I like thy speech — I like most ]:»leasing well the tidings thou hast
l:>roug'ht. I shall receive the princess Sarai as befits a royal queen
of the province of Ur. Let her come into my presence as soon
as her train approaches."
"A moment, most powerful of gods. There is just one re-
c,uest sent by my lady-queen, and that is — "
"Speak it — speak it. Afardan, don't mumble and cringe — "
"Gracious Sun-god, the princess hath the modesty of her sex,
and the right jealousy of her surpassing beauty. She hath put
up her petition to the sun-god. that he will permit her to remain
veiled in his ])rcsence till this evening be gone, lest her eyes
should be blinded and her face shrivel in the refulgence of the
fire and glory which beams from thy god-like eye."
.1 PRINCE OF UR. 389
Ninirod sat silent — while Marclan stood, ])ale and yet com-
posed as if he were Init the bearer of a maiden's modest wish
for proper protection in such strange, sudden and unexpected
plight.
"Her re(|uest shall be on my knees," said Nimrod subtly;
"fhe shall not regret her devotion to my religion and my service."
With a swing- of his great arms, Nimrod indicated that he
would have no more speech. But even as he spoke, the sound of
timbals and the tinkling- of zithers ])roclaimed the approach of
the royal cortege. They came, one great perfumed mass of
flower-wreathed loveliness, their stately carriage and their red-
lipped, yet refined physical Semitic luxuriance dimming- the glory
of their coarser Assyrian sisters of the harem who were the court
favorites and dancing women of Nimrod's train.
Nimrod saw the elegant sweep of white tissues, the curl of dark
eyelashes, the rounded limb of a young" goddess here and there in
the feminine train which now quite filled his audience chamber.
He nodded his ap])roval and the long- files openerl to admit the
more stately approach of a tall and veiled figure that was like a
Nile lily sweei)ing- on its wind-tossed stem. There was so much
hateur in the carriage of the head that its lines caught and held
the glance of the monarch. There was pride to match his own.
There was haughtiness surpassing that of every queen of his long
and capricious reign. The long- limbs moved with a willowy
grace that was almost too seductive. Nimrod frowned. He had
caug'ht but one ])assing" glimpse of this sec|uestered beauty in her
father's ])alace — but he had not thought her voluptuous — quite the
contrar}'. And yet, in the very panther-like movements of these
tissue-clad limbs there was to the practiced eye of the old roue
a hint of sophistication which surprised no less than it annoyed.
TTe was visibly disappointed. Yet, he could discover very plainly
the rich swee]) of midnight hair which escaped its jeweled fillet
underneath the filmy veil and fell in midnight wonder to the very
ankles of the ])roud Ijcauty who stood — not with the bowed head
of an innocent damsel, but with level eyes studying- her captor,
as he sat bulked low in the huge carved, g-olden and ivory throne
under its canop\' of rich jewels and lustrous tapestries. The g;irl
was undeniably exquisite in her stately uprightness, as she stood,
neither speaking- nor. crouching-, Init expectant and proudly silent
as becanie a queen of the house of Terah.
"My queen, thou hast the favor of thy lord — " said Mardan,
unable longer to bear the stress of the long and breathless silence.
"At the feet of my lord, the king, my god, my sun-god, seven
times seven I pro.strate m\self. Seven times seven T kiss the hem
of tliA' rol)es, my lord, and my god."
At the softly spoken words the danisel had slipped to the
floor, and over the huge sandalled feet of the king, she let the
390 RJlLJIiJ' SOCIETV MAGAZINE.
trailing- glory of her hair sweep like a veil of perfumed silence.
The touch was wine in Nimrod's veins.
"The shadow of the glorious sun-goddess which I waited for
is in thy face and form, be thou who thou mayst be. In that
shadow my soul shall abide for this hour — the king hath sworn it
— leave, us."
With an outward commanding gesture. the monarch swept the
mass of idle couriers and attendants out of his presence, leaving
only his private retinue. Mardan was also excluded from the
ap-proaching festivities which were to be royally private as befitted
the exclusive dignity of a king. And Mardan was glad to go, for
he had other and vastly important business which awaited con-
summation. He withdrew with pompous ceremony, folding his
torn garments about him.
