well remembered from the period of
her childhood, that she feared to let Zoroaster see how glad she was to
leave Ecbatana, which, but for him, would have been to her little better
than a prison. He, on the contrary, thinking that he foresaw an
immediate removal of all obstacle and delay through the favor of Darius,
was, nevertheless, too gentle and delicate of tact to bring suddenly
before Nehushta's mind the prospect of marrying which presented itself
so vividly to his own fancy. But he felt no less disturbed in his heart
when face to face with the old prophet's sorrow at losing his
foster-daughter; and, for the first time in his life, he felt guilty
when he reflected that Daniel was grieved at his own departure almost as
deeply as on account of Nehushta. He experienced what is so common with
persons of cold and even temperament when brought into close relation
with more expansive and affectionate natures; he was overcome with the
sense that his old master gave him more love and more thought than he
could possibly give in return, and that he was therefore ungrateful; and
the knowledge he alone possessed, that he surely intended to marry the
princess in spite of the prophet, and by the help of the king, added
painfully to his mental suffering.

The silence lasted some minutes, till the old man suddenly lifted his
head and leaned back among his cushions, gazing at his companion's
face.

"Hast thou no sorrow, nor any regret?" he asked sadly.

"Nay, my lord doth me injustice," answered Zoroaster, his brows
contracting in his perplexity. "I should be ungrateful if I repented not
leaving thee even for the space of a day. But let my lord be comforted;
this parting is not for long, and before the flocks come down from
Zagros to take shelter from the winter, we will be with thee."

"Swear to me, then, that thou wilt return before the winter," insisted
the prophet half-scornfully.

"I cannot swear," answered Zoroaster. "Behold, I am in the hands of the
Great King. I cannot swear."

"Say rather that thou art in the hand of the Lord, and that therefore
thou canst not swear. For I say thou wilt not return, and I shall see
thy face no more. The winter cometh, and the birds of the air fly
towards the south, and I am alone in the land of snow and frost; and the
spring cometh also, and I am yet alone, and my time is at hand; for thou
comest not any more, neither my daughter Nehushta, neither any of my
kinsfolk. And behold, I go