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diff --git a/15953-h/15953-h.htm b/15953-h/15953-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..dd2d86b --- /dev/null +++ b/15953-h/15953-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,18551 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> + <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of A Friend of The City of Delight, by Elizabeth Miller</title> +<style type="text/css" title="text/css"> +/* <![CDATA[ */ + body { margin-left: 7%; margin-right: 7%; max-width: 40em;} + p {line-height: 1.33em;} + h2 { margin-top: 2em; } + h3 { margin-top: 1.5em; } + hr { width: 40%; } + ol.TOC { + list-style-type: upper-roman; + position: relative; + margin-right: 5%; + } + span.tocright { + position: absolute; right: 0; + } + div.ctr { text-align: center; } + div.ctr img { margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; } + p.caption { margin-top: 0; font-size: smaller; } +/* ]]> */ +</style> + +</head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The City of Delight, by Elizabeth Miller + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The City of Delight + A Love Drama of the Siege and Fall of Jerusalem + +Author: Elizabeth Miller + +Illustrator: F. X. Leyendecker + +Release Date: May 31, 2005 [EBook #15953] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CITY OF DELIGHT *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Stefan Cramme and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="ctr"> +<h1>THE CITY OF DELIGHT</h1> + +<h2><i>A Love Drama of the Siege and Fall +of Jerusalem</i></h2> + +<h2>by</h2> + +<h2>Elizabeth Miller</h2> + +<h3>Author of</h3> + +<h3>The Yoke <i>and</i> Saul of Tarsus</h3> + +<h3>With Illustrations by</h3> + +<h3>F.X. Leyendecker</h3> +</div> + +<h6>Indianapolis<br /> +The Bobbs-Merrill Company<br /> +Publishers<br /> +1908<br /> +March</h6> + +<div class="ctr"> + <a href="images/image01l.jpg"> + <img src="images/image01.jpg" + alt="Frontispiece" + title="Frontispiece" /></a> +</div> + + +<div class="ctr"> +<p> +To +</p> + +<p> +My Elder Brother +</p> + +<p> +Otto Miller +</p> + +</div> + + + +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<ol class="TOC"> + <li><a href="#ch1">A Prince's Bride <span class="tocright">1</span></a></li> + + <li><a href="#ch2">On the Road to Jerusalem <span class="tocright">31</span></a></li> + + <li><a href="#ch3">The Shepherd of Pella <span class="tocright">56</span></a></li> + + <li><a href="#ch4">The Travelers <span class="tocright">85</span></a></li> + + <li><a href="#ch5">By the Wayside <span class="tocright">108</span></a></li> + + <li><a href="#ch6">Dawn in the Hills <span class="tocright">124</span></a></li> + + <li><a href="#ch7">Imperial Cęsar <span class="tocright">148</span></a></li> + + <li><a href="#ch8">Greek and Jew <span class="tocright">169</span></a></li> + + <li><a href="#ch9">The Young Titus <span class="tocright">189</span></a></li> + + <li><a href="#ch10">The Story of a Divine Tragedy <span class="tocright">212</span></a></li> + + <li><a href="#ch11">The House of Offense <span class="tocright">233</span></a></li> + + <li><a href="#ch12">The Prince Returns <span class="tocright">253</span></a></li> + + <li><a href="#ch13">A New Pretender <span class="tocright">274</span></a></li> + + <li><a href="#ch14">The Pride of Amaryllis <span class="tocright">284</span></a></li> + + <li><a href="#ch15">The Image of Jealousy <span class="tocright">300</span></a></li> + + <li><a href="#ch16">The Spread Net <span class="tocright">322</span></a></li> + + <li><a href="#ch17">The Tangled Web <span class="tocright">337</span></a></li> + + <li><a href="#ch18">In the Sunless Crypt <span class="tocright">358</span></a></li> + + <li><a href="#ch19">The False Prophet <span class="tocright">374</span></a></li> + + <li><a href="#ch20">As the Foam upon Water <span class="tocright">390</span></a></li> + + <li><a href="#ch21">The Faithful Servant <span class="tocright">408</span></a></li> + + <li><a href="#ch22">Vanished Hopes <span class="tocright">417</span></a></li> + + <li><a href="#ch23">The Fulfilment <span class="tocright">427</span></a></li> + + <li><a href="#ch24">The Road to Pella <span class="tocright">441</span></a></li> +</ol> + + + +<h1>THE CITY OF DELIGHT</h1> + + + + +<h2 id="ch1">Chapter I</h2> + +<h2>A PRINCE'S BRIDE</h2> + + +<p> +The chief merchant of Ascalon stood in the guest-chamber +of his house. +</p> + +<p> +Although it was a late winter day the old man +was clad in the free white garments of a midsummer +afternoon, for to the sorrow of Philistia the cold +season of the year sixty-nine had been warm, wet and +miasmic. An old woman entering presently glanced +at the closed windows of the apartment when she +noted the flushed face of the merchant but she made +no movement to have them opened. More than the +warmth of the day was engaging the attention of +the grave old man, and the woman, by dress and +manner of equal rank with him, stood aside until he +could give her a moment. +</p> + +<p> +His porter bowed at his side. +</p> + +<p> +"The servants of Philip of Tyre are without," he +said. "Shall they enter?" +</p> + +<p> +"They have come for the furnishings," Costobarus +answered. "Take thou all the household but Momus +and Hiram, and dismantle the rooms for them. Begin +in the library; then the sleeping-rooms; this +chamber next; the kitchen last of all. Send Hiram to +the stables to except three good camels from the herd +for our use. Let Momus look to the baggage. +Where is Keturah?" +</p> + +<p> +A woman servant hastening after a line of men +bearing a great divan, picking up the draperies and +pillows that had dropped, stopped and salaamed to +her master. +</p> + +<p> +"Is our apparel ready?" he asked. +</p> + +<p> +"Prepared, master," was the response. +</p> + +<p> +"Then send hither–" But at that moment a man-servant +dressed in the garb of a physician hastened +into the chamber. Without awaiting the notice of +his master he hurried up and whispered in his ear. +Costobarus' face grew instantly grave. +</p> + +<p> +"How near?" he asked anxiously. +</p> + +<p> +"In the next house–but a moment since. The +household hath fled," was the low answer. +</p> + +<p> +"Haste, haste!" Costobarus cried to the rush of +servants about him. "Lose no time. We must be +gone from this place before mid-afternoon. Laodice! +Where is Laodice?" he inquired. +</p> + +<p> +Then his wife who had stood aside spoke. +</p> + +<p> +"She is not yet prepared," she explained unreadily. +"She needs a frieze cloak–" +</p> + +<p> +Costobarus broke in by beckoning his wife to one +side, where the servants could not hear him say compassionately, +</p> + +<p> +"Let there be no delay for small things, Hannah. +Let us haste, for Laodice is going on the Lord's +business." +</p> + +<p> +"A matter of a day only," Hannah urged. "A +delay that is further necessary, for Aquila's horse +is lame." +</p> + +<p> +The old man shook his head and looked away to +see a man-servant stagger out under a load of splendid +carpets. The old woman came close. +</p> + +<p> +"The wayside is ambushed and the wilderness is +patrolled with danger, Costobarus," she said. "Of a +certainty you will not take Laodice out into a country +perilous for caravans and armies!" +</p> + +<p> +"These very perils are the signs of the call of the +hour," he maintained. "She dare not fail to respond. +The Deliverer cometh; every prophecy is fulfilled. +Rather rejoice that you have prepared your daughter +for this great use. Be glad that you have borne +her." +</p> + +<p> +But in Hannah's face wavered signs of another +interpretation of these things. She broke in on him +without the patience to wait until he had completed +his sentence. +</p> + +<p> +"Are they prophecies of hope which are fulfilled, +or the words of the prophet of despair?" she insisted. +"What saith Daniel of this hour? Did he +not name it the abomination of desolation? Said he +not that the city and the sanctuary should be destroyed, +that there should be a flood and that unto the +end of the war desolations shall be determined? Desolations, +Costobarus! And Laodice is but a child and +delicately reared!" +</p> + +<p> +"All these things may come to pass and not a hair +of the heads of the chosen people be harmed," he +assured her. +</p> + +<p> +"But Laodice is too young to have part in the conflict +of nations, the business of Heaven and earth and +the end of all things!" +</p> + +<p> +A courier strode into the hall and approached Costobarus, +saw that he was engaged in conversation and +stopped. The merchant noted him and withdrew to +read the message which the man carried. +</p> + +<p> +"A letter from Philadelphus," he said over his +shoulder, as he moved away from Hannah. "He +hath landed in Cęsarea with his cousin Julian of +Ephesus. He will proceed at once to Jerusalem. We +have no time to lose. Ah, Momus?" +</p> + +<p> +He spoke to a servant who had limped into the hall +and stood waiting for his notice. He was the ruin of +a man, physically powerful but as a tree wrecked by +storm and grown strong again in spite of its mutilation. +Pestilence in years long past had attacked him +and had left him dumb, distorted of feature, wry-necked +and stiffened in the right leg and arm. His +left arm, forced to double duty, had become tremendously +muscular, his left hand unusually dexterous. +Much of his facial distortion was the result of his +efforts to convey his ideas by expression and by his +attempts to overcome the interference of his wry neck +with the sweep of his vision. +</p> + +<p> +"Whom have we in our party, Momus?" Costobarus +asked. As the man made rapid, uncouth signs, +the master interpreted. +</p> + +<p> +"Keturah, Hiram and Aquila–and thou and I, +Momus. Three camels, one of which is the beast of +burden. Good! Aquila will ride a horse; ha! a horse +in a party of camels–well, perhaps–if he were +bought in Ascalon. How? What? St–t! The +physician told me even now. Let none of the household +know it–above all things not thy mistress!" +The last sentence was delivered in a whisper in response +to certain uneasy gestures the mute had made. +The man bowed and withdrew. +</p> + +<p> +A second servitor now approached with papers +which the merchant inspected and signed hastily with +ink and stylus which the clerk bore. When this last +item was disposed of, Hannah was again at her husband's +side. +</p> + +<p> +"Costobarus," she whispered, "it is known that +the East Gate of the Temple, which twenty Levites +can close only with effort, opened of itself in the sixth +hour of the night!" +</p> + +<p> +"A sign that God reėntereth His house," the merchant +explained. +</p> + +<p> +"A sign, O my husband, that the security of the +Holy House is dissolved of its own accord for the +advantage of its enemies!" +</p> + +<p> +Costobarus observed two huge Ethiopians who appeared +bewildered at the threshold of the unfamiliar +interior, looking for the master of the house to tell +them what to do. The merchant motioned toward a +tall ebony case that stood against one of the walls +and showed them that they were to carry it out. +Hannah continued: +</p> + +<p> +"And thou hast not forgotten that night when the +priests at the Pentecost, entering the inner court, were +thrown down by the trembling of the Temple and +that a vast multitude, which they could not see, cried: +'Let us go hence!' And that dreadful sunset which +we watched and which all Israel saw when armies were +seen fighting in the skies and cities with toppling +towers and rocking walls fell into red clouds and +vanished!" +</p> + +<p> +"What of thyself, Hannah?" he broke in. "Art +thou ready to depart for Tyre? Philip will leave +to-morrow. Do not delay him. Go and prepare." +</p> + +<p> +But the woman rushed on to indiscretion, in her +desperate intent to stop the journey to Jerusalem at +any cost. +</p> + +<p> +"But there are those of good repute here in Ascalon, +sober men and excellent women, who say that our +hope for the Branch of David is too late–that +Israel is come to judgment, this hour–for He is +come and gone and we received Him not!" +</p> + +<p> +Costobarus turned upon her sharply. +</p> + +<p> +"What is this?" he demanded. +</p> + +<p> +"O my husband," she insisted hopefully, "it measures +up with prophecy! And they who speak thus +confidently say that He prophesied the end of the +Holy City, and that this is not the Advent, but +doom!" +</p> + +<p> +"It is the Nazarene apostasy," he exclaimed in +alarm, "alive though the power of Rome and the diligence +of the Sanhedrim have striven to destroy it +these forty years! Now the poison hath entered +mine own house!" +</p> + +<p> +A servant bowed within earshot. Costobarus turned +to him hastily. +</p> + +<p> +"Philip of Tyre," the attendant announced. +</p> + +<p> +"Let him enter," Costobarus said. "Go, Hannah; +make Laodice ready–preparations are almost complete; +be not her obstacle." +</p> + +<p> +"But–but," she insisted with whitening lips, "I +have not said that I believe all this. I only urge that, +in view of this time of war, of contending prophecies +and of all known peril, that we should keep her, who is +our one ewe lamb, our tender flower, our Rose of +Sharon, yet within shelter until the signs are manifest +and the purpose of the Lord God is made clear." +</p> + +<p> +He turned to her slowly. There was pain on his +face, suffering that she knew her words had evoked +and, more than that, a yearning to relent. She was +ashamed and not hopeful, but her mother-love was +stronger than her wifely pity. +</p> + +<p> +"Must I command you, Hannah?" he asked. +</p> + +<p> +Her figure, drawn up with the intensity of her +wishfulness, relaxed. Her head drooped and slowly +she turned away. Costobarus looked after her and +struggled with rising emotion. But the curtain +dropped behind her and left him alone. +</p> + +<p> +A moment later the curtains over the arch parted +and a middle-aged Jew, richly habited, stood there. +He raised his hand for the blessing of the threshold, +then embraced Costobarus with more warmth than +ceremony. +</p> + +<p> +"What is this I hear?" he demanded with affectionate +concern. "Thou leavest Ascalon for the peril +of Jerusalem?" +</p> + +<p> +"Can Jerusalem be more perilous than Ascalon +this hour?" Costobarus asked. +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, by our fathers!" Philip declared. "Nothing +can be so bad as the condition of the Holy City. +But what has happened? Three days ago thou wast +as securely settled here as a barnacle on a shore-rock! +To-day thou sendest me word: 'Lo! the time long +expected hath come; I go hence to Jerusalem.' +What is it, my brother?" +</p> + +<p> +"Sit and listen." +</p> + +<p> +Philip looked about him. The divan was there, +stripped of its covering of fine rugs, but the room +otherwise was without furniture. Prepared for surprise, +the Tyrian let no sign of his curiosity escape +him, and, sitting, leaned on his knees and waited. +</p> + +<p> +"Philadelphus Maccabaeus hath sent to me, bidding +me send Laodice to him–in Jerusalem," Costobarus +said in a low voice. +</p> + +<p> +Philip's eyes widened with sudden comprehension. +</p> + +<p> +"He hath returned!" he exclaimed in a whisper. +</p> + +<p> +For a time there was silence between the two old +men, while they gazed at each other. Then Philip's +manner became intensely confident. +</p> + +<p> +"I see!" he exclaimed again, in the same whisper. +"The throne is empty! He means to possess it, now +that Agrippa hath abandoned it!" +</p> + +<p> +Costobarus pressed his lips together and bowed his +head emphatically. Again there was silence. +</p> + +<p> +"Think of it!" Philip exclaimed presently. +</p> + +<p> +"I have done nothing else since his messenger +arrived at daybreak. Little, little, did I think when +I married Laodice to him, fourteen years ago, that +the lad of ten and the little child of four might one +day be king and queen over Judea!" +</p> + +<p> +Philip shook his head slowly and his gaze settled +to the pavement. Presently he drew in a long breath. +</p> + +<p> +"He is twenty-four," he began thoughtfully. +"He has all the learning of the pagans, both of letters +and of war; he–Ah! But is he capable?" +</p> + +<p> +"He is the great-grandson of Judas Maccabaeus! +That is enough! I have not seen him since the day +he wedded Laodice and left her to go to Ephesus, but +no man can change the blood of his fathers in him. +And Philip–he shall have no excuse to fail. He +shall be moneyed; he shall be moneyed!" +</p> + +<p> +Costobarus leaned toward his friend and with a +sweep of his hand indicated the stripped room. It +was a noble chamber. The stamp of the elegant simplicity +of Cyrus, the Persian, was upon it. The +ancient blue and white mosaics that had been laid by +the Parsee builder and the fretwork and twisted pillars +were there, but the silky carpets, the censers and +the chairs of fine woods were gone. Costobarus looked +steadily at the perplexed countenance of Philip. +</p> + +<p> +"Seest thou how much I believe in this youth?" +he asked. +</p> + +<p> +A shade of uneasiness crossed Philip's forehead. +</p> + +<p> +"Thou art no longer young, Costobarus," he said, +"and disappointments go hard with us, at our age–especially, +especially." +</p> + +<p> +"I shall not be disappointed," Costobarus declared. +</p> + +<p> +The friendly Jew looked doubtful. +</p> + +<p> +"The nation is in a sad state," he observed. "We +have cause. The procurators have been of a nature +with their patrons, the emperors. It is enough but to +say that! But Vespasian Cęsar is another kind of +man. He is tractable. Young Titus, who will succeed +him, is well-named the Darling of Mankind. +We could get much redress from these if we would be +content with redress. But no! We must revert to +the days of Saul!" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes; but they declare they will have no king but +God; no commander but the Messiah to come; no +order but primitive impulse! But the Maccabee will +change all that! It is but the far swing of the first +revolt. Jerusalem is ready for reason at this hour, it +is said." +</p> + +<p> +"Yes," Philip assented with a little more spirit. +"It hath reached us, who have dealings with the East, +that there is a better feeling in the city. Such slaughter +has been done there among the Sadducees, such +hordes of rebels from outlying subjugated towns have +poured their license and violence in upon the safe City +of Delight, that the citizens of Jerusalem actually +look forward to the coming of Titus as a deliverance +from the afflictions which their own people have visited +upon them." +</p> + +<p> +"The hour for the Maccabee, indeed," Costobarus +ruminated. +</p> + +<p> +"And the hour for Him whom we all expect," +Philip added in a low tone. Costobarus bowed his +head. Presently he drew a scroll from the folds of +his ample robe. +</p> + +<p> +"Hear what Philadelphus writes me: +</p> + + +<blockquote> +<p> +Cęsarea, II Kal. Jul. XX. +</p> + +<p> +To Costobarus, greetings and these by messenger; +</p> + +<p> +I learn on arriving in this city that Judea is in truth no +man's country. Wherefore it can be mine by cession or conquest. +It is mine, however, by right. I shall possess it. +</p> + +<p> +I go hence to Jerusalem. +</p> + +<p> +Fail not to send my wife thither and her dowry. Aquila, +my emissary, will safely conduct her. Trust him. +</p> + +<p> +Proceed with despatch and husband the dowry of your +daughter, since it is to be the corner-stone of a new Israel. +</p> + +<p> +Peace to you and yours. To my wife my affection and my +loyalty. +</p> + +<p> +PHILADELPHUS MACCABAEUS. +</p> + +<p> +Nota Bene. Julian of Ephesus accompanies me. He is my +cousin. He will in all probability meet your daughter at the +Gate. +</p> + +<p> +MACCABAEUS." +</p> + +</blockquote> + +<p> +Slowly the old man rolled the writing. +</p> + +<p> +"He wastes no words," Philip mused. "He writes +as a siege-engine talks–without quarter." +</p> + +<p> +Costobarus nodded. +</p> + +<p> +"So I am giving him two hundred talents," he said +deliberately. +</p> + +<p> +"Two hundred talents!" Philip echoed. +</p> + +<p> +"And I summoned thee, Philip, to say that in addition +to my house and its goods, thou canst have my +shipping, my trade, my caravans, which thou hast +coveted so long at a price–at that price. I shall +give Laodice two hundred talents." +</p> + +<p> +"Two hundred talents!" Philip echoed again, +somewhat taken aback. +</p> + +<p> +Costobarus went to a cabinet on the wall and drew +forth a shittim-wood case which he unlocked. Therefrom +he took a small casket and opened it. He then +held it so that the sun, falling into it, set fire to a bed +of loose gems mingled without care for kind or value–a +heap of glowing color emitting sparks. +</p> + +<p> +"Here are one hundred of the talents," Costobarus +said. +</p> + +<p> +A flash of understanding lighted Philip's face not +unmingled with the satisfaction of a shrewd Jew who +has pleased himself at business. One hundred talents, +then, for the best establishment in five cities, in all the +Philistine country. But why? Costobarus supplied +the answer at that instant. +</p> + +<p> +"I would depart with my daughter by mid-afternoon," +he said. +</p> + +<p> +"I doubt the counting houses; if I had known +sooner–" Philip began. +</p> + +<p> +"Aquila arrived only this morning. I sent a messenger +to you at once." +</p> + +<p> +Philip rose. +</p> + +<p> +"We waste time in talk. I shall inform thee by +messenger presently. God speed thee! My blessings +on thy son-in-law and on thy daughter!" +</p> + +<p> +Costobarus rose and took his friend's hand. +</p> + +<p> +"Thou shalt have the portion of the wise-hearted +man in this kingdom. And this yet further, my +friend. If perchance the uncertainties of travel in +this distressed land should prove disastrous and I +should not return, I shall leave a widow here–" +</p> + +<p> +"And in that instance, be at peace. I am thy +brother." +</p> + +<p> +Costobarus pressed Philip's hand. +</p> + +<p> +"Farewell," he said; and Philip embraced him and +went forth. +</p> + +<p> +Costobarus turned to one of his closed windows and +thrust it open, for the influence of the spring sun had +made itself felt in the past important hour for Costobarus. +</p> + +<p> +Noon stood beautiful and golden over the city. +The sky was clean-washed and blue, and the surface +of the Mediterranean, glimpsed over white house-tops +that dropped away toward the sea-front, was a wandering +sheet of flashing silver. Here and there were +the ruins of the last year's warfare, but over the fallen +walls of gray earth the charity of running vines +and the new growth of the spring spread a beauty, +both tender and compassionate. +</p> + +<p> +In such open spaces inner gardens were exposed +and almond trees tossed their crowns of white bloom +over pleached arbors of old grape-vines. Here the +Mediterranean birds sang with poignant sweetness +while the new-budded limbs of the oleanders tilted suddenly +under their weight as they circled from covert +to covert. +</p> + +<p> +But the energy of the young spring was alive only +in the birds and the blossoming orchards. Wherever +the solid houses fronted in unbroken rows the passages +between, there were no open windows, no carpets swung +from latticed balconies; no buyers moved up the +roofed-over Street of Bazaars. Not in all the range +of the old man's vision was to be seen a living human +being. For the chief city of the Philistine country +Ascalon was nerveless and still. At times immense and +ponderous creaking sounded in the distance, as if a +great rusted crane swung in the wind. Again there +were distant, voluminous flutterings, as if neglected +and loosened sails flapped. Idle roaming donkeys +brayed and a dog shut up and forgotten in a compound +barked incessantly. Presently there came faint, +far-off, failing cries that faded into silence. The +Jew's brow contracted but he did not move. +</p> + +<p> +From his position, he could see the port to the east +packed with lifeless vessels. The stretches of stone +wharf and the mole were vacant and littered with rubbish. +The yard-arms of abandoned freighters were +peculiarly beaded with tiny black shapes that moved +from time to time. Far out at sea, so far that a blue +mist embraced its base and set its sails mysteriously +afloat in air, a great galley, with all canvas crowded +on, sped like a frightened bird past the port that had +once been its haven. +</p> + +<p> +A strange compelling odor stole up from the city. +Costobarus glanced down into his garden below him. +It was a terraced court, with vine-covered earthen +retaining walls supporting each successive tier and +terminating against a domed gate flanked on either +side by a tall conical cypress. +</p> + +<p> +He noted, on the flagging of the walk leading by +flights of steps down to the gate, a heap of garments +with broad brown and yellow stripes. Wondering at +the untidiness of his gardener in leaving his tunic here +while he worked, Costobarus looked away toward the +large stones that lay here and there in gutters and on +grass-plots, remnants of the work of the Roman catapults +the previous summer. In the walls of houses +were unrepaired breaches, where the wounds of the +missiles showed. On a slight eminence overlooking the +city from the west center-poles of native cedar which +had supported Roman tents were still standing. But +no garrison was there now, though the signs of the +savage Roman obsession still lay on the remnants of +the prostrate western wall. So as Costobarus' gaze +wandered he did not see far above that heap of striped +garments in his garden walk, fixed like an enchanted +thing, moveless, dead-calm, a great desert vulture +poised in air. Presently another and yet another +materialized out of the blue, growing larger as they +fell down to the level of their fellow. Slowly the three +swooped down over the heap on the garden walk. The +tiny black shapes that beaded the yard-arms in port +spread great wings and soared solemnly into Ascalon. +The three vultures dropped noiselessly on the pavement. +</p> + +<p> +Cries began suddenly somewhere nearer and instantly +the tremendous booming of a great oriental +gong from the heathen quarters swept heavy floods of +sound over the outcry and drowned it. The vultures +flew up hastily and Costobarus saw them for the first +time. A chill rushed over him; revulsion of feeling +showed vividly on his face. He shut the window. +</p> + +<p> +Noon was high over Ascalon and Pestilence was +Cęsar within its walls. +</p> + +<p> +It was the penalty of warfare, the long black +shadow that the passage of a great army casts upon a +battling nation. Physicians could not give it a name. +It seized upon healthy victims, rent them, blasted +them and cast them dead and distorted in their tracks, +before help could reach them. It passed like fire on a +high wind through whole countries and left behind it +silence and feeding vultures. +</p> + +<p> +As Costobarus turned from his window to pace up +and down his chamber, Hannah's argument came back +to him with new energy. He felt with a kind of panic +that his confident answer to her might have been +wrong. When a girl appeared in the archway, he +moved impulsively toward her, as if to retract the +command that would send her out into this land that +the Lord had spoken against, but the strength and +repose in her face communicated itself to him. +</p> + +<p> +Above all other suggestions in her presence was +that overpowering richness of oriental beauty which +no other kind in the world may surpass in its appeal +to the loves of men. Enough of the Roman stock in +her line had given structural firmness and stature to a +type which at her age would have developed weight +and duskiness, but she was taller and more slender than +the women of her race, and supple and alive and splendid. +About her hips was knotted a silken scarf of +red and white and green with long undulant fringes +that added to the lithe grace in her movements. +Under it was a glistening garment of silver tissue that +reached to the small ankles laced about by the ribbons +of white sandals. For sleeves there were netted +fringes through which the fine luster of her arms was +visible. About her wrists, her throat and in her hair, +heavy and shining black, were golden coins that +marked her steps with stealthy tinkling. +</p> + +<p> +Costobarus, in spite of the shock of doubt and fear +in his brain, looked at her as if with the happy eyes +of the astonished Maccabee. In those full tender lips, +in the slope of those black, silken brows, in the sparkling +behind the dusky slumbrous eyes, there was all the +fire and generosity and limitless charm that should +make her lover's world a place of delight and perfume +and music. +</p> + +<p> +"How is it with you, Laodice?" he asked, faltering +a little. +</p> + +<p> +"I am prepared, my father," she answered. +</p> + +<p> +"I commend your despatch. I would be gone within +an hour." +</p> + +<p> +She bowed and Costobarus regarded her with growing +wistfulness. At this last moment his love was to +become his obstacle, his fear for his child his one cowardice. +</p> + +<p> +"Dost thou remember him?" he asked without preliminary. +</p> + +<p> +Laodice answered as if the thought were first in her +mind. +</p> + +<p> +"Not at all; and yet, if I could remember him, I +may not discover in the man of four-and-twenty anything +of the lad of ten." +</p> + +<p> +"He may not have changed. There are such +natures, and, as I recall him, his may well be one of +these. His disposition from childhood to boyhood did +not change. When I knew him in Jerusalem, he was +worthy the notice of a man. The manner he had +there he bore with him to this, a smaller city, and +hence to Ephesus, a city of another kind. It was +good to see him examine the world, reject this and +that and look upon his choice proudly. He made the +schools observe him, consider him. He did not enter +them for alteration, nor was he shut up in a shell of +self-satisfaction. He entered them as a citizen of the +world and as an examiner of all philosophy. Yet the +world taught him nothing. It gave him merely the +open school where regulation and atmosphere helped +him to teach himself. O wife of a child, thou shalt +not be ashamed of thy husband, man-grown!" +</p> + +<p> +"How is he favored?" she asked with the first +maiden hesitation showing in the question. +</p> + +<p> +"He was slender and dark and promised to be tall. +He was quick in movement, quick in temper, resourceful, +aye, even shifty, I should say; stubborn, cold in +heart, hard to please." +</p> + +<p> +"Fit attributes for a king," she said, half to herself, +"yet he will be no soft husband." +</p> + +<p> +Costobarus looked away from her and was silent +for a time. +</p> + +<p> +"Daughter," he said finally, "thou hast learned +indeed that thine is to be no luxurious life. In thy +restrained heart there are no dreams. Let not thy +youth, when thou seest him, put obstacle in the way of +thy duty. Whether thou lovest him or lovest him not, +he is thy husband, thy fellow in a great labor for God +and for Israel. Remember the times and the portents +and shut thine ears against selfish desire. Thou seest +Judea. That which the Lord hath uttered against it +through the prophets has come to pass. Abandon thy +hopes in all save the Son of God; forget thyself; prepare +to give all and expect nothing but the coming of +the King! For verily thou lookest over the edge of +the world past the very end of time!" +</p> + +<p> +The solemn announcement of the Advent by this +white-bearded prophet should have discovered in her +a very human and terrified girl. But it was no +new tidings to her. Since her earliest recollection +she had heard it, expected it, contemplated it, till the +magnitude and terror of it had been lost in its familiarity. +She clasped her hands and dropped her eyes +and her lips moved in a silent prayer. +</p> + +<p> +Costobarus remained for a space sunk in glorified +meditation. But presently he raised himself, with +signs of his recent feeling showing on his face. +</p> + +<p> +"Send hither thy mother; bid Aquila and our servants +stand here before me a little later." +</p> + +<p> +She bowed and withdrew. As she passed out a +servant stepped aside to give her room and at a sign +from his master approached. +</p> + +<p> +"A messenger from Philip of Tyre," he said. +</p> + +<p> +A moment later an old courier carrying a sheepskin +wallet came into the chamber. He salaamed and +produced a tablet which he handed to Costobarus. +</p> + +<blockquote> +<p> +Herewith, O my brother, I send thee one hundred talents. +May it prove part of the corner-stone of a new Israel. +Peace to thee and thine! +</p> + +<p> +PHILIP OF TYRE. +</p> + +</blockquote> + +<p> +Costobarus looked up at the old courier. +</p> + +<p> +"Take my blessings to thy master. May he come +to a high seat in that new Israel which he hath helped +to build! Farewell." +</p> + +<p> +The courier withdrew. When his footsteps died +away the old merchant reached under the divan and +drew forth the shittim-wood box. Producing a key +he unlocked and opened it. From his bosom he drew +forth the letter from Philadelphus and laid it within. +</p> + +<p> +"Let her take it with her," he said, speaking +aloud. "Here," lifting a cylinder of old silver exquisitely +chased, "are her marriage papers; this," +lifting delicately embroidered squares of linen, "her +marriage tokens, and here, her dowry." +</p> + +<p> +He opened the inner box and laid the sheepskin +wallet in upon the gems. He closed the lid, and, locking +the case, lifted it and set it beside him on the +divan. +</p> + +<p> +When he looked up, he saw a man standing within +a few paces of him and perfunctorily gazing at anything +but the display of Laodice's fortune. +</p> + +<p> +He was lean, muscular, somewhat younger than +forty but already gray at the temples, of nervous +temperament, direct of gaze and of attractive presence. +He wore a tunic of gray wool bordered with +red, and a gray mantle hung negligently from his +shoulders. Limbs and arms were bare and his head-covering +of red wool hung from his arm. +</p> + +<p> +Costobarus, a little discomfited that he had been +surprised with Laodice's dowry exposed, spoke +briskly. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, Aquila? Prepared?" +</p> + +<p> +"Everything is in order. I am ready to proceed +at once." +</p> + +<p> +"How many in your party?" +</p> + +<p> +"But myself." +</p> + +<p> +"Have you ever been to Jerusalem?" +</p> + +<p> +"Never." +</p> + +<p> +"How, then," Costobarus asked, with a keen look, +"came Philadelphus to appoint you to conduct Laodice +to the city?" +</p> + +<p> +"His retinue is small; he could not come himself, +and he chose me as safer than the other member of +his party," was the direct reply. +</p> + +<p> +Costobarus studied this reply before he questioned +his son-in-law's courier further. +</p> + +<p> +"Jerusalem, they say, is in disorder. How will +you get my daughter to shelter when you have reached +the city?" +</p> + +<p> +"Philadelphus hath instructed me that there will be +a Greek at the Sun Gate daily, awaiting us. He will +wear a purple turban embroidered with a golden star. +He will conduct us to the house of Amaryllis the +Seleucid, who is pledged to the Maccabee's cause. +Philadelphus will be in her house." +</p> + +<p> +"Why hers?" Costobarus persisted. +</p> + +<p> +"Because it is the only secure house in Jerusalem. +She stands in the good graces of John of Gischala +and she is safe." +</p> + +<p> +Costobarus ruminated. +</p> + +<p> +"There is too much detail; too many people to +depend upon and therefore too many who may fail +you. Aquila!" +</p> + +<p> +"Sir?" +</p> + +<p> +"I am going to Jerusalem with you." +</p> + +<p> +He turned without waiting to see the effect of this +speech upon the Maccabee's courier and clapped his +hands for an attendant. To the servitor who responded +he said: +</p> + +<p> +"Send hither our party. It is time. Bring me my +cloak." +</p> + +<p> +He looked then suddenly at Aquila. The Roman's +face had cleared of its astonishment and discomfiture. +</p> + +<p> +"Well enough," the courier said bluntly and closed +his lips. The servitor reappeared with his master's +cloak and kerchief. After him came Keturah, the +handmaiden, and Hiram, a camel-driver, prepared for +a journey. The mute Momus presently appeared. +Costobarus got into his cloak without help, made inquiry +for this detail and that of his business and of +his journey, gave instruction to his attendants, and +then asked for Laodice. +</p> + +<p> +There was a moment of silence more distressed than +embarrassed. Momus dropped his eyes; Keturah +looked at her master with moving lips and sudden +flushing of color, as if she were on the point of tears. +Aquila stared absently out of the arch beyond. +</p> + +<p> +Costobarus glanced from one to the other of his +company and then went toward the corridor to call +his daughter. As he lifted the curtain, he started +and stopped. +</p> + +<div class="ctr"> + <a href="images/image02l.jpg"> + <img src="images/image02.jpg" + alt="At her feet Hannah knelt." + title="At her feet Hannah knelt." /></a> + <p class="caption">At her feet Hannah knelt.