ne! Seize him, put on his fetters! He
shall be strangled to-morrow! Away with you, you perjured villains! They
shall all die to-morrow! And the Egyptian--at noon she shall be flogged
through the streets. Then I'll----"

But here he was stopped by another fit of epilepsy, and sank down in
convulsions.

The fate of the unfortunates was sealed when, afterwards, Cambyses made
Croesus read to him Nitetis' Greek letter to Bartja.

"Nitetis, daughter of Amasis of Egypt, to Bartja, son of the great
Cyrus.

"I have something important to tell you; I can tell it to no one but
yourself. To-morrow I hope to meet you in your mother's rooms. It lies
in your power to comfort a sad and loving heart, and to give it one
happy moment before death. I repeat that I must see you soon."

Croesus, who tried to intercede on behalf of the condemned, was
sentenced to share their fate. In his heart even he was now convinced of
Bartja's guilt, and of the perjury of his own son and of Darius.

_IV.--The Unexpected Witness_

Nitetis had passed many a wretched hour since the great banquet. All day
long she was kept in strict seclusion, and in the twilight Boges came to
her to tell her jeeringly that her letter had fallen into the king's
hand, and that its bearer had been executed. The princess swooned away,
and Boges carried her to her sleeping-room, the door of which he barred
carefully. When, later, Mandane left her lover Gaumata, the maid hurried
into her mistress's room, found her in a faint, and used every remedy to
restore her to consciousness.

Then Boges came with two eunuchs, loaded the princess's arms with
fetters, and gave vent to his long-nourished spite, telling her of the
awful fate that was in store for her. Nitetis resolved to swallow a
poisonous ointment for the complexion directly the executioner should
draw near her. Then, in spite of her fetters, she managed to write to
Cambyses, to assure him once more of her love and to explain her
innocence. "I commit this crime against myself, Cambyses, to save you
from doing a disgraceful deed."

Meanwhile, Boges, after exciting Phaedime's curiosity by many vague
hints, divulged to her the nature of his infamous scheme. When Gaumata
had come to Babylon for the New Year's festival, Boges had discovered
his remarkable likeness to Bartja. He knew of his love for Mandane,
gained his confidence, and arranged the nocturnal meeting under Nitetis'
bedroom window. In return he exacted th