"Nay," she pleaded, "I did but think to ease the dullness of the hour, and the baubles please me, for many of the like have I seen in Syria."
The merchant raised his head, a light of hope within his eyes; then he fumbled in a hidden corner of his tray, producing a tiny fish which was carven in malachite and suspended by a leathern stong.
"Ah!" cried Semiramis, and clapped her hands. "Look, Sozana! 'Tis a symbol of Dagon which the Syrian shepherds wear about their necks when they roam the hills by night. Buy it for me, Kishra, for 'twill keep off evil, bringing peace to me and to those who serve."
The eunuch scowled, but did her bidding, while Semiramis turned once more to the trinket tray.
"Dost know the land of Syria, old man?"
"Aye, lady," the merchant answered with sparkling eyes, "from the slopes of Lebanon to the Sea of Death—from Jordan where dwells the Sons of Israel to Azapah and the valley of Ascalon—"
"Sweet Ishtar!" cried Semiramis, flinging up her hands. "My home, Sozana! He hath journeyed even to my home in Ascalon!" She laughed and turned to the merchant once again, for now in truth she knew that Huzim hid beneath the Phoenician's robe. "Speak," she commanded, in the Syrian tongue which was strange to Kishra and her friends, "speak, for they may not understand. What message from my lord?"
So Huzim answered her and told of the danger-snares which beset his master round about. He told of the battle in the pass, of the wrath of Ninus, and of how the King made proclamation of the prize to him who should first stand conqueror on the citadel of Zariaspa. He spoke of all which Menon had commanded him, and though his words were heavy with the weight of fear, yet Semiramis nodded in seeming happiness and clapped her hands.
"What telleth he?" Sozana asked, and Semiramis answered with a joyous smile:
"He telleth of my lake which sparkleth like unto a jewel among the hills; of my fishes that swim therein, and of Dagon's little temple on the shore. I see the sheep that browse by day, till the sun is low behind the desert's rim, and one by one the shepherds' fires leap, twinkling, through the dusk. Ah, Sozana, mine, 'tis like unto the joy of Prince Memetis when he dreameth by night of his silver Nile and the mighty pyramids."