Evening star., 1898-03-12


and caus. him to cast away his soul? What
OF II, when with your own ears you heard
Tim swear to love her through all the
| mad?'
NO. but some might say that you are.
noiy rather, who fdrget that also am of
thls rehS1on that you revile. But for coed
o. III SO the matter stands, and now what
Is 1t that you will OF me?'
VIII that you should make il impossible
that the Prince Azfel should take this wo-
man 10 wife, not by murder, indeed, for
tnou shait NOT kills' saith the law, but hy
bringing 1t about that she should wed the
klng Ithobal. or If thai fail, in any other
I&snlon that seems good TO you"
| :, Ihou shalt not KILL saith your law;
t5H me- then, Issachar, does il say that
tnou snalt hand over a woman to a fate
s sns noids to be worse than 'ieath? Doubt
less II Is foolish of her. and we should not
heel such Womans folly, yet this one has
certain strength of will, ani 1 question If
an the elders of the city will orirg her liv-
Ing TO the arms OF Ithobai.
1t Is naught to me if she wells Ithobal,
| or Weds him not save that I 10 not love
,nat heathen man, and surrey she would
6r1ng ruin on him. What 1 would have you
40 Is to prevent her from marrying Aziel;
the way leave to you"
ana what should be paid for this ser
vice. holy Issachar?"
The Jew thought and answered: "a thou
sand gold shekes''
Two thousand gold shekels,'' replied Me-
TEN rehectively. Nay, am sure you said
wv ehOdSiiiu, ISSaCNdT- Al l:lSt, 10 not
work for less, and it is a small! sum enough
seeing that to earn it l must take upon my
self the guilt of severing two loving hearts.
But know well that you are right, and
that this would b. an evil marriage for the
Prince Azial. and also for the Lady ELISA,
who then day by day an3 year by year
must lear the Scourge of your reproacheS,
Issachar. Therefore l will do my best, not
Tor the money, indeed. bat because l see
herein righteous duty. And now here is
parchment. Give me the lamp that l may
prepare the bond"
MY WORT is my bond, Phoenician," an
swered the Levite, haughtiiy.
Mstem looked at him. Doubtless" he
said, but you are old, and this is-a rough
country, where accidents chance at times.
Still, the thing would read ill., and, as you
say, your word is your bond. Only temem-
ber, Issachar, two thousand shekes. bear
ing interest at twenty-five shekels
month. And now you are weary, holy ISSa-
char, with plotting for the welfare of
others, and so am 1. Farewell, and good
dreams to you"
The Levite watched him go. muttering to
himself: ALIAS, that l should have fallen to
such traffic with a knave but 1t is for your
sake and for your souls sake, o, Aziel. my
son. May God grant that fate be not too
strong for me and you"
For two days from this night ELISA lay
almost seIselesS, and by many it was
thought that she would die. But when Me-
tenn saw her on the morning after she had
ceen wounded, and noted that her arm was
but little swollen and had not turned black,
he announced that she would certainly live,
whatever the doctors Of the city might de-
clare, whereon Saxon, ner father, and AZiei
blessed him, but Issachar said naught.
1t was as the Phoenician was walking
through the market place the next morn
ing that an aged black woman, whom he
did not know, accoSted him, saying that
she had a message for his ear from the
King Ithobal, who was camped without the
city, and who desired to see the merchan-
disc that ne Ia had Prougnt with him from
n NnNt- nad coll
all his wares at aIgreat advantage. Still.
as he would not neglect this opportunity of
trade, he purchased others from his fellow
merchants and, loading two camels with
them, set ont for the camp of Ithobal, rid
Ing on a mule.1 By midday he had reached
1t. The camp was pitched near water in
pleasant groys of trees. and on one of
these not far from the tent Of King Ithobal
Metem noted that ther. hlag the body of
black dwarf. =. ..
Behold the fate. of him who shoots at
the buck and bits the doe. We'll, have al
ways said that iaurder is dangerous
game since blood calls out for blood"
thought Metep. as he rode toward the tent.
At it's door STOOD King Ithobal, looking
very huge and sullen in the sunlight Me-
tenn dismounted and Frustrated himself OBJ
sequiously. ~.
May the king live forever" he said,
the great king, the king to whom all
the other kings. of the earth are as little
gods to Baal or the faint stars to the
sun" .r-.s... a
Rise and cease from batteries" said
Ithobal, shortly. Il may be greater than
the other kings, but at least you do not
think it,
IF the king says so, so let it be-" re-
piled Metem, calmly. "A woman yonder in
the market place told me that the king
wished to trade for my merchandise, so L
have brought the best of it, priceless goods
| that with much toll l have carried hither
from Tyre" and he pointed to the two
camels laden with the inferior articles
which he had purchased, and read the
number and description of the goods from
his tablets.
What value do you set upon the whole
of them, merchant" asked Ithobal.
ITO the traders of the country so much,
but to you, oh, king, SO much only and
he named sum twice that which he had
paid in the city.
so be it, said Ithobal, indifferently. Il
do not haggle over wares, though your
price is large. Presently my treasurer shall
weigh you out the gold
There was moments pause, and then
Metem said:
The trees in this camp of yours bear evil
fruit, oh, king. If l might ask, why does
that little black monkey hang yonder?"
Because he tried to do murder with his
poisoned arrows" answered Ithobal, sui
lenly.
And failed? Well it must comfort you
to think that if he did fail he was of the
number of your servants 1t is strange,
now, that some knave unknown attempted
InuTCeF last HlSnt III the palace gardens,
also with poisoned arrows | say attempt
ed. but as yet cannot be sure that he did
not succeed.
What" exclaimed Ithobal, "was-"
ard he stopped
No, king, Prince Aziel was not hit. The
Lady ELISA took the arrow through her
hand and lies between life and death 1
am doctoring her, and had it not been for
my skill she would now be stiff and black
as the rogue who shot the arrow
Save her. said Ithobal hoarsely "and
l will pay you doctors fee of a hundred
ounces of pure gold. Oh, had 1 but known,
the clumsy fool had not died so easily
Metem took out his tablets and made a
note of the amount.
Take comfort, king" he said. 81 think
that 1 shall earn the fee. But, to speak
truth, this matter looks somewhat ugly
and your name is mentioned in it. Also it
is said that your cousin, the great man
whom the Prince AZiel slew, was charged
to abduct certain lady by your order''
''Then false tales are told in Zimboe and
not for the first time said Ithobal coldly
Listen, merchant, l have a question to
ask you. Will the Prince Aziel meet me in
single combatd with whatever weapons he
may choose?'
DOUBTLESS, and Stay you as he slew your
cousin, for he is n fine swordsman and
your strength would not avail against
him. But your question is already an