and showed the face of Ishtar. 
 
 " Stay ! " she cried. " I have the king's autho- 
 rity to speak with thy prisoner, and alone." 
 
 " What ? " said the jailer, in perplexity. " Thou 
 tellest me that "— 
 
 " Read and obey," said Ishtar imperiously. 
 
 And she held forth to him a tablet, on which 
 was inscribed the mandate of the king. 
 
 " The king's seal ! " exclaimed the jailer. 
 
 He bowed low. 
 
 " Lady, I obey," he said, with a meek servility 
 strangely unlike to his former rough and arbitrary 
 brutality.
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 201 
 
 Then he retired, followed by the guards, leaving 
 Ishtar alone with Lemuel. She stood in silence 
 for a moment. Then she advanced towards him, 
 and, with a gesture almost of pleading, she said — 
 
 " Lemuel ! " 
 
 " Lady ! " he replied. 
 
 " Lemuel," she said, " thou knowest that the 
 king hath been informed of what thou did'st utter 
 at my palace before my guests — that thou did'st 
 prophesy the falling of Babylon and of her monarch. 
 This he adjudged treason. Moreover, he hath 
 learned that there is a plot among the Israelites 
 captive in Babylon to rebel, and that thou art to 
 be their leader. Is this true? ' 
 
 " I have naught to say, lady," he answered. 
 " Let my accusers prove what they can." 
 
 " Dost thou know the penalty of such a crime ? " 
 she asked him. 
 
 " Crime ! " he exclaimed, with sudden fervour. 
 "That word better befits the deeds of the op- 
 pressors than the struggles of the oppressed. But 
 — I know the penalty of such an act as thou hast 
 described. It is death." 
 
 " Yea," she said ; " for he who lifteth his hand 
 against our lord the king shall perish by fire. 
 This fearful fate must surely be thine, unless " — 
 
 She paused, casting down her great eyes to the 
 ground, while a warm flush slowly spread over her 
 beautiful and tragic face. 
 
 " Unless what, lady ? " asked Lemuel. 
 
 " Unless one who hath great influence with the 
 king doth plead on thy behalf."
 
 202 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 " Who hath such influence?" said Lemuel, look- 
 ing upon her searchingly. 
 
 " I have," responded Lshtar, in a low voice as of 
 one ashamed. " But I may not go before my lord 
 the king with empty hands, pleading for grace and 
 mercy. Nor will he be content, even though the 
 revolt be abandoned, to let the matter pass without 
 some punishment." 
 
 " Dost thou mean that, unless I suffer, some 
 other must ? " 
 
 She did not reply directly to his question, but 
 said, more quickly— 
 
 '■ Upon the tablet that thou gavest me are many 
 names " — 
 
 " Hast thou not destroyed it ? " exclaimed 
 Lemuel. 
 
 " No," answered lshtar. " Hush ! Let me show 
 the names unto my lord the king, under his 
 promise to spare thee. Let him select three of the 
 number, who shall be punished — and let thee go 
 free." 
 
 But Lemuel turned from her with contempt. 
 
 " If I had ten thousand lives," he said, "and 
 those three had but one, not by that one would I 
 buy my ten thousand." 
 
 She laid her hand upon his robe, pressing 
 nearer to his side. 
 
 " Lemuel," she said, and her voice was quick 
 with passion and with excitement, "think — thy 
 refusal will not save those others, if I give up the 
 tablet." 
 
 He turned upon her and looked into her eyes.
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 203 
 
 " Will it save those others if thou dost de- 
 stroy the tablet and I confess my guilt ? ' he 
 said. 
 
 " It might," she answered. 
 
 " Then so let it be. Go, make that bargain with 
 your lord the king. I will be the scapegoat for 
 my brethren in bondage." 
 
 " Nay," said Ishtar, " let me answer thee after 
 thine own fashion. If each of thy brethren had 
 twice ten thousand lives, I would not give thy 
 precious one to save them." 
 
 Lemuel laid his hand upon hers to thrust her 
 from him, but Ishtar clung to him, crying — 
 
 " There is yet another way to save thee, 
 Lemuel." 
 
 "If it be so far from honour as the other, 
 waste not thy breath to tell it me," he said. 
 
 " Stay, Lemuel ! — heed me. Thou — thou did'st 
 ask me to take that tablet to prove my love for 
 thee. To hold that tablet one moment from the 
 king maketh me in his sight a traitor, and my life 
 too is forfeit. Nay, thou shalt hear me! Lemuel, 
 I did gladly risk my life because I loved thee. In 
 all Babylon there is none richer than I. Our lord 
 the king doth look with favour upon me. Were I 
 to ask so rich a boon as mercy for thee and all thy 
 friends — for Lemuel, a stranger, a plotter against 
 our lord — 'twould be refused. But did I ask 
 it for Ishtar's husband, the king would surely 
 grant it." 
 
 On the last words she clasped her hands more 
 closely about his arm. Her face was ardent with
 
 204 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 desire and with love, and her great eyes shone with 
 excitement and with passion. 
 
 " Ishtar's husband ? " exclaimed Lemuel, in a 
 maze. 
 
 " Yea." 
 
 " That may never be," he said, striving to unclasp 
 her hands. " Never — never ! " 
 
 " And why ? " she whispered. " Why, Lemuel ? " 
 
 Her breath was hot on his cheek. Her stormy 
 heart beat under the hand with which again he 
 strov^e to put her from him. 
 
 " I love another," he said quickly. 
 
 " This Israelitish girl — this Elna ? " 
 
 " Even so." 
 
 " But she can never be thine, even if thou wert 
 free. She is thy brother's. Thou canst, by wed- 
 ding me, save all these thy people, and thou wilt 
 let them die ! " 
 
 And she clung to him more closely, gazing into 
 his face with a fury of anxiety. 
 
 " Woman," said Lemuel, " why wilt thou compel 
 me to open my mouth and say that which is in my 
 heart ? Because thou hast avowed a love for me, — 
 and the love that is unselfish, even of the vilest, a 
 man may not despise, — because of this love, and for 
 that thou hast done me a service, I have set a seal 
 upon my tongue. For I would not hurt thee who 
 art, whate'er thy sins, a woman. I have answered 
 thee. Be thou content. This thing cannot be." 
 
 And with gentle but inexorable force he put her 
 from him. 
 
 " Then shall thy people perish ! " she cried.
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 205 
 
 " They are not my people who would buy their 
 lives at such a price. By the laws of my people 
 no man may wed with — with such as thou art — 
 and live." 
 
 Ishtar cowered, as if struck by a blow. But her 
 passion still drove her onward, and she answered — 
 
 " Remember, if thou dost refuse me, the tablet 
 will I give unto the king ; and they — and this girl 
 Elna — all shall surely perish, and perish by fire." 
 
 A look of horror came into the face of Lemuel 
 as she spoke Elna's name. 
 
 "No, no!" he cried. «' She— Elna— hath no 
 share in this thing. She is innocent of any harm, 
 any sin. She hath only loved me. That is no sin." 
 
 " The sin is, in my eyes, that thou lovest her," 
 said Ishtar. " She hath wronged thy brother. 
 Let her atone. It may be, if he doth love her 
 truly, that he would not exact the penalty of her 
 fault, but would forgive her. Think not that her 
 love for thee would last for ever. She would forget 
 thee and find happiness in Jediah's love." 
 
 " In his love happiness for Elna ! " said Lemuel. 
 *' Lady, thou hast answered thyself. She who did 
 risk her life because she loved, could never save 
 that life at the price of that love's constancy. Love 
 hath the victory. Let death come ! Love knows 
 no fear save the one dread of parting. And we 
 shall be united by the grave. She who was true 
 to me, even at the risk of her life, shall find me true 
 even unto death." 
 
 He turned from Ishtar proudly, and, raising his 
 voice, he cried aloud —
 
 2o6 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 "Jailer!" 
 
 The jailer came in answer to the cry. 
 
 " This lady and I have nothing more to speak 
 of," said Lemuel. " Do thy duty upon me. I am 
 ready." 
 
 The jailer looked towards Ishtar, as if for her 
 commands. But she stood with bowed head and 
 spoke no word. Therefore he flung aside the door 
 of Lemuel's cell, and said roughly — 
 
 " Enter, Israelite ! " 
 
 The heavy door closed with a crash. There was 
 a rattle as the heavy bars fell into their places. 
 
 "Wilt thou go, lady?" said the jailer to Ishtar. 
 " What more desirest thou ? " 
 
 He stood still and looked upon her with a coarse 
 curiosity. She made him a sign to leave her. He 
 obeyed, muttering to himself, as he went about his 
 business. When Ishtar stood alone, there seemed 
 to be some great struggle going on within her, 
 some tempest of the emotions, some fierce storm 
 of the soul that shook and convulsed her, till she 
 trembled and leaned against the stone wall of the 
 cell where Lemuel lay in darkness. She pressed 
 her forehead to the cold stone, and pressed her two 
 hands to it, and stayed thus, with her eyes closed. 
 Her lips were trembling convulsively. The tears 
 burst out between her eyelids. All the heart of 
 her wailed and fought, and was fierce and cruel, 
 pitiless and pitiful by turns, as the waves of intense 
 feeling surged through her. And now it was the 
 nature of the great courtesan who had ruled in 
 Babylon that triumphed, and a superb savage
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 207 
 
 stood there, hating Elna and her lover, ready to 
 watch them die in agony surrounded by the aspir- 
 ing tongues of flame. And now it was the nature 
 of the woman who had been twisted and turned 
 away from God's good purpose for a time that 
 won the victory. The battle was sore and bitter, 
 and the woman went down as if into hell. She 
 was in thick darkness, and as if below the roots of 
 the world. But at last a light shone through the 
 shadows of evil and of terror. Her heart was 
 shaken by a pulse of purity and of glorious self- 
 abnegation. And, stretching forth her hands to 
 the cell where Lemuel sat alone in the black- 
 ness, waiting for death, she whispered to the 
 stones — 
 
 " O brave, true soul ! Ah, had such a love 
 been mine ! And shall he indeed perish ? Nay, 
 not while Ishtar liveth and hath power to redeem 
 — if but a little — the much evil she hath wrought. 
 Can the past die ? Can the dead bury the dead ? 
 Light doth follow darkness. Life doth spring 
 from death. Peradventure, with the light of this 
 man's strong soul to guide her, even Ishtar may at 
 last walk forth into the day ! " 
 
 She bent down and pressed her soft lips upon 
 the bar that lay across the door. Then she drew 
 her veil across her face, and turned and went out 
 swiftly from the prison.
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 When Jediah slunk away from the palace of 
 Alorus, he was torn asunder by conflicting 
 emotions of so great violence that, as he passed 
 through the streets teeming with the population 
 of Babylon, he scarce knew that he was not alone. 
 He perceived those around him, indeed, but 
 vaguely, as people see through a thick mist 
 which distorts their actions and deadens their 
 voices. For he was self-centred, self-engrossed, 
 preoccupied by two widely diverse sensations — 
 triumph and baffled despair. The triumph came 
 to him from the thought that Lemuel was now 
 indeed doomed to die, that his brother must pass 
 on into the other world through the flaming 
 furnace heated by Babylon for the destruction 
 of all those who dared to plot against the king 
 and his glory. Naught could save Lemuel now. 
 His days upon earth were surely numbered. He 
 must go — even as all men at the last — to his own 
 place. He must leave Elna. He must resign his 
 dear hope of being the saviour of his downtrodden 
 nation. Love and religious ambition, the hopes 
 of love and the hopes of glory — all had crumbled 
 into the dust. And in that thought Jediah ex- 
 
 203
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 209 
 
 ulted. He clenched his hands together, and his 
 fierce eyes blazed like the eyes of a madman, as 
 he saw before him a vision of fire and Lemuel set 
 in the midst of it. But then came to him that 
 cold and deadly sensation of baffled despair, as he 
 remembered Elna, and that she was surely passing 
 beyond his reach. For death would surely be her 
 lot also. Rather than that she should give herself 
 up to Lemuel would Jediah have fallen upon and, 
 with his own hands, strangled her. But if Lemuel 
 should be slain and she live on ! That would be 
 sweet. For then would she have none to turn to 
 save only to him who alone had the right to claim 
 her and to keep her his for ever. And within 
 Jediah there sprang up a fury of passionate desire, 
 cruel, vindictive, and almost demoniac, to possess 
 Elna — to have her at length for his own, for his 
 chattel, his thing, on which he could wreak both 
 his physical love and his mental hate, his passion 
 for vengeance and his passion for power. Then 
 he felt, indeed, that he could not let her go from 
 him to the fire ; that perhaps, after death, would 
 she and Lemuel be united in the great region 
 beyond, be granted there the fulfilment of that 
 love which he had frustrated upon earth. And 
 feeling thus, he raged as he walked, till the passers- 
 by were terrified by his demeanour, and the little 
 playing children ran, crying for fear, to their 
 mothers, hiding hot little faces in their robes in 
 order not to see any longer the distorted and 
 wolfish countenance of this haggard Israelite, who 
 stalked on unheeding them. 
 14
 
 2IO THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 Thinking and thinking thus, Jediah presently 
 became possessed of one dominating idea. How 
 could Elna be saved ? The destruction of Lemuel 
 was certain. Jediah wished it, exulted in the 
 thought of it. But Elna ! She must be saved — 
 saved for him, saved for the fate he silently pre- 
 pared for her. She must be saved to be his wife, 
 to dwell in his tent, sleep by his side, eat of his 
 salt, and call him lord and master. Yes, she must 
 be saved — saved. But how? All that night he 
 brooded and pondered. But he could come to no 
 conclusion. The sun shone in upon him as he 
 crouched on his bed in the small chamber that he 
 had hired in the eastern quarter of the city. The 
 cries of the people going about their business 
 summoned him forth. But he remained immersed 
 in thought, and unable to come to any conclusion. 
 It was late in the afternoon ere he left his 
 chamber. He descended the street in which was 
 set the house he occupied, and wandered on and 
 on through the maze of the streets of Babylon, his 
 head bent upon his breast, his eyes half closed, 
 pondering ever how to snatch Elna from the fire 
 in which Lemuel must burn and be destroyed. 
 Towards evening, while he thus walked, like a 
 man blind and deaf, enclosed in the narrow 
 chamber of his thoughts, he heard — as from a 
 long distance — two Babylonians who spoke to- 
 gether beside a water-spring, beneath a palm tree 
 in a square of the city. Their voices pierced his 
 dream and shook his soul awake. For one said to 
 the other —
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 211 
 
 " Nay, and indeed the power of women passeth 
 all knowledge and is beyond all reason." 
 
 " Why sayest thou so ? " answered the other. 
 " Hath thy wife, then, lorded it over thee, as is 
 the way of women when they see that they are 
 beloved ? " 
 
 " My wife ! — nay. But hast thou not heard of 
 the doing of Ishtar in the palace of our lord the 
 king?" 
 
 " Not a word." 
 
 Jediah stood still to listen. 
 
 " Well," continued the first Babylonian, " it 
 seems that she hath set her eyes in love upon 
 this self-same Israelitish shepherd, Lemuel, who 
 hath falsely predicted the destruction of our 
 mighty city and the end of the king's glorious rule." 
 
 " Is he of a goodly form and countenance ? " 
 
 " I know not. For this treason of his, the king 
 condemned the shepherd and the maid, one Elna, 
 who had put on man's attire for love of him, to 
 perish by fire." 
 
 " 'Twas rightly and well ordained." 
 
 " Yea. But Ishtar, having cast her eyes on this 
 shepherd, liked it not. She went up into the 
 palace of the king to plead for the revoking of 
 his decree." 
 
 " These women are bolder than we men, of a 
 truth." 
 
 " And with her words she so weighed upon the 
 king that he hath yielded unto her entreaty." 
 
 Jediah moved a step towards the speakers. 
 
 *' What sayest thou ? " he cried harshly.
 
 212 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 The two Babylonians looked at him in amaze. 
 
 " Who art thou, stranger, that speakest thus to 
 those who know thee not ? " asked he \\'ho was 
 telling the story, haughtily. 
 
 Jediah bowed low. 
 
 " Thy pardon, sir," he said ; " but I was so 
 interested in thy strange tale of this Ishtar and 
 the king that I could not help but listen. Forgiv'e 
 me, I pray thee." 
 
 The Babylonian smiled in gratified vanity. 
 
 " Bel hath given me the power of speech, I 
 verily believe, stranger," he answered. " For all 
 the town telleth me so. All praise to the great 
 god Bel, in whose hands we are but as dust." 
 
 " Let me hear the end of thy tale, I pray thee," 
 said Jediah. " Are these two prisoners to go free ? 
 Hath Ishtar indeed gained so great favour from 
 my lord the king ? " 
 
 And he shook, like a man palsied, with rage and 
 fear. 
 
 " Nay," returned the Babylonian, " they shall 
 not go free." 
 
 " What, then, is the sentence upon them ? Tell 
 me, I beseech thee." 
 
 " The king hath granted to Ishtar, whose 
 beauty is indeed above the beauty of all other 
 
 women "- 
 
 " And the king loveth well a pretty face," inter- 
 rupted the other Babylonian. 
 
 " Yea — yea. He is a man, as all of us ! The 
 king hath granted to Ishtar that these plotters 
 against his glory shall not die."
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 213 
 
 " They are to live ? Lemuel is to live ? " cried 
 Jediah. 
 
 " Yea — but both he and the girl EIna are to be 
 sold into slavery." 
 
 Jediah uttered an inarticulate exclamation. 
 
 " They will be offered up to the highest bidder 
 in the great slave - market to - morrow at noon," 
 continued the Babylonian. " All the city will be 
 there, they do say. For Elna, the maid, is beauti- 
 ful. And we of Babylon do love beauty in women, 
 even if they be Israelites." 
 
 He burst into a coarse laugh. 
 
 " Dost thou love women, stranger ? " he cried. 
 
 But Jediah turned from him without another 
 word, and strode rapidly away. 
 
 This new turning of events threw Jediah into a 
 paroxysm of fury and of excitement. That Lemuel 
 should, in spite of all, escape death, angered him 
 to the verge of fury. Even in slavery, in perpetual 
 bondage, Lemuel might be happy. He might be 
 purchased by some Babylonian woman for the 
 sake of his handsome face and noble bearing. He 
 might live in luxury, be petted and caressed. In 
 any event, he would escape the vengeance of 
 Jediah — unless — unless — 
 
 Jediah spoke aloud to himself as he strode on. 
 A determination was taking shape in his mind. 
 He saw a possibility of the personal vengeance 
 that his soul desired clearly before him. If 
 Lemuel and Elna were indeed offered for sale 
 to the highest bidder in the slave - market of 
 Babylon, why should not he — Jediah— buy his
 
 2 14 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 own brother, his own betrothed ? He was rich. 
 He would spend all his substance for revenge. 
 He would give all — every foot of land, every sheep 
 and goat, every grain of corn, the very robe that 
 covered him, the gold chain which he wore about 
 his neck — but he would have those captives for 
 his. And, once he possessed them, he would drag 
 them before the Judgment Seat of Zoar, in the 
 plain beside the tents of his people. They should 
 be tried. They should be condemned. They 
 should be stoned to death. He laughed aloud in 
 wild exultation, and he felt the stones grasped 
 within his clenched hands. He saw the white 
 faces of his victims. They should not escape him. 
 Naught should save them from him. He would 
 give the very flesh from his bones rather than that 
 they should be sold to another. To-morrow ! 
 To-morrow at noon ! All night he walked to 
 and fro in the lighted streets till all men slept 
 and the great city was silent. He paced upon the 
 river bank of Euphrates, where lay the ships 
 along the wharves, and the Babylonish guards 
 slept beside the bales of merchandise from all 
 lands. The moon lay on the river, and the grey 
 of dawn came up over the water, changing it from 
 silver to the colour of a mirror of steel. The 
 sailors stirred from their dreams of seafaring 
 men. The sun lay red in the golden couch of 
 the east. But Jediah neither saw, nor heard, nor 
 heeded. Like the madman, his mind held him in 
 a vice. His soul was a prisoner in the chains of 
 one idea. And the gay light of morning fell upon
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 215 
 
 him and found him grey-haired, haggard, and with 
 livid eyes of fire, still pacing up and down, still 
 muttering over to himself as one who murmurs 
 and who cries in slumber. 
 
 • *••••• 
 
 The slave-market of Babylon was an immense 
 square, bounded upon three sides with tall houses, 
 while upon the fourth side there was a public 
 garden, shady with trees and bright with flowers. 
 In the distance, beyond the garden, might be seen 
 the watch-towers of the city and a glimpse of the 
 river Euphrates. At the entrance to the garden, 
 at the back of the square, stood one of the glories 
 of Babylon, a gigantic statue of the god Bel, 
 made of solid gold, which gleamed in the sun and 
 could be seen from far. It stood upon a platform 
 of alabaster, and was surrounded by flowers offered 
 by devout worshippers to propitiate the god. In 
 the centre of the square stood a rostrum, some 
 six feet high, eight feet deep, and twelve feet wide, 
 surrounded by a balustrade of marble. Upon this 
 rostrum the slaves were exposed to the view of 
 the crowd and were offered for sale. This market 
 was usually humming with people, and was a 
 centre of barter and of discussion. Here came 
 the lowest of the Babylonians, drawn thither by 
 the attraction of beholding the great nobles, who 
 often bade for slaves in person. Here came the 
 merchants and the traders, the auctioneers, — those 
 who offered the slaves and cried aloud their 
 attractions, — and all the young dandies of the day. 
 These feasted their eyes upon the lovely girls who
 
 2i6 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 were bought for great prices, and sometimes, in 
 sheer wantonness, sent up the bidding when they 
 perceived some old and dissipated Babylonian 
 busily intent upon a certain slave. And here, 
 too, came many wealthy women to purchase 
 handsome men for their palaces. For in Baby- 
 lon the women were not veiled and secluded as 
 in many countries of the East, but walked abroad 
 in the daylight unabashed, showing their bold 
 faces to all that cared to look upon them, and 
 in very sooth rivalling each other in efforts to 
 attract the notice of the passers-by. 
 
 The slave-market was habitually crowded, but 
 to-day the concourse, drawn thither from all 
 quarters of Babylon, was extraordinary, and 
 showed plainly that some event of an unusual 
 nature had very greatly excited the public mind. 
 Not only was the whole square packed with 
 people, but the crowd even overflowed into the 
 adjacent streets. The windows of all the houses 
 were beset with gazers, who also clustered upon 
 the roofs. And upon every step, beneath every 
 portico, stood knots of the curious. For Lemuel's 
 denunciation of the city and prophecy of its pass- 
 ing away, the sentence of death by fire passed 
 upon him, the errand of Ishtar to the palace of 
 the king, and the subsequent revocation of the 
 royal decree, had become known throughout the 
 length and breadth of Babylon. All men and 
 women spoke of it. Even the children babbled 
 of it as they played about the doors of their 
 parents. And everyone desired to look upon
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 217 
 
 this shepherd, who dared defy the king and the 
 gods, and who had won the love of the beautiful 
 woman whom all men sought. There were, also, 
 many who were fain to behold the maiden Elna, 
 who had stolen into the city attired as a boy. 
 For her sake came all the young dandies, and 
 gossip about her flew from mouth to mouth. But 
 there was another reason still for the assembling 
 of this mighty concourse. 
 
 The Israelites in Babylon, who numbered at 
 this time a considerable part of the population, 
 were greatly moved and excited by the seizure 
 of Lemuel, his condemnation to death, and the 
 subsequent decree that he was to be publicly sold 
 into slavery. For in Lemuel they had put their 
 trust, on him they had set their hopes of freedom. 
 They had begun to look upon him as their 
 Messiah, from whom would come salvation. His 
 fiery denunciation of Babylon, his prophecy of its 
 fall, had appealed to their hearts and stirred their 
 imaginations into a ferment of patriotic fervour. 
 The thought of his fall, of his degradation, of 
 his captivity, was bitter and abhorrent to them. 
 Upon their excitement certain secret agents of 
 the great cause of Israel's freedom had cunningly 
 played, arguing that the hour had come to strike 
 a bold blow ; that if they allowed Lemuel to be 
 borne away into bondage, the hopes of Israel 
 would be dashed to the ground for ever. These 
 secret agents, among whom was Sabaal, had 
 worked with such passion and success that all 
 Israel in Babylon had flowed forth to the slave-
 
 2i8 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 market, intent upon one thing only — the rescue 
 of their shepherd-prophet, Lemuel. Wherever the 
 eyes gazed might be discerned shrouded men 
 gathered together in knots, watchful, silent, de- 
 termined. And as the hour of noon drew near^ 
 these men closed up quietly towards the rostrum 
 on which Elna and Lemuel were to be offered 
 for sale. They were unnoticed by the gay and 
 laughing Babylonians, who were too intent upon 
 the prospect of seeing this famous shepherd and 
 his love sold into bondage to think of aught else, 
 and who, besides, felt far too secure and powerful 
 in their great and prosperous city to dream of 
 any attempt at rescue on the part of people whom 
 they regarded with contempt as wretched dogs of 
 Israelites, only worthy to pay tribute and perform 
 the most menial services for their own greater 
 glory. 
 
 Already, upon the rostrum in the middle of the 
 market, various slaves were being offered to the 
 critical buyers. The auctioneer in strident tones 
 called aloud their beauties, their virtues, and their 
 various capabilities. But the mass of the people 
 scarcely heeded his voice. They were too much 
 occupied in chattering among themselves, and in 
 retailing a thousand pieces of scandal, many of 
 which related to the doings of the famous Ishtar, 
 whose name, at this time, was eternally upon the 
 lips of Babylon. In the midst of the crowd, 
 intent upon the making of money, stood Migdapul 
 the god-seller. Although he was grown rich in the 
 secret service of Ishtar, he still found occasion to
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 219 
 
 continue, in propitious moments, his barter of 
 deities ; and now, above the roar of the people,, 
 he might be heard crying in a piercing voice — 
 
 " Come hither, ye who would buy gods ! Buy 
 them of me ! I sell the cheapest gods in Babylon. 
 Merodach, the General of all gods — he who can 
 cure witchcraft and brain-sickness, for one shekel ! 
 Ana, god of heaven, and Anatu, his consort, for 
 two shekels ! Bel, the great god Bel, who ruleth 
 the evil of the south-west wind — who will give a 
 shekel for Bel ? Bel, who alone hath power to 
 dispel the seven evil spirits who seize the body» 
 who bring wastings and fevers, sickness of the head, 
 sickness of the heart, sickness of terror — the ruler 
 of the Seven ! Who will buy him for only one 
 shekel ? Only one shekel for the great god Bel ! "^ 
 
 A handsome woman moved slowly through the 
 crowd, and Migdapul was about to devote his 
 special attention to her, when she stopped and 
 said to him angrily — 
 
 " I did buy gods of thee, but I want my money 
 again, for thy gods are useless, and thou thyself 
 art but a cheat. Bel, so thou did'st tell me, would 
 make my husband true unto me. And, to make 
 all sure, I bought two images of the great god 
 Bel." 
 
 " Well ? " said Migdapul, with his habitual sturdy 
 impudence, — " and what hath befallen thee ? " 
 
 " Evil hath befallen me. While I was praying 
 to the great god Bel to make my husband true, in 
 came my husband. * For what dost thou pray ? ' 
 said my husband. ' To the great god Bel to make
 
 220 THE DAUGHTERS OE BABYLON 
 
 thee true unto me,' said I. ' Verily, that is good 
 and wise of thee,' said my husband. ' l>ut thou 
 must pray from now until the sun goeth down if 
 thy prayers are to be granted,' said he." 
 
 The crowd, who stood round about listening, 
 began to laugh. And Migdapul winked at them 
 merrily as he answered — 
 
 " A wise man, that same husband of thine. 
 These things do take time — as most men know." 
 
 " A wise man ! " cried the woman. " A cheat ! 
 a deceiver ! " 
 
 " How, good woman ? — how ? " 
 
 " Why, it was then but noon, but I prayed until 
 the sun went down, and my knees ached, and my 
 head swam, and my voice grew weak with my 
 supplications." 
 
 "And was he not true unto thee?" said Mig- 
 dapul, while the curious people pressed ever more 
 closely round to hear the end. 
 
 " True ! True, forsooth ! " exclaimed the woman 
 wrathfully. " No. He got me to pray from noon 
 to sunset to the great god Bel to make him true 
 to me, that he might go unhindered to the wine- 
 .shop and make love to my handmaiden." 
 
 She burst into angry tears, and sobbed out — 
 
 " I want my money back ! Give me my money 
 back ! " 
 
 " But thy handmaiden," said Migdapul, totally 
 unmoved, — " she is tall and fair ? " 
 
 " She is not 1 " cried the woman. " She is short 
 and black — ugly creature ! Give me back my 
 money ! "
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 221 
 
 " Short and black ! " ejaculated Migdapul. 
 
 He paused and seemed to muse. Then sud- 
 denly, as if a light broke on him, he cried — 
 
 " The same ! Now I understand ! She, thy 
 handmaiden, bought of me Merodach for three 
 shekels, and thou Bel for but two. And while 
 thou did'st beseech Bel, at two shekels, to make 
 thy husband true, she did beseech Merodach, at 
 three shekels, to make him false." 
 
 The crowd laughed again at the adroitness of 
 the god-seller. But the woman wailed — 
 
 "What am I to do?" 
 
 " Pluck up thine heart," said Migdapul, " and 
 buy two of Merodach for six shekels, and triumph 
 over this naughty handmaid who would rob thee 
 of thy lawful husband." 
 
 " Six shekels ! " said the woman doubtfully. 
 " Six ! For that I must sell this string of beads, 
 this amulet, this girdle, and this raiment." 
 
 And she gazed down at her robe, which was of 
 fine linen, gaily embroidered. 
 
 " Well, what of that," said Migdapul, with 
 affected gravity, " if you buy your husband back ? 
 Have a heart, good woman. Wilt be wronged and 
 deceived by this long white handmaiden ? " 
 
 " No, no — not long and white ; short and black, 
 and most evil-favoured ! " 
 
 " Did I not say short and black — with her paltry 
 three-shekel Merodach, when for the sacrifice of 
 these few beads, this amulet, and this robe thou 
 canst triumph over her for ever ? Come, have a 
 spirit ! "
 
 222 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 He held forth his gods. 
 
 " Here ! " he cried, " and here ! Never falter nor 
 dally ! Hence with this long white — I should say, 
 short black — handmaid ! Come ! come ! " 
 
 " I will — verily I will ! " exclaimed the woman, 
 who was now becoming very excited at the thought 
 of vengeance. 
 
 " Verily, thou shalt ! " vociferated Migdapul, 
 " Come ! Haste ! Off with the beads ! Off with 
 the amulet ! " 
 
 He snatched them from her eagerly, while the 
 people around laughed and applauded him. 
 
 " Off with the girdle ! 'Tis well. Off with the— 
 Nay, I am an easy man. Thou shalt keep this 
 robe, for it becometh thee well. I make thee a 
 present of thy gown, good woman." 
 
 And as the woman hurried away, holding fast 
 the effigies for which she had parted from so much, 
 Migdapul winked merrily at the crowd, then turn- 
 ing up his small eyes piously and showing his 
 pointed tusks of teeth, he moved slowly away, 
 ejaculating — 
 
 " Blessed be the gods, by whom alone I live ! 
 Blessed be the eternal gods ! " 
 
 While the attention of many in the crowd had 
 been attracted by the foregoing scene, Sabaal, who 
 passed incessantly hither and thither, wriggling 
 through the throng as deftly as some serpent of 
 the desert, met with Elkanus, who, as usual, was 
 beating his cups together and crying, " Water, 
 water, sweet and cool ! " 
 
 " Elkanus ! Elkanus ! " he whispered softly.
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 223 
 
 " Ah, Sabaal ! " returned the other, with equal 
 precaution. " What is thy news ? " 
 
 " Have a care ! These Babylonish eyes and ears 
 are sharp. Lemuel is not to die." 
 
 " Nay, but to go into bondage." 
 
 " Lemuel is not to go into bondage," whispered 
 Sabaal significantly. 
 
 " Not to go into bondage ? But "— 
 
 " Not without a struggle. Lemuel hath been 
 betrayed, but he hath not betrayed his people. 
 Even so shall his people deal with him. Go 
 among them — but with caution, Elkanus ! Bid 
 them stand close about the rostrum and await my 
 signal. All our brethren are here in the crowd. 
 We are many. We will strike a blow for Lemuel. 
 We will rescue him, or die." 
 
 Elkanus nodded with assumed carelessness. 
 Then he beat his cups together, and cried aloud — 
 
 " Come, ye who thirst ! Water, water, sweet and 
 cool ! " 
 
 Some Israelites gathered round him to drink 
 from his gourd. As he gave them to drink, he 
 exchanged with them greetings and directions. 
 Sabaal stole away through the crowd. 
 
 On its outskirts at this moment appeared Jediah, 
 walking with the Israelite Adoram. Jediah was 
 pale as wax. His long beard was untrimmed and 
 ragged. His grey hair was disordered. Beneath 
 his eyes were drawn those lines that grief, anxiety, 
 anger, terror trace so clearly and so pitilessly on 
 the countenance of man. He walked heavily, for 
 all night he had not slept, and even now he had
 
 2 24 THE DAUGHTERS OE BABYLON 
 
 come up from the banks of Euphrates, where he 
 had seen the bitter rising of the dawn. 
 
