The Cat of Bubastes: A Tale of Ancient Egypt

by G. A. Henty

  CHAPTER III.

  CAPTIVE.

  So confident were the Rebu that if the Egyptians dug through theirwalls, or even threw them down by undermining them, they could repeltheir assault, that they took but little heed to the huts establishedat the foot of the wall, except that a strong body of men werestationed behind the walls, half of whom were always to be under armsin readiness to repel the Egyptians should they burrow through. Thisconfidence proved their ruin. The Egyptians were thoroughly accustomedto mining operations, and were fully aware that were they to piercethe wall the Rebu could at once overwhelm the small working parties;they, therefore, after penetrating a considerable distance into theembankment, drove right and left, making an excavation of considerablesize, the roof being supported by beams and planks hauled up at night.

  The number of those employed in the work was increased as fast asthere was room for them; and while the Rebu thought that there were atmost a dozen men in each of the sheltered places, there were, at theend of twenty-four hours, fully two hundred men at work in the heartof the embankment at each point. The Egyptian king had ordered thechief of his engineers to have everything in readiness for the captureof the city by the end of the third day.

  Each night the numbers of workmen increased, while the excavationswere carried in further and further. No picks were used in the work,the earth being cut away with wide daggers. Absolute silence wasenjoined among the workers, and they were thus enabled to extend theirexcavations close to the surface without the defenders having an ideaof their proximity. The distance that they were from the inner facewas ascertained by boring through at night-time with spears. By theend of the third day the excavations had been carried so far thatthere was but a foot or so of earth remaining, this being kept frommoving, on pressure from the outside, by a lining of boards supportedby beams. Thus at twenty points the Egyptians were in readiness toburst through among the unsuspecting defenders.

  As soon as it was dark the preparations for the assault began. Greatnumbers of stagings of vast length had been prepared, together with animmense number of broad and lofty ladders. These last were broughtforward noiselessly to the foot of the cliff, and great numbers of theEgyptians mounted before the alarm was given by those on the walls.But by this time the excavations were all crowded with men. TheEgyptian army now advanced with shouts to the assault. The greatstages were brought forward by the labor of thousands of men andplaced against the cliff.

  The besieged had now rushed to defend the walls, and volleys ofmissiles of all sorts were poured down upon the Egyptians as theystrove to mount the ladders and stages. No one thought of any possibledanger from the little shelters lying at the foot of the wall, and thedin was so great that the work of digging through the remaining wallof earth was unheard. The troops who had been specially told off towatch these points had joined their comrades on the walls, and nonemarked the stream of dark figures which presently began to pour outfrom the embankment at twenty different points.

  At last the besieged, whose hopes were rising as the Egyptiansappeared to falter under the showers of missiles poured down, werestartled by the sound of a trumpet in their rear--a sound which wasanswered instantly from a score of points. Rushing with cries ofdismay to the back of the rampart, they saw dark bodies of footmendrawn up in regular order, and a rain of arrows was opened upon them.The Rebu, without a moment's hesitation, rushed down to attack thefoes who had gained a footing, they scarce knew how, in theirfortress. But each of the Egyptian companies was four hundred strong,composed of picked troops, and these for a time easily beat off theirregular attacks of the Rebu.

  Amusis and the other leaders of the Rebu strove to get their men intosolid order, for so alone could they hope to break the phalanxes ofthe Egyptians; but the confusion was too great. In the meantime theEgyptians outside had taken advantage of the diversion created bythe attack within, and poured up their ladders and stagings in vastnumbers. Some dragging up ladders after them planted them against thewalls, others poured through by the passages which had been dug, andthese, as soon as they were numerous enough, ascended the embankmentsfrom behind and fell upon the Rebu still defending the wall.

  Never did the tribesmen fight with greater bravery; but thecompleteness of the surprise, the number of the Egyptians who hadestablished themselves in their rear, the constant pushing in ofreinforcements both through and over the wall, rendered it impossiblefor them to retrieve their fortunes; and in the confusion and darknessthey were unable to distinguish friend from foe. The variousbattalions and companies were hopelessly mixed together; the ordersof their leaders and officers were unheard in the din.

