THE KING'S CUP-BEARER
By MRS. O.F. WALTON
Author of 'Christie's Old Organ,' 'A Peep Behind the Scenes,' 'Elisha,the Man of Abd-Meholah'
NEHEMIAH'S MIDNIGHT SURVEY.
Nehemiah ii. 12-15.
CONTENTS.
CHAP.
PLAN OF THE PALACE AT PERSEPOLIS.
THE KING'S CUP-BEARER
CHAPTER I.
The City of Lilies.
The great Rab-shakeh, magnificently attired in all the brilliancy ofOriental costume, is walking towards the city gate. Above him stretchesthe deep blue sky of the East, about and around him stream the warm raysof the sun. It is the month of December, yet no cold biting wind meetshim, and he needs no warm wraps to shield him from the frost or snow.
The city through which the Rab-shakeh walks is very beautiful; it is thecapital of the kingdom of Persia. Its name is Shushan, the City ofLilies, and it is so called from the fields of sweet-scented irisflowers which surround it. It is built on a sunny plain, through whichflow two rivers,—the Choaspes and the Ulai; he sees them both sparklingin the sunshine, as they wind through the green plain, sometimes flowingquite close to each other, at one time so near that only two and a halfmiles lie between them, then wandering farther away only to returnagain, as if drawn together by some subtle attraction.
Then, in the distance, beyond the plain and beyond the rivers, thegreat Rab-shakeh sees mountains, for a high mountain range, abouttwenty-five miles from the city, bounds the ea