wall and enters the city, and there widens and holds a space in its
midst of many miles across. Moreover, he is older than the City of
Marvel, for he dwelt long since in one of the valleys of the
mountain which Nehemoth, first of Pharaohs, carved into Babbulkund.

'Now the opal alcove in which the King sits at evening by the lake
stands at the edge of the jungle, and the climbing orchids of the
jungle have long since crept from their homes through clefts of the
opal alcove, lured by the lights of the lake, and now bloom there
exultingly. Near to this alcove are the hareems of Nehemoth.

'The King hath four hareems--one for the stalwart women from the
mountains to the north, one for the dark and furtive jungle women,
one for the desert women that have wandering souls and pine in
Babbulkund, and one for the princesses of his own kith, whose brown
cheeks blush with the blood of ancient Pharaohs and who exult with
Babbulkund in her surpassing beauty, and who know nought of the
desert or the jungle or the bleak hills to the north. Quite
unadorned and clad in simple garments go all the kith of Nehemoth,
for they know well that he grows weary of pomp. Unadorned all save
one, the Princess Linderith, who weareth Ong Zwarba and the three
lesser gems of the sea. Such a stone is Ong Zwarba that there are
none like it even in the turban of Nehemoth nor in all the
sanctuaries of the sea. The same god that made Linderith made long
ago Ong Zwarba; she and Ong Zwarba shine together with one light,
and beside this marvellous stone gleam the three lesser ones of the
sea.

'Now when the King sitteth in his opal alcove by the sacred lake
with the orchids blooming around him all sounds are become still.