</p> +</div> + +<p> +The lifted curtain had revealed Laodice. At her +feet Hannah knelt, as if she had flung herself in her +daughter's path, her arms clasping the young figure +close to her and an agony of appeal stamped on her +upraised face. The last of the rich color had died out +of the girl's face and with pitiful eyes and quivering +lips she was stroking the desperate hands that meant +to keep her for ever. +</p> + +<p> +Except for the sudden sobbing of the woman servant, +tense and anguished silence prevailed. The old +merchant was confronted with a perplexity that found +him without fortitude to solve. He felt his strength +slip from him. He, too, covered his face with his +hands. +</p> + +<p> +At the opposite arch another house servant appeared, +lifted a distorted, blackening face and, doubling +like a wounded snake, fell upon the floor. +</p> + +<p> +A moment of stupefied silence in which Hannah, +with her mother instincts never so acutely alive, +turned her strained vision upon the writhing figure. +Then shrieks broke from the lips of the serving-woman; +the hall filled with panic. Hannah leaped to +her feet and thrust Laodice toward her father. +</p> + +<p> +"Away!" she cried. "The pestilence! The pestilence +is upon us!" +</p> + + + + + +<h2 id="ch2">Chapter II</h2> + +<h2>ON THE ROAD TO JERUSALEM</h2> + + +<p> +News of the appearance of the plague in the house +of Costobarus traveled fast after the death of the +gardener, who had fallen in the open and in sight of +the watchful inhabitants of Ascalon. So by the time +the house servants of the merchant were made aware +of their peril by the death of one of their own number, +Philip of Tyre with the courage of affection and +loyalty stood on the threshold of the guest-chamber +informed of the situation and prepared to help. Hannah, +supported by the Tyrian's assurance of her rescue +and protection, succeeded in urging Costobarus +and Laodice not to delay for her to the peril of the +thrice precious daughter. +</p> + +<p> +So with his house yet ringing with the first convulsion +of terror Costobarus ordered his party with +all haste to the camels. +</p> + +<p> +Keturah, Laodice's handmaiden, had fainted with +terror and was carried parcel-wise over the great arm +of Momus, the mute, out into the street and deposited +summarily on the floor of Laodice's bamboo howdah. +The camel-driver, Hiram, seemed only a little less stupefied +than she. The mute, with a face as determined +and threatening as an uplifted gad, drove him from +the shelter of a dark corner out to his place on the +neck of his master's camel. Aquila, the emissary, +showed the immemorial composure in the face of disaster +that was the badge of the Roman in the days of the +degenerate Cęsars, and, mounting his horse when the +rest of the party were in their places, headed the procession +toward the northeast. +</p> + +<p> +From an upper window behind a lattice, Hannah +cried her farewells and fluttered her scarf. She was +smiling the drawn, white smile of a mother who is +forcing herself to be cheerful in the face of danger, +for the peace of those she loves. Laodice understood +the tender deception and when a sharp turn of the +street cut off the sight of the plumy trees of the garden, +she covered her face and wept inconsolably. +</p> + +<p> +On either side of the passage there came muffled +sounds from houses; out of open alleys leading into +interior courts stole the fetor of death that even the +spice of burning unguents could not smother. The +whole air shuddered with the drumming of heathen +physicians in the pagan quarters, through which the +silence of long stretches of ominously quiet houses +shouted its meaning. At times frantic barefoot flights +could be glimpsed as households deserted stricken +houses, but whatever outcry arose came from bedsides. +Ascalon fled as a frightened animal flees, silently and +under cover. +</p> + +<p> +They rode now through a shrieking wind, burdened +with sallow smoke and dreadful odors. Denser and +denser the cloud grew till the streets ahead were hidden +in yellow vapor and near-by houses loomed with dim +outlines as if far off, and even the sounds of death and +disaster became choked in the immense prevalence of +smell. Blinded, with scarf and kerchief wrapped over +mouth and nostril, the fleeing party swept down upon +the very heart of that stifling mystery. Through it +presently, as the houses thinned out, they saw cores +of great heat surmounted by black-tipped flames that +crackled savagely. Momus, now in the lead, turned +sharply to his right and the next instant had the wind +behind him. Almost involuntarily each member of +the party looked back. Outside the breach of the +broken wall, standing clear to view with the wind from +the hills sweeping townward from them, were diabolical +figures, naked and black, feeding immense pyres +with hideous fuel. +</p> + +<p> +Past this grisly line, a camel with a single rider +swept in from seaward. The traveler lifted an arm +and signaled to the party. Aquila seemed not to see +this hail, and rode on; but Costobarus, after the traveler +motioned to them once more, spoke: +</p> + +<p> +"Does not this person make signs to us, Aquila?" +</p> + +<p> +The pagan looked back. +</p> + +<p> +"Why should he?" he asked. +</p> + +<p> +"He can tell us," the master observed and spoke to +Momus and Hiram, who drew up their camels. The +traveler raced alongside. +</p> + +<p> +It was a woman, veiled and wrapped with all the +jealous care of the East against the curious eyes of +strangers. Aquila took in her featureless presence +with a single irritated look and apparently lost interest. +</p> + +<p> +"Greeting, lady," Costobarus said. +</p> + +<p> +"Peace, sir, and greeting," she replied respectfully. +Her tones were marked with the deference of the serving-class +and Costobarus gave her permission to +speak. +</p> + +<p> +"Art thou a Jew and master of this train?" she +asked. +</p> + +<p> +Costobarus assented. +</p> + +<p> +"I was journeying to Jerusalem with a caravan of +which my master was owner, but the Romans came +upon us and took every one prisoner, except myself. +I escaped, but I am without protection and without +friends. In Jerusalem, I have relatives who will care +for me, yet I fear to make the journey alone. I pray +thee, with the generosity of a Jew and the authority +of a master, permit me to go in the protection of thy +company!" +</p> + +<p> +Costobarus reflected and while he hesitated he became +aware that Momus was looking at him with +warning in his eyes. But Laodice, so filled with loneliness +and apprehension, was moved to sympathy for +the solitary and friendless woman. She leaned toward +her father and said in a low voice: +</p> + +<p> +"Let her come with us, father; she is a woman and +afraid." +</p> + +<p> +Aquila heard that low petition and he flashed a look +at the stranger that seemed reproachful. But Costobarus +was speaking. +</p> + +<p> +"Ride with us, then, and be welcome," he said. +</p> + +<p> +The woman bowed her shawled head and murmured +with emotion after a silence: +</p> + +<p> +"The blessings of a servant be upon you and +yours; may the God of Israel be with you for evermore." +</p> + +<p> +She dropped back to the rear of the party and the +train moved on. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile, Keturah, who sat huddled on the floor +of Laodice's howdah, had not moved since they had +left the doorway of Costobarus' house. Momus, +on the neck of Laodice's camel, had observed +her once or twice, and now he reached back and +touched her. He jerked his hand away and brought +up his camel with a wrench. Hiram, following close +behind, by dint of main strength managed to avoid a +collision with Momus' beast so suddenly halted. The +mute leaped down from his place and in an instant +Costobarus joined him. Alarmed without understanding, +Laodice had risen and was drawn as far as she +might from the serving-woman. Momus, lifting himself +by the stirrup, seized the stiff figure and laid it +down upon the sands. Aquila dismounted and the +three men bent over the woman. Then Costobarus +glanced up quickly at Laodice, made a sign to Momus, +who, with a face devoid of expression, climbed back +into his place on the neck of the camel. +</p> + +<p> +The strange woman who had stood her ground was +heard to say in a low voice, half lost in the muffling +of her wrappings: +</p> + +<p> +"One!" +</p> + +<p> +Momus drove on leisurely and Laodice, knowing +that she must not look, slipped down in her place and +wrapped her vitta over her face. +</p> + +<p> +Pestilence was riding with them. +</p> + +<p> +After a long time, Costobarus' camel ambled up +beside hers, and she ventured to uncover her eyes. +Her father smiled at her with that same heart-breaking +smile which her mother had for her in face of +trouble. +</p> + +<p> +"The frosts! The frosts!" he whispered to Momus, +and the mute laid goad about his camel. +</p> + +<p> +Aquila, seeing this haste, checked his horse's gait +and fell back beside the strange woman. Together +they permitted the rest of the party to ride ahead, +while they talked in voices too restrained to be heard. +</p> + +<p> +"There is pestilence in this company," Aquila said +angrily; "will that not persuade you to abandon this +plan?" +</p> + +<p> +"No. When all of you are like to die and leave +this great treasure sitting out in the wilderness without +a guardian?" she said lightly. There was no +trace of a servant's humility in her tone. +</p> + +<p> +"Hast had the plague that thou seem'st to feel +secure from it?" he demanded. +</p> + +<p> +"O no; then there would be no risk in this game. +There is no sport in an unfair advantage over conditions. +No! But how comes this Costobarus with +you?" +</p> + +<p> +"He would not trust his daughter and a dowry to +me, alone." +</p> + +<p> +"How shall we get to Emmaus, then?" she asked. +</p> + +<p> +"We shall not get to Emmaus; so you must inform +Julian, who will expect us there," he declared. +</p> + +<p> +The woman played with the silken reins of her +camel. Behind her veil a sarcastic smile played about +the corners of her mouth. Aquila watched her resentfully, +waiting with an immense reserve of caustic +words for her refusal to accept the charge. +</p> + +<p> +"So, my Mars of the gray temples, thou meanest +in all faith to deliver up this lady and her treasure +to Julian?" +</p> + +<p> +"By those same gray temples, I do! And hold thy +peace about my white hairs. Nothing made them so +but thyself–and this evil plot in which I am tangled. +What does Julian mean to do with this poor +creature?" +</p> + +<p> +"He has not got her yet and by the complication +thou seest now, wearing its turban over one ear in +yonder howdah, it may come to pass that he will never +have her–and her dowry." +</p> + +<p> +"Pfui! How little you know this Julian! Besides, +I am pledged to deliver him–at least the +treasure." +</p> + +<p> +"And thou meanest to line his purse with this great +treasure because he paid thee to do it?" +</p> + +<p> +"I shall; and be rid of it!" +</p> + +<p> +The woman smiled sarcastically. +</p> + +<p> +"And scorn it for thyself?" +</p> + +<p> +Aquila made no answer, but rode on in sulky silence. +</p> + +<p> +"Perpol, it must be pleasant to be a queen," the +woman observed with an assumption of childishness +in her voice. +</p> + +<p> +"Peril's own habit!" Aquila declared. +</p> + +<p> +"Peril! Fie! That is half the pleasure of this +game of life. It is tiresome to live any other way +than hazardously." +</p> + +<p> +"Thou shalt have pleasure enough in this journey +thou art to take," Aquila declared a little threateningly. +</p> + +<p> +The woman laughed. When Aquila spoke again, +his voice was full of concern. +</p> + +<p> +"I was a fool for not forcing you to stay in Ascalon. +You are reckless–reckless!" +</p> + +<p> +"It was that which made me attractive," the woman +broke in, "to Nero, to Vitellius and to you." +</p> + +<p> +"Reckless and useless!" Aquila went on decisively. +"Hear me, now; I trifle no longer. Sometime to-night +thou'lt leave us and journey to Emmaus and +inform Julian what has wrecked his plans, and send +him with despatch to Zorah. This thou wilt do, by all +the Furies, or when I do catch thee as I shall, since +there is no other fool in Judea who will undertake to +feed thee, I shall leave the print of my displeasure on +thee from thy head to thy heel! Mark me!" +</p> + +<p> +The woman laughed aloud, with such peculiar insolence +and amusement that one of the servants heard +her and turned his head that way. +</p> + +<p> +"Pah! What a timid villain thou art," the woman +said, when the servant looked away again. "How +much better it would have been had Julian fixed upon +<i>me</i> as his confederate!" +</p> + +<p> +"Not for Julian! You plot against him even +now. But say what you will, you go to Emmaus +to-night, without fail. I have spoken!" +</p> + +<p> +Aquila touched his horse and riding away from the +woman came up beside Costobarus who was gazing +over the country through which they were passing. +</p> + +<p> +It was a great plain, advancing by benches and +slopes to the edge of a rocky shore. Without forests, +spotted only with verdure, vast, barren, exhausted with +the constant production of fourteen centuries, it was +a cheerless sea-front at its best. To the west the wash +of the tideless Mediterranean tumbled along an unindented +coast; to the east the sallow stony earth went +up and up, toward an ever receding sallow horizon. +Between lay humbled towns, wholly abandoned to the +bats and to the ignoble wild life of the Judean wilderness. +There were no sheep or cattle. Vespasian had +passed that way and required the flocks of the nation +for the subsistence of his four legions. There were +no olive or fig groves. They had been the first to fall +under the Roman ax, for the policy of Roman warfare +was that the first step in subduing a rebellious +province was to starve it. The vineyards had suffered +the same end. The enriched soil of these inclosures, +made one now with the wild at the leveling of their +hedges, produced acres of profitless weeds, green +against the rising brown bosom of the hill-fronts. +Here and there were the fallen walls of isolated homes–wastes +of masonry already losing all domestic +signs. There were no gardens; it had been two seasons +since the wheat and the barley had been reaped +last, and the seaboard of southern Judea, in the path +of Rome the destroyer, was a wilderness. +</p> + +<p> +Over all this immense slope the eyes of Costobarus +wandered. However he had felt in the preceding +days when he looked upon this ruin of the land of milk +and honey, he realized now suddenly and in all its +fearful actuality the predicament of Judea, its despair +and the gigantic travail before those who would save +it from the united sentence passed upon it by God and +the powers. Immense dejection seized him. He +looked from the face of the country, upon which not a +single thing of profit showed, toward the bowed head +and oppressed figure of his young and inexperienced +daughter who was to put her tender self between Ruin +and its victim. Chills, succeeded by flashes of fever, +swept over him. He raised himself as if to give command +to Aquila but settled back under the canopy, +grown immeasurably older and feebler in that moment +of helpless surrender to conditions of which he had +been part an artificer. It was not as if he had made +an incautious move in a political game; it was, as it +seemed to him undeniably then, that he had advanced +against the Lord God of Hosts, and there was no turning +back! +</p> + +<p> +He settled slowly into a stunned anguish that +seemed to rise gradually, like a filling tide, shutting +out the sunset and the seaboard, the bald earth and the +streaming wind, and engulfing him in roaring darkness +and intense cold. +</p> + +<p> +They were in sight of a cluster of Syrian huts, the +first inhabited village they had come upon since leaving +Ascalon, but he was not aware of it. The sudden +halting of his camel and a hoarse strained cry at hand +seemed to bear some relation to his condition, but he +did not care. He felt his howdah lurch to one side as +some one leaped up beside him; he felt remotely the +great grasp of hands on him, which must have been +Momus'; the quick military voice of Aquila he heard +and then, keen and distinct as a call upon him, the +sound of Laodice's tones made sharp with terror. +</p> + +<p> +He opened his eyes and saw her, holding him in her +arms. Somewhere in the background were the faces +of Momus and Aquila. Between the pagan and the +old servant passed a look that the old man caught. +Then he heard Aquila say: +</p> + +<p> +"The village–his sole chance, if there is a physician +there." +</p> + +<p> +Laodice held him fast only for a moment, when it +seemed that she was wrenched away. The dying man +was glad. If this were pestilence, she should not come +near. The hiss of the lash and the bound of the stung +camel disturbed him but he lapsed into the immense +cold again as they raced down the slight declivity +toward the Syrian village. But Pestilence was riding +with them and the odds were with it. +</p> + +<p> +But the dwellers of that little huddle of huts had +nothing to do but to sit in their doorways and suspect. +Whatever came their way from the sea for many +months had brought them disaster and long since they +had learned to defend themselves. So now, when a +party riding at breakneck speed, bearing with them +an old man on whom the inertia of death was plain, +came across the frontiers of their little town, they met +them with the convenient stones of their rocky streets, +with their savage, stark-ribbed dogs, with offal from +kitchen heap and donkey stall and with insults and +curses. +</p> + +<p> +"Away, ye bringers of plague! Out, lepers; be +gone, ye unclean!" +</p> + +<p> +Laodice and Aquila who rode in the open were +fair targets for half the hail that fell about them. +The girl groaned as the missiles fell into the howdah +upon the helpless shape of Costobarus, who did not +lift a hand to fend off the stones. The pagan, +bruised and raging, drew his weapon and spurred +his horse to ride down his assailants, but they scattered +before him and from safe refuge continued their +assault with redoubled determination. +</p> + +<p> +Momus, seeing only injury in attempting to enforce +hospitality, turned his camel and, swinging +around the outermost limits of the settlement, fled. +Aquila followed him, and a moment later the rest of +the party joined them. +</p> + +<p> +Without the range of the village, the party halted. +Momus and Aquila lifted Costobarus down and laid +him on a rug that Laodice had spread for him. But +when she would have knelt by him, he motioned to +Aquila not to permit her to approach. The mute +stood by his master. In that countenance fast passing +under shade was written charge and injunction +as solemn as the darkness that approached him. +</p> + +<p> +"Here, O faithful servant, is the wife of a prince, +the daughter of thy master, the joy of thine own +declining days. Shield her against wrong and misfortune +by all the strength that in thee lies, as thou +hopest in the King to come and the reward of the +steadfast. Promise!" +</p> + +<p> +They were silent lips that once knew the art and +the sound of speech. The old habit never entirely +fell away from them. Under this anguish they moved–fruitlessly; +over the deformed face flitted the keen +agony of regret; then he lifted his great left arm and +bent it upward at the elbow; the huge, even monstrous +muscles, knotted and kinked from shoulder to +elbow, sank down under the broad barbarian bracelet +of bronze and rippled under and rose again from +elbow to wrist, ferocious, superhuman! In that +movement the dying man read the mute's consecration +of his one great strength to the protection of +the tenderly loved Laodice. Costobarus motioned to +the shittim-wood casket and Momus undid it and +strapped it on his own belt. +</p> + +<p> +"The frosts! The frosts!" the dying man whispered. +The mute understood. Then the father's +eyes wandered toward the figure of his daughter +fended away from him by the pagan. The agony +of her suffering and the agony of his distress for her +bridged the space between them. And while they +yearned toward each other in a silence that quivered +with pain, the light darkened in Costobarus' eyes. +</p> + +<p> +When Laodice came to herself, she was laid upon +a spot of rough grass, in the shelter of an overhanging +bluff. It was not the scene upon which her sorrow-stunned +eyes had closed a while before. The +village was nowhere in sight; the plain had been left +behind; any further view was shut off by Aquila's +horse, and the two camels whose bridles were in the +hands of Hiram. Beside the stricken girl knelt Momus +and Aquila; standing at her feet was a new-comer, +on whom her wandering and half-conscious +gaze rested. +</p> + +<p> +He was an old man, clad in a short tunic, ragged +of hem and girt about him with a rope. Barefoot, +bareheaded and provided only with a staff and a small +wallet, he was to outward appearances little more +than one of the legion of mendicants that infested +the poverty-stricken land of Judea. But his large +eyes, under the tangle of wind-blown white hair and +white shelving brows, were infinitely intelligent and +refined. Now, they beamed with pity and concern on +the bereaved girl. +</p> + +<p> +But she forgot him the next instant, for returning +consciousness brought back like a blow the memory +of the death of her father. +</p> + +<p> +From time to time she caught snatches of conversation +between the old wayfarer and Aquila. They +were spoken in low tones and only from time to time +did they reach her. +</p> + +<p> +"He was Costobarus, principal merchant of this +coast," she heard Aquila explain shortly. +</p> + +<p> +"I shall go on to Ascalon; I do not fear," the +old man said next. "I shall bring his people to +fetch his body. I marked the spot. Comfort her +with that, when she can bear to talk of it." +</p> + +<p> +"We go to Jerusalem," Aquila went on, some time +later, "else we should turn back with him ourselves. +But we dare not risk the pestilence on her account, for +it seems that she is very necessary to the Jews at this +hour–very necessary." +</p> + +<p> +"I follow to the Holy City," the old wayfarer +added at last. "The Passover is celebrated there +within two weeks. But I shall not fail; nothing will +harm me." +</p> + +<p> +"What talisman do you carry to protect you?" +the pagan asked a little irritably. +</p> + +<p> +"No talisman, but the love of Jesus Christ, the +Saviour!" +</p> + +<p> +"A Christian!" Aquila exclaimed. +</p> + +<p> +Even through her stupor of grief and hopelessness, +Laodice heard this exclamation. Here, then, +was one of the Nazarenes, that mysterious sect whose +tenets she had never been permitted to hear; But also, +she knew that the old apostate had braved the plague +and had buried her father. She turned to look at +him in time to see him extend his hands in blessing +over her. +</p> + +<p> +"<i>The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and his comfort +be with you, for ever; amen</i>. Farewell." +</p> + +<p> +He was gone. Momus raised her in his arms and, +lifting her into her howdah, laid her tenderly on the +improvised reclining seat that had been made of the +chair therein. In a twinkling the whole party had +mounted, and passed swiftly on toward Jerusalem. +As they moved forward, the strange woman murmured +softly: +</p> + +<p> +"Two!" +</p> + +<p> +Laodice's camel mounted the slope toward the east +and stretched away on a comparative level toward an +immense white moon. Aquila's horse kept up with +the matchless speed of the tall camel only at times, +and Laodice, dully sensing that they were going at +hot haste, realized that a race was on between them +and the pestilence. Momus was wielding the goad +for a run to the frosts. +</p> + +<p> +A camel raced up beside Aquila. +</p> + +<p> +"Look!" the woman said to him in a lowered tone, +showing back over the road by which they had come. +Aquila turned in his saddle and looked. Momus rose +in his seat and looked. Behind them only one camel +rocked along in their wake. The other and its driver +had disappeared. +</p> + +<p> +"Deserted!" Aquila exclaimed under his breath. +</p> + +<p> +"Three!" the woman said. +</p> + +<p> +"A pest on your counting for a Charon's toll-taker!" +Aquila whispered savagely. "We will have +no more of it!" +</p> + +<p> +"No?" the woman said with a meaning that made +the pagan shiver. +</p> + +<p> +Momus laid goad about his camel. +</p> + +<p> +The way continually ascended toward the east; the +soil was no longer sandy, but rocky; no longer given +up to desolate gardens, but black with groves of +cedars and highland shrubs. They swung off a +plateau that would have ended in a cliff, down a shaly +sheep-path into a wady. Under the moonlight, the +bottom was seen to be scarred with marks of hoof and +wheel. It debouched suddenly into a Roman road, +straight, level, magnificently built and running as +a bird flies on to Jerusalem. +</p> + +<p> +The camel's gait increased. Momus settled himself +in a securer position and Laodice, careless of the +outcome of this breathless hurry, yielded herself to +the careen of her howdah. At times, her indifferent +vision caught, through moonlit notches and gaps, +glimpses of great blue vapors, crowned with pale fire +and piled in glorious disorder low on the eastern +horizon. They were the hills encompassing Jerusalem. +The stream of wind on her face cooled and +drove stronger. +</p> + +<p> +Aquila rode closer to her, his horse panting under +the effort. His face looked strange and distressed. +</p> + +<p> +"Lady," he said in low tones, "necessity forces +me to speak to you in your grief; do not blame +me for indifference to your desire to be alone. But +we must care for you, though in your heart this +moment you may resent a wish to live. But your +father commanded me!" +</p> + +<p> +She gave him attention. +</p> + +<p> +"Let us not carry peril with us," he added in a +half-whisper. "Let us not carry food for pestilence +with us." +</p> + +<p> +"I do not understand," she answered, adopting his +low tone. +</p> + +<p> +"The more we are, the more of us to die. You +must live; I must live," he explained, nodding toward +Momus. +</p> + +<p> +After a little silence, she asked: +</p> + +<p> +"Do we not ride toward the frosts?" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes; but even now pestilence may ride on beside +us–your servant and this woman. Let us save ourselves." +</p> + +<p> +"Abandon them?" she questioned. +</p> + +<p> +"Lest they go on without us," he added. +</p> + +<p> +Momus turned suddenly and gazed at Aquila. +Then he imperiously signed the pagan to fall back. +</p> + +<p> +They rode on. +</p> + +<p> +The pagan slackened his horse's gallop and reined +in beside the woman. They talked together, argumentatively, +for a single tense minute and then Aquila, +with a bitter word, put spurs to his animal and +dashed up beside Laodice's camel. In his one uplifted +hand a knife gleamed. The other reached +toward the casket bound to Momus' hip. Laodice, +raised to an upright attitude in her fresh fright, saw +that his face was black and twisted and that he +wavered stiffly in his saddle. +</p> + +<p> +But the mute did not await the attack. He seized +the pagan's outstretched hands with that monstrous +left and flung him backward. Without an effort to +save himself, falling rigidly and with a strange cry, +Aquila dropped back over his horse's crupper into +the dust of the road. +</p> + +<p> +"Momus!" Laodice screamed. +</p> + +<p> +Back of her the woman cried out: +</p> + +<p> +"On! On! It is the pestilence!" +</p> + +<p> +Momus wielded his goad. Laodice, shaking and +crying aloud, looked back to see the strange woman +swerve her camel past the dark shape lying with +out-flung arms in the road and sweep quickly on +after them. +</p> + +<p> +The scourge had overtaken Aquila. +</p> + +<p> +All night the camels fled east, all night the soft +footfall of the woman's beast pursued them; all night +the wind freshened until Laodice's bared face stiffened +with the cold and the breath of the mute that +sat upon her camel's neck steamed in the moonlight. +Up and up, by steep and winding wadies they +mounted; under overhanging cliffs and past bald towers +of hill-rock staring white in the moon, along black +passes between brooding eminences of solid night, +crowned with ghost-light; over high plateaus darkened +with groves, down dales with singing, invisible +streams running seaward and up again and on until +the hills engulfed them wholly and those before were +higher than any they had seen. Then their flying +beasts, leaving the Roman road over which they had +sped for some distance, followed a sheep-path and +burst into an open immersed in moonlight. Below +in the distance was a cluster of huts, white and lifeless. +But abroad, over the crisp grass and misty +white on all the exposed slopes, sparkled the deep +hoar frost! +</p> + + + + + +<h2 id="ch3">Chapter III</h2> + +<h2>THE SHEPHERD OF PELLA</h2> + + +<p> +Momus drew up his camel. The woman who had +followed halted. Except for the hurried breathing +of their beasts, a critical silence brooded over the +moon-silvered wilderness. The moment was tense +with the agony of human bitterness against the immitigable +despatch of death. There could be no +thanksgiving for their own safety from those who +were not glad to be given life. Laodice resented her +preservation; old Momus, aside from the wound of +personal loss sore in his heart, was stricken with +the realization of the grief of his young mistress, +which he could not help. He did not raise his eyes +to her face when he turned toward her; there was no +speech. In the young woman's heart the pain was +too great for her to venture expression safely. The +silence was poignant with unnatural restraint. +</p> + +<p> +Presently Momus inquired of her by signs if she +wished to go on to the lifeless village below the camp. +She did not observe his gestures, and Momus decided +for her. He drove on and the woman, who had +wrapped her cloak about her as the biting wind of +the hills heightened through the narrow defiles to the +north, followed. +</p> + +<p> +But almost the next instant Momus drew up his +mount so suddenly that Laodice was roused. He +turned and began to make rapid signs. Laodice half +rose as she read them and pressed her hands together. +</p> + +<p> +"Seven days!" she exclaimed in dismay. There +was silence. +</p> + +<p> +Momus made the camel kneel. He dismounted +slowly, and began to undo the tent-cloth in a roll beside +the howdah. The woman rode up and instantly +the mute stepped between her and his young mistress +and went on with his work. +</p> + +<p> +Laodice understood the question in the woman's +attitude although, with true sense of an inferior's +place, the stranger did not speak. +</p> + +<p> +"We are unclean," Laodice said with effort. "We +have come from a pestilential city and we have touched +the dead. We can not enter a town with these defilements +upon us, except to present ourselves to a priest +for examination and separation. Furthermore, we +must burn our unessential belongings. If you are a +Jewess all these things are known to you." +</p> + +<p> +The woman extended her hands, palms upward, +with a grace that was almost dainty. +</p> + +<p> +"Lady," she said behind her unlifted veil, "I am +an unlettered woman and have been accustomed to the +instruction of my masters. I am obedient to the laws +of our people." +</p> + +<p> +"You would have been in less peril to have ridden +alone," Laodice sighed. "Our company has been no +help to you." +</p> + +<p> +"We can not say that confidently. There are +worse things than pestilence in the wilderness," the +woman replied. +</p> + +<p> +Momus seemed to observe more confidence than was +natural in the ready answers of this professed servant, +and before he would leave Laodice to pitch camp, he +helped her to alight and drew her with him. The +woman remained on her mount. +</p> + +<p> +Gathering up sticks, dead needles of cedar and last +year's leaves, he made a fire upon which he heaped +fuel till it lighted up the near-by slopes of the hills +and roared jovially in the broad wind. +</p> + +<p> +It was a pocket in the heart of high hills into +which they had fled. The bold, sure line of a Roman +road divided it, cutting tyrannically through +the cowed hovels of the town as an arrow drives +through a flock of pigeons. On either side were the +dim shapes of great rocks and semi-recumbent cedars. +Retiring into shadow were the darker outlines of the +surrounding circle of hills, rived by intervals of black +night where wadies entered. From their summits the +flying arch of the heavens sprang, printed with a few +faint stars, but all silvered with the flood-light of a +moon cold and pure as the frost itself. It was unsympathetic, +aloof and wild–a cold place into which +to bring broken hearts to assume banishment from +the comfort and companionship of mankind. +</p> + +<p> +Laodice slowly and with effort began to separate +those belongings which were to be laid upon the fire +from those which were too necessary to be burned. +The woman alighted but, on offering to assist, was +warned away from the girl with a menacing gesture +of Momus' great arm. The stranger drew herself +up suddenly with a wrath that she hardly controlled +but came no nearer Laodice. When the girl finally +finished her selection, the woman begged permission +to attend to the camels and getting the beasts on their +feet led them together to be tethered. +</p> + +<p> +Laodice, assisted by Momus, took up the condemned +supplies and flung them one at a time upon the roaring +fire. Little by little, with growing reluctance, +the heap of spare belongings was examined and condemned, +until finally only the garments they wore, the +tents that were to shelter them and the essential harness +of the camels were left. Then Momus drew +from his wallet a fragment of aromatic gum and cast +it on the blaze. While it ignited and burned with +great vapors of penetrating incense, he unstrapped +the precious casket, set it down between his feet, +stripped off his comfortable woolen tunic and passed +it through the volumes of white smoke piling up from +the fire. +</p> + +<p> +And while he stood thus a deft hand seized the +casket from behind. There was a sharp, warning +cry from Laodice. The old man staggered only a +moment from the tripping that the wrench gave him, +but in that instant of hesitation the pillager vanished. +</p> + +<p> +The old mute shouted the infuriated, half-animal +yell of the dumb and started in pursuit, but at his +second step he saw the fleeter camel swing down the +declivity, at