 " So this is the end ! " he said to Adoram, as they 
 moved on with difficulty through the seething mass 
 of the people. " This new deliverer — this second 
 Moses — sold into bondage like some common 
 slave ! He and his companion in sin, Elna. But 
 they shall be mine. I will buy them both, Adoram, 
 though it cost me all that I have in the world — this 
 chain about my neck, this robe which clothes me." 
 
 " Thou wilt do this much for love, Jediah ? " said 
 Adoram. 
 
 " Love ! love ! " returned Jediah wildly. " No ! 
 for hate, for revenge ! That I may drag them back 
 in chains and punish them. That I may see them 
 die the death of adulterers under the stones of the 
 faithful and the law-abiding of our people. An eye 
 for an eye and a tooth for a tooth ; thus saith the law." 
 
 A hand plucked at his robe. He turned sharply 
 and beheld his creature Jozadah. 
 
 " My lord ! my lord ! " cried the Israelite. 
 
 " Well, thou hast failed ! " Jediah hissed into 
 his ear. " Lemuel still lives." 
 
 "It is the fault of the king," said Jozadah. 
 " He should have been slain by night as he was 
 leaving the palace of Ishtar, but, as thou knowest, 
 he was arrested by the king's command, and I " — 
 
 " Thou art helpless. I know it, slave. Stand 
 close. I may have other work for thee. Stand 
 close ! " 
 
 The pressure of the crowd was becoming 
 tremendous. All the citizens of Babylon seemed
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 225 
 
 to have assembled in the square. There were 
 Assyrians from the North — tall men, with regular 
 features of the Semitic type ; men descended from 
 the tribes of Elam and from the Accadians, Kassites, 
 Chaldeans from the South ; lithe youths from the 
 great salt marshes that spread around the sea- 
 coast ; Nubians black and lusty, with thick lips and 
 bulging eyes, like ebony with a yellow light play- 
 ing on it ; Arabians, Indians, Persians, walking 
 with a sinuous and yet solemn gait ; soldiers of the 
 guard of the king, exchanging coarse jokes and 
 following the women with bold looks of admiration ; 
 sailors and traders come up from the ships of the 
 river ; ragged boys wriggling through the throng 
 like eels ; beggars, halt, maimed, and blind — among 
 them Johanan, urging lamentably his infirmity ; 
 money-changers, slave-dealers intent on purchases, 
 eunuchs,keepers of theharems,sorcerersand Semites, 
 priests and usurers. And all seemed talking at the 
 height of their voices, all seemed pressing forward 
 towards the rostrum in the midst of the market. 
 Presently a loud voice cried, above the hubbub — 
 
 " Room ! Room for the Lord Alorus ! " 
 
 Jediah heard the cry, and cast his haggard 
 eyes around. He perceived Alorus, magnificently 
 dressed, and accompanied by Menanahim, Mer- 
 aioth, and some wealthy Babylonians, passing 
 slowly through the mob. They were talking ani- 
 matedly together. 
 
 "Well," exclaimed Meraioth, "I could almost 
 find it in my woman's heart to pity this Lemuel." 
 
 Menanahim burst out into a bitter laugh. 
 15
 
 226 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 " Ay, pity him, and bid for him at the sale," he 
 cried. " I hate the knave, and could know no 
 sweeter pleasure than to see him thy slave, 
 Meraioth. Ha, ha, ha ! Poor fool ! How thou 
 would'st open the eyes of his understanding and 
 knowledge of what it is to be a woman's slave ! " 
 
 " I had not thought of it," said Meraioth, in no- 
 wise offended ; " but, since thou hast spoken, it may 
 be that I shall bid a talent of silver for the man. 
 He hath a handsome head, and would make a right 
 regal chariot- driver. He was thy friend, Alorus. 
 Wilt thou venture for him ? " 
 
 " By Bel, not I ! " said Alorus. " Make way, 
 slaves ! Not I ! I have knaves enough already. 
 Let him go. Nay, my bid will be for the maiden 
 who is with him." 
 
 " I had thought she was already thy slave." 
 
 " And so thought I ; but our lord the king, 
 seeing her by the aid of Ishtar's eyes, and dis- 
 posing of her by Ishtar's directions, made me 
 think otherwise." 
 
 " Then," rejoined Meraioth, laughing, " we shall 
 share the twain between us. Lemuel shall be my 
 slave, and this maiden thine." 
 
 " The maiden shall, of a surety, be mine ; but, 
 unless Ishtar liveth no longer, all that thou hast 
 will not buy Lemuel." 
 
 "What?" cried Meraioth. "Will she bid for 
 him ? " 
 
 Alorus burst into a roar of laughter that was 
 affectedly echoed by Menanahim. 
 
 " Will Ishtar bid for Lemuel ? " he cried. " Thou
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 227 
 
 shalt see — thou shalt see. Room, slaves — room, I 
 say ! " 
 
 They passed on towards the rostrum. 
 
 It was now close upon the stroke of noon, and 
 the excitement and anticipation of the crowd 
 were become intense. The windows of the houses 
 were black with heads, and many women leaned 
 so far forth that it seemed, indeed, as if they must 
 fall into the midst of the multitude below. Cries 
 and exclamations resounded on all sides. People 
 strained their necks and raised themselves on their 
 toes to see the better. The strong men jostled 
 and pushed the weak. Old people fell in the press 
 and were trodden under foot. Girls shrieked in 
 fear, and none heeded them — not even their lovers. 
 The soldiers struck the crowd with their fists, and 
 even with the flat of their weapons, in order to 
 make a path for themselves. And, with each 
 moment that passed, the uproar became more 
 terrific. The auctioneer, who was crying the merits 
 of the slaves, could no longer make himself audible. 
 And the business of the market came, perforce, to 
 a standstill. 
 
 And now, just as the hour was at hand, there 
 was suddenly a terrific roar of voices from the left 
 side of the square, from which quarter ran the 
 street that led to the dungeon. The crowd surged 
 in that direction like a tide of a great sea. On 
 every hand arose shouts — " Lemuel the Israelite ! " 
 " Lemuel, son of Zoar ! " " See the prophet ! " 
 " The traitor ! " " The denouncer of Babylon ! " 
 " Slay him ! slay him ! "
 
 228 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 There was a clashing of arms, a glitter of spears. 
 The crowd surged back as violently as it had 
 surged forward. For the guards of the king, clad 
 in helmets, coats of mail, leathern drawers, and 
 high-laced boots, marched into the square, beating 
 back all who obstructed their progress. Their 
 helmets were of bronze, on which the sun shone 
 bravely, and they bore stout shields of metal and 
 tall spears tipped with bronze. But martial and 
 brilliant as they looked, the people scarcely heeded 
 them. For all eyes were turned to the two who 
 walked in their midst — to Lemuel and to the 
 maiden Elna. 
 
 Lemuel came first, walking with a firm step and 
 holding himself fearlessly erect. He was clad in 
 a coarse garment of wool given him to wear in 
 the prison, and chains hung upon his mighty arms 
 and upon his legs. His head was uncovered to 
 the blaze of the noonday sun, and his luminous 
 eyes met calmly the gaze of the multitude who 
 thronged about him. Elna, who was also miser- 
 ably attired, was veiled. She too walked with 
 a firm step and seemed to take no heed of the 
 excited uproar of the rabble. Now and then the 
 procession paused, when the soldiers, for the 
 moment, were blocked by the density of the 
 crowd. During one of these moments, Sabaal 
 found means to force his way close up to Lemuel. 
 
 " Be patient and watch ! " he whispered. 
 
 Lemuel returned an almost imperceptible sign 
 of understanding. A soldier brutally beat back 
 Sabaal with his shield — the guard moved forward
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 229 
 
 again, and at length gained the rostrum. As they 
 did so, the IsraeHtes pressed determinedly for- 
 ward, and stood close around the steps which led 
 up to the platform on which the slaves were ex- 
 posed to view. Many of them leaned upon stout 
 staves. Others clutched the long knives that lay 
 hidden within the bosoms of their flowing robes. 
 But the Babylonians heeded them not, being too 
 intent upon Lemuel and Elna, who were now 
 forced to ascend to the rostrum. As they did so, 
 and appeared on high, visible to all that thronged 
 the square, a sudden dead silence fell upon the 
 people. Every voice was for a moment hushed, 
 as every eye fastened upon them to behold their 
 beauty and the strange courage which had surely 
 come down to them from heaven itself. They 
 stood there side by side, calm and resolute. Even 
 Elna did not tremble or show the least symptom 
 of terror. The slave-merchant, a swarthy Baby- 
 lonian, stood half-way up the steps of the ros- 
 trum. The guards were beneath him, holding their 
 shields and spears. A trumpet rang out. Then 
 an official mounted the steps at the back of the 
 rostrum softly, approached the place where Elna 
 stood, lifted his hand and took from her face the 
 veil which had covered it hitherto. 
 
 A cry rose from the crowd. The young dandies 
 strained their eyes to see this beauty of which all 
 Babylon had been gossiping. The rabble drew 
 in their breath. The women murmured. And 
 Jediah, laying his hand upon the arm of Adoram, 
 uttered a hoarse ejaculation. For never had Elna
 
 2 30 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 looked more lovely, as she stood with her eyes 
 cast down, the coarse garment that she wore half 
 revealing the beautiful lines of her fair limbs, the 
 chains hanging from her soft and delicate arms, 
 and the flood of her magnificent black hair flowing 
 about her. The whiteness of her face was still as 
 marble. No terror convulsed it. Her soft lips 
 were set together. And now, even while the 
 multitude regarded her, she lifted up her eyes 
 and fixed them upon Lemuel, with a glance of 
 steadfast trust and deep love that moved even the 
 coarse and hateful hearts of the dissipated Baby- 
 lonians, A murmur of admiration ran from mouth 
 to mouth, growing louder and louder. The young 
 dandies strove to move nearer to the rostrum, but 
 the rabble pressed them back, heedless now of 
 rank or state. The guards extended their stout 
 shields in a wall against the people who trampled 
 about them, and the slave-merchant, from his post 
 of vantage on the steps of the rostrum, lifted up 
 his tremendous voice and cried aloud — 
 
 " By the will of our lord the king ! " 
 
 " May the king live for ever ! " shouted the 
 people. 
 
 The shrouded Lsraelites pressed a little closer to 
 the steps. 
 
 " This man and woman," cried the slave-mer- 
 chant, "until now free, are to be sold to whom- 
 soever shall bid the highest price ; and whosoever 
 shall buy them, it is b)' our lord decreed that 
 they shall keep them in bondage to be their slaves 
 so long as they may will it ; and these their slaves
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 231 
 
 shall be obedient unto them in all things, and obe}' 
 them without a murmur, their masters having 
 absolute dominion over them and power to punish, 
 even unto death, their disobedience. This is the 
 decree of our lord the king — may he live for 
 ever ! The woman is to be sold first. Who is 
 there to bid?" 
 
 There was a moment's pause. All faces were 
 turned towards the rostrum. Lemuel folded his 
 arms and set his lips a little more firmly together. 
 His eyes regarded Elna with a passion of brave 
 pity and affection. 
 
 " Who is there to buy ? " cried the slave-merchant 
 again, in a voice of thunder. 
 
 And he looked around over the crowd. 
 
 Jediah raised his arm and forced his way with 
 difficulty to the steps. 
 
 " A purchaser ! a purchaser ! " cried many voices. 
 
 Elna and Lemuel, noting the stir, looked down 
 and beheld the deathly white face and fierce, 
 glittering eyes of Jediah. And, for the first 
 time, Elna trembled and seemed for a moment 
 afraid. 
 
 " By the laws of Babylon," said Jediah, in a hard 
 and distinct voice, " by the laws of Babylon, the 
 purchaser hath absolute power over his slaves ? " 
 
 " By the laws of Babylon," cried the merchant, 
 "and by the will of our lord the king." 
 
 " Even unto death ? " said Jediah, 
 
 " I have said," returned the merchant. 
 
 The excitement of the crowd was heightened 
 by the sinister question of Jediah.
 
 232 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 "Death?" they cried. "What meaneth he? 
 What would he with the maiden ? " 
 
 Then again they were silent, to see what Jediah 
 would do. He stood leaning heavily upon his 
 staff, in silence. 
 
 " Wilt thou bid for this woman ? " asked the 
 merchant. 
 
 Then Jediah raised his voice and cried aloud — 
 
 " I bid for that woman — an hundred pieces of 
 silver," 
 
 An exclamation broke from the crowd. The 
 slave-merchant chuckled with satisfaction. 
 
 " A noble commencement ! " cried a voice in the 
 crowd. 
 
 All turned to the direction from which it came, 
 and beheld the Lord Alorus, who now made his 
 way towards the place where stood Jediah. 
 
 "A noble commencement!" Alorus cried again, 
 " but far below the maiden's price. I offer — five 
 hundred." 
 
 Jediah grasped his staff harder, and his livid face 
 took an ashen tint. 
 
 " Six hundred ! " he cried. 
 
 " Seven ! " responded Alorus, laughing. 
 
 " Eight ! " shouted Jediah. 
 
 " Nine ! " returned Alorus. 
 
 " A thousand ! " Jediah said hoarsely. 
 
 " Two thousand ! " replied Alorus. 
 
 A roar broke from the multitude, who pressed 
 against the shields of the guards. They were 
 fascinated by this contest and by the mention of 
 these great sums of money. It seemed as if the
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 233 
 
 beggars smacked their lips as a starving man does 
 when he hears of the dehcious food eaten by others. 
 
 " Two thousand ! " reiterated Alorus, disdain- 
 fully returning the frantic gaze of Jediah, whose 
 eyes glared like those of an animal. 
 
 " Two thousand pieces of silver have been offered 
 by my Lord Alorus for this maiden," vociferated 
 the slave-dealer. " Is this the end ? — or doth any 
 here bid more ? " 
 
 There was an instant's pause. Then Jediah, 
 speaking in a harsh and shaking voice, said — 
 
 " Two thousand five hundred ! " 
 
 " Four thousand ! " laughed Alorus, arranging 
 the bracelets upon his arm. " Four thousand for 
 this pretty maiden ! Four thousand, Israelite ! " 
 
 Jediah was now gasping for breath, like unto a 
 man who is taken by a fit or who is well-nigh 
 suffocated. The sweat broke forth upon his fore- 
 head. He tottered and caught hold of one of the 
 guards for support. 
 
 " Four — thousand — five — five — hundred ! " he 
 stammered. 
 
 " My lord will pardon his servant," said the 
 slave-dealer, bending down to him. " But my 
 Lord Alorus hath offered four thousand pieces of 
 silver for this maiden. The Lord Alorus is known 
 to me and unto all Babylon. But thou art a 
 stranger. It may be that thou hast not the means 
 to pay the sum that thou hast named. Hast thou 
 indeed as much with thee ? " 
 
 " Alas ! " groaned Jediah, " no. I have it not 
 here with me."
 
 234 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 " Then," returned the merchant, " the maiden is 
 the property of my Lord Alorus, unless thou canst 
 name a surety that thou wilt pay in full the sum 
 that thou hast offered." 
 
 "A surety?" said Jediah, speaking as a man 
 that is dazed. " A surety, sayest thou ? " 
 
 " Ay," said the merchant. " Canst thou name 
 one who will be thy surety for the full value thou 
 hast offered ? " 
 
 There was again a pause. Jediah bent his head 
 upon his breast. He seemed to be considering 
 deeply. 
 
 " Well ? " said the merchant impatiently. " Well ? 
 Answerest thou nothing?" 
 
 Jediah lifted his head. 
 
 " I can name one," he said slowly, " and only 
 one, who knoweth that I can and will pay the sum 
 that I have named for purchase of this maiden." 
 
 " Who is that ? " cried the merchant. 
 
 " My Lord Alorus," answered Jediah. 
 
 This answer struck surprise through all who 
 heard it. Even Alorus was moved from his usual 
 affected manner of contemptuous disdain. He 
 clapped his hand on his girdle with a gesture of 
 astonishment, exclaiming — 
 
 " I ! By Baal ! Shall I arm mine enemy that 
 he may slay me ? " 
 
 " Thou dost know me ! " said Jediah passionately, 
 " and what this maiden is to me. Thou dost seek 
 to take her from me. Let the fight be equal. Be 
 thou my surety ! " 
 
 These words caught the sense of justice, the
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 235 
 
 love of contest that lives in crowds. The people 
 pressed frantically round, vociferating — 
 
 " 'Tis well said. The Israelite speaks truth. Be 
 thou his surety. Let the fight be fair." 
 
 " Well," said Alorus, with a smile, " for one other 
 bid I will, but not for one shekel more. The last 
 bid was for four thousand five hundred pieces of 
 silver. I bid five thousand. And for thy next 
 bid, let it be what it may, I will be thy surety. 
 Now — what sayest thou ? " 
 
 After he ceased to speak, the silence was intense. 
 All the vast multitude stood as if under some spell, 
 gazing at Jediah, who, in his excitement, had 
 mounted upon the steps of the rostrum close to 
 the slave-dealer. Elna never moved. She looked 
 like some lovely statue of terror. For now her 
 calm had left her. The fury of Jediah, his deter- 
 mination to spend all that he had so that he might 
 wreak his vengeance upon her, shook the depths 
 of her steadfast soul. Lemuel too was moved, 
 but he bore himself calmly. Only the light in his 
 eyes showed the strength of his excitement. 
 
 Jediah, clinging to the balustrade of the rostrum, 
 shook like a man stricken with the palsy. He 
 moved his white lips once or twice, but no sound 
 came from them. 
 
 " Five thousand ! I have spoken ! " cried Alorus 
 triumphantly. " The maiden is " — 
 
 Jediah raised his arms on high, in a frantic 
 gesture, as if he would tear down Elna from the 
 place whereon she stood, high above him. 
 
 " I bid five thousand five hundred ! " he shrieked.
 
 236 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 "I can no more. Five thousand and five hun- 
 dred ! " 
 
 Alorus burst into a sneering laugh. 
 
 " Six thousand ! " he exclaimed. 
 
 There w^as a wild roar from the crowd. Jediah 
 staggered and must have fallen, had not Adoram 
 caught him and held him up. 
 
 " What saith my lord ? " asked the slave-mer- 
 chant. 
 
 " I cannot — I cannot outbid this lord for her,'*' 
 said Jediah. " He hath surely all the wealth of 
 Babylon. But I will buy him — the man " — and 
 he pointed with his trembling hand to Lemuel. 
 " He shall, at least, be mine. I can — no — more 
 Water — give me water ! " 
 
 Adoram handed him a cup filled with water. 
 He drained it, and, dropping his hand, let the cup 
 fall upon the steps of the rostrum. 
 
 " My Lord Alorus," said the slave-merchant, 
 " the maid is thine." 
 
 " Lemuel," murmured Elna, " what am I to do ? " 
 
 " For the moment, whate'er they bid thee," he 
 whispered. " But have no fear." 
 
 " Now the man is offered," cried the merchant. 
 " Who bids for the man ? " 
 
 " I will," said Jediah to Adoram, " if it costeth 
 me all mine inheritance. For where he goeth, 
 there will she surely follow, if she doth live." 
 
 " Fifty pieces of silver ! " cried a voice in the 
 crowd. 
 
 " Two hundred ! " exclaimed Meraioth, the Baby- 
 lonish woman, who stood with the Lord Alorus.
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 237 
 
 " Three hundred ! " cried the voice. 
 " Five hundred ! " retorted Meraioth, gazing with 
 favourable eyes upon the manly glory of the noble 
 face of Lemuel. 
 
 " Six hundred 1 " said Jediah, calling upon all his 
 energy, and bracing himself to win in this final 
 contest for revenge. 
 
 " Seven ! " cried the voice. 
 " Eight ! " said Jediah loudly. 
 " One thousand ! " said Meraioth, becoming 
 greatly excited. 
 
 " Who is it that bids against us — against me 
 and this Israelite?" she whispered to Alorus. 
 
 " Nay, I know not," he said, turning to gaze 
 upon the seething mass of people. " Some woman 
 who hateth thee, perchance, or who loveth the 
 shepherd." 
 
 " Two thousand ! " cried Jediah. 
 " Three ! " cried Meraioth. " Three ! — three 
 thousand for the shepherd." 
 
 Jediah's countenance was contorted with rage. 
 He turned on Meraioth like some wild beast. 
 
 " A thousand curses light on the Jezebel ! " he 
 exclaimed furiously. " Three thousand five hun- 
 dred ! " 
 
 " Four thousand ! " shrieked Meraioth. 
 " Five thousand ! " cried Jediah, in a voice that 
 was hoarse and almost inhuman with rage and 
 excitement. " Five thousand ! " 
 
 He leaned down from the balustrade to which 
 he was clinging, and gazing with a desperate de- 
 fiance into the face of Meraioth, snarled out again —
 
 2 38 THE DAUGHTERS OE BABYLON 
 
 " Five thousand ! " 
 
 She fell backward a step towards Alorus, and 
 murmured — 
 
 " I can no more ! " 
 
 Jediah heard the words. A terrible smile of 
 triumph hovered on his lips, which were wet with 
 blood where his teeth had bitten them. He turned 
 to the slave-dealer, and, shaking one hand towards 
 the place where Lemuel stood, he cried fiercely — 
 
 " He is mine — mine — mine ! " 
 
 But even as he spoke the words, the tall and 
 majestic veiled figure of a woman came forward 
 to the foot of the steps whereon he stood, all the 
 crowd, as with one common impulse, making way 
 for her. And a clear and imperious voice said, so 
 distinctly that it was audible far off to the more 
 distant crowd — 
 
 " Six thousand ! " 
 
 Jediah started as if he had been struck. He 
 stared down at this mysterious opponent almost 
 with terror, and the smile of triumph faded from 
 his face, leaving it grey and old and appalling to 
 look upon. 
 
 " Who is this woman ? " he whispered. 
 
 But nobody gave answer. 
 
 " Six thousand ! " repeated the woman, raising 
 her voice. 
 
 " Seven thousand — seven ! " stammered Jediah. 
 
 *' Eight thousand ! " said the woman inflexibly. 
 
 Exclamations broke from the crowd. A girl, over- 
 come with excitement and emotion, staggered and 
 fainted. No one heeded her. All eyes were fixed
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 239 
 
 on this magnificent veiled figure that stood up like 
 some strange and superb statue of resolution before 
 the steps on which Jediah crouched, rent by con- 
 flicting emotions of passion and terror. 
 
 " Eight thousand ! " 
 
 Jediah tottered a step downwards towards where 
 the woman stood, thrusting his head forward like 
 a man who, despite himself, draws near to behold 
 some horrible spectre that meets him on his path. 
 
 " I demand to know who is my opponent," he 
 said, with a terrible cry. " Let her unveil ! Let 
 me behold her face ! " 
 
 With a grand and sweeping gesture the woman 
 cast back her veil. 
 
 " Behold it, then, Jediah, son of Zoar ! " she 
 answered, in clear and ringing tones, that vibrated 
 with an intense bitterness of scorn. 
 
 A blind man who stood afar among the crowd, 
 seized hold of his neighbour with a wild exclama- 
 tion. The man, a Babylonian, shook him roughly 
 off, cursing him. 
 
 " Ishtar ! " exclaimed the people gathered close 
 around the rostrum. 
 
 " The Lady Ishtar ! " cried even the guards of 
 the king. 
 
 " Elcia ! " murmured Jediah, horror-stricken. 
 
 For one moment he seemed about to recoil, to 
 turn away, to flee. 
 
 "The shepherd is Ishtar's," cried the Baby- 
 lonians, " he is to the Lady Ishtar ! " 
 
 The cry ran from mouth to mouth, through all 
 the vast assemblage.
 
 240 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 " Ishtar's ! Ishtar's ! " shouted the people 
 
 This cry pierced to the very soul of Jediah. He 
 glanced up at Lemuel. He gazed down at Ishtar, 
 whose eyes were fixed upon him with a fire of 
 intensity that seemed actually to burn as a flame. 
 Then, gathering his forces for one last effort, he 
 cried, like one demented — 
 
 " Ten thousand ! " 
 
 " Twenty thousand ! " said the cold and inflexible 
 voice of Lshtar. 
 
 Jediah swayed upon the steps. His eyes were 
 bloodshot. Foam broke from between his gnash- 
 ing teeth. He extended his hands as if to clutch 
 Ishtar by the throat and strangle her. Then, 
 uttering a terrible, inarticulate exclamation, he fell 
 senseless into the arms of Adoram. 
 
 The uproar from the crowd was now terrific. 
 Men fought to gain a nearer view of the extra- 
 ordinary events going forward around the rostrum. 
 Women shrieked and struggled and were trodden 
 under foot. The people who had been hitherto 
 watching from the houses now descended from the 
 windows and poured into the market-place, render- 
 ing the press and confusion more dangerous ever}- 
 moment. The slave-merchant, alarmed by the 
 riot, hastily cried out — 
 
 " My Lord Alorus, the maid is thine. Lady 
 Ishtar, Lemuel the shepherd is thine own, to do 
 with as thou wilt. Come and give thy bonds ! 
 Swift, for the people grow dangerous. Soldiers, 
 guard well your slaves ! " 
 
 He turned to ascend the steps. As he did so,
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 241 
 
 Lemuel advanced to the balustrade and, placing- 
 his two hands upon it despite the heavy chains 
 that hung from his wrists and almost crippled him, 
 shouted in a voice that rang out above all the 
 furious exclamations of the surging multitude — 
 
 " Sons of Israel ! Will ye see this daughter of 
 your race sold into infamy and slavery? " 
 
 An answering shout rose up from the Israelites 
 who had crowded round the tribune, unheeded in 
 the general excitement. 
 
 " Never ! " they cried, as one man. " Never ! " 
 
 " Strike, then," shouted Lemuel, " for the hour 
 hath come ! Strike for Israel — for her freedom 
 and for thine own ! To arms ! To arms ! To 
 arms ! " 
 
 In answer to his inspiring call, the Israelites 
 drew their knives and grasped their staves and 
 attacked with fury the surging Babylonians, who, 
 utterly unprepared for the assault, driven hither 
 and thither by their own comrades, scarce knew 
 how to defend themselves. Sabaal, with many 
 followers, sprang to the rostrum, covered Elna and 
 Lemuel in two cloaks which rendered them un- 
 recognisable and concealed their chains, and drew 
 them hastily down into the midst of the crowd, 
 where they were quickly lost to view. Having 
 once sunk among the people, who were all in wild 
 confusion, it was soon possible to convey them 
 away unnoticed, and following the onrush of the 
 fighting Israelites and Babylonians, and taking 
 swift advantage of every opening that presented 
 itself, to gain one of the verges of the square, and 
 16
 
 242 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 finally to escape from it through the open space 
 that lay beyond the golden statue of the great god 
 Bel. 
 
 Meanwhile, the fury and terror increased in the 
 market-place and extended through the city, 
 assuming the proportions of a formidable and 
 dangerous riot. The Babylonish soldiers were 
 called out, and the king himself trembled within 
 his palace. Many of the Babylonians, long accus- 
 tomed to ease and to every form of refinement and 
 debauchery, fled before the passion of the Israelites. 
 The gates of the temples and of the magnificent 
 mansions of the nobles were locked and barred. 
 Women hid themselves in inner chambers. And 
 the night fell upon a tumult that was almost like 
 unto the seething of demons in the pit of hell 
 itself. 
 
 The lower Babylonians, profiting by the general 
 disorganisation, broke into the bazaars and shops, 
 looted, plundered, and drank. Even the soldiers 
 gave themselves up to the wildest excesses. 
 
 And Ishtar, leaning late upon the balustrade of 
 her garden terrace, and looking out over the 
 lighted city, from which rose confused shouts of 
 fury, shrieks of despair, the clash of arms, the 
 beating of the enormous war-drums, and the pierc- 
 ing calls of trumpets — seeing the flames leaping up 
 from burning buildings and, mingled with volumes 
 of smoke, mounting towards the stars — Ishtar said 
 unto herself — 
 
 "Can it, indeed, be true? Are the days of 
 Babylon indeed numbered ? Is the God of Israel
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 243 
 
 wroth with the heathen, and shall He send down 
 His fury to consume this people? And I — I — 
 Whither shall I go ? Ah, Lemuel, Lemuel ! " 
 
 She laid her forehead upon the cold marble, 
 and as the flames from the burning quarters of the 
 city sprang up still higher, as if they would reach 
 the mighty walls of her palace, she wept at last 
 as if all the troubles of the years came trooping 
 about her in the night ; as if her soul — which had 
 struggled so long against despair, giving itself to 
 the spectre called Lust, and to the phantom named 
 Pleasure — could no longer strive, or fight, or hope, 
 or disdain, but could only grovel in the dust, and 
 faint in a hopeless desire of forgiveness and of 
 peace !
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 Three days had passed. The riot in the city had 
 been, with difficulty, subdued. The flames of the 
 conflagration, ignited by the refuse of tlie Baby- 
 lonians themselves, had been quenched. Com- 
 parative quietude had been restored. Not yet was 
 the prophecy of Lemuel in the palace garden of 
 Ishtar to come true. Not yet was the mighty city 
 doomed todestruction. Buttherisingof the Israelites, 
 the rescue of their hero, the shepherd Lemuel, his 
 escape — temporary, perhaps, but for the moment 
 certain — all these events spread through Babylon 
 a grave disquietude, a growing sense of uneasiness 
 and of insecurity, which was accentuated by tl:c 
 fact that a large number of Persians inhabiting the 
 city had joined actively in the revolt, and that 
 the Babylonish soldiers had shown themselves 
 cowardly and indifferent to the dangers of the 
 king and of his capital. They too, like the 
 nobles, the higher functionaries, and the priests, 
 were undermined, body and soul, by indulgence 
 and by pride. Believing themselves to be under 
 the special protection of the great gods, and so 
 invincible, they took little heed of discipline or of 
 manly exercises at this period, but loved the wine- 
 
 244
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 245 
 
 cup and worshipped women. In a time of peace 
 they bore themselves brilliantly enough in their 
 shining armour. They had a martial outside, the 
 gallant swagger that imposes upon the ignorant 
 and catches the favour of maidens. But even this 
 rising brought their inherent weakness and rotten- 
 ness plainly to the view of all who were not blinded 
 by the tinsel trappings of an apparent glory, or 
 lulled in the radiant dreams that only come with a 
 sleep that is dangerous, if not deadly. 
 
 Far-seeing men were, however, rare in Babylon. 
 And already, in three days, the rising was almost 
 forgotten. A few Israelites had fled ; a few had 
 been thrown into prison. But, owing to the riotous 
 behaviour of the Babylonians themselves, it had 
 been extremely difficult to discover the ringleaders 
 of the tumult. Already people talked of other 
 things. Already the great god. Pleasure, resumed 
 his interrupted sway, and in the palace of the Lord 
 Alorus — as in the other palaces of Babylon — there 
 was feasting and merriment as there had ever been. 
 
 It was afternoon. Within a magnificent chamber 
 of his palace, Alorus sat with his friend Menanahim, 
 drinking wine and gossiping of the events that 
 had been passing. Both men preserved their 
 habitual air of dandified complacence. Their calm 
 had apparently been in nowise disturbed. Their 
 gaiety was in nowise ruffled. Or so it seemed at 
 the first, as they talked lazily, while the silver water 
 of the fountains rose and fell on the scented air, 
 and the slaves, kneeling before them, cooled their 
 tinted faces with the waving fans of feathers set
 
 246 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 in polished ivory. Yet, now and then, a shadow 
 crossed the impudent countenance of Alorus, and 
 he moved a little restlessly upon his golden seat. 
 And when, presently, a slave entered running, he 
 turned and cried — 
 
 " Weir, well ? And hast thou heard nothing 
 further of these Israelites ? " 
 
 " No, my lord," replied the slave humbly, " The 
 soldiers say they seemed to vanish into thin air." 
 
 Alorus struck his hands together with an im- 
 patient gesture. 
 
 " The soldiers ! " he exclaimed. " By Baal, and 
 what do they know or care ? They think of naught 
 save of feasting and revelr}-. Go, go ! But be 
 within hail. Thou hearest ? " 
 
 The slave made a low obeisance and softly 
 retreated, Alorus rose up from his seat and paced 
 restlessly to and fro about the chamber, 
 
 " Any pretext ! " he muttered. " Any pretext to 
 cover negligence ! A prisoner escapes. Oh, he 
 took unto himself wings — he disappeared in fire or 
 vanished in a cloud." 
 
 " Nay," rejoined Menanahim, " the vulgar are 
 ever superstitious," 
 
 As if struck by a sudden recollection, he jumped 
 up hastily and made a fantastic inclination before 
 some golden effigies of the gods of Babylon that 
 stood upon an altar of marble in the chamber. 
 
 " May the great god Bel banish the Seven from 
 thy house ! " he cried, with an affected exaggeration 
 of piety. Then he added, resuming his former 
 tone —
 
 THK DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 247 
 
 " The Lady Ishtar hath a hand in this." 
 
