ain! And these Greeks,
clever, wise, beautiful, when we have mastered them, have taught them our
Aryan obedience and love of truth, what servants will they not become! For
we are ordained to conquer. Mazda has given us empire without limit, from
the Indus to the Great Ocean of the West,--all shall be ours; for we are
Persians, the race to rule forever."

"We will conquer," she said dreamily, as enchanted as was he by the
beauties of the night.

"From the day Cyrus your grandfather flung down Cambyses the Mede, the
High God has been with us. Egypt, Assyria, Babylon--have all bowed under
our yoke. The Lydian at golden Sardis, the Tartar on the arid steppes, the
Hindoo by his sacred river, all send tribute to our king, and Hellas--" he
held out his arms confidently--"shall be the brightest star in the Persian
tiara. When Darius your father lay dying, I swore to him, 'Master, fear
not; I will avenge you on Athens and on all the Greeks.' And in one brief
year, O _fravashi_, soul of the great departed, I may make good the vow. I
will make these untamed Hellenes bow their proud necks to a king."

Her own eyes brightened, looking on him, as he spoke in pride and power.

"And yet," she could not keep back the question, "as we have moved through
this Hellas, and seen its people, living without princes, or with princes
of little power, sometimes a strange thought comes. These perverse,
unobedient folk, false as they are, and ununited, have yet a strength to
do great things, a strength which even we Aryans lack."

He shook his head.

"It cannot be. Mazda ordained a king to rule, the rest to obey. And all
the wits of Hellas have no strength until they learn that lesson well. But
I will teach it them."

"For some day you will be their king?" spoke the woman. He did not
reprove, but stood beside her, gazing forth upon the night. In the
moonlight the columns and sculptures of the great temple on the Acropolis
stood out in minute tracery They could see all the caverns and jagged
ledges on the massy Rock. The flat roofs of the sleeping city lay like a
dark and peaceful ocean. The mountains spread around in shadow-wrapped
hush. Far away the dark stretch of the sea sent back a silver shimmering
in answer to the moon. A landscape only possible at Athens! The two
sensitive Orientals' souls were deeply touched. For long they were silent,
then the husband spoke.

"Twenty days more; we are safe in Sardis, the adventure ended. The war
o