  Upon the Egyptian side everything had been carefully planned. One ofthe companies which first entered had made their way quietly along thefoot of the wall, and were not noticed until they suddenly threwthemselves upon defenders of one of the gates. As soon as they hadobtained possession of this, great fires were lighted, and a largebody of Egyptian troops, headed by engineers carrying beams andplanks, advanced. The gaps across the roadway were bridged over, andthe Egyptians poured in at the gate before the Rebu could dislodge theparty which had taken possession of it. Every moment added to theconfusion of the scene. To the Rebu it seemed as if their foes werespringing from the very earth upon them, and, despairing of regainingthe ground that had been lost, they began to break away and make somefor their homes, some for the water face of the city--the only onewhich was open to them, for the Egyptians were now pressing forwardfrom the three other faces of the town. The boats lying along the sandwere quickly crowded with fugitives and pushed off from shore, andthose who arrived later found all means of escape gone. Some threwdown their arms and made their way to their homes, others ran back tomeet the Egyptians and die fighting.

  It was some hours before the conflict ceased, for the Egyptians toowere confused with the darkness, and many desperate fights took placebetween different battalions before they discovered they were friends.Light was gained by firing numbers of the houses lying nearest to thewalls; but as soon as the Egyptians advanced beyond the arc of lightthey were fiercely attacked by the Rebu, and at last the trumpetsounded the order for the troops to remain in the positions theyoccupied until daylight.

  As soon as morning broke a vast crowd of women were seen advancingfrom the center of the town. As they neared the Egyptians they threwthemselves on the ground with loud cries for mercy. There was a pause;and then some Egyptian officers advanced and bade a score of the womenfollow them to the presence of the king. Thotmes had entered with thetroops who made their way into the city by the gate, but yielding tothe entreaties of the officers that he would not expose himself to bekilled in the confusion, perhaps by an arrow shot by his own soldiers,he had retired to the plain, and had just returned to take part in theoccupation of the city.

  The Rebu women were led to him over ground thickly covered with dead.Fully half the defenders of the city had fallen, while the loss ofthe Egyptians had been almost as large. The women threw themselveson their faces before the great monarch and implored mercy forthemselves, their children, and the remnant of the men of the city.

  Thotmes was well satisfied. He had captured a city which was regardedas impregnable; he had crushed the people who had inflicted defeatsupon his predecessors; he had added to his own glory and to the renownof the Egyptian arms. The disposition of the Egyptians was lenient.Human sacrifices were unknown to their religion, and they do notappear at any time to have slain in cold blood captives taken in war.Human life was held at a far higher value in Egypt than among anyother nation of antiquity, and the whole teaching of their laws tendedto create a disposition toward mercy.

  An interpreter translated to the king the words of the women.

  "Has all resistance ceased?" the king asked. "Have all the men laiddown their arms?"

  The women exclaimed that there was not now an armed man in the city,all the weapons having been collected during the night and placed inpiles in the open space in front of the entrance to the palace.r />
  "Then I give to all their lives," the king said graciously. "When Ifight with cowards I have little mercy upon them, for men who are notbrave are unfit to live; but when I fight with men I treat them asmen. The Rebu are a valiant people, but as well might the jackal fightwith the lion as the Rebu oppose themselves to the might of Egypt.They fought bravely in the field, and they have bravely defended theirwalls; therefore I grant life to all in the city--men, women, andchildren. Where is your king?"

  "He died in the battle four days since," the women replied.

  "Where is your queen?"

  "She drank poison last night, preferring to join her husband than tosurvive the capture of the city."

  Thotmes had now ordered the whole of the inhabitants to be takenout to the plain and kept there under a guard. The town was thenmethodically searched and everything of value brought together. Theking set aside a certain portion of the golden vessels for theservices of the Temple, some he chose for himself, and afterpresenting others to his generals, ordered the rest to be dividedamong the troops. He then ordered a hundred captives--fifty young menand fifty maidens of the highest rank--to be selected to be taken toEgypt as slaves, and then fixed the tribute which the Rebu were infuture to pay. The army then evacuated the city and the inhabitantswere permitted to return.

  The next day messengers arrived from the other Rebu towns. The fall ofthe capital, which had been believed to be impregnable, after so shorta siege had struck terror into the minds of all, and the messengersbrought offers of submission to the king, with promises to pay anytribute that he might lay upon them.

  The king, well satisfied with his success and anxious to returnto Egypt, from which he had been absent nearly two years, repliedgraciously to the various deputations, informing them that he hadalready fixed the tribute that the nation was to pay annually, andordered a contribution to be sent in at once by each city inproportion to its size. In a few days the required sums, partlyin money, partly in vessels of gold, embroidered robes, and otherarticles of value, were brought in. When the full amount had beenreceived the camp was struck and the army started on their long marchback to Egypt, an officer of high rank being left as governor of thenewly captured province, with ten thousand men as a garrison.

  Amuba was one of the fifty selected as slaves. Amusis had escaped inthe confusion, as had many others. Jethro was also one of the selectedband. Amuba was for a time careless of what befell him. The news ofthe death of his mother, which had met him as, after fighting to thelast, he returned to the palace, had been a terrible blow, followingas it did so closely upon the loss of his father and the overthrowof the nation. His mother had left the message for him that althoughas life had no longer a charm for her she preferred death to thehumiliation of being carried a prisoner to Egypt, she trusted that hewould bear the misfortunes which had fallen on him and his people withsubmission and patience; he was young, and there was no saying whatthe future had in store for him.

  "You will doubtless, my son," were the words of her message, "becarried away captive into Egypt, but you may yet escape some day andrejoin your people, or may meet with some lot in which you may findcontentment or even happiness there. At any rate, my last words to youare, bear patiently whatever may befall you, remember always that yourfather was king of the Rebu, and whatever your station in life may be,try to be worthy of the rank to which you were born. There is nogreater happiness on a throne than in a cottage. Men make their ownhappiness, and a man may be respected even though only a slave. Maythe gods of your country preside over and protect you always."

  The message was delivered by an old woman who had been with the queensince her birth, and struck down with grief as Amuba was at hismother's death, he yet acknowledged to himself that even this loss wasless hard to bear than the knowledge that she who had been so lovedand honored by the people should undergo the humiliation of beingdragged a slave in the train of the conquering Egyptians. He was,however, so prostrate with grief that he obeyed with indifference theorder to leave the city, and was scarcely moved when the Egyptianofficer appointed to make the selection chose him as one of the partythat were to be taken as slaves to Egypt.

  Prostrate as he was, however, he felt it to be a satisfaction andcomfort when he found that Jethro was also of the party set aside.

  "It is selfish, Jethro," he said, "for me to feel glad that you tooare to be dragged away as a slave, but it will be a great comfort tohave you with me. I know almost all the others of the party, but tonone shall I be able to talk of my father and mother and my home hereas I should to you whom I have known so long."

  "I am not sorry that I have been chosen," Jethro said, "for I have nofamily ties, and now that the Rebu are a conquered people I shouldhave little satisfaction in my life here. When we get to Egypt weshall probably be separated, but there is a march of months' durationbefore us, and during that time we may at least be together; since,then, my being with you is as you say, prince, a comfort to you, I amwell content that I have been chosen. I thought it a hard thing whenmy wife died but a few weeks after our marriage. Now I rejoice that itwas so, and that I can leave without any one's heart being wrung at mydeparture. You and I, prince, perhaps of all those chosen will feelthe least misery at the fate that has befallen us. Most of those hereare leaving wives and children behind; some of the youngest are stillunmarried, but they have fathers and mothers from whom they will beseparated. Therefore, let us not bemoan our lot, for it might havebeen worse, and our life in Egypt may not be wholly unbearable."

  "That is just what my dear mother said, Jethro," Amuba replied,repeating the message the queen had sent him.

  "My dear mistress was right," Jethro said. "We may find happiness inEgypt as elsewhere; and now let us try to cheer up our companions, forin cheering them we shall forget our own misfortunes."

  Jethro and Amuba went among the rest of the captives, most of whomwere prostrated with grief, and did their best to rouse them fromtheir stupor.

  "The Egyptians have seen that the Rebu are men in the field," Amubasaid to some of them. "Let them see that we can also bear misfortunelike men. Grieving will not mitigate our lot, nay, it will add to itsburden. If the Egyptians see that we bear our fate manfully they willhave far more compassion upon us than if they see that we bemoanourselves. Remember we have a long and toilsome journey before us, andshall need all our strength. After all, the hardship of our lot is asnothing to that of the women yonder. We are accustomed to exercise andtoil, but the journey, which we can support as well as the Egyptians,will be terrible to them, delicate in nature as they are. Let ustherefore set them an example of courage and patience; let us bearourselves as men whose suffering is unmerited, who have been conqueredbut not disgraced, who are prepared to defy fate and not to succumb toit."