Nimrod gave the signal for the entertainment to begin. He
had planned to astonish his fair guest with his kingly gorgeous-
ness rather than to awe her with any glimpse of his great personal
prowess, for with the contempt of the strong for their own
strength, he delighted more in those qualities which were entirely
ajiart from his brute triumphs. The princess should be wooed
with the graces of the court, not crushed by the coarse evidences
of his physical supremacy. Nimrod was a cunning man. And
with that cunning he united some of the artistic fancies which
had come down to him from his remote ancestors on the maternal
side — Tubal and Tubal-Cain.
The court musicians struck up their clashing melo lies. Out
from the dusky recesses of the far end of the now dimly lighted
audience hall, treading lightly between the huge carved and fluted
pillars of the wonderful chamber, came a vast procession of
slaves, bearing fruit baskets of silvered wire, with salvers of gold
on which rested great clusters of dark and white grapes, globes of
juicy ai^ricots, dates and figs, and yellow-re 1 pomegranates — fol-
lowed by the cup-bearers holding aloft their precious vintages,
no less costly than the jeweled chalices in which they sparkled and
glowed. And as this artistically arranged procession reached the
foot of the throne, the lights of the palace were suddenly in-
crease 1 a thousand fold, so that the princess might behold upon
the frieze of the walls the presentment of the very scene she was
witnessing, embossed and carved in exquisitely conceived colors
and rainbow-tinted relievo. She gasped with keen, apprehensive
]ileasure. Nimrod was reproducing in her his own late surprised
joy.
Next followed a band oi stringed musicians, the chords of
delight struck upon their quivering harmonies vibrated from nerve
to nerve of the charmed listeners. These were youths, clad in the
ccnrt garments of white linen, here and there jewelled fillets ca-
A PRINCE 01' UR. 391
lessing their tig^htly curled locks which hung^ upon their shoulders,
and from their scanty yet gleaming- white attire wafted great bil-
lowing waves of perfumes of the san lalwood which formed their
lyres. Anon they tapped their sandals with muffled insistence on
the richly tiled floors of the hall.
After these came a certain few of the court dancing women.
And the exquisite coloring of their filmy orange, blue, red, gold,
or silver robes dazzled the eyes of the onlooker. For the colore
were carefully graded symbols of the accepted shades of the seven
planets. As they circled or twisted in slow and lovely rhythms,
the artistic blending of their rainbow efifects was so thrilling that
the girl who sat at the feet of the king almost swooned with
sensuous delight. Their perfumes were attar of roses in delicious
restraint of suggestiveness rather than open oppressiveness. Back
of these came other dancers, and these increased the rapidity of
their movements, but their robes were of pale shadowy tints as
1 ecame the daughters of Babylonian princes. These were fol-
lowed again by the trained Egyptian muscle dancers. Their
swart, yet elegantly supple bodies were almost nude, only the
flashing jeweled girdles masked their slim and delicately moulderl
bodies. As they began their swirling movements, the veiled
princess on the throne steps hid her eyes under her hands. It was
the first time she had ever seen these far-famed dancers from the
Egyptian courts of the Pharaohs. But as no one spoke to her.
she gradually lifted up her eyes, for she was determined that she
would not lack in any essential which could catch and hold the
errant fancy of this huge monarch of the whole earth. The per-
fumes rising from the incense bowls did not overpower the subtler
but more penetrating ungents of the Jatamansi or spikenard which
floate 1 about these stationary writhers like a circular spiral, up-
rising cloud of ethereal suggestion.
The entranced and excited girl on the steps of the throne
was by this time convinced that the things taking place before her
eyes were so rarely conceived in their gradations of color, sound
and motion that generations of artists' dreams had evolved the final
perfection of their composition. Her perception of the perfumes
which had one by one assailed her sensitive nostrils proved that
they had been chosen with no less artistic thought than were the
other features of this gorgeous and inconceivable entertainment.
That the refined and luxurious Chaldeans loved perfumes as her
own people did music she had known for long. But that they could
(leliberatelv steal from the sacred sanctuary its secrets of o 'ors
w'th which to entrance the senses of the courtier was of itself a
startling, yet not unpleasant sensation. She lifted her delicate
nostrilsand drew in ('eeply the mystic spell of the sensuous per-
fumes drifting about her in the lofty spaces of the great Tlall of
Aar'ience. Ah, whv shoidd. Al)ram'denv to her all the dear de-
392 KELIIil' SOCIETY MAGAZINE.
lights, of nmsic, and color and perfnmc — just to focus them upon
the worship of a god whose very Name was not even to be pro-
nounced. How different was this adulation of her own person
and the individual kingly effort to win her smiles and her heart.
