returned from Stakhar with the news."

"I am younger than thou, though my hair is white. I will go with thee.
Lead the way."

He stooped and drank of the fountain in the moonlight, from the hollow
of his hand. Then he turned, and began to ascend the steep side of the
valley. The shepherd led the way in silence, overcome between his awe of
the man and his delight at his own good fortune.

CHAPTER XIV.

It was now three years since Nehushta had been married to Darius, and
the king loved her well. But often, in that time, he had been away from
her, called to different parts of the kingdom by the sudden outbreaks of
revolution which filled the early years of his reign. Each time he had
come back in triumph, and each time he had given her some rich gift. He
found indeed that he had no easy task to perform in keeping the peace
between his two queens; for Atossa seemed to delight in annoying
Nehushta and in making her feel that she was but the second in the
king's favour, whatever distinctions might be offered her. But Darius
was just and was careful that Atossa should receive her due, neither
more nor less.

Nehushta was glad when Zoroaster was gone. She had suffered terribly in
that moment when he had spoken to her out of the crowd, and the winged
word had made a wound that rankled still. In those three years that
passed, Atossa never undeceived her concerning the sight she had seen,
and she still believed that Zoroaster had basely betrayed her. It was
impossible, in her view, that it could be otherwise. Had she not seen
him herself? Could any man do such an action who was not utterly base
and heartless? She had, of course, never spoken to Darius of the scene
upon the terrace. She did not desire the destruction of Atossa, nor of
her faithless lover. Amid all the tender kindness the king lavished upon
her, the memory of her first love endured still, and she could not have
suffered the pain of going over the whole story again. He was gone,
perhaps dead, and she would never see him again. He would not dare to
set foot in the court. She remembered the king's furious anger against
him, when he suspected that the hooded man in the procession was
Zoroaster. But Darius had afterwards said, in his usual careless way,
that he himself would have done as much, and that for his oath's sake,
he would never harm the young Persian. By the grace of Auramazda he
swore, he was the king of kings and did not make war upon disappoi