 " Thinkest thou ? " rejoined Alorus. " Nay, then, 
 for hand say heart. And, truly, wonderful is the 
 heart of woman. Like as the wind, it goeth where 
 it listeth, and all in vain we seek the reason why." 
 
 " Reason ! " cried Menanahim. " lie who seeketh 
 reason in a woman seeketh his own confusion. As 
 well seek to number the sands of the sea. Where 
 women are concerned a man must take what the gods 
 do give him, with much thankfulness and without 
 question. I never question — and am ever grateful." 
 
 " I would be grateful too," said Alorus, still 
 pacing up and down, " did the gods give me the 
 woman I desire." 
 
 *' Ah," said Menanahim, speaking now with an 
 anaemic bitterness, " ah, desire no woman, but all 
 women — so shalt thou escape much tribulation." 
 
 " For the sake of some women, tribulation becomes 
 a joy," cried Alorus. " He who hath not seen such 
 hath no sight. I have mine eyes, and mine eyes do 
 guide my heart." 
 
 " F'f ! " sneered Menanahim ; " heart ! What is 
 that? Heart? I deem that old Khasis-a-dra 
 forgot to include those encumbrances among the 
 strange things he took into his ark, and that the 
 Deluge destroyed them." 
 A slave entered. 
 
 "What is it? What desirest thou?" cried 
 Alorus impatiently. " Cannot I be left in peace 
 even for one moment ? " 
 
 " It is the Lady Ishtar," said the slave sub- 
 missively.
 
 248 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 "Ishtar!" said Alorus. "Go; escort her 
 hither." 
 
 The slave withdrew. Alorus turned to Menana- 
 him, who had sprung up from the couch on which 
 he had been extended by a table on which stood 
 fruit, wine, and confections in boxes and trays of 
 silver. 
 
 " Here cometh a woman," said Alorus, " who 
 hath found that very thing — the heart — of which 
 thou dost doubt the existence." 
 
 Menanahim's lips curled in a bitter sneer, but he 
 said nothing, for at this moment there was heard 
 the rustling of a robe, and Lshtar herself entered, 
 attended by two female slaves. 
 
 " Hail, Lady Ishtar ! " cried Menanahim, bending 
 low before her. " Hail ! Thou art radiant as 
 Samas, the sun-god, himself!" 
 
 Ishtar bowed her head coldly. She was dressed 
 with an unusual simplicity in a robe of dull blue 
 silk, that looked almost black where it fell into 
 folds. And she wore no jewels of any kind. 
 
 The two men regarded her with some astonish- 
 ment, 
 
 "Where are thy jewels, Ishtar?" said Alorus. 
 
 " And where thy " — began Menanahim. 
 
 But she stopped him with an imperious gesture. 
 
 " I would speak with thee alone, O Alorus," she 
 said. 
 
 An expression of gratified surprise came into 
 the face of Alorus. He cast a side glance towards 
 a mirror of steel that stood near, and mechanically 
 passed his ringed hands through his perfumed hair.
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 249 
 
 " Alone ! " he exclaimed. " I am indeed highly 
 favoured." 
 
 Menanahim scowled. 
 
 " Thrice-blessed Alorus ! " he said, with a feeble 
 attempt to conceal his anger. 
 
 He drew a little closer to Ishtar. 
 
 " Shall I tell thee, lady," he said, " what the Lord 
 Alorus hath just said of thee ? " 
 
 "Naught evil, I trust?" said Ishtar indifferently. 
 
 " It is a matter of doubt, lady. He hath told 
 me that — that thou hast found that most rare of 
 earthly things — a heart." 
 
 The look of indifference left Ishtar's face and 
 was replaced by an expression of glorious pride. 
 
 " He speaketh truth," she answered, in a ringing 
 voice. " I have found a heart indeed. And know, 
 O Menanahim, that it is mine own ! " 
 
 As she spoke she looked him full in the eyes, 
 and she seemed almost like one transformed — 
 like one who stood in some strange and glowing 
 radiance. Never before had she appeared so 
 wondrously beautiful. For now to the beauty of 
 face and form, of deep eyes and exquisite limbs, of 
 noble bearing and of incomparable grace, there 
 was added a wonder of the spirit, a beauty of 
 soul, an intensity of sublime emotionalism that 
 uplifted her, and seemed verily to set her on high, 
 as on some throne from which she gazed down 
 upon the earth below. And yet there was no 
 insolence of worldly pride in her now, but a species 
 of thrilling humility, a white fire of modesty and 
 of most delicate tenderness and patience. Men-
 
 2 so THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 anahim gazed upon her with a kind of brutish 
 wonder. 
 
 " Ishtar's heart ! " he said slowly. ' Great Bel ! 
 What is its price ? " 
 
 He looked at Alorus, and then back again to 
 Ishtar. 
 
 " Emeralds and pearls can scarcely buy the lips 
 of Ishtar," he continued. " What mine of rubies 
 hath purchased her heart ? " 
 
 "It hath not been jjurchased," said Ishtar. 
 " Reckless, foolish merchant that I am, I have given 
 it away." 
 
 As she spoke a beautiful flush crept into her 
 white cheeks ; and, for the first time, she cast down 
 her great eyes as one half ashamed. 
 
 Menanahim regarded her with a growing irrita- 
 tion and amazement. 
 
 " Foolish indeed ! " he exclaimed. " Take heed, 
 fair merchant, that he who received the gift of thy 
 merchandise doth not estimate its value at the 
 price he paid for it." 
 
 And he laughed bitterly. But Ishtar answered, 
 with a beautiful and profound melancholy — 
 
 "And if he did, who shall deny his judgment? 
 I"or who would believe in Ishtar's love? Who 
 would have faith in Ishtar's constancy ? " 
 
 " At least I cannot," cried Menanahim, whose 
 wounded vanity had never forgiven the slight 
 Ishtar had put upon him when she preferred 
 Lemuel to him, and bade Lemuel lie at her feet 
 while the slave-girls danced in the moonbeams in 
 the palace garden.
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 251 
 
 " Thou ! " said Ishtar, with a scorn she did not 
 attempt to conceal. 
 
 Menanahim opened his lips to speak. The red 
 blood of anger rose beneath the dye with which 
 his weak and sensual face was covered. He 
 seemed about to make an angry rejoinder. But 
 he checked himself, assumed a smile of contempt 
 which could not conceal his disappointed jealousy, 
 and caught up the flowing garment he wore with 
 his white and effeminate hand. 
 
 " Ishtar's eyes are clouded," he said, with a 
 travesty of dandified courtliness. " The moon is 
 passing 'twixt the earth and the sun, and all the 
 land is dark. I do not love the dark nor any 
 creeping thing that is engendered by it. And so 
 farewell, my Lady Ishtar." 
 
 He swept a bow, to which she scarcely deigned 
 to respond by a slight inclination of her head. 
 Then he cried out, with a sort of weak defiance — 
 
 " I go to other beauties ! I go to seek the sun ! " 
 and walked airily out of the chamber, turning at 
 the doorway to shoot one glance of bitter hatred 
 at Ishtar. 
 
 She did not even see it. But as he disappeared 
 behind the drapery that hung before the doorway, 
 she said to Alorus, with a sigh as if of great 
 relief — 
 
 " He seeketh the sun ! So do all butterflies, and 
 when they find it not they die or vanish." 
 
 Then turning to her slaves, who waited behind 
 her, immobile as statues, she said unto them — 
 
 " Wait me without."
 
 25 2 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 They saluted and obeyed her command, leaving 
 her and Alorus alone in the chamber. 
 
 " What unaccustomed grace is here ? " he asked, 
 in growing wonderment. " For the first time I am 
 alone with thee, Ishtar — a boon thou hast ever 
 refused me until now." 
 
 " Because I have ever valued thy friendship," 
 she replied slowly. " A man forgets all friendship 
 when he finds himself alone with a woman." 
 
 She fixed her great and melancholy eyes upon 
 him as if she would read his heart. 
 
 " Is it not so?" she asked. 
 
 Alorus felt uneasy beneath her .searching gaze, 
 he scarce knew why. 
 
 " Prove it," he answered. " We are alone. Ask 
 of my — friendship any favour. What would'st 
 thou, lady ? " 
 
 Ishtar, with a sudden and swift movement, 
 approached him and laid her hand upon his arm. 
 
 " I would have this slave-girl whom thou hast 
 purchased," she said. 
 
 Alorus started with amazement. 
 
 " Elna ? " he cried. " But she hath fled." 
 
 " That I know. But Babylon's arms are far- 
 reaching enough to clasp her and to bring her back 
 again to thee." 
 
 Alorus pursed his lips and hunched his shoulders. 
 
 " Truly," he said. " But — perchance a little de- 
 creased in value. Her companion " — 
 
 " I understand," exclaimed Ishtar, interrupting 
 him. " But then the less valuable, the easier parted 
 with. Is it not so ? "
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 253 
 
 " Not so fast, dear lady, not so fast," returned 
 Alorus, smiling. " Less valuable doth not mean 
 valueless." 
 
 " Is she, indeed, so precious unto thee ? " asked 
 Ishtar. 
 
 And there was an unwonted accent of pleading 
 in her voice. 
 
 " Well, she will cost me six thousand pieces of 
 silver at the least." 
 
 "If I refund thee the full price?" said Ishtar, 
 with increasing insistence. 
 
 " Well," replied Alorus, " to tell the very truth, 
 lady, I would rather thou did'st refund m}' 
 slave." 
 
 Ishtar turned from him with obvious im- 
 patience. 
 
 " What is it governs a man ? " she cried, 
 stamping her foot upon the ground. 
 
 "'Tis hard to tell," said Alorus, with most 
 unruffled composure and his most effeminate 
 air of dandyism. " Say instinct. We are but 
 brutes at the best." 
 
 Ishtar swept round upon him. 
 
 " And at the worst ? " she cried. 
 
 Alorus bowed before her with suave mockery. 
 
 " Can Alorus instruct Ishtar ? " he said. 
 
 For a moment Ishtar was deadly silent. Her 
 cheeks flushed, then turned pale. Her lovely 
 bosom heaved, and angry tears swam in her 
 eyes. Then she lifted up her right arm with a 
 magnificent gesture as of one invoking the 
 judgment of Heaven itself, and said in a voice
 
 254 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 that thrilled with passion and quivered with 
 intensity — 
 
 " Ah ! accursed, thrice accursed be the man 
 who made Ishtar what she was ! " 
 
 Even as she spoke the words, the hideous form 
 of Migdapul, the god - seller, appeared for a 
 moment in the aperture of the doorway, then 
 swiftly and silently drew back into the shadow. 
 
 " Was ? " said Alorus. " And is ! " 
 
 " Nay," cried Ishtar, with e\er - increasing 
 vehemence, " was — was — and never again will 
 be." 
 
 Alorus threw himself down upon a couch and 
 took up a fan, which he began to wave slowly 
 to and fro. 
 
 " What hath changed Ishtar ? " he asked, laugh- 
 ing lightly. 
 
 " A good man's pure love," she answered, with a 
 grave sincerity, and lingering on the words as if 
 they were dear to her lips. 
 
 " For thee ? " cried Alorus. " For thee, most 
 pure and innocent Fshtar ? " 
 
 " Alas, no ! " she said, heedless of the taunt. 
 " Not for me. For another." 
 
 Alorus laid down the fan, took up a vase con- 
 taining a perfume brought from the western 
 region of India, and poured some upon his 
 hands. 
 
 " And a good man's pure love," he said banter- 
 ingly. " I marvel much what that is like ! A good 
 man's pure love — for another — hath changed proud 
 Ishtar's life ? "
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 255 
 
 *' Doth not pure love exist in man ? " she said. 
 
 " It did, doubtless, before the Fall." 
 
 " Alas for man's fall ! " 
 
 Alorus heaved an ostentatious sigh, leaning back 
 upon his cushions. 
 
 " Alas for the woman who did occasion that 
 fall ! " he said. 
 
 " The serpent was the cause," said Ishtar. 
 
 " Ah ! " chuckled Alorus, *' I have ever had my 
 doubts as to the sex of that same serpent. But, 
 at anyrate, lady, after the serpent, the woman " — 
 
 " The man should have resisted the temptation." 
 
 " Ah, women would have men resist all tempta- 
 tions — save only their own ! " 
 
 " I am not come hither to argue such matters," 
 said Ishtar impatiently, " but to implore thee — 
 let me have this slave Elna as mine own." 
 
 " Thou askest much of me, Ishtar," said Alorus. 
 
 His manner suddenly became more grave. He 
 rose up from the couch whereon he had been 
 lying, and approached her. 
 
 " What givest thou to me in return ? " he said 
 significantly. 
 
 She moved a step backward. 
 
 " What would'st thou ? " she said. 
 
 And in her voice, as she asked the question, 
 there was a note of proud and impenetrable 
 reserve. 
 
 " A fair substitute," he said, following her. 
 
 " Whom ? " she asked. 
 
 " Ishtar ! " 
 
 "Ah, no!" she said inflexibly. "Thou did'st
 
 2 56 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 promise me a boon and would'st make a bargain. 
 Give me this girl, Alorus." 
 
 " Thou hast the man — leave me the woman," 
 he said, more coldly. 
 
 But Ishtar was strangely persistent. 
 
 " Nay," she said, " grant me this. Give me this 
 maid, thy slave." 
 
 " What would'st thou gain by that ? " 
 
 -*' Revenge," said Ishtar quietly. 
 
 Alorus looked into her face curiously. 
 
 " Why ! " he said. " Would'st thou slay her ? " 
 
 " Indeed, nay." 
 
 " And how, then, wilt thou compass this 
 revenge? " 
 
 For a moment Ishtar stood silent. Then she 
 said, with a grave simplicity — 
 
 " Even by giving Elna unto the man she doth 
 love." 
 
 " To Lemuel ! " cried Alorus, in astonishment. 
 
 " Even to Lemuel." 
 
 Alorus was so much amazed by this determina- 
 tion of Ishtar's that he was unable to speak. 
 Twice he opened his lips, and twice closed them 
 again without uttering a syllable. But at last, 
 with a great effort, he cried — 
 
 " But thou lovest him ! " 
 
 Ishtar bowed her head. 
 
 " Still would I do this thing." 
 
 " But— but why ? " 
 
 " That when I am gone — as soon I shall be — he 
 may think that the vile thing that once was Ishtar 
 was, after all, a woman, and one who loved him
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 257 
 
 better than her life, better than herself. Give me 
 this maid. Oh, give her to me, Alorus ! " 
 
 And she sank down upon her knees at his feet 
 and bowed her proud head, catching his robe with 
 her soft and beautiful hands, which had been 
 clasped so often in admiration and in love. 
 
 " Give her to me. For thee she is but a passing 
 fancy. For him she is the whole of life. Grant 
 me my prayer and give her to me — give her to 
 me!" 
 
 And she laid her forehead against his knees, 
 while great sobs shook her fair body. 
 
 Alorus stood looking down upon her. He felt 
 the feverish pressure of her hands on his, the 
 touch of her forehead that was bent down like the 
 forehead of some slave-girl who was his chattel. 
 He saw the movement of that bosom on which 
 all men longed to rest. He heard the sound of 
 her tears, the tears of her who was named the 
 proudest woman in all Babylon. And, despite 
 himself, he was moved. Some strange emotion 
 stirred within him, some strange impulse of pity, 
 of tenderness, of a devotion that was almost 
 chivalrous, that seemed to come from the centre 
 of that thing at which he had so lately laughed, 
 which, by his life, he had ever striven to kill — a 
 human heart. He bent down to Ishtar, and, un- 
 felt, unknown by her, touched her dark head with 
 his lips. Then he said, in a voice that shook 
 slightly, though he strove to make it hard and 
 gay— 
 
 "By Anatu and all the female gods! but I am 
 17
 
 258 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 only half a man myself. Here are tears — and — 
 and — There ! tell it not in Babylon, I beseech 
 thee, but thine example hath left me no course 
 but to follow it. Rise, Ishtar ! " 
 
 And, as he spoke, he gently lifted her to her 
 feet 
 
 " Rise. Thy prayer is granted, and Elna, my 
 slave, shall be thine," 
 
 " The God of Israel for ever bless thee ! " ex- 
 claimed Ishtar, kissing his hand. " I am thy 
 grateful servant." 
 
 "The God of Israel?" said Alorus. "Can His 
 blessing avail aught? Well, maybe. But I still 
 look to Bel." 
 
 He bent and, in his turn, kissed the hand of 
 Ishtar. Then he said, more gaily — 
 
 " But, as thou art grateful, never remind me of 
 this. Let me forget that I could with so much 
 ease play the fool, like a raw youth unknown of 
 the town. Men love to be fooled by women, but 
 love not to be reminded of it when the fooling is 
 past and gone." 
 
 " Sign me the acquittance ! " exclaimed Ishtar. 
 " Let me give them both their liberty, lest Jediah 
 do find them and some evil thing befall. Come ! 
 come ! " 
 
 And she moved towards the door. 
 
 " I come, I come," he answered. " I am but as 
 clay in the hands of the potter. Mould me as 
 thou wilt, but leave in the shaping a little to show 
 that this vessel was at one time — a man." 
 
 He turned to follow her, but ere they could
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 259 
 
 reach the doorway Migdapul suddenly appeared 
 from behind the drapery where he had lain 
 concealed. 
 
 " What dost thou here ? " said Ishtar. 
 
 Migdapul made a low and grotesque obeisance. 
 
 " I have obeyed thy commands, lady," he said. 
 " I would have told thee sooner by some minutes, 
 — for I am ever swifter to execute orders than all 
 the other knaves of the city, — but I feared to inter- 
 rupt thee and the noble Lord Alorus." 
 
 Alorus and Ishtar exchanged a glance, and 
 Alorus shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 "What is thy news?" said Ishtar. 
 
 " Lemuel and the maid Elna — forced thereto, 
 as I believe, by Sabaal and other Israelites — have 
 fled the city." 
 
 " Art sure ? " cried Ishtar. 
 
 " They escaped by one of the city towers — I 
 myself saw them." 
 
 " In what direction went they ? " 
 
 " Towards the plains." 
 
 " Towards the plains ? " said Ishtar. " By what 
 road ? " 
 
 " By the same road that taketh the noble Lord 
 Alorus when he goeth to gather in tribute from 
 the wealthy tribe of Zoar." 
 
 And Migdapul made a second obeisance to 
 Alorus, showing his pointed tusks of teeth in an 
 insidious smile. 
 
 "They are fled to the tents of their people," 
 said Alorus to Ishtar. 
 
 Ishtar had become very pale, and she now laid
 
 26o THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 her hand upon the edge of the couch on which 
 Alorus had been reclining, as if she needed sup- 
 port. 
 
 " But if Jediah should " — she began. 
 
 Then she glanced at Migdapul, set her lips, and 
 was silent. 
 
 " Jediah hath also left the city, lady," said Mig- 
 dapul. 
 
 " Following them ? " she cried, turning swiftly 
 upon him. 
 
 The god - seller, as if startled by her flash of 
 emotion, recoiled a step or two, and his evil face 
 was overspread by a horrible expression of cringing 
 and servile cunning. Ishtar looked at him for a 
 moment in speaking silence. Then, struck by a 
 new idea, she advanced upon him and cried — 
 
 " How knew Jediah the Israelite which way 
 went Lemuel and the maiden Elna?" 
 
 "I — I know not, lady," stammered Migdapul. 
 "Thy slave is not a god. He — he can — can- 
 not "— 
 
 "Thou did'st tell him I " exclaimed Ishtar, still 
 keeping her glowing eyes fastened upon Migdapul. 
 
 " Nay — indeed " — 
 
 "Thou did'st! I can read it in thy face. What 
 did he give thee ? " 
 
 " Nay, lady, but three pieces of silver," cried 
 Migdapul lamentably. " He was ev^er a mean 
 man. Long ago, when I did lure Johanan " — 
 
 He stopped short. The expression that had 
 rushed into the face of Ishtar terrified him, long 
 used as he was to all crime and fear and agony.
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 261 
 
 " Johanan ? " she said in a low and tense voice. 
 " Speak ! What dost thou say ? " 
 
 " Naught, lady — naught. I will — even — go." 
 
 And he turned towards the doorway. But, with 
 one bound, Ishtar planted herself in front of it 
 and barred his egress with her outstretched 
 arms. 
 
 " Speak, slave ! " she said, bending upon him 
 all the fiery and searching inquiry of her terrible 
 eyes. " Thou — thou didst lure Johanan — whither, 
 and for what purpose? I tell thee that I will have 
 thee thrown into the dungeon — I will have thee 
 slain, if thou dost not speak ! " 
 
 Migdapul fell down upon the floor, grovelling 
 before her. 
 
 " He — Jediah — forced me to it ! " he wailed. " I 
 was ever a kindly man — I would not hurt a fly, 
 but— but "— 
 
 " But thou did'st "— 
 
 " I did but put Johanan in the way of a good 
 trade, lady, of a trade that is of more profit than 
 god-selling, as all Babylon doth know." 
 
 "A trade?" said Ishtar, with ever-growing 
 horror. "What trade?" 
 
 " The trade of the blind man," groaned forth 
 Migdapul. 
 
 With a hoarse cry, Ishtar fell back against the 
 post of the door, grasping the silken curtain in her 
 hands till it was rent in pieces. Alorus sprang 
 forth to give her aid, but she put him from her. 
 
 " Nay — nay ! " she gasped. " I am well. Heed 
 me not."
 
 262 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 She tottered to the window that looked forth to 
 the outer court of the palace. 
 
 " Air ! " she muttered. " I must have air ! My 
 breath — I have no more — breath — in me ! " 
 
 Alorus hastened after her to support her. In a 
 moment she seemed to recover. With one or two 
 long gasps that were almost like sobs, she regained 
 her voice. The terror of faintness left her. She 
 turned round and looked into the chamber. 
 
 Migdapul had fled. 
 
 " Thou art better, Ishtar ? " said Alorus. " Water 
 — dost thou need " — 
 
 " I need naught," she said. " This is no time to 
 take heed, and to be like a weak woman. Alorus, 
 art thou indeed my friend ? " 
 
 " Till death, lady ! " 
 
 " Lemuel and Elna are gone to the tents 
 of Zoar. Jediah doth pursue them to wreak 
 his vengeance upon them. And well I know 
 what will betide. My Lord Alorus, yet another 
 favour ! " 
 
 " Name it ! " cried Alorus. " I am in the grant- 
 ing vein, Ishtar. Ask all I have." 
 
 " I go to save Lemuel and Elna. I may need 
 thine aid. Wilt thou go with me ? " 
 
 " A journey with the fair Ishtar ! Who would 
 not consent with thankfulness ? " 
 
 " And thou wilt help me ? " 
 
 " Yea, even to mine own undoing." 
 
 "Thou shalt have no cause to sorrow for this 
 good deed. My friend, how I thank thee ! Come, 
 come ! I must to the palace of the king."
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 263 
 
 " Wherefore ? " 
 
 "As we go, I will tell thee. Come, Alorus — 
 come ! Ah, my friend, never wert thou more 
 faithful unto manhood than in this hour ! " 
 
 And, followed by Alorus, she hurried forth 
 towards the palace of the great king of Babylon.
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 It was even as Migclapul, the god-seller, had said 
 to Ishtar. Lemuel and Elna had indeed escaped 
 from Babylon. But Lemuel had, strangely, in 
 falling between the hands of his friends, only 
 passed from one captivity into another. His 
 nobility of character, his dauntless courage could 
 never have betrayed his people. He was not one 
 of those smooth-tongued and ready orators who 
 play upon the passions of a crowd, but refuse to 
 share their danger when they follow the course of 
 action urged by the fiery words of cowards. When 
 he stood in chains upon the rostrum in the market- 
 place, and cried, " To arms ! " he desired to lead 
 the Israelites against the Babylonians, to fight 
 himself in the very forefront of the battle, to die, 
 if necessary, for the cause of his country. But 
 Sabaal, the slave of Alorus, was not of his mind. 
 When the tumult broke forth, and the whole city 
 was in uproar, Sabaal and those that worked with 
 him caught Lemuel and Elna from the rostrum, 
 huddled them in the immense loose robes that 
 were commonly worn at that time, drew the great 
 hoods forward before their faces, and sought to 
 convey them, thus concealed and disguised, out of 
 
 264
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 265 
 
 the press of the rabble. But Lemuel was of no 
 mhid for such a flight, for such a desertion, 
 
 " Strike my chains from me," he cried to Sabaal. 
 " Give me my freedom to fight with and for my 
 brethren." 
 
 But Sabaal and his followers only surrounded 
 him the more closely, and sought to bear him 
 onward, crying — 
 
 " Keep silence ! Else will thy life be forfeit and 
 thou wilt be taken again into captivity. Silence ! 
 For each word thou utterest may mean thy death 
 and this maiden's." 
 
 " Then let me die," said Lemuel. " Better so 
 than that I should thus desert them that trusted 
 in me. Let me free, I say ! What ! am I a 
 captive among mine own people?" 
 
 " Gag him ! " whispered Sabaal to those about 
 him. " Gag him and bear him onward. It is for 
 the safety of Israel." 
 
 His followers obeyed, for Sabaal, by his unyield- 
 ing ruthlessness of character and by his strength 
 of purpose, had, during his long slavery in 
 Babylon, gained great influence over the Israelites 
 within the city. Lemuel and Elna, blinded by the 
 hoods that hid their faces, manacled in their 
 chains, and held fast in the grasp of the captors, 
 who were intent only upon their salvation, were 
 borne forward, unable to make any resistance, or 
 to take any part in the fight for freedom and the 
 tumult that raged around them on every side. 
 They could feel the buffetings of the surging 
 crowds that threw them this way and that. They
 
 266 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 could hear the dull roar of voices, muffled shouts 
 and exclamations, the dim clash of arms and beat 
 of war-drums and call of trumpets. But they 
 could see nothing. They were as if in a prison, 
 with no power of their own to perform any action 
 or to take advantage of any circumstance. The 
 journey through the mob seemed thus most end- 
 less to them, as must all periods of movement 
 and of excitement in which one is bereft of power 
 and paralysed of will. They were hurried onward 
 and onward as if in some nightmare of storm and 
 striving, of fury and of fierce combat. But, at 
 length, the muffled noise of multitudes grew less. 
 They were no longer buffeted and flung from 
 one side to another. They moved forward more 
 rapidly and more continuously, and peace grew 
 about them. They could hear now the voices of 
 the Israelites talking around them, and the strong 
 tones of Sabaal giving commands. 
 
 "We must lie close this night in the city," he 
 said. " For all the gates will be guarded. If our 
 people do triumph over these cursed Babylonians, 
 or be like to triumph, then will we let Lemuel 
 forth to be indeed their leader and to inspire them 
 to greater deeds. But if not, then must we get 
 Lemuel in secret out of the city, to wait the 
 appointed time. For he hath the ear of the 
 people, and without him our cause will even be 
 lost. His life must be preserved, let come what 
 may. To the western gate — and warily. We must 
 lie this night by the western wall and wait what 
 may betide. To the house of Abimelech, friends."
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 267 
 
 " To the house of Abimelech ! " returned the 
 Israelites, hastening onward with Lemuel and 
 Elna in their midst. 
 
 That night and the next they lay close within 
 this house, under the shadow of the western wall 
 of the city. Sabaal and others ventured forth 
 from time to time, in order to learn the news 
 of what was befalling, and at first their hearts 
 rejoiced, and in exultation they spoke together, 
 saying that the prophecy of Lemuel was already 
 about to be fulfilled, that Babylon was already 
 tottering to its fall. For they saw the guards of 
 the king, whose duty it was to keep public order 
 and to defend their ruler, rioting with the lowest 
 of the people, drinking and dissipating with the 
 women in the stews and in the infamous quarters 
 wherein people lived like unto animals. And 
 there was neither law, nor religion, nor order, nor 
 peace. And they saw men feasting while the 
 flames of burning houses rose up in the black 
 night towards the sky, and girls dancing while the 
 bodies of the murdered lay unburied, and robbers 
 looting the shops of the merchants and pillaging 
 the heavily loaded boats upon the river Euphrates, 
 and the wealthy citizens pale with fear of their 
 own slaves and servitors. And they heard of the 
 king himself shuddering within the walls of his 
 mighty palace. 
 
 Then they said unto Sabaal — 
 
 " The hour is come. Let us now send forth 
 Lemuel to our people, and the city shall be ours. 
 For — look — the Babylonians themselves do bring
 
 268 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 destruction upon Babylon. With their own hands 
 do they set the torches to the buildings and 
 spread terror among their own brethren. Soon 
 shall the very temples of their gods crumble into 
 dust. For the wrath of the God of our fathers is 
 upon them, and the night of their passing away is 
 come." 
 
 But Sabaal answered — 
 
 " Wait. The time is not yet ripe. Wait until 
 the morrow." 
 
 On the morrow the tumult had already abated. 
 The flames of the burning buildings had been 
 quenched. The Babylonians, wearied by the 
 wave of excitement that had caught them, 
 fatigued by their excesses, were even now return- 
 ing to the paths of reason from which they had 
 strayed. And the revolt of the Israelites had 
 been quelled. 
 
 So, on the coming of the third day, Sabaal and 
 his followers, still bearing with them Lemuel and 
 Elna as captives, escaped out of the city by the 
 western tower, even as Migdapul had said, and 
 made their way towards the plains, journeying 
 towards the tents of the tribe of Zoar. 
 
 As it fell out, Migdapul, who had received the 
 order of Ishtar to discover where Lemuel had 
 lain hidden after his escape from the rostrum, 
 perceived the shrouded figures of the captives, 
 mounted upon camels, as they went forth from the 
 city. Seeing that Sabaal was with them, and being 
 well acquainted with him, as has already been men- 
 tioned, he accosted Sabaal, and whispered to him —
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 269 
 
 " Who are these thou bearcst with thee, O 
 Sabaal? And whither goest thou?" 
 
 Sabaal hesitated to reply, and at first en- 
 deavoured to evade the question. 
 
 " These are but women of Israel," he said, 
 " whom we do escort to the tents of their people. 
 For Babylon is no place for women when such 
 riots do befall." 
 
 Migdapul showed his teeth inanincreduloussmile. 
 
 *' Nay," he rejoined, pointing to the mighty form 
 of Lemuel. "If that be a woman, she is indeed 
 well favoured of the gods and meet helpmate for 
 one of those giants who, they do say, dwell in 
 India. It seemeth unto me, O Sabaal, that the 
 shepherd Lem — " 
 
 " Hush ! " hissed Sabaal. " Keep silence, and I 
 will give thee silver. Here — and here." 
 
 He pressed some coins into the greedy hands of 
 Migdapul. 
 
 " And thou shalt have much more when I 
 return. Moreover, if thou dost say aught, I have 
 the wherewithal to bring thee low. Hast thou 
 forgotten how, in thy cups, thou did'st tell me of 
 the way to make blind men for the " — 
 
 " Enough ! enough 1 " cried Migdapul hastily. 
 " I have seen naught except these thy — women." 
 
 And he hurriedly mingled with the throng that 
 beset the street, while Sabaal and his followers 
 went forth in safety through the gate of the city 
 and gained the open country, travelling with all 
 speed towards the well of Naomi and the far-off 
 tents of Zoar.
 
 270 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 Now, while the crafty Migdapul was returning 
 to the palace of Ishtar, hot with his news, and 
 musing gladly upon the price he would be paid 
 for it, by a strange chance — or, indeed, a stroke 
 of Fate, as would say the superstitious — he fell 
 in with Jediah and with Adoram. Even among 
 the excited and perturbed people of a tumultuous 
 city, Jediah stood forth as one on whom calamity 
 had set a terrible stamp. He had recovered 
 from the seizure by which he had been taken 
 in the slave-market. He was now in reason, and 
 could walk abroad. But he was so haggard, 
 fierce, and old, in the aspect of his countenance and 
 in the movement of his limbs, that he appeared, 
 indeed, rather like some horrible spectre informed 
 by the very spirit of Evil, than like a human being. 
 He no longer thought, as other men, of the many 
 passing concerns of life, of the gliding circum- 
 stances of the hours, of those about him and of 
 the things his eyes looked upon, but lived in a 
 dream of revenge, and was shut up within a prison 
 of the soul. Where was Lemuel ? Where was 
 the maiden Elna? This question possessed him. 
 He neither ate nor did he sleep at night, but ever 
 he sought these two, who had been reft from him 
 even as he thought to close his hands upon them 
 and to keep them his — sad hostages to death. 
 
 He saw not Migdapul in the street, but the god- 
 seller, whose eyes were ever glancing this way and 
 that, intent on the service of his lust of money, 
 perceived him, and, scenting further gain, stopped 
 him, crying —
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 271 
 
 " Jediah the Israelite ! In the name of the 
 great god Bel, and of Merodach, the god of all 
 gods, whom seekest thou ? " 
 
 Jediah snarled on him like some animal dis- 
 turbed in its pursuit of a victim, and would have 
 gone on his way, but Migdapul laid one filthy- 
 hand upon his arm, and whispered in his ear — 
 
 " Seekest thou not Lemuel the shepherd and 
 the maiden Elna ? " 
 
 Jediah stopped short, and glared into the evil 
 face of the god-seller. 
 
 " Where are they ? " he cried. " Where are they ? 
 Speak, thou knave, or I will even tear the words 
 from thy throat and throw thy carcase unto the 
 dogs of the city." 
 
 " Nay," returned Migdapul, " I will speak no 
 word without thou givest me my just reward for 
 service. I am no slave of thine, but of the great 
 gods, who " — 
 
 Jediah caught him by the shoulders with hands 
 like claws. 
 
 " Thou shalt speak ! " he vociferated furiously, 
 "or I will strike thee dead at my feet. Thou 
 shalt, I say ! " 
 
 And he shook Migdapul till the creature's 
 breath verily rattled in his throat. 
 
 " They— are — gone forth — by the — western — 
 gate ! " stammered Migdapul. " Nay, let me go ! 
 Thou art mad ! Let — me " — 
 
 " The western gate ? " cried Jediah. •' Adoram, 
 they are fled to the tents of our people ! " 
 
 He burst forth into a terrible laugh.
 
 272 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 " They are run to meet their fate. Come thou 
 with me, Adoram. We will pursue. We will take 
 them. They shall come before the Judgment 
 Scat They shall be stoned with stones — with 
 stones — hearest thou me ? — until they die ! " 
 
 He turned, like one demented, to be gone. But 
 Migdapul caught him by the skirt of his garment, 
 crying — 
 
 " Payment ! — the payment for my service ! Nay 
 — nay — thou shalt pay me ! " 
 
 " Take thy money and begone ! " cried Jediah, 
 throwing him some pieces of silver. 
 
 Migdapul flung himself upon the ground to pick 
 them up. When he lifted his head again, Jediah 
 and Adoram were gone from his sight.
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 It was late afternoon. Over the long plains 
 where dwelt the tribe of Zoar the sunlight fell 
 with a softened glory. The great palm trees 
 shook as the delicate fingers of the breeze touched 
 them, caressing them as the fingers of a gentle 
 mother caress her child. Before the tents the 
 little gay Israelites played, as of old, heedless of 
 the troubles and the anxieties that ever rent their 
 nation. And around the well of Naomi, where 
 grew the tall reeds and the sweet-smelling bushes 
 starred with yellow flowers, the maidens of the 
 tribe chattered, as was their wont, while they drew 
 the water to fill the tall pitchers that they bore 
 upon their graceful heads. Among these women 
 was Tirzah, she who had assisted Elna in her 
 flight to Babylon. Tirzah joined but little in the 
 talk about the well. She drew the water to fill 
 her pitcher, placed the pitcher upon her head, and, 
 walking with the peculiar freedom and majesty of 
 the women of her tribe, took her way alone towards 
 the tent of her mother. This lay rather apart from 
 the other tents, and nearest to the Judgment Seat 
 that stood up prominently in the plain. Now it 
 chanced that, when Tirzah had set down her 
 i8
 
 274 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 pitcher within the tent, she came forth to the 
 door and looked idly over the plain. Her mother 
 was not within. She was quite alone. The day 
 had been warm, but as the evening drew nigh, a 
 cool breeze had sprung up. Tirzah, who was 
 weary, enjoyed feeling it upon her face. She 
 loved well this hour, when the silence seemed to 
 grow around her, when the brass of the sky 
 melted into many soft and beautiful colours, 
 when the birds, full - throated, sang their last 
 songs, and the flowers began to fold their delicate 
 petals, and the children to droop their pretty eye- 
 lids and gently long for rest. At this time a 
 strange romance stole over these mighty plains 
 in the midst of which dwelt the tribe of Zoar. 
 It was scarcely palpable, yet Tirzah felt it. All 
 nature softened, as softens a face when the mind 
 thinks kindly and the heart is full of charity. The 
 tall palm trees threw long shadows, and against 
 the sky their outlines became romantic and sug- 
 gestive of mysterious beauty and of haunted places 
 far away. The long grasses waved and rustled, as 
 if they talked together of quaint legends and of 
 night imaginings. The noise of the stream surely 
 clianged. Its music became more peaceful, more 
 naive and infantine. A flight of big birds, like 
 herons, passed overhead, flying towards the salt 
 marshes that lay beside the distant margin of the 
 sea. Their long wings were black like velvet 
 against the lemon light. They dwindled to specks 
 and disappeared. And their departure was full 
 of mystery. The multitudinous in.sects that had
 
 TPIE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 275 
 
 their being in the rank herbage of the plain 
 chirped less vivaciously. Their activities were 
 lulled. Perhaps they crept to curious little homes 
 beneath the plants that were to them a jungle, 
 and gave themselves to dozings and to insect 
 dreams. Never did there seem less cruelty in the 
 world that God had made than at this hour of His 
 day. So Tirzah often thought. And now, stand- 
 ing in the tent door, this idea came to her again. 
 Why could not all men be ever kind, all women 
 ever tender, all children ever happy and innocent ? 
 Why must there be violence on the beautiful earth, 
 slavery and suffering, the wildness of passion and 
 the haggard terror of pain ? Nature was so lovely 
 and so beneficent ; the sun shone to ripen the 
 grain and to prepare the harvests ; the rain fell 
 to give all flowers and plants the vital freshness 
 of life ; the winds blew from the distant deserts 
 to cool those that were tired with long labour ; 
 the moon and the stars shone gently to guide the 
 steps of the travellers in the night. And all these 
 children of the Great God were kind. Did not 
 the stars themselves sing together, the plants 
 entwine their sister plants in sweet embraces, the 
 winds go hand in hand, the stream give itself and 
 all its music to the majesty and the music of the 
 sea ? The sun, in dying each evening, yielded 
 beauty to the clouds that attended it. The purple 
 of the sky was like a religion. Why, then, should 
 there be pain and bondage, lust and violence, 
 anger and despair, wherever men were gathered 
 together, wherever women brought forth children ?
 
 2/6 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 Tirzah often pondered on these things in her 
 simple way, as women before her had pondered, 
 as women will ponder through all the ages of the 
 world. For, in such evening hours as this, charity 
 comes up from the heart of nature like a prayer 
 and like a benediction. Tenderness hangs in the 
 air, between the twilight and the darkness, as 
 incense above the altars of the gods men worship. 
 This evening, as she stood in the tent door look- 
 ing forth towards the Judgment Seat, Tirzah's 
 thoughts made their accustomed journey and then 
 swept on to Babylon. Tirzah had never seen the 
 great city that was the wonder of the world. 
 She had heard men speak of its tremendous life, 
 and women whisner of the things that were done 
 in it. But ever it seemed to her like some city 
 of a tale or of a dream. Even when those she 
 knew went up to it, vanishing out of her sight 
 and remaining long away, she felt as if they were 
 gone out of the world rather than into a city that 
 she herself might enter, did she join one of the 
 passing caravans, with their company of merchants 
 and of traders, of slaves and of water - carriers. 
 And never did Babylon seem to her more 
 legendary than at the hour of sunset. 
 
 Yet Babylon had taken into her fierce and 
 evil embrace Lemuel and Jcdiah, and Elna and 
 Jozadah. Then Tirzah thought of Lemuel, the 
 shepherd who was like unto a king, the youth 
 who had tended the flocks and who had the eyes 
 of a seer and the heart of a prophet. Once Elna 
 had said unto her that all women loved him. It
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 277 
 
 was true that Tirzah's heart held some love for 
 him, but it was wholly innocent, and asked for no 
 return. Always she wished that Elna, whom she 
 loved as a sister, might find peace and perfection 
 in the strong arms of Lemuel. But ever she was 
 haunted by a thousand vague fears for the safety 
 of these two. And these fears had become more 
 incessant, more clamorous in her soul since the 
 departure of Jediah from' the tents. She knew 
 that he had followed the fugitive, the boy, Elna, 
 to Babylon. She knew that he was intent upon 
 revenge. 
 
 Now, she looked forth over the plain, and she 
 strove, more keenly than before, to realise Babylon, 
 to realise the doings and the fate of those she 
 loved there. But even now the city, and their fate 
 in it, became, as aforetime, dreamlike. For here 
 she stood in silence, and it was the most charitable 
 and tender hour. She could see no one upon the 
 plain, and the world seemed empty. There was 
 no sound of labourers singing, or of shepherds 
 piping to their following flocks. There was no 
 bark of dog, no murmur of chattering maidens. 
 Was it indeed possible that evil passions existed 
 anywhere, that anywhere there could be streets 
 teeming with multitudes, buzzing with voices, that 
 there could be cries of terror from dark houses in 
 the night, and crimes committed secretly on those 
 whose only fault was to love — on men like Lemuel, 
 on women like Elna? 
 
 But now, listening intently to the loveliness of 
 this twilight silence, Tirzah heard, far off, a tinkling
 
 278 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 of bells, a faint — a very faint sound of voices. And 
 presently, at a long distance upon the plain beyond 
 the Judgment Seat, she perceived something that 
 looked like a long black serpent moving slowly 
 towards the shadowy horizon. She knew that this 
 must be a journeying caravan. It moved on and 
 vanished. The tinkle of the bells faded, and silence 
 gathered round once more. Presently, Tirzah 
 woke from her dreaming with a sigh, and was 
 about to turn and go into the tent, when her 
 gaze was attracted by a black speck that was 
 approaching the Judgment Seat from the direction 
 in which the caravan had disappeared. It grew, 
 as it drew nearer, until she could see that it was a 
 man, moving slowly and with a curiously hesitating 
 gait, frequently pausing as if to rest. This man 
 came on until he reached the Judgment Seat. Then 
 he stopped. A long time passed, and he did not 
 move. Something within Tirzah's heart moved her 
 to go towards this unknown stranger. She knew 
 not whence came the impulse, nor at all why. But 
 she obeyed it, left the tent, and slowly walked 
 towards the Judgment Seat. When she was come 
 near to it, she perceived a man, apparently old, 
 with white hair and rough and tattered clothing, 
 leaning against the mighty block of stone that 
 formed its base, as if for support. He carried in 
 one thin hand a stout staff. And as Tirzah ap- 
 proached him, and the sound of her movement 
 through the herbage became audible, he turned his 
 face towards her. The dying gleam of the sun fell 
 full upon it, lighting up its white weariness, its
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 279 
 
 lines, and two gaping holes where should have 
 been his eyes. With a sense of deep and tender 
 pity, Tirzah knew that he was blind. 
 
 "Who is that? Who cometh to me?" asked 
 the blind man in a trembling voice, as Tirzah 
 stood beside him. 
 
 And, as he spoke, he sank down wearily upon 
 the steps of the Judgment Seat, 
 
 " I am one of the daughters of Israel, father," 
 returned Tirzah gently. 
 
 ' A daughter of Israel ? " said the blind man 
 sadly. "Yea, yea." 
 
 He paused, and let his head sink down on his 
 breast, as if he lost himself in melancholy medi- 
 tation. 
 
 Tirzah watched him with ever-growing sympathy. 
 There was something infinitely pathetic in this 
 face, the stamp, the signature of a great sorrow, a 
 terrible tragedy. All the features were wasted, as 
 if grief had fed through long years upon the very 
 flesh of the man. The frame was big, and should 
 surely have once been strong and lusty. But now 
 it was feeble, and the bones appeared visibly 
 through the flesh. The arms were like sticks, the 
 finders of the hands almost like the claws of some 
 wild bird. Presently the blind man, returning 
 from his morose meditation, lifted up his head 
 again, and said to Tirzah — 
 
 "Why callest thou me — father?" 
 
 " Why ? " she answered. " Because thou art old. 
 Thy hair is white, and — alas ! — thou art blind ! " 
 ■ That I am blind 'tis true," said the man. " My
 
 28o THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 hair, too, is white, as thou sayest. Yet am I not 
 old." 
 
 " How — not old ? " cried Tirzah, in astonishment. 
 
 " My hair is whitened with suffering, mine eyes 
 are darkened by cruelty, yet am I but young in 
 years — but young in years." 
 
 And he shook his head mournfully and clasped 
 his poor hands around his staff. 
 
 Tirzah was deeply surprised. It seemed to her 
 incredible that this man could be young. Yet his 
 words carried conviction to her heart. She felt 
 that they were indeed true. 
 
 " Thine eyes were darkened by cruelty ? " she 
 said. " How can that be ? Whence comest thou, 
 stranger ? " 
 
 " From Babylon." 
 
 Tirzah looked upon the stranger with even 
 greater interest as he spoke the last words. 
 
 "From Babylon?" she said. "Ah! tell me— 
 thou wast there but lately ? " 
 
 " I am but just come from thence, maiden." 
 
 " And did'st thou see — ?" began Tirzah eagerly. 
 Then she paused, looking upon those horrible holes 
 where should have gleamed the eyes of the man. 
 
 " 1 can see nothing," answered the man, " no- 
 thing." 
 
 " Forgive me, father," she said, kneeling beside 
 him and taking one of his thin hands. " Forgive 
 me that I spake without thought. And so thou 
 art come from the great city whither goeth, surely, 
 all the world ? " 
 
 " Yea," said the blind man. " Yet am I not a
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 281 
 
 stranger in this land. I went to Babylon to seek — 
 to seek no matter what. I found it not until I had 
 waited and longed and suffered for years. And 
 then, at last, I thought that I had found it." 
 
 He had grown greatly excited while he was 
 speaking, and now he grasped the hand of Tirzah so 
 tightly that she could scarce refrain from crying 
 out 
 
 " And was it not true ? " she asked. 
 
 ' They said not," he answered. "It was a voice 
 I heard, a voice I thought I knew, a voice I once 
 had loved — do you hear me ? — had loved more 
 than all other voices upon the earth. But they 
 told me I was mad. They told me it was the 
 voice of a great queen in Babylon, that it was 
 Ishtar's voice. Never had I heard Ishtar speak, 
 though often had I been up to her palace to ask 
 for alms. But they told me it was her voice I 
 heard. But shall I tell thee— shall I tell thee—? " 
 
 He bent mysteriously towards Tirzah. 
 
 " Yes, yes ! tell me," she said, thinking to calm 
 and comfort him. 
 
 " I think it was some voice in my brain I heard, 
 some voice that never really spoke at all. And 
 now — now — that same inward voice hath bid me 
 return hither." 
 
 "Yes, father," said Tirzah soothingly. "This 
 place is sweeter than Babylon." 
 
 " Yea — and more silent. 'Tis, in truth, the plain 
 before the tents of Zoar, is it not ? " 
 
 " It is, father." 
 
 " And this," he said, touching the stone whereon
 
 282 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 he was seated with his thin fingers, "Tell me — ■ 
 what place is this ? " 
 
 " The Judgment Seat, father." 
 
 Johanan, for it was he, started up. 
 
 " The Judgment Seat? " he cried. " An omen ! 
 A portent I 'Tis here that justice shall be done. 
 The voice — the voice tells me so. I hear it even 
 
 now." 
 
 And he stood with his hand to his ear as one 
 that listens. 
 
 Then he said, more calmly — 
 
 " Come hither, maiden." 
 
 Tirzah approached him, and, very gently, Johanan 
 passed his hands over her face and her hair. 
 
 " Thou art young," he said, " too young — thou 
 would'st not know." 
 
 " Know what ? " asked Tirzah. 
 
 " Tell me," he said. " Did'st thou ever hear thy 
 people speak of one Elcia ? " 
 
 "Elcia?" said Tirzah. "Yea — she fled the 
 tents, she fled from her husband Johanan, and 
 went to Babylon." 
 
 " To Babylon ? Yea, yea ! " said the blind man, 
 trembling with excitement. 
 
 " And there she lived, they do say, with — with " — 
 
 Tirzah paused, hesitating. 
 
 "With — with whom? Tell me, maiden, tell me!" 
 
 " With our Lord and Judge, Jediah," answered 
 Tirzah in a low voice. She had not meant to say 
 it, but there was something commanding about 
 this blind man. He seemed to constrain her 
 whether she would or no. As she spoke, a fear-
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 283 
 
 ful change came over the blind man. On hearhig 
 the name of Jediah, he started violently, and seemed 
 as if he was about to fall. Then he straightened 
 himself up slowly, and into his face there came an 
 appalling expression of comprehension and of the 
 most vivid, the most vital fury. 
 
 As Tirzah looked upon him, it seemed as if he 
 became young in the depth of his wrath, strong in 
 the terror of his desire to wreak some strange 
 vengeance, as if he even saw, by a miracle, 
 some shape of one he had long ago known stand 
 before him, 
 
 " O father ! " cried Tirzah, in fear at this trans- 
 formation. "Tell me what ails thee! Speak, I 
 beseech thee ! " 
 
 " Jediah ! Jediah ! " cried the blind man, lifting 
 up his arms towards heaven. " Fool that I was 
 not to see — then ! Fool, more blind than now ! 
 Was he not ever by our tent ? Yet how could I 
 suspect our Lord and Judge ? Now I know indeed ! 
 Ah ! great Judge of judges, give him into my hands ! 
 Give him unto me ! " 
 
 And, exhausted with passion, he sank down 
 at the foot of the Judgment Seat like a suppliant 
 prostrating himself before the throne of a mighty 
 king. Tirzah would fain have raised him up, for the 
 sun had now sunk behind the rim of the world, and 
 the darkness was falling. But he put her from him. 
 
 " Nay," he said. " Leave me, I pray thee, and tell 
 to no one the words that thou hast heard me speak. 
 Dost thou hear me? Swear that thou wilt say 
 naught."
 
 284 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 " I swear, father," said Tirzah, to appease him. 
 " But let me, I pray thee, lead thee with me, for it 
 groweth dark and the winds of night blow coldly 
 across the plains." 
 
 " They will not hurt me," answered the blind 
 man. 
 
 " But thou art faint — thou art hungry." 
 
 " I have food here," he said, laying his hana on a 
 species of wallet that hung at his girdle by a twisted 
 rope of wool. " I shall neither starve, nor shall I 
 feel any cold. Naught can hurt me now, I know. 
 I live — I live till justice be done. Go, maiden — 
 go, and say naught of me to thy people, I do 
 straitly charge thee." 
 
 Reluctantly, Tirzah left him and went towards 
 the tents. She turned once to look back upon 
 him, but the darkness of the coming night had 
 already swallowed him up from her sight. 
 
 That night, all her mind was turned from the 
 blind man and from his strangeness and his story, 
 for at the midnight hour, when already the people 
 of the tribe of Zoar had been long within the tents, 
 there rose the sound of voices calling out of the 
 blackness, the long note of a horn blown from afar, 
 the growl of camels and the shrill barking of 
 wakened dogs. The weary men shifted upon their 
 couches, and the women, half affrighted, sat up to 
 listen. The voices grew louder, and presently one 
 detached itself from the rest and cried out loudly — 
 
 " Wake, Zoar ! Wake thou, Naomi ! And give 
 us welcome ! " 
 
 " Verily, it is the voice of Sabaal, the slave of
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 285 
 
 the Lord Alorus," said one man to another. " Can 
 Alorus be come hither in the night ? " 
 
 " What may be his purpose ? " returned his com- 
 panion. " I like this not. There should be trouble 
 afoot." 
 
 They hastened to the tent door. The night was 
 very dark, and since evening a wind had arisen 
 and was now blowing fiercely about the tents and 
 whistling angrily among the palm trees, whose 
 large leaves gave forth a desolate creaking note. 
 Tirzah, with other of the women, had hurried forth 
 at the sound of all this uproar, and even the aged 
 Zoar came from his couch, attended by his faithful 
 wife Naomi. Some of the men had hastily set fire 
 to long torches of wood dipped in a species of 
 resinous oil, and these now flared in the wind, 
 blowing backwards as if they would fly away, like 
 spirits, into the blackness of the night. Set in the 
 wavering light of these torches, the people now 
 saw several camels standing laden with packs, 
 among which were perched hooded figures like 
 enormous shadows scarce to be distinguished in 
 the prevailing gloom. 
 
 " Who be ye," said Zoar, " that do call tired 
 men from their slumbers in such a night as this?" 
 
 " Dost thou not know me, Zoar ? " cried Sabaal, 
 forcing his camel to kneel, and springing to the 
 ground. 
 
 "Sabaal!" exclaimed Zoar. "What! Is the 
 Lord Alorus come?" 
 
 " Nay, nay. Yet have I brought thee captives," 
 answered Sabaal. " Set Lemuel free, Micah."
 
 286 THF. DAUGHTERS OF BAl^YLON 
 
 " Lemuel ! " cried Naomi, hurrying forward. 
 " My son ! My son ! " 
 
 Two Israelites now assisted Lemuel, who, by 
 order of Sabaal, had been, during the march, a 
 prisoner, to dismount, and drew back the long 
 robe in which Elna had been muffled and dis- 
 guised. 
 
 Lemuel stood once more in liberty. His face 
 was very pale. His eyes flashed with passion. 
 I^ut he controlled himself, and, bending before his 
 father and his mother, received their blessing. But 
 to Sabaal he said — 
 
 "Thou hast done me bitter evil. Thou hast 
 forced me to seem to play the coward." 
 
 " For the sake of the brethren," returned Sabaal, 
 *' I would do more than that. But for me, thou 
 would'st now be still captive to the Babylonians or 
 be laid in thy grave for ever." 
 
 Lemuel turned from him. 
 
 "And Elna?" he said. 
 
 " She is here," said Zoar sternly. " And with 
 thee ? What ! art thou indeed guilty, as have 
 said the brethren, guilty of this crime against thy 
 brother Jediah ? " 
 
 " There is no crime, father," said Lemuel proudly. 
 "There is no guilt. Elna, come hither." 
 
 And he led her to Naomi, who was weeping, 
 half with joy, half with terror. 
 
 " My mother," he said, " this maiden is innocent 
 as when she left our tents to follow me that she 
 might guard me from the danger that was plotted 
 against me in Babylon."
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 287 
 
 Then Naomi opened her arms, and Elna fell, 
 weeping too, upon her bosom. 
 
 All this time the violence of the storm was 
 increasing, yet the Israelites scarce heeded it. 
 From tent to tent, with the rapidity of the fire 
 that licketh up the dry grass, had spread the news 
 of Lemuel's return with Elna, and from every tent 
 poured out men, women, and even children. Many 
 of them carried in their hands torches, and there 
 was a wavering and shifting blaze of light in the 
 louring blackness. A ruddy glow fell upon the pale 
 and weary faces of Lemuel and Elna, and upon the 
 stern and rugged countenance of the slave Sabaal, 
 who had dared so much in the cause of his people, 
 driven by a zeal that could give him no rest nor 
 ever let him be at peace. 
 
 " This is a strange tale," said Zoar gravely. 
 "Where is thy brother Jediah? He went up to 
 Babylon to seek this erring maiden, and is sworn 
 to bring her hither that judgment may be done 
 upon her." 
 
 "Let judgment be passed upon us both," answered 
 Lemuel fearlessly. " My desire was to strike for 
 my people against the Babylonians, and, when 
 the issue of the revolt was certain, to come 
 hither to face the Judges of our tribe. We have 
 naught to fear, being innocent, and the judgment 
 of the great God of Israel is ever just, for He 
 holdeth in His hands the scales of justice and 
 weigheth men according to their desert. But 
 the revolt of our people against Babylon hath 
 failed."
 
 288 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 " And it must ever fail," said Zoar, with deep 
 melancholy. 
 
 " Nay, not for ever," answered Lemuel, with 
 enthusiasm, and the irrepressible hope and fervour 
 of great-hearted men. " There will come a day 
 when the Conqueror shall enter the gate of Babylon 
 and the city shall lay its neck under the yoke of 
 the destroyer. Even now it seemeth to me that 1 
 hear the roaring of the wheels of his chariots, the 
 thunder of the footsteps of his legions in the wind." 
 
 As he spake, he stretched forth his hand as one 
 that hearkens. 
 
 The Israelites, with their flaming torches, stood 
 round about him, and — moved by the fire of his 
 words and by the spell of his attitude — they 
 listened too, wrought up to a height of strange 
 excitement. But they heard naught save the long 
 howl of the wind over the plain, and the voices of 
 the tents, which strained in the blast like living 
 things striving to be free. Then Zoar said — 
 
 " The hour is late, and men who labour must 
 have rest and close their eyes in sleep. To your 
 tents, O my people. When Jediah returneth, he 
 will assemble ye, that the truth of the lives of this 
 man and this maiden may be known to all." 
 
 " They are innocent, O my husband ! " cried 
 Naomi, with all the passion of a mother's love for 
 her only son. 
 
 But Zoar answered — 
 
 " It may be so, wife. That shall certainly be 
 known. For God is above all, and ruleth the 
 doings of all men. Come thou to thy tent, and
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 289 
 
 bring with thee this maiden. She may need thy 
 care." 
 
 And indeed Ehia was half fainting from emotion 
 and from the weariness of the long journey and 
 from all the terrible excitement that she had 
 endured in Babylon. Naomi embraced her with 
 tenderness, and led her into the tent of Zoar, 
 and Lemuel lay apart in the tent of one of the 
 tribe who was his friend. 
 
 He too was weary, yet he could not sleep, 
 though he stretched himself upon the rugs and 
 sougfht to lose his soul in the mazes of slumber. 
 His brain seemed on fire with thought and his 
 heart with passion. And his hands w^ere hot as 
 those of a man to whom a fever cometh. When 
 he closed his eyes he saw in the darkness strange 
 processions and wild scenes in Babylon. He 
 beheld the image of Bel going up to his temple, 
 with the doors of brass, and the towers lifted 
 towards the heaven. Before the image went the 
 dancing-girls. They were crowned with flowers. 
 He saw their scarlet robes set against the back- 
 ground of the night. Their wild gestures were like 
 the gestures of demons, and the roses that they 
 scattered changed into charms of hell ere ever they 
 fell to the ground. The priests followed them, clad 
 in their sacred skins of animals. They opened their 
 sensual mouths to sing a great hymn to the god 
 whom they worshipped. But from their lips came one 
 cry, and one cry only, reiterated again and again — 
 
 " Babylon shall fall ! Babylon shall fall ! " 
 
 The golden god, on his platform, seemed to lend 
 19
 
 290 THE DAUGHTERS OE BABYLON 
 
 an ear to their cry and to be afraid, as if he knew 
 that both he and his rehgioii, the mystery that 
 gathered about him and the worship, would sink 
 into the dust. But he still glittered bravely in the 
 light of the sun. x'\nd so he was borne up to his 
 temple, and the great gates closed upon him, and 
 Lemuel saw him no more. And then Lemuel be- 
 held the hanging gardens of Ishtar's palace upon 
 the banks of the river Euphrates. It was night, 
 and the silver moon hung in the purple dimness of 
 the sky above the myriad lights of Babylon. And 
 he himself lay at the feet of Ishtar, and felt the soft- 
 ness of her touch, the light air stirred by the rose- 
 coloured plumes of the fan she held. Round about 
 them were the Babylonians who ever paid her court. 
 And the pale and evil face of Menanahim stared in 
 the night. There was a sound of far-off music, and 
 the Indian girls, in their gossamer robes, spangled 
 with silver, sprang and danced. And as they 
 waved their slight arms the bracelets jingled 
 coldly. Their little feet, in golden sandals, beat 
 upon the gorgeous carpets, where strange animals 
 of Asia lay embroidered in a coloured crowd. 
 And how sad the faces of the dancers were, as 
 if they too, with their dark and fatigued Eastern 
 eyes, saw the dragons moving heavily through the 
 crumbling temples and palaces of the great and 
 glorious city, whose joy they were ; as if they saw 
 the everlasting sands rising, like a tide of the salt 
 sea, to choke the streets that once were thronged 
 with buyers and sellers, with gay women and 
 laughing men. And then Lemuel heard again.
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 291 
 
 above the wind, the melodious magic of the love- 
 song, accompanied by flutes and by harps — 
 
 ' ' Bind the cup with roses, 
 
 While thy love discloses 
 All the beauties she hath veiled from every eye but thine ; 
 
 While the wine is flowing, 
 
 And desire is growing, 
 From the rose- wreathed, brim-filled cup drink to love and wine. 
 
 Have no thought of sorrow. 
 
 There is no to-morrow ; 
 If there is, why, let it come, so we may love to-day. 
 
 Let care come hereafter, 
 
 Live to-day with laughter, 
 Let this moment bring us joy, the next bring what it may." 
 
 But their voices died, as if choked by sobs, and 
 the night was alive with cries of fear. War-drums 
 beat from the soldiers' quarters, and there was the 
 pealing of trumpets from the palace of the king. 
 Then these sounds were stilled, and it seemed to 
 Lemuel that a terrible and everlasting silence fell 
 upon Babylon, the silence of death and of eternal 
 desertion. The sentence of the God of Israel was 
 accomplished. Babylon had fallen. There were 
 no more love-songs in the gardens of the palaces. 
 There were no more prayers offered up in the temples 
 of the gods. The noise of feasting was over, the 
 joy of desire was past. The lawyers toiled no 
 more. The soothsayers prophesied no more. No 
 wise astronomers looked upwards to the stars, or 
 sought to read strange meanings in the white face 
 of the moon. No sculptors wrought soft clay into 
 the likeness of living men. The hucksters had
 
 292 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 ceased for ever from crying their wares, and the 
 watchmen from gazing forth from the towers. 
 Still the great river Euphrates flowed on between 
 its banks, but no ships glided upon its bosom, no 
 merchandise was unladed upon its wharves. The 
 dark-eyed traders from India and Persia, from the 
 magical lands of the East, came up no more to 
 Babylon. In distant markets and in thronged 
 bazaars the name of the city was forgotten, and 
 should be mentioned no more by the lips of them 
 that bought and sold for ever. For in the market- 
 places of Babylon the wild beast made its lair, and 
 in the trembling temples the dragons laid them 
 down to sleep. Where the women once walked with 
 their lovers, the panthers crept on feet of velvet ; 
 where the children had played, the serpent reared 
 its slimy brood. And the wind that howled in the 
 night was the wind of the wrath of God, and the 
 wind from the furnace of His place of punishment. 
 
 It shook the walls of the tent in which Lemuel 
 lay. It seemed to be a thing alive, with hands to 
 tear and with a voice to speak. And it seemed to 
 come straight from that far-off place where God 
 sat watching everlastingly the doings and the 
 thoughts of men. Then Lemuel knew that indeed 
 the glory of Babylon must pass away, whether now 
 or after a few more years had glided. And his 
 heart was comforted for the failing of the last 
 effort of Israel to break free from the yoke that 
 the tyrant had laid upon its neck. 
 
 The night drew on, but still he could not sleep. 
 Towards dawn the violence of the wind was abated.
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 293 
 
 It seemed to fold enormous wings and to long at 
 last for rest. Then the visions of Babylon de- 
 parted from Lemuel. He heard no more the 
 music of the city and the cries of its people, and 
 his mind shrank within itself and occupied itself 
 with its own peculiar business. Generally, men 
 who can do great things concern themselves not 
 mightily with their own personal fate. Till now 
 the heart of Lemuel, like some watching spirit, 
 had hovered about the huge walls and towers of 
 Babylon. Now it was with the maiden Elna, who 
 slept this night in the tent of Naomi. What 
 would be her fate and his ? 
 
 Lemuel asked himself this question, running 
 forward into the future. That seemed dark. For 
 Jediah would certainly return to the tents of his 
 people and cry aloud for justice. Perhaps he was 
 even already upon the way, his soul hot with fury 
 and with the desire of vengeance. And then, as 
 Lemuel looked in the face of death, there rose 
 within him the passionate love of life which is 
 shared by almost all things living. And he, who had 
 been so fearless in Babylon when Death reached 
 out to clasp his hand in the midst of crowds and 
 the shouting of many voices, trembled as he lay 
 in the black tent while the wild wind sank to rest. 
 Perhaps the romance of peace gathered about him, 
 and the tenderness of olden days, and the dreamy 
 magic of return. For here he first saw Elna, here 
 among these tents, beneath the palm trees and by 
 the well where the reeds rustled. Then Babylon 
 was but a thought in his mind, love a reality in 
 his heart. And even though that reality was sad,
 
 294 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 because Elna was betrothed to Jediah, yet it was 
 sweet too, as love must ever be, howsoe'er frus- 
 trated, howsoe'er bound and harassed by evil fate. 
 Already those days seemed very long ago. For 
 Babylon stood like a horrible and mighty statue 
 of evil between the past and the present, holding 
 in her hand the flaming brand of sin. And the 
 future was dark. Then Lemuel pondered upon 
 the strange and mysterious purposes of the 
 God of Israel. As a shepherd boy, tending his 
 flocks among the hills, Lemuel had often been 
 filled by an exultant sense of power, an overmaster- 
 ing and inspired joy — the joy and the ecstasy of 
 the seer and of the prophet. As he sat alone on 
 some green hillside, and played upon his pipe cut 
 from a reed by the river, there came sometimes to 
 him a certainty that he had been raised up to 
 bring hope to his downtrodden people, to lead 
 their souls to the patience that is the child of hope. 
 There was no pride within his heart, but tbe 
 nobility of youth, of faith, of dauntless courage, 
 of iron resolution. He laid down his pipe and 
 looked down at his flocks, scattered along the 
 hillside, and he thought of the great Shepherd of 
 Israel, who — perchance through him — would surely 
 gather those whom He had scattered, would call 
 again His chosen flock around Him in their own 
 land. And then in such moments, led by the im- 
 agination, he would take up his pipe and call again 
 to his sheep, and would whisper to his soul, " Thus 
 and thus shall we gather to God at the last, when 
 the time of our bondage is over, and the joy of 
 our peace is come." And ever he had thought
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 295 
 
 that, perhaps, he was chosen to be the earthly help 
 of the Lord in this salvation. Inspired by this 
 thought, he had put love from him, and had gone up 
 unto Babylon, and had endured calmly both hate 
 and the worship of Ishtar, fixing his eyes on 
 greater things and a mighty, though hidden, pur- 
 pose. But now, as he lay in the tent, while the 
 wind sank and the dawn grew over the plains, a 
 deep sorrow such as he had never known before 
 shook him, and he wondered if the end had come. 
 Then he understood indeed the feebleness of man, 
 and that we are all in the hands of Him who 
 directs the course of the stars and is afar off beyond 
 the light of the sun. And he knew that there had 
 been within him the seed of pride, from which 
 might have sprung a great poison flower. For he 
 had deemed himself, howsoever modestly, in some 
 sort necessary for the working out of the purposes 
 of God. But now he knew that no man is neces- 
 sary. 
 
 He saw the grey light through the aperture of 
 the tent, and he rose up softly and came to the 
 tent door. The morning air was very cool, and 
 upon the grass and upon the herbage lay drops of 
 dew, waiting to catch the first beams of the rising 
 sun. Lemuel wrapped his cloak about him and 
 went forth into the plain. The wonder of the 
 silence and of the cool dawn over the great spaces 
 was very great to him who had grown accustomed 
 to the roaring of the voices of Babylon, and to the 
 tall houses and the mighty temples, on whose 
 shining and jewelled walls the first sunbeams lay 
 like tongues of flame. He felt once more that he
 
 296 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 was but a shepherd, a tender of the flocks and 
 herds. And as a shepherd, humble, poor, peaceful, 
 he longed to live. But he longed deeply to live. 
 For life began to stir around him. The leaves, 
 moved by the dying breeze, shook from them the 
 devvdrops. The flowers opened their eyes. A 
 bird sang. Nature herself was alive, too, in every 
 plant and bush, in the thickets of the palms, in the 
 thickets of the clouds that grew around the red sun 
 on the horizon of the east, in the sun itself, which 
 now stretched forth its fingers of gold to touch the 
 smiling face of the world. 
 
 And, passing beyond the tents, Lemuel leaned 
 against a tree trunk and searched the plain with 
 his eyes. He thought that in its wide emptiness 
 and silence it was like a vision of eternity, melting 
 away on every side into the shadows where the 
 night was swiftly retreating. But suddenly he 
 started and clenched his hands together. For a 
 beam of the sun had fallen upon the grim Judg- 
 ment Seat that rose up in the plains, an emblem 
 of the inflexible deeds of Fate rather than of the 
 inflexible deeds of Justice. For Justice would 
 raise no hand upon Elna, no hand upon Lemuel. 
 But Fate? Would Fate stay her hand upon 
 them ? Exquisite was the peace of the plain, and 
 exquisite the vision of the morning. The silence 
 was breathing like a child that will soon awake, 
 and a scented warmth crept about the happy earth. 
 But cold was the great Seat of Judgment, stern and 
 pitiless. Lemuel could not take his eyes from it. 
 No crowd stood round about it now. No Judge 
 mounted upon its steps of stone. No trumpet
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 297 
 
 rang through the air to proclaim the passing of 
 sentence. No prisoners shrank beneath its shadow. 
 Not yet — not yet ! 
 
 But Jediah would return, soon or late. And an 
 unjust doom might indeed overwhelm two innocent 
 ones. For himself Lemuel now scarcely cared. 
 The coming forth into the morning, the vision of 
 the dawn, movement and sight had recalled the 
 courage within him, and chased away the fear that 
 had beset him as he lay within the blackness of 
 the tent. But tears rose to his eyes as he thought 
 of Elna, and that she might perish under the ven- 
 geance of Jediah ; that her delicate body might be 
 crushed with the cruel stones, her life beaten out 
 of her because she had, as all women, loved — 
 though she had loved innocently. 
 
 A figure rose up from the ground by the Judg- 
 ment Seat. Lemuel, perceiving it from afar, sup- 
 posed it to be some shepherd on his way to tend 
 the flocks. He knew not that it was blind Justice 
 waiting the inevitable time. As he turned away 
 to return again to the tents, he saw, far off upon 
 the plain, coming from the direction of Babylon, 
 some moving specks, almost hidden by the mists 
 of dawn. They were so faint, so distant, that at 
 first he was hardly certain if indeed he saw them, 
 or if indeed they moved. He stood still to watch 
 them, and presently a certainty came upon him 
 that they were approaching. Doubtless, this was 
 a caravan coming from Babylon. It drew nearer, 
 actually with rapidity, though — since, at present, 
 it was so distant — it seemed to Lemuel to move 
 but with slowness and even with a sort of mysteri-
 
 298 THE DAUGHTERS OE BABYLON 
 
 ous deliberation. The main highway for the 
 caravans across the plain did not traverse the 
 dwellings of Zoar and of his people, but was at 
 some distance from them, upon the right, and 
 nearer to the hills, which loomed, like faint 
 shadow^s, far ofif upon the horizon. Lemuel now 
 stood still to see whether the approaching caravan 
 would continue upon the highway or would pre- 
 sently turn towards the tents, thus proving to him 
 that those travelling from Babylon were coming 
 thither to his tribe, to the habitations of his people. 
 The thought in his mind was that this caravan 
 might be Jediah and his followers, who had learned 
 the news of his forced escape, with Elna, from 
 Babylon. And, while he gazed, a flood of thought 
 swept through his mind, as it sweeps through the 
 mind of one who is drowning in the sea. He saw 
 flashing visions of the past, heard words spoken 
 that had been spoken long ago, felt again sensa- 
 sations long forgotten. Yet, all the time, his eyes 
 never left the moving specks that crept, like 
 insects, upon the surface of the plain. They 
 drew nearer and nearer, almost imperceptibly 
 increasing in size to his watchfulness. Yet they 
 were still at some distance from the place where 
 they must change their direction, if they were 
 indeed minded to gain the tents. 
 
 They were still at some distance, and Lemuel 
 could have no certainty that they were not traders 
 bearing rich merchandise from Babylon — em- 
 broideries, woven carpets, chased vessels, and 
 engraved jewels. Or they might be slave-dealers, 
 who had been up to the city from their distant
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 299 
 
 homes to buy the captives who were almost daily 
 offered for sale. Or they might be leading with 
 them horses bred in the district around the city, 
 and acquired in exchange for the products of 
 foreign places where dwelt strange men and the 
 land gave forth strange gifts to them that in- 
 habited it. The caravan might well pass on, 
 turning neither to the right hand nor to the left. 
 
 Yet already from Lemuel had fled the sense of 
 peace on earth. No longer did he realise the 
 loveliness of nature, for his soul was full of 
 memories and of the cruel deeds of men. He 
 could almost hear the clamour of voices around 
 the Judgment Seat, the trampling of feet, the cries 
 of women — even the bitter sobbing of his mother, 
 Naomi, pleading for mercy and fbr the life of 
 her only son. For something within his soul 
 whispered — 
 
 " It is Jediah who cometh. His hands are swift 
 to shed blood." 
 
 Now he thought that he could almost discern 
 the camels and their peculiar gait, deceitful in its 
 appearance of slowness, yet devouring the ground 
 — that he could well-nigh perceive the hooded 
 men rocking to the motion. The caravan was, 
 indeed, approaching rapidly — Lemuel fancied with 
 the rapidity of hatred, the speed of intense cruelty 
 that journeys to its goal. 
 
 A bird rose from the grasses near his feet. It 
 mounted into the clear air towards the sun, singing 
 a song that was an ecstasy of joy. 
 
 The caravan turned from the highway and 
 directed itself towards the tents of Zoar.
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 Then Lemuel knew that the great hour of his life 
 was upon him. For one moment he stood still, 
 turning his eyes away from the caravan, and fixing 
 them, not upon the plain, now swimming in the 
 glory of a golden haze, not upon the Judgment 
 Seat, but upon the mounting bird, a quivering ball 
 of feathers enclosing a heaven of music. It rose 
 slowly in the air, trembling its tiny wings so rapidly 
 that they seemed motionless. It grew smaller and 
 smaller to his sight, and the sound of its song 
 withdrew towards the blue spaces of the sky, fading, 
 fainting, yet always intense with rapture, thrilling 
 with a joy so perfect, so fiery as to be unearthly. 
 And that song of the bird, sinking down from the 
 purity of heaven, fell like a drop of magic liquid 
 into the very heart of Lemuel. He trembled as if 
 an angel had touched him, and his soul followed 
 the bird in prayer. 
 
 Then, with a great brightness upon his face, he 
 walked swiftly towards the tents. 
 
 There was a stir among them. The people of 
 the tribe, roused from their slumbers, were prepar- 
 ing to go about the labours of the day. Men came 
 
 forth drawing their long, loose robes about them, 
 
 ""soo
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 301 
 
 their eyes still cloudy and unobservant with sleep. 
 Children rolled upon the grass, shouting and laugh- 
 ing with the gaiety engendered by rest. Women, 
 lifting up from the ground their pitchers, posed them 
 delicately upon their heads, and walked towards 
 the well of Naomi. No one, as yet, had seen the 
 approaching caravan. No one, as yet, knew that 
 it was drawing near. Only Lemuel fancied he 
 could hear the soft tread of the camels upon the 
 rank herbage, the hum and mutter of the voices of 
 the riders. And this was but an illusion of his 
 senses. Instinctively, as he came to the tents, he 
 looked towards the tent of his mother, Naomi. 
 His father, Zoar, who was well stricken in years, 
 still slept on, or, at least, reposed his aged limbs. 
 But Naomi now came forth, and with her, em- 
 braced tenderly by her arm, she led Elna. Lemuel 
 paused. His heart was very full as he looked on 
 the face of Elna, so innocent and girlish, yet so 
 resolute and strongly pure. His heart was very 
 full of love, but it was no longer sad. For the 
 bird's song was in it, and was mingled with the 
 song of courage that is ever in the heart of the true 
 man who has done no wrong to his neighbour. 
 
 Naomi lifted up her eyes and beheld her son. 
 She loosed her arm from about the slender form 
 of Elna, and came swiftly to Lemuel, and fell upon 
 his neck and kissed him. And the tears gushed 
 from her eyes upon his face. 
 
 " Nay, mother," he said gently, " why weepest 
 thou ? " 
 
 " From joy, son of my soul, and from terror," 
 answered Naomi. " For thou art indeed returned
 
 302 THE DAUGHTERS OE BABYLON 
 
 unto me from the great and cruel Babylon — and I 
 give thanks to the God of our fathers. But — 
 but"— 
 
 And her tears flowed as she clasped Lemuel 
 again to her breast. 
 
 "If thy brother' — if Jediah," she murmured, 
 " should return ! But he may not. They say 
 death waits for Israelites in Babylon. Nay, I am 
 wicked. My heart is turned unto evil thoughts. 
 I know not what I say. But oh ! I cannot lose 
 thee, my son, my son ! " 
 
 " Mother," said Lemuel, " be not afraid. God 
 watcheth over us, over thee and me, and — and this 
 maiden. Elna, thou art not afraid ? " 
 
 Elna looked up into his face. Perhaps she heard 
 that song in his heart, or the light that shone 
 in his eyes uplifted her soul. For she answered 
 simply— 
 
 " I fear nothing, Lemuel. If thou livest, I would 
 live with thee. If thou diest, I would die with thee. 
 I fear nothing." 
 
 " May the God of Israel grant that Jediah may 
 never return ! " cried Naomi. " For if, indeed, he 
 doth "— 
 
 " Mother," said Lemuel, clasping her trembling 
 hand in his, " Elna — Jediah, my brother, will return. 
 He is already near." 
 
 " Nay," said Naomi, " nay, Lemuel ; that cannot 
 be!" 
 
 But Lemuel answered — 
 
 " But now, as I looked forth upon the plain, far 
 off I did behold a caravan of men journeying from 
 Babylon."
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 303 
 
 Naomi trembled as if she would fall, but Elna 
 moved not, nor did the shadow of fear come into 
 her face. 
 
 " It is a caravan of merchants, my son," cried 
 Naomi. " It is a caravan of traders going towards 
 the east. They do ever pass, as thou knowest, 
 upon the great highway." 
 
 " Do they turn aside from the great highway, 
 my mother ? " answered Lemuel. 
 
 Naomi's face was full of terror, but she replied 
 quickly — 
 
 " Yea. Why not, my son ? Perchance they do 
 need to refill the water-skins, or to rest awhile, or 
 to buy food from our people. Yea, yea, it is ever 
 so. They have even turned aside to rest awhile, 
 and afterward they will continue their journey. 
 My heart tells me it is so." 
 
 And she smiled, but her sweet face was alive 
 with a pitiful anxiety, and her lips were white as 
 the dead ashes. 
 
 " Mother," said Lemuel, putting his arms around 
 her, " my heart tells me these are no merchants or 
 traders, but Jediah and Adoram. And it is better 
 so. Elna and thy son are not guilty ones. Why, 
 then, should we fear? Look up to the God of 
 justice. Let us put our trust in Him, and men 
 can do us no hurt. Hark ! Dost thou not hear 
 the caravan approaching among the palm trees ? " 
 
 Even as he spoke there came to their ears the 
 sound of voices urging forward the camels, and an 
 Israelitish shepherd, who had been setting forth to 
 drive the flocks to the pastures, rushed in among 
 the tents, crying —
 
 304 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 " Our Lord and Judge, Jediah, is come in from 
 Babylon, and with him are Adoram and Jozadah. 
 Jediah is at hand ! " 
 
 Hearing his cry, the Israelites began to as- 
 semble themselves together. The children ceased 
 from playing, and stood silently staring with round 
 eyes ; and the aged Zoar, rising up from the 
 couch within his tent, came forth folding his robe 
 about him and leaning heavily upon his staff. 
 Naomi uttered a cry of terror, but Lemuel clasped 
 her more closely with his strong arms, and 
 whispered — 
 
 " Mother, be brav.e. There is naught to fear." 
 Tirzah had now come up. She went to Elna 
 and took her hand. And thus they were stand- 
 ing when the caravan came in among the tents. 
 
 The camels were flecked with foam. They had 
 been driven ceaselessly onward through all the 
 dark hours of the night, and they were weary. 
 The men that rode them could scarce cling to the 
 rough packs used as saddles. Only Jediah, who 
 rode upon the first camel, sat upright, staring 
 before him as one that beholds his prey. 
 
 When he saw the group of Lsraelites before the 
 tents, with Lemuel and with Elna in their midst, 
 a wild cry of exultation broke from his lips. He 
 beat his camel down upon its knees, sprang off, 
 and stood before them, trembling. The people 
 were in amaze at the wildness of his demeanour, 
 and Zoar, stepping forward, said — 
 
 " Jediah, my son, be patient ! Thy brother is 
 here before thee, as thou seest." 
 
 " And the maiden," said Jediah slowly, in a
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 305 
 
 thick voice. " God hath given them into my 
 hands at last — at last ! " 
 
 A smile of appalling exultation spread over his 
 face. Naomi shrank against Lemuel's side, and 
 her hand in his grew cold as the dew in the 
 dawning. Zoar laid his hand gently, yet with 
 authority, upon Jediah's shoulder. 
 
 " Thou needest rest, my son," he said. " Thou 
 art weary with travel, and can indeed scarcely 
 stand upright. Come into the tent. I would 
 speak with thee alone." 
 
 " I am not weary, my father," Jediah answered 
 hoarsely. "Summon the elders and all the people." 
 
 " Nay, but I will speak with thee," answered 
 Zoar. " Follow me, Jediah, I do command thee." 
 
 And, with a strength almost superhuman in one 
 of his years, he drew Jediah towards the tent. At 
 the door he turned, and, speaking to the people, 
 who were murmuring excitedly among themselves, 
 he said — 
 
 "Wait, O my people. Shortly I will be with 
 ye again." 
 
 Then he entered into the tent with Jediah. 
 Once within its shadow, and concealed from the 
 gaze of all, he placed his wrinkled hands upon the 
 shoulders of Jediah, and, looking into his fierce 
 and blazing eyes, he said — 
 
 " Thou hast found them, my son. But thou wilt 
 not harm thine own brother ? " 
 
 " I will have justice," said Jediah. 
 
 And his voice was cold as the water's voice 
 when it falleth upon the .rock. 
 20
 
 306 THE DAUGHTERS OE BABYLON 
 
 " Thou wilt take the sin of Cain upon thy head, 
 my son ? " said Zoar. 
 
 " I will have justice," reiterated Jediah. 
 
 " Thou wilt break the heart of her who hath 
 been to thee as thine own mother ? " 
 
 " The Law shall strike for me," said Jediah. 
 " The Law of Israel. And to that end will I call 
 the people of Israel together." 
 
 " My son — thou wilt be merciful ? " 
 
 " I will be just, O my father." 
 
 " Just ? " said Zoar, with deep significance. " Can 
 he be just whose heart's desire is vengeance? Can 
 he be just who would spill the blood of his kindred 
 and of the maiden whom he hath loved ? O my 
 son, hearken unto me. God is very pitiful. He 
 forgiveth us many things, for He seeth into our 
 hearts, and knoweth that we, and all men, are 
 weak as water." 
 
 " I will not forgive. I will have justice." 
 
 " Nay — mercy ! — mercy ! " cried a trembling 
 voice. 
 
 Zoar turned and saw the form of Naomi in the 
 tent door. Her tender eyes were full of tears, and 
 now, hastening forward, she caught Jediah by the 
 cloak. In her agony she scarce knew what she 
 did. She forgot that Jediah should show her 
 reverence as the wife of his father. She forgot all 
 save that her son, *her only son, Lemuel, was in 
 danger, perhaps of death. She fell down at the 
 feet of Jediah and bathed his feet with her tears. 
 
 " He is innocent ! " she sobbed. " Lemuel is 
 innocent of all offence against thee. Let him go 
 in peace, I beseech thee ! "
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 307 
 
 Zoar was deeply moved, but Jediah seemed 
 hardly to hear the cry of Naomi, hardly to feel 
 the grasp of her hands upon his robe. 
 
 " Speak not to me of pity," he said. " I do live 
 only for justice. Let the people be summoned, 
 and let the Judges of our tribe be called together. 
 I have witnesses to the guilt of these twain in 
 Babylon. Let Israel's Judges decide betwixt us." 
 
 Zoar leaned down and tenderly raised up Naomi, 
 
 " Have courage, wife ! " he whispered. " It must 
 be. Put thou thy trust in God." 
 
 Naomi sobbed and hid her face against the 
 breast of her husband. Then Zoar went forth 
 to the tent door, and the people gathered around 
 him. Jediah stood behind him, in the shadow of 
 the tent, and Lemuel and EIna remained apart, 
 awaiting calmly that which should be done. 
 
 " My people," said Zoar, and old though he was 
 and well stricken in years, there was majesty in his 
 aspect and his voice was clear and strong, " my 
 people, Jediah, who hath come in from Babylon, 
 doth demand that a cause shall be tried, and that 
 the voice of the Judges of Israel shall be heard in 
 a great matter, touching the truth and innocence 
 of Lemuel, the son of my old age, and the maiden 
 Elna, who is known to ye all. Go ye to your 
 tents until the sun be but one hour higher in the 
 heaven, and bend ye all the knee in prayer, to the 
 Judge of all things, that indeed justice may be 
 done and the truth for ever known before Heaven 
 and in the sight of men. And when the trumpet 
 shall sound forth, assemble yourselves together 
 in the plain before the Judgment Seat. To
 
 3o8 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 your tents, O Israel — fall upon the ground and 
 pray." 
 
 As he spake thus, he had solemnly uplifted his 
 two hands towards the heaven. Now he let them 
 fall with a gesture of dignified submission. And 
 all the people, obedient to his voice, turned and 
 went silently to their tents. Only Lemuel and 
 Elna, apart from the others, fell down upon their 
 knees where they had stood, and their lips moved 
 in silent prayer. A great and mysterious quietude 
 lay about the encampment. The voice of all 
 activity was hushed while the sun mounted slowly 
 up the sky. Only Jcdiah stole through the palm 
 trees and called softly to him Adoram and Jozadah. 
 
 " The hour is at hand," he said unto Adoram. 
 "Thou wilt not swerve or falter? Thou art pre- 
 pared to swear before the Judges of the people 
 that thou hast seen these two, Lemuel and Elna, 
 together in Babylon ? " 
 
 Adoram did not lift up his eyes, but looked down 
 upon the ground as he answered uneasily — 
 
 "Yea, if thou dost reward me as thou hast 
 promised." 
 
 " I will reward thee, be sure. Why dost thou 
 doubt me?" said Jediah, with bitter impatience. 
 
 " I know not," answered Adoram. " Art thou in 
 very truth assured that these two are guilty ? " 
 
 " Thou fool, have I not told thee so ? Thou 
 craven heart — of what art thou afraid ? " 
 
 Adoram was silent for a moment. In the silence 
 these men heard from the tents a faint murmur — 
 the voices of the Israelites offering up their prayers 
 to the God of justice.
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 309 
 
 " I fear the wrath of Heav^en — if indeed they 
 are innocent," muttered Adoram. 
 
 Jediah uttered an imprecation. 
 
 " I tell thee they are guilty ! " he cried furiously. 
 " Did she not follow him to Babylon, having put 
 on man's attire ? " 
 
 " Yea, it is true. She must have sinned. Give 
 me my reward, and I will testify as thou dost 
 esire. 
 
 " And thou, Jozadah ? " said Jediah. 
 
 " Yea, else why have I come hither ? " Jozadah 
 answered quickly. Then he added, with an in- 
 describable greediness that was hideous, " I shall be 
 paid — and I shall have Tirzah ? " 
 
 " Have I not sworn it ? See ! the sun mounts 
 in the heaven. The hour is at hand." 
 
 Even as he spoke, Zoar, calm and serene as one 
 who puts his trust in the Ruler of all things, came 
 forth from his tent, and said to an Israelite — 
 
 " It is the hour. Now go. Summon the heads of 
 the people, the fathers and the elders. Call them 
 from the tents and the fields. With the trumpet 
 call them." 
 
 The Israelite obeyed the command, and now the 
 silence that had lain about the camp was broken. 
 The shrill note of a trumpet pealed forth again 
 and again, now near among the tents, now far, 
 softened and almost mysterious, as the herald of 
 Justice passed on into the plain. 
 
 His call was heard by the blind man who sat 
 alone in the shadow of the Judgment Seat. The 
 blind man started to his feet and listened with a 
 strained attention.
 
 3IO THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 " Surely it is the call of Israel to judgment," he 
 murmured. " It is to summon the Judges and the 
 elders for some great matter." 
 
 He waited where he was. The warm sun fell 
 upon him, for the morning was deepening over the 
 plain. He heard the long note of the trumpet, 
 now loud, now low, near and far, and excitement 
 grew in him. For it seemed to him that the music 
 called not unto the tribes of Zoar, not unto the 
 men of the fields, to the fathers and the elders, but 
 to him alone. It was like unto the voice in his own 
 heart that had suffered so long and so bitterly, the 
 voice that had bidden h'un to go out from Babylon 
 and to return unto the tents of his own kindred. 
 All sense of fatigue left him as he hearkened. 
 The strength and the vigour of youth returned to 
 him. And the trumpet note pealing through the 
 warm air was like a blaze of fire springing up 
 about him, and fire ran, surely, in his veins instead 
 of blood. And he felt even as if fire glowed in 
 those pitiful caverns where once, long ago, his eyes 
 had looked forth upon the beauty and upon the 
 brightness of the world. Thus he waited, braced 
 and intense, like a man who is preparing himself 
 for some great action of his life. 
 
 The sound of the trumpet died away towards 
 the tents. There was a long silence, and then a 
 distant murmur of voices, a distant tramp of many 
 feet. 
 
 In answer to the cry of Zoar and to the sound- 
 ing of the trumpet, the Israelites rose up from 
 their prayers and came forth into the sun. The
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 311 
 
 majesty of petition lay, surely, still upon their faces, 
 for the men looked calm and grave, the women 
 uplifted and serene. Only Naomi trembled, and 
 in her eyes the fear lay behind the tears. And 
 the children, holding the hands of their mothers, 
 stared with round gravity and marvelled much 
 what strange matter might be afoot. Two of 
 them, of an age to comprehend, were crying 
 gently. These were they whom Lemuel had 
 taken up in his arms and kissed when he bade 
 farewell to his people ere he went up to Babylon. 
 They loved Lemuel, and knew that his life was in 
 great danger, and terror came to them. They 
 feared the harsh cry of the trumpet. They feared 
 the gathering of the people. One of them pulled 
 at the hand of the other, and whispered, under his 
 breath — 
 
 " Let us go to him and kiss him, as ere he went 
 away." 
 
 Then they ran to the place where Lemuel and 
 Elna stood apart, waiting what might befall, and 
 fell on his neck, and lifted their soft lips to his 
 and kissed him. 
 
 And, at the sight, for the first time the calm of 
 Elna went from her, and the tears rose up in her 
 eyes. Lemuel put the children gently from him, 
 and, as they ran back to their mothers, he said to 
 Elna — 
 
 " Thinkest thou, Elna, that had we indeed been 
 guilty, the children would have come to us ? Nay! 
 for God often putteth truth into the hearts of 
 little children when He hideth it for a while from 
 the wise and those that are stricken in years. Let
 
 312 THE DAUGHTERS OE BABYLON 
 
 us, then, go forth to the Judgment armed, thou and 
 I, by the love and the trust of Httle children." 
 
 Even as he spoke, the Israelites surrounded 
 them to lead them forth into the plain. There 
 was a silence upon all the people. They moved 
 as men taken by a great awe, and their faces were 
 stern with justice. They loved Lemuel well. 
 They had learned to look to him as their saviour. 
 But their sense of justice was graven on their 
 hearts as a vv^ord may be graven on granite. It 
 outweighed love and fear, and desire of release 
 from slavery, and deep admiration of the bravery 
 of a man. The laws of Israel were to them more 
 than were ever their laws to the IVIcdes and the 
 Persians. And the man who offended against 
 those laws, whatsoever his rank, his talent, his 
 importance to his nation, must die. They had 
 looked to Lemuel as to a Messiah. But justice 
 was before all, and now justice must be done. So 
 their faces were stern as they came about him 
 silently to lead him to the Judgment Seat. 
 
 Jediah stood at a little distance, watching. 
 With him were his witnesses, Adoram and Jozadah. 
 Among the stern and calm Israelites, with their 
 prayerful eyes and their silent dignity, his aspect 
 of unbridled ferocity and blazing exultation 
 seemed inhuman and horribly grotesque. His 
 bloodshot eyes were fixed upon Lemuel and Elna. 
 The fingers of his hands were twisted together 
 like those of a man overtaken by a sudden shock 
 of paralysis. There was foam about his bearded 
 lips, and at moments his body was shaken as 
 by a palsy.
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 313 
 
 "If thou wilt indeed accuse thy brother and 
 thy betrothed," said Zoar unto him, " behold, the 
 hour is come. Here be the Judges, the elders, 
 and the people. Wilt thou that they go forth to 
 the Judgment Seat?" 
 
 " I do will it," said Jediah hoarsely. " I do will 
 it. I will have justice ! They shall both die." 
 
 " That must first of all be judged," answered 
 Zoar. 
 
 Then he returned to the people, and said — 
 
 " To the Judgment Seat, O my people. Lead 
 forth the man Lemuel and the maiden Elna." 
 
 It was then that Johanan, where he stood afar 
 by the Judgment Seat, heard the murmur of 
 voices and the tramp of feet. For now the people 
 broke through the strange and terrible silence 
 they had kept. The excitement that comes ever 
 upon crowds ran through them, from man to man, 
 from woman to woman. And the noise of their 
 many voices was like the deep murmur of the sea. 
 It thrilled through the blind man's heart, and it 
 was strange to him, for he could see nothing. 
 Only he felt the sun upon him and the soft air 
 about him, and heard the noise of the approaching 
 multitude grow ever louder and louder in his ears. 
 At first he could distinguish no words. All 
 were lost in the dull and ceaseless murmur. But 
 presently, as the crowd drew closer, he heard 
 cries of "Justice! Justice before the God of 
 Israel ! " 
 
 And, standing there alone, he murmured be- 
 neath his breath — 
 
 "Justice ! Justice before the God of Israel ! "
 
 314 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 The crowd came on across the plain. First 
 walked the Judges and Zoar, supporting" Naomi, 
 who was faint witli fear, and who walked as one 
 in a dream, scarce knowing whither or for what 
 purpose, but ever accompanied by darkness and 
 by the horror of the dull sense that the world was 
 heavy with some deep misfortune. Behind them 
 came Jediah with his witnesses, to whom he spake 
 in a low voice from time to time. Then followed 
 the people, with Lemuel and Elna escorted in 
 their midst. Near Elna walked Tirzah, Her face 
 was deadly pale, and her lips moved ever in prayer. 
 And as Elna drew near to the Judgment Seat her 
 mind went back along the w^iys of the past, to 
 the time when she was a child. She saw again 
 the crowd gathered around a youth and a maiden 
 who had been found in sin. She heard again the 
 condemnation pronounced upon them. Then she 
 had wept sore. She had cried out piteously. She 
 had clasped the robe of Jediah. She had felt as if 
 she herself went down to death and was murdered 
 by the cruel stones. Yet now that such an hour 
 had come to her, and that Jediah was to be her 
 accuser, she neither wept nor did she tremble. 
 Nor did she feel as one who walks to meet a great 
 sorrow. For she bethought her of the words that 
 Jediah himself had spoken unto her — 
 
 " The deeds that we do, whether good or evil, 
 return to us again to give us our reward. They 
 may tarry long on their journey, as tarry the great 
 caravans that come from the desert, and pcr- 
 aclventure we may say that they will never come. 
 But there surely dawneth a day when they do
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 315 
 
 stand before us, and in their hand they do bear 
 the gift — life for the good, death for tlie evil," 
 
 If those words were indeed true, did death then 
 wait, here by the Seat of Justice, for her and for 
 Lemuel ? 
 
 The crowd spread round the Judgment Seat as 
 the sea beats round a rock, Johanan, the blind 
 man, was swallowed up in it. But no one knew 
 him, nor heeded him, for all the people were 
 intent upon Lemuel and upon that which should 
 be done. Upon the mound, in the view of all, 
 were the Sanhedrin, or Council of seventy-two. 
 
 Unseen by them and by those around them, a 
 caravan, travelling rapidly from the direction of 
 Babylon, swept along the highway towards the 
 plain. The riders urged on the camels at a frantic 
 pace, beating them with whips and crying to them 
 to hasten. 
 
 Being upon the Seat in the view of all the 
 people, with Zoar in the centre and Jediah close 
 upon his right hand, the Judges sat them down in 
 silence. Then the priest of the tribe cried in a 
 loud voice — 
 
 " Blessed be the name of the Lord ! " 
 
 And all the people answered — 
 
 " We praise His holy name ! " 
 
 Then there rose a Judge, and he said, stretching 
 forth his arms to the people — 
 
 " Men of Israel, of the house of Zoar ! If a maid 
 is betrothed unto one man, and another man take 
 her, what shall be their punishment ? What saith 
 the law ? " 
 
 And, as with one voice, the people answered —
 
 3i6 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 " Death ! " 
 
 And Johanan, who stood over against the steps 
 of the Judgment Seat, whispered — 
 
 " Death ! " 
 
 " Shall they not be stoned with stones until they 
 die?" cried the Judge. 
 
 And the people answered — 
 
 " They shall be stoned with stones until they die." 
 
 Then the Judge, turning to Jediah, said unto 
 him — 
 
 " Speak thou, Jediah. Testify thou against this 
 man and against this maiden." 
 
 The blind man drew a little closer to the steps 
 of the Judgment Seat, and all the muscles of his 
 body were as if turned to iron, and all the blood 
 that ran in his veins was like ilrc that is hot in the 
 furnace. 
 
 Jediah rose up in his place, and as the people 
 gazed upon him, a hoarse murmur broke from 
 them. For in the sun that blazed down upon 
 his head, he looked gaunt and haggard and 
 terrible as a spectre. The aspect of humanity, 
 that is made in the image of God, had almost 
 left him. His streaming hair was well-nigh like 
 unto the mane of some animal of the forest. His 
 eyes were as the eyes of a beast when it 
 croucheth to spring upon its prey. His hands 
 clenched and unclenched themselves. He gnashed 
 his teeth in his beard. And the flames of an 
 undying hatred seemed to emanate from him 
 as, after a moment of silence, he said — 
 
 " I, Jediah, the eldest born of my father's house, 
 a Judge in Israel, do swear that I was betrothed
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 317 
 
 unto this maiden Elna by my father Zoar. 
 Answer, O my father. Did'st thou not give this 
 woman unto me for wife ? " 
 
 Then Zoar bowed his head and answered — 
 
 " I did, my son." 
 