Slie was touched to the core of her vain, selfish, sordid soul. This
was the true meaning- of Life. To enjoy — to give and to receive
th: pleasure of the senses. With the thought, she lifted up her
arms unconsciously, and caressed the feet, huge and sinewy, of
the king at whose feet she lay.
A scream rang through the palace, x^nother and another,
mingled with swift Assyrian curses, and the hoarse bellowing of
a dog whose baying wrath smote upon the perfumed silence of the
hall within with cruel suddenness.
It was the great black dog returning from the chase around
tlie terrace and grounds of the Ziggarut.
Straight for the throat of Nimrod the great beast came in
leaps and bounds with hanging tongue blood-red, and foam-
flecked driveling jaws. He stayed not, nor did he falter. The
monarch turned with ashy paleness at the ill-omened intrusion, but
lie was Nimrod still. He arose to his full height swiftly and
Ln-aced himself for the charge. He would not even deign to go
down from his throne steps to meet the black precursor of evil
tidings. But he did turn and sweep the girl on the throne steps
into safety behind his seat. She stood upright, determined to see
the whole scene. And such a scene !
Nimrod caught the maddened beast in his two great hands,
and at first he simidy twisted the neck of the dog and threw him
from him. But the dog rose up — arching his back in agony, and
s])at out his vomit upon the very steps where the princess had
been sitting.
Reaching down, Nimrod seized the brute, and with tremen-
dous grip he tore from its roots the tongue of the crazed animal,
and flung it far from him. The dog fought wildly and flung
himself "from his grasp as he swung voiceless, soundless and
blood-dripping around and around the whole area of that huge
vast hall, the dancers and musicians huddling in terror-stricken
groups, while the screaming girls clung to each other or some
disengaged man with wild and terrible agony. Suddenly some
dancer moaned out as if the words were torn from her body —
"An omen — an omen — "
Instantlv Nimrod was down from the throne, and catching
the brute who had been allowed by the terror-stricken attendants
free pas.sage between their helpless ranks, he seized the body of
the animal, and actually crushed its Ijones into jelly as he encir-
cled the quivering and soon lifeless l)ody. He flung it from him
as if it had been a mouse.
J PRINCE OF UR. 393
A few steps from him the poor frightened g'irl was prone
upon the floor moaning her plaint —
"It is an omen- — an omen — O Nindar i)reserve us from the
Maskin — an omen — "
And without a moment's hesitation, as soon as Nimrod had
finished his slaughter of the brute, he seized the quivering form
of the girl and strangled her remorselessly. He turned thunder-
ing to his guards, who by this time had rushed pell-mell into the
hall, and bellowed at them —
"Death to all cowards. Strike, I say strike."
A scene of confusion and murder followed which were im-
possible to describe. Surely, the princess had been witness to
the brute forces which kept this relentless giant on his throne.
But when Nimrod approached her in the midst of the screaming-
carnage, she merely stepped out from behind the throne to receive
his bloody hand and together they left the hall, now crowded with
the attendants and the fully cowed priests and courtiers.
Nimrod bent graciously above this girl whose fierce spirit had
risen up ruthlessly to answer the supreme challenge of his mighty
soul. She was his physical mate, young as she was, old as he
might be ! Together they left the hall !
In the inner chamber, the king sat upon his couch, the princess
beside him.
After the magnificent banquet, the rich entertainment, the
varied pleasures, and the awful horrors had closed in the early
evening's strange surprises. Nimrod stood before his captive, and
with the puzzled frown still upon his brow, he said :
"Like and yet unlike. Not Sarai and yet thou hast pride,
courage and will — thou art not that being of supreme charm and
beauty, the Princess Sarai. Who and what art thou?"
The girl sat at his feet, her head bowed in her hands, the veil
of her seclusion still folded about her brows.
"I am a princess of the house of Terah. The sister's sister
of that other proud and self-willed Sarai, whom all men and
women love because of her superior arts and her more finished
graces. Me they tolerate — her they adore. What have I done?
What have I left undone? Every lesson in grace and culture that
she has learned hath 1)een conned by me. Every toil that she has
undertaken T have duplicated. And yet, to her is given the crown
of supremacy, to me the girdle of jealous bondage. And now —
even mv veil will not suffice to make me as Sarai in the eyes of
my lord."
The sobbing breaths of the proud confession struck the re-
mains of chivalry that still lingered in the heart of the luige man
who l)ent al)ove her, himself half repelled and half fascinated by
her unearthlv charm.
