CHAPTER XXII
THE VISION OF DANIEL, THE VICEROY
Silent and thoughtful in the midst of the swarthy Arabian guardcommanded by Nathan the Israelite, who bore Memnon's letters to theGreat King, Clearchus and Chares rode out of the eastern gate ofHalicarnassus. Even the Theban's buoyant nature for once was subdued.They were going to what seemed certain death, and they were leavingbehind them those they loved most on earth.
To Clearchus this thought was unbearable. He cared not what happened,now that the last hope of rescuing Artemisia was gone. What wouldbecome of her? Who could aid her now? He rode with his head sunk onhis breast, seeing and hearing nothing of what went on around him. Alow fever filled his veins, dulling his senses and leaving him onlyhalf conscious of their situation. At times he imagined it was all adream, from which he would awake, still free to continue the search forhis lost love. Then a realization of the truth would return to him,and he groaned aloud in his despair.
The response of the oracle of Delphi, which had supported him, nowseemed like a mockery. It had been fulfilled, he thought, when intruth he found Artemisia in the track that Alexander's army was tofollow. The Gods had made him their sport, and he fancied them smilingdown from the heavens upon his agony. The light of the sun becamehateful to him.
So he rode, mile after mile and day after day, in listless and inertabandonment to his fate. Who could resist the will of the Gods? Heate almost nothing, and his strength wasted visibly, while lines ofsuffering deepened on his face.
In vain Chares sought to rouse him. He returned patient answers to thearguments of the Theban, but his power of effort was gone. In thefirst stages of their journey Chares watched over him constantly toprevent him from destroying himself in his despair.
Through Lycia, Pisidia, and Cilicia they passed, finding fresh relaysof horses at each station along the great highway that had beenestablished by the predecessors of Darius. Through the Amanic Gatesthey galloped at last, and paused at Thapsacus, on the banks of themighty Euphrates, where, more than a century and a half before, the TenThousand had halted in their desperate dash upon Babylon.
Chares had long ago recovered his cheerful temper. Of what lay beforethem when they reached the Persian capital he had ceased to think. Thecondition of Clearchus, and the fact that they had advanced so fartoward the heart of the Persian empire, made escape practicallyimpossible. The Theban was regarded rather as a comrade than an enemyby the Arabs of the guard, and his unfailing good nature made the longjourney seem less wearisome.
With Nathan he had formed a solid friendship. The young Israelite,browned by the sun and wind, was naturally taciturn and inclined tosilence. His form was active and sinewy, and his muscles seemed alwayson the alert. In his dark eyes burned the mystic intelligence andindomitable earnestness of his race. He rode usually in advance of thelittle troop, and, although often he seemed wrapped in contemplation,nothing ever escaped him. The contrast between him and the careless,talkative Theban, with his laughing blue eyes and yellow hair, was ascomplete as possible; and it may have been this very difference intheir temperaments that drew them together.
Nathan showed an extraordinary interest in all that related toAlexander, even in his personal appearance and what he had said on thisor that occasion. He would listen by the hour while Chares talked ofthe young Macedonian king, his people, and his court. No suspicionentered the Theban's mind that Nathan was seeking information for theuse of his superiors in Babylon. He would have dismissed such athought as unjust. The Israelite inquired little about Alexander'sarmy, and seemed rather desirous of forming in his own mind a portraitof the young leader. That he reflected deeply upon what Chares toldhim was shown by the questions that he asked from time to time for thepurpose of enabling him to fill out some incomplete detail.
Chares sometimes wondered whether the interest that Nathan displayed inAlexander could have any religious bearing. He had heard fromAristotle of the mysterious and peculiar belief of the Israelites, whoworshipped only one God, and who would not suffer an image of Him to beset up in their temple; but his ideas regarding their faith wereconfused with stories of a hundred other equally insignificant tribes.