top-speed, with the other trailing with +difficulty at full length of its bridle behind. The +next instant the muffled beat of the padded hooves +drummed the solid bed of the Roman road, and the +shapes of camels and fugitive were lost in blue darkness +beyond the town. +</p> + +<p> +There was no need for the pair left behind to await +a realization of all that the loss meant to them. One +running swiftly as a fine young creature can run when +spurred by desperation, and the other, lamely but +doggedly, as an old determined man, rushed down +the rough side of the slope, leaped into the roadway +and ran irrationally after the fugitive mounted upon +a camel, fleeter than the fastest horse. +</p> + +<p> +Momus saw with fear that Laodice on this straight +inviting road would out-distance him to her peril. +He shouted inarticulately after her, but her reply +came back, high with desperation and terror. +</p> + +<p> +"The corner-stone of Israel! All his treasure! +God's portion, lost, lost!" +</p> + +<p> +She was out of his sight. The sudden barking of +dogs told him that she had crossed the outskirts of +the village, and groaning with alarm for her the old +man stumbled on after her. He saw lights flash +out; heard shouts, and out of the confusion distinguished +Laodice's, vehement and urging. The yapping +of the town curs became less threatening and, +by the time Momus reached the settlement, half-dressed +Jews were hurrying east out of the village +after the flying feet of the girl, in pursuit of the +robber. +</p> + +<p> +For unmeasured time, while the moon crossed its +meridian and sloped down the west, the search continued. +Momus did not overtake the fleet-footed party +that preceded him. Stragglers that lost interest +dropped back with him from time to time; but finding +him dumb and immensely distressed, they disappeared +eventually and returned to the town. One by one, at +times by twos and threes the party dropped off. The +three or four who remained helpful continued against +hope, for simple pity for the girl. But when she +dropped suddenly by the wayside, exhausted with the +strain of many troubles, they stopped to tell her that +the chase was fruitless and to offer their rough condolences. +</p> + +<p> +Then Momus hobbled up to them. Laodice refused +to raise her head to listen to them and they turned to +the old man. But by signs, he showed them that his +tongue was dead, and finally, with suppressed remarks +upon the exceeding misfortune of the pair, they, too, +disappeared. A thoughtful one invited them to return +to the village. Laodice, careless now of what +he should think of his exposure to pestilence, told him +bluntly that they were unclean. Hastily he exclaimed +at the sum of their troubles, hastily blessed them, and +hastily departed. +</p> + +<p> +There was a pallor along the under-rim of the +east; the wind freshened with the sweet vigor of +early morning. +</p> + +<p> +Over the stunned silence came the sound of the +infinite trotting of tiny hooves and a high, wild, +youthful yell. Laodice, too worn to observe, sat still; +but Momus, with a rush of old fairy-tales in mind, +sprang to her side and seized her arm. His alarmed +eyes searched the dark landscape for whatever visitation +it had to reveal. +</p> + +<p> +There was the rush of countless hoof-beats and a +low cloud of dust obscured the crest of the hill just +above them. The soft tremolo of multitudinous +bleating came out of it. The quick excited bark of a +fresh Natolian sheep-dog wakened an echo in one of +the ravines through a hill on the opposite side of the +road, while strong and insistent and happy the young +cry preceded this sudden animation in the wilderness. +</p> + +<p> +There was a fall of gravel on the slope over their +heads and the next instant a fourteen-year-old boy +descended upon the pair in a fall of earth, his sandaled +feet planted one ahead of the other, his bare +arms thrown above his head as he balanced himself, +his long, stiff, crinkled black locks blowing backward, +his face bright with the eager enjoyment of his simple +feat. +</p> + +<p> +After him came a veritable avalanche of Syrian +sheep, scrambling to right and left as they parted +behind Momus and Laodice and eddying around the +young shepherd who stopped at seeing the pair. His +yell died away at once, though the effort of sliding +down a frozen, rocky slope had not interfered +with a single note. +</p> + +<p> +He might well have been a young satyr, fresh from +the groves of Achaia, with his big, serious mouth +and its range of glittering teeth, his shining deer-like +eyes, wide apart, his faun curls low on his forehead, +his big head set on a short neck, his shoulders +yet childish, his slim brown body half smothered in +skins, half bare as he was born, his large hard +hand gripping a crook of horn and wood. His gaze +at Momus was frank with boyish curiosity. His +bright eyes plainly remarked on the oddity of the old +servant's appearance. Having catalogued old Momus +as worthy of further inspection, he looked then +at Laodice. Under the lowering moon and the listless +effort of coming day, her unmantled dress of silver +tissue made of her a moon-spirit, banished out of +her world of pallor and solitude. Before her splendid +young beauty, pale with distress and weariness, +he was not abashed. His simple eyes studied her with +equal frankness, but with an admiration beyond words. +</p> + +<p> +Feeling somehow that his sudden appearance might +have distressed her, he said finally: +</p> + +<p> +"Go on, lady, or stay as it pleases you. I will not +hurt you." +</p> + +<p> +Momus' shoulders submerged his ears in an indignant +shrug. That this young calf of the pastures +should insure him safe passage! +</p> + +<p> +But Laodice was still filled with the calamity of +her loss. +</p> + +<p> +"Hast seen a robber, here, along this road?" she +asked. +</p> + +<p> +"Many of them," was the prompt answer. +</p> + +<p> +"With a chest of jewels?" +</p> + +<p> +The boy shook his head. +</p> + +<p> +"I never examined their booty," he said with perfect +respect. +</p> + +<p> +"Or then a woman riding one camel and leading +another?" +</p> + +<p> +"Never anything like that." +</p> + +<p> +Laodice, with this hope gone, let her face fall into +her hands. +</p> + +<p> +"His fortune given freely to Israel," she groaned. +"His whole life's ambition reduced to material form +for the help of his brethren–gone, gone!" +</p> + +<p> +The shepherd grew instantly distressed. He looked +at Momus and asked in a whisper what had happened. +But the old servant signed to his lips irritably, +and stroked his young mistress' hair in a dumb +effort to comfort her. The silence grew painful. In +his anxiety to relieve them, he bethought him of their +uncovered heads and houseless state. +</p> + +<p> +"Do you live in the village; or do you camp near +by?" +</p> + +<p> +Momus shook his head. Laodice appreciated the +boy's concern for them but could not make an attempt +to explain. +</p> + +<p> +"Then," he offered promptly, "come have my fire +and my rock. It is the best rock in all these hills; +and my tent," he added, showing the skins that +wrapped him. "I wear my tent; it saves my carrying +it. Indeed I do not need it; you may have it. +Come!" +</p> + +<p> +He spoke hurriedly, as if he would thrust his desire +to comfort between her and the wave of disconsolation +that he felt was about to cover her. +</p> + +<p> +Old Momus, sensibly accepting the boy's suggestion +as the wisest course, raised Laodice and motioning +the shepherd to lead on, led his young mistress +up the hill as the boy retraced his steps. The flood +of Syrian sheep turned back with him and followed +bleating between the urging of the sheep-dog, as the +boy climbed. +</p> + +<p> +On a slope to the west as a wady bent upon itself +abruptly before it debouched upon the hillside, there +was a deep glow illuminating a space in the depression. +The shepherd dropped down out of sight. His +voice came over the shuffle and bleat of the sheep. +</p> + +<p> +"Follow me; this is my house." +</p> + +<p> +Momus led his mistress over to the wady. There +the shepherd with uplifted hands helped her down +with the superior courtesy of a householder offering +hospitality. There was a red circle of fire in the +sandy bottom of the dry wady, and beside it was a +flat boulder at the foot of which were prints of the +shepherd's sandals and, on the bank behind it, the +mark where his shoulders had comfortably rested. He +made no apology for the poverty of his entertainment; +he had never known anything better. +</p> + +<p> +"Now, brother," he said busily to Momus, "if +thou'lt lend me of thy height, thou shalt have of my +agility and we will set up a douar for the lady." +</p> + +<p> +With frank composure he stripped off the burden +of skins that covered him until he stood forth in a +single hide of wool, with a tumble of sheep pelts at +his feet. In each one was a thorn preserved for use +and with these he pinned them all together, scrambled +out on the bank, emitting his startling cry at the +sheep that obstructed his path. From above he +shouted down to Momus. +</p> + +<p> +"Stretch it, brother, over thy head. I shall pin +it down with stones on either side. Now, unless some +jackal dislodges these weights before morning, ye will +be safe covered from the cold. There! God never +made a man till He prepared him a cave to sleep +under! I've never slept in the open, yet. How is it +with thee now, lady?" +</p> + +<p> +He was down again before her with the red light +of the great bed of coals illuminating him with a +glow that was almost an expression of his charity. +</p> + +<p> +She saw that he had the straight serious features +of the Ishmaelite, but lacked the fierce yet wondering +gaze of the Arab. Aside from these superior indications +in his face there was nothing to separate him +from any other shepherd that ranged the mountainous +pastures of Palestine. +</p> + +<p> +She, who all her life had never known anything +but to expect the tenderest of ministrations, was +humbly surprised and grateful at the free-handed +generosity of the young stranger. Momus looked at +him with grudging approval. +</p> + +<p> +"It is kindly shelter," she said finally with effort, +"and it is warm. You are very good to us!" +</p> + +<p> +"But you have not eaten of my salt," he declared. +</p> + +<p> +Momus showed interest. It had been long since the +last meal in the luxurious house of Costobarus. The +boy in the meantime produced unleavened loaves from +the carry-all of sheepskin that hung over his shoulders, +and without explanation disappeared among his +flock. Presently he returned with a small skin of +milk. +</p> + +<p> +"We have goats in the flock," he said. "A shepherd +can not live without a goat. You do not know +about shepherds," he added. +</p> + +<p> +Laodice thought that she detected tactful inquiry +in his last remark and roused herself painfully to make +due explanations to her host. But he waved his hands +at her, with the desert-man's courtesy which covers +fine points better than the greater ones. +</p> + +<p> +"Eat my fare; I do not purchase thy history with +salt and shelter," he said, with a certain sublimity of +honor. +</p> + +<p> +Momus ate, and looked with growing grace at his +young host. But Laodice succeeded only in drinking +the goat's milk and lapsed into benumbed gazing at +the red glow of fire that cast its warmth about her. +The shepherd talked on, attempting to interest her in +something other than her consuming sorrow. +</p> + +<p> +"These be Christian sheep about you, friends," he +said, "and I am a Christian shepherd." +</p> + +<p> +Momus sat up suddenly with a bit of the boy's +bread arrested on its way to his lips. He was eating +the fare of an apostate, of a despised Nazarene. The +boy went on composedly. +</p> + +<p> +"We are from Pella, the Christian city. We are, +my sheep, my city and I, the only secure people in +all Judea. We, I and the sheep, have been in the +hills since the first new grass in February. We are +many leagues from home." +</p> + +<p> +"So am I," Laodice said wearily. +</p> + +<p> +"Jerusalem?" the shepherd asked, glad he had +brought out a response. "No? Yet all Judea is +going to Jerusalem at this time. Are you fugitives?" +</p> + +<p> +Momus nodded. +</p> + +<p> +"Come then to Pella," the shepherd urged. "You +will be fed there; Titus will not come there. We are +poor but we are happy–and we are safe." +</p> + +<p> +Laodice thanked him so inertly that he sensed her +disinterest, and while he sat looking at her, searching +his heart for something kind to say, she put out her +hand impulsively and took his. +</p> + +<p> +"God keep thee and forget thy heresy," she said. +"If thou livest in Pella, Pella is indeed happy." +</p> + +<p> +He laughed with a flush stealing up under the +brown of his cheeks. A faint light came into Laodice's +eyes as she looked at him; he returned her gaze +with a gradual softening that was intensely complimentary. +Between the two was effected instant and +lasting fellowship. Before Momus' indignant eyes +the shepherd was blushing happily. +</p> + +<p> +"Who art thou?" Laodice asked. +</p> + +<p> +"They call me Joseph, son of Thomas." +</p> + +<p> +After a silence she said softly, +</p> + +<p> +"I am not at liberty to tell my name." She remembered +the secrecy of Philadelphus' mission. +"Yet perchance if the God of my fathers prosper +me and my husband, I may come to Pella–as thy +queen." +</p> + +<p> +The boy's eyes brightened and he drew in a sharp +breath, but almost instantly the animation died and +he looked at her sorrowfully. It seemed that she +read dissent and sympathy commingled in his gaze. +But he was a Christian; he could not believe and +hope as she hoped. +</p> + +<p> +"Can I do aught for you?" he asked disjointedly. +</p> + +<p> +"Our duty is rather toward you, child," she answered, +suddenly arousing to the peril they might +bring their free-handed host. "We have newly come +from a country where there is pestilence." +</p> + +<p> +But he smiled down on her uplifted face, with immense +confidence. +</p> + +<p> +"I am not afraid. Besides, if I perish giving you +comfort, I have done only as Jesus would have me +do." +</p> + +<p> +"Who is Jesus?" Laodice asked. +</p> + +<p> +The shepherd made a little sign and bent his knee. +</p> + +<p> +"The Christ!" he responded. +</p> + +<p> +Momus plucked quickly at Laodice's sleeve and +shook his head at her in an admonitory manner. He +had laid down his bread unfinished. But the shepherd +looked at him sympathetically. +</p> + +<p> +"Never fear," he said. "It will not hurt her to +hear about Him. He makes Pella safe from armies. +Let her come there and see for herself." +</p> + +<p> +Laodice pressed his hand. +</p> + +<p> +"I shall come," she said. +</p> + +<p> +He heaved a contented sigh–contented with himself, +contented with her promise to come. Then he +drew his hands away. +</p> + +<p> +"The sheep are noisy; they will not let you sleep. +We shall go." Then as if afraid of her thanks he +drew away, and halted at the threshold of the shelter. +Then the boy extended his hands with a gesture so +solemn that both of his guests bowed their heads +instinctively. +</p> + +<p> +"<i>The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you +for evermore.</i> Farewell," he said in a half-whisper. +</p> + +<p> +He was gone. +</p> + +<p> +Presently the rush of little feet swept after him +and his high, wild, youthful yell rang faintly in the +distance. The delicate crackling from the heated bed +of coals was all that was heard in the sheltered wady +roofed with skins. +</p> + +<p> +For the second time within the past few hours, +Laodice had met a Christian. Both had helped her; +both had blessed her. And one was an old man and +one was a child. +</p> + +<p> +The interest of the recent interview and the excitement +of the night slowly died away, leaving Laodice +in the dead hopelessness of weary despair. She lay +down suddenly with her face against the warmed sand +and wept. Momus sat down beside her, covered her +with a leopard skin taken from his own swarthy shoulders, +and soothed her with awkward touches on cheek +and hair, till her tears exhausted her and she slept. +</p> + +<p> +Stealthily then the old man rolled up her own +mantle and put it under her head and prepared to +watch. And then as he sat with his knee drawn up, +his head bowed upon it, the weakness of slumber gradually +stole away his watchfulness and his concern. +</p> + +<p> +Some time later, before the deliberate dawn of a +March day had put out the last of the greater stars, +two men on horses descended the declivity just above +the shelter of sheepskins and attracted by the dull +glow of the fire drew up cautiously. +</p> + +<p> +At a word from one of the men, the other alighted +and, peering from the shelter of a prostrate cedar, +inspected the pair. After assuring himself that there +were but two about the camp, one a woman and both +asleep, he tiptoed back to his fellow. +</p> + +<p> +"Only a man and a woman," he said. "Jews on +their way to the Passover. Their fire is almost out. +Let us ride on." +</p> + +<p> +"What haste!" the one who had kept his saddle +said. "One would think it were you going forward +to meet a bride and her dowry! I am hungry. Let +us borrow of this fire and get breakfast." +</p> + +<p> +"Emmaus is only a little farther on," the first +man protested. "I am tired of wayside meals, Philadelphus. +I would eat at a khan again before I forget +the custom." +</p> + +<p> +"How is the pair favored?" the other said provokingly. +</p> + +<p> +"I did not approach near enough," the other retorted. +"It seemed to be an old man and a girl." +</p> + +<p> +"Pretty?" the one called Philadelphus asked. +</p> + +<p> +"I did not see." +</p> + +<p> +"Married, Julian?" +</p> + +<p> +"How could I tell?" Julian flared. +</p> + +<p> +Philadelphus laughed, and dismounted. +</p> + +<p> +"I shall see for myself," he declared, walking over +to the sheltering cedar to look. +</p> + +<p> +Julian followed him nervously, saying under his +breath: +</p> + +<p> +"You waste time deliberately!" +</p> + +<p> +"Tut! You merely wish to keep me from seeing +this girl," Philadelphus retorted. +</p> + +<p> +He, too, stopped at the prostrate cedar and gazed +under the sagging shelter of skins. +</p> + +<p> +"Shade of Helen!" he exclaimed under his breath +as the firelight gave him perfect view of the sleeping +girl. "What have we here?" +</p> + +<p> +Julian made no response. He drew nearer and +looked in silence. +</p> + +<p> +"Now what are they to each other?" Philadelphus +continued. "Father and daughter; lady and servant +or–a courtezan and her manager?" +</p> + +<p> +At the continued silence of his companion, he argued +his question himself. +</p> + +<p> +"No such ill-fashioned peasant loins as his ever +begat such sweet patrician perfection as that!" he +declared. "And a lady rich enough to have one +servant would travel with more than one or not at +all–" +</p> + +<p> +Julian broke in with sudden avid interest. +</p> + +<p> +"Look at that deal of feminine flummery–that +dress of silver tissue, the ends of that silken scarf +you see below the covering–all those jewels and +trinkets! Odd garb for travel afoot, is it not? It is +a badge not to be put off even in as barren a market as +this. She is going to Jerusalem for the Passover. +He will carry the purse, however, mark me." +</p> + +<p> +"How well you know the marks of delinquency!" +Philadelphus said with a glimmer of resentment in +his eyes. +</p> + +<p> +"Who does not? What do the Jewish psalmists +and proverbialists and purists depict so minutely as +that migrating iniquity, the strange woman?" +</p> + +<p> +"But look at her!" Philadelphus insisted. "I +have not seen anything so bewitching since I left +Ephesus!" +</p> + +<p> +"No; nor a long time before!" Julian declared. +"I must have a nearer look." +</p> + +<p> +"Careful! You will wake her!" +</p> + +<p> +Julian's face showed a sneer at his companion's +concern. +</p> + +<p> +"I'll have a care not to wake the old Boeotian," +he said. +</p> + +<p> +He stepped between Laodice and her sleeping servant. +The mute with the stupor of slumber further +to disable his dulled hearing, did not move. +</p> + +<p> +"Young!" Philadelphus exclaimed in a whisper. +"And new to the life!" +</p> + +<p> +"Pfui!" Julian scoffed. "Sleep makes even +Venus look innocent!" +</p> + +<p> +"Then this is the most innocent wickedness I have +seen in months!" +</p> + +<p> +"So you catalogue innocence as a charm! It's not +here. But if she had no beauty but that eyelash I'd +be speared upon it!" +</p> + +<p> +Philadelphus turned toward the old servant plunged +in the exhausted sleep of weary age. +</p> + +<p> +"Thou grizzled nightmare!" he exclaimed vindictively. +</p> + +<p> +He glanced again at the girl. Julian had knelt +beside her. Between the two men passed a look that +was mutually understood. +</p> + +<p> +"Remember," Julian whispered, "you are a married +man." +</p> + +<p> +Philadelphus paled suddenly with anger as the +intent of his companion dawned upon him, but he put +off his temper shrewdly. +</p> + +<p> +"And so approaching a time when wayside beauties +will no longer be free to me," he said, cutting off +his fellow in the beginning of his preėmption. "And +you have a long freedom before you." +</p> + +<p> +There was so much challenge in his manner that +Julian accepted it. He reached into his tunic and +drew forth a pair of dice. +</p> + +<p> +"We will play for her," he said. +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee put the tesserae aside. +</p> + +<p> +"We will not use them," he said. "I know them +to be cogged. Let us have the judgment of a coin." +</p> + +<p> +A bronze coin of Agrippa was produced. Julian +in getting at his purse brushed against the sleeping +girl and as the pair glanced at her before they tossed, +her large eyes opened full in Julian's face. A moment, +almost breathless for the two, and terror flared +up in her eyes. She started up, but Julian's hand +dropped on her. +</p> + +<p> +"Peace, Phryne!" he said. +</p> + +<p> +She shrank from his touch, literally into the arms +upon which Philadelphus rested his weight. She +looked up into his eyes, and saw them soften with a +smile, and moved no farther. Philadelphus took the +coin. +</p> + +<p> +"Let Vespasian decide for me," he said. +</p> + +<p> +"For me Fortunatus," said Julian. +</p> + +<p> +Philadelphus filliped the coin and flung out a strong +and fending hand against his fellow covering it. +Under the brightening day, the lowering profile of +the old plebeian emperor Vespasian showed distinctly +on the newly minted bronze. +</p> + +<p> +Julian made a sharp menacing sound, and with +clenched hands rose on his knees. But Philadelphus +looked at him steadily, half-amused at the implied +threat, half-inviting its fulfilment, and under his +gaze, Julian rose slowly and drew away. Philadelphus +tossed the coin after him. His cousin picked +it up and put it in his purse. +</p> + +<div class="ctr"> + <a href="images/image03l.jpg"><img src="images/image03.jpg" + alt="Philadelphus looked down upon his prize." + title="Philadelphus looked down upon his prize." /> + </a><p class="caption">Philadelphus looked down upon his prize.</p> +</div> + + +<p> +Philadelphus looked down at his prize. +</p> + +<p> +She had not flinched from him when she had found +him beside her, with Julian threatening her. But now +her wide open eyes fixed upon his brimmed with an +agony of appeal. Innocent of the world's wickedness, +she could only sense supreme peril in this mysterious +game without understanding the stake. Momus +was not in sight–dead for all she knew–and +the desert was an ally against her. Over her, now, +bent a face characteristic of a great spirit, yet one +which was coeval with the times–times of violence +and the supremacy of force. His lips were thin, the +contour of his face angular at the jaw, the nose +straight and long, his brows black and low over +dark blue eyes of a fathomless depth, the forehead +strongly molded, and marked with deep perpendicular +lines between the eyes. He was dark, heavy-haired, +young, lean, broad and of fine height even as he +knelt beside her. Laodice did not note any of these +things. She was only conscious of the immense power +her terror and her helplessness had to combat. Back +of all this iron selfishness, she hoped that somewhere +was a gentleness, even if inert and useless. All her +strength was concentrated in the effort to bring it +to life. +</p> + +<p> +He gazed at her, apparently unconscious of the desperation +in the face lifted to him. The slow smile that +presently grew again in his eyes was none the less unthoughted. +He slipped his hand under a strand of +her rich hair that had fallen and drew it out, slowly, +at full length. Slowly his eyes followed it as inch +by inch it slipped through his fingers. Old memories +seemed to struggle to the surface; old tendernesses; +recollection of pure hours and holy things; paganism +dropped from him like a husk and the spiritual hauteur +of a Jew brought the expression of the unhumbled +house of Judah into his face. Through a +notch in the hills a golden beam shot from the sun +and penetrating this inwalled valley lay like an illuminating +fire on the man's face and glorified it. +Laodice's breath stopped. +</p> + +<p> +Slowly his fingers slipped along the fine silken +length of that shining strand until his arm extended +to the full; and the end of the lock yet rested on her +breast. Thus might have been the hair of that +Rahab, who was no less a patriot because she was +frail; thus, the hair of Bathsheba, who was the mother +of the wisest Israelite though she sinned; thus the hair +of that mother of Samson, who slew armies single-handed! +Badge of Judah, mark of the haughty +strength of the oldest enlightenment in the world! +He would not initiate his succor of Israel with violence +against its purest type. +</p> + +<p> +He smiled slowly; slowly let the strand fall through +his fingers. He looked into her eyes and she saw a +sudden light immeasurably compassionate and tender +grow there. A weakness swept over her; she felt that +she had been longing for that light. Then he rose +quickly and moved away. +</p> + +<p> +Old Momus, the mute, with his head on his knees +slept on. +</p> + +<p> +Julian, who had been halted involuntarily by the +attitude of his companion and had been an amazed +witness of this extraordinary end of the incident, +looked at Philadelphus' face in frank stupefaction. +But Philadelphus laid a hand so forceful and compelling +on his companion's shoulder that it left the +pink print of his fingers on the flesh, turned him +toward the horses and led him away. +</p> + +<p> +"We will breakfast farther on," he said. +</p> + +<p> +A moment and they were swinging down the stony +side of the hill toward the east, and Laodice, with her +hand clutching her excited heart, had not thought of +flinging herself upon Momus. She raised herself +gradually to watch them as far as she could see, and +her fixed and stunned gaze rested with immense homesickness +and longing on the taller man radiant against +the background of a risen sun. +</p> + + + + + +<h2 id="ch4">Chapter IV</h2> + +<h2>THE TRAVELERS</h2> + + +<p> +The Maccabee rode on, unconscious of Julian's critical +gaze. The smile on his lips flickered now brightly, +now very faint. The incident in the hills had not +made him entirely happy, but it had awakened in him +something which was latent in him, something which +he had never felt before, but which held a sweet familiarity +that the blood of his fathers in him had +recognized. +</p> + +<p> +Julian was intensely disgusted and disappointed. +But there was still a sensation of shock on his shoulder +where the Maccabee's iron hand had rested and +his famous caution stood him in stead at this moment +when a quarrel with such intense and executive earnestness +in his companion's manner might prove disastrous. +If quarrel they must before they reached +Emmaus, now but a few leagues east of them, he +must insure himself against defeat much less likely +to be suffered from a man reluctant to quarrel. He +had been hunting for a pretext ever since they had +left Cęsarea, but this one, suddenly opened to him, +startled him. He admitted now that it would not +be wise to force a fight. Whatever must be done +should be done with least danger to himself. It were +better, he believed, to allay suspicion. +</p> + +<p> +He spoke. +</p> + +<p> +"How far is it to Jerusalem?" +</p> + +<p> +"About eighty furlongs." +</p> + +<p> +"Then if we continue, we shall approach the gates +after nightfall." +</p> + +<p> +"We shall not continue," Philadelphus remarked. +"We shall halt at Emmaus." +</p> + +<p> +"Do you think it would be better for us to camp +here in the hills rather than to stop without the walls +of Jerusalem between the city forces and the winter +garrison of Titus and await the opening of the +Gates?" Julian asked after thought. +</p> + +<p> +"We shall wait in Emmaus," the Maccabee repeated, +his soul too filled with dream to note the +change in his companion's manner. +</p> + +<p> +"You have already lost three days," Julian charged +him irritably. +</p> + +<p> +"Jerusalem may be besieged; it may be long before +I can ride in the wilderness again," the Maccabee +answered. +</p> + +<p> +"Right; your next journey through this place +may be afoot–at the end of a chain," Julian +averred. +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee raised his brows. +</p> + +<p> +"Losing courage at the last end of the journey?" +he inquired. +</p> + +<p> +"No! I never have believed in this project," +Julian declared. +</p> + +<p> +"Why?" +</p> + +<p> +"Who believes in the prospects of a man determined +to leap into Hades?" +</p> + +<p> +But the Maccabee was already riding on with his +head lifted, his eyes set upon the blue shadows on +the western slopes of hills, lifted against the early +morning sun. Julian went on. +</p> + +<p> +"You go, cousin, on a mission mad enough to +measure up with the antics of the frantic citizens of +Jerusalem. It will not be even a glorious defeat. +You will be swallowed up in an immense calamity too +tremendous to offer publicity to so infinitesimal a detail +as the death of one Philadelphus Maccabaeus. +Agrippa has deserted the city and when a Herod lets +go of his own, his own is not worth the holding. The +city is torn between factions as implacable as the sea +and the land. The conservatives are either dead or +fled; pillage and disorder are the main motives of all +that are left. And Titus advances with four legions. +What can you hope for this mob of crazed Jews?" +</p> + +<p> +Julian's words had been more lively than the Maccabee +had expected. He was obliged to give attention +before his kinsman made an end. +</p> + +<p> +"You are fond of summaries, Julian," he said, +"dealt in your own coin. Look you, now, at my +hope. You confess that these Jews lack a leader. +They have lacked him so long that they hunger and +thirst for one. Also they have suffered the distresses +of disorder so intensely that peace in any form is +most welcome to them. Titus approacheth reluctantly. +He had rather deliver Jerusalem than besiege +it. I am of the loved and dethroned Maccabaean line–acceptable +to every faction of Jewry, from the +Essenes to the Sicarii. Titus is my friend, unless he +suspects me as coming to undermine his better friend, +the pretty Herod. I shall help Jerusalem help herself; +I shall make peace with Rome; I shall be King +of the Jews!–Behold, is not my summary as practical +as yours?" +</p> + +<p> +Julian laughed with an amusement that had a ring +of contempt in it. +</p> + +<p> +"There is naught to keep an astronomer from +planning a rearrangement of the stars," he said. +</p> + +<p> +But the Maccabee rode on calmly. Julian sighed. +After a while he spoke. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, how do you proceed? You tell me that +these very visionaries whom you would succor have +never laid eyes on you. What marks you as royal–as +a sprig of the great, just and dead Maccabee?" +</p> + +<p> +"I bear proofs, Roman documents of my family +and of my birth. Certain of my party are already +organized in Jerusalem and are expecting me, and I +wear the Maccabaean signet. Is not that enough?" +</p> + +<p> +"Nothing of it worth the security of private citizenship +and a whole head!" +</p> + +<p> +"No? Not when there is a dowry of two hundred +talents awaiting my courage to come and get it?" +</p> + +<p> +"Ha! That wife! But will you enter that sure +death for a woman you do not know?" +</p> + +<p> +"And for a fortune I have not possessed and for a +kingdom that I never owned." +</p> + +<p> +"She will not be there! Old Costobarus is not so +mired in folly as to send his daughter into the Pit to +provide you with money to–pay Charon." +</p> + +<p> +"Aquila sent me a messenger at Cęsarea," Philadelphus +continued calmly, "saying that Costobarus +was transfigured when he had my summons. He feels +that his God has been good to him to choose his +daughter to share the throne of Judea. Hence, by +this time my lady awaits me in Jerusalem." +</p> + +<p> +Again Julian sighed. +</p> + +<p> +"And there is none in Jerusalem who knows your +face?" he asked after a silence. +</p> + +<p> +"None, except Amaryllis, and she has not seen me +since I was sixteen years old." +</p> + +<p> +"And there also is an obstacle which I had forgotten +to enumerate," Julian said argumentatively. +"You have put your trust in a frail woman." +</p> + +<p> +"Amaryllis may be frail," the Maccabee admitted, +"but she is sufficiently manly to have all that you +and I demand of a man to put faith in him. She is +a good companion and she will not lie." +</p> + +<p> +"Impossible! She is a woman!" Julian exclaimed. +</p> + +<p> +"Even then," the Maccabee returned patiently, +"her own ambition safeguards me. She can not succeed +except as I am successful, and her purposes are +of another kind than mine. She helps herself when +she helps me. Therefore I am depending on her selfishness. +It is usually a dependable thing." +</p> + +<p> +"What does she want?" +</p> + +<p> +"The old classic times of the <i>heterae</i> in Greece. +She wants to be the pioneer of art in Jerusalem. It +is a fertile and a neglected field. She had rather be +known as the mother of refinement in Judea than as +the queen of kings over the world." +</p> + +<p> +"A modest ambition!" +</p> + +<p> +"A great one. How many monarchs are forgotten +while Aspasia is remembered! Who were the reigning +kings during Sappho's time?" +</p> + +<p> +"But go on. You repose much on her influence. +Perhaps she has the will but not the power to help +you." +</p> + +<p> +"Power! She is the mistress of John of Gischala +and actual potentate over Jerusalem at this hour." +</p> + +<p> +"Unless Simon bar Gioras hath taken the upper +hand within the last few days. Remember the fortunes +of factionists are ephemeral." +</p> + +<p> +Philadelphus jingled his harness. He was sorry +that he had permitted this discussion. Now its continuance +was particularly irritating, when he had +rather think of something else. He was near Jerusalem; +but he was not going forward, now, with the +same eagerness, nor with the same enthusiasm for his +cause. The incident in the hills had marked the +change in him. It was not, then, with a patient +tongue that he defended his intentions, which had +grown less inviting in the last hour. +</p> + +<p> +"How little your wife will enjoy her," Julian's +smooth voice broke in once more, "seeing that the +frail one is lovely." +</p> + +<p> +"I do not know that she is lovely." +</p> + +<p> +"What!" Julian exclaimed in genuine amazement. +"You do not know that she is lovely! Years of correspondence +with a woman whom you do not know to +be lovely! Reposing kingdoms on a woman's influence +whom you do not know to be beautiful!" +</p> + +<p> +"Beauty is no tie," the Maccabee retorted. "Have +you forgotten Salome, the Jewish actress who could +play Aphrodite in the theaters of Ephesus, to the +confusion of the goddess herself? They said she +snared three procurators and an emperor at one performance +and lost them in a day!" +</p> + +<p> +"Have you seen her?" Julian asked with a sidelong +glance. "Till your own eyes prove it, you +should not accept that she is so bewitching." +</p> + +<p> +"There is no need that I should see her; Aquila +swears it! And I would take his word against the +testimony of even mine own eyes." +</p> + +<p> +Julian looked up in a startled manner and hurriedly +looked away again. A half-frightened, half-amused +smile played about his lips. +</p> + +<p> +"Aquila is no judge of woman," he said finally. +"And furthermore, they say she got to trifling with +magic and prowling about the temples to see if the +gods came true. They were afraid she would get +them blasted along with her sometime for her sacrilege. +I know all this because Aquila declared she attached +herself to him in sheer poverty in Ephesus +and swore to follow him to the ends of the earth." +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee smiled. +</p> + +<p> +"Nevertheless, he told me that he was afraid of +her, but that she was a woman and in need and he +could not reject her." +</p> + +<p> +Julian's eyes grew insinuating. +</p> + +<p> +"How much then your behavior this morning would +have shocked him!" he murmured. +</p> + +<p> +The smile died on the Maccabee's face. Reference +to the girl in the hills seemed blasphemy on this +man's lips. +</p> + +<p> +"And you do not recall your wife's face?" Julian +persisted. +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee's face hardened more. But he shook +his head. +</p> + +<p> +"Fourteen years can change a woman from a +beauty to–a–a Christian, ugly and old and +cold," Julian augured. +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee turned his head away from his tormentor +and Julian's laughter trailed off into a half-jocular +groan. +</p> + +<p> +"How much you harp on beauty!" the Maccabee +said deliberately. "Are you then going to regret +the actresses you left behind when I tore you from +your exalted calling as the forelegs of the elephant +in the theaters at Ephesus?" +</p> + +<p> +Julian's face blackened. A foolhardy daring born +of rage resolved him at that instant. He flung himself +out from his saddle and raised his hand with a +knife clenched in it. But the Maccabee with a composed +laugh caught the hand and wrenching it about, +dropped it, red and contracting with pain, at his companion's +side. +</p> + +<p> +"Tut! Julian, you are a bad combatant. If you +must make way with a man," the Maccabee advised, +"stab him in the back. It is sure–for you. Ha! +Is this Emmaus we see?" +</p> + +<p> +They had ridden up a slight eminence and below +them was a disorder of fallen or decrepit Syrian +huts in the hollow place in the hills. +</p> + +<p> +It had been the history of Emmaus for centuries +to be known. The feet of the Crucified One had +pressed its ruined streets and His devoted chroniclers +had not failed to set it down in their illuminated gospels. +Army after army in endless procession had +thundered through it since the first invader humbled +the glory of Canaan, and few of the historians had +forgotten to record the unimportant incident. Warfare +had hurtled about it for centuries; the Roman +army had come upon it and would continue to come. +It had not the spirit to resist; it was not worthy of +conquest. It simply stood in the path of events. +</p> + +<p> +A single citizen appeared at the doorway of the +most habitable house and looked absently over the +heads of the new-comers. As they approached, the +villager did not observe them. Instead, he looked at +the near horizon lifted on the shoulder of the hills +and meditated on the signs of the weather. It was +Emmaus' habit to find strangers at its door. +</p> + +<p> +Julian, with natural desire to be first on this perilous +ground and away from the side of the man who +had defeated him and laughed at him, rode up to +the door. The villager, seeing the traveler stop, +gazed at him. +</p> + +<p> +Julian had about him an air of blood and breeding +first to be remarked even before his features. The +grace of his bearing and the excellence of his bodily +condition were highly aristocratic. His height was +good, his figure modestly athletic as an observance of +fine form rather than a preparation for the arena. +He was simply dressed in a light blue woolen tunic. +A handkerchief was bound about his head. His forehead +was very white and half hidden by loose, curling +black locks that escaped with boyish negligence from +his head-dress. His eyes were black, his cheeks tanned +but colorless, his mouth mirthful and red but hard +in its outlines. Clean-shaven, lithe, supple, he did not +appear to be more than twenty-two. But there was +an even-tempered cynicism and sophistication in the +half-droop of his level lids, indifference, hauteur and +self-reliance in the uplift of his chin. His soul was +therefore older, more seasoned and set than the frame +that housed it. Now there was considerable agitation +in his manner, enough to make him sharp in his +speech to the villager. +</p> + +<p> +"Is there a khan in Emmaus?" he demanded. +</p> + +<p> +"There is," the villager responded calmly. +</p> + +<p> +"Where?" +</p> + +<p> +The citizen motioned toward a low-roofed rambling +structure of stone picked up on the native hills. +</p> + +<p> +"Ask there," he said and passing out of his door +went his way. +</p> + +<p> +Julian touched his horse and rode through the worn +passage and into the court of the decrepit khan of +Emmaus. The Maccabee followed. +</p> + +<p> +The Syrian host who was both waiter and hostler +met Julian entering first. +</p> + +<p> +"Quick!" Julian said, leaning from his horse. +"Is there a young man here with gray temples? A +pagan?" +</p> + +<p> +The Syrian, attracted by the anxiety in the demand, +followed a train of surmise before his answer. +</p> + +<p> +"No pagans, here. Naught but Jews," he observed +finally. +</p> + +<p> +"Or a young woman of wealth? Quick!" +</p> + +<p> +"No wealth at all; but plenty of women. The +Passover pilgrims." +</p> + +<p> +Julian heaved a sigh of relief and dismounted. +The Maccabee rode into the court of the khan at that +instant. +</p> + +<p> +The khan-keeper took their horses and a little later +the two men were led into the single cobwebby chamber, +low-ceiled, gloomy, cold and cheerless as a cave. +There they were given food and afterward a corner +of the hall where a straw pallet had been laid and a +stone trough filled with water for a bath. After refreshing +himself the Maccabee lay down and slept +with supreme indifference to the rancor of the man +who had attempted to kill him. +</p> + +<p> +But Julian had another idea than pressing his +vengeful advantage at that time. He went out into +Emmaus and engaging the unemployed of the thriftless +town sent them broadcast into the hills in search +of a pagan who was young, yet gray at the temples. +</p> + +<p> +Some of them went–and they were chiefly boys +who were not old enough to know that these strangers +who come in pagan guise to Emmaus are full of +guile. But none returned to him. They had neither +seen nor heard of a pagan who was young though the +white hair of an old man snowed on his temples. +</p> + +<p> +So Julian storming within went out into the hills +himself, to search. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile the Maccabee, a light sleeper and readily +restored, awoke and found himself alone. The +khan-keeper informed him on inquiry that Julian had +ridden away. +</p> + +<p> +"Too fair a hope to think that he has deserted +me," the Maccabee observed. "I shall await him a +decent time. He will return." +</p> + +<p> +He tramped about the chamber waiting for something +that was not Julian, intending to do something +but unable to define that thing. There was a vague +admission that this last pause before his entry into +Jerusalem where he must accomplish so much was an +opportunity for some sort of preparation, but he +lacked direction and resource. He was irritable and +purposeless. +</p> + +<p> +Out of the low door that opened into the lewen of +the khan he caught glimpses of the town spread over +the tilt of the hill before him. It had become active +since he had looked upon it in the very early hours of +the day. Over the gate he could see the toss of canopies +and the heads of camels passing; he could hear +the ring of mule-hooves on the stones and the tramp +of wayfarers. There were shoutings and debate; the +cries of servants and the gossip of parties. All this +moved on always in the direction of Jerusalem. Few +paused. The single shop in Emmaus became active; +the khan caught a little of the drift, but the great +body of what seemed to be an unending stream of pilgrims +passed on. The Maccabee spoke to his host. +</p> + +<p> +"What is this?" he asked. +</p> + +<p> +The publican raised his brows. +</p> + +<p> +"Hast never heard of the Passover?" he asked. +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee started. How far he had drifted +from the customs of his people, to fail to remember +its vital feast–he who meant to be king over the +Jews! +</p> + +<p> +He turned away a little abashed. The train of +thought awakened by the khan-keeper's answer led him +back to the hieratic customs of his race. What was +his status as a Jew after all these years of delinquency? +What atonement did he owe, what offering +should he make? +</p> + +<p> +He went out over the cobbled pavement of the lewen +to the gate. Here he should see part of his people +and learn from simple observation what material he +would have in his work for Israel. +</p> + +<p> +From his memories of the old Passovers of his boyhood, +he saw instantly that there had come a change +over Judea and the worshiping sons of Abraham. +</p> + +<p> +They went in bodies, in numbers from a handful +from some remote but pious hamlet to great armies +from the leveled cities of Joppa, Ptolemais and Anthedon, +from Cęsarea and Tyre and Sidon, from the +enthusiastic towns in Galilee, and even from far-off +Antioch and Ephesus. They were not fewer in number, +because of a year of warfare and the menace of +an approaching army upon the city in which they +were to take refuge. But there were more–double, +even triple the number that usually went up to Jerusalem +at this time. For of the millions of inhabitants +in Judea in the unhappy year of 70 A.D., a +third of them were plundered and homeless refugees +from ruined cities. Therefore, instead of the armies +of men, happy, hopeful and enthusiastic, who had +journeyed in former years to Jerusalem, there passed +before the Maccabee a mixed multitude of men and +women and children. Thousands carried with them +all that warfare had left to them–pitiful parcels of +treasure or household goods, or extra clothing; other +thousands bore nothing in their hands, and by the +wear in their garments and the hunger in their faces, +it seemed that they owned nothing to carry. +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee noted finally the entire absence of +the travelers who fared in state. Not in all that long +procession that wound up the stony passage from the +west, did he see a single Sadducee. There went mobs +of laborers and farmers, tradesmen, servants and +small merchants, but the Jewish friends of Rome that +had once made part of the Passover pilgrimage a +royal progress were nowhere to be seen. Under the +vast, vivid blue of the mountain skies they moved, indifferent +to the splendid benevolence of the untroubled +day. The pure wind swept in from the radiance +in the east, flinging out multi-colored garments and +scarves, rushing with its bracing chill without obstruction +through even the compactest mass of wayfarers. +The cedars on the hills about the little town +whistled continuously and at times some extremely +narrow defile with an uninterrupted draft would take +voice and cry humanly. But there was no responsive +exhilaration to the vigor of morning on a mountain-top. +The great ever-growing migration was dark, +dangerous and moody. +</p> + +<p> +Somewhere beyond the highest of the blue hills to +the east, the white walls of the city of David were +receiving all this. Somewhere to the west the four +brassy legions of Titus were marching down upon +all this. About the Maccabee were assembling all the +circumstances that govern a tremendous struggle. +Eagerness, earnestness, all the strength and resolution +of his strong and resolute nature surged into his +soul. It was his hour. It should find him prepared. +</p> + +<p> +He turned out of the gate and crowding along by +the stone wall to pass in the opposite direction from +the flood of pilgrims pouring through Emmaus, he +searched for the synagogue of the little town. +</p> + +<p> +He came upon it, a solid square building of +stone with an Egyptic faēade and an architrave +carved with a great stone flower set in an olive wreath. +Without was the proseuchae, paved with boulders now +worn smooth by the summer sittings of the congregation +who gathered around the reader's stone. The +Maccabee stopped at the gate and unlacing his pagan +sandals set them outside the threshold. +</p> + +<p> +Once over the stone sill with the imminent gloom +covering him, he felt the old sanctity envelop him +with a reproach in its forgotten familiarity. Old incense, +old litanies, old rites rushed back to him with +the smell of the stagnant fragrance. He heard +again from the farther depths of the dark interior +the musical monotone of a rabbi reciting a ritual. +The voice was young and low. Presently he heard +the responses spoken in a woman's voice, so tender, +so soft and so sad that he sensed instantly the meaning +of the sympathy in the young priest's voice. Out +of the incense-laden dusk he found old custom stealing +back upon him. His lips anticipated words unreadily; +gladly he realized that he could say these formulas, +also; he had not forgotten; he had not forgotten! +</p> + +<p> +In this little synagogue in a poor town there were +no privacies; communicants had to depend on the +courtesy of their fellows for uninterrupted devotion. +The wanderer had not forgotten this. So he effaced +himself in the darkness and awaited his own turn. +</p> + +<p> +He hardly knew why he had come. For what +should he ask–forgiveness or for the hope of the +King who was to come? What should he do–make +atonement or promises; give an offering or ask encouragement? +He did not doubt for an instant that +he had done wisely in seeking the synagogue, but what +had he for it, or what had it for him? +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile the voice of the priest, disembodied in +the gloom, had put off its ritualistic tone and was +delivering a charge: +</p> + +<p> +"Since you are in haste to reach Jerusalem, you +may depart, so that you will give me your word that +you will in all faith abide upon the road seven days; +and that at the end of the separation you will present +yourselves for examination and cleansing at Jerusalem, +and that you will in nowise transgress the law +of separation on the journey hence." +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee heard the woman give her word. +After a little further communication, he heard them +move toward the entrance. +</p> + +<p> +The white light from the day without revealed to +him in a few steps, a veiled woman, a deformed old +man and a young rabbi. He did not need to take the +evidence of her dress or of her companion to recognize +under this veil the girl whom he had won from +Julian of Ephesus, in the hills, that very morning. +</p> + +<p> +As if in response to his inner hope that she would +see him, she raised her eyes at the moment she passed, +and started quickly. Even under the shelter of her +veil he saw her flush. +</p> + +<p> +The next instant she was out of the synagogue and +gone. +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee hesitated restlessly, forgot his mission +to the synagogue and then, with no definite purpose, +followed. +</p> + +<p> +At the edge of town, where the huddle of huts left +off and the gravel and rock and cedar began, he saw +the priest dismiss the pair with his blessing and turn +back. +</p> + +<p> +Undecided, restless and regretful, the Maccabee lingered, +looking after her as she went into the hills, +unattended, except for an anomalous old man. The +sun of noon shone on her silver dress that the dust of +the wayside had not tarnished. He was gloomy and +wistful without understanding his discomfort, and +afraid for the beautiful unknown going out for seven +days into the unfriendly wilderness. +</p> + +<p> +There was the click of a horse's hoof beside him. +He glanced up with a nervous start to see Julian of +Ephesus, scowling, at hand. +</p> + +<p> +"It is time," he said, "for us to be off." +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee instantly determined that Julian of +Ephesus should not come up with this defenseless girl +again. +</p> + +<p> +"I am not ready," he returned promptly. +</p> + +<p> +"It was three days, this morning, that you have +lost. To-morrow it will be four." +</p> + +<p> +"And Sabbath, it will be seven. A long time, a +long time!" +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee turned and went back to the khan. +A gap in the hills had hidden the girl in the silver +tissue, and the blitheness of the Maccabee's spirit had +gone with her. +</p> + + + + + +<h2 id="ch5">Chapter V</h2> + +<h2>BY THE WAYSIDE</h2> + + +<p> +By sunset, the Maccabee and Julian of Ephesus +had taken the road to Jerusalem again. +</p> + +<p> +As they reached the crest of a series of ridges there +lay before them a long gentle slope smooth and dun-colored +as some soft pelt, dropping down into a tender +vale with levels of purple vapor hanging over it. At +the end of this declivity, leagues in length, was a faint +blue shape, cloudlike and almost merged with the cold +color of the eastern horizon, but suddenly developing +at its summit a delicate white peak. The sunset +reaching it as they rode changed the point to a pinnacle +of ruby before their eyes. Their shadows that +had ridden before them merged with the shade over +the world. Then with a soft, whispery, ghost-like +intaking of the breath, a quantity of sand on the +straight road before them got up under their horses' +feet and moved away to another spot and dropped +again with a peppering sound and was dead moveless +earth again. The little breath of wind from under +the edge of the sky had fallen. +</p> + +<p> +In the silence between the muffled beat of hooves +the Maccabee heard at his ears the quick lively throb +of a busy pump. With it went the firm rush of +a subdued stream. He was hearing his own heart-beat, +his own life flowing through his veins. Since +nature in him had hurried him out of the synagogue +after its own desire, he seemed to have become primitive, +conscious of the human creature in him. Now, +though he rode through a bewitching air through an +enchanted land, he did not ride in a dream. All his +being was alert and sagacious. Though the confusion +of footprints in the dust showed plainly where +men had passed by thousands, he did not follow their +lead. Over the tangle of marks lay a slim paw-printed, +confident, careless trail of a jackal, following +the scent to a well. The Maccabee was obedient to +the instinct of the animal instead of the reason of +man. At the end of that trail, surer than Ariadne's +scarlet thread in the labyrinth, he knew that thirst +had taken the girl in the dress of silver tissue. So as +he rode along this faultless highway that fared level +and undeviating by arches, causeways and bridges +across mountains, over black marshes and profound +valleys, he kept his eyes on the jackal's trail. +</p> + +<p> +Long after moonrise they came to a spot in the +road where the human marks passed on, by hundreds, +by other hundreds deserted the road and clambered +up the side of the hill. Over this deviation the jackal +had trotted. The Maccabee, tall on his horse, raised +his fine head and searched all the brooding shapes of +the hills about. +</p> + +<p> +The road at this point ran through a defile. On +either side the slopes crowded upon the pass. Above +them were bold summits with groves of cedars, and +in one of these the Maccabee made out a thin curl of +smoke dimly illuminated by a moon-drowned fire. Up +there in the covert of the trees the girl in the silver +tissue was resting from her perilous and outlawed +journey. +</p> + +<p> +"We will eat here," the Maccabee said abruptly +to Julian. +</p> + +<p> +"Eat!" Julian exclaimed. "What?" +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee signed to the pack on Julian's horse. +Julian dismounted, shaking his head. +</p> + +<p> +"What a savage appetite this travel in the untaught +wilds of Judea hath bred in you, my cousin! +You, whom once a crust of bread and a cup of wine +would satisfy!" +</p> + +<p> +But the Maccabee climbed out of the roadway and, +finding a sheltered spot behind a boulder, kicked together +some of the dead weeds and twigs and set fire +to the heap with flint and steel. Then he lost interest +in the preparation of his comforts. He turned to look +up at the faint column of illumination in the little +copse of cedars and presently, stealthily, went that +way. +</p> + +<p> +It was a poor encampment that he came upon. +</p> + +<p> +From the low-growing limbs of a couple of gnarly +cedars, old Momus had stretched the sheepskins which +Joseph, the shepherd, had given them. Three sides +of the shelter were protected thus, and the fourth side +opened down-hill, with a low fire screening them from +the mountain wind. Within this inclosure, wrapped +in the coarse mantle of her servant, sat Laodice. She +had raised her veil and its misty texture flowed like a +web of frost over her brilliant hair and framed her +face in cold vapor. In spite of the marks of grief +that had exhausted her tears, the fatigue and discomfort, +she seemed, to the Maccabee's eyes, more than +ever lovely. He was angry with the hieratic banishment +that sent her out to subsist by the roadside for +seven days in early spring; angry with the harsh inhospitality +of the hills; and angrier that he could +not change it all. He looked at the old mute to see +that he was carefully putting away the remnants of a +meal of durra bread and curds. The primitive gallantry +of the original man stirred in the Maccabee. +He had come unseen; with silent step he departed. +</p> + +<p> +A little later he stepped boldly into the circle of +light from their camp-fire. To Laodice, in her lowly +position, he seemed superhumanly big and splendid. +Without mantle or any of the accessories that would +show preparation against the cold, his bare arms and +limbs and dark face, tanned, hardy and resolute, +seemed to be those of a strong aborigine, sturdy friend +of all of nature's rougher moods. +</p> + +<p> +He did not look at Momus, who got up as quickly +as he might at the intrusion of the big stranger. His +dark eyes rested on Laodice, who sat transfixed with +her sudden recognition of the visitor. +</p> + +<p> +He held in one hand a brace of fowls, in the other +a skin of wine. +</p> + +<p> +When he spoke the polish of the Ephesian andronitis +in his voice and manner destroyed the primitive +illusion. +</p> + +<p> +"Lady, I heard in the synagogue at Emmaus to-day +the exclusion that is laid upon you for seven +days. This is a hungry country and no man should +waste food. I shall enter Jerusalem to-morrow by +daybreak; we, my companion and I, have no further +use for these. They are Milesian ducks, fattened on +nuts. And this is Falernian–Roman. I pray you, +allow me to leave them with your servant with my +obeisances." +</p> + +<p> +Without waiting for her reply the Maccabee passed +fowls and skin into the hands of Momus who stood +near. +</p> + +<p> +"Sir," she answered unreadily, with her small hands +gripping each other before her and her eyes veiled, +"I thank you. It was not the least of my anxieties +how we should provide ourselves with food under prohibition +and in a country perilous with war. You +have made to-morrow easy for us. I thank you." +</p> + +<p> +"To-morrow; yes," he argued, seizing upon a discussion +for an excuse to remain, "but the next day, +and the next five days, what shall you do?" +</p> + +<p> +"Perchance," she said gravely, "God will send us +another stranger of a generous heart, with more than +he needs for himself." +</p> + +<p> +Not likely, indeed, he thought, would such beauty +as hers go hungry as long as there were hearts +in the wilderness as impressionable as his. But the +thought of another than himself providing for her +did not make him happy. +</p> + +<p> +There was nothing more to be said, but he did not +go. In his face gathered signs of his interest in her +identity. +</p> + +<p> +"Is there more that I can do for you?" he asked. +"Have you friends in Jerusalem? I will bear your +messages gladly." +</p> + +<p> +But it was a grateful privilege which she had to +refuse with reluctance. If her husband awaited her +in Jerusalem, he must wait, rather than be informed +of the cause of her delay at peril of exposing his presence +in the city. She shook her head. +</p> + +<p> +"There is nothing more," she added. "I thank +you." +</p> + +<p> +Dismissal was so evident in her voice that he prepared +to depart. +</p> + +<p> +"Shall you move on, then, in the morning?" he +asked. +</p> + +<p> +"We have seven days in the wilderness," she explained. +"We can not hasten. It is only a little way +to Jerusalem." +</p> + +<p> +"But it is a long road and a weary one for tender +feet," he answered; "and it is a time of warfare and +much uncertainty." +</p> + +<p> +She lifted her eyes now with trouble in them. +</p> + +<p> +"Is there any less dangerous way than this?" she +asked. +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee sat down and clasped his hands about +his knees. This grasping at the slightest excuse to +remain exasperated the perplexed Momus, who could +not understand the stranger's assurance. But the +Maccabee failed to see him. +</p> + +<p> +"There is," he said to Laodice. "One can journey +with you. I am under no restriction, and the rabbis +do not bind you against me. I can secure you comforts +along the way, and give you protection. There +in no such dire need that I enter Jerusalem under +seven days." +</p> + +<p> +Laodice was confused by this sudden offer of help +from a stranger in whom her confidence was not entirely +settled. Nevertheless a warmth and pleasure +crept into her heart benumbed with sorrow. She did +not look at Momus, fearing instinctively that the command +in her old servant's eyes would not be of a kind +with the grateful response she meant to give this +stranger. +</p> + +<p> +"I have no right to expect so much–from a stranger," +she said. +</p> + +<p> +"Then I shall not be a stranger," he declared +promptly. "Call me–Hesper–of Ephesus." +</p> + +<p> +"Ephesus!" she echoed, looking up quickly. +</p> + +<p> +"The maddest city in the world," he replied. +"Dost know it?" +</p> + +<p> +She hesitated. Could she say with entire truth that +she did not know Ephesus? Had she not read those +letters that Philadelphus had written to her father, +which were glowing with praise of the proud city of +Diana? Was it not as if she had seen the Odeum and +the great Theater, the Temple with its golden cows, +the mount and the plain and the broad wandering of +the Rivers Hermus, Ca’ster and Maenander? Had +she not made maps of it from her young husband's +accounts and then with enthusiasm traced his steps +by its stony, hilly streets from forum to stadium and +from school to museum? Had she not dreamed of its +shallow port, its rugged highways and its skyey +marshes? It had been her pride to know Ephesus, +although she had never laid eyes upon it. Even she +had come to believe that she would know an Ephesian +by his aggressive joy in life! It went hard with her +to deny that she knew that city which she had all but +seen. +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee observed her hesitation and when +she looked up to answer, his eyes full of question were +resting upon her. +</p> + +<p> +"I do not know Ephesus," she said quickly. "Are–are +you a native?" +</p> + +<p> +"No." +</p> + +<p> +She wanted mightily to know if he had met the +young Philadelphus in that city, but she feared to +ask further lest she betray him. +</p> + +<p> +"A great city," he went on, "but there are greater +pagan cities. It is not like Jerusalem, which has no +counterpart in the world. Even the most intolerant +pagan is curious about Jerusalem." +</p> + +<p> +She looked again at his face. It was not Greek or +Roman, neither more indicative of her own blood. +</p> + +<p> +"Are you a Jew?" she asked. +</p> + +<p> +He remembered that she had seen him in a synagogue. +</p> + +<p> +"I was," he said after a silence. +</p> + +<p> +She looked at him a moment before she made comment. +</p> + +<p> +"I never heard a Jew say it that way before." +</p> + +<p> +He acknowledged the rebuke with the flash of a +smile that appeared only in his eyes. +</p> + +<p> +"A Jew entirely Jewish wears the mark on him. +You have had to ask if I were a Jew. Would I be +consistent to claim to be that which in no wise shows +to be in me?" +</p> + +<p> +"It is time to be a Jew or against the Jews," she +said gravely. "There is no middle ground concerning +Judea at this hour." +</p> + +<p> +Serious words from the lips of a woman in whom a +man expects to find entertainment are obtrusive, a +paradox. Still the new generosity in his heart for +this girl made any manner she chose, engaging, so +that it showed him the sight of her face and gave him +the sound of her voice. +</p> + +<p> +"Seeing," he said, "that it is the hour of +the Jewish hope, is it politic for us to declare ourselves +for its benefits?" +</p> + +<p> +"The call at this hour," she exclaimed reproachfully, +"is to be great in sacrifice–not for reward. +It is the word of the prophets that we shall not attain +glory until we have suffered for it. We have not yet +made the beginning." +</p> + +<p> +She touched so familiarly on his own thoughts which +had haunted him since ambition had awakened in him +in his boyhood, that his interest in his own hope +surged to the fore. +</p> + +<p> +"How goes it in Jerusalem?" he asked earnestly. +</p> + +<p> +"Evilly, they say," she answered, "but I have not +been in the city. Yet you see Judea. That which +has destroyed it threatens the city. Jews have no +friends abroad over the world. We need then our +own, our own!" +</p> + +<p> +"Trust me, lady, for a good Jew. I have said +that I had been one, because I admit how far I have +drifted from my people. But I am going back!" +</p> + +<p> +Somehow that strong avowal touched the deep +springs of her grief. She knew the pleasure that +her father would have felt in it. With the greatness +of his sacrifice in mind, she filled with the determination +that his work should not have been in vain. +</p> + +<p> +She rose and flung back the cumbrous striped mantle +on her shoulders and put out her hands to the +Maccabee. +</p> + +<p> +"Hast seen these pilgrims going to the Passover?" +she exclaimed, with color rising as her emotion grew. +"All day they have passed; army after army of Jews, +not only strong, but filled with the spirit that makes +men die for a cause! Hast seen Judea, which was +once the land of milk and honey? Wasted! a sight +to make Jews gnash their teeth and die of hate and +rage! What hast thou said of Jerusalem? 