"My King did not order . . ."

"He is my guest and companion, once for all; call him and follow us."

Gobryas bowed, dashed back to the palace, and in half an hour reappeared
among the royal retinue with Phanes.

The Athenian was warmly welcomed by many of the group, a fact which seems
strange when we remember that courtiers are of all men the most prone to
envy, and a royal favorite always the most likely object to excite their
ill will. But Phanes seemed a rare exception to this rule. He had met
the Achaemenidae in so frank and winning a manner, had excited so many
hopes by the hints he had thrown out of an expected and important war,
and had aroused so much merriment by well-told jests, such as the
Persians had never heard before, that there were very few who did not
welcome his appearance gladly, and when--in company with the king--he
separated from the rest in chase of a wild ass, they openly confessed to
one another, that they had never before seen so perfect a man. The
clever way in which he had brought the innocence of the accused to light,
the finesse which he had shown in securing the king's favor, and the ease
with which he had learnt the Persian language in so short a time, were
all subjects of admiration. Neither was there one even of the
Achaemenidae themselves, who exceeded him in beauty of face or symmetry
of figure. In the chase he proved himself a perfect horseman, and in a
conflict with a bear an exceptionally courageous and skilful sportsman.
On the way home, as the courtiers were extolling all the wonderful
qualities possessed by the king's favorite, old Araspes exclaimed,
"I quite agree with you that this Greek, who by the way has proved
himself a better soldier than anything else, is no common man, but I am