His attention was aroused one day by a sudden change in the youngIsraelite. He became both restless and abstracted. Often he returnedno answer to the questions that the Theban put to him, and there seemedto be an unusual luminous depth in his dark eyes. At times his lipsmoved as though he were conversing with unseen companions. There was astrangeness in his actions and expression that caused even the heedlessTheban to feel a vague uneasiness. Toward nightfall, Clearchus, asthough drawn by some undefinable bond of sympathy, rode forward andtook his place beside Nathan. It was the first time that this hadhappened since they left Halicarnassus, and Chares watched them withamazement. Neither spoke, but each appeared conscious of the other'spresence, and Chares imagined that there was more animation inClearchus' glance when they halted for the night. At the same time hehad a dim sense that something was going on between them that he couldnot understand.
After the evening meal Nathan sat before the tent that he alwaysoccupied with his two prisoners when they spent the night away fromhuman habitation. Clearchus lay beside him, with his head resting onhis hand. The Arabs were sleeping in a group beside the tetheredhorses.
In the measureless depths of the sky the great stars blazed with asteady light. Strange cries of night birds came from the broad river,sweeping silently past them in the darkness. The howl of a jackalsounded faintly in the distance.
Nathan's face was turned toward the south, as though his eyes could seethere the walls of the city in whose narrow streets he had played withhis companions as a boy. Presently he began to speak.
"He will requite His enemies and those who scorn Him," the Israelitesaid. "Terrible is His wrath!"
"Is He more powerful than Zeus?" said Clearchus, seeming to comprehendwhat Nathan meant.
"Yea," Nathan answered solemnly. "Thy Gods are as nothing before Him.Baal He overthrew in Babylon with all his brood."
"I have heard that it was the Persians and not thy people who smoteNebuchadnezzar," Clearchus replied. "Is He the God of the Persians,too?"
"They paid Him honor under the name of Ormazd," the Israelite replied."While they were faithful to Him, nothing could stand against them; butthey have turned their faces from Him, and their time has come. Hehath weighed them in His balance, one by one--Chaldean, Egyptian,Assyrian, Ph[oe]nician, and Mede. He hath given the victory into theirhands; and one by one hath He smitten them until they were humbled inthe dust. There is no God but God."
"What hath He done for thee?" the Athenian asked.
"He hath delivered me out of the snares of mine enemies," Nathanreplied earnestly, "even when they compassed me about in wrath. Onceand again hath He brought my people out of bondage because theyworshipped Him alone. He hath made good His promise. He hath neverfailed us in our hour of need. By the mouths of His holy men hath Hegiven us knowledge of that which is to come; and now once more He willshow to the sons of men His wrath and His favor. He shall put down themighty from their seats."
Chares saw that Nathan's hands were trembling as they lay clasped uponhis knees and that drops of moisture glistened upon his forehead.
"His word was given to Daniel, viceroy of the Great King, Belshazzar,in the palace at Susa by the waters of the river Ulai in the time of myfathers' fathers," the Israelite continued. "The mysteries of thefuture were laid bare to him by Gabriel, Jehovah's servant; and behold,he saw standing before the river, a ram with two horns; and the twohorns were high, but one was higher than the other, and the higher cameup last. He saw the ram pushing westward and northward and southward,so that no beasts might stand against him. Neither was there any thatcould deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will andbecame great. Lo, these are the words of Daniel, the viceroy.
"And as he stood considering, behold, an he goat came from the West o
nthe face of the whole earth and he touched not the ground. And the hegoat had a great horn between his eyes; and that was thy king, whocometh. And while Daniel looked, he saw the he goat come close to theram and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he casthim down to the ground and stamped upon him, and there was none thatcould deliver the ram from him. These things were seen of Daniel inolden times; and the hour is at hand."
There was silence for a moment, and then Clearchus said slowly:--
"If it is written that Alexander shall overthrow the Great King, whydost thou lead us captives to Babylon?"
"I know not," Nathan replied, "but the command was laid upon me, and itis Jehovah's will that I should obey. Were it not so, He would havetold me. How can we know His ways? Who are we that we should questionHis wisdom? Yet in the end, I have faith that it will be well withthee; for to Him nothing is impossible."
It was long before Clearchus closed his eyes in sleep that night. Helay looking upward at the tranquil and steadfast stars and revolving inhis mind the words of the Israelite. Could it be that a Divinitygreater than all others existed in the universe, whose will ruled allthings? The idea took possession of him, and at the same time hope wasrenewed in his breast. The Gods whom he had honored had deserted him;perhaps the God of Israel could help him.