CHAPTER XXV
BESSUS COMES TO BABYLON
Clearchus and Chares gazed with wonder upon the mighty walls ofBabylon, raising their sheer height from the surface of the Euphratesuntil the soldiers who paced the lofty parapet seemed like pygmiesagainst the sky. The little cavalcade, stained with weeks of travel,entered the city through a long archway tunnelled in the wall andflanked on either side by enormous winged lions carved in granite.
Nathan reported to the captain of the gate, who detailed a lieutenantto escort him to the palace. Chares snorted his disgust as the youngman took his place at the head of the troop. His beardless face wastouched with paint, and his eyebrows were darkened with pigment. Hishands were white and soft. His flowing robe of blue silk sweptdownward on either side below his feet, which were encased in buskinswith long points. He glanced superciliously at the two prisoners.
"See that they do not try to get away here in the city," he lisped toNathan. "It might be hard to find them--there is such a dirty rabblehere since the Great King himself decided to take the field."
"Have no fear," Nathan replied quietly.
"Fear?" the lieutenant laughed. "That word, as you will find, is notknown here. Ride behind me and let your men surround these two dogs."
He adjusted his long robe and inhaled a breath of perfume from a flaskof scent that he carried in his left hand while he gathered up hisreins with the other. Chares could restrain himself no longer.
"So we are dogs, are we?" he roared, so suddenly that the lieutenantalmost fell from his horse. "Has no one told you that we Greeks haveto be fed? Lead on, or I will make half a meal off thy miserablecarcass, though how magpie will agree with me, I know not."
"Seize him! Seize him! He talks treason!" screamed the lieutenant,scarce knowing what he said. He looked at Nathan's men, who made nomove to obey, but the gleam of their white teeth as they smiled at hisagitation brought him to his senses. With an air of offended dignity,he set his horse in motion, and the little troop clattered away intothe city.
Inside the vast circumference of the wall they found streets alongwhich stood magnificent dwellings surrounded by trees and gardens. Soample was the enclosure that ground enough remained unoccupied betweenthe houses to sustain the population, if necessary, upon its harvests.Great temples reared their towers above the roofs. Gay chariots andgilded litters passed or met them. Now and then a curious glance wasdirected toward them, but beyond this they seemed to attract noattention. Everybody was too intent upon his own business or pleasureto give more than a passing thought to the sun-browned soldiers whorode wearily behind the brightly accoutred lieutenant of the guard.
As they advanced the streets became narrower and the houses stood closetogether, with no space between them for gardens. Shops and bazaarsappeared on either hand, filled with a bustling, chaffering throng.The young Greeks saw a strange medley of nations. Swarthy Egyptianselbowed dusky merchants from beyond the Indus. Ph[oe]nicians and Jewsdrove bargains with large-limbed, blue-eyed men of the North, who woreshaggy skins upon their shoulders and carried long swords at theirbelts. This part of the city was given over entirely to foreigners,for among the Persians the old belief still prevailed that no man couldbuy or sell without being dishonest, and falsehood was held inreligious abhorrence by the conquerors of the Medes.
Darius was collecting the host which he purposed to lead againstAlexander and with which he intended to crush the adventurous invader.Military trappings were to be seen everywhere. The summons of theGreat King had brought within the walls an enormous influx of strangersfrom every corner of the empire.
Chares and Clearchus aroused more curiosity as they rode through thenarrower streets of the commercial quarter, where they were forced toproceed more slowly because of the throngs. They were soon recognizedas of the race of the enemy.
"See the Greeks!" cried a bare-legged urchin in a shrill voice.
"By Ormazd, that is a big one!" said a soldier in a lounging group,pointing to Chares.
"Granicus! Granicus! Kill the Greeks!" a woman screamed from the topof one of the flat-roofed houses.
Her imprecation caused a stir among the idlers, who pressed forward tolearn what was the matter and to obtain a better view. The rumor ranthat there was to be fighting, and customers poured out of booth andbazaar to see it. They came good-naturedly, but in such numbers thatthey quickly blocked the way and brought the troop to a halt. Somemischievous boys began to pelt the horses with pebbles, causing them torear and plunge. One of the animals kicked a man in the crowd, whostruck at the rider with his staff. The Arab lunged back with the buttof his lance. The crowd drew out of the way, jeering and laughing.
Meanwhile the woman on the roof continued her cry. "Kill the Greeks!"she screamed. "Slay them! Remember the Granicus, where they slew myson!"
Her words were taken up and repeated by other women who leaned from thehouse-tops on either side of the street. The crowd continued togather, those behind pushing the foremost against the plunging horses.Several were trampled upon.
"Go away," commanded the lieutenant. "Stand back, you hounds; theseare prisoners for the king."
"Prisoners!" howled the mob. "Kill the prisoners! Burn the murderers!They would assassinate the king!"
The crowd showed signs of becoming inflamed. Some of the bolderspirits made a rush for the horsemen, seeking to pull them down andbreak the circle that the Arabs had formed about the two Greeks. Theimpact swept the little party into an angle between two houses, fromwhich there was no escape save through the multitude. The women beganto shower sticks and tiles upon them from the roofs. It becamenecessary for them to raise their shields to protect their heads fromthe missiles.
Nathan turned to the lieutenant, who, with a blanched face, had shrunkback against the wall.
"Do you intend to stay here?" he demanded sternly. "Draw your swordand lead us. We must cut our way out. My prisoners are for Darius andnot for these."
"They are too many," the lieutenant whined, with chattering teeth.
"Then give him your sword, since you are afraid to use it," Nathansaid, pointing to Chares. The Theban snatched the weapon from theyoung man's hand.
A javelin hissed through the air, cast by some soldier in the throng,and stood quivering in the beams behind their heads. Clearchus pulledit out and took possession of it.
The mob still held back, agitated by conflicting currents. The idlerswho had instigated the attack in a spirit of wantonness had no stomachfor fighting, and were struggling backward through the press, seeking asafe distance. Their places were taken by reckless and half-drunkensoldiers, who had grown weary of inactivity in the city and were eagerfor any excitement, even though they obtained it at the risk of theirlives. Many of them were little more than savages whose innateferocity was aroused by the mere sight of blood. Some had receivedcuts and bruises when the rush was made. The voice of the mob changedfrom a tone of banter to a menacing cry for revenge.
Nathan saw that the non-combatants had succeeded in extricatingthemselves, and that the men who now faced them carried weapons intheir hands and were preparing to use them. The situation wasperilous. His handful of soldiers were outnumbered by more than ahundred to one. The mob was momentarily being reenforced from thewine-shops and the alleys that honeycombed the district. It was plainthat there was no escape unless rescue should come quickly.
He raised himself on his horse and anxiously scanned the faces of thecrowd that had pressed back out of harm's way and now stood inexpectant silence. He knew that through the years that had passedsince the Captivity, many thousands of his race had continued to dwellin Babylon and that the trade of the city was chiefly in their hands.He saw their keen dark eyes looking on indifferently from beneath theawnings that shaded the entrances of their shops. To them hedetermined to appeal.
"Israel! Israel!" he shouted, raising his open palm above his head."In the name of Jehovah, I call upon thee! To the rescue!"
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bsp; His cry rang clear in the momentary hush of expectation and reached theears for which it was intended. Upon the outskirts of the mob menturned to their neighbors. "He is one of us! We must save him!" theysaid, one to another. "Israel! Israel!" The rallying shout spreadthrough the dense masses of men into streets where Nathan's voice hadnot penetrated. It ran like a spark in a field of dry corn. Beardedmen and dark-skinned youths left their occupations and sprang forward,snatching up such weapons as they found nearest to their hands. Therewas a second shifting of the crowd as they pushed their way toward thefront, pressing in a great circle upon the ring of soldiers who werehemming Nathan in.
This ring was composed mainly of the fiercest and wildest fighting menin all the Persian Empire. It represented the extremes of the GreatKing's dominions. Yellow-haired Scyths, clad in the skins of animals,stood side by side with gigantic negroes from the mysterious forests ofEthiopia. Their language was unknown to each other, but they had beenbrought together into a fleeting comradeship by the irresistible andsavage desire which, they held in common for excitement and slaughter.