  Amuba's words had a great effect upon the captives. They regarded himwith respect as the son of their late king, and as one who would havebeen king himself had not this misfortune befallen them; and hiscalmness and manly speech encouraged them to strive against theirgrief and to look their fate more hopefully in the face. As long asthe army remained in camp the hands of the captives were tied behindthem, but when the march was begun they were relieved of their bondsand were placed in the center of an Egyptian regiment.

  It was a long and tedious journey. On the way the train of captiveswas very largely increased by those who had been taken in the earlierconquests of the army, and who had been left in charge of the troopstold off to the various provinces brought into subjection by theEgyptians until the army passed through on its homeward march.Provisions had been everywhere collected to supply it on its progress,and as the distance traversed each day was small the captives sufferedbut little until they entered upon the passage of the desert tractbetween the southern point of Syria and the mouth of the Nile.

  Here, although vast quantities of water were carried in the train ofthe army, the supply given to the captives was extremely small,and as the sun blazed down with tremendous heat, and they werehalf-suffocated by th
e dust which rose in clouds under the feet of thevast body of men, their sufferings were very severe. The Rebu captiveshad gained the respect of the troops who escorted them by their manlybearing and the absence of the manifestations of grief which werebetrayed by most of the other captives. The regiment was composed ofLibyan mercenaries, hardy, active men, inured alike to heat andfatigue.

  During the three months which the march had occupied Amuba and Jethro,and indeed most of the captives, had acquired some knowledge of theEgyptian language. Jethro had from the first impressed upon the youngprince the great advantage this would be to them. In the first place,it would divert their thoughts from dwelling upon the past, and in thesecond, it would make their lot more bearable in Egypt.

  "You must remember," he said, "that we shall be slaves, and mastersare not patient with their slaves. They give them orders, and if theorder is not understood so much the worse for the slaves. It will addto our value, and therefore obtain for us better treatment, if we areable to converse in their tongue."

  Amuba was thankful indeed when the gray monotony of the desert wassucceeded by the bright verdure of the plains of Egypt. As theyentered the land the order in which they had marched was changed, andthe long line of captives followed immediately after the chariot ofthe king. Each of them was laden with a portion of the spoil takenfrom their native country. Amuba bore on his head a large golden vasewhich had been used in the ceremonies of the temple. Jethro carried arich helmet and armor which had belonged to the king.

  The first city they entered Amuba was astonished at the massivesplendor of the buildings and at the signs of comfort and wealth whicheverywhere met his eye. The streets were thronged with people who,bending to the ground, shouted their acclamations as the king passedalong, and who gazed with interest and surprise at the long processionof captives representing the various nations who had been subjected tohis arms. Most of all he was surprised at the temples with their longavenues of sphinxes, the gigantic figures representing the gods, therows of massive pillars, the majesty and grandeur of the edificesthemselves.

  "How were they built, Jethro?" he exclaimed over and again. "How werethese massive stones placed in order? How did they drag these hugefigures across the plains? What tools could they have used to carvethem out of the solid granite?"

  "I am afraid, Amuba," Jethro said grimly, for the lad had positivelyforbidden him to address him any longer as prince, saying that suchtitle addressed to a slave was no better than mockery, "we are likelyto learn to our cost before long how they manage these marvels, formarvels they assuredly are. It must have taken the strength ofthousands of men to have transported even one of these strangefigures, and although the people themselves may have aided in thework, you may be sure the slaves bore the brunt of it."

  "But what is the meaning of these figures, Jethro? Surely neither inthis country nor in any other are there creatures with the faces ofwomen and the bodies of lions and great wings such as these have.Some, too, have the faces of men and the bodies of bulls, while othershave heads like birds and bodies like those of men."

  "Assuredly there can be no such creatures, Amuba; and I wonder that apeople so enlightened and wise as the Egyptians should choose suchstrange figures for their gods. I can only suppose that these figuresrepresent their attributes rather than the gods themselves. Do yousee, the human head may represent their intelligence, the bodies ofthe lions or bulls their strength and power, the wings of the birdtheir swiftness. I do not know that it is so, but it seems to me thatit is possible that it may be something of this sort. We cannot butallow that their gods are powerful, since they give them victory overall other people; but no doubt we shall learn more of them and of manyother things in time."

  The journey was continued for another three weeks, and was the causeof constant surprises to the captives. The extraordinary fertility ofthe land especially struck them. Cultivation among the Rebu was of avery primitive description, and the abundance and variety of the cropsthat everywhere met their eye seemed to them absolutely marvelous.Irrigation was not wholly unknown to the Rebu, and was carried on to aconsiderable extent in Persia; but the enormous works for the purposein Egypt, the massive embankments of the river, the network of canalsand ditches, the order and method everywhere apparent, filled themwith surprise and admiration.

  Many of the cities and temples greatly surpassed in magnificence andsplendor those they had first met with, and Amuba's wonder reached itsclimax when they arrived at Memphis, till lately the capital of Egypt.The wealth and contents of the city astonished the captives, but mostof all were they surprised when they saw the enormous bulk of thepyramids rising a few miles distant from the town, and learned thatthese were some of the tombs of the kings.

  The country had now altered in character. On the left a range of steephills approached the river, and as the march proceeded similar thoughnot so lofty hills were seen on the right.

  At last, after another fortnight's traveling, a shout of joy from thearmy proclaimed that Thebes, the capital of Egypt, the goal of thelong and weary march was in view.

  Thebes stood on both sides of the Nile. On the eastern bank thelargest portion of the population was gathered, but this part of thecity was inhabited principally by the poorer class. There was, too, alarge population on the Libyan side of the Nile, the houses beingdensely packed near the bank of the river. Behind these were numbersof temples and palaces, while the tombs of the kings and queens wereexcavated in a valley further back, whose precipitous sides werehoneycombed with the rock sepulchers of the wealthy. As thedwelling-houses were all low, the vast piles of the temples, palaces,and public buildings rose above them, and presented a most strikingappearance to those approaching the city, which lay in a great naturalamphitheater, the hills on both sides narrowing toward the river bothabove and below it. The march of the royal army from Memphis had beenon the western bank of the river, and it was the great Libyan suburbwith its palaces and temples that they were approaching. As theyneared the city an enormous multitude poured out to welcome the kingand the returning army. Shouts of enthusiasm were raised, the sound oftrumpets and other musical instruments filled the air, religiousprocessions from the great temples moved with steady course throughthe dense crowd, which separated at once to allow of the passage ofthe figures of the gods, and of the priests and attendants bearingtheir emblems.

  "Indeed, Jethro," Amuba exclaimed with enthusiasm, "it is almost worthwhile being made a slave if it is only to witness this glorious scene.What a wonderful people are these; what knowledge, and power, andmagnificence! Why, my father's palace would be regarded as a mere hutin Thebes, and our temples, of which we thought so much, are pygmiesby the side of these immense edifices."

  "All that is true enough, Amuba, and I do not say that I, too, am notfilled with admiration, and yet you know the Rebu several times droveback their forces, and man for man are more than a match for theirsoldiers. Our people are taller than they by half a head. We have notso much luxury, nor did we want it. All this must make peopleeffeminate."

  "Perhaps so," Amuba assented; "but you must remember it is not so verylong ago that we were a people living in tents, and wandering at willin search of pasture, and we have not, I think, become effeminatebecause we have settled down and built towns. No one can say that theEgyptians are not brave; certainly it is not for us to say so, thoughI agree with you that physically they are not our equals. See how thepeople stare and point at us, Jethro. I should think they have neverseen a race like ours with blue eyes and fair hair, though even amongthem there are varying shades of darkness. The nobles and upperclasses are lighter in hue than the common people."

  The surprise of the Egyptians was indeed great at the complexion oftheir captives, and the decoration of their walls has handed down inpaintings which still remain the blue eyes and fair hair of the Rebu.The rejoicings upon the return of the king went on for several days;at the end of that time the captives were distributed by the royalorder. Some were given to the generals who had most distinguis
hedthemselves. Many were assigned to the priests, while the great bulkwere sent to labor upon the public works.

  The Rebu captives, whose singular complexion and fairness caused themto be regarded with special interest, were distributed among thespecial favorites of the king. Many of the girls were assigned to thequeen and royal princesses, others to the wives of the priests andgenerals who formed the council of the king. The men were, for themost part, given to the priests for service about the temples.

  To his great delight Amuba found that Jethro and himself were amongthe eight captives who were assigned to the service of the priests ofone of the great temples. This was scarcely the effect of chance, forthe captives were drawn up in line, and the number assigned to eachtemple were marched off together in order that there might be nopicking and choosing of the captives, but that they might be dividedimpartially between the various temples, and as Jethro always placedhimself by Amuba's side, it naturally happened that they fell to thesame destination.