 Then Jediah said unto Elna — 
 
 "Answer thou, woman. Wert thou not be- 
 trothed unto me by my father Zoar ? " 
 
 And Elna, lifting up her face proudly towards 
 the Judges, said — 
 
 " Thy father Zoar did indeed give me unto 
 thee. Yet was I but a child and knew not love, 
 and knew not what I did." 
 
 Then Jediah said unto Lemuel — 
 
 " Answer thou, O Lemuel, that art my brother, 
 son of my father and of his lawful wife, Naomi. 
 Did'st thou not know that this woman was be- 
 trothed unto me?" 
 
 And Lemuel said — 
 
 « I did know it." 
 
 " And, knowing it, thou did'st steal her from 
 me and did'st carry her with thee to Babylon ? " 
 
 " No," cried Lemuel. " As my soul liveth, she 
 went not forth with me to Babylon, nor knew 
 I aught of her going thither." 
 
 " Thou liest ! " cried Jediah fiercely. " Thou 
 liest ! " 
 
 " I do not lie," returned Lemuel proudly. " I 
 speak the truth. No such plot was thought of 
 by me, nor knew I aught of this maid's presence 
 in Babylon until I found her in the palace gardens 
 of Ishtar, claimed by our over-lord, Alorus, as his 
 slave."
 
 3 IS THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 Even as he spake, and his words rang out 
 clearly to all the people, who listened as if under 
 a spell, the caravan that was travelling from 
 Babylon turned from the highway, coming to- 
 wards the Judgment Seat. The camels were 
 stopped, and a woman, closely veiled, and 
 attended by two men, dismounted from them, 
 and came forward into the midst of the press 
 of the people. No one heeded them, for all 
 eyes were turned to the Judgment Seat, all lent 
 ear to the words of Lemuel. 
 
 When Lemuel had ceased from speaking, the 
 Judge said — 
 
 " Who can prove that these words are true ? " 
 
 Then Elna called upon her soul and upon all 
 her courage, and lifted up her voice and said — 
 
 "That can L For I went up to Babylon un- 
 known to Lemuel or to any man. He had 
 conjured me by all we both held sacred to help 
 him to be loyal to that man, his brother, who 
 now seeketh to slay him. Unasked of him, 1 
 did confess m}' love for him, as here, before my 
 Judges and my people, I, without shame, confess 
 it still. In all else I am, as he is, innocent. 
 If love, the strongest, purest, noblest love of 
 which man is capable, be a crime, then is he 
 guilty, but in naught else. He is true to his 
 brother, to his nation, and to his God." 
 
 As she finished speaking there was a murmur 
 of sympathy from the crowd, and Naomi clasped 
 her hands together, while the tears rained down 
 her face. It seemed unto her eager mother's 
 heart that the answer of Elna must at once and
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 319 
 
 for ever convince the Judges and the people of 
 the innocence of her son. Ah'eady she saw him 
 acquitted, set free, in her arms once more. But 
 Jediah spoke fiercely in answer to the words of 
 Elna. 
 
 " The evidence of his paramour doth not suffice," 
 he exclaimed, with bitter sarcasm. " How should 
 she, who hath betrayed all for him, not say that 
 he is innocent? Her evidence is nothing worth. 
 Who else, woman, can prove that thou did'st not 
 go forth with him ? " 
 
 " Who else ? " murmured Elna, casting her eyes 
 around upon all the eager, watching faces. 
 
 " Ay," cried Jediah. " There is no man — there 
 is no man ! " 
 
 " There is one man," cried a voice in the crowd. 
 " The Lord Alorus. Who will gainsay his word ? " 
 
 All the people turned, as with one accord, in the 
 direction of the voice, and Alorus, dusty, travel- 
 stained, and weary, but bearing himself, as ever, 
 with a certain dandified gallantry and arrogance 
 of demeanour, came forward to the foot of the 
 Judgment Seat and stood looking upwards to- 
 wards the fierce white face of Jediah. 
 
 " The Lord Alorus ! " cried the people. 
 
 Sabaal, who was among the crowd, made a 
 movement as if he would fain slink out of sight 
 of the master from whom he had escaped. But 
 Alorus had already seen him, and he now 
 motioned to him to stay. 
 
 "What dost thou here?" muttered Jediah 
 uneasily, casting his eyes hither and thither as 
 if he feared some other presence.
 
 320 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 " What do I here ? " said Alorus. " I do stand 
 here to say that, so far, the shepherd Lemuel 
 hath spoken the truth. 'Twas I found this maid, 
 who had fainted and lay as one dead in a street 
 of Babylon. When Lemuel went forth with me 
 from the tents of Zoar the maid was not with 
 him." 
 
 The face of Naomi brightened, and she dried 
 her tears. 
 
 " God speaketh even out of the mouths of the 
 heathen," she murmured. " He speaketh for my 
 son." 
 
 But Jediah's fury and determination for revenge 
 were only increased by this unexpected opposition. 
 His eyes glared wildly, but it was evident that he 
 was making a mighty effort to retain his self- 
 control as he said — 
 
 " Thou did'st claim her as thy slave, and in thine 
 own house, O Lord Alorus, I did find her with this 
 man. Is not that the truth ? " 
 
 " That is the truth," said Alorus, with obvious 
 reluctance. 
 
 " And even then," interposed Lemuel calmly, 
 " in thy presence, O my brother, were we both 
 arrested — I and this maiden — by the order of the 
 king, in that we did plot for the liberty of the 
 men of Israel held captive in Babylon." 
 
 At these words there were again great murmurs 
 among the people, and a voice cried out — 
 
 " Shall we then kill with stones the man who 
 would free us from captivity ? " 
 
 " Thou utterest treason ! " cried Alorus, turning 
 in the direction of the voice.
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 321 
 
 " We will do justice on every man," said the 
 aged Zoar proudly, " be he who he may." 
 
 "Brother," cried Lemuel, " have I not spoken 
 that which is true ? Answer thou, my brother." 
 
 " That is true," said Jediah. 
 
 " True, also, that I was sold," continued Lemuel, 
 with passionate earnestness, " and with me this 
 maid into bonda^^e ? " 
 
 " That also is true," said Jediah harshly. 
 
 " And that the brethren who had wrought with 
 me in secret for their freedom did rise and put to 
 the sword the guards, and did release me from the 
 rostrum, and with me this maid. And then " — 
 he turned proudly towards Sabaal — " then was I 
 taken captive by mine own people, by thee, O 
 Sabaal, and by thy followers, and borne away out 
 of the city, bound and helpless — I, who should 
 have fought with and for those brave ones who 
 were ready to lay down their liv^es for my sake." 
 
 "Stand forth, Sabaal," cried Alorus, "and 
 acknowledge thy treason unto me and unto my 
 lord the king. Thou did'st help to stir up this 
 revolt ? " 
 
 Sabaal threw himself upon the ground at the 
 feet of Alorus. 
 
 " It is true," he cried. 
 
 " And why did'st thou take captive thine own 
 leader ? " 
 
 " Lest he should be destroyed," exclaimed the 
 slave. 
 
 "As now he shall be, if there is justice in the 
 world," shouted Jediah. 
 21
 
 322 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 " I thank thee, O my Lord Alorus," said 
 Lemuel, " and thee, Sabaal, that have borne 
 witness for me that I do speak the truth." 
 
 Cries broke from the people as Alorus turned 
 away from the Judgment Seat. The Israelites 
 were greatly excited by this narration of the events 
 that had been taking place in Babylon. But 
 Jediah's intensity of resolution was only made 
 more fierce by these sounds and by the evidences 
 of favour towards Lemuel. Raising his voice into 
 a hoarse shout, he cried out, gesticulating wildly — 
 
 " All this I seek not to deny — it matters not. I 
 have here two witnesses" — a hush fell upon the 
 people, and the terror dawned again in the face of 
 Naomi — " two witnesses that this man and this 
 maid were together guiltily in Babylon. Thou 
 did'st see them," — he put forth his hand to Adoram, 
 — " did'st thou not ? Answer, O Adoram ! " 
 
 Then, in the dead silence, Adoram answered and 
 said — 
 
 " It is true. I swear that I did see these two — 
 as Jediah hath affirmed — together in Babylon." 
 
 " Answer thou, Jozadah," vociferated Jediah. 
 
 And Jozadah answered in a loud voice — 
 
 " I swear that I did see these two together in 
 Babylon — as thou hast affirmed. And all the city 
 knew it." 
 
 These words evidently made a deep impression 
 on the Israelites, who guarded the chastity of their 
 women as a most precious jewel. Murmurs adverse 
 to Elna and Lemuel now came from many lips, 
 and many of the women in the crowd cast looks of 
 indignation upon Elna. Jediah saw that the tide
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 323 
 
 of the feeling of the people was already turn- 
 ing in his favour, and he cried with passionate 
 fervour — 
 
 "I claim justice! Hear these men — and all 
 Babylon would bear them witness ! I maintain 
 that this man and this maid are guilty. I call for 
 judgment and their death ! " 
 
 A woman shrieked and fell, as one dead, to the 
 ground. It was Naomi. Tirzah lifted her up 
 tenderly. But Jediah took no heed. 
 
 " Grant me justice, O Judges ! " he cried. " Let 
 these two who have betrayed my honour and 
 broken Israel's law be stoned with stones until 
 they die." 
 
 Then the Judge who had first spoken stood up 
 in his place, and his countenance was very stern. 
 And he said in a loud voice — 
 
 " By the law given unto us by our fathers hast 
 thou been tried, O Lemuel and Elna. What is 
 the judgment, O ye Judges ? " 
 
 And the Judges answered and said — 
 
 " They are guilty both." 
 
 " And their punishment? " said the Judge. 
 
 "Death," answered the Judges. "They shall be 
 stoned with stones until they die." 
 
 Then the Judge turned to the people and said — 
 
 " Men of Israel, ye have heard the sentence of 
 Israel's Judges. Take these two, and, as the law 
 decrees, even so do ye unto them." 
 
 As he finished speaking, the crowd surged for- 
 ward around Lemuel and Elna, stretching forth 
 their hands to seize and bind them. But Elna, 
 struggling violently, cried —
 
 324 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 "Men of Israel, kill me if ye will, in that I did 
 do wickedly in putting on man's attire and thus 
 going up alone to Babylon. But spare Lemuel. 
 Spare — spare him ! For he is innocent. Nay — 
 nay — this is murder 1 " 
 
 On the last words her voice rose in a piercing 
 cry that was like a wail. And Jediah, answering 
 her, shouted with fiendish exultation — 
 
 " Death to them both ! Death ! death ! " 
 
 As the crowd surged forward, Johanan, the 
 blind man, had been caught in the press of it, and 
 swept away some feet from the Judgment Seat. 
 He struggled furiously to regain it as he heard the 
 shout of Jediah, but for a moment his effort was in 
 vain. A tremendous uproar broke from hundreds 
 of voices, the cruel cry of " Death ! death ! " For 
 the Israelites had stern hearts, and unto them the 
 words of their Judges were as the words of God 
 Himself. For the sinful woman, for the man who 
 had led her into sin, they had no mercy. Guilt 
 such as that attributed unto Lemuel and unto Elna 
 was altogether abominable to them. Such guilt 
 must be wiped out as a stain of blood is wiped out, 
 or all the tribe would partake in the wickedness, 
 and the wrath of God would surely come upon 
 them. So now they took no heed of the wild cry 
 of Elna. They took no heed of the patriotism of 
 Lemuel. They thought no more of their own salva- 
 tion from bondage, wrought for by him. They 
 thought only of the punishment by their law 
 decreed. And they bound the hands of Lemuel 
 and the hands of Elna behind their backs, crying — 
 " Death !— death !— death ! "
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 325 
 
 Jediah stood above upon the Judgment Seat, 
 and his white face was as the face of a devil 
 exulting over the terror of a lost world. The 
 crowd seized Lemuel and Elna to bear them forth 
 unto the place of stones. Women shrieked aloud, 
 and the roar of this human ocean echoed up under 
 the glaring sunshine along the vastness of the 
 plain. Then Jediah, leaning down, caught up the 
 first stone and, with a cry of triumph, flung it at 
 Lemuel. It struck him on the side of the face, 
 and the blood gushed out. Jediah fell back upon 
 the seat of the Judges, laughing triumphantly, and 
 muttering over and over, like a madman repeating 
 ever the one word that possesses him, " Death ! — 
 death !— death ! " 
 
 But suddenly he caught the seat with his hands. 
 His eyes stared. His voice died, strangled in his 
 throat. For on high, above all the tumult, there 
 rang out the imperious voice of a woman. 
 
 " Hold ! " it cried. " Hold, men of Israel ! " 
 
 And a woman's form, veiled, stood by the Judg- 
 ment Seat. 
 
 The people, startled by this cry, which was 
 thrilling in its passionate intensity, were silent 
 and motionless. The Judges stood up upon their 
 seat, and Naomi leaned forward in the arms of 
 Tirzah. 
 
 " Hold ! " cried the woman. " These twain are 
 innocent ! " 
 
 The crowd surged back, and Elna was seen upon 
 her knees, resting her head against Lemuel, who 
 stretched arms of protection above her to shield 
 her from death.
 
 326 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 " What would'st thou, woman ? " exclaimed the 
 Judge who had called for death. 
 
 " I would stay this judgment ! " cried the woman. 
 
 " There is no power," shrieked Jediah, " no 
 power to set aside the sentence passed by Israel's 
 Judges." 
 
 " There is a power above Israel's Judges," said 
 the woman. " A power to whom ye render 
 tribute. He who reigneth in Babylon, my lord 
 the king." 
 
 She held forth her hand. In it was a cylinder, 
 stamped with the signet of the king. 
 
 " Here is his mandate and his signet," she cried. 
 " It is the will of the king of Babylon that these two 
 are to be set free, and that no harm or evil shall be 
 done upon them." 
 
 Cries broke from the people, but the Judge said 
 sternly- — 
 
 " Who answereth for this woman that she 
 speaketh indeed the truth ? " 
 
 Then Alorus cried — 
 
 " I do. I, Alorus, thy over-lord and the sei^vant 
 of the king." 
 
 Then Jediah, beside himself with fury, and 
 trembling like an old man, tottered down the 
 steps of the Judgment Seat towards the woman 
 who stood there, crying — 
 
 " I will not accept this message, nor will I heed 
 this false decree." 
 
 But the woman caught his hand, and hers was 
 like iron. And she said in his ear — 
 
 " Thou shalt ! For I swear to thee, if thy 
 brother and this maid die, they shall not die
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 327 
 
 alone. They are innocent of the crime of which 
 thou — thou and I are guilty. If they are stoned, 
 I — Elcia — falsely called Ishtar, who was the wife 
 of Johanan — at thy command made blind by this 
 man " — 
 
 " There is no man " — stammered Jediah, pale as 
 ashes. 
 
 But he looked, and lo ! Migdapul, the god-seller, 
 stood by him. Then he fell back against the great 
 stone of the Judgment Seat, and he heard in his 
 ears a noise like the buzzing of flies in a dark 
 place. 
 
 " I will proclaim myself and my sin — and thine 
 — before all the people," said Elcia. 
 
 " Thou wilt not dare ! " he muttered. 
 
 " I have sworn it by the God of our fathers," she 
 answered. " Call upon the people. Speak as I 
 command thee." 
 
 And she lifted up her voice and cried aloud — 
 
 " Hearken, O ye people ! " 
 
 Then the people pressed close around them, and 
 Naomi broke from the arms of Tirzah, and the 
 blind man, Johanan, drew near to the sound of her 
 voice. 
 
 " I have been unjust," she said, speaking unto 
 Jediah, " and, in mine anger, have I sought the life 
 of my brother." 
 
 And he, as one compelled by a spirit of truth 
 and justice, lifted up his voice, that was piercing 
 and shaken by the gusts of passion, and said, so 
 that all could hear — 
 
 " I have been unjust, and, in mine anger, have 
 I sought the life of my brother."
 
 3 28 TIIF. DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 Then she said — 
 
 " I do here recall mine accusation " — 
 
 And he answered — 
 
 " I do here recall mine accusation " — 
 
 " And do plead to thee, my father Zoar, for 
 these two — that thou wilt give this innocent 
 maiden Elna unto my brother Lemuel, to be 
 his wife." 
 
 But Jediah, on hearing these last words, shrieked 
 out, like a man demented — 
 
 " No, no ! I will not say it !— I will not ! " 
 
 " I say thou shalt ! " cried Elcia. 
 
 " I will not ! " he reiterated frantically. " I will 
 not ! Death shall possess her, but Lemuel never ! " 
 
 And, drawing from his breast a knife that 
 gleamed in the sunshine, he sprang towards Elna, 
 who still kneeled upon the ground, fettered and 
 helpless. But Elcia, quick as thought, darted 
 between Jediah and Elna, and, as Jediah struck, 
 the point of the knife entered her breast and she 
 sank down to the ground. The people, who had 
 stood as if turned to stone while Jediah uttered the 
 bitter confession of his sin, now rushed forward to 
 seize him, clamouring for his destruction. But ere 
 one could so much as lay a hand upon him, the 
 blind man, Johanan, leaped up where he stood 
 and caught Jediah by the throat, crying — 
 
 " At last ! At last ! Robber of my wife — my 
 Elcia ! At last I find thee, O mine enemy ! " 
 
 " Johanan ! " gasped out Jediah. 
 
 " Ay," said the blind man. "Johanan — whom 
 thou madest blind. Die, accursed one, die ! " 
 
 And, on the last word, he pressed his hands
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 329 
 
 upon the throat of Jediah, strangled him, cast his 
 body upon the ground at the very foot of the 
 Judgment Seat that he would have polluted, and, 
 with a cry as of a man who yields up his soul in 
 triumph, fell dead upon it, as though to keep it 
 his for ever. 
 
 Then a great awe fell upon the people. For 
 Jediah had been their lord. And they gathered 
 about his dead body and lifted it in their arms to 
 carry it to the tent of his father. 
 
 But Lemuel and Elna they released, and Naomi 
 fell, weeping, upon the breast of her son. 
 
 The Lord Alorus had supported Elcia and 
 striven to bind up the wound in her breast. Elna, 
 leaning over her, whispered — 
 
 " And thou — art thou hurt ? " 
 
 " But a little," Elcia answered. 
 
 " And thou," said Elna, " who hast saved us — 
 who art thou ? " 
 
 Then Elcia drew back her veil and looked into 
 the eyes of Elna. 
 
 " Ishtar ! " exclaimed Elna. 
 
 " Not Ishtar," ansvv^ered Elcia, " but one more 
 wretched — Elcia." 
 
 " Elcia ! " said Elna. " Thou art Elcia ! " 
 
 She bent down over Elcia and kissed her on 
 the lips, and whispered — 
 
 " Sister ! " 
 
 A great light came upon the face of Elcia, and 
 she lifted herself up, saying proudly — 
 
 " Sister ! That word repays me all." 
 Then she sank back in the arms of Alorus, and 
 seemed for a moment as one dead. The heavy
 
 36' 
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 lids dropped over her great dark eyes. The colour 
 fled from her cheek, and between her white lips 
 the struggling breath came in gasps. 
 
 " She is dying," whispered Elna. " Lemuel, 
 she is dying." 
 
 Elcia heard the words and opened her eyes. 
 Already there was a strange and unearthly look in 
 them, as if they beheld far-away visions, the faint 
 and shadowy figures of some other world. She 
 moved, and, stretching forth her hand, laid it upon 
 Lemuel's, as he leaned over her. 
 
 " Is it true ? " she murmured. " Am I indeed 
 — dying ? " 
 
 " Nay," he answered. " Nay, sister, that cannot 
 be. I will fetch water." 
 
 He moved as if to hasten away. But she softly 
 restrained him. 
 
 " Do not leave me — now," she said. " Stay — it 
 will not be for long." 
 
 And she strove to come a little nearer to him. 
 Lemuel made a sign to Alorus, and the Babylonian, 
 with infinite care, loosed his arms from about Elcia 
 and let her rest instead in the arms of Lemuel. 
 This seemed to content her greatly, for a smile 
 that was almost joyous hovered on her trembling 
 lips, and she sighed — as a child sighs when it is 
 given to its mother. She lay still for a moment. 
 Then, suddenly lifting herself up in Lemuel's 
 arms, she looked forth over the plain, staring in 
 the direction in which — very far off — lay Babylon. 
 
 " I see — the city," she said in a thrilling voice. 
 " There — there — but — but — the gods — they are 
 fallen in the temples — the palaces — are desolate —
 
 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 331 
 and in the chambers — serpents — serpents are sleep- 
 
 ing." 
 
 " It is a vision," whispered Lemuel unto Elna. 
 " The dying can behold the future and that which 
 shall be done in the years as yet far off." 
 
 But already the light had faded from the eyes 
 of Elcia. She nestled against the heart of 
 Lemuel. 
 
 " Now let me sleep," she said softly. 
 
 With a last effort she put her arms about his 
 neck, murmuring, so faintly that even he could 
 scarcely hear the words — 
 
 " Let me sleep. The daughter of Babylon — is 
 — avenged." 
 
 Her arms drooped down and fell. She sighed. 
 
 " Surely now she lies in the arms of God," said 
 Lemuel. " Of our God and hers. For He for- 
 eiveth us all our sins and remembereth no more 
 our iniquities." 
 
 And, bending down, he kissed the lips of the 
 dead woman. 
 
 Lemuel, whose heart — wholly given as it was 
 to Elna — beat ever in sympathy with his down- 
 trodden people, was destined to live unto those 
 days that beheld the passing away of the glory of 
 the Babylonish conquerors. For, in the seven- 
 teenth year of Nabonidos, the tribes dwelling 
 around the Persian Gulf revolted, stirred by the 
 incessant intrigues of Cyrus, In the month 
 Tammuz, Cyrus himself came up to the town of 
 Opis and defeated the Accad army, and on the 
 sixteenth day of the same month the Persians
 
 332 THE DAUGHTERS OF BABYLON 
 
 entered Babylon and captured the city, without 
 striking a blow. The king was loaded with 
 fetters and cast into a dungeon, and Kurdistan 
 warriors guarded, the mighty gates of the temple 
 of Bel. 
 
 And in the cylinder of Cyrus may be read his 
 record, a record of mercy and of joy. For one of 
 the first acts of the king and conqueror was to 
 restore the weary exiles of Babylonia unto their 
 own lands, and to give them freedom after slavery. 
 
 So came the Israelites, and with them Lemuel 
 and Elna, at last unto their own place in their 
 own fair country. And there they rested from all 
 their troubles, and served the God of their fathers 
 in peace. 
 
 THE END 
 
 edinbukch: rniNTFu uv mokrison and gikb limited
 
 Hastings House, 
 Norfolk Street, Strand, 
 February 1899. 
 
 Mr. John Macqueen's 
 Publications.
 
 MR. macqueen's forthcoming works. 
 
 Forthcoming Works. 
 
 The Daughters of Babylon. 
 
 By Wilson Barrett, Author of "The Sign of the Cross"; 
 and Robert Hichens, Author of "Flames," etc. Crown 
 8vo, 6s. 
 
 Virtue's Tragedy. 
 
 By Eff Kaye, Part Author of "A Drawing-Room Cynic," 
 " Her Ladyship's Income," etc. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 A County Scandal. 
 
 A Story of King Midas and a Pastoral. By F. Emily 
 Phillips, Author of "The Education of Antonia," "The 
 Knight's Tale," etc. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 The Secret of Sorrow. 
 
 Being the Confession of a Young Man. Edited by Cecil 
 Headlam, Author of " Selections from the British Satirists," 
 "Prayers of the Saints," "The Story of Nuremberg," etc. 
 Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 Tom-All-Alone. 
 
 A Novel. By Amelia M. Barker. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 Unholy Matrimony. 
 
 A Novel. By John le Breton, Author of " Miss Tudor," 
 etc. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 Our Future King. 
 
 The Story of the Life ot the Prince oi Wales. By Charles 
 Lowe, M.A., Author of "Prince Bismarck : An Historical Bio- 
 graphy," "Bismarck's Table-Talk," etc. etc. Numerous 
 Illustrations. Crown Svo, is.
 
 MR. MACQUEEN'S NATURAL HISTORY WORKS. 
 
 Natural History. 
 
 Lost and Vanishing Birds. 
 
 Being a Record of some Remarkable Extinct Species and a Plea 
 
 for some Threatened Forms, By Charles Dixon, Author of 
 
 "The Migration of Birds," etc. etc. Illustrations by Charles 
 
 Whymper. Demy 8vo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 The Times : — "Mr. Dixon's latest work on ' Lost and Vanishing Birds ' is a very 
 attractive one. . . . Mr. Dixon's book is one to be enjoyed by all lovers of birds." 
 
 Pall Mall Gazette: — " Timely, and full of interesting information." 
 
 The Standard: — " Mr. Dixon's volume is full of interest." 
 
 London Revie^u : — " Mr. Dixon has chosen a good subject, and has written well 
 upon it. . . . ^Ve have read his book with great pleasure. Scarce any praise is 
 too high for Mr. Whymper's drawings." 
 
 Country Life : — " A very fascinating, saddening, learned, and wise book." 
 
 Ilhistrated Sporting and Dramatic News: — "Everyone interested in the bird- 
 life of our countiy ought to read this work, because it should cause an awakening of 
 the public conscience, if there be such a thing, to the urgent need of making the 
 Wild Birds' Protection Acts a reality and not a sham. Mr. Dixon is essentially a 
 popular, as distinguished from a technical, dry-as-dust writer, and his productions 
 are therefore eminently readable and entertaining alike to the student and the man 
 ill the street." 
 
 Works by J. H. Crawford, F.L.S. 
 
 All Illustrated by John Williamson. 
 
 The Wild Flowers of Scotland. 
 
 Large crown 8vo, 6s. net. 
 
 The Times: — "Those who .shrink from the hard scientific aspect and the caco- 
 phonous would-be Latinity of many works with titles of this kind, need have no fear 
 that these pleasant, gossipy papers will be too severely botanical for them. . . . The 
 reader will be hard to please, be he but a lover of nature, who does not find these 
 pages interesting and full of charm." 
 
 The Spectator: — "Mr. Crawford, whose unconventional works on tlie natural 
 history of Scotland have not undeservedly gained for him the reputation of being 
 that country's JefTeries, has now followed up his previous successes with a volume 
 on the wild flowers of Scotland. It is written with the same unstudied simplicity of 
 style ; and its author shows the same pervading, rather than intense, love of his 
 subject, or rather, subjects. ... In short, while this book is not better than the 
 others of the delightful series to which it Ijelongs— all are equally good — it is the 
 most enjoyable." 
 
 Country Life: — "A book of infinite grace and charm, from every page of which 
 breathes the pure love of beauty in nature. . . . We commend this book without 
 reserve to all persons, old and young, who love the fresh air, the mountain-side, and 
 the low-lying valley. It will please them, it will not bray their minds in a mort.ar 
 of science with a pestle of terrific nomenclature, and it will teach them a great 
 deal."
 
 MR. INIACQUEEN'S NATURAL HISTORY WORKS. 
 
 Mr. J. H. Crawford's Works — continued. 
 The Wild Life of Scotland. 
 
 Large crown 8vo, 6s. net. 
 
 The Times: — "Mr. Crawford's skill in depicting various phases of nature and 
 animal life ought to send his readers forth into the country with eyes ready to note 
 and appreciate many things to which they have, perhaps, hitherto been totally 
 blind. To read papers like 'Gulls and Divers' or 'The North Sea' on a July 
 day in London is almost the next best thing to being in reality within sound of the 
 waves." 
 
 The Spectator : — "This is a very delightful as well as informing book, which, 
 in respect of style, recalls Thoreau rather than either Jefiferies or Burroughes. . . 
 Altogether this book, which belongs to the rare order that can be taken up at any 
 moment and easily read in instalments, is by far the best and most convenient hand- 
 book to Scottish Natural History — in the most comprehensive sense of the word — 
 that has ever been published." 
 
 The Saturday Review. — "'Wild Life of Scotland' is one of those delightful 
 books which one places on the shelf with the Colquhouns and the St. Johns, nor is 
 it possible to give it higher praise. . . . But we might go on indefinitely with our 
 comments on a book which is a wellspring of enjoyment and a mine of information." 
 
 Summer Days for Winter Evenings. 
 
 A Series of Nature Idylls. Large crown 8vo, 6s. net. 
 
 The Times: — "With Mr. Crawford's delightful sketches, sometimes telling 
 alone of nature's aspects, sometimes with a thread of story to lend a touch of human 
 interest, a reader must have little imagination if he does not speedily forget the 
 tempest that beats against the casement, and fancy himself between green earth and 
 blue sky, watching the kaleidoscope of the seasons and the changes of the year, and 
 the ways of furred and feathered creatures which are so sympathetically described." 
 
 Pall Mall Gazette: — " A bright gleam of sunlight in this winter of our discontent 
 comes from Mr. Crawford's ' Summer Days for Winter Evenings.' The author has 
 already, in his ' Wild Life of Scotland,' shown himself a master in depicting the 
 ever-changing phases of nature and animal life in an easy and graceful style — 
 no slight art. This new volume of idylls on bird life in the hedgerows and fields 
 during spring and summer should enhance his reputation as a colourman and 
 decorator in words. Yet, for all his picturesque and dainty style, Mr. Crawford 
 is an observant naturalist, one who discovers new beauties in things which every one 
 of us must have seen thousands of times without ever having found them out."
 
 MR. MACQUEEN'S HISTORICAL WORKS. 
 
 Historical Works. 
 
 Cabot's Discovery of North America. 
 
 By G. E. Weare, Author of "Edmund Burke's Connection 
 with Bristol," etc. With numerous Maps and Illustrations. 
 Large crown 8vo, lOs. 6d. 
 
 The Daily Chronicle: — "A most careful and painstaking account of everything 
 \vliii;h can be known or guessed at in reference to Cabot's life. Mr. Weare's 
 account is the most complete which England has yet produced of the remarkable 
 adventurers to whom she owes so much solid profit and immense fame." 
 
 A Narrative of the Boer War. 
 
 By T. F. Carter. New Edition. Demy 8vo, los. 6d. 
 
 The Pall Mall Gazette :— " The best book on the subject." 
 
 The Sheffield Telegraph: — "This great work is history, exhaustive, im- 
 partial, and realistic." 
 
 The Afi-ican Critic: — "The book is generally recognised as a standard work 
 on the subject." 
 
 The Hi'rhland Briofade in the Crimea. 
 
 By Sir Anthony Sterling, K.C.B., a Staff Officer who was 
 there. With Frontispiece and i8 Maps. Second Edition. 
 Demy Svo, handsomely bound in cloth, 7s. 6d. 
 
 The Times: — "These letters are evidentlya faithful record of the great war waged 
 by Great Britain, France, Turkey, and ultimately Sardinia, against Russia. Ihe 
 m.ips are drawn with skill and fidelity. No previous account of the war has con- 
 tained so clear a map delineation of the terrain of the scene of the terrible sufferings 
 of our soldiers .and sailors during the Crimean winter, sufferings which, as everyone 
 knows, might have been, and ought to have been avoided." 
 
 Gunner Jingo's Jubilee. 
 
 By Major-Gencral Tom Bland Strange (late R.A.). With 
 Fifteen full-page Illustrations, Plans, Maps, and numerous 
 Thumb-nail Sketches. Third Edition. Demy Svo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 The Times: — "His reminiscences are full of stirring incident, told in a very 
 lively, at times almost a boisterous fashion, which recalls the rollicking style of 
 Lever in his earlier days." 
 
 The Court of England under George IV. 
 
 F'ounded on a Diary interspersed with Letters written by Queen 
 Caroline and various other Distinguished Persons. Two Vols, 
 demy Svo, 25s. 
 
 The Daily Telegraph : — " There is all the usual Court and society scandal, not 
 ill-naturedly reproduced, and a description of travel in Swityerland and of life in 
 Italy. Moreover, there are interpolated, in the narrative, letters from the unhappy 
 Princess Caroline herself, in which her vivacity, her spite, and her terrible loneliness 
 are vividly depicted."
 
 MR. macqueen's miscellaneous works. 
 
 Miscellaneous Works. 
 
 Bismarck at Home. 
 
 By Jules Hoche. Numerous Illustrations. Translated from 
 the French. Demy 8vo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 The Times: — "Abounds in anecdote, and is written entirely without rancour. 
 . . . Contains many interesting illustrations from engravings and photographs of 
 places and scenes associated with Bismarck's career." 
 
 The Speaker: — "Is not without interest, for it gives some details worth having about 
 the earlier and the latest periods of the Chancellor's life, and has some excellent 
 engravings of the great man and his nearest relatives." 
 
 Sporting Dramatic JVews :—" A history of Bismarck by a French writer can 
 scarcely fail to be amusing." 
 
 Army and Navy Gazette: — "The author has certainly written an interesting 
 book, which has been well translated, and has a curious attraction . . . depicts a 
 very interesting figure from a somewhat novel point of view." 
 
 Manchester Courier: — "It deals chiefly with the home scenes ef Bismarck's 
 private life, but it is enlivened with many stories of his political and military 
 adventures. . . . The numerous illustrations are nearly all very good. . . . The 
 book is very interesting. . . . Admirably translated." 
 
 From "The Bells" to "King Arthur." 
 
 A Volume of Dramatic Criticism, dealing exclusively with the 
 Irving Productions at the Lyceum, and containing the Casts of 
 all the most important Revivals at that Theatre since 187 1. 
 By Clement Scott. Fully Illustrated. Demy 8vo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 Triith: — "All playgoers, especially the enthusiastic Irvingites among them, 
 will welcome the appearance of Mr. Clement Scott's handsome volume." 
 
 The Daily Ne7vs: — "The book will be invaluable to those who are concerned 
 with the history of the contemporary stage." 
 
 Indifference in Matters of Religion. 
 
 By the Abbe F. de Lamennais. Translated from the French, 
 vt^ith a Preface by Lord Stanley of Alderley. Demy 8vo, I2s. 
 
 The Spectator : — "The questions with which it deals still burn, perhaps with 
 a greater heat than they did in 1817, when first the volume was published. It is 
 impossible for an Anglican to accept all de Lamennais' statements, but he will 
 feel, we venture to say, more in than out of harmony with him. The translation 
 reads well." 
 
 The Catholic Herald: — "A thoroughly good and conscientious translation. 
 The acute penetration, close reasoning, and lofty eloquence which characterise the 
 best French writers, are to be found here m a high degree." 
 
 A Manual of Italian Literature. 
 
 By F. H. Cliffe. Crown 8vo, 6s. 
 
 Mr. William le Queux, in The Literary fFijr/t/:—" Considerable thought "and 
 pains have been bestowed upon this book, for the critical estimates are, for the 
 most part, sound, the examples of style are generally well chosen, and the bio- 
 graphical detail obtained from the best available sources. Mr. Cliffe gives a little 
 too much prominence perhaps to his pet writer Leopardi ; nevertheless the work 
 has few faults, and those of a trivial character. It is useful and may be relied upon, 
 as well as being interesting."
 
 MR. macqueen's miscellaneous works. 
 
 Miscellaneous Works — continued. 
 
 Lesser Questions. 
 
 A Book dealing with the Principal Social Questions of the 
 Day. By Lady Jeune. Crown 8vo, cloth, 6s. 
 
 Thf Times: — "Not only are these great questions in themselves, but they 
 involve, either directly or indirectly, some of the greatest of all the great questions 
 of our time — nothing less than the social welfare and prospects of the whole body 
 politic. On these questions Lady Jeune writes from direct experience and often with 
 excellent judgment, with full sympathy, and yet not with unregulated enthusiasm." 
 
 Cheer, Boys, Cheer ! 
 
 Memories of Men and Music. Portrait. By Henry Russell. 
 Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d, 
 
 The Daily Chronicle: — "There is ample store of anecdotes in this cheap and 
 handsome volume." 
 
 The Drama Birthday Book. 
 
 Compiled, by Percy S. Phillips, from the Works of the 
 leading Dramatists of the Day. P'cap. 8vo, art linen, 3s. 6d. ; 
 morocco, los. 6d. 
 
 The Mark Twain Birthday Book. 
 
 Ninth Edition. Cloth, gilt edges, is. ; leather, 2s. 6d. ; 
 morocco, 6s. 6d. 
 
 The Light that Lies. 
 
 By CocKBURN Harvey. With seven Illustrations. Fcap. 
 8vo, 2s. 6d. 
 
 Westminster Gazette: — "A bright, clever little story. . . . The sketches of 
 character are smart and amusing." 
 
 Scotsman : — " A jolly little story, which may be recommended to anybody as a 
 cure for depression, or a stimulant to gaiety of mind." 
 
 Daily Chronicle: — " Amusing, brightly written, and easily read." 
 
 The Gordon Hiofhlanders. 
 
 Being the Story of these IJonnie Fighters told by James MiLNE. 
 
 Fully Illustrated. Crown Svo, is. 
 
 Broad Arrcnv: — "There is nothing but praise to be said of this patriotic en- 
 deavour to bring into prominence the many deeds of valour performed, and the hard 
 fighting which has fallen to the lot of the very gallant regiment." 
 
 Ye XlXth Century Horn Book. 
 
 Being an Alphabetical Record of the Anthropophagi, and 
 other strange things existing at the close of that period of time : 
 as set down by one Wallis Mackay. Demy 8vo, is. 
 
 Manchester Courier: — "It is an amusing pictorial satire of actors, brokers, 
 chamberlains, dogs, etc., and the clever drawings and crisp comments accompanying 
 the sketches cannot fail to amuse." 
 
 Lloyd's Weekly Ne-.vspaper. — "A satirically humorous production, touching on the 
 men, manners, fads, and follies of the closing century. There is genuine fun in the 
 book, and Mr. Mackay's pictures are grotesciuely comic." 
 
 Newcastle Journal: — " For an hour's amusement one cannot do better than t.nke 
 up this little book. From the first page to the last it is very amusing, and the 
 illustrations on every page are finely drawn." 
 
 Sporting; Life: — "The original pencil of 'The Captious Critic' is seen at his 
 best and raciest. Every pictorial p.igc is a political or social cartoon pregnant with 
 sly satire and full of fun."
 
 MR. MACQUEEN'S books FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. g 
 
 Books for Young People. 
 
 For Boys. 
 Love and a Sword, 
 
 A Tale of the Afridi War. By Kennedy King. 
 
 Numerous Illustrations by R. Caton Woodville, W. B. 
 
 Wollen, and others. Crown 8vo, gilt edges, 6s. 
 Manchester Courier :—" One: of the most absorbing tales of adventure that we 
 have read for some time. He (the author) narrates his incidents with vivid-telling 
 force ; his language is terse and well chosen . . . described with intense 
 realism." 
 
 London Review : — " One of the most alluring stories of adventure we have come 
 across this season . . . crowded from start to finish with excitement, and the 
 reader is held almost breathless throughout. . . . Readers of all ages will be 
 fascinated and held spell-bound in its perusal . . . forms a handsome Christmas 
 present." 
 
 The Spectator :— " One forgets impossible things, however, in the rush of narrative, 
 which is very effective in its way. Mr. King, like a good artist, also takes care to 
 introduce actual historical incidents into his story. . . . The illustrations are 
 almost photographic in their realism." 
 
 United Service Gazette: — "A thrilling story ot the Afridi War. The book is 
 really well written, and Mr. King is particularly happy in his descriptions and his 
 pathos. The publisher has also done his duty well, for the work is handsomely 
 produced and illustrated." 
 
 Belfast News Letter:—" ... Of a character likely to commend itself very 
 strongly to the young and rising generation. The style is attractive, and the story 
 cannot fail to be exciting in the highest degree." 
 
 Dundee Courier : — "A book sure to engross the attention of every lad who take 
 it up. . . . Throughout of a healthy, spirited nature." 
 
 Afloat with Nelson. 
 
 By Charles H. Eden, Author of "George Donnington," 
 etc. etc. With ten full-page Illustrations, by John William- 
 son. Crown 8vo, cloth, gilt edges, 6s. 
 
 The Spectator : — " A book that boys will gloat over." 
 
 The St. James's Gazette : — " One of the best of the sea stories recently published. 
 . . . The sketch given of Nelson is a fine one." 
 
 Fairy Stories. 
 One Summer Holiday. 
 
 By Mrs. Charlton Anne. Dedicated by most gracious 
 
 permission to H.R. H. The Duchess of York. Numerous 
 
 Illustrations, including a Collotype Portrait of the Duchess of 
 
 York and her Children. Crown 4to, 5s. 
 
 The Gentlezi'Oinan : — " Deserves unstinted praise. To say the stories are excellent 
 
 is by no means strong enough to convey the charm manifest in Mrs, Anne's 
 
 writings. ... All children will want to read it again and again until they know 
 
 it by heart." 
 
 The Scotsman : — " Well written, well illustrated, and makes a capital story book." 
 Nottingham Guardian: — ". . . Told in a free and pleasant style, and possesses 
 (]ualities which tend to improve the morals of children." 
 
 The Tablet : — " Simple in language and motive, and each manages to convey a 
 lesson almost unconsciously, and certainly without raising any suspicion in the 
 mind of the children that they are being lectured.' 
 
 B
 
 lO MR. MACQUEEN'S BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 
 
 Books for Young People — continued. 
 Stories the Sunflower Told. 
 
 By Eva I\r. IIildek. Illustrations by M. M. Sutcliffe. 
 Fcap. 4to, 5s. 
 
 Tlie Sco/s»!an:—"Sf:t. forth in an interesting and entertaining way. . . . Nicely 
 illustrated and attractive binding." 
 
 Lady's Pictorial: — "A charmingly pretty and fanciful fairy story for children. 
 It is a particularly nice gift-book for imaginative children." 
 
 T/ie AthencE^tm :— "Graceful little fairy tales pleasantly illustrated." 
 
 The Song of the Harp. 
 
 By Rachel Penn, Author of " Cherriwink." Illustrations by 
 John Williamson. Fcap. 410, 3s. 6d. 
 
 The Athcncriim : — "A prettily written story, and will be popular." 
 
 Public Opinion : — " One of the most charming fairy tales we have encountered for 
 
 some time. . . . The illustrations are very good." 
 
 Dundee Couyier: — "A lovely story told in lovely language, and enchants the 
 
 reader's attention to the very close. ... It will be read with as much enjoyment 
 
 by men and women as by children. The dainty etchings which illustrate the story 
 
 make this charming book a most desirable acquisition." 
 
 Cherriwink. 
 
 By Rachel Penn. Original Illustrations by Maude F. 
 Sambourne and M. Jardine-Thomson. Crown 4to, 6s. 
 
 Pall Mall Gazette'. — " Such a delightful story has not been written this long time." 
 
 Glasgow Herald : — "A delightful and delightfully long and full-blooded fairy story 
 . . . bright and airy as becomes a fairy tale, and it has the advantage of being most 
 skilfully illustrated. A really beautiful book." 
 
 The Scotsman : — " These are quaint and fantastical ongoings, too odd to be coher- 
 ently described, but not too odd to be amusing and pleasant to a reader with any 
 fancy. The book has a number of charming illustrations." 
 
 Glasgow Evening Nc7vs : — "This is one of the most charming books of the season 
 for children." 
 
 The Englishwoiitan : — " The tale is charmingly told with graceful fancy and 
 refre.shing humour." 
 
 The Court of King Arthur. 
 
 Stories from the Land of the Round Table. By W. H. Frost. 
 Twenty Illustrations by S. R. Burleigh. Crown 8vo, 6s. 
 
 The Scotsman: — "It is a cleverly written adaptation of the chief legends of the 
 Round Table, done after Malory into simple language, and held together in a pretty 
 framework of story of child life. The book is well illustrated by Mr. S. R. Burleigh."
 
 MR. MACQUEEN'S NEW FICTION. II 
 
 New Fiction. 
 Six Shilling Volumes, 
 
 The Daughters of Babylon. 
 
 By Wilson Barrett, Author of " The Sign of the Cross " and 
 Robert Hichens, Author of " Flames," etc. \^Februa7y \%th. 
 
 The Secret of Sorrow. 
 
 Being the Confession of a Young Man. Edited by Cecil 
 Headlam, Author of "Selections from the British Satirists," 
 "Prayers of the Saints," "The Story of Nuremberg," etc. 
 
 \_I\Iarch. 
 
 A County Scandal. 
 
 A Story of King Midas and a Pastoral. By F. Emily Phillips, 
 Author of "The Education of Antonia," " The Knight's Tale," 
 etc. \April. 
 
 Unholy Matrimony. 
 
 By John le Breton, Author of " Miss Tudor," etc. [Ap-il. 
 
 Tom-All-Alone. 
 
 By Amelia M. Barker. {April. 
 
 Virtue's Tragedy. 
 
 By Eff Kaye, Part Author of " A Drawing-Room Cynic," 
 "Her Ladyship's Income," etc. \_April. 
 
 A Girl's Awakeninof. 
 
 By J. H. Crawford, Author of "The Wild Life of Scotland." 
 With Frontispiece by John Williamson. 
 
 The Atherueunf.—'' K pretty and idyllic study is ' A Girl's Awakening.' Mr. 
 Crawford's feeling for Nature stands him in good stead, and the background of his 
 picture in the Scottish village is as harmoniously fitted with the central figures, Alan 
 Fordyce and his companions, as one of George Eliot's own drawing." 
 
 The Academy :—" In his works on the wild life of Scotland Mr. Crawford 
 showed himself to be a writer of discernment. His novel fulfils the high expecta- 
 tions which were thus raised." 
 
 T/ie Speaker: — "The story leaves an impression of vague charm, an aroma of 
 romance and fantasy— all too rare in the fiction of the day." 
 
 The Sign of the Cross. 
 
 A Novel founded on the theme of the famous Play of the same 
 
 name. By Wilson Barrett. With a Preface by the Bishop 
 
 of Truro. Sixth Edition. 
 
 Daily JVe7us :—" Few will read unmoved the concluding chapter of a story 
 
 that has running through it something of the sense of haunting, overmastering fate 
 
 that impresses one so terribly in Greek tragedy, while it inspires at the same' time 
 
 sympathy for the noblest ideals of humanity."
 
 12 MR. IMACQUEEN'S NEW FICTION. 
 
 New Fiction. 
 Six Shilling Volumes — continued. 
 The Luck of the Native Born. 
 
 By J. A. Barry, Author of "Steve Brown's Bunyip," "In 
 
 the Great Deep," etc. 
 
 The A thetKrum :—'■'■ . . . Really exciting and well told." 
 The Spectator : — " A rattling tale of Australian adventure by sea and land." 
 St. James's Gazette \ — "The story is very cleverly told. It fascinates the reader 
 from the outset, and holds him spellbnund until the last page is turned. Mr. Barry 
 is indeed to be congratulated upon a thoroughly sound and creditable piece of work." 
 Gla-sgo'iv Herald: — "A very interesting story. . . . Mr. Barry knows Australia, 
 and he knows the sea, and the reader goes with him to the Tarcoolta wool shed or 
 the Coolgardie gold diggings, or follows him on board the Compton Castle, or the 
 Abcrbaldie, with a feeling that he is being shown life pretty much as it really is." 
 
 Thi- Gentlezvoman : — " The book is full of ' go ' and healthy sentiment, written in 
 straight, honest English." 
 
 The River of Pearls ; or, The Red Spider. 
 
 A Chinese Romance. By Ren6 de Pont-Jest. With 
 Sixty-one Illustrations by Felix R^gamey. 
 
 The Speaker: — "May be read with profit by anyone who wishes to realise the 
 actual condition of native life in China." 
 
 T/ie Scotsman: — "A Chinese romance of notable power and interest. . . . The 
 object of the writer is to lay before the European reader an elaborate picture of Far 
 Eastern life drawn from observation and experience. In this he has been com- 
 pletely successful." 
 
 The Getitlezi'otiran :—" 'Hs.s in it much that is charming and beautiful, and is 
 written with a good deal of power." 
 
 G/a.'.g-O'zu Herald:—" Full from first to last, of the most exciting incidents.' 
 
 Manchester Courier: — "The author has given us in it much that is extremely 
 interesting regarding some of the laws and customs that prevail in China. . . 
 A most uncommon and exciting book." 
 
 Jane Follett. 
 
 By George Wemyss, Author of "'Tween the New and the 
 Old." 
 
 The Speaker:— "Th^ author has mastered the very important art of being in- 
 teresting . . . very sympathetically told, with grace of feeling and charm of manner." 
 
 St. James's Gazette : — " A very powerful story. . . . The characters are finely 
 drawn, and the novel is full of human interest and pathos." 
 
 Saturday Jievie2v:—" The idea is so well worked out as to be very successfully 
 dramatic." 
 
 The Gentlewoman: — " George Wemyss has confirmed the favourable opinion of 
 those who recognised the brilliant promise ofhis clever, romantic novel, "Tween 
 the New and the Old,' ... a powerfully interesting human document, which 
 should materially enhance Mr. Wemyss's reputation." 
 
 Manchester Courier.—'' Mr. Wemyss gives us a lifelike sketch." 
 
 Esther's Pilgrimage. 
 
 By J. Henry Harris, Author oi "Saint Forth." 
 
 Academy: — "The story ripples like a pennon, and gives a pleasant insight into 
 naval society on the Devon coast." 
 
 The Scotsman:— ''Th^ story has quite a number of capital characters, it has a 
 breezy air of the naval port about it, and it is well and thoughtfully written."
 
 MR. MACQUEEN'S NEW FICTION. 13 
 
 New Fiction. 
 Six Shilling Volumes — continued. 
 Manders. 
 
 By Elwyn Barron. 
 
 The Speaker : — " Bright descriptions of student life in Paris, sympathetic views ot 
 human frailty, and a dash of dramatic force, combine to form an attractive storj'. 
 The book contains some strong scenes, plenty of life and colour, and a pleasant tinge 
 of humour.' Manders' deserves attention as a novel. ... It has grip, picturesque- 
 ness, and vivacity." 
 
 Literature : — " Is told in a quietly effective fashion and without offence to truth or 
 taste. . . . more art and knowledge of human nature is displayed in the telling of it 
 than is to be found in many a longer and more pretentious work. Manders is an 
 original conception, and has been realised by his author with no little subtlety and 
 force." 
 
 Daily Telegraph:— ^'' . . . A sympathetic and ably \vritten romance. The char- 
 acters are marked by striking and sustained individuality. . . . Very high praise can 
 be accorded to Elwyn Barron's brilliant word-sketches." 
 
 Manchester Guardian :— " One of the most readable books that we have seen for 
 some time. . . . Madame Manders is Eve walking in the Garden of Eden, happy 
 till she hears God's voice and knows that she is naked. Or she is the faun of 
 Hawthorne's 'Transformation,' in whom a soul is born out of suffering and sin. Her 
 development is described with admirable skill and knowledge of the human heart. 
 The story possesses much of the quality of true tragedy. The heroine is caught in 
 the web of fate. At any moment she might have gained happiness for the mere 
 asking, but she was held in bonds forged by her own character. . . . The sympathetic 
 insight of children is wonderful. . . . Florence Storey is a clever study, the cleverest, 
 perhaps, but the least pleasing of the author's creation." 
 
 St. James's Gazette : — " A study of deep human interest, in which pathos and 
 humour both play their parts. . . . The descriptions of life in the Quartier Latin 
 are distinguished for their freshness and liveliness. . . . The story is full of 
 surprises, which cause the reader to catch his breath, and fill him with delight at the 
 development of each new phase of the plot. Moreover, the book is e.\ceptionally 
 well written, and, indeed, is likely to achieve considerable popularity." 
 
 'Tween the New and the Old. 
 
 A Tale of Three Lovers. By George Wemyss. 
 
 Daily Telegraph:— "-Mr. Wemyss is to be cordially congratulated upon having 
 written a story of striking originality and considerable power, remarkable alike for 
 its thrilling human interest and dainty literary grace." 
 
 Manchester Guardian : — " Well thought out and cleverly executed." 
 
 The Scotsman : — "The reader will not willingly lay down the volume until the last 
 page is perused. Mr. George Wemyss has written a clever story, and he is to be 
 congratulated on his success. In character sketching, in dialogue, and in the 
 creation of telling scenes, he reveals not only ability but the promise of even better 
 work in the future." 
 
 A Son of Israel. 
 
 By Rachel Penn, Author of " Cherriwink," etc. 
 
 _ Pall Mall Gazette :^" The scenes from the life of the Russian poor ring true to 
 life, and are full of clever description. It is a bright ^and wholesome story, 
 excellently told." 
 
 Newcastle Chronicle : — " A novel not to be missed." 
 
 Glasgow Herald: — "The influence which the good feelings of a woman may have 
 upon her unborn child is sensitively worded and beautiful in its suggestions. 
 Altogether Rachel Penn may be congratulated on this thoughtful and interesting 
 story."
 
 14 MR- -MACQUEEn's new fiction. 
 
 New Fiction. 
 Six Shilling Volumes — continued. 
 A Sinless Sinner. 
 
 By Mary II. Tennyson, Author of "A Fool of Fate." 
 
 Saturday Review. — " An unusually striking plot . . . touchinsly drawn." 
 
 Pall Mall Gazette:— 'WeW told and interesting." 
 
 St. James's Budget: — "A thrilling story of powerful and engrossing interest." 
 
 Possessed of Devils. 
 
 By Mrs. Harold E. Gorst. 
 
 Tlic Englishrvoman: — "This clever psychological study is well worth reading. 
 . . . That the author has succeeded in X-raying the soul of an egotistic, passionate, 
 self-absorbed modern woman, revealing the tumultuous thoughts and emotions of 
 this tumultuous child, no one who reads this human document will deny." 
 
 A Drawing-Room Cynic. 
 
 By LoRiN Kaye, Author of " Her Ladyship's Income." 
 
 Miss Gertrude Atherton in Vanity Fair: — " Lorin Kaye makes a bid for the 
 success of the season in ' A Drawing-Room Cynic,' and it will be surprising if she 
 does not carry off one of the prizes, at least. Its atmosphere of unfailing smartness 
 puts it in tune with the London of the moment. There is a possibility that the 
 fascinating Cynic, la belle .\mericaine, and Lady Boulter will be met with at more 
 than one dinner table. ... It is to be hoped that the author will give us a novel 
 every season, at least." 
 
 The Queen: — "A witty, cynical, whimsical writer is the author of this most 
 captivating story. ' A Drawing-Room Cynic ' is so much better a novel than the 
 reader is likely to come across for some time, that he will find it advisable to begin 
 it again when he has reached the end, for the book is a gallop from start to finish, 
 and during the race he must miss some of the e.'ccellent tilings of which the story is 
 full." 
 
 The Scotstnan: — "To read 'A Drawing-Room Cynic,' by Lorin Kaye, is to ex- 
 perience a very great treat indeed, p'rom end to end the story commands the keenest 
 interest by the originality of the ideas, the skilful piecing together of the p.arts, 
 and the raciness and often brilliancy and wit of the dialogue." 
 
 Miss Tudor. 
 
 By John le Breton, Author of " Unholy Matrimony," etc. 
 
 The Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone writes: — "I find it to be of intense though 
 most painful interest. Such double-dyed villains as Lamb are not, I hope, even in 
 this evil world, to be found everj' day." 
 
 Mr. W. T. Stead in the Revietu of KcTinvs: — "'Miss Tudor' is a novel 
 with a purpose. Mr. Le Breton has an intimate knowledge of his subject, and 
 also a heart which can feel for and sympathise with the suflerihgs of those whose 
 experience he relates. It is a difficult subject to deal with, but Mr. Le Breton has 
 handled it in a fashion which, while it can hardly offeiid the most sensitive, will 
 appeal deeply to the sympathies of his readers. The tale is full of pathos, redeemed 
 by many touches of kindliness and good feeling. Through the whole book there 
 is an undernote of intense sympathy with the poor and oppressed, and of revolt 
 against those who have inherited the good things of this world. The struggle 
 for life in the little attic where Bessie has taken refuge is told with great feeling. "
 
 MR. MACQUEEN'S new FICTION. 1 5 
 
 New Fiction. 
 Six Shilling Volumes — continued. 
 A Russian Wild Flower. 
 
 By E. A. Brayley Hodgetts, Author of " In the Track of 
 the Russian Famine," etc. 
 
 The World: — "Something absolutely new in fiction. This story is charming 
 from every point of view ; it makes the reader feel, when he closes the book, that 
 he knows Russia as no other writer has ever enabled him to know the vast dim 
 Empire of the Czars." 
 
 The Wooing of Avis Grayle. 
 
 By Charles Hannan, Author of "Chin Chin Wa," "The 
 Captive of Pekin," etc. etc. 
 
 The World: — "Since Sir William Brandon on the Bench was confronted by Paul 
 Clifford in the dock by that master of romance, the first Lord Lytton, we have not 
 had so strong a situation in the same order as that of the husband of Avis Grayle 
 and his sworn friend." 
 
 Her Ladyship's Income. 
 
 By LoRiN Kaye, Author of "A Drawing-Room Cynic," 
 Crown 8vo. \_FoH)th Edition in the Press. 
 
 The Times: — "One of the best novels of the day. The author has more wit, 
 reading, and intellect than the best advertised of the risky school, and she has much 
 less affectation and preciosite. Her skill is most remarkable. . . . Her ability is 
 incontestable." 
 
 The Daily Chronicle: — "The brightness and smartness of the style is 
 perfectly captivating, and yet withal, when a deeper note is struck, there is dis- 
 covered a thoughtfulness and grasp which show that the writer has something very 
 much more than a superficial knowledge of men and things." 
 
 Denys D'Auvrillac. 
 
 A Story of French Life. By Hannah Lynch, Author of 
 * ' Daughters of Men, " " An Odd Experiment, " etc. Crown 8vo. 
 
 Miss Gertrude Atherton, in Vanity Fair: — "'Denys D'Auvrillac' is a new 
 character in English-written literature . . . the importance of this book is 
 indubitable . . . the distinguished style gives this novel the air of a classic — a 
 classic which must stand quite by itself in English literature." 
 
 The Atkenteum: — "'Denys D'Auvrillac' maybe honourably distinguished from 
 the rank and file of current fiction." 
 
 Pail Mall Gazette: — "It is by intrinsic quality of a superior order that this 
 book excels." 
 
 Miss Cherry-Blossom of Tokyo. 
 
 A Japanese Novel. By John Luther Long. Crown 8vo. 
 
 Saturday Review : — " Miss Cherry-Blossom is the first view of Madame 
 Chrysantheme as the New Woman, revolutionising Japanese immemorial custom by 
 her love-making with a young Englishman . . . she is charming. The graceful end 
 to the romance comes all too soon." 
 
 Daily Chronicle : — " Smart and pretty, and sets forth in a very charming way 
 the joy of life in the land of the art-loving Jap." 
 
 Mr. Douglas Sladen, in the Z;V^?-«?;v W^^r/c/:—" A really Japanese novel. . . . 
 A fresh, artistic love story, full of human interest."
 
 1 6 MR. MACQUEEN'S new fiction. 
 
 New Fiction. 
 
 Three and Sixpenny Volumes. 
 
 A Flirtation with Truth. 
 
 By Curtis YORKE, Author of "Once," etc. etc. Third Edition. 
 
 The Aihetupum: — "A very smartly written novel. . . . There are no dreary 
 passages of retrospect, no explanations of things that do not need to be explained, 
 and no merely aimless conversations. . . . The workmanship with which it is 
 presented is excellent." 
 
 Faith, Hope, and Charity. 
 
 By John le Breton, Author of " Miss Tudor." 
 
 T)ie Christian World: — " These are three strong stories, decidedly uncommon in 
 themselves, and told with power. They deal with the irony and tragedy of life, but 
 without that pessimistic conclusion which is the commonplace suggestion of un- 
 origin.ll and one-sided minds." 
 
 The Scotsman: — "A powerful book, which can scarcely fail to interest and to 
 impress everj-one who reads it." 
 
 The Red Painted Box, 
 
 By Marie Connor Leighton, Author of "The Harvest of 
 Sin," etc., Joint-Author of " Convict 99," etc. 
 
 The Scotsman : — " It is only at pretty long intervals that stories so full of baffling 
 mystery and powerful interest as ' The Red Painted Box ' issue from the Press. 
 With cunning art the author weaves her plot, and the reader follows its windings 
 with absorbed attention, spurred on from point to point by the pleasant but deluded 
 belief that he or she has solved the mystery." 
 
 Abbe Constantin. 
 
 By LuDOVic Hal£vy. Translated from the French by 
 Th^rese Batbedat. 
 
 The Globe: — "Very welcome is the English translation of Ludovic HalSvy's 
 'Abbe Constantin.' The story is, as all the world knows, very charming, and 
 should in its present shape find many English readers." 
 
 My Dear Grenadier. 
 
 By Sybil Beatrice Reid. 
 
 The Daily Telegraph : — "A charmingly sprightly story." 
 
 You Never Know Your Luck. 
 
 By Theo. Irving. 
 
 The Daily Telegraph: — "A fin-de-siccle society novel of considerably more 
 than average merit, smartly written, replete with interest." 
 
 The Lio-hter Life. 
 
 o 
 
 By William Wallace. Frontispiece. 
 
 Daily Chronicle : — "Witty with that wit of which 'the readiness is all,' the 
 wit of the smilingly malicious thrust, and the parry alert but debonair, the wit of 
 the dramatic situation, changing with everj' turn in the talk— witty after that 
 fashion Mr. Wallace's dialogue certainly is."
 
 MR. MACQUEEN'S poetical WORKS. I? 
 
 Poetry. 
 
 The Selected Poems of John Stuart Blackie. 
 
 With a Portrait after the Painting by J. H. Lorimer, A.R.S.A. 
 Edited, with an Appreciation, by his Nephew, Archibald 
 Stodart Walker. Crown 8vo, 5s. 
 
 The Scotsman: — "A fairly representative selection, with an introduction 
 delightful to read. . . . The book will be welcome to many." 
 
 The Daily AVwi :— "This book will abide, or should abide, for the sake of its 
 introduction." 
 
 The Love Philtre, and other Poems. 
 
 By Helen F. Schweitzer. Small fcap. 4to, 5s. net. 
 
 The Scotsman.—" There will be little disagreement among those who read it as to 
 the sweetness and natural kindness of its feeling and its harmonious grace* of 
 expression." 
 
 The iManckcstcr Courier: — "This latest contribution to the legends of King 
 Arthur's Court is delightful, but all too short. . . . Displays unwonted vigour and 
 earnest appreciation of the highest ideals of humanity." 
 
 The Bristol Mercury :—" ' The Love Philtre ' is a fine poem. It contains some 
 exquisite passages of description, and the story told in it is interesting. . . . She 
 (the author) feels deeply the glory and beauty and wonder of the world. She gives 
 expression to this feeling in sweet, melodious verse." 
 
 Sonnets and Poems. 
 
 By the late Earl of Rosslyn. With a Portrait of the Author, 
 Second Edition. Crown 8vo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 The New Day. 
 
 Sonnets by Dr. T. Gordon Hake. With Portrait of the 
 Author from a painting by RossETTi. Crown 8vo, 5s. 
 
 Old and New Poems. 
 
 By Walter Herries Pollock. With a Portrait of the 
 Author. Crown 8vo, 5s. 
 
 Vestigia Retrorsum. 
 
 Poems by Arthur J. Munby. With a Portrait of the Author, 
 Crown 8vo, 5s. 
 
 Yofofdrassil, and other Poems, 
 
 By John Campbell. Bound in limp leather, small fcap, 4to, 
 5s, net.
 
 l8 MR. MACQUEEN'S LIST. 
 
 Catalogue of Publications. 
 
 Abbe Constantin. 
 
 By LuDOVic IIalevy. Translated from the French by 
 TH^RltsE Batbedat. Ciown 8vo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 Afloat with Nelson ; 
 
 Or, P'rom Nile to Trafalgar. By Charles H. Eden, Author 
 of "George Donnington," "Queer Chums," etc. etc. Ten 
 full-page Illustrations, by John Williamson. Crown 8vo, 
 cloth, gilt edges, 6s. 
 
 Among the Apple Orchards. 
 
 By Clement Scott, Fcap. 8vo, is. 6d. 
 
 Anne, Mrs. Charlton. 
 
 One Summer Holiday. Crown 4to, 5s. 
 
 At the Sign of the Cross Keys. 
 
 A last Century Romance. By Paul Cres\>'ick. Crown 8vo, 
 6s. 
 
 Banshee's Warning, The. 
 
 By Mrs. J. 11. RiDDELL, Author of "The Head of the Firm." 
 Crown 8vo, 6s. 
 
 Barker, Amelia M. 
 
 Tom-All-Alone. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 Barrett, Wilson. 
 
 The Sign of the Cross. Crown 8vo, 6s. 
 
 The Daughters of Babylon. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 Barron, Elwyn. 
 
 Manders. Crown 8vo, 6s. 
 
 Barry, J. A. 
 
 Steve Biown's Bunyip. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d. 
 The Luck of the Native-Born. Crown 8vo, 6s. 
 
 Bismarck at Home. 
 
 By Jules IIoche. Numerous Illustrations. Demy Svo, 
 7s. 6d. 
 
 Blackie, John Stuart, Selected Poems of. 
 
 Portrait. Edited, with an Appreciation, by his Nephew, 
 Archibald Stodart Walker. Crown Svo, 5s. 
 
 Boer War, A Narrative of the. 
 
 By T. F. Carter. New Edition. Demy 8vo, los. 6d.
 
 MR. MACQUEEN'S list. 19 
 
 Catalogue of Publications — continued. 
 Bound Together. 
 
 By Hugh Conway, Author of "Called Back." Tenth 
 Thousand. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 Cabot's Discovery of North America. 
 
 By G. E. Weare, Author of " Edmund Burke's Connection 
 with Bristol," etc. etc. With numerous Maps and Illustrations. 
 Large crown 8vo, los. 6d. 
 
 Cardinal Sin, A. 
 
 By Hugh Conway, Author of "Called Back," etc. Ninth 
 Thousand. Crown Svo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 Cheer, Boys, Cheer ! 
 
 Memories of Men and Music. Frontispiece. By Henry 
 Russell. Crown Svo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 Cherriwink. 
 