The Jews attacked this formidable band without hesitation, hurlingfragments of stone, earthen pots, and even the merchandise that hadbeen displayed in the shops. The unexpected assault caused a momentarydiversion. The Scyths and Ethiopians turned and charged into thecrowd, striking with their swords and war clubs indiscriminately atfriend and foe. Chares tossed the long hair back from his eyes.
"Your friends came just in time," he said to Nathan, "but it would beungrateful for us to let them fight alone. Forward, Clearchus!"
With the Athenian at his side, he swung his horse into the street anddashed upon the nearest of the Scyths, a giant whose voice had beenbellowing encouragement to his companions. The lieutenant's gildedsword fell upon the knotted cords of the man's neck, and he went downlike some great tree in his own northern forests. His long bladeslipped from his hand, and the Theban, stooping from the back of hishorse and holding by the mane, caught it up.
"Ha!" Chares cried, swinging the heavy weapon above his head, "now wecan get at them."
The Arabs, headed by Nathan, had followed the Greeks and were fightingbeside them in a compact body. The Jews outside the circle had come toclose quarters and were hacking and thrusting with daggers andbutchers' knives. Their charge had been so sudden that the Scyths werenearly broken, but they recovered themselves almost instantly. Aspecies of madness seemed to possess them. They closed in like a packof wolves, fighting with each other to get near enough to strike a blow.
News of the outbreak had spread far into the city. From every side,thousands drew toward the scene of the battle, driving in the crowdsthat were seeking to keep their distance. They pressed upon the Jewsand forced them helplessly against the weapons of their enemies. Thenumber of the Scyths was momentarily increased by the arrival of theirfriends.
Nathan saw that the fight was hopeless. The Israelites, badly armedand undisciplined, were melting away. The only chance of escape lay inregaining the angle in the wall where they had first taken refuge, andfrom which they might be able to enter one of the houses.
Chares was wielding the great Scythian sword with both hands. Whoeverwas thrust within its sweep went down. Its tempered edge shore throughbone and metal, and no parry availed to turn it aside. Clearchusfought at his shoulder with his javelin, protecting him against attackin the rear.
"Back!" Nathan shouted to them. "We cannot face the odds. We mustseek the wall!"
"You are right," Chares answered without turning his head. "We arecoming. I wish Alexander were here!"
He cut down a negro who had succeeded in getting within the thrust ofClearchus' lance.
"This is better than Granicus," he panted, as the man rolled upon theground.
Clearchus made no reply, and Chares saw that his face was drawn andpale. It was clear that he was becoming exhausted. The Theban wasfilled with sudden alarm.
"To the wall!" he cried, wheeling his horse. "Bear up for a littleyet, and we will show these beasts how Greeks can die!"
They recovered their position with difficulty, followed by the howlingScyths and negroes. Half the Arab escort had been killed, and Nathanwas bleeding from a wound in the thigh, though he still foughtgallantly. Chares alone was both unwearied and unscathed. He seemedendowed with the strength of ten men as he faced the fierce onset. Hisaspect as he turned at bay with uplifted sword caused the Scyths for aninstant to hesitate. Then they charged, clustering around the littleband like a swarm of angry bees, pushing each other forward andstriking over one another's shoulders. It was clear that the conflictcould not last much longer. Nathan knew that, once they were down inthat seething and raging mob, they would meet a frightful death. Hisflesh shuddered at the thought of what was to come.
"Down with them! Down with the Greek dogs! They give way!" yelled themob.
Clearchus glanced at the sea of distorted faces, white, yellow, andblack, and saw thousands of eyes glaring hungrily at them. A strangeindifference took possession of him. Why should he strive? Whatmattered it now whether the God of Nathan was mightier than the Gods ofGreece? Not even the Gods could save them. If Artemisia were dead, hewould meet her presently in the Elysian Fields. If she were living,sooner or later she would join him in the land of shades beyond Styx.There he would tell her how his heart had suffered. It was easier todie than to live, since now he must die.