  On reaching the temple the little band of captives were again drawnup, and the high priest, Ameres, a grave and distinguished-lookingman, walked along the line scrutinizing them. He beckoned to Amuba tostep forward. "Henceforth," he said, "you are my servant. Behave well,and you will be well treated." He again walked down the line, andAmuba saw that he was going to choose another, and threw himself onhis knees before him.

  "Will my lord pardon my boldness," he said, "but may I implore you tochoose yonder man who stood next beside me? He has been my friendfrom childhood, he covered me with his shield in battle, he has been afather to me since I have lost my own. Do not, I implore you, my lord,separate us now. You will find us both willing to labor at whatsoeveryou may give us to do."

  The priest listened gravely.

  "It shall be as you wish," he said; "it is the duty of every man togive pleasure to those around him if it lies in his power, and as yourfriend is a man of thews and sinews, and has a frank and honest face,he will assuredly suit me as well as another; do you therefore bothfollow me to my house."

  The other captives saluted Amuba as he and Jethro turned to follow.The priest observed the action, and said to the lad:

  "Were you a person of consequence among your people that they thus atparting salute you rather than your comrade, who is older than you?"

  "I am the son of him who was their king," Amuba said. "He fell inaction with your troops, and had not our city been taken, and thenation subdued by the Egyptians, I should have inherited the throne."

  "Is it so?" the priest said. "Truly the changes and fortunes of lifeare strange. I wonder that, being the son of their king, you were notspecially kept by Thotmes himself."

  "I think that he knew it not," Amuba said. "We knew not your customs,and my fellow-captives thought that possibly I might be put to deathwere it known that I was a son of their king, and therefore abstainedfrom all outward marks of respect, which, indeed, would to one who wasa slave like themselves have been ridiculous."

  "Perhaps it is best so," the priest said thoughtfully. "You would nothave been injured, for we do not slay our captives taken in war;still maybe your life will be easier to bear as the servant of apriest than in the household of the king. You had better, however,mention to no one the rank you have borne, for it might be reported tothe king, and then you might be sent for to the palace; unless indeedyou would rather be a spectator of the pomp and gayety of the courtthan a servant in a quiet household."

  "I would far rather remain with you, my lord," Amuba said eagerly."You have already shown the kindness of your heart by granting myrequest, and choosing my comrade Jethro as my fellow-slave, and I feelalready that my lot will be a far happier one than I had ventured tohope."

  "Judge not hastily by appearances," the priest said. "At the sametime, here in Egypt, slaves are not treated as they are among the wildpeoples of Nubia and the desert. There is a law for all, and he whokills a slave is punished as if he took the life of an Egyptian.However, I think I can say that your life will not be a hard one; youhave intelligence, as is shown by the fact that you have so rapidlyacquired sufficient knowledge of our tongue to speak it intelligibly.Can you, too, speak our language?" he asked Jethro.

  "I can speak a little," Jethro said; "but not nearly so well as Amuba.My lips are too old to fashion a strange tongue as rapidly as can hisyounger ones."

  "You speak sufficiently well to understand," the priest said, "anddoubtless will in time acquire our tongue perfectly. This is myhouse."

  The priest entered an imposing gateway, on each side of whichstretched a long and lofty wall. At a distance of fifty yards from thegate stood a large dwelling, compared to which the royal abode whichAmuba had been brought up in was but a miserable hut. Inclosed withinthe walls was a space of ground some three hundred yards square, whichwas laid out as a garden. Avenues of fruit trees ran all round it, aportion was laid out as a vineyard, while separated from the rest byan avenue of palm trees was a vegetable garden.

  In front of the house was a large piece of water in which floated agayly-painted boat; aquatic plants of all kinds bordered its edges.Graceful palms grouped their foliage over it, the broad flat leaves oflilies floated on its surface, while the white flowers which Amuba hadseen carried in all the religious processions and by large numbers ofpeople of the upper rank, and which he heard were called the lotus,rose above them. The two captives were struck with surprise andadmiration at the beauty of the scene, and forgot for a moment thatthey were slaves as they looked round at a vegetation more beautifulthan they had ever beheld. A smile passed over the countenance of thepriest.

  "Perfect happiness is for no man," he said, "and yet methinks that youmay in time learn at least contentment here."