And
he despatched his kinsman Septimus Zabbai, the soldier, to the
Armenian hills to superintend the capture and delivery of the
wild game needed for the hunt. With a great following of slaves
and huntsmen, Zabbai the soldier departed, and with him went his
niece, Bath Zabbai, or Zenobia, now a fearless young huntress of
fifteen. Space will not permit to tell of the wonders and
excitement of that wild-beast hunt--a hunt in which none must be
killed but all must be captured without mar or wound. Such a
trapping of wolves and bears and buffaloes was there, such a
setting of nets and pitfalls for the mountain lion and the Syrian
leopard, while the Arab hunters beat, and drove, and shouted, or
lay in wait with net and blunted lance, that it was rare sport to
the fearless Zenobia, who rode her fleet Arabian horse at the
very head of the chase, and, with quick eye and practised hand,
helped largely to swell the trophies of the hunt. What girl of
to-day, whom even the pretty little jumping-mouse of Syria would
scare out of her wits, could be tempted to witness such a scene?
And yet this young Palmyrean girl loved nothing better than the
chase, and the records tell us that she was a "passionate
hunter," and that---she pursued with ardor the wild beasts of the
desert and thought nothing of fatigue or peril.
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