"It is finished, Chares; we will go together," he called to the Theban.
"Not until I get this one!" Chares replied grimly, nodding toward a manwho crouched before him just beyond the reach of his sword.
The squat figure was bent for a spring. The man wore a leopard skinacross his muscular shoulders and his little green eyes were fastenedferociously upon the Theban, watching for an opening. Clearchusthought he had never seen anything more repulsive than the flat, broadface, with its strong, yellow teeth showing like fangs. As he lookedhe heard Nathan's voice beside him.
"O Lord, my God, save now Thy servant, if such be Thy will; for withoutThee, I perish!" cried the Israelite, in an accent of despair.
"Here he comes!" Chares shouted.
The figure of the crouching Scyth bounded forward, and his brightsword, keen as a razor, flashed in the air.
"I have him!" Chares cried exultingly. His long blade hissed downwardas he spoke, and the ugly round head rolled in the dirt. The strokewas followed by a roar of rage from the Scyths, among whom the man hadevidently been a leader of importance.
"Come on!" the Theban called to them, tauntingly. "Cowards, why do youwait?"
The challenge seemed to goad them to desperation. They came with arush in which they threw aside all caution. The remnant of the littletroop was hurled violently backward. Chares' sword rose and fellwithout a pause; Nathan and the men who remained to him cut and thrustat the faces of their foes; and even Clearchus, roused by the instinctof self-preservation, plied his javelin. The end had come, and nothingremained but to die bravely.
It seemed to Clearchus that they would be able to hold out for only amoment longer, when without apparent, reason the attack suddenlyslackened. The Scyths drew back, leaving a circle of dead and woundedunder the wall. The mass of humanity that blocked the street swayedand gave way with a roar of warning and of fear. The mob was all inmotion. It seemed to be fleeing before some danger, the nature ofwhich the objects of its attack were unable to guess. It rushed pastthe angle in the wall where Nathan and his prisoners had taken refuge,carrying the struggling Scyths along with it.
"What is happening?" Clearchus gasped.
Nathan was too nearly exhausted to reply. He shook his head as a signthat he did not know, but the answer was not long delayed.
The beat of trampling hoofs and the thunder of rolling wheels wasmingled with the roar of panic, and in an instant the street was filledfrom side to side with close ranks of wild-looking horsemen.
"Way for Bessus! Make way for the noble vic
eroy!" they shouted,striking right and left with their rawhide whips.
They rode into the mob with reckless indifference, and all who wereunfortunate enough to be unable to get out of their way were trampledunder the hoofs of the galloping horses.
"They are the Bactrians," Nathan panted. "We are saved."
From their sheltering angle, the Greeks watched the horsemen go past.Every man seemed an athlete, and the riders sat upon the backs of theirhorses as though they had grown there. Behind them, after a briefinterval, rumbled a heavy war chariot drawn by four black steeds. Inthis ponderous vehicle, beside the charioteer, stood a corpulent man,with an enormously thick neck and a heavy jaw that gave an aspect ofsternness to his dark face. He paid no heed to the lifeless forms overwhich the wheels of his chariot rolled, and he seemed deaf to the criesof pain uttered by the wretches who had been maimed beneath the hoofsof his guard. Clearchus' eyes for a moment met those of the viceroyand he felt a chill strike through him, as though he had touched somemonstrous reptile unawares.
The passage of the Bactrians effectually cleared the street, but Nathandeemed it wise to fall in behind them lest the attack should berenewed. As they were about to start, a thought occurred to Chares.
"Where is the lieutenant?" he asked.
"He is there," Nathan replied, pointing to a heap of the slain.
The body of the young man lay a little apart from the rest, with thepaint still on its cheeks and a gaping wound in its chest.
"So his cowardice did not save him," Chares said. "Let us go."
"Come, then," Nathan replied, and behind the chariot of Bessus, theyarrived at the gates which gave entrance to the enclosure in whichstood the royal palace.