'The +perfection of beauty and the joy of the whole earth!' +threatened with this same blight that hath made a +wilderness of Canaan! If the hour and the circumstance +and the cause will but unite us, this unweaponed +host will stretch away at once in majestic orders +of tens of thousands–legions upon legions that +would shame Xerxes for numbers and that first Cęsar +for strength. Then–oh, I can see that calm battle-line +pass like the ocean tide over the stony Roman +front, and forget as the sea forgets the pebbles that +opposed it!" +</p> + +<p> +She halted suddenly on the edge of tears. The +Maccabee, astonished and moved, looked at her in silence. +This, then, was what even the women of the +shut chambers of Palestine expected of him–if he +freed Judea! If such spirit prevailed over the armies +of men assembling in the Holy City, what might he +not achieve with their help! The Maccabee felt confidence +and enthusiasm fill his heart to the full. He +rose. +</p> + +<p> +"Our blows will never weaken nor our hearts grow +faint," he said, "if we have such eloquence and such +beauty to inspire us." +</p> + +<p> +She drew back a little. His persistent happiness +of mood fell cruelly on her flinching heart at that +moment. He noted her sudden relapse into dejection, +with disappointment. +</p> + +<p> +"Do not be sad," he said. "Discomforts do not +last for ever." +</p> + +<p> +"It is not that," she said in a low voice. "I have +buried beloved dead on this journey and I have surrendered +all my substance to a pillager." +</p> + +<p> +There was the silence of arrested thought. The +Maccabee was taken aback and embarrassed. He felt +that he was an intruder. But even the flush on her +face in restraining emotion made her loveliness more +than ever winsome. He let his hand drop softly on +hers. But in the genuineness of his sympathy he was +not too moved to feel that her hand warmed under +his clasp. +</p> + +<p> +"The difference between a fool and a blunderer," +he said contritely, "is that the blunderer is always +sorry for his mistakes. I will go. None has a right +to refuse another his hour to weep." +</p> + +<p> +He hesitated a moment, as if he would have kissed +her hand. She glanced up at him with eyes too filled +with the darkness of grief for words. +</p> + +<p> +The slow unconscious smile that had worked such +perfect transformation that first morning grew in his +eyes. It was comfort, compliment and protection all +in one. Then he went away into the moonlight. +</p> + +<p> +Within a few feet he came upon Julian of Ephesus +with immense rancor written on his face. The Maccabee +was disturbed. It was not well that this conscienceless +man should have discovered that they were +traveling near this girl and her old servant. Much as +the young man wished to loiter along the road to +Jerusalem to keep her in sight while he could, he saw +plainly that to defend her from Julian he must ride +on and leave her. +</p> + +<p> +"Your meal," said Julian, "is as cold as Jugurtha's +bath." +</p> + +<p> +"I have lost my appetite," the Maccabee said carelessly. +"Saddle and let us ride on." +</p> + +<p> +At his words, a picture of his own comfortable +progress to Jerusalem compared to her long foot-weary +tramp for days over the inhospitable hills appeared +to him. The instant impulse did not permit +himself to argue the immoderation of his care of her. +Julian clung to his side until they were ready to depart. +Then the Maccabee, using subterfuge to give +him opportunity to escape the vigilant eyes of the +Ephesian, suddenly clapped his hand to his hip, exclaiming +that he had left his weapon at the camp. +</p> + +<p> +Before Julian's sneer reached him, he mounted +quickly and rode up the hill, meaning to offer his +horse to the girl. +</p> + +<p> +The bed of coals still glowed cheerily, but the shelter +of sheepskins, the old servant and the girl in the +tissue of woven moonbeams were gone. +</p> + +<p> +He stood still, vexed, disappointed and resentful. +</p> + +<p> +"The old incubus has made her go on, purposely, +to get rid of me!" he decided finally. "Perpol! He +won't!" +</p> + + + + + +<h2 id="ch6">Chapter VI</h2> + +<h2>DAWN IN THE HILLS</h2> + + +<p> +It was a night that the Maccabee did not readily +forget. Since the girl had moved on to avoid him, he +had become alive to a delinquency that was more of a +sensation than an admission. His thought of her, that +had been a diversion before, now seemed to be a transgression. +An incident of this nature during the fourteen +years of his life in Ephesus would have engaged +his conscience only a moment if at all, but at this last +hour it amounted to a deflection from his newly resolved +uprightness. +</p> + +<p> +Julian rode in a constant air of expectancy and increasing +irritation. The slightest sound from the +haunted hills elicited a start from him and his intense +attention until the origin of the sound proved itself. +Many Passover pilgrims who had proceeded by night +passed under his close scrutiny and from time to time +he stopped the Maccabee in a speech with a peremptory +command to listen. All this engaged the Maccabee's +interest, but he made no comment until, on occasion +of his casual word in praise of the fidelity of +Aquila, Julian flew into a rage and reviled the emissary +until the Maccabee brought him up with a sharp +word. +</p> + +<p> +"Enough of that!" he exclaimed. "What ails +you, man?" +</p> + +<p> +Julian caught his breath and after a silence replied +in a voice considerably sweetened that Aquila was a +conscienceless pagan and not to be praised till he +was dead. But the Maccabee, with the girl uppermost +in his mind, believed that his cousin was inwardly +resenting his preėmption of the pretty stranger. +The fact that Julian had changed the pace of their +advance confirmed him in this suspicion. From the +smart trot that they had maintained from the time +they had left Cęsarea, they had declined to a walk. +Julian next showed inclination to loiter. He spent an +unusual length of time at every spring at which they +watered their horses; an unseen break in his harness +engaged a prolonged halt on the road; he stopped at +an unroofed hut to rouse sleeping Passover pilgrims +who had taken refuge within to ask how far they +were from Jerusalem, and wrangled with the sleepy +Jew for many minutes over the hazy estimate the man +had given him. With each of these pretenses the +Maccabee's conviction grew that the girl had something +to do with the altered behavior of his cousin. +And with that growing conviction, he became the +more convinced that he ought to maintain an espionage +of Julian. +</p> + +<p> +At midnight they were both tired, exasperated, +moody, and determined against each other. They +had not journeyed thirty furlongs. +</p> + +<p> +In one of the high valleys in the hills a great well +bubbled up from a hollow by the road, overflowed +the stone basin that the ancients had built for it and +wasted itself in the undrained soil about. Here, then, +was one of the few marshes in Judea. The road by +a series of arches crossed it and continued up the +shoulder of the hills toward the east. All about it +flourished the young growth of the rough sedge +grass, green as emerald. The spot was treeless and +marked with broad low hummocks of new sod. +</p> + +<p> +Julian halted. +</p> + +<p> +"Shall we camp here?" he asked. +</p> + +<p> +"It hath the recommendation of variety," the Maccabee +said wearily. "Eheu! How I shall miss the +greensward of Ephesus! Yes, we'll camp!" +</p> + +<p> +They dismounted and while Julian unpacked their +blankets, the Maccabee collected dead reeds and cedar +twigs and built a fire. Then he stretched himself by +the sweet-smelling flame. +</p> + +<p> +"She can not have kept up with our horses; indeed +it is unlikely that they moved far," he thought, +and thus assured that there was no danger to the girl +for whom he had become a self-constituted guardian, +he ate a piece of bread, drank a cup of wine and fell +asleep. +</p> + +<p> +His slumber was not entirely unconscious. So long +as the movements of his cousin continued regular +about him, he lay still, but once, when Julian approached +too near, his eyes opened full in the face of +the man about to lean over him. The Ephesian raised +himself hastily and the Maccabee's eyes closed again. +</p> + +<p> +"A pest on an eye that only half sleeps!" Julian +said to himself. "He hasn't lost count on the minutes +since he left Cęsarea!" +</p> + +<p> +The morning broke, the sun mounted, the deserted +road became populous with all the previous day's +host of pilgrims, and the silence in the hills failed +before the procession that should not cease till night +fell again. Through all the shouting at camel and +mule, the talk of parties and the dogged trudging of +lonely and uncompanionable solitaries, the Maccabee +slept. From time to time Julian, who had wakened +early, gazed with smoldering eyes at the insolent composure +of his enemy sleeping. But slumber with so +little control over the senses of a man was not to be +depended upon for any work that demanded stealth. +At times the gaze he bent upon the long lazy shape +half buried in the raw-edged grass was malevolent +with uneasiness and hate. Again, some one of the +passing travelers that bore a resemblance to the expected +Aquila would bring the Ephesian to his feet, +only to sink back again with a muttered imprecation +at his disappointment. +</p> + +<p> +"A pest on the waxen-hearted satyr!" he said to +himself finally. "Why should he have been more +faithful to me than to his first employer! I am old +enough to have learned by this time not to trust my +success to any man but myself. Now where am I to +look for him–Ephesus, Syene, Gaul, Medea? Jerusalem +first! By Hecate, the fellow is handsome! +And these Jewesses are impressionable!" +</p> + +<p> +The rumination was broken off suddenly by a +glimpse of an old deformed man bearing a burden on +his shoulders, followed by a slender figure, jealously +wrapped in a plebeian mantle that left only a hem of +silver tissue under its border. They were skirting +along the brow of the hill opposite, away from the +rest of the pilgrims on the road. Both were walking +slowly and the old man seemed to be examining the +farther slope, as if meditating a halt. Julian got +upon his feet and watched. He saw the old man sign +to the girl presently and they moved down the farther +side of the hill and were lost to view. +</p> + +<p> +Julian cast a look at the sleeper and hesitated. +Then he scanned the road; he might miss Aquila. He +seemed to relinquish the intent that had risen in him, +and sat down again. +</p> + +<p> +After a while as his constant gaze at the passers-by +led him again toward the overflowing well, he saw +there, standing in a long line, awaiting turn to dip a +vessel in the water, the old bowed servant, with a skin +in his hand. The girl was nowhere to be seen. +</p> + +<p> +Julian sprang to his feet and, hastening across the +road, considerably below the well, climbed the hill in +the direction in which he had seen the girl disappear. +</p> + +<p> +That watchful alarm in the brain which, at moments +of demand, is instantly alive in certain sleepers, +aroused the Maccabee almost as soon as the stealthy, +receding footsteps of Julian died away. He stirred, +sat up and looked about him. Julian was nowhere to +be seen. Both horses were feeding a little distance +away. The Maccabee sprang up and looked toward +the well. There patiently but apprehensively waiting +was old Momus. The girl was not with him. Suspicion +grew vivid in the Maccabee's brain. The tender +rank grass about him showed the print of his +cousin's steps as they led away toward the road. He +followed intently. The slim marks of the well-shod +feet led him across the dust of the road up into gravel +on the slope and finally eluded him on the escarpment +that soared away above him. +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee hurried to the top of the declivity +to gain whatever aid that point of vantage might +offer and from that height saw below him to the west +a single nook shaped of rock and hummock and a +tree out of which rose a blue thread of smoke. He +dropped down the farther slope at a pace little short +of a run. +</p> + +<p> +He mounted the slight ridge that overlooked the +depression in time to see Julian of Ephesus appear +over the opposite side. Within, with her mantle laid +off, her veil thrown back, the girl knelt over a bed of +coals, baking one of the Maccabee's Milesian ducks. +Julian had made a sound; the Maccabee had come +silently. She looked up and saw the less kindly man +first, flashed white with terror, sprang to her feet with +a cry, and whirled to flee up the other side. There +she confronted the Maccabee with hands extended +to ward off the encroachment of his cousin. Without +an instant's hesitation she flew into the Maccabee's +arms. His clasp closed around her and she shrank +against him, clinging to the folds of his tunic over +his breast with hands that were tremulous. +</p> + +<p> +Her flight to him for refuge achieved an instant +change in the Maccabee. The fear of defeat, the +primal hate of a rival, died in him. All that remained +was big wrath at the presumption and effrontery of +Julian of Ephesus. He had no definite memory of +what followed, because of the rush of blood in his +veins, the whirl of pleasurable sensation in his brain +and the weight of a sweet frightened figure pressed +to him. The Ephesian went, leaving an impression +of a most vindictive threat in the glittering smile and +the motion of his shapely hand clenched at the victorious +Maccabee. The girl drew away hastily. The +veil was over her face and through its silken meshes +he saw the glow on her cheeks and the sweep of her +lowered lashes down upon that bloom. +</p> + +<p> +She was faltering her thanks and her apologies. +</p> + +<p> +"It is mine to ask pardon," he exclaimed, still +smoldering with wrath. "I had no part in this, +except to interfere with this bad companion of mine. +I did not follow you; believe me." +</p> + +<p> +It confused her to know that he had guessed why +she had moved from their encampment the night +before. As necessary as old Momus had made it seem +to her then, it seemed now to have been ungrateful. +She could make no reply to that portion of his +speech. +</p> + +<p> +"My servant went to the well," she said. "He +will return presently. I am not afraid now." +</p> + +<p> +"I am; you ought to be. I shall wait till your +extraordinary servant returns." +</p> + +<p> +At this decided speech Laodice showed a little +panic. +</p> + +<p> +"No, no! I am not afraid. He–" +</p> + +<p> +But the Maccabee ignored the implied dismissal. +</p> + +<p> +"I owe him both a reproof and thanks for leaving +you here alone for any wayfarer to approach–and +for me to discover. I wish," gazing abroad over the +broken horizon, "there were no well between here and +Jerusalem, and that he were as thirsty as Tantalus." +</p> + +<p> +She made no reply to this remark, but her whole +presence expressed discomfort in his determination to +remain. +</p> + +<p> +"Heathen Hecate ought to get him in these wilds +for forcing that cruel journey on you last night, +when you were so weary and sad! There was no good +in it. He wanted simply to get you away from me! +Let us hope that Titus has got him for his museum +by this time, and be at ease!" +</p> + +<p> +She raised her head and reproach flashed through +the meshes of her veil. +</p> + +<p> +"Momus is a good man," she said. +</p> + +<p> +"He can not be," he insisted. "Have I not set +forth his iniquities even now?" +</p> + +<p> +"It was a short task," she maintained. "But time +is not long enough to count his virtues." +</p> + +<p> +"I can spend time better," he declared. +</p> + +<p> +He saw her silken brows lower in a spirited frown +and he was glad. She was showing some other feeling +than that dead level of unhappiness that had possessed +her from the first moment he had seen her. His +was not the heart contented to go astray after a tear. +Men fall in search of joy. +</p> + +<p> +"Momus is carrying a burden under which more +brilliant men would falter," she averred. "I am +beyond reckoning his debtor!" +</p> + +<p> +"Since he has shifted that sweet burden for a time +on my shoulders, I will forgive him for his looks. If +he will stay away, I'll be his debtor further. But +enough of Momus! I came to ask after your health, +when your long journey by night is done." +</p> + +<p> +"I am well; we did not journey all night." +</p> + +<p> +"Sit, I pray you. There is no need for you to +stand with that air of finality. I am not going, yet. +I went back to your camp last night within a short +time after I left you and found the camp broken and +your fire lonely. I wanted to offer you my horse." +</p> + +<p> +"We did not walk all night. We camped a little +farther on, and moved at daybreak this morning," +she explained. +</p> + +<p> +He cast a reflective look at the sun and considered +how much time Julian of Ephesus had lost for him +upon the road, or else how long he had slept, that this +pair, who had camped all night and had journeyed +afoot by day, had caught up with him. +</p> + +<p> +"Still it was a cruel journey–for those little +feet," he said. +</p> + +<p> +She glanced involuntarily at her sandals, worn and +dusty. +</p> + +<p> +"Yes," he said compassionately, following her +eyes. "But let me see no more, else I meet this good +and burdened Momus with the flat of my hand when +he comes! What is he to you?" +</p> + +<p> +"My servant–now almost my father!" she insisted, +trying to cover the tacit accusation that she +had made in admitting by a glance that she was +weary. "He orders all things for my good. Do you +think that each of the stones over which I stumbled +to-day did not hurt him worse because they hurt me? +Do you think he would have me go on, unless the stake +were worth the pain I had to endure? Say no more +against him!" +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee shrugged his shoulders; then noting +that she still stood, he smoothed down a spot of the +sand with his foot, tossed upon it one of the sheepskins +that Momus had unrolled, and extending his +hand politely pressed her down on the place he had +made. Then he dropped down beside her, lounging +on his elbow. +</p> + +<p> +"What is the stake?" he asked after he had composed +himself. +</p> + +<p> +She hesitated, regretting that her defense of +Momus had led her to hint her mission and touch +upon her husband's ambition. +</p> + +<p> +"The welfare of hosts!" she replied finally. +</p> + +<p> +"Heavens! What a menace I was!" the Maccabee +smiled. +</p> + +<p> +She colored quickly and he resented the veil that +was shutting away so much that was fine and fleeting +by way of expression under its folds. +</p> + +<p> +"But you are just as dangerous," he declared. +"Now, we should be in Jerusalem this hour. Our +welfare and the welfare of others depend upon us–I +mean my companion and me. But there is no +devoted prodigy to bear me away–thank fortune! +I have come out of a great turmoil; I must plunge +into a greater one before many days. Let me rest +between them. It will be a long time before I shall +possess anything so sweet as the smell of this cedar +fire and the picture of you against this fair sky!" +</p> + +<p> +She looked down quickly. +</p> + +<p> +"Was Ephesus in turmoil?" she asked disconnectedly. +</p> + +<p> +"Ephesus was never in any other state! A fit +preparation for the disorder in Jerusalem! I was +met at Cęsarea with such tales as depressed me until +it required such delight as you are to bring back my +spirits again! What takes you to Jerusalem?" he +asked earnestly. "The Passover? God will forgive +you if you neglect it one year. Nothing but the +sternest necessity should send any one there at this +hour." +</p> + +<p> +"My necessity is stern–it is Judea's necessity," +she answered. +</p> + +<p> +"More similarity!" he exclaimed. "That is why +I go! Certainly Judea's fortunes have bettered with +you and me both hastening to her rescue. Come, let +us compare further. I am going to crown a king +over Judea!" +</p> + +<p> +She raised her veil to look at him with startled eyes. +The glimpse of her face, for ever a delight and an +astonishment to him because of its extraordinary loveliness, +swept him out of the half-serious air into which +he had fallen. He stopped and looked at her with +pleased, boyish, happy eyes. +</p> + +<p> +"Aurora!" he said softly. "I see now why day +comes gradually. Mankind would die of excitement +if the dawn were unveiled to them like this suddenly +every morning!" +</p> + +<p> +She released the veil hurriedly, but before it fell he +put out a hand, caught it and tossed it back over her +head. +</p> + +<p> +"Be consistent with your part," he said, still smiling. +"No man ever saw day cancel her dawn and +live." +</p> + +<p> +It was pleasant, this sweet possession and command. +How much like an overgrown boy he had become, +since she had wakened to find herself in his power that +morning in the hills! The harshness and inflexibility +had left his atmosphere entirely. She was only afraid +of him now because he had refused to be dismissed. +But she drew down the veil. +</p> + +<p> +"I, too, expect a king," she said in a lowered tone. +"A conqueror and a redeemer." +</p> + +<p> +"The Messiah?" he said, and she knew by the +inflection that he had not meant that King when he +had spoken. +</p> + +<p> +He noted that her hair was coiled upon her head +when he threw back her veil and he turned to that at +once. +</p> + +<p> +"You wear your hair in a fashion," he said, "that +once meant that which men dislike to discover of a +woman whom they greatly admire. I hope it is no +longer significant." +</p> + +<p> +"I go," she said after a silence, "to join my husband +in Jerusalem." +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee's lips parted and an expression of +disappointment with an admixture of surprise and +vexation came over his face. But what did it matter? +Were she as free as air, he was a married man. The +humor of the situation appealed to him. He dropped +his head into the bend of his elbow and laughed. +</p> + +<p> +"Welladay, this is a respite for us both, then," he +said. But realizing that an admission that he was +married might hopelessly reduce their hour to a formal +basis, he took refuge in a falsehood. +</p> + +<p> +"My companion expects to meet a wife in Jerusalem," +he continued. "A royal creature, daughter of +an ancient and haughty family, with all her life purpose +congealed in lofty and serious intent, her coffers +lined with gold and her face as determined and unbending +as Juno's with her jealousy stirred. He is +not delighted, poor lad!" +</p> + +<p> +Laodice sat very still and listened. There was +enough similarity in this story to interest her. +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee, seeing that he had made an impression +with this deception and feeling somehow a relief +in making it, went on, delighted with his deceit. +</p> + +<p> +"He has not seen her since he married her in his +childhood, but he knows full well how she will look +when he meets her." +</p> + +<p> +Surprise paralyzed Laodice. Was the smiling and +dangerous companion of this man, her husband? +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee, meanwhile, deliberately remarked +her charms and recounted their antithesis in making +up a picture of the woman he expected to meet as his +wife. +</p> + +<p> +"She will, according to his expectations, be meager +and thin, not plump! Thoughtful women and women +with a purpose are never plump! And she will be +black and pale, all eyes, with a nose which is not the +noble nose of our race. She will be religious and it +will not make her happy. She will realize her value +to her husband and he will not be permitted to forget +it. She will be ambitious and full of schemes. She +will be the larger part of his family, though by the +balance she will weigh not so much as an omer of +barley." +</p> + +<p> +Laodice got upon her feet in her agitation and +raised her veil to stare at this slander. Was this a +picture of herself she heard? The Maccabee was +enjoying himself uncommonly. +</p> + +<p> +"She will wear the garments of a queen, but–how +little a slip of silver tissue will become her!" +</p> + +<p> +Laodice looked down in alarm at her gleaming garment, +and reached for her mantle. The Maccabee +had no idea how much pleasure he was to derive in +making his own story, Julian's. He continued, almost +recklessly, now. +</p> + +<p> +"Small wonder that he is so delinquent in the wilderness, +with such square-shouldered righteousness +awaiting him in town! Forgive him, lady, for his +iniquities now, for he will be a good man after he +reaches Jerusalem; by my soul, you may be sure he +will be good!" +</p> + +<p> +Laodice gasped under the pressure of astonishment +and indignation. It was bad enough to be pictured +thus unprepossessing, but to be suddenly made aware +of her husband in a man whom she feared, was desperate. +She stared with frank and horrified eyes at her +tormentor. +</p> + +<p> +"But–but–" she stammered. +</p> + +<p> +"True," he sighed. "One can not know what calamity +forces another into misdeeds. Now were I my +unfortunate friend, perhaps I should afflict you with +my hunger for sweetness also." +</p> + +<p> +And that smooth, insinuating, violent pagan was +Philadelphus Maccabaeus! But what had her father +said of him, as a child? "Quick in temper, resourceful, +aye, even shifty, stubborn, cold in heart, hard to +please!" And to this man she must present herself, +late, penniless and unhelpful. Panic seized her! +How could she go on to Jerusalem! +</p> + +<p> +That long graceful figure stretched on the sand +was speaking. What was it in his voice that drew her +so mightily from any terror that possessed her at any +time? +</p> + +<p> +"Sit down, sit down! I have more to say," he was +urging her. +</p> + +<p> +She obeyed him numbly. +</p> + +<p> +"He gets worse as he approaches the city. I think +I ought to leave him. It will not be safe to be near +him when his moneyed lady claims him for her own!" +</p> + +<p> +"She–she–" Laodice burst out, "is–may +be such a woman!" +</p> + +<p> +"Such a woman as you! No; she will not be. +That is what makes him bad. And now that I +bethink me, perhaps it is just as well that you proceed +to Jerusalem. He may comfort himself with a +sight of you, now and then." +</p> + +<p> +"I? I comfort him?" she exclaimed. +</p> + +<p> +"By my soul I know it! What blunders Fortune +makes in bestowing wives! Perchance your husband +could have got on as well without so radiant a spouse, +while my poor beauty-loving friend must needs be +paired with a–Alas! there is too much marrying +in this world!" +</p> + +<p> +There was a ring of genuine dejection in his voice +and when she looked down at him, she saw that his +eyes were larger and more sorrowful than she believed +they could be. He was hurting himself with +his own deceit. She looked away hastily, frightened +at the sudden tenderness that his pathetic gaze had +wakened in her. +</p> + +<p> +"Alas!" he went on. "The greatest sacrifice and +the frequentest in this world of cross-purposes never +gets into poetry. I–" he halted a moment and +looked away, "I ought to be sorry for her, too. She +is not getting the best of men." +</p> + +<p> +"Verily!" she exclaimed impulsively. +</p> + +<p> +He whirled his head toward her, stared; then with +a flash of intense expression in his eyes burst into a +ringing laugh that shook him from head to foot. He +flung out his hand and catching hers passed it across +his lips without kissing it, and let it go before he +regained composure enough to speak. +</p> + +<p> +"No! Not a good man! Verily! But hath he +no cause to be delinquent?" +</p> + +<p> +"No!" she said stubbornly. "He has judged her +without seeing her, when, by your own words, he +expects her to bring him fortune and position. What +is he bringing her?" +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee looked at her thoughtfully before +he answered. +</p> + +<p> +"Nothing! Not even his heart!" he vowed. +</p> + +<p> +Laodice caught her breath in an agony of indignation +and distress. +</p> + +<p> +"He does not in any way deserve–" she stopped +precipitately. She was about to add "the great +fortune he is to get," when she realized that she was +taking this husband nothing–not even her own +heart. She went on, for the first time a little glad +that she was penniless. +</p> + +<p> +"He may find–neither fortune, nor position, nor +heart awaiting him!" she finished pointedly. +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee pulled one of his stubborn locks that +had fallen over his eyes. The smile grew less vivid. +</p> + +<p> +He had no comment to make to this. Meanwhile +Laodice looked at him. +</p> + +<p> +"Shall–you be with–your friend in Jerusalem?" +she asked. +</p> + +<p> +"It depends on his wife," he retorted with a +grimace. +</p> + +<p> +She would be glad if this tall, comely trifler, with a +voice as musical as some grave-toned viol, were to be +seen from time to time to relieve the tedium of life +with the offensive Philadelphus. This admission instantly +brought a shock to her. She had learned to +study herself in these last few days since she had become +aware of the ways of the world. Life was to be +no longer a period of obedience to laws which the +Torah had laid down; it was to be a long resistance +against desirable things that she yearned for but +which she dared not have. She learned at this moment +that she could be her own chief stumbling-block, +and that love, the most precious illumination in every +life, might be a destruction and a consuming fire. +She looked at this man, who lounged beside her, with +a new sensation. He was winsome, and therefore the +more perilous. That smooth insulting stranger whom +this man had revealed as her husband with all his violence +and license was a humble and harmless thing +compared to this one, who had snared her by his care +of her and by his charming self. +</p> + +<p> +She felt a desire to cry out for Momus to take her +back to the inner chamber of the shut house in Ascalon, +away from her danger to herself and from the +sight of the man who had done her no harm–yet. +</p> + +<p> +She did not know how plainly all this wrote itself +on her candid face. Wise pupil of that unbridled +school, the city of Diana, he could read in that slight +frown on her forehead and the pathetic curve of her +lips, that she was contented with him–that she was +not glad to go on to that husband in Jerusalem. He +was near to her before she knew he had moved. +</p> + +<p> +"After all," he was saying in a low voice, "I am +glad you are going to Jerusalem. You shall not be +lost from me again. Whose house shall I ask for +when I can not endure separation longer?" +</p> + +<p> +She moved away from him. There was a step +behind her and Laodice, coloring shamedly, looked +straight into the accusing eyes of Momus who stood +there. The stranger rose. +</p> + +<p> +"I shall see you again," he said to her. +</p> + +<p> +He took her hand and lifted it to his lips. The +next instant he was gone. +</p> + + + + + +<h2 id="ch7">Chapter VII</h2> + +<h2>IMPERIAL CĘSAR</h2> + + +<p> +When the Maccabee had returned to the spot in the +sedgy valley where he and Julian had halted, he +found the Ephesian white to the lips and with ignited +eyes awaiting him. +</p> + +<p> +"How much longer?" the Ephesian demanded. +</p> + +<p> +"What! Fast and slow!" the Maccabee said +calmly. "Last night you wasted hours to spite me. +To-day you begrudge me a moment's talk with a +lovely wayfarer. Or is it because she prefers me? +You have ordered our progress long enough. I shall +move when it pleases me." +</p> + +<p> +He sat down by the fire, clasping his hands back +of his head, and half-closed his eyes. The Ephesian +rose and tramped restlessly about. As he glanced +down at the reposeful attitude of the man whom he +could not exasperate he saw the sun glitter on the +Maccabaean signet on the hand clasped back of Philadelphus' +head. The sight of it in a way collected +Julian's purposes. He knew that by some misadventure +he had missed Aquila whom he had hoped to +meet in Emmaus, bearing treasure stolen from the +daughter of Costobarus. By this time, then, the +Maccabee's emissary had doubtless arrived in Jerusalem–the +last possible point for the two conspirators +to meet. To proceed to Jerusalem without the Maccabee, +with whatever excuse he could invent, would not +deliver the dowry of the bride into his hands, in the +event that Aquila had not succeeded in his instructions +to make way with Laodice before he reached Jerusalem. +Nothing occurred to Julian at that moment +but to impersonate the Maccabee until it was possible +to get possession of the two hundred talents from +those friends in Jerusalem who were interested in his +cousin's welfare. No one in Jerusalem knew Philadelphus +Maccabaeus. Aquila, as fellow-conspirator, +would not dare to expose him if Julian appeared as +his cousin. Perilous at best, it seemed the only plan +by which he was to get possession of a fortune which +even Cęsar would be glad to have. +</p> + +<p> +The resolution formed itself in a brain turbulent +with passion and desperation. He halted silently +back of his cousin and with a sudden flare of intent +on his dead white face snatched a dagger from his +girdle and drove it between the shoulders of the Maccabee. +Without a word, Philadelphus turned upon +his assailant and started to his feet. But Julian, +catching a glimpse of the dire purpose in his cousin's +darkened eyes, struck again. The knife, blindly +wielded, glanced on the Maccabee's head with wild +force. Under a veil of scarlet Philadelphus sank to +the earth. +</p> + +<p> +Julian with a sob of terror sprang out of range +of his victim's gaze. After a time he took courage +and looked. The lids were fallen and the breast +was still. +</p> + +<p> +Julian bent hastily and snatched the signet from +the nerveless hand and fumbling in the bosom drew +forth the wallet there. He opened it, finding within +ancient parchments with heavy seals, new writings, +rolls of notes and a packet of letters. He rose, trembling +violently, and backed away. After a moment's +fascinated gaze at the roadway to see if the pilgrims +passing had seen what he had done, he whirled about, +mounted his horse and galloped frantically toward +Jerusalem. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile the midday activity on the Roman roadway +swept by the smoldering fire and the motionless +figure lying in the grass some distance back from the +highway. Along the splendid causeway the Passover +pilgrims fared, men afoot, men on camels, families +and solitary travelers; the poor, the once rich, the +humble and the haughty; figures in burnooses, gabardines, +gowns and tunics; striped and checkered +woolens, linens or rags; noisy or silent, angry or sad, +hour in and hour out, until the hills were a-throb with +the human atmosphere. Time and again the sweet +invitation of the rare grass along the marsh invited +the way-weary to halt to tie a sandal, to bind up a +wound, to eat a crust spread with curds or simply to +rest. No one approached the silent man who had +fallen beside a dying fire. They were tired enough to +refrain from disturbing a man who slept. So, though +they looked at him from where they sat and two or +three asked each other if he were asleep or merely +weary, he was left alone. One by one they who +halted took up their journey again and the figure in +the grass lay still. +</p> + +<p> +Finally near the noon hour there came from the +summit of a hill overhanging the road, a high, wild, +youthful yell that cut with startling distinctness +through the dead level of human communication on +the highway. Each of the travelers below looked up +to see a young shepherd in sheepskins with long-blowing +stiff crinkled locks flying back from a dusky face, +with eyes soft and shining as those of some wild +thing. Around him eddied a mob of sheep as wild as +he, and a Natolian dog raced hither and thither in a +cloud of dust, rounding the edge of the flock and +shaping it to the advance of the young faun that +mastered it. +</p> + +<p> +"Sheep! by the prophets!" one of the sedate Jews +exclaimed. +</p> + +<p> +"The only flock in existence in Judea, I venture!" +his companion declared. +</p> + +<p> +"And so hopelessly doomed to Roman possession +that it can not be called in existence." +</p> + +<p> +"Heigh! Hello! Young David!" one of the +younger men called up to the shepherd. "Does Titus +pay you for minding his mutton?" +</p> + +<p> +"Salute, neighbors!" another shouted. "Here is +the Roman commissary!" +</p> + +<p> +"Ill-fathered son of an Ishmaelite!" a Tyrian +said to this jester. "That you should make sport of +Judea's humiliation!" +</p> + +<p> +The shepherd who had paused amid his whirlpool +of sheep wisely held his peace. There was a division +of sentiment here that were better not aggravated. +He halted long enough for the road to clear below +him and then descended into the valley and crossed to +the low meadow on the opposite side. +</p> + +<p> +His scamper of sheep flocked into the sedge, parting +around the prostrate figure by a circle of coals +now dead, and plunged into the pasture. The boy +inspected the earth and shook his head. It was too +wet for a long stay, inviting as it seemed. But here +his flock might pasture for a day without injury. +</p> + +<p> +He glanced at the sleeper as he passed and continued +to the farther side where the opposite hill +sloped down into the depression. Here he found for +himself a comfortable spot and lay down, prepared to +watch all day. From time to time he looked across +at the motionless figure in the grass and commented +to himself that it was a weary man who slept so +soundly, and then lost interest in the maze of dreams +that can entangle the wits of a shepherd who is a boy. +</p> + +<p> +The march of the Passover pilgrims continued to +Jerusalem. +</p> + +<p> +In mid-afternoon there came interruption. Along +the level highway came the rapid beat of hooves and +the musical jingle of harness. Every soul within +sound of that un-Jewish mode of travel turned apprehensively +and looked back. Bearing down upon them +from the west came a stampede of Roman cavalry +scouting. The sunshine on their brass armor transformed +them into shapes of gold, and the recklessness +of their advance swept the pilgrims out of their path +as far as could be seen. Right and left the Jews +scattered; some ran into the hills and hid themselves; +others merely stepped aside and with darkening faces +waited defiantly for the approach of the oppressor. +The young shepherd full of excitement sprang to his +feet. +</p> + +<p> +Neither the fleeing Jews nor the Jews that had +stood their ground attracted the attention of the +approaching legionaries. It was the close-packed, +avid-feeding sheep, deep in the grass, that won their +instant and enthusiastic notice. The decurion in +charge of the squad brought up his gray horse with +such suddenness that the animal's feet slid in the +gravel. +</p> + +<p> +"Sheep, by the wings of Mercury!" he shouted. +"Dismount, fellows! Here's for a feast this night +and an offering to Mars to-morrow!" +</p> + +<p> +The ten in brazen armor threw themselves from +their horses with the enthusiasm of boys and spread +a panic of whooping and of waving arms about the +startled flock. The young shepherd, too long a fugitive +from the encroachments of this same army to misunderstand +the nature of the attack, ran into the thick +of the shouting Romans. His valiant dog with exposed +teeth flew straight at the nearest legionary. +</p> + +<p> +"Cerberus!" the soldier howled, dodging. "Your +pike, Paulus! Quick! By Hector, it is a wolf!" +</p> + +<p> +But the quickest soldier would not have been quick +enough to elude the enraged beast had not the shepherd +with a spring and a warning cry seized his dog +by the ears and stopped him mid-bound. +</p> + +<p> +"Down, Urge!" he cried. "Take away your +men!" he shouted to the decurion. "I can not hold +him long." +</p> + +<p> +"Only so long," Paulus growled, raising his pike +over the snarling dog. +</p> + +<p> +"Drop it!" the decurion ordered him peremptorily. +"We are ten to one and a dog. No blood-letting +this day. It is Titus' order. Boy, get you +gone; these sheep are