Three days passed by, and Semiramis whipped her brain for means of escape from Nineveh; yet all in vain, for liberty seemed as far denied as though her limbs were weighted down by chains. On the parapets of the garden wall paced sentinels from dawn till dawn was come again, so that none might pass unchallenged or unscathed. The palace was but a prison perched on its lofty mound, and though its halls still swarmed with servants and with slaves, its portals were sealed while the King made war on Bactria. By night Semiramis shared the chamber of Sozana, yet the door she might not pass, for across its threshold the eunuch Kishra lay, the curtain-rope made fast to a copper bracelet on his waist. If by chance she could cross the watch-dog's form to the gardens beyond and clamber down the brick-built mound, she still must face the barrier of the city wall or the brazen gates closed fast in the hours of night. True, bribery of the sentinels might buy a path to the river-bank, whence swimming the Tigris would be as play to the daughter of Derketo; yet, one false step--one virtuous fool who scorned to barter honesty for coin--and Huzim might wait among the lily beds in vain.
Full many a wakeful hour Semiramis stared through the opening in the roof, with eyes which followed not the shimmering stars, nor the chariot of Ishtar rolling down the sky. To her troubled brain came a thousand daring plans, each smiling hope, each ending in a jeer of mockery, till her head grew hot, and anger rose to devour her in its might. What! Was she, the child of gods, to be balked at every turn, when love cried out and Menon battled with his fate alone? Nay, by the breath of Gibil, this thing was not to be! Gold she had none wherewith to buy release, nor jewels to tempt a captor's lust for wealth; and yet-- Of a sudden Semiramis laughed aloud, till the fair Sozana stirred, awaking with a cry.
"Nay, child, 'tis naught," the Syrian whispered, as she stroked a trembling hand. "Hush, sweet; I did but dream, and the spirits of the night have brought me words of wisdom and of peace."
The eunuch Kishra sat beneath a palm, his mind a prey unto vexious thought. He was hideous to look upon, with a bloated paunch, a thick-lipped mouth, and crafty eyes which peeped from their pouch-like rims. Long had he served in the household of the King, and now was chief of the palace-guard and warden of the chambers where the women dwelt. When Ninus marched to Bactria, the rearward wing of the palace had been sealed, and, together with the gardens, was set apart for Sozana and Semiramis, while Memetis, the Egyptian hostage, was confined in a distant court, in charge of an under-chief. Now the Princess had pined for the presence of him she loved, and sought by bribery to have him brought to her; yet Kishra feared the wrath of Ninus, and naught would move him. Sozana then contrived, through her tire-maid Nissa, to bribe the guard who paced before the Egyptian's door, and in secret this maiden bore many a tender message to and fro, till she came at last to a grievous end.