394 RELIEF SOCIETY MAGAZINE.
"Be thou what thou art, but be jealous of no woman. It is
the canker which eats out the heart of human souls as rust doth
consume the iron wedge. Jealousy is a rage of kings, but be-
comes a sword in the breast of a tender woman."
"Even thou dost assail me," she wept with bitter unrestraint.
Nimrod soothed and scolded the girl. But after all, he was
grateful for the unusual diversion after this swift and omen-
plagued evening and he was disposed to be more than ordinarily
gracious and forgiving for both the deception practiced upon him
and the disappointment to his highest hopes. There were other
days and nights. Sarai was still to be conquered. Just now —
the business in hand was quite sufficient.
Suddenly in the still watches of the night the ghostly howl
of a dog sounded long and penetrating through all the corridors
of the Ziggarut. Nimrod ran instantly into his audience cham-
ber. With the rage of a wild animal, he beat upon his hands for
his frightened attendants. It was the omen — the omen !
Lights fluttered and came" up, courtiers and soldiers and
priests gathered in the Audience hall of the Ziggarut. Nimrod
stood like a huge, restless ghost. Behind him walked the daugh-
ter of Terah — Tscah — with no trace of cowardice or shrinking in
her soul. She might lack many lovable traits, but the courage
of her race, reinforced by the teachings of her childhood which
protected her from the childish torments of the superstitious,
made her at this juncture the ideal counselor of the king. And
still at intervals, sounded the faint, ghastly echo of that dog's
braying.
Wtih a proud sweep of her uncovered arms, her face glow-
ing with the fires of a thousand vaulting hopes and worldly ambi-
tions, this far from happy, but vain-glorious girl now set herself
to use the gifts of her prophetic ancestry to stay the wild disorder
she saw sweeping through the palace, all because of a howling,
ghostly dog. somewhere in the distance across the courts. Iscah
stood up veiled and prophetic beside Nimrod.
"Ishtar says," quoth the girl in her wild ecstasy, "fear not.
Nimrod. The breath of inspiration which speaks to thee is
spoken to me, and I conceal it not. Thine enemies shall melt
away frpm before thy feet like the floods of Sivan. I am the
mighty mistress Ishtar of Arbella who will put thine enemies to
fiight before thy feet."
All eyes were turned, in the flaring oil torches of sudden ligth-
ing, upon the uplifted face of the princess of the house of Terah.
She stood with both arms extended and lifted above her head,
her face as colorless as alabaster walls of the palace chamber
under the tissues of her veil. Her eyes gleamed like stars, and
she was the incarnation of unearthly inspiration. Some of the
A PRINCE OF UR. . 395
dancing girls who had crowded into the hall, shrank in grave fear
before the fierce gleam of her eyes, and the piercing tones of her
high-pitched voice. But Nimrod lowered his scepter before her
and his face lighted with renewed hope and courage. This was
the very tonic he needed.
As the instant pause was made, there issued from some inner
courtyard the crude spitting and yowling of a score of cats — and
instantly there was another scene of confusion. Two death
omens in one night was unbearable to these superstitious Chal-
deans. But in the midst of it all the voice of the girl rang out
like the clarion call of a soul seated on the heights of human
courage, gazing with unholy awe upon the decrees writ in the
spirit world.
"Fear not, O Nimrod. I am Ishtar of Arbella. Where are
the words which I spake unto thee ? Thine enemies, the Urkians,
do I give unto thee. I am Ishtar of Arbella. In front of thee
and at thy side do I go, I march. Fear not, thou art in the midst
of these that can heal thee and guard thee. I shall be in the
midst of thine host. I advance, I stand still. This is the torture
of thine enemies which thou hast heard presaged before thee this
night."
Her words acted like some strong stimulant to the jaded
monarch's courage. Some long-forgotten remembrance of the
true prophetic gifts of the house of Shem entered into his soul
and he felt that there must be some truth in what the girl was
crying. He would be all man — all king. These sorceries and
witchcrafts were all-sufificient to his blind and cruel followers —
they were the leash with which he held them down. But for him-
self — was he not a high priest after the order of the Divine One?
Did he not possess the royal garments and the robe of the priest-
hood which his father Cush had given him after it was stolen
from Noah by Ham in the ark ? He would have done with child-
ish fears. And he would command the forces of nature by right
of his inherited priesthood. He would put on the robes of his
priesthood.