confiscate." +</p> + +<p> +"I have been told they are only common stock," +the boy remonstrated gravely, "but you may be +right. Howbeit, they are not mine and I can not +leave them." +</p> + +<p> +"You have been misinformed," the decurion said +gravely, while his men, circling around the growling +dog, went on with their work. "These are Roman +sheep, with the Flavian coat of arms and the mark of +the army in black on their hides–if you shear them. +But if you make away as fast as you can I shall +not tell Titus which way you went." +</p> + +<p> +The sheep had started pell-mell toward the Roman +road. The decurion turned back to his horse. The +shepherd released his dog, which ran after the flock, +and stepped into the decurion's way. +</p> + +<p> +"However these sheep look when they are sheared," +he said, "this seems to be robbery to me." +</p> + +<p> +"Robbery!" the good-natured decurion exclaimed. +"This is but a religious rite that Mercury got out of +the cradle at two days to establish. Only he took +Apollo's cattle while we are contenting ourselves with +the sheep of mortal ownership. Robbery! What an +inelegant word!" +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile the stampeded sheep were making in a +cloud of dust back over the road toward the west from +which the Romans had come. +</p> + +<p> +"What shall I say to the citizens of Pella?" the +little shepherd shouted, pursuing the decurion who +was making back to his horse as fast as he could go. +</p> + +<p> +"Salute them for me," the decurion shouted back, +"and make them my obeisances, and say that I shall +report on the flavor of the sheep by messenger from +Jerusalem." +</p> + +<p> +In a moment the boy sprang into the decurion's +way so suddenly that the soldier almost fell over him. +</p> + +<p> +"Be fair!" the boy exclaimed. "At least leave +me half!" +</p> + +<p> +The decurion was losing patience and the shepherd +had grown more than ever serious. +</p> + +<p> +"Fair!" the Roman echoed. "Why, I have been +indulgent! This is war! It is almost a breach of discipline +to argue with you. Out of the way!" +</p> + +<p> +"The Roman army has all the world to feed it; +Pella has only its sheep. We, then, must face hunger +and cold because your appetites crave mutton this +day!" the boy returned resentfully. +</p> + +<p> +The decurion pointed down the road. +</p> + +<p> +"Why waste your breath! There go the sheep." +</p> + +<p> +The boy's dark eyes filled with tears. The decurion +swung around him and went back to the horses that +waited in the road. He knotted their bridles together +and, leading one of the number, remounted and rode +west after the receding cloud of dust which hid the +flock. +</p> + +<p> +The shepherd's head sank on his heaving breast and +he stood still. +</p> + +<p> +"Lord Jesus, I pray Thee, give me my sheep +again!" he prayed. +</p> + +<p> +A deep prolonged thunder that had been filling the +hills with sound began to multiply as the nearest +slopes caught it and tossed it from echo to echo. It +was not loud but immensely prevalent. Those wayfarers +who had fled came back to the brink of the hill +and those who had stood their ground walked out into +the grass to look back. Around the curve of a buttress +of rock that stood out at the line of the road, +the head of a column of Roman cavalry appeared. +The superb color-bearer bore on his hip the staff supporting +the Imperial standard. +</p> + +<p> +At the forefront rode a young general; on either +side a tribune. Behind came a detachment of six +hundred horse. +</p> + +<p> +The sheep huddling in the way were swept like a +scurry of leaves out into the meadow alongside the +road, and one of the tribunes and the general turned +in their saddles to look at the confiscated flock. The +second tribune observed their interest in this trivial +incident with disgust. The young general, whose +military cloak flaunted a purple border, called the +decurion boyishly: +</p> + +<p> +"Well done, Sergius! A samnos of wine for your +company to-night for this." +</p> + +<p> +The decurion saluted. +</p> + +<p> +"Where did you get them?" the tribune demanded. +</p> + +<p> +The shepherd who had withdrawn to the side of the +road on the approach of the column looked at the +questioner with resentful eyes from which the moisture +had not vanished. +</p> + +<p> +"From me!" he said. +</p> + +<p> +Both the purple-wearing young general and his +tribune looked at him amusedly. +</p> + +<p> +"How many killed and wounded, Sergius?" the +tribune asked. +</p> + +<p> +The silent and disapproving tribune, observing +that the commanding officer had not given an order +to halt, brought the six hundred to, lest they ride +their general down. +</p> + +<p> +"You!" the general exclaimed with his eyes on the +young shepherd. +</p> + +<p> +The boy looked up into the face of the Roman who +sat above him on a snow-white horse. +</p> + +<p> +It was a young face, tanned by the sun of Alexandria, +but bright with an emanation of light that +somehow was made tangible by the flash of his teeth +as he talked and the sparkle of his lively eyes. For a +soldier exposed to the open air and the ruffian life of +the camp and burdened with the grave task of subduing +a desperate nation, he was free of disfigurements. +His brows were knitted as if to give his full soft eyes +protection and the frown, with the laughing cut of his +youthful lips, gave his face a quizzical expression +that was entirely winning. In countenance and figure +he was handsome, refined and thoroughly Roman. +The little shepherd was won to him instantly. Without +knowing that the world from one border to the +other had already named this charming young Roman +the Darling of Mankind, the little shepherd, had his +lips been shaped to poetry, would have called him +that. +</p> + +<p> +So Joseph, the shepherd, son of Thomas, the Christian, +and Titus, son of Vespasian, Emperor of the +World, looked at each other with perfect fellowship. +</p> + +<p> +"Those are sheep from Pella," Joseph said soberly, +"in my care. They were taken from me +because," he paused till a more tactful statement +should suggest itself, but, lacking it, drove ahead +with spirit, "there was not more of me to stop your +soldiers." +</p> + +<p> +"I believe you," Titus replied heartily. "But +that is the fortune of war. Still, you Jews have a +habit of refusing to accept defeat rationally." +</p> + +<p> +"I am not a Jew," Joseph explained. "I am +born of Arab blood, and I am a Christian." +</p> + +<p> +"Worse and worse," said Titus. +</p> + +<p> +Joseph shifted his position argumentatively. +</p> + +<p> +"Is it?" he asked. "Are you making war on +Pella or Jerusalem? Was it Pella or the hundred +Jewish towns that cost Rome so much of late? Pella +is not exactly your friend, though neither are most +of your provinces; but are you going to pillage +Egypt or Persia because Judea is in rebellion?" +</p> + +<p> +Titus threw his plump leg over the horn of his +saddle and sat sidewise. One of his tribunes looked +at the other with a flickering smile that was not +entirely free of contempt. But his fellow returned a +stare that for immobility would have done credit to +the Memnon. +</p> + +<p> +"Now," Titus began, "I have heard of this fault +in the Christians. They don't understand warfare." +</p> + +<p> +"We don't," Joseph declared bluntly. "We do +not see why you should take my sheep to feed your +army, when we have had nothing to do with bringing +your army over here. We haven't cost you one drop +of Roman blood or one denarius of Roman money, +and yet you are taking at one act the whole of our +substance and punishing us for the misdeeds of others–others +whom you haven't succeeded in punishing +yet." +</p> + +<p> +"That is bad judgment," Titus said, frowning at +the last sentence. +</p> + +<p> +"Unpleasant truth always is," Joseph retorted. +</p> + +<p> +One of the tribunes laughed impulsively and Titus +looked around at him reproachfully. +</p> + +<p> +"Come, come, Carus," he said. +</p> + +<p> +"Thy pardon, Cęsar," the tribune replied, "but +we'll be whipped in this wordy battle. And even a +small defeat were an unpropitious sign on this expedition." +</p> + +<p> +"To Hades with your signs! If I am whipped +with six hundred back of me, I ought to be! Boy, +we have your sheep by conquest; you will have to +take them back the same way." +</p> + +<p> +Joseph's face fell. +</p> + +<p> +"I have had them since I was nine years old. I've +tended them since they were lambs and their mothers +before them. It is like surrendering so many children," +he said dejectedly. "In truth I can fight for +them even if it be but to lose, and I am bidden not to +fight at that." +</p> + +<p> +"By Hector, that is not a Jewish tenet!" Titus +exclaimed. +</p> + +<p> +Joseph said nothing. He stood still in the path of +the Roman six hundred with his curly head sunk on +his breast. There was silence. +</p> + +<p> +"Is it?" Titus demanded uncomfortably. +</p> + +<p> +"No; and for that reason you are still fighting +them and will fight and lose and lose and lose, before +you win. Still, it is no safeguard not to fight you; +you take our substance anyhow. Be we peace-lovers +or not, there is warfare; if we do not fight we are +fought against." +</p> + +<p> +Titus thrust his helmet back from his full front of +intensely black curls and wiped his forehead. +</p> + +<p> +"The sun is hot in these hills," he said disjointedly +to the tribune he had called Carus, "and the wind is +cold. Uncomfortable climate." +</p> + +<p> +Carus said nothing. +</p> + +<p> +"Is it not?" Titus demanded irritably. +</p> + +<p> +"Very," Carus observed hastily. +</p> + +<p> +The little shepherd stood in the road and the six +hundred were silent. +</p> + +<p> +"Well," said Titus with a tone of finality, "you +never remember the wrongs the strong man endured–wrongs +that the weak man did him because of his +weakness." +</p> + +<p> +"It never hurts the strong man," Joseph said +softly, "to give the weak one another chance." +</p> + +<p> +Titus closed his lips at that, and the tribune who +had smiled sarcastically looked with sudden intent at +Carus. Carus silently moved his horse to the sarcastic +tribune's side with such threatening expression on +his face that the other discreetly held his peace. +</p> + +<p> +"Perhaps," Titus said thoughtfully, but the boy +failed to see more in that word than the simple +expression. In his search for some further plea that +would give him his sheep again, the presence of the +young Roman appealed to him with hope. Surely +one so young and laughing, so ready to stop an army +to argue with a child, could not be beyond reach of +persuasion. With the simple frankness so innocent +of guile as to make charming that which upon other +lips would have been the broadest insincerity, he put +that moment's thought into words. +</p> + +<p> +"I thought," he said slowly, "because your horse +is so white and your dress so golden and your face +so beautiful that I would have but to ask–and I +would have my sheep again." +</p> + +<p> +Titus looked at him, not with the idea that his compliment +was effective, but with the thought that the +boy was yet too young to have lost faith in attractive +things; that another than himself would have to teach +the shepherd that lesson in disappointment. +</p> + +<p> +"Have you examined these sheep for disease, Sergius?" +he demanded, with a show of severity. "I +never saw a flock in this country that was not full of +peril for the cavalry." +</p> + +<p> +Sergius, wisely catching excuse in this demand, +saluted. +</p> + +<p> +"I did not," he replied. +</p> + +<p> +"So? Well, do it hereafter. Go stop those legionaries +and turn loose that flock. We lost five hundred +horse in Cęsarea for just such negligence." +</p> + +<p> +Joseph flung up his head, his eyes sparkling, his +cheeks aglow, his whole figure alive with a gratitude +so potent that it was painful. Titus, with the deep +tide of a blush crawling over his forehead, scowled +down at this joy. +</p> + +<p> +"Look well," he continued severely to Sergius, +"and if they are healthy–" +</p> + +<p> +But Joseph laughed and stepped out of the young +general's path. +</p> + +<p> +"And," said Titus, his face clearing before that +laugh as he directed his words to the little shepherd, +"Jerusalem shall have another chance." +</p> + +<p> +Transfiguration brightened the small dusky face. +He put up his hands for that blessing that was a part +of his farewell. +</p> + +<p> +"<i>May my God supply all thy need according to +his riches in glory, by Jesus Christ. Amen!</i>" +</p> + +<p> +Titus, with a bowed head, touched his horse, and +in response to a silent flash of an uplifted sword the +picked six hundred of Cęsar's army rode on in the +subdued thunder of hoof and the music of jingling +harness toward Jerusalem. +</p> + +<p> +After a long time there came the quick patter of a +running flock and the multitudinous complaint of +lambs, and up from the east rushed the mob of sheep. +Behind them trotting comfortably were the mounted +scouts. The ten privates wore scornful countenances +highly expressive of their contempt for the unwarlike +restitution they had been forced to make, but as +they rode past when the sheep swept out of the road +to their tender, Sergius, the decurion, dropped back +and with his tongue in his cheek made such jovial +threatening signs that the little shepherd laughed +again. +</p> + +<p> +The squad galloped after the main body and were +lost to view. Many of the Jews called to the little +shepherd, but after a time travel was resumed on the +road and deep monotonous composure settled upon the +valley again. +</p> + +<p> +But Joseph, the Christian, turned into the high +grass of the meadow with bowed head and clasped +hands. +</p> + +<p> +"Lord Jesus, what may I do for Thee?" he asked +impulsively. +</p> + +<p> +He stopped suddenly. At his feet lay the silent +sleeper in the grass. On the tall growth upstanding +about the prostrate form were clear shining scarlet +drops. The little shepherd turned white and threw +himself down on his knees beside the still figure and +put his hand over the heart. Then he lifted his face +to the skies. +</p> + +<p> +"<i>I was sick and ye visited me</i>," he whispered radiantly. +</p> + +<div class="ctr"> + <a href="images/image04l.jpg"> + <img src="images/image04.jpg" + alt="He threw himself down by the still figure." + title="He threw himself down by the still figure." /> +</a> <p class="caption">He threw himself down by the still figure.</p> +</div> + + + +<h2 id="ch8">Chapter VIII</h2> + +<h2>GREEK AND JEW</h2> + + +<p> +Julian of Ephesus, now the presumptive Philadelphus +Maccabaeus, rode up the broad brown bosom of +a hill that had confronted him for miles to the south, +and the sun had sloped until its early spring rays +struck level from the west. At the summit, he drew +up his horse suddenly with a quick intaking of the +breath. +</p> + +<p> +Below him lay Jerusalem. +</p> + +<p> +South and east the barren summits of brown hills +shaped a depression in which the city lay. North, +clean-white and regular, the wall of Agrippa was +printed against the cold blue of the sky. Below on +three lesser mounts and overflowing the vales between +was the goodliest city in all Asia. +</p> + +<p> +About it and through it climbed such walls, planted +on such bold natural escarpment, that made it the +most inaccessible fortification in the world. On its +highest hill stood a vision of marble and gold–a +fortress in gemstone–the Temple. Behind it +towered Roman Antonia. Westward the Tyropean +Bridge spanned a deep, populous ravine. The high +broad street upon which the giant causeway terminated +was marked by the solemn cenotaphs of Mariamne +and Phaselis and ended against the Tower of +Hippicus–a vast and unflinching citadel of stone. +Under the shadow of this pile was the high place of +the Herods; in sight was a second Herodian palace. +South was the open space of the great markets; near +the southernmost segment of the outer wall was the +semicircular Hippodrome. Cut off from its neighbor +by ancient walls were Ophlas, overlooking Tophet +and under the shadow of the Temple; Mount Zion +which the Lord had established, Akra of the valley, +Moriah, the Holy Hill, and Coenopolis or Bezetha +which Agrippa I had walled. About the immense +outer fortifications crawled the shadowy valleys of +Tophet, of Brook Kedron and of Hinnom. Thickly +scattered like fallen patches of skies the pools of +Siloam, Gihon, Shiloh, En-Rogel, the Great Pool, +the Serpent's Pool and the Dragon's Well reflected +the color of the mountain heavens. Between them +wandered the blue threads of certain aqueducts that +supplied them. Everywhere rose the shafts of monuments +and memorials, old as the pride of Absalom, +new as the folly of the Herods; everywhere the aggressive +paganism of Rome and Greece, which would +have paganized this monotheistic race out of very +rancor against its uprightness, violated with insolent +beauty the hieratic severity of the city's face. +Rich, bold, strong, beautiful, Jerusalem was at that +hour, as viewed from the hill to the north, the perfection +of beauty and the joy of the whole earth. +</p> + +<p> +For a moment ambition struggled nobly in the +breast of the man that overlooked it. Except for +the obstacles he had placed in his own way by his +misdeeds, Julian of Ephesus at that moment might +have become great. But he had struck down his kinsman +on the way, and such deeds were remembered +even in war-ridden Judea; he had come to Jerusalem +wearing his kinsman's name that he might despoil +that kinsman's bride of her dowry; a hundred other +crimes of his commission stood in the way to peace +and success. +</p> + +<p> +But about him the Passover pilgrims, catching +their first glimpse of the Holy City, gave way to the +storm of emotion that had gradually gathered as +they drew near to the threatened City of Delight. +</p> + +<p> +It had moved him to look upon this most majestic +fortification, embattled and begirt for resistance +against the most majestic nation in the world. But +he who came as a stranger could not feel within him +the tenderness of old love, the sanctity of old tradition, +and the desperation of kin in his blood as he +gazed upon Jerusalem. Yonder was a roof-garden; +to him, no more than that. But the inspired Jews +beside him knew that in that place the sun of noon +had shone upon Bathsheba, the beautiful; and in that +neighboring high place the heart of the Singing +King had melted; to the north was a stretch of +monotonous ground overgrown with a new suburb; +but that was the camp of Sennacherib, the Assyrian +whom the Angel of the Lord smote and his army of +one hundred and four score and five thousand, before +the morning. Yonder were squalid streets, older +than any others. But the Kings had walked them; +the Prophets had helped wear trenches in their stones; +the heroes and the strong-hearted women of the ancient +days had gone that way. No house but was +holy with tradition; no street but was sanctified by +event. Small wonder, then, that these who came to +this Passover, the most momentous one since that +calamity which had occurred forty years ago on +Golgotha, wept, cried aloud to Heaven; became beatified +and made prophecies; railed; anathematized +Jerusalem's enemies; assumed vows and were threatening. +Julian of Ephesus was shaken. He looked +about him on the tempestuous host, then touched his +horse and rode down to the city. +</p> + +<p> +On the Hill Scopus over which he approached an +inferior number of Romans were camped, and these +had maintained a semblance of siege only sufficiently +effective to close all the gates on three sides. The +Sun Gate to the south of the city was therefore the +most accessible point of entry for the pilgrims. +Following the people who had preceded him, Julian +approached this portal, left his horse with the stable-keeper +without and prepared to enter Jerusalem. +</p> + +<p> +Collecting at the causeway of the Sun Gate the pilgrims +came with such impetus that the foremost were +rushed struggling and protesting through the tunnel +under the wall and forced well into Jerusalem +before they could control their own motion. Once +within, the host spread out so that one looking at the +immense space they instantly covered wondered how +so great a mass ever passed through the circumscribed +limits of a fifty-foot gate. At times stopping was impossible. +Again there were momentary lulls, as when +the sea recoils upon itself and is stilled for an instant. +They who stood to watch, wearied of days of such +invasion, unconsciously wished that the interval might +endure till they could rest their number-wearied +brains. But, as if the stagnation were the result of +congestion somewhere without the walls, when the +wave returned it came with redoubled height and +power and the Sun Gate would roar with the noise of +their entry. +</p> + +<p> +After the Ephesian had been swept in with his own +company of pilgrims, he saw that which even few of +the new-comers had expected to see. The immediate +vicinity of the gate was laid waste. Up Mount Zion +opposite Hippicus and along the margin of the Tyropean +Valley where the Herodian and Sadducean +palaces had seemed so fair from the north were great +blackened shells of walls and leaning pillars, partly +buried in ruin and rubbish. Far and wide the streets +were littered with debris and charred fragments of +burned timbers. At another place on the breast of +Zion was a chaos of rock where a mansion had been literally +pulled down. Somewhere near Akra pale columns +of pungent, wind-blown smoke still rose from a +colossal heap of fused matter that the Ephesian could +not identify. About it were neglected houses; not a +sign of festivity was apparent; windows hung open +carelessly; the hangings in colonnades were stripped +away entirely or whipped loose from the fastenings +and abandoned to the winds. Numbers of dwellings +appeared to have been sacked; others were so closely +barred and fortified that their exteriors appeared as +inhospitable as jails. +</p> + +<p> +Confusion prevailed on the smoked and untidy +marble Walk of the Purified leading down from the +Temple. Here those who held fast to the Law met +and contested for their old exclusiveness with wild +heathen Idumean soldiers, starvelings, ruffians and +strange women from out-lying towns. Far and wide +were wandering crowds, surly, defiant, discourteous, +exacting. Manifestly it was the visitors who were +the aggressors. They had been overthrown and +driven from their own into an unsubjugated city +which was secure. They felt the rage of the defeated +which are not subdued, and the resentment against +another's unearned immunity. The citizens of Jerusalem +had not welcomed them and they were enraged. +Half a dozen fights of more or less seriousness +were in sight at once. A column of black wiry +men in some semblance of uniform pushed across the +open space toward the Essene Gate. They took no +heed for any in their path. Those who could not +escape were overturned and trampled on. Meeting a +rush at the gate they drew swords and coolly hacked +their way through screams of fear and pain and +amazement. After them went a wave of curses and +complaint. Citizens against the visitors; visitors +against the citizens; soldiers against them all! +</p> + +<p> +"And this cousin of mine meant to pacify all +this!" the Ephesian exclaimed to himself. +</p> + +<p> +Jerusalem, that had for fifteen hundred years +adorned herself at this time with tabrets and had +gone forth in the dance of them that make merry, +was drunken with wormwood and covered with ashes. +</p> + +<p> +All at once the Ephesian saw four soldiers standing +together and with them, manifestly under their +protection, was a Greek of striking beauty. He +wore on his fine head a purple turban embroidered with +a golden star. +</p> + +<p> +Without a moment's hesitation, the Ephesian approached. +The spears of the four soldiers fell and +formed a barrier around the Greek. The new-comer +smiled confidently. +</p> + +<p> +"Greeting, servant of Amaryllis," he said. "I +am your lady's expected guest." +</p> + +<p> +The Greek came forth from the square formed by +his guard. +</p> + +<p> +"I am that servant of Amaryllis," he said courteously. +"But show me yet another sign." +</p> + +<p> +The Ephesian drew from his bosom the Maccabaean +signet and flashed its blue fires at the Greek. The +servant stepped hastily between the soldiers and the +new-comer. +</p> + +<p> +"Thy name?" he asked in a whisper. +</p> + +<p> +"I am Philadelphus Maccabaeus." +</p> + +<p> +The servant bent and taking the hem of the woolen +tunic pressed it to his lips. +</p> + +<p> +"Happy hour!" he exclaimed. "I pray you follow +me." +</p> + +<p> +The pretender breathed a relieved sigh and joined +his protector. +</p> + +<p> +They passed down into Akra and approached the +straight column of pungent smoke towering up from +a charred heap that the Ephesian in spite of his +haste inspected curiously. +</p> + +<p> +"What is that?" he asked of the Greek. +</p> + +<p> +"That, master, is the city granaries." +</p> + +<p> +"The granaries!" the Ephesian cried, aghast. +</p> + +<p> +The Greek inclined his head. +</p> + +<p> +"What–what–fired them?" the Ephesian +asked. +</p> + +<p> +"John and Simon differed on the point of its control +and each fired it to keep the other from possessing +it!" +</p> + +<p> +For a moment the Ephesian was thunderstruck. +Then he quickened his pace. +</p> + +<p> +"By the horns of Capricornus!" he avowed. +"The sooner one gets out of this, the wiser he must +be counted!" +</p> + +<p> +The Greek looked at him with lifted brows and led +on. +</p> + +<p> +They crossed the Tyropean Valley and approached +a small new house of stone, abutting the vast retaining +wall that was built against Moriah. A line of +soldiers was thrown out from the entrance to the +house and his conductor, after whispering a word to +the captain, led the way up to a double-barred door. +A long time after he had rapped, there was the sound +of falling chains and the door swung open. A second +Greek servant of no less beauty bowed the new-comer +and his companion within. The noise of the streets +was suddenly cut off. Soft dusk and quiet proved +that the doors of Amaryllis had been shut upon unhappy +Jerusalem. +</p> + +<p> +The second servant drew a cord and a roller of +matting lifted and showed a skylight. Philadelphus +the pretender was in the andronitis of a Greek house. +</p> + +<p> +It was typical. None but a Greek with the purest +taste had planned it. Walls and pavement were of +unpolished marble, lusterless white. A marble exedra +built in a semicircle sat in the farther end, facing +a chair wholly of ivory set beside a lectern of dull +brass. At either end of the exedra on a pedestal +formed by the arms, a brass staff upheld a flat lamp +that cast its luster down on the seat by night. +Against an opposite wall built at full length of the +hall, was a pigeonholed case, which was stacked with +brass cylinders. This was the library of the Greek. +At a third side was a compound arch concealed +by a heavy white curtain. There were low couches +spread with costly white material which were used +when Amaryllis set her table in her andronitis, and +at the arches leading into the interior of the house +there were draperies. But the chamber, with all its +richness, had a splendid emptiness that made it imposing, +not luxurious. +</p> + +<p> +After a single admiring survey of the hall in which +he had been left alone, the pretended Philadelphus +fortified himself against his most critical test. +</p> + +<p> +Without a sound, without even so much as the +rustling of a garment to announce her, a woman +emerged from a passage leading into the interior of +the house. He confronted the only person in Jerusalem +who might know him as an impostor. +</p> + +<p> +The woolen chiton of her countrywomen draped a +figure almost too slender, yet perfect in its delicate +modeling. Though her eyes were black, her hair was +fair and brilliant with a wash of gold powder. Her +features were Hellenic, cold, pure and classic, and for +all her youth and beauty there was an atmosphere +about her of middle-age, immense experience, and old +sagacity. +</p> + +<p> +The pretender braced himself for the scrutiny the +eyes made of him. +</p> + +<p> +"You are that Philadelphus, as my servant tells +me?" she asked. +</p> + +<p> +"I am he." +</p> + +<p> +She inclined her head. +</p> + +<p> +"Welcome; in the name of all the need of you!" +</p> + +<p> +After a silence he came closer and lifted her hand +to his lips. He added nothing, but presently raised +his eyes softened with feeling and unexpressed appreciation. +</p> + +<p> +"Certainly you have suffered, lady," he said finally +in a subdued tone. "But please God you will +not suffer alone hereafter." +</p> + +<p> +Amaryllis' non-committal front changed. +</p> + +<p> +"You are gentler of speech than is common among +the Maccabees," she said. +</p> + +<p> +"Nevertheless the Maccabees are the more touched +by devotion," he maintained. +</p> + +<p> +He led her to the exedra, unslung his wallet and +laid it on the lectern before them. +</p> + +<p> +"When thou hast leisure, perchance thou wilt +find interest in these papers here." +</p> + +<p> +She thanked him and there was a moment's silence. +Under his lashes the impostor saw that he had not +filled her fancied picture of the Maccabee made from +long years of correspondence. She was disappointed; +her intuition was perplexed. He would complete his +work and get away in time. +</p> + +<p> +"My wife is here?" he asked. +</p> + +<p> +"She came yesterday," Amaryllis responded, +clapping her hands in summons. A female servant +of such prepossessing appearance that Philadelphus +looked at her again, bowed in the archway. +</p> + +<p> +"Send hither the princess," Amaryllis said. +</p> + +<p> +"The princess," Philadelphus repeated to himself. +"Then, by Ate, I am the prince!" +</p> + +<p> +"While we wait," Amaryllis continued, "let us +talk of details which you may not have patience to +hear after she comes. Jerusalem, as you have learned, +is in grave danger–" +</p> + +<p> +"Jerusalem should fear the Roman army less than +herself. I have seen its disease." +</p> + +<p> +"The citizens will hail Titus as a deliverer. But +this week's ceremonies are bringing us disaster. +Should Titus be forced to lay siege about us, how +shall we feed this multitude of a million on the supplies +gathered for only a third of that number?" +</p> + +<p> +"Gathered and burned." +</p> + +<p> +"Even so. But of your creature comforts. My +house is open to your chief enemy. It must be so. +You must be hidden–not concealed, but disguised. +You know my weakness for people of charm and people +of ability. My house is full of them. The master +of this place is indulgent; he permits me to add +to my collection whatever pleases me in the way of society. +Therefore, you are come as a student of this +wonderful drama to be enacted in Jerusalem presently. +You may live under part of your name. +Substitute, however, your city for your surname. +Be Philadelphus of Ephesus. No one then will question +your presence here. +</p> + +<p> +"I have bound to me by oath and by fear one +hundred Idumeans who will rise or fall with you. +They are of John's own army and alienated to you +without his knowledge. Hence they are in armor +and ready at any propitious moment. This house +is provisioned and equipped for siege; everything +is prepared." +</p> + +<p> +"At what cost, my Amaryllis?" he asked tenderly. +</p> + +<p> +She drew away from him quickly, as if his tone +had touched a place of deeper disappointment. +</p> + +<p> +"That I do not remember. I am your minister; +you need no other. More than the one would be multiplying +chances for betrayal." +</p> + +<p> +"And what wilt thou have out of all this for thyself?" +he asked. +</p> + +<p> +Slowly she turned her face back to him. +</p> + +<p> +"I would have it said that I made a king," she said. +</p> + +<p> +There was a step in the corridor leading into the +andronitis, and, smiling, Amaryllis rose. Philadelphus +got upon his feet and looked to catch the first +glimpse of the woman who was bringing him two +hundred talents. +</p> + +<p> +A woman entered the hall. Behind her came a +servant bearing a shittim-wood casket. +</p> + +<p> +Had Amaryllis been looking for suspicious signs, +she would have observed in the intense silence that +fell, in the arrested attitude of the pair, more than +a natural embarrassment. Any one informed that +these were a pair of impostors would have seen +that there was no confusion here, but amazement, +chagrin and no little fear. +</p> + +<p> +Instead, Amaryllis, nothing suspecting, glanced +from one set face to the other and laughed. +</p> + +<p> +"Poor children! Married fourteen years and +more than strangers to each other! I will take myself +off until you recover." +</p> + +<p> +She signed to the servant to follow her and passed +out of the hall. +</p> + +<p> +Philadelphus then put off his stony quiet and gazed +wrathfully at the woman who had entered. +</p> + +<p> +Hers was a fine frame, broad and square of shoulder, +tall and lank of hip as some great tiger-cat, and +splendid in its sinuosity. She had walked with a +long stride and as she dropped into the chair she +crossed her limbs so that her well-turned ankles +showed and the hands she clasped about her knees +were long and strong, white and remarkably tapering. +Her features were almost too perfect; her +beauty was sensuous, insolent and dazzling. Withal +her presence intimated tremendous primal charm +and the mystery of undiscovered potentialities. And +she was royal! No mere upstart of an impostor could +have assumed that perfect hauteur, that patrician +bearing. +</p> + +<p> +But the pretended Philadelphus was not impressed +by this beauty. +</p> + +<p> +"How now, Salome?" he demanded. "What +play is this?" +</p> + +<p> +The Ephesian actress motioned toward the shittim-wood +casket. +</p> + +<p> +"For that," she said calmly. +</p> + +<p> +Her voice became, instantly, her foremost charm. +It was a deep voice; the profoundest contralto with +an illimitable strength in suggestion. +</p> + +<p> +"Where is–what is that?" +</p> + +<p> +"Two hundred talents." +</p> + +<p> +Philadelphus took a step toward her. +</p> + +<p> +"What!" he exclaimed evilly. "Whose two hundred +talents?" +</p> + +<p> +"Mine." +</p> + +<p> +There was silence in which the man's fingers bent, +as if he felt her throat between them. Then he recovered +himself. +</p> + +<p> +"But–this woman–where is she?" +</p> + +<p> +The actress lifted her shapely shoulders. +</p> + +<p> +"Where is the Maccabee?" she asked in return. +</p> + +<p> +He made no answer. +</p> + +<p> +"Did you get that treasure here–since yesterday?" +he asked at last querulously. +</p> + +<p> +"No, by Pluto! I got it in the hills near to Emmaus. +You would have had it in another day." She +laughed impudently, in spite of the murderous blackening +in his face. +</p> + +<p> +"Then, since you are such a shrewd thief, why did +you come here at all, since you had the gold?" he demanded, +astonished in spite of his rage. +</p> + +<p> +She waved a pair of jeweled hands. +</p> + +<p> +"They said that the Maccabee was strong and ambitious +and forceful, that he would be king over +Judea. Knowing you, I believed he would still come to +Jerusalem in spite of you. How did you do it? +In his sleep? Now, I," she continued with an assumption +of concern, "failed in that detail. She +was guarded by a monster. I could not get near +her. But I got the casket." +</p> + +<p> +"She will come here then!" Philadelphus exclaimed. +</p> + +<p> +"What of it! Amaryllis does not know her; no +one else does. And I have her proofs–and her +dowry!" +</p> + +<p> +After a silence in which she read the expression on +his face, she rose and came near him with determination +in her manner. +</p> + +<p> +"You will have the wisdom not to recognize her," +she said, "lest I suddenly discover that you are not +the Philadelphus I expected." +</p> + +<p> +He made rapid survey of her advantage over +him, and submitted. +</p> + +<p> +"But there will be no need of waiting for such an +issue," he fumed, after a silence. "I am here and +not the Maccabee, whose crown you coveted. We +shall get out of this perilous city." +</p> + +<p> +"So?" she said, lifting her finely penciled brows. +"No, we shall not." +</p> + +<p> +"Why?" he stormed. +</p> + +<p> +"Because," she answered, "John of Gischala may +yet be king of Judea–and John hath a queen's diadem +for sale at two hundred talents–or a heart +which I can have for nothing." +</p> + +<p> +There was malevolent and impotent silence in the +andronitis of Amaryllis, the Greek. +</p> + + + + + +<h2 id="ch9">Chapter IX</h2> + +<h2>THE YOUNG TITUS</h2> + + +<p> +They who stood on the wall by the Tower of Psephinos +in Coenopolis of Jerusalem on a day in March, +70 A.D., saw prophecy fulfilled. +</p> + +<p> +Since the hour in which the Roman eagles had appeared +above the horizon to the west in their circling +over the rebellious province of Judea there had not +been one day of peace. Then their coming had meant +the approach of an enemy. But in a short time such +implacable and fierce oppressors, with such genius for +ferocity and bloodshed, had developed among the +Jews' own factions that the miserable citizens had +turned to the tyrant Rome for rescue. They +who had risen against Florus and had driven him +out would have willingly accepted him again in +place of Simon bar Gioras and John of Gischala, +before two years had elapsed. Now, their plight was +so desperate that they clambered daily upon the walls +of their unhappy city to look for the first glimpse +of the approaching enemy, Titus, whom they had +learned to call the Deliverer. +</p> + +<p> +Near noon of this day in March certain citizens on +the wall beside Hippicus saw a flash down the road +to the west beyond the Serpent's Pool near Herod's +monuments. Again they saw it and again, until they +observed that its appearance was rhythmic, striking +through a soft colored cloud of Judean dust. +</p> + +<p> +Out of that yellow haze, rolling nearer, they saw +now the glittering Roman standards emerge, one by +one; saw the spiky level of shouldered spears; saw +the shapes of horses, saw the shapes of men; heard +the soft thunder of six hundred horse on the packed +earth, heard the music of six hundred whetting harnesses; +heard like a tender, far-off song the winding +of a Roman bugle and heard then in their own hearts, +the shout: "He has come! The Deliverer!" +</p> + +<p> +It was the hour of the City's last hope. +</p> + +<p> +On the near side of the Pool of the Serpent, they +saw the body of horse break into a light trot and, +wheeling in that fine concord in which even the dumb +beasts were perfect, turn the broadside of the splendid +column to Jerusalem as it swept up Hill Gareb +to the north. +</p> + +<p> +The citizens clambered down from the wall by Hippicus +and, speeding silently but with moving lips +and shining eyes through alleys and byways, came +finally to an angle in Agrippa's wall that stood out +toward Gareb. Here was built the Tower of Psephinos. +Dumb and callous as beasts to the blows and +commands of the sentries there mounted, the citizens +clambered up on the fortifications and, with their +chins on the battlements that stood shoulder-high, +gazed avidly at the sight they saw. +</p> + +<p> +Scattered confidently over the uneven country the +six hundred had broken file and were in easy disarray +all over Gareb. Spears were at rest, standards +grounded, many were dismounted, whole companies +slouched in their saddles. The Jews, long used to +rigid military discipline among the Romans, looked in +amazement. Then a light click of a hoof attracted +their attention to the bridle-path immediately under +the overhanging battlements. +</p> + +<p> +There a solitary horseman rode. Not a scale of +armor was upon his horse; not a weapon, not even a +shield depended from his harness. His head was uncovered +and a sheeny purple fillet showed in the tumbled, +dusty black hair. There was no guard on the +hand that held the bridle; the cloak that floated from +his shoulders was white wool; the tunic was the simple +light garment that soldiers usually wear under +armor; the shoes alone were mailed. It seemed that +the young Roman had stripped off his helmet, breast-plate +and greaves to ride less encumbered or to appear +less warlike. +</p> + +<p> +But the Jews who looked at him understood. Here +was Titus come in peace! +</p> + +<p> +The horse went with loosened rein, while the young +Roman's eyes raised to the great wall towering over +him had more of admiration and a generous foe's appreciation +of his enemy's strength than of the note-making +search of a spy in them. +</p> + +<p> +"Ha! By Hector, that penurious Herod was a +builder!" they seemed to say. "There is enough +stone insolence in these walls to trouble Rome for +a while!" +</p> + +<p> +Rod after rod of the slowly rising ground he traversed; +rod after rod of the tall fortification passed +under his inspection, and now the twin Women's +Towers rose upon the ashes and scarped rock to the +north. +</p> + +<p> +Titus spoke to his horse and rode faster. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile silent dozens climbed panting and +dumbly resisting the sentries up beside the first Jews. +They were citizens who dared not rejoice aloud. They +followed the young Roman with brightened eyes, +saying each within his heart: +</p> + +<p> +"Thus David came up against Saul, unto Israel!" +</p> + +<p> +But there was an increase of uproar in the city +below, as if news of the coming of Titus had spread +abroad. +</p> + +<p> +Titus was now almost a mile from the nearest of +his soldiers. He passed the Gate of the Women's +Towers. Hedges, gardens, ditches and wind-breaks +of cedars of Lebanon from time to time obscured +him. When he came in sight again, he had placed +obstruction between himself and retreat. +</p> + +<p> +The next instant the Gate of the Women's Towers +swung in. Out of it rushed a sortie of motley soldiery, +brandishing weapons and shouting the war-cries +of Simon and John. +</p> + +<p> +The citizens on the walls pressed their hands to +their temples and watched, transfixed with horror. +Jerusalem's defenders had gone out against the Deliverer! +</p> + +<p> +The attack had been seen by the disorganized +troops on Gareb and the rapid trumpet-calls showed +formation. But between the time of their movement +and the moment of their relief a company +could have been unhorsed. Meanwhile Titus, with +nothing less than Fate preserving him for its own +work, dodged javelins and, enraging the white stallion +that he rode, kept out of reach of hand-to-hand +encounter with his assailants. Back and forward he +rode, his horse carrying him at times out of range of +missiles; again, all but surrounded by the unorganized +enemy. About his head whizzed axes and spears, +wild, and frequently slaying their own. Far up the +slope of Gareb the six hundred gathered itself and +swept in mass down upon the conflict. +</p> + +<p> +Between them and Titus lay two furlongs. To +join his column with all honor to himself, he had to +work back over the wadies he had crossed and circle +the gardens that stood in his way. But a hedge +pressed too close upon the space he must pass, between +it and the enemy, before he could return to his +men. An ax glanced beside his ear; he wavered in +his saddle. Then, that happened which a Roman +of that day could not be forced to do and forget. +</p> + +<p> +Titus wheeled his horse and, plunging his spurs +into its sides, fled on into the open country to the +north, with the jeers of the men of Simon and John +following him. +</p> + +<p> +His troops rushed down upon his assailants. But +the wary soldiers turned when the Roman had fled and +the Gate of the Women's Towers closed upon them. +</p> + +<p> +Up from the visitors within the wall rose a shout: +</p> + +<p> +"A sign, a sign! An omen! Thus shall the +children of God overthrow the heathen in battle!" +</p> + +<p> +But one of the Jews on the wall thrust his fingers +under his turban and seized his hair. +</p> + +<p> +"Jerusalem is fallen! Woe! Woe to the wicked +city!" +</p> + +<p> +He turned in his place and leaped a good twenty +feet to the ground. When he raised himself the look +of a maniac had settled on his face. Tearing his +garments from him as he went, he entered a narrow +street that made its ascent toward Zion by steps and +cobbled slants. Here he came upon great crowds of +terror-stricken citizens who had rushed together as +the news spread abroad over Jerusalem that the men +of Simon and John had gone out against the Deliverer. +No definite news of the outcome of the sortie +had reached them and they were moving in a dense +pack down toward the walls to hear the worst. The +whole hurrying mass seemed to vibrate with suspense +and dread. The maniac met them. +</p> + +<p> +"Woe, woe to Jerusalem!" he cried. +</p> + +<p> +A lean, apish, half-naked, lash-scarred idiot in the +street, instantly, as if in echo to that mad cry, shouted +in a voice of the most prodigious volume: +</p> + +<p> +"A voice from the east, a voice from the west, a +voice from the four winds, a voice against Jerusalem +and the Holy house, a voice against the bridegrooms +and the brides and a voice against this whole people!" +</p> + +<p> +The temper of the crowd had reached that point of +tension that needed only a little more strain to become +panic. Some one received the discordant cries of the +maniacs with piercing rapid screams. Instantly the +choked passage filled with frantic uproar. Scores attempting +to flee blindly trampled over those transfixed +with fear. They fought, men with women, youths +with old age, children with one another. Hundreds +attracted by the tumult rushed in on the panic and +added fresh victims and new death. Out of the horror +rose the fearful cries of the madmen: +</p> + +<p> +"Woe, woe to this wicked city!" +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile, the soldiers of Simon and John came +to prevent citizens from gathering in bodies, and with +sword and spear drove into the struggle and added +murder to it all. The spirit of terror then issued +out of that bloody alley and seized upon street by +street. Far and wide the tumult ran, growing in +volume with every accession, until the raging and +humiliated Titus, among his six hundred, heard Jerusalem +howl like a beaten slave and hushed his pagan +curses to listen. +</p> + +<p> +Late that same afternoon, the Esquiline Gate, inaccessible, +despised and sealed, was broken open from +within and under it and down its difficult and dangerous +approach poured a silent multitude, numbering +thousands. They were abandoning the Rock of David +to its fate. Among them went the last remnants of +that sect of Christians who had tarried long after their +brethren had been warned away, hoping against +hope. +</p> + +<p> +They were not missed among the numbers in Jerusalem, +for the Passover hosts still poured through +the gates to the south and took their places in the +unhappy city. And with these that same afternoon +Laodice and her old servant came into Jerusalem. +</p> + +<p> +It was the eighth day after they had applied to +the priest at Emmaus whither they had fled in their +search for the frosts, a good three leagues north of the +direct road to Jerusalem. They had stopped at the +Lavatory outside the walls, washed themselves and had +purchased the white garments of the purified. Old +Momus carried with him the price of the lambs, of the +fine flour and the oil for their cleansing and the two +were ready to present themselves for their purification +at the Temple. But all the roar and disorder of the +great city in its warfare and its discord confused them. +Ascalon had not a thousandth part of this turmoil +at its busiest season. Neither was there a servant +in a purple turban with the gold star to meet them +and they were bewildered and lost. +</p> + +<p> +The rest of the visitors to the Passover hurried +into the heart of the city; wave after wave of new-comers +replaced them; but the young woman and her +dumb old servant stood aside just within reach of +the shadow of the immemorial portal and waited. +</p> + +<p> +Time and again wolfish Idumean soldiers who were +numerous about the place noted the pair and commented +to one another or spoke insolently to the +shrinking girl who hid ineffectually behind her veil. +Hour after hour they stood with growing distress and +no friendly face in all that army of hurrying, restless, +quarreling Jews welcomed them. +</p> + +<p> +The afternoon waned. Laodice thought of the +darkness and trembled. +</p> + +<p> +An old man fumbling a talisman of bone drew near +them. Laodice took courage and approached him. +</p> + +<p> +"I pray thee, sir, I seek Amaryllis, the Seleucid." +</p> + +<p> +The old man turned large, grave eyes upon her. +</p> + +<p> +"Daughter, what dost thou know of this woman?" +he asked. +</p> + +<p> +"My husband knows her; I do not. I am to join +him under her roof." +</p> + +<p> +The old man looked reassured. +</p> + +<p> +"Follow this street unto one intersecting it on the +summit of Zion. That will be a broad street and a +straight one, terminating on a bridge. Go thence to +the hither side of that bridge, pass down the ravine +and cross to the other side against Moriah. There +thou shalt see a new Greek house. It is the residence +of Amaryllis." +</p> + +<p> +Laodice thanked her informant and began the pursuit +of the cloudy directions to her destination. +Twice before she brought up at the sentry line before +the house of the Seleucid, she asked further of other +citizens. Many times she met affront, once or twice +she perilously escaped disaster. At last, near sunset, +she stood before the dwelling-place of the one +secure citizen of the Holy City. +</p> + +<p> +A sentry dropped his spear across her path and +she had not the countersign to give him. There she +and her helpless old attendant stood and looked hopelessly +at the refuge denied them. +</p> + +<p> +Presently a man appeared in the colonnade across +the front of the house and descending to the sentry +line called to him the officer in command. They +stood within a few paces of Laodice and she heard +the soldier address the man as John, and heard him +deliver a report of the day. +</p> + +<p> +When the soldier withdrew to his place, Laodice +stepped forward and called to the Gischalan. He +stopped, noted that she was beautiful and waited. +</p> + +<p> +"I would speak with the Lady Amaryllis," she +hesitated. +</p> + +<p> +"Have you the countersign?" he asked. +</p> + +<p> +"No; else I should have entered. But Amaryllis +will know me." +</p> + +<p> +"Enter then," the Gischalan said. +</p> + +<p> +In a moment she was admitted at the solid doors and +led into a vestibule. Here, a porter took charge of +Momus and showed him into a side passage, while +Laodice followed her conductor through a corridor +into an interior hall of splendid simplicity. +Lounging on an exedra was a young woman in a +woolen chiton, barefoot and trifling with the Greek +ampyx that bound her golden hair. +</p> + +<p> +Laodice put up her veil and looked with hurrying +heart at her hostess. Before she could get a preliminary +idea of the woman she was to meet, John +spoke lightly: +</p> + +<p> +"Be wearied no longer. I have brought you a +mystery–a stranger, without the countersign, asking +audience with you." +</p> + +<p> +"Go back to the fortress," the young woman answered. +"Sometime you will find strangers awaiting +you there, also without the password. You will lose +Jerusalem trifling with me. I have spoken!" +</p> + +<p> +John filliped her ear as he passed through into a +corridor which must have led into the Temple precincts. +Under the light, Laodice saw that he was a +middle-aged Jew, not handsome, but luxuriant with +virility. His face showed great ability with no conscience, +and force and charm without balance or +morals. Here, then, thought Laodice, is the first of +Philadelphus' enemies. +</p> + +<p> +The idler in the exedra, meanwhile, was awaiting +the speech of her visitor. +</p> + +<p> +"Art thou she whom I seek?" Laodice asked. +"Amaryllis, the Seleucid?" +</p> + +<p> +"I am called by that name." +</p> + +<p> +"I was bidden," Laodice continued, "by one whom +we both know, to seek asylum with thee." +</p> + +<p> +"So? Who may that be?" +</p> + +<p> +Laodice whispered the name. +</p> + +<p> +"Philadelphus Maccabaeus." +</p> + +<p> +The Greek's eyes took on a puzzled look. Then +she surveyed the girl and as a full conception of the +beauty of the young creature before her formed in +the Greek's mind, the perplexity left her expression. +Her air changed; a subtle smile played about her lips. +</p> + +<p> +"He sent you to me for protection?" +</p> + +<p> +"Until he arrives in Jerusalem," Laodice assented. +</p> + +<p> +"But he is already here." +</p> + +<p> +It was the moment that Laodice had avoided fearfully +ever since she had gathered from that winsome +stranger by the roadside that his companion was her +husband. Although, after that fact had been made +known to her, she had felt that she ought to join +Philadelphus and proceed with him to the Holy City, +she had endured the exposure of the hills, the want +and discomfort of insufficient supplies and the affronts +of wayfarers, that she might spare herself as +long as possible her union with the unsafe man +who had become even more hateful by comparison +with the one who had called himself Hesper. +</p> + +<p> +"Perchance thou wilt lead me to him," Laodice +said finally. +</p> + +<p> +Amaryllis made no immediate answer. It would +have been a natural impulse for her to wish to inquire +for the girl's business with the man that the Greek as +hostess was expected to conceal. But Amaryllis had +her own explanation for this visit. It had been plain +to less observant eyes than hers that the newly arrived +Philadelphus was not delighted with the bride he had +met. +</p> + +<p> +The Greek summoned a servant. +</p> + +<p> +"Go summon thy master, Prisca; and haste. I +doubt not I have for him a sweet relief." +</p> + +<p> +The woman bowed. +</p> + +<p> +"If it please thee, madam, the master is without in +the vestibule, returning from the city." +Amaryllis signed to the ivory chair before her. +</p> + +<p> +"Sit, lady," she said to Laodice. "He will come +at once." +</p> + +<p> +The young woman dropped into the seat and gazed +wistfully at her hostess. Instinctively, she knew +that in this woman was no relief from the darkened +life she was to lead with her husband. The Greek's +face, palely lighted by a thoughtful smile, vanished +in sudden darkness. Laodice saw instead an image +of a strong intent face, brightening under the sunrise, +saw it relax, soften, grow inexpressibly kind, +then pass, as a tender memory taking leave for ever. +</p> + +<p> +She was brought to herself by the Greek's rising +suddenly. The Ephesian appeared at the arch, tossing +mantle and kerchief to the porter as he entered. +Laodice rose to her feet with difficulty. It was he, +indeed! +</p> + +<p> +He was kissing Amaryllis' hand. The Greek was +smiling an accusing, conscious smile. She indicated +Laodice. The Ephesian's face showed startlement, +suspicion and a quick recovery. He bowed low and +waited for explanation. +</p> + +<p> +"Then I will go," Amaryllis said with amusement +in her eyes, "if you are acting pretenses for my +sake." +</p> + +<div class="ctr"> + <a href="images/image05l.jpg"> + <img src="images/image05.jpg" + alt="Amaryllis the Greek." + title="Amaryllis the Greek." /> +</a> <p class="caption">Amaryllis the Greek.</p> +</div> + +<p> +She turned toward the arch which led into the interior +of the house. The pretender glanced again at +Laodice and again at the Greek. +</p> + +<p> +"What is the play, lady?" he asked. +</p> + +<p> +Amaryllis looked at Laodice standing stony white +at her place, and lost her confident smile. +</p> + +<p> +"Is this not he?" she asked. +</p> + +<p> +"Is this Philadelphus Maccabaeus?" Laodice +asked. +</p> + +<p> +The Ephesian's face changed quickly. Enlightenment +mixed with discomfiture appeared there for an +instant. +</p> + +<p> +"I am he," he said evenly. +</p> + +<p> +"Then," Laodice said, "I am she whom thou hast +expected." +</p> + +<p> +Philadelphus smiled and dropped his head as if in +thought. +</p> + +<p> +"One always expects the pleasurable," he essayed, +"but at times one does not recognize it when it comes. +Who art thou, lady?" +</p> + +<p> +"Pestilence, war and the evil devices of men have +desolated me," she said coldly. "I have only a name. +I am Laodice." +</p> + +<p> +"Laodice!" he repeated amiably. "A familiar +name; eh, Amaryllis?" +</p> + +<p> +Laodice waited. Philadelphus looked again at her +and appeared to wait. +</p> + +<p> +"I am Laodice," the girl repeated, a little disconcerted, +"thy wife." +</p> + +<p> +"So!" Philadelphus exclaimed. +</p> + +<p> +There was such well-assumed astonishment in the +exclamation that she raised her eyes quickly to his +face. There was another expression there; one +wholly incredulous. +</p> + +<p> +"Now did I in the profligacy of mine extreme +youth marry two Laodices?" he said. "For another +Laodice, wife to me, joined me some days since." +</p> + +<p> +Laodice gazed at him without comprehending. +</p> + +<p> +"I say," he repeated, "that my wife Laodice +joined me some time ago." +</p> + +<p> +"Why, I–I am Laodice, daughter to Costobarus, +and thy wife!" she exclaimed, while her eyes fixed +upon him the full force of her astonishment. +</p> + +<p> +He turned to Amaryllis. +</p> + +<p> +"What labyrinth is this, O my friend," he asked, +"in which thou hast set my feet?" +</p> + +<p> +"I do not know," Amaryllis laughed suddenly. +"Call the princess." +</p> + +<p> +Philadelphus summoned a servant and instructed +her to bring his wife. For a short space the three did +not speak, though Laodice's lips parted and she +stroked her forehead in a bewildered way. +</p> + +<p> +Then Salome, late actress in the theaters at Ephesus, +came into the hall. Amaryllis bowed to her and +the impostor gave her a chair. He turned to Laodice +and with the faintest shadow of a grimace motioned +toward the new-comer. +</p> + +<p> +"This," he said, "is Laodice, daughter of Costobarus." +</p> + +<p> +Laodice blazed at the insolent beauty who stared at +her with curious eyes. +</p> + +<p> +"That!" she cried. "The daughter of Costobarus!" +</p> + +<p> +The fine brown eyes of the woman smoldered a +little, but she continued to gaze without the least +discomposure. +</p> + +<p> +"Who is this, sir?" she asked of Philadelphus. +</p> + +<p> +"That," said Philadelphus evenly, to the actress, +"is Laodice, daughter of Costobarus." +</p> + +<p> +"I do not understand," the actress said disgustedly. +"You are clumsy, Philadelphus, when you are playful. +If this is all, I shall return to my chamber." +</p> + +<p> +She rose, but Laodice sprang into her path. +</p> + +<p> +"Hold!" she cried. "Philadelphus, hast thou +accepted this woman without proofs?" +</p> + +<p> +Philadelphus smiled and shook his head. +</p> + +<p> +"And by the by," he asked, "what proof have +you?" +</p> + +<p> +Up to that moment Laodice had burned with confident +rage, feeling that, by force of the justice of her +cause, she might overthrow this preposterous villainy, +but at Philadelphus' question she suddenly +chilled and blanched and shrank back. A new and +supreme disadvantage of her loss presented itself +to her at last. She could not prove her identity! +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile, seeing Laodice falter, the woman's lip +curled. +</p> + +<p> +"Weak! Very weak, Philadelphus," she said. +"You must invent something better. The success +of a jest is all that pardons a jester." +</p> + +<p> +"She robbed me!" Laodice panted impotently. +"Robbed me, after my father had given her refuge!" +</p> + +<p> +"Of what?" the Greek asked. +</p> + +<p> +"My proofs–and two hundred talents!" +</p> + +<p> +"Lady," the actress said to Amaryllis, "my husband's +emissary, Aquila, was a pagan. He had with +him, on our journey, this woman and her old deformed +father who fled when the plague broke out among us. +She hoped, I surmise, that we should all die on the +way. Even Samson gave up secrets to Delilah, and +this Aquila was no better than Samson." +</p> + +<p> +Oriental fury fulminated in the eyes of Laodice. +Philadelphus, fearing that she was about to spring +at the throat of her traducer, sprang between the two +women. In his eyes shone immense admiration at that +moment. +</p> + +<p> +There was an instant of critical silence. Then Laodice +drew herself up with a sudden accession of +strength. +</p> + +<p> +"Madam," she said coldly to Amaryllis, "with-hold +thy judgment a few days. I shall send my servant +back to Ascalon for other proof. <i>He</i> can go +safely, for he has had the plague." +</p> + +<p> +Philadelphus started; the actress flinched. +</p> + +<p> +"Friend," Philadelphus said in his smooth way, "I +came upon this woman by the wayside in the hills. I +and a wayfarer cast a coin for possession of her–and +the other man won. Give thyself no concern." +</p> + +<p> +Laodice flung her hands over her face and shrank +in an agony of shame down upon the exedra. Amaryllis +looked down on her bowed head. +</p> + +<p> +"Is it true?" she asked. After a moment Laodice +raised herself. +</p> + +<p> +"God of Israel," she said in a low voice, "how hast +Thy servant deserved these things!" +</p> + +<p> +There was a space of silence, in which the two impostors +turned together and talking between themselves +of anything but the recent interview walked out +of the chamber. +</p> + +<p> +After a time Laodice lifted her head and spoke to +the Greek. +</p> + +<p> +"If thou wilt give me shelter, madam, for a few +days only, I promise thee thou shalt not regret it," she +said. +</p> + +<p> +The girl was interesting and Amaryllis had been +disappointed in Philadelphus. Nothing tender or +compassionate; only a little curiosity, a little rancor, +a little ennui and a faint instinctive hope that something +of interest might yet develop, moved the Greek. +</p> + +<p> +"Send your servant to Ascalon for proofs," she +said. "I shall give you shelter here until you +are proved undeserving of it. And since the times +are uncertain, do not delay." +</p> + + + + + +<h2 id="ch10">Chapter X</h2> + +<h2>THE STORY OF A DIVINE TRAGEDY</h2> + + +<p> +The following morning, there was a rap at the door +of the chamber to which Laodice had been led and +informed that it was her own. +</p> + +<p> +She had passed a sleepless night and had risen early, +but the knock came late in the morning. +</p> + +<p> +She opened the door. +</p> + +<p> +Without stood a ten year old girl, of the most bewitching +beauty, as barely clad as ever the children +of her blood went over the green meadows of Achaia. +Her golden hair was knotted on the back of her pretty +head and held in place by an ampyx. On her feet +were tiny sheepskin buskins; about her perfect little +body, worn carelessly, was a simple chiton, out of +which her dimpled shoulders and small round arms +showed pink and tender as field-flowers. Nothing +could have been more composed than her gaze at Laodice. +</p> + +<p> +"We breakfast in the hall, now. You are to join +us," she said. +</p> + +<p> +Laodice stepped, out of the chamber into the court +and followed her little guide. +</p> + +<p> +"The mistress and her guests rise late," the child +went on. "That perforce starves the rest of us until +mid-morning. Eheu! It is the one injustice in this +house." +</p> + +<p> +Laodice dumbly wondered if she were to be classed +with the house servants while she waited until the return +of her devoted old mute. +</p> + +<p> +She was led into a long narrow room, showing the +same simple elegance that marked all the house of +Amaryllis, the Greek. Down the center were two +tables, separated by a cluster of tall plants that almost +screened one from the other. +</p> + +<p> +At the first table place was laid for one. At the +other, she found by the talk and laughter the rest +of the company were gathered. The little girl led +Laodice to the single place, seated her, and kissing +her hand to her with an almost too-practised bow, fled +around the cluster of tall plants. There she heard +her childish voice imperiously ordering a servant to +attend the mistress' latest guest. +</p> + +<p> +Prisca appeared and silently served Laodice with +melon, honey-cakes and milk. Other of the house-servants +were visible from time to time. This, then, +manifestly was not the breakfast of the menials. She +glanced toward the cluster of tall plants. Through +an interstice she was able to see all the persons seated +at the other table. +</p> + +<p> +There first was the blue-eyed, golden-haired girl. +Beside her was a youth, slim, dark, exquisitely fashioned, +with limbs and arms as strong as were ever displayed +in the games, yet powerful without brutality, +graceful without weakness–marks of the ideal athlete +that had long since disappeared with the coming +of the Roman gladiator. Opposite was a grown man, +tall, broad and deep chested, with prominent eyes wide +apart and a large mouth. There was a singleness of +attitude in him, as in all persons reared to a purpose. +It was that certain self-centeredness which is not egotism, +yet a subconsciousness of self in all acts. He +was the finished product of a specific, life-long training, +and the confidence in his atmosphere was the confidence +of one aware of his skill and prepared at all +times. +</p> + +<p> +Besides these three, there were two women, both in +the garments of the ancient atelier. One was bemarked +with clay; the other was stained with paint. +Laodice knew at a glance that she looked at a gathering +of artists. +</p> + +<p> +"Evidently a gift from John," the little girl was +saying. "He can not see that our lady does anything +but collect curiosities in this her search after art, and +so he must needs add a contribution in this Stygian +monster we saw yesterday evening." +</p> + +<p> +Laodice knew that they discussed Momus. +</p> + +<p> +"Perhaps," the athlete said, "he bought this left-handed +catapult thinking he might throw the discus +farther than I can throw it." +</p> + +<p> +"Well enough," the woman with paint on her tunic +put in; "she sent the monster packing. He went out +of the gates post-haste last night, they say." +</p> + +<p> +"The pretty stranger that came with him stayed, +I observe," the athlete said. +</p> + +<p> +"Pst!" the girl said in a low voice. "Where are +the man's eyes in your head, that you do not see +her?" +</p> + +<p> +"Looking at you!" the athlete answered. +</p> + +<p> +"Too soon!" the child retorted. "A good six +years before I shall know what your looks mean!" +</p> + +<p> +"Is she, this pretty stranger, something of John's +taste?" the woman who had blue clay on her garment +asked. +</p> + +<p> +"Tut!" the athlete broke in. "John never departed +from his ancient barbarism to that extent. +That, unless I misjudge my own inclinations in a similar +matter, is something this mysterious Philadelphus +hath arranged to relieve the tedium of–" +</p> + +<p> +"Tedium!" the girl exclaimed. "By Hector, this +Jewish wife of his would open his Ephesian eyes were +she to let loose all I suspect in her!" +</p> + +<p> +"Brrr! But you are suspicious!" the athlete +shivered. The little girl shaped her lips into a kiss +and the athlete leaning across the table snatched it +from her before she could avoid him. +</p> + +<p> +The women caught him by the back of his tunic and +pulled him down in his chair. +</p> + +<p> +"Sit down!" they whispered. "Don't you see +that Juventius is about to speak?" +</p> + +<p> +The athlete glanced at the grown man, who had +looked down into his plate at the youth's frolic with +the child, with the utmost disdain and boredom in his +expression. Now that the silence became noticeable, +he spoke in an affected voice, but one of the deepest +music. +</p> + +<p> +"Alas, these Jews!" he said. "How little they +know about art! How long has it been since he introduced +one of the Temple singers into our lady's +hall to show what a piercing high note could be +reached by a male voice? And he had the creature +sing to prove his contention. I thought I should +die! It was worse than awful; it was criminal!" +</p> + +<p> +The athlete laughed. +</p> + +<p> +"Any singer, then, but Juventius therefore is a +malefactor!" he said. +</p> + +<p> +"No, it does not follow," Juventius protested in +all seriousness, while the child flashed a look of intense +amusement at the athlete. "But," waving a +pair of long white hands, "none should trifle with +music. It is one of the graces of Nature, divine and +elemental. Wherefore, anything short of a perfect +production becometh a mockery and a mockery against +divine things is blasphemy. Ergo, the poor musician +is in danger of Hades!" +</p> + +<p> +"The monster is safe, safe!" the girl protested. +"He does not sing, and from what I caught through +the crack of the door, the pretty stranger had +better not. My lady, the princess, had a merry +time with my lord, the prince, at breakfast this morning, +all about this same pretty one. So this is why +she breakfasts with us–the second table." +</p> + +<p> +Laodice heard this with a sinking heart. This +was a strange house in which to live at no definite +status, with a future blank and inscrutable. +</p> + +<p> +"Is it, then, that you are wary of offending the +over-nice exactions of music, that you do not sing?" +the athlete demanded of Juventius. +</p> + +<p> +"Song," replied the singer gravely, "is originally +the expression of the highest exaltation. To +sing before the high mark of feeling is reached is an +insincerity." +</p> + +<p> +"Alas, Juventius," the girl was saying, "how +much difficulty you lay up for yourself in determining +the limits of art! Teach broadly and the fulfilment +of your laws will not be such a task for the +overworked and irritable gods of art." +</p> + +<p> +"Child!" Juventius cried passionately. "Your +ignorance outreaches your presumption!" +</p> + +<p> +"Fie! Fie!" the athlete put in comfortably. +"Let us make a truce, for I announce to you the opportunity +each to have whatever you wish. We are +to have at the proper moment, according to the Jews, +a celestial visitation which will enable us to have +what we most desire." +</p> + +<p> +"You announce it!" the girl scoffed indignantly. +"I have heard of that ever since I was born!" +</p> + +<p> +"I, too, have heard it," said Juventius. +</p> + +<p> +"Well," said the unabashed athlete, "the Pharisee +that brings Amaryllis her fruit is so full of it +that he gets prophecies mixed with his prices and +the patriarchs with his fruit. He says that there +are those that declare he is already in the city." +</p> + +<p> +"That he has been seen?" Juventius asked, after a +little silence. +</p> + +<p> +"No; merely suspected. They say that things go +on in the Temple which seem to show that some resident +of their Olympus already inhabits the air." +</p> + +<p> +"I saw Seraiah to-day," one of the women said +in a low voice. +</p> + +<p> +"Silent as ever? Spotless as ever? Mysterious +as ever?" the athlete asked. +</p> + +<p> +The woman who had spoken shook her head at him +as if alarmed. +</p> + +<p> +"I can not bear to hear him ridiculed," she said. +"Somehow it seems blasphemous. They say he +marks every one who laughs in his hearing." +</p> + +<p> +"They are not many," the girl said. "For the +most part, the citizens of Jerusalem feel as apprehensive +about him as you do." +</p> + +<p> +"I wonder that John will stay in the Temple with +a god in it," Juventius said, as if he had not heard +the rest of the discussion. +</p> + +<p> +"John!" the athlete exclaimed. "John is an adventurer +that believes in nothing, has no cause and +furthers this warfare for loot and the possible chance +of escape when the conflict comes." +</p> + +<p> +"Simon is different," another said. "Now he is +wild and mad and insolent and foolhardy, because he +believes that, no matter what tangle the situation is +in, the celestial emissary he expects will straighten it +out for him." +</p> + +<p> +"In short, he means to work such a complexity +here that the man who unravels it must needs be +divine." +</p> + +<p> +At this moment the door that cut off the rest of +the house from this dining-room opened smartly and +the supposed Philadelphus stepped in. He closed the +door behind him and glanced at the filled table. +Those there seated rose. He spoke to each one by +name, and after they had greeted him, they filed out +into the court and the servants began to remove the +remnants of their meal. Laodice rose at sign of this +concerted deference to Philadelphus but sat down +again, with her lips compressed. However they had +disposed her, she would not accept the menial attitude. +She had not finished her honey-cakes. +</p> + +<p> +He came round to her, drew up a chair and sat +down beside her. She ignored him, making a feint +that was not entirely successful at interest in her +fruit. +</p> + +<p> +"Who art thou, in truth?" he asked finally. +</p> + +<p> +"Laodice," she answered coldly. +</p> + +<p> +He sighed and she added nothing more. +</p> + +<p> +"What can your purpose be in this?" he asked. +</p> + +<p> +She ignored the question. After a longer silence, +he said in an altered and softened tone: +</p> + +<p> +"What an innocent you are! Certainly this is +your first attempt! What marplot told you that +such a thing as you have essayed was possible?" +</p> + +<p> +She put aside her plate and her cup, and turned +to him. +</p> + +<p> +"By your leave I will retire," she said. +</p> + +<p> +"Not yet," he answered, smiling. "It is my duty +as a Jew to help you while there is time." +</p> + +<p> +She settled back in her chair and looked at the +cluster of plants while he talked. +</p> + +<p> +"Nothing so damages the beauty of a woman as +trickery. No bad woman is beautiful very long. +There comes a canker on her soul's beauty, in her face, +that disfigures her, soon or late. Whoever you are, +whatever your condition, you are lovely yet. Be +beautiful; of a surety then you must be good." +</p> + +<p> +It was the same old hypocritical pose that the bad +man assumes to cloak himself before innocence. Laodice +remembered the incident in the hills. +</p> + +<p> +"Where," she asked coldly, "is he who was with +you at Emmaus?" +</p> + +<p> +The pretender started a little, but the increase of +alarm on his face showed that he realized next that +here was a peril in this woman which he had overlooked. +</p> + +<p> +"Gone," he said unreadily, "gone back to Ephesus." +</p> + +<p> +She did not know what pain this announcement of +that winsome stranger's desertion would waken in her +heart. Her eyes fell; her brows lifted a little; the +corners of her mouth became pathetic. The pretender, +casting a sidelong glance at her, saw to his own +safety that she had believed him. +</p> + +<p> +"He was a parasite," he sighed, "living off my +bounty. But even that did not invite him when he +neared the peril of this city. So he turned back. I–I +do not blame him," he added with a little laugh. +</p> + +<p> +"Blame him?" she said quickly. "You–you +do not blame him?" +</p> + +<p> +"No! Any place, any condition is more desirable +than residence in Jerusalem at this hour." +</p> + +<p> +"If one seeks but to be comfortable. But here is +a place for work and for achievement," she declared. +</p> + +<p> +"Too desperate an extreme. Nothing can be done +here," he observed, shrugging his shoulders. +</p> + +<p> +She gazed at him with immense contempt. +</p> + +<p> +"That from a son of Judas Maccabaeus!" she +exclaimed. +</p> + +<p> +He looked disconcerted. +</p> + +<p> +"Why not?" he urged. "It is neither rational +nor practical to attempt the impossible. Jerusalem +is doomed. I would but add myself to the sacrifice +did I interfere between destruction and its sure prey." +</p> + +<p> +After a silence in which she confronted him with +many emotions showing on her face, she said with +infinite pity and disappointment: +</p> + +<p> +"O Philadelphus, you to throw greatness away!" +</p> + +<p> +"Where, O my mysterious genius, are my army, +my engines, my subsistence, my advantage and the +prize?" +</p> + +<p> +"What was that dowry which was stolen from me +to purchase for you but these things? I brought it +for this purpose. Another than myself delivered it +to you; the end is achieved; what use will you make +of it?" +</p> + +<p> +"There is no nation here for that dowry to defend, +no crown for it to support. But for this same madness +which possesses my lady, the princess, I should +depart this day for a safer venture, in some safer +country!" +</p> + +<p> +She faced him intently. +</p> + +<p> +"And you will do nothing for Judea?" she asked. +</p> + +<p> +"What can be done?" he asked, throwing out his +hands with a careless gesture. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh," she exclaimed with a rush of passionate +feeling, "that I were you! You, with the materials +for empire-building at your feet! You, with the hour +beseeching you, with a people searching for you, with +a treasury filled for you, with ancient prophecy establishing +you, ancient precept teaching you, and the +cause of God arming you! Philadelphus, son of a +great patriot, what are you saying! What can there +be done! Oh rather, how dare you not do! What +have you about you but the inevitable end of Judah, +living contrary to God's plan for it! It is the conscience +of Israel rising against its sin and submission! +It is the blood of David rebelling against the heathen +yoke! It is the hour foretold by Isaiah and Jeremiah +and Ezekiel and Daniel and the Twelve, when Israel +shall repent and be chastened and return to the heritage +of Jacob. Be the repairer of the breach! Be +the restorer of the paths to dwell in, my husband! +Go out and let Israel behold you! Help them to wipe +out the shame of Babylonia and Persia and Macedonia +and Rome! Make Jerusalem not only a sanctuary +but a capital! Restore the glory of David and +the peace of Solomon, for those were God's days and +Judah can not prosper except as it returns to them! +Philadelphus–" +</p> + +<p> +Laodice halted abruptly in her appeal, breathless +with feeling. +</p> + +<p> +The amusement had gone out of his face and his +expression was one of mingled discomfort and surprise +at her speech. +</p> + +<p> +"Since you are a thinking woman," he answered, +"I must answer you soberly. Even I, expecting disorder +and uproar in Jerusalem, when I came from +Ephesus, was not prepared for this chaos! Never +was such a time! Order is not possible in this extreme. +It is unthinkable. Nothing human can save +Jerusalem!" +</p> + +<p> +She laid her hand upon him. +</p> + +<p> +"Nothing human!" she repeated quickly. "Seest +not that this is the time of the Messiah? Be ready +to be helped of God!" +</p> + +<p> +Philadelphus drew away from her uneasily and +looked at her from under lowered brows. +</p> + +<p> +"They say," he said in a suppressed voice, as fearing +his own words, "that He has come and gone!" +</p> + +<p> +She looked at him blankly. He was glad he had +thought of this; it would divert her from a discourse +momently growing unpleasant for him. And yet he +was afraid of the thing he had said. +</p> + +<p> +"What dost thou say?" she asked. +</p> + +<p> +"He is come and gone–they say." +</p> + +<p> +"Come and gone!" +</p> + +<p> +He nodded irritably. It made him nervous to dwell +on the subject. +</p> + +<p> +"Who say?" she demanded. +</p> + +<p> +"Many! Many!" he whispered. +</p> + +<p> +"It is not–do you believe it?" she persisted, +with strange terror waiting upon his answer. He +moved uneasily but he answered the truth. It was +superstition in him that spoke. +</p> + +<p> +"Something in me says it is true," Philadelphus +whispered. +</p> + +<p> +She stood transfixed; then all her horror rose in +her and cried out against the story. +</p> + +<p> +"It can not be!" she cried. "See the misery and +oppression, here, tenfold! Nothing has been done! +Nobody heard of Him! He could not fail! What a +blasphemy, what a travesty on His Word, to come +and fulfil it not and go hence unnoticed! It can +not be!" +</p> + +<p> +"But, but–" he protested, somehow terrified by +her denial, "only you have not heard. Everywhere +are those who believe it and I saw–I saw–" +</p> + +<p> +The growing violence of dissent on her face urged +him to speak what his shamed and guilty tongue hesitated +to pronounce. +</p> + +<p> +"I saw in Ephesus one who saw Him; I saw in +Patmos one who had reclined on His breast!" +</p> + +<p> +"A–a–woman?" she whispered. +</p> + +<p> +"No! No!" he returned in a panic. "A man, a +prisoner, old and white and terrible! But it was in +his youth! He told me! And the one in Ephesus, a +red-beard, hunchbacked and half-blind and even more +terrible than the first! He saw Him after He was +dead!" +</p> + +<p> +"Dead!" Her lips shaped the word. +</p> + +<p> +"They–yes! He was crucified!" +</p> + +<p> +Her lips parted as if to speak the word, but her +mind failed to grasp it certainly. She stood moveless +in an actual pain of horror. +</p> + +<p> +"But He rose again from the dead," he persisted, +"and left the earth to its own devices hereafter. +And so behold Jerusalem! +</p> + +<p> +"And there was one woman," he added, "who had +been a scarlet woman. She had anointed His feet +with precious oil and wiped them with her hair. And +I saw her also–I sought them all out, because they +could do miracles and foretell events. Thousands +upon thousands believe in them." +</p> + +<p> +"Crucified!" she whispered. +</p> + +<p> +"They say," he went on, "that He pronounced +judgment on Jerusalem and that it now cometh to +pass!" +</p> + +<p> +The accumulated effect of the calamitous recital +was to stun her. She gazed at him with unintelligent +eyes, and her lips moved without speaking. For one +reared in constant contemplation of God's nearness +to His children, acquainted with divine politics, divine +literature and divine law, cut off from the world and +devoted wholly to religion, the story of a divine +tragedy carried with it the full force of its fearful +import. Philadelphus' narrative meant to her the +crumbling of earth and the effacement of Heaven. +She cried wildly her unbelief when words returned to +her. But under the fury of her denunciation, unconsciously +directed against the conviction that the story +was true, she felt her hope of a restored Kingdom of +David wavering toward a fall. +</p> + +<p> +While she stood thus, Amaryllis, languid and pre-occupied, +entered the room with John of Gischala at +her side. The Greek noted Philadelphus with a quick +accession of interest. John's attention had been instantly +arrested by the presence of the other man. +Philadelphus turned with fine ease to meet the man +whom he must regard as his enemy and Laodice +shrank back in an attempt to get out of sight of the +trio. +</p> + +<p> +"Welcome!" said Amaryllis to Philadelphus. "A +fortunate visit that makes possible an amnesty for +two of my friends at once. This, John, is Philadelphus +of Ephesus, a seeker of diversion out of mine +own country come to see the end of this great struggle +thou wagest against Rome. And thou, Philadelphus, +seest before thee, John of Gischala, the arbiter +of Judea's future. Be friends." +</p> + +<p> +With a comprehensive sweeping glance John inspected +the man before him. +</p> + +<p> +"John of Gischala," he repeated in his feline +voice, "the oppressor John. Art thou not afraid of +me, sir?" +</p> + +<p> +"Dost thou meditate harm for me, sir?" Philadelphus +smiled. +</p> + +<p> +"Art thou, in that case, against me, sir?" John +parried. +</p> + +<p> +"On that hingeth his answer," Amaryllis said, +glancing at Laodice. "And here is this same pretty +stranger who bewitched thee yesterday. Know her +as Laodice. Let that be parentage, history, ambition +and religion for her. She, too, seeks diversion in +Jerusalem, and is my guest for a while." +</p> + +<p> +The Gischalan took Laodice's hand and held it. +</p> + +<p> +"Welcome, thou," he said. "I will tolerate +another man under thy roof if thou wilt but make +this pretty bird of passage a permanency," he said +to the Greek, after a silent study of Laodice's beauty. +</p> + +<p> +"Let her be a hostage dependent on thy good behavior. +Lapse, and I shall send her back to Olympus +where they keep such nymphs." +</p> + +<p> +Philadelphus smiled at Laodice, but the shock of +their recent talk had shaken her too much to enter +into this idle chaff on the lips of those upon whom +the fortunes of Israel depended at that very hour. +</p> + +<p> +John looked at her for a long time. +</p> + +<p> +"Amaryllis veils thee in the enchantment of mystery. +I think she is tired of me and would have me +interested in another woman. She does all things +well. Who art thou, in truth?" +</p> + +<p> +The Greek lifted her head and gazed with overt +anxiety at the girl; Philadelphus turned toward her +uneasily. Here was an opportunity for Laodice +either as a disappointed adventuress or as a supplanted +wife, to take revenge by exposing this pair +of conspirators pledged to undermine the Gischalan. +But the girl had no such thought. +</p> + +<p> +"I am Laodice," she said unreadily. "What history +I have belongs to another. What future shall +be mine depends on others. I wait." +</p> + +<p> +"If you mean to throw me off, Amaryllis, I shall +not miss you," said John. +</p> + +<p> +The Greek smiled and plucking Philadelphus' +sleeve led both men away. +</p> + +<p> +"Do not commit yourself," she said to John, +"there is yet another woman under this roof. You +shall have a choice." +</p> + +<p> +They disappeared in the direction of her hall. +</p> + +<p> +Laodice, stunned, amazed and shaken, stood still. +The stock of her troubles amounted to a sum of such +magnitude that she could not grasp it clearly. The +entire structure which her life training and all her +purposes, the hope of her house and her husband's, +the future of Judea and the King to come, had constituted, +had been attacked and threatened to crumble +and be swept away in a few hours' time. +</p> + +<p> +Out of the wreck she rescued one hope. Momus +would return from the west with proofs in a few days' +time–only a few days! +</p> + + + + + +<h2 id="ch11">Chapter XI</h2> + +<h2>THE HOUSE OF OFFENSE</h2> + + +<p> +On his way to the oaken door that was for ever +double-barred, in that small hall which led to the +apartments of Amaryllis' corps of artists, Philadelphus +met Salome, the actress. He would have passed +her without a word, but the woman, armed with the +nettle of a small triumph over the man who held her +in contempt, could not forbear piercing him as he +passed. +</p> + +<p> +"Hieing away to excite your disappointment further?" +she said. "Has the forlorn lady convinced +you, yet, that she is indeed your wife?" +</p> + +<p> +"Had I that two hundred talents, I would confess +her!" he declared. +</p> + +<p> +"Cruel obstacle! But that two hundred talents +is locked away safely, out of your reach. Why do +you not run away with this pretty creature?" +</p> + +<p> +Philadelphus glowered at her. +</p> + +<p> +"I have been known to make way with those who +stood in my way," he declared. +</p> + +<p> +"I sleep with my door locked," she answered, +"and I ever face you. I need never be afraid, +therefore." +</p> + +<p> +For a moment he was silent, while she sensed that +overweening hate and menace which charged the air +about him. +</p> + +<p> +"It is not all as it should be," he said finally. +"You are not rid of me. I shall stay." +</p> + +<p> +"You should," she responded comfortably. "You +are a show of domesticity which lends color to our +claim of wedded state. But you may go or stay. +As usual, you are not essential." +</p> + +<p> +"I have been known to be superfluous. However +it may be, I get much pleasure in the companionship +of this lovely creature, the single flaw in the fine fabric +of your villainy. Do not fear her convincing me. +She might convince others." +</p> + +<p> +There was no response; after a silence he said as +he moved on: +</p> + +<p> +"I shall warn her to feed a morsel of her food to +the parrots ere she tastes it, however." +</p> + +<p> +He was gone. The woman felt of the keys that +swung under the folds of her robes. Then she, too, +went on. +</p> + +<p> +The oaken door was still fast closed when Philadelphus +reached it, but he knew that the girl, who lived +within, came out to walk in the sunshine of Amaryllis' +court at certain hours while the household was +engaged within doors. +</p> + +<p> +He had not long to wait. She came out in a little +while, and glanced up and down the hall; but he had +heard the turn of the bolt and had stepped into +shadow in time. Reassured that no one was near, she +emerged and passing down the hall entered the court. +</p> + +<p> +And there presently he joined her. +</p> + +<p> +He sat down on one of the stone seats and smiled +at her. +</p> + +<p> +"Do I appear excited?" he asked. +</p> + +<p> +She glanced at him indifferently. +</p> + +<p> +"No," she said. +</p> + +<p> +"I have this day seen destruction resolved for the +city." +</p> + +<p> +She took his easy declaration with a frown. If it +were true he should not show that flippancy; if it +were not he should not have jested. +</p> + +<p> +"I saw," he continued, "Titus and his beloved +Nicanor ride around the walls. Though they were +the full length of a bow-shot from me, I knew what +they talked about. Now, this young Nicanor is a +gad that tickles Titus when his soft heart would urge +him into tendernesses toward the enemy. But for Nicanor, +Titus would have withdrawn his legions long +ago and left Jerusalem to die of its own violences. +</p> + +<p> +"On the day that you came into Jerusalem, Titus, +as a display of amicable intentions, rode up to the +walls without arms or armor, trusting to the Jews' +soldierly honor in refusing to attack an unarmed +man. But the Jews have never been instructed in the +nice points of military courtesy, so they went out +against him by thousands. And but for the fact that +he is practised in dodging arrows and his horse is +used to running away, Emperor Vespasian would +have to leave the ęgis to the unlovely Domitian. +</p> + +<p> +"Any Roman but Titus would remember this +against the Jews until he had put the last one in +bondage, but Titus is not a Roman. I think some-times +that he is a Christian, since it is their boast to +love their enemies. Whatever his feelings after that +ignominious adventure of a few days ago, forth he +rides this morning; beside him the Gad, Nicanor; +behind him, that sweet traitor, Josephus. +</p> + +<p> +"The Darling of Mankind rode so meditatively, +so dejectedly, that I knew by his attitude, he said: +'Alack, it galls me to go against this goodly city!' +</p> + +<p> +"By the swagger of the Gad I knew he said: +'Dost gall thee, in truth? Then truly, alack! +Withhold thy hand until the city comes out against +thee, so thou canst hush thy conscience saying that +they began it!' +</p> + +<p> +"Saith the Darling, 'But there be babes and innocent +men and women within those walls, who, deserving +most of all, shall suffer the greatest!' +</p> + +<p> +"'By Hecate!' quoth the Gad, 'there is not a +yearling within that city possessing the power to +pucker its lips but would spit upon thee!' +</p> + +<p> +"'It would be sacred innocence!' declares Titus. +</p> + +<p> +"'Or an old man that would not burn thine ears +with malediction!' +</p> + +<p> +"'That would be holy dotage!' +</p> + +<p> +"'Or a fine young man but would pale thee on +a pike!' +</p> + +<p> +"'Then let some one whom they hate less venomously, +beseech them to their own salvation,' implores +the Darling. +</p> + +<p> +"Whereupon the Gad beckons insinuatingly to +Josephus. +</p> + +<p> +"'Josephus,' says he, 'let us, being more lovable +men than Titus, go up unto these walls and give the +Jews a chance to be kind.' +</p> + +<p> +"Josephus turns pale, but Nicanor rides upon +Jerusalem. And at that what should a miscreant +Jew do but string an arrow and plunge it nicely, like +a bodkin in a pincushion, in the fat shoulder of the +Gad! Alas! It was the ruin of the Holy City! +When Titus, pale with concern, reaches his friend +kicking on the ground, does the Gad curse the Jews +and inveigh against the hardy walls that contain +them? Not he! He struggles about so that he may +look into the eyes of Titus and commands him to make +war on them instantly under pain of the accusation +of partiality to them against his friends! And behold, +war is declared. I, with mine own eyes, saw +siege laid effectively about our unhappy city!" +</p> + +<p> +She gazed at him with alarmed, angry, accusing +eyes. +</p> + +<p> +"And yet you do nothing!" she said to him. +</p> + +<p> +He smiled and let his lazy glance slip over her, but +he made no response. +</p> + +<p> +"O Philadelphus," she said to him, "how you +affront opportunity!" +</p> + +<p> +"There are more captivating things than such +opportunity. I have known from the beginning that +there was nothing here." +</p> + +<p> +She looked at him with unquiet eyes. Why, then, +had he written so confidently to her father, if he had +not believed in the hope for Judea? +</p> + +<p> +"From the beginning?" she repeated with inquiry. +"You wrote my father from Cęsarea–" +</p> + +<p> +"Your father?" he repeated, smiling with insinuation. +</p> + +<p> +"My father!" +</p> + +<p> +"Who is your father?" he asked. +</p> + +<p> +She turned away from him and walked to the other +end of the garden. He had never meant to aspire to +the Judean throne! He had simply written so determinedly +to Costobarus, that the merchant of Ascalon +would have no hesitancy in giving him two hundred +talents! In these past days, she had learned enough +that was blameworthy in this Philadelphus to make +him more than despicable in her eyes. Again, as +hourly since the last interview in the depression in +the hills beyond the well, the fine bigness of that lovable +companion of his, that had vanished for all time +from her life, rose in radiant contrast. She turned +back to her husband, with the pallor of longing and +homesickness in her face. +</p> + +<p> +"Does this other woman see no fault in this, your +idleness?" she demanded. +</p> + +<p> +"She! By the Shades, she sees nothing in me but +fault! I would get me up like a sane man and go +out of this mad place, but she hath locked up her +dowry away from me, which was the simple cause +that invited me to join her, and bids me go without +her. And I might–but for one other attraction, +dearer than the treasure, which also I would take +with me." +</p> + +<p> +"Even if she forces you into deeds, I shall forgive +her," she declared at last. +</p> + +<p> +He smiled a baffling smile and she looked at him +in despair. The very charm of his personal appearance +awakened resentment in her; his deft and easy +complaisance angered her because it could be effective. +She hated the superficial excellence in him which +made him a pleasant companion. He had refused to +discuss her identity further, except to prevent her in +her own attempts to identify herself. He did not +refer to the incidents of their journey to Jerusalem, +but she felt that he was conscious of all these things, +and her resentment was so great that she put it out +of sight, lest at the time when she should be proved +she would have come to hate him to the further +thwarting of their work for Israel. +</p> + +<p> +"It is sweet to have you concerned for me. Now +you may understand how much I am troubled for +your own welfare. Do not regard me with that unbending +gaze. I am, first and before all else, your +friend." +</p> + +<p> +"You have changed," she said slowly. "I did not +find in you this solicitude in the hills." +</p> + +<p> +"Unhappiness," he sighed, "makes most men law-less. +I should be even now as bad, were I not sure +of the sympathy you feel for me." +</p> + +<p> +She looked at him with large disdain. +</p> + +<p> +"Does not this woman treat you well?" she asked +with the first glimmer of sarcasm in her eyes. +</p> + +<p> +"Her displeasure in me is that I do not make her +a queen; yours, however, that I can not save this +doomed nation! Her ambitions are for herself; yours +are for me. Which waketh the response in my heart, +lady?" +</p> + +<p> +"What have I lived for?" she burst out. "For +what was I brought up and schooled? For what +have I sacrificed all the light and desirable things of +my youth, but for–" +</p> + +<p> +"Nay! Do not show me, yet, that you are only +bent on being queen!" he exclaimed. +</p> + +<p> +"I care for nothing but the rescue of Judea!" +she cried passionately. "There is nothing left to +me but that!" +</p> + +<p> +"Then your ambitions are still for me. Alas, that +the Messiah has come and gone!" +</p> + +<p> +It was his first reference to the great calamity he +had told to her a short time before. Its recurrence +after she had resolved to regard it as an impossible +and blasphemous tale brought a chill to her heart. +</p> + +<p> +"If I can prove to you that there is no hope for +Jerusalem, what then?" he asked suddenly. +</p> + +<p> +She flung off the question with a gesture. +</p> + +<p> +"Answer me. What then?" +</p> + +<p> +"It is unimaginable what shall come to pass when +God deserts His own." +</p> + +<p> +"No need for imaginings. Look at Jerusalem and +observe the fact. And if we be abandoned, what +fealty do we owe to a God that deserts us? If you +believe or not you are lost. Let us go out and live." +</p> + +<p> +"If God has deserted us," she said scornfully, +"how shall we be happier elsewhere than here?" +</p> + +<p> +"Every god to its own country. The Olympians +are a jovial lot. I have seen Joy's very self in +heathendom." +</p> + +<p> +She moved away but he rose and followed her. +</p> + +<p> +"Whoever you are," he said in another tone, +"your heritage of innocence and earnestness is plain +as an open scroll upon your face. Nothing in all +the world so appeals to the generosity in the heart of +a man as the purity of the woman who is pure. I +have said that I am your friend. I do not hold it +against you that you doubt that word. Nothing +remains but the deed to confirm it. This place is lost–as +good as a heap of ashes and splintered rock, +this hour! Come away! I'll sacrifice the treasure +to protect you!" +</p> + +<p> +"Philadelphus," she said gravely, "we were sent +hither to succeed or to suffer the penalty of our +failure. My father died that we might have this +opportunity. We must use it, or perish with it!" +</p> + +<p> +He shook his head and walked away a step or two. +</p> + +<p> +"You have not the true meaning of life," he said. +"Indeed how few of us understand! Obstacles are +not an incentive toward attaining impossible things. +They are barriers set up by the kindly disposed gods +to inform man that he is opposing destiny when he +aspires to things he should not have. We were not +made to fling ourselves against mighty opposition +throughout the little daylight we have; to wound ourselves, +to deny ourselves, to alienate that winsome +sprite Pleasure, to attain something which was not +intended for us by the signs of the obstructions +placed in our paths. Who are we that we should +achieve mightily! What are we when the gods have +done with us, but a handful of dust! Who saves +himself from age and unloveliness and ultimate imbecility, +by all the superhuman efforts he may exert! +A pest on the first morose man that made dismal +endeavor a virtue!" +</p> + +<p> +She looked at him with amazement, though until +that hour she believed that this man could astonish +her no more. +</p> + +<p> +"Misfortune comes often enough without our +knocking at her door," he continued. "Mankind is +the only creature with conceit enough to seek to +emulate the gods. It is wrong to think that to be +moral is to be miserable. Nature's scheme for us, +faithfully fulfilled, is always pleasurable. We have +only to recognize it, and receive its benefits. Nothing +on earth is luckier than man, if he but knew it. +A murrain on ambition! Let us be glad!" +</p> + +<p> +How could she be glad with such a man! The +time, the call of the hour, the need of her nation, the +obligation to her dead father–all these things stood +in her way. How had she felt, were this that engaging +stranger who had called himself Hesper, urging +her to be glad with him! She felt, then and there, +the recurrence of guilt which the sight of the reproachful +face of Momus had brought to her when +she found herself forgetting her loyalty in the presence +of that winsome man. The thought stopped the +bitter speech that rose to her lips. She looked away +and made no answer. He was close beside her. +</p> + +<p> +"Come away and let this woman who wishes the +kingdom have it. She had liefer be rid of me than +not." +</p> + +<p> +She gazed at him with a peculiar blankness stealing +over her face. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, for the quintessence of all compounded oaths +to charge my vow!" he said. +</p> + +<p> +"For what?" she asked. +</p> + +<p> +"My love, Phryne!" +</p> + +<p> +At the old pagan name with which he had affronted +her that morning in the hills, Laodice drew back +sharply. +</p> + +<p> +"Dost thou believe in me?" she asked. +</p> + +<p> +"Believe what?" +</p> + +<p> +"That I am thy wife." +</p> + +<p> +"Tut! Back to the old quarrel! No! But by +Heaven, thou art my sweetheart!" +</p> + +<p> +She stopped at the edge of an exclamation and +looked at him with widening eyes. +</p> + +<p> +"Come, let us get out of this place. I can get +the dowry! Let her stay here and be queen over this +place if she will. I had rather possess you than all +the kingdoms!" +</p> + +<p> +But Laodice flung him off while a flame of anger +crimsoned her face. +</p> + +<p> +"Thou to insult me, thy lawful wife!" she +brought out between clenched teeth. "Thou to offer +affront to thine own marriage! I to live in shame +with mine own husband!" +</p> + +<p> +The insult in his speech overwhelmed her and after +a moment's lingering for words to express her rage, +she turned and fled back to her room and barred her +door upon him. +</p> + +<p> +After sunset the lights leaped up in the hall of +Amaryllis the Greek. Presently there came a knock +at Laodice's door. The girl, fearing that Philadelphus +stood without, sat still and made no answer. A +moment later the visitor spoke. It was the little girl +who acted as page for the Greek. +</p> + +<p> +"Open, lady; it is I, Myrrha." +</p> + +<p> +Laodice went to the windows. +</p> + +<p> +"Amaryllis sends thee greeting and would speak +with thee, in her hall," the girl said. +</p> + +<p> +Reluctantly Laodice, who feared the revelation +which the light might have to make of her stunned +and revolted face, followed the page. +</p> + +<p> +The Greek was standing, as if in evidence that the +interview would not be long. She noted the intense +change on the face of her young guest and watched +her narrowly for any new light which her disclosure +would bring. +</p> + +<p> +"I have sent for thee," the Greek began smoothly, +"to tell thee somewhat that I should perhaps withhold, +that thou shouldst sleep well, this night. But +it is a perplexity perhaps thou wouldst face at once." +</p> + +<p> +Laodice bowed her head. +</p> + +<p> +"It is this: Titus and his friend, Nicanor, approached +too close the walls this day, and Nicanor +was wounded by an arrow. In retaliation, perfect +siege hath been laid about the walls. None may come +into the city." +</p> + +<p> +"And–Momus, my servant," Laodice cried, waking +for the first time to the calamity in this blockade, +"he can not come back to me?" +</p> + +<p> +"No. If he attempts it, he will be captured and +put to death." +</p> + +<p> +Laodice clasped her hands, while drop by drop the +color left her face. +</p> + +<p> +"In God's name," she whispered, "what will +become of me?" +</p> + +<p> +Amaryllis made no answer. +</p> + +<p> +"Can–can I not go out?" Laodice asked presently, +depending entirely on the Greek as adviser. +</p> + +<p> +"You can–but to what fortune? Perhaps–" +She stopped a moment. "No," she continued, "you +have never been in a camp. No; you can not go out." +</p> + +<p> +"What, then, am I to do?" Laodice cried with +increasing alarm. +</p> + +<p> +Amaryllis shrugged her shoulders. +</p> + +<p> +"I can advise with John," she said. "Doubtless +he will allow you to remain here until you can provide +yourself with other shelter." +</p> + +<p> +Laodice heard this cold sentence with a chill of fear +that was new to her. Faint pictures of hunger and +violence, terrifying in the extreme, confronted her. +Yet not any of them frightened her more than the +offered favor of the Gischalan. Her indignation at +the woman who had supplanted her swept over her +with a reflexive flush of heat. +</p> + +<p> +"God of my fathers, judge her in her lies, and +pour the fire of Thy wrath upon her!" she exclaimed +vehemently. +</p> + +<p> +Amaryllis gazed curiously at the girl. In her soul, +she asked herself if there might not be unsounded +depths of fierceness in this nature which she ought +not to stir up. +</p> + +<p> +"Thou hast hope," she said tactfully. "She hath +no such beauty as thine!" +</p> + +<p> +"Nothing but my proofs!" Laodice broke in. +</p> + +<p> +"And Philadelphus is a young man." +</p> + +<p> +"Rejecting her only because I am fairer than she! +He is no just man!" Laodice cried hotly. +</p> + +<p> +"Softly, child," the Greek said, smiling; "thou +hast said that he is thy husband." +</p> + +<p> +Laodice turned away, her brain whirling with +anger, fear and shame. +</p> + +<p> +"Well?" said the Greek coolly, after a silence. +</p> + +<p> +"Where shall I go?" Laodice asked. +</p> + +<p> +"Thou hast been too tenderly nurtured to go into +the streets. I shall ask John to shelter thee until +thou canst care for thyself." +</p> + +<p> +Laodice looked at her without understanding. +</p> + +<p> +"Thou canst not stay here for long because the +wife to Philadelphus is in a way a power in my house +and she will not suffer it. But never fear; Jerusalem +is not yet so far gone that it would not enjoy a pretty +stranger." +</p> + +<p> +The curious sense of indignation that possessed +Laodice was purely instinctive. Her mind could not +sense the actual insult in the Greek's words. +</p> + +<p> +"I would advise you to be kind to Philadelphus." +</p> + +<p> +"But, but–" Laodice cried, struggling with +tears and shame, "he has this day offered insult to +his own marriage with me, by asking that I live in +shame with him till it could be proved that I am his +wife!" +</p> + +<p> +The Greek's smile did not change. +</p> + +<p> +"If we weigh all the unpleasantness of wedded life +in too delicate a balance, my friend, I fear there +would be little, indeed, that would escape condemnation +as humiliating." +</p> + +<p> +Laodice raised her scarlet face to look in wonder +at the Greek. The cold smiling lips dismayed her +for a moment. +</p> + +<p> +"And thou seest no shame in this?" she faltered. +</p> + +<p> +"Thou sayest he is thy husband; why resent it?" +</p> + +<p> +"Dost thou not see–see that–what am I but a +shameless woman, if I live with him, though I be +married to him thrice over!" +</p> + +<p> +"After all," said the Greek, after a silence which +said more than words, "it is the consciousness of +your own integrity which must influence you; not +what others think of you. It is not as if your husband +thought better of you than you really are." +</p> + +<p> +"And you believe that I–" Laodice began and +stopped, bewildered. +</p> + +<p> +Amaryllis, smiling, moved toward the inner corridor +of her house. At the threshold of the arch she +called back: +</p> + +<p> +"Please yourself, my friend," and was gone. +</p> + +<p> +Laodice was, by this time, stunned and intensely +repelled. The hand on which Amaryllis had laid hers +in passing tingled under the touch. Unconsciously +she shook off the sensