cted girl trembled at these words, and when the
eunuch was gone, begged Mandane to tell her what it all meant. The
girl, instructed by Boges, said that Bartja had stolen secretly into the
hanging-gardens, and had been seen by several of the Achaemenidae as he
was on the point of getting in at one of the windows. The king had been
told of his brother's treachery, and people were afraid his jealousy
might have fearful consequences. The frivolous girl shed abundant tears
of penitence while she was telling the story, and Nitetis, fancying this
a proof of sincere love and sympathy, felt cheered.

When it was over, however, she looked down at her fetters in despair,
and it was long before she could think of her dreadful position quietly.
Then she read her letter from home again, wrote the words, "I am
innocent," and told the sobbing girl to give the little note containing
them to the king's mother after her own death, together with her letter
from home. After doing this she passed a wakeful night which seemed as
if it would never end. She remembered that in her box of ointments there
was a specific for improving the complexion, which, if swallowed in
a sufficiently large quantity, would cause death. She had this poison
brought to her, and resolved calmly and deliberately, to take her own
life directly the executioner should draw near. From that moment she
took pleasure in thinking of her last hour, and said to herself: "It is
true he causes my death; but he does it out of love." Then she thought
she would write to him, and confess all her love. He should not receive
the letter until she was dead, that he might not think she had written
it to save her life. The hope that this strong, inflexible man might
perhaps shed tears over her last words of love filled her with intense
pleasure.

In spite of her heavy fetters, she managed to write the following words:
"Cambyses will not receive this letter until I am dead. It is to tell
him that I love him more than the gods, the world, yes, more than my own
young life. Kassandane and Atossa must think of me kindly. They will see
from my mother's letter that I am innocent, and that it was only for my
poor sister's sake that I asked to see Bartja. Boges has told me that my
death has been resolved upon. When the executioner approaches, I shall
kill myself. I commit this crime against myself, Cambyses, to save you
from doing a disgraceful deed."

This note and her mother's she gave to the