 A Fairy Tale. By Rachel Penn, Author of "A Son of 
 Israel," etc. Illustrations by Maude F. Sambourne and M. 
 Jardine-Thomson. Crown 4to, 6s. 
 
 Chesney, General F. R., Life of the late. 
 
 The Colonel Commandant Royal Artillery, D.C.L., F. R.G.S., 
 etc. By his Wife and Daughter. Edited by Stanley 
 Lane -Poole. Portrait and Map. Second Edition. Demy 
 
 Svo, I2S. 
 
 Conway, Hugh. 
 
 Cardinal Sin, A. Crown Svo, 3s. 6d. 
 Bound Together. Crown Svo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 Court of England under George IV., The. 
 
 Founded on a Diary interspersed with Letters written by Queen 
 Caroline and various other Distinguished Persons. Two 
 Volumes, demy Svo, 25s. 
 
 Court of King Arthur, The. 
 
 Stories from the Land of the Round Table. By William 
 Henry Frost. Illustrations by Sydney Richmond Bur- 
 leigh. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 Crawford, J. H., F.L.S. 
 
 Wild Life of Scotland, The. Large crown Svo, 8s. 6d. 
 
 net. 
 Wild Flowers of Scotland, The. Large crown Svo, 
 
 6s. net. 
 Summer Days for Winter Evenings. Large crown 
 
 Svo, 8s. 6d. net. 
 Girl's Awakening, A. A Novel. Crown Svo, 6s.
 
 20 MR. MACQUEEN'S LIST. 
 
 Catalogue of Publications — continued. 
 County Scandal, A. 
 
 A Story of King Midas and a Pastoral. By F. Emily Phillips, 
 Author of " The Education of Antonia, " " The Knight's Tale," 
 etc. Crown 8vo, 6s. 
 
 Daughters of Babylon, The. 
 
 By Wilson Barrett and Robert Hichens. Crown 
 8vo, 6s. 
 
 Denys D'Auvfillac. 
 
 A Story of French Life. By Hannah Lynch, Author of 
 " Daughters of Men," etc. etc. Crown 8vo, 6s. 
 
 Diderot's Thoughts on Art and Style. 
 
 With some of his Shorter Essays. Selected and Translated by 
 Beatrix L. Tollemache (lion. Mrs. Lionel Tollemache). 
 Crown 8vo, 5s. 
 
 Diogenes' Sandals. 
 
 A Novel. By Mrs. Arthur Kennard. Second Edition. 
 Crown 8vo, cloth, 3s. 6d. 
 
 Dixon, Charles. 
 
 Lost and Vanishing Birds. Demy 8vo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 Double Ruin, A. 
 
 A Novel. By Mrs. A. Hart (Sophie Kappey), Author of 
 " A Modern Martyr." Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 Drama Birthday Book, The. 
 
 Compiled from the Works of the Dramatists of the Day. By 
 Percy S. Phillips. Fcap. 8vo, art linen, 3s. 6d.; morocco, 
 I OS. 6d. 
 
 Drawing- Room Cynic, A. 
 
 By LoRiN Kaye, Author of "Her Ladyship's Income." 
 Crown 8vo, 6s. 
 
 Dream's Fulfilment, A. 
 
 A Sporting Novel. By H. Cumberland Bentley. Second 
 Edition. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 Early Bird, The, and other Drawing-Room 
 Plays. 
 
 By Beatrix L. Tollemache (Hon. Mrs. Lionel Tollemache). 
 Crown 8vo, 2s. 6d. 
 
 Esther's Pilgrimage. 
 
 By J. Henry Harris, Author of "St. Forth." Crown Svo, 6s.
 
 MR. MACQUEENS LIST. 21 
 
 Catalogue of Publications — continued. 
 
 Etelka's Vow. 
 
 A Novel. By Dorothea Gerard, Author of "On the Way 
 Through," "'Orthodox," "Lady Baby," etc. etc., and Joint- 
 Author of "The Waters of Hercules" and "Reata." Third 
 Edition. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 Faith, Hope, and Charity. 
 
 A Novel of the Graces. By John le Breton, Author of 
 " Miss Tudor," etc. etc. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 Fate of Woman, The. 
 
 By Francis Short. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 Flirtation with Truth, A. 
 
 By Curtis Yorke, Author of "Once," "A Record of 
 Discords," etc. Third Edition. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 From "The Bells" to "King Arthur." 
 
 By Clement Scott. Fully Illustrated. Demy 8vo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 Gerard, Dorothea. 
 
 A Queen of Curds and Cream. Crown Svo, 3s. 6d. 
 Etelka's Vow. Crown Svo, 3s. 6d. 
 On the Way Through. Crown Svo, 3s. 6d. 
 Orthodox. Crown Svo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 Girl's Awakening, A. 
 
 A Novel. By J.^H. Crawford, Author of " The Wild Life 
 of Scotland." Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 Gordon Highlanders, The. 
 
 By James Milne. Fully Illustrated. Crown Svo, is. 
 
 Gorst, Mrs. Harold E. 
 
 Possessed of Devils. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 Gunner Jingo's Jubilee. 
 
 By Major-General Tom Bland Strange, late R.A. With 
 Fifteen full-page Illustrations, Plans, Maps, and numerous 
 Thumb-nail Sketches. Third Edition. Demy Svo, cloth, 7s. 6d. 
 
 Halevy, Ludovic. 
 
 Abbe Constantin. Crown Svo, 3s. 6d.
 
 MR. MACQUEEN'S LIST. 
 
 Catalogue of Publications — continued. 
 
 Harris, J. Henry. 
 
 Esther's Pilgrimage. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 He Went Out with the Tide. 
 
 By Guy Eden, Author of "The Cry of the Curlew." 
 Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 Headlam, Cecil. 
 
 The Secret of Sorrow. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 Her Ladyship's Income. 
 
 A Society Novel. By Lorin Kaye, Author of "A Drawing- 
 Room Cynic." Fourth Edition. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 Hichens, Robert. 
 
 The Daughters of Babylon. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 Highland Brigade in the Crimea, The. 
 
 By Sir Anthony Sterling, K,C. B., a Staff Officer who was 
 there. With Frontispiece and iS Maps. Second Edition. 
 Demy Svo, handsomely bound in cloth, 7s. 6d. 
 
 Hilder, Eva M. 
 
 Stories the Sunflower Told. Fcap. 4to, 5s. 
 
 Hodgetts, E. A. Bray ley. 
 
 A Russian Wild Flower. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 Horn Book, Ye XlXth Century. 
 By Wallis Mac KAY. Demy Svo, is. 
 
 Indifference in Matters of Relioion. 
 
 o 
 
 By the Abbe F. de Lamennais. Translated from the French, 
 
 with a Preface by Lord Stanley of Alderley. Demy Svo, 12s. 
 
 Infant, The. 
 
 A Novel. By Frederick Wicks, Author of "The Veiled 
 Hand." Illustrations by A. MoRROW. Large crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 Italian Literature, A Manual of. 
 
 By F. H. Cliffe, Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 Jane Follett. 
 
 A Novel. By George Wemyss, Author of " 'Tween the New 
 and the Old." Crown Svo, 6s.
 
 MR. MACQUEEN'S list. 23 
 
 Catalogue of Publications — continued. 
 
 Jeune, Lady. 
 
 Lesser Questions. Crown 8vo, 6s. 
 
 Kaye, Eff. 
 
 Virtue's Tragedy. Crown 8vo, 6s. 
 
 Kaye, Lorin. 
 
 Her Ladyship's Income. Crown 8vo, 6s. 
 A Drawing-Room Cynic. Crown Bvo, 6s. 
 
 King, Kennedy. 
 
 Love and a Sword. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 Kreutzer Sonata, The. 
 
 By Count Leo Tolstoi. Translated from the Russian by 
 H. Sutherland Edwards. Paper covers, is. Thirty- 
 seventh Thousand. 
 
 Lady's Impressions of Cyprus in 1893, A. 
 
 By Mrs. Lewis. With Map. Crown Svo, 5s. 
 
 Lamennais, The Abb6 F. de. 
 
 Indifference in Matters of Religion. Demy Svo, 12s. 
 
 Le Breton, John. 
 
 Unholy Matrimony. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 Miss Tudor. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 Faith, Hope, and Charity. Crown Svo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 Lesser Questions. 
 
 By Lady Jeune. A Book dealing with the Principal Social 
 Questions of the Day. Third Edition. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 Lighter Life, The. 
 
 A Series of Dialogues and Sketches. By WiLLIAM Wallace. 
 Frontispiece. Crown Svo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 Light that Lies, The. 
 
 By COCKBURN Harvey. Illustrated. Fcap. Svo, 2s. 6d. 
 
 Literary Recollections. 
 
 By Maxime du Camp, Member of the French Academy. Two 
 Volumes, demy Svo, 30s.
 
 MR. MACQUEEN'S list. 
 
 Catalogue of Publications — continued. 
 Love and a Sword. 
 
 A Tale of the Afridi War. By Kennedy King. Illustrations 
 by R. Caton Woodville and others. Crown 8vo, 6s. 
 
 Love-Philtre, The, and Other Poems. 
 
 By Helen V. Schweitzer. Fcap. 8vo, 5s. net. 
 
 Luck of the Native-Born, The. 
 
 A Story of Adventure. By J. A. Barky, Author of " Steve 
 Brown's Bunyip," etc. Crown 8vo, 6s. 
 
 Lynch, Hannah. 
 
 Denys D'Auvrillac. Crown 8vo, 6s. 
 
 Manders. 
 
 A Novel. By Elwyn Barron. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 Mapleson Memoirs, The. 
 
 Forty Years of Operatic Management, 1848-1888. By J. H. 
 Mapleson. With Portrait. Third Edition. Two Volumes, 
 demy 8vo, los. 6d. 
 
 Mark Twain Birthday Book, The. 
 
 Tenth Thousand. Cloth, is. ; leather, 2s. 6d. ; morocco, 6s. 6d. 
 
 Memories of the Mutiny. 
 
 By Colonel Francis Cornwallis Maude, V.C, C.B., who 
 commanded the Artillery of Havelock's Column. Two Volumes, 
 on special paper, with Maps and Illustrations, demy Svo, 30s. 
 
 Mighty Toltec, The. 
 
 A Story of Adventure. By S. J. Adair Fitz-Gerald 
 and S. O. Lloyd. Frontispiece. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 Miss Cherry- Blossom of Tokyo. 
 
 A Japanese Novel. By John Luther Long. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 Miss Tudor. 
 
 A Novel. By John le Breton, Author of "Unholy 
 Matrimony," etc. etc. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 Mrs. Fenton. 
 
 A Sketch. By W. E. Norris. Third Edition. Crown Svo, 
 2s. 6d. 
 
 My Dear Grenadier. 
 
 A Novel. By Sybil Beatrice Reid, Author of "Sweet 
 Peas." Crown Svo, 3s. 6d.
 
 MR. MACQUEEN'S LIST. 2$ 
 
 Catalogue of Publications — continued. 
 New Day, The. 
 
 Sonnets, By Dr. T. Gordon Hake. "With Portrait of the 
 Author by Rossetti. Crown 8vo, 5s. Rosslyn Series. 
 
 N orris, W. E. 
 
 Mrs. Fenton. Crown 8vo, 2s. 6d. 
 
 Old and New Poems. 
 
 By Walter Herries Pollock. With a Portrait of the 
 Author. Crown 8vo, 5s. 
 
 On the Way Through. 
 
 By Dorothea Gerard, Author of " A Queen of Curds and 
 Cream," and Joint-Author of " Reata" and "The Waters of 
 Hercules." Crown 8vo, cloth, 3s. 6d. 
 
 One Summer Holiday. 
 
 A Fairy Book. By Mrs. Charlton Anne. Dedicated by 
 most gracious permission to H.R.H. the Duchess of York. 
 Illustrations by R. HoLLls and others. Crown 4to, 5s. 
 
 Orthodox. 
 
 By Dorothea Gerard, Author of "Lady Baby," "On 
 the Way Through," etc. Third Edition. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 Our Future King. 
 
 By Charles Lowe. Crown 8vo, is. 
 
 Penn, Rachel. 
 
 A Son of Israel. Crown 8vo, 6s. 
 
 Cherriwink. Crown 4to, 6s. 
 
 The Song of the Harp. Fcap. 4to, 3s. 6d. 
 
 Phillips, F. Emily. 
 
 A County Scandal. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 Pont-Jest, Rene de. 
 
 The River of Pearls. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 Possessed of Devils. 
 
 A Novel. By Mrs. Harold E. Gorst. Crown Svo, 6s.
 
 MR. MACQUEEN'S list. 
 
 Catalogue of Publications — continued. 
 Queen of Curds and Cream, A. 
 
 A Novel. By Dorothea Gerard, Author of "Lady Baby," 
 "On the Way Through," etc. Fourth Edition. Crown 8vo, 
 3s. 6d. 
 
 Red Painted Box, The. 
 
 By Mariu Connor Leigiiton, Author of *'The Harvest of 
 Sin," etc., and Joint-Author of "Convict 99," etc. Crown 
 8vo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 River of Pearls, The ; or, The Red Spider. 
 
 A Chinese Romance. By ReniS de Pont-Jest. With 61 
 Illustrations by Felix RiiGAMEY. Crown 8vo, 6s. 
 
 Romances. 
 
 E. Eglantine. Cover designed by John Williamson. 
 Crown 8vo, is. 6d. 
 
 Russian Wild Flower, A. 
 
 By E. A. Brayley Hougetts, Author of " Round about 
 Armenia," "In the Track of the Russian Famine," etc. 
 Crown 8vo, 6s. 
 
 Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Memoirs of Duke Ernest 
 
 of (Brother of the late Prince Consort of 
 
 England). 
 
 With Portraits of Prince Albert and Duke Ernest. Four 
 Volumes, demy 8vo, cloth, 55s. 
 
 Scott, Clement. 
 
 From "The Bells "to " King Arthur." Demy 8vo, 
 7s. 6d. 
 
 Among the Apple Orchards. Foolscap 8vo, is. 6d. 
 Secret of Sorrow, The. 
 
 Being the Confession of a Young Man. Edited by Cecil 
 IIeadlam, Author of "Selections from the British Satirists," 
 "Prayers of the Saints," "The Story of Nuremberg," etc. 
 Crown 8vo, 6s. 
 
 Shakspeare's Historical Plays: Roman and 
 English. 
 
 With Revised Text, Introduction and Notes, Glossarial, Critical 
 and Historical. By the late Right Rev. Bishop Wordsworth, 
 D.C.L.,LL.D. New Edition. Three Volumes, crown 8vo, 15s.
 
 MR. MACQUEEN'S list. 27 
 
 Catalogue of Publications — continued. 
 
 Shakspeare's Knowledge and Use of the 
 Bible. 
 
 By the late Right Rev. Bishop WORDSWORTH, D.C.L,, LL.D. 
 Crown 8vo, cloth, 5s. ; full calf, 8s. 
 
 Shilrick the Drummer ; or, Loyal and True. 
 
 By Julia Agnes Fraser. Three Volumes, crown 8vo, 31s. 6d. 
 
 Sign of the Cross, The. 
 
 A Novel. By Wilson Barrett. With a Preface by the 
 Bishop of Truro. Crown 8vo, 6s. 
 
 Sinless Sinner, A. 
 
 By Mary H. Tennyson, Author of "A Fool ol Fate." 
 Crown 8vo, 6s. 
 
 Sixty Years of Recollections. 
 
 By Ernest Legouv6 of the Academie Fran9aise. Translated 
 with Notes by the Author of " An Englishman in Paris." Two 
 Volumes, demy 8vo, cloth, i8s. 
 
 Sketches of the Future. 
 
 By Harold E. Gorst, Author of " Without Bloodshed." 
 Small fcap. 8vo, limp cloth, is. 
 
 Son of Israel, A. 
 
 By Rachel Penn, Author of " Cherriwink," etc. Crown 
 8vo, 6s. 
 
 Song of the Harp, The. 
 
 An Original Fairy Tale. By Rachel Penn, Author of 
 "Cherriwink." Illustrations by John Williamson. Fcap. 
 4to, 3s. 6d. 
 
 Sonnets and Poems. 
 
 By the late Earl of Rosslyn. With Portrait of the Author. 
 Second Edition. Crown 8vo, 7s. 6d. 
 
 Steve Brown's Bunyip. 
 
 By J. A. Barry. With Introductory Verses by Rudyard 
 Kipling. Fifth Edition. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 Stories the Sunflower Told. 
 
 By Eva M. Hilder. Illustrations by M. M. Sutcliffe. 
 Fcap. 4to, 5s.
 
 28 MR. MACQUEEN'S LIST. 
 
 Catalogue of Publications — continued. 
 Summer Days for Winter Evenings. 
 
 A Series of Nature Idylls. By J. II. Crawford, F.L.S., 
 Author of "The Wild Life of Scotland." Illustrations by 
 John Williamson. Handsomely bound, in uniform with 
 Mr. Crawford's other works. Large crown 8vo, 6s. net. 
 
 Sweet Peas. 
 
 By Sybil Beatrice Reid. Crown 8vo, cloth, 2s. 
 
 Thouohts of a Oueen. 
 
 By Carmen Sylva (Elizabeth, Queen of Roumania). Trans- 
 lated into English, with Special Termission, by H. Sutherland 
 Edwards. Fcap. 8vo, cloth, is. 6d. 
 
 Tollemache, Beatrix L. (Hon. Mrs. Lionel 
 
 Tollemache). 
 Diderot's Thoughts on Art and Style. Crown 8vo, 5s. 
 The Early Bird. Crown 8vo, 2s. 6d. 
 
 Tom-All-Alone. 
 
 By Amelia M. Barker. Crown 8vo, 6s. 
 
 'Tween the New and the Old. 
 
 A Tale of Three Lovers. By George Wemyss. Crown Svo, 
 6s. 
 
 Unholy Matrimony. 
 
 By John le Breton, Author of " Miss Tudor," etc. Crown 
 Svo, 6s. 
 
 Veiled Hand, The. 
 
 By Frederick Wicks. With Illustrations by Jean de 
 Paleologue. Fourth Edition. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 Vestigia Retrorsum. 
 
 Poems by Arthur J. Munby. With Portrait of the Author. 
 Crown 8vo, 5s. 
 
 Wemyss, George. 
 
 'Tween the New and the Old. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 Jane FoUett. Crown Svo, 6s. 
 
 Wicks, Frederick. 
 
 The Veiled Hand. Illustrated. Crown Svo. 3s. 6d. 
 The Infant. Illustrated. Large crown Svo, 6s.
 
 MR. MACQUEEN'S list. 29 
 
 Catalogue of Publications — continued. 
 Wild Flowers of Scotland, The. 
 
 By J. H. Crawford, F.L.S., Author of "The Wild Life of 
 Scotland," etc. Illustrations by John Williamson. Hand- 
 somely hound, in uniform with Mr. Crawford's other Works. 
 Large crown 8vo, 6s. net. 
 
 Wild Life of Scodand, The. 
 
 By J. H. Crawford. With Illustrations by John William- 
 son. Large crown 8vo, 6s. net. 
 
 Windabyne. 
 
 A Record of By-gone Times in Australia. By Reginald 
 Crawford. Edited by George Ranken. Crown 8vo. 2s. 
 
 Wooing of Avis Grayle, The. 
 
 By'CHARLES Hannan, Author of "Chin Chin Wa," "The 
 Captive of Pekin," etc. Crown 8vo, 6s. 
 
 Wordsworth, The late Right Rev. Bishop. 
 
 Shakspeare's Historical Plays. Three Vols. 15s. 
 Shakspeare's Knowledge and Use of the Bible. 5s. 
 
 Yorke, Curtis. 
 
 A Flirtation with Truth. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d, 
 
 You Never Know Your Luck. 
 
 A Novel. By Theo. Irving. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d. 
 
 Standard Library of Foreign Classics. 
 
 Cheap and Popular Reprint of the Standard Foreign Authors 
 in the Original Tongue. Fcap. 8vo, handsomely bound in cloth. 
 Edited, with a Critical Preface, by W. H. Sonley Johnstone. 
 
 Vol. I. THE COMEDIES OF MOLIERE. is. 6d. 
 
 Vol. II. MAXIMS AND REFLECTIONS OF LA ROCHE- 
 FOUCAULD. IS.
 
 55/- 
 31/6 
 
 30/- 
 
 25/- 
 18/- 
 
 15/. 
 
 12/- 
 
 10/6 
 
 8/- 
 7/6 
 
 6/6 
 
 6/- 
 netb. 
 
 6/- 
 
 Mr. Macqueen's Publications 
 
 Arranged according to their Prices. 
 
 Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Memoirs of Duke Ernest of. 4 Vols. 
 
 Fraser (Julia Agnes) . . Shilrick the Drummer. 
 
 Three Vols. 
 
 Literary Recollections. 
 
 Demy 8vo. 
 
 Crown 8vo. 
 
 Demy 8vo. 
 
 Camp (Maxim du) 
 
 Two Vols. . 
 Maude (Colonel Francis Memoirs of the Mutiny. 
 
 Cornwallis) Illustrated. Two Vols. Demy 8vo. 
 
 Court of England under George IV., The . . . Demy Svo, 
 
 Legouve (Ernest) . . Sixty Years of Recollec- 
 
 tions. Two Vols. 
 
 Shakspeare's Historical Plays, Ivonian and English. 
 
 Three Vols. 
 
 Chesney (General F. R.), 
 Lamennais (Abbe F. de) 
 
 Carter (T.F.) . 
 Mapleson (J. H.) 
 Phillips (Percy S.) 
 Weare (G. E.) . 
 
 Life of the late 
 
 Ini'ifference in Matters of 
 Religion 
 
 . A Narrative of the Boer 
 War .... 
 
 Tiie Mapleson Memoirs. 
 
 Two Vdls. . 
 Draina Birthday Book. 
 
 Morocco 
 Cabot's Discovery of N. 
 
 America. Illustrated. 
 
 Wordsworth (The late Righ,t Shakspeare's Knowledge 
 Rev. Bishop) and Use of the Bible. 
 
 Full calf . 
 
 Dixon (Charles) . 
 
 Demy Svo. 
 
 Crown Svo. 
 Demy Svo. 
 
 Demy Svo. 
 
 Demy Svo. 
 Demy Svo. 
 Fcap. Svo. 
 L. cr. Svo. 
 
 Crown Svo. 
 
 Hoche (Jules) 
 Rosslyn (Earl of) 
 Scott (Clement) 
 
 . Lost and Vanishing Birds. 
 Illustrated . 
 Bismarck at Home. Illus. 
 Sonnets and Poems 
 . From "The Bells" to 
 
 "King Arthur." Illus. Demy Svo. 
 Sterling(SirAnthony,K.C.B.) The Highland Brigade in 
 
 the Crimea 
 Strange (Major-General Tom Gunner Jingo's Jubilee. 
 Bland) lUustra'ted . 
 
 Mark Twain's Birthday Book. Morocco 
 
 Crawford (J. IL, F.L.S.) . Wild Life of Scotland . 
 ,, ,, . Wild Flowers of Scotland 
 
 ,, ,, . Summer Days for Winter 
 
 Evenings . 
 
 . Tom-All-Alone 
 
 The Sign of the Cross 
 . The Daughtersof Babylon Crown Svo 
 . Manders . . . Crown Svo 
 
 . The Luck of the Native 
 
 Born .... Crown Svo 
 . A Manual of Italian Litera- 
 ture . . , . Crown Svo 
 
 Barker (Amelia M.) 
 Barrett (Wilson) . 
 
 » > »> 
 
 Barron (Elwyn) . 
 Barry (J. A.) 
 
 Cliffe (F. H.) . 
 
 Demy Svo. 
 Demy Svo. 
 Crown Svo. 
 
 Demy Svo. 
 
 Demy Svo. 
 
 Small 4to. 
 
 L. cr. Svo. 
 L. cr. Svo. 
 
 L. cr. Svo. 
 
 Crown Svo. 
 
 Crown Svo.
 
 MR. MACQUEEN'S LIST. 
 
 31 
 
 6/- 
 
 5/- 
 
 Crawford (J. H., F.L.S.) 
 Creswick (Paul) . 
 
 Eden (Charles H.) 
 
 Eden (Guy) 
 
 Fitz-Gerald (S. J. Adair) 
 Frost (William Henry) 
 
 Gorst (Mrs. Harold E. ) 
 Hannan (Charles) 
 
 Harris (J. Henry) 
 Headlam (Cecil) . 
 Hichens (Robert). 
 
 Hodgetts (E. A. 
 Jeune (Lady) 
 Kaye (Lorin) 
 
 Brayley) 
 
 Kaye (Eff) . 
 King (Kennedy) . 
 Le Breton (John) . 
 
 Lloyd (S. O y '. 
 Long (John Luther) 
 
 Lynch (Hannah) . 
 Penn (Rachel) 
 
 Phillips (F. Emily) 
 Pont-jest (Rene de) 
 
 Riddell (Mrs. J. H.) 
 Tennyson (Mary H. ) 
 Wemyss (George) 
 
 Wicks (Frederick) 
 Anne (Mrs. Charlton) 
 
 A Girl's Awakening 
 
 At the Sign o^ the Cross 
 Keys .... 
 
 Afloat with Nelson. 
 Illustrated . 
 
 He Went Out with the 
 Tide .... 
 
 The Mighty Toltec 
 
 The Court of King 
 Arthur. Illustrated. . 
 
 Possessed of Devils 
 
 The Wooing of Avis 
 Grayle 
 
 Esther's Pilgrimage 
 
 The Secret of Sorrow 
 
 The Daughters of Baby- 
 lon .... 
 
 A Russian Wild Flower . 
 
 Lesser Questions . 
 
 A Drawing- Room Cynic . 
 
 Her Ladyship's Income . 
 
 Virtue's Tragedy 
 
 Love and a Sword. Illus. 
 
 Unholy Matrimony 
 
 Miss Tudor . 
 
 The Mighty Toltec 
 
 Miss Cherry- Blossom of 
 Tokyo 
 
 Denys D'Auvrillac 
 
 Cherriwink. Illustrated 
 
 A Son of Israel 
 
 A County Scandal . 
 
 The River of Pearls. Il- 
 lustrated 
 
 The Banshee's Warning . 
 
 A Sinless Sinner 
 
 Jane Follett . 
 
 'Tween the New and the 
 Old . 
 
 The Infant. Illustrated . 
 
 One Summer 
 Illustrated . 
 Blackie (John Stuart), Selected Poems of 
 
 Holiday. 
 
 Hake (Dr. T. Gordon) 
 Hilder (Eva M.) . 
 
 Lewis (Mrs.) 
 
 Munby (Arthur J.) 
 Pollock (Walter'Herries) 
 Schweitzer (Helen F.) . 
 Tollemache(Hon. Mrs. Lionel) 
 
 Wordsworth (The late Right 
 Rev. Bishop) 
 
 The New Day 
 
 Stories the Sunflowers 
 
 Told. Illustrated 
 A Lady's Impressions of 
 
 Cyprus in 1893 . 
 Vestigia Retrorsum 
 Old and New Poems 
 The Love-Philtre . 
 Diderot's Thoughts on 
 
 Art and Style 
 Shakspeare's Knowledge 
 
 and Use of the Bible . 
 
 Crown 8vo. 
 
 Crown 8vo. 
 
 Crown 
 
 8vo, 
 
 Crown 
 
 8vo. 
 
 Crown 8vo. 
 
 Crown 
 
 8vo. 
 
 Crown 8vo. 
 
 Crown 
 
 8vo. 
 
 Crown 8vo. 
 
 Crown 
 
 8vo. 
 
 Crown 
 
 8vo. 
 
 Crown 
 
 Svo. 
 
 Crown 
 
 8vo. 
 
 Crown 
 
 8vo. 
 
 Crown 
 
 8vo. 
 
 Crown 
 
 Svo. 
 
 Crown 
 
 Svo. 
 
 Crown 
 
 8vo. 
 
 Crown 
 
 8vo. 
 
 Crown 
 
 Svo. 
 
 Crown 
 
 Svo. 
 
 Crown 
 
 Svo. 
 
 Crown 
 
 4to. 
 
 Crown 
 
 Svo. 
 
 Crown 
 
 Svo. 
 
 Crown 8vo. 
 
 Crown 
 
 Svo. 
 
 Crown 8vo. 
 
 Crown 
 
 Svo. 
 
 Crown 
 
 Svo. 
 
 L. cr. < 
 
 Bvo. 
 
 Crown 
 
 AtO. 
 
 Crown 8vo 
 
 Crown 
 
 Svo. 
 
 Fcap. 
 
 4to. 
 
 Crown 
 
 Svo. 
 
 Crown 
 
 Svo 
 
 Crown 
 
 Svo 
 
 Fcap. 
 
 Svo. 
 
 Crown 8vo 
 
 Crown 
 
 Svo
 
 32 
 
 MR. MACQUEEN'S LIST. 
 
 3/6 ^=i"y (J- -'^■) 
 
 Bentley ^Cumberland) 
 Conway (Hugh) . 
 
 Gerard (Dorothea) 
 
 Ilalevy (Ludovic) 
 Hart (Mrs. A.) . 
 Irving (Theo. ) 
 
 Kennard (Mrs. Arthur) 
 Le Breton (John) 
 Leighton (I\Iarie Connor) 
 Penn (Rachel) 
 
 rhillips (Percy S.) 
 
 Reid (Sybil Beatrice) . 
 Russell (Henry) . 
 Short (Francis) . 
 Wallace (William) 
 Wicks (Frederick) 
 Yorke (Curtis) . 
 
 2/6 Harvey (Cockburn) 
 
 Mark Twain's Birthday Book. 
 Norrris(W. E.) . 
 Tollemache (Hon. Mrs, 
 Lionel) .... 
 
 2/- Crawford (Reginald) 
 
 Reid (Sybil Beatrice) . 
 
 1/6 Eglantine (E.) . 
 
 Moliere, The Comedies of . 
 Scott (Clement) . 
 
 Sylva (Carmen) . 
 
 1/. Gorst (Harold E.) 
 Lowe (Charles) . 
 
 Mackay (William) 
 
 Mark Twain's Birthday Book 
 Milne (James) 
 
 Steve Brown's Bunyip . 
 
 A Dream's Fulfilment 
 
 A Cardinal Sin 
 
 Bound Together 
 
 Etelka's Vow . 
 
 On the Way Through 
 
 Orthodox 
 
 A Queen of Curds and 
 
 Cream 
 Abbe Constantin . 
 A Double Ruin 
 You Never Know Your 
 
 Luck 
 Diogenes' Sandals . 
 Faith, Hope, and Charily 
 The Red Painted Box . 
 The Song of the Harp. 
 
 Illustrated . 
 The Drama Birthday 
 
 Book. Cloth . 
 My Dear Grenadier 
 Cheer, Boys, Cheer ! 
 The Fate of Woman 
 The Lighter Life . 
 The Yeiled Hand. Illus. 
 A Flirtation with Truth . 
 
 The Light that Lies 
 Leather .... 
 Mrs. Fenton . 
 
 The Early Bird 
 
 Windabyne . 
 Sweet Peas . 
 
 Romances 
 
 Among the Apple 
 
 Orchards . 
 Thoughts of a Queen 
 
 Sketches of the Future . 
 
 Our P'uture King. Illus- 
 trated 
 
 Ye XlXth Century Horn 
 Book. Illustrated 
 
 The GordonHighlanders. 
 Illustrated . 
 Rochefoucauld, Maxims and Reflections of La 
 Tolstoi (Count Leo) . . Kreutzer Sonata 
 
 Crown 8vo. 
 Crown 8vo. 
 Crown 8vo. 
 Crown 8vo. 
 Crown 8vo. 
 Crown Svo. 
 Crown 8vo. 
 
 Crown Svo. 
 Crown Svo. 
 Crown Svo. 
 
 Crown Svo. 
 Crown Svo. 
 Crown Svo. 
 Crown Svo. 
 
 Fcap. 4to. 
 
 Fcap. Svo. 
 Crown Svo. 
 Ciown Svo, 
 Crown Svo, 
 Crown Svo. 
 Crown Svo. 
 Crown Svo. 
 
 Fcap. Svo. 
 Small 4to, 
 Crown Svo. 
 
 Crown Svo, 
 
 Crown Svo, 
 Crown Svo. 
 
 Crown Svo. 
 Sm. cr.Svo. 
 
 Fcap, Svo, 
 Fcap. Svo. 
 
 Sm. fc. Svo. 
 
 Crown Svo. 
 
 Demy Svo. 
 Small 4to. 
 
 Crown Svo. 
 Sm. cr. Svo. 
 Fcap. Svo. 
 
 London: JOHN MACQUEEN, 
 Hastings House, Norfolk Street, Strand.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
 Los Angeles 
 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped belou. 
 
 APR 1 3 13SB 
 
 Form L9-Series 4939
 
 PR4069. B52D 
 
 3 1158 00836 lllXX 
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 AA 000 381 996 8
 
 ,.. . j!,i .1.;,,... ... J „5,.-...i.,. .-.-.... ..I, ,,.,[_-,, ,,^_„.^,,..,^-^(j,;j|.ij^,,,j!m^l5^re;^