This might be salve for the soul, but it did my burn no good. Again I appealed to Elisas, who, thanks to Athena the Foresighted, had provided himself with a pot of ointment made of bear grease, bitumen, and the gods know what else. It eased the pain a little. The Syrian even passed me a file with which to work on my fetters. One might have thought him endowed by Apollon with prophetic gifts, so shrewdly did he foresee all contingencies.
Thyestes went on: "Day broke and you hadna come back. Instead, the sun brought a company of soldiers, who searched the tower and temple grounds. They woulda say what they sought, but we could guess; and there were over many to fight. But nought did they find."
I asked: "Where had the chests been hidden?"
"Those rascally priests! By Zeus, 'tis the end of my faith in religion!"
"Where was it, man?"
"Ahint the statue of Mardoukos there's a hollow space ben the wall, with a grille of little holes in the brick. The entrance to the chamber is by a secret door in another room. When some great rich worshiper comes to question the god, a priest with a deep voice hides hissel in the hollow and speaks through the grille, and the poor gowk thinks it's the god. Well, our friends hid the chests in this wee chamber."
"But how was I rescued?"
"When the second day came without sign of you, Beliddinos went to work. None of us durst go near the citadel for fear they'd clap us up, too, but he sent a priest to inquire. The folk at the citadel said they kenned nought.
"Then Beliddinos summoned that Greek diviner, Peithagoras, and told him they'd made some new horoscopes which showed that Alexander would sune return from India. Beliddinos then brought Peithagoras to a session with the temple's seer. The seer went into a trance and said he saw a long line of crucified men, the wicked governors and generals whom the Alexander would punish when he got back. There was also some stuff about a Thessalian officer chained in a dungeon—nought but guesswork on Beliddinos' part.
"As Beliddinos expected, Peithagoras went till his brother and told him of these prophecies. He taxed Apollodouros with kidnaping you. Apollodouros denied this but admitted he kenned that Agathoun and Stamenes had some sic plan in mind.
"In terror, Peithagoras besought Apollodouros to get you out, lest the king on his return blame both Amphipolitan brothers for the crime along with those who really did it. So Apollodouros and some trusted men of his bodyguard snatched you from the cell when Agathoun and Stamenes were no looking. That was Apollodouros who spoke to you afore we departed."
"Beliddinos surely proved a friend to his friends," said Vardanas, riding on the other side of Aias.
I called down to Pyrron: "You cannot now say prophecy never serves a useful purpose."
Pyrron laughed. "If I may quote the divine Euripides:
"The best diviner I maintain to be
The man who guesses or conjectures best.
"But I see your point. Neither should we say that ancient history is useless, for Beliddinos might not have gone to so much trouble on our behalf had we not rescued his bag of old bricks from the robbers."
"Whither are we bound?" I asked.
Thyestes said: "This is the road till Kounaxa and Opis, on the Tigris."
"But, man, we want the western road, to Sippara and Thilabos, up the Euphrates!"
"Na, that's what we planned, buckie. But Apollodouros sent us forth ane's errand on the Tigris road, mauger it be longer. Gin Agathoun and Stamenes send scouts after us, they'll think we're taking the short way to the Syrian coast and scour the Euphrates road, while we're safe on the Tigris road."
"The man has his wits about him," I said, "but the orra distance will cost us a pretty copper."
"Trust Leon to think of that!" said Pyrron. "My dear fellow, are you sure you're not of Phoenician extraction?"
"Nay," I said shortly. "And neither am I related to Aisopos' grasshopper, who trusts to the morrow to take care of itself."
So base is human nature that, mingled with my thankfulness at my escape, was resentment that the hipparchia should have gotten along so well without me and, moreover, that they should have saved me from the fruits of my own folly. It was then that I resolved no more to kill myself overseeing every detail of their equipment and conduct. Those who had not by now learned how to behave never would. I would, I swore, give more responsibility to the other officers and the double-pay trooper, and judge by results.
The road led us north through the fertile plain of Sittakia, where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers approach to a hundred and fifty furlongs of one another and then flow apart again. Heavy rains in the Assyrian hills had caused the Tigris to overflow, so that great stretches of land on our right were flooded. Millions of waterfowl sported in the lakes and marshes and rose whirring at our passage.
On our left, Vardanas pointed out the site of the battle of Kounaxa, where Kyros the usurper beat the army of Artaxerxes the Resolute but was himself slain. One of Vardanas' grandsires had fought on one side and one on the other. The place was of interest to me because it was thence that Xenophon's ten thousand began their retreat.
"After that bloody treacher lured their generals to a parley and murdered them," growled Thyestes.
"They should have known better," said Vardanas. "Anyway, Artaxashas" (for so the Persians pronounce Artaxerxes) "was not himself such a villain. He was a weak, easygoing man, and why he was called 'Resolute' I cannot imagine. He let himself be ruled by his bloodthirsty mother and equally savage wife."
"As no Hellene would let his women do," said Thyestes, who liked the last word.
At Sittakia we found a bridge of boats across the Tigris, though again Aias had to ford despite the swiftness of the broad brown flood. Going up the left bank of the Tigris, the fertile plain of Sittakia gave way to barren land in which a few prickly shrubs, of interest only to camels, broke in broad flats of clay. Snow-capped Persian mountains lined the horizon on our right.
As my burn was still too sore for riding, I stayed atop the elephant. For days I craned my neck to the rear, but none pursued us. Although riding Aias made me feel like an Indian king, my friends, riding before me, tended to ignore me rather than crane their necks to call up to me.
The first few days after we left Babylon, Nirouphar rode with me betimes in the booth atop the elephant and was tenderly solicitous about my burn. As the wound healed, howsomever, she returned more and more to her horse and to conversation with Pyrron in the mixture of Greek and Persian with which they now communicated. From my perch I watched them with pangs of jealousy. Vardanas, too, regarded this sight with visible unease.
At the beginning of Anthesterion we came to Doura. Here the land rises to cliffs overlooking the river, and the stronghold of Doura is perched upon these cliffs. The garrison gave me fodder without making difficulties. From here on, Kanadas grumbled because he could no longer buy rice but had to adapt himself to our barbarous diet.
Beyond Doura I rode Golden again. The burn on my leg left a large, unsightly scar, which still aches in damp weather. The Baktrian mare had grown spoilt whilst I rode the elephant. She tried to bite when I approached her and bucked me off when I first mounted. I mounted again, got a grip on her mane, and quieted her with a few good cuts of the whip. I have had horses I could treat as pets, but not this cross-grained beast.
North of Doura, I paid some gingerly court to Nirouphar, seeking quietly to show her my good points and, at the same time, to wean her from excessive admiration for Pyrron. Since she had been solicitous of me when my burn was bad, I was equally so towards her. Was her tent comfortable? Had it any leaks that should be mended? Was her pallet soft enough to give her good nights of sleep? Did the gait of her horse tire her? If so, would she like to try another mount? Was there aught in the way of special food I should try to obtain for her?