“Sovereign of Persia,”—Isaiah bore himself as proudly as if he were the “King of kings,”—“the God of nations has clothed you with power, the like of which he never shed on mortal man before, not on Assur-bani-pal, the great Assyrian. The tribesmen on countless plains are yours; your horsemen He alone may number. Belshazzar, the Babylonian, casts defiance in your teeth. You hesitate, for you fear for Darius. Were he free, the perjurer would already see from his walls the sky lit with the villages blazing under the Persian torch. And _it is I_ that may set Darius free. Jehovah has set in me a spirit of craft and wisdom that with His help shall not fail. Though they seek my life in Babylon, I know how to avoid them. Be this the reward for the rescue of Darius: you shall call forth your myriads and dash Belshazzar from his ill-gained throne, and then”—brighter than ever were the Jew’s eyes now—“you shall restore my people to their own land, that they may rebuild their desolate Jerusalem. _This_ is my reward!” Stillness, while many heard their heart-beats. The rest saw Cyrus approach three steps toward the Jew; the two were yet looking eye to eye. “Hebrew,” Cyrus was striving to speak quietly, “a great thing you propose, a great thing you ask. How long a time will you require to return to Babylon and do this deed?” “In forty days I pledge my head to show you Darius safe and free, here or in your camp. In Babylon I have two fellow-countrymen who will peril all to aid me.” And Isaiah thought of Zerubbabel and of Shaphat. “By Mithra! you speak of return to Babylon as of returning to a feast!” “Fairer than a feast, my lord. I return to the fulfilment of my heart’s desire—the winning of freedom for my people.” “Yet though you prosper, what if we fail? We may drive Belshazzar from the field, but the ramparts of Babylon—” Isaiah took the words from the king’s mouth. “Shall lie smooth as the plain to the feet of Cyrus, the called of Jehovah!” Cyrus looked again, and very earnestly. “One thing more, Hebrew—my daughter, in Belshazzar’s harem?” His voice sank exceeding low. “What will be her treatment? Answer me truly this.” “Your Majesty,” was the unfaltering reply, “even the Babylonian is not in all things a fiend. Belshazzar does not carry his villany so far, that if Darius escape, he would wreak vengeance on his own betrothed wife. I grieve for the Lady Atossa, but the swords of the Aryans are the only talismans that will make her lot less wretched.” Cyrus moved another step nearer. He had raised his hand toward heaven. “Then in the name of Ahura, One God of All, and the Ameshaspentas, His archangels, I swear that if you save Darius, I will lay low Babylon and set your people free. And you, princes of the Persians, are my witnesses.” When he looked downward, he saw Isaiah kneeling before him, kissing the hem of his mantle.