the evening banquet; then she will outshine
the others as the moon does the stars."

Unnoticed by her mistress she slipped out of the room, the windows of
which commanded a splendid view over the hanging-gardens, the immense
city beneath, the river, and the rich and fruitful Babylonian plain, and
went into the garden.

Without looking round she ran to a flower-bed, to pluck some roses. Her
eyes were fixed on her new bracelet, the stones of which sparkled in the
sun, and she did not notice a richly-dressed man peering in at one of
the windows of the room where Nitetis lay weeping. On being disturbed
in his watching and listening, he turned at once to the girl and greeted
her in a high treble voice.

She started, and on recognizing the eunuch Boges, answered: "It is not
polite, sir, to frighten a poor girl in this way. By Mithras, if I had
seen you before I heard you, I think I should have fainted. A woman's
voice does not take me by surprise, but to see a man here is as rare as
to find a swan in the desert."

Boges laughed good-humoredly, though he well understood her saucy
allusion to his high voice, and answered, rubbing his fat hands: "Yes,
it is very hard for a young and pretty bird like you, to have to live
in such a lonely corner, but be patient, sweetheart. Your mistress will
soon be queen, and then she will look out a handsome young husband for
you. Ah, ha! you will find it pleasanter to live here alone with him,
than with your beautiful Egyptian."

"My mistress is too beautiful for some people's fancy, and I have never
asked any one to look out a husband for me," she answered pertly. "I can
find one without your help either."

"Who could doubt it? Such a pretty face is as good a bait for a man, as
a worm for a fish."

"But I am not trying to catch a husband, and least of all one like you."

"That I can easily believe," he answered laughing. "But tell me, my
treasure, why are you so hard on me? Have I done anything to vex you?
Wasn't it through me, that you obtained this good appointment, and are
not we both Medes?"

"You might just as well say that we are both human beings, and have five
fingers on each hand and a nose in the middle of our faces. Half
the people here are Medes, and if I had as many friends as I have
countrymen, I might be queen to-morrow. And as to my situation here,
it was not you, but the high-priest Oropastes who recommended me to the
great queen Kassandane. Your will is not law he