promised, when the
Tistar-star rises, it will be in all its beauty. My Egyptian mistress
will be delighted, for she is very fond of flowers, and may I ask you to
tell the king and the Achaemenidae, that under my care this rare plant
has at last flowered? It is to be seen in full beauty only once in every
ten years. Tell the noble Achaemenidae; this, and bring them here."

"Your wish shall be granted," said Boges smiling, "but I think you must
not reckon on the king, as I do not expect he will visit the
hanging-gardens before his marriage with the Egyptian. Some of the
Archimenidae, however, will be sure to come; they are such lovers of
horticulture that they would not like to miss this rare sight. Perhaps,
too, I may succeed in bringing Croesus. It is true that he does not
understand flowers or doat on them as the Persians do, but he makes
amends for this by his thorough appreciation of everything beautiful."

"Yes, yes, bring him too," exclaimed the gardener. "He will really be
grateful to you, for my queen of the night is the most beautiful flower,
that has ever bloomed in a royal garden. You saw the bud in the clear
waters of the reservoir surrounded by its green leaves; that bud will
open into a gigantic rose, blue as the sky. My flower . . ."

The enthusiastic gardener would have said much more in praise of his
flower, but Boges left him with a friendly nod, and went down the flight
of steps. A two-wheeled wooden carriage was waiting for him there; he
took his seat by the driver, the horses, decked out with bells and
tassels, were urged into a sharp trot and quickly brought him to the gate
of the harem-garden.

That day was a busy, stirring one in Cambyses' harem. In order that the
women might look their very best, Boges had commanded that they should
all be taken to the bath before the banquet. He therefore went at once to
that wing of the palace, which contained the baths for the women.

While he was still at some distance a confused noise of screaming,
laughing, chattering and tittering reached his ears. In the broad porch
of the large bathing-room, which had been almost overheated, more than
three hundred women were moving about in a dense cloud of steam.

[We read in Diodorus XVII. 77. that the king of Persia had as many
wives as there are days in the year. At the battle of Issus,
Alexander the Great took 329 concubines, of the last Darius,
captive.]

The half-naked forms floated over the w