"What ho— begin thy labors. Nimrod will prepare at once
for the sacrifices of Ishtar."
"Spoken like a king and a high priest." cried Iscah boldly.
She loved courage in man as she loved her own vanity. And to-
gether, Nimrod and his newly chosen queen hurried to their
chamber to prepare for the midnight ceremony.
(to be continued.)
Home Science Department.
Jaucttc A. Hyde.
Utah should be intensely interested in the manufacture and
consumption of sugar. The use of sugar is of exceedingly recent
origin. Only a century old, so to speak. The sugar-cane was
known by the ancient Arabs and Egyptians, but was used very
little. It was introduced by the Arabs in Egy])t and the southern
part of Europe in the middle ages. From 1420 its cultivation
spread somewhat through the tropical countries and was brought
over to the W'est Indies in 1641. It flourishes only in tropical
countries. Maple-sugar is a native American product. Cane-
sugar was not manufactured to any extent until the year 1830.
in India the juice is still extracted by hand in small roller mills.
The sugar-beet is a cultivated variety of mangel-wurzel. A
Berlin chemist in 1760 discovered the sugar from this white
variety of beet and France at once set about its cultivation. Both
Strabo and Marco Polo describe for usxthe use of cane-sugar
among the East Indians, but even they knew nothing of the won-
derful sugar-beet. The first sugar-beet factory was established
in Selesia in 1801. It was not, however, until after 1830 that
it secured a firm footing even in Europe. As late as 1840 the
world's whole production of cane-sugar was 1,000,000 tons, of
beet sugar 50,000 tons. In 1900 the world's production was 2,-
850,000 tons of cane-sugar and 5.950 tons of beet-sugar.
The first sugar factory built in Utah was the Eehi plant, in
1891, in which year they turned out 1,000,000 pounds of sugar.
We now have seven factories in this state, and in 1914 the
farmers of Utah raised and delivered to the sugar companies
613,840 tons of beets for which they were paid $3,000,000. The
beets produced 76,000 tons of finished sugar. An army of men
were employed to work these beets, over 100,000 tons of coal
was used. 35,000 tons of lime rock. 7,000 tons of coke and several
hundred thousand dollars' worth of other manufacturing material.
Utah ranks fourth among the States of the Union in its pro-
duction of sugar and number of factories, Colorado being first,
with fourteen factories, California second in production, with
eleven factories, and Michigan third, with fifteen, factories.
Idaho has four factories, and produces about half as much sugar
as Utah, and less than Montana, which has but one factory.
About ten factories are idle this year, a fact principally due to
the removal of nearly all of the tariff duty on sugar, and the fear
of free sugar, which was to become effective May 1, 1916, but
which the government was afraid to enforce. The production of
HOMli SCIENCE DEPARTMENT. 397
sugar in the riiited States in 1913-14 was 638,400 tons, Utah
giving- 76.000 tons of that amount.
Only one-tifth of L'tah made sugar is locally consumed. The
iialance finds a market in other states.
Sugar has heen protected by legislation in every country of
the world. The bounty system of Europe (which means that the
government has aided the sugar producers by giving a bounty),
induced the British government to endeavor to regulate this
bounty question. They met in 1888 and did nothing but talk
about it. They met again in 1896 and again did nothing but
talk about it. The European powers met in 1898, all but Erance,
A\ho was then the great sugar producing country, wanted regula-
tion. In 1907 the British Minister Grey again tried to induce
the other countries to lower their bounty standards. Imagine
wdiat it would have meant to Utah had our government forced
the ill-begotten law on May first of this year, lifting the bounty
off of American sugar. The one great financial difiiculty that
faces us now as a state and as a nation, is to get the sugar-beet
seed from Europe where it is grown.
In domestic uses sugar is an invaluable adjunct to the table.
It is a stimulant and heat producing material when eaten in any
of its forms. It is a great preservative for fruit as every house-
wife knows. Its myriad uses begin with medicines and end with
candy. There is no question but what Americans use too much
candy, but scientists have discovered that sugar, eaten in modera-
tion, satisfies the craving for stimulants, and it is now supplied
to armies in vast quantities.
There has been some prejudice against beet-sugar, but loyal
Utah housewives do not share in these prejudices. The United
States Agricultural Department, through scientific experiments,
announced that beet sugar was the peer of all sugar manufactured
for every purpose and anyone who says anything to the contrary
is talking fables and nonsense.
Sugar may be rising — so is flour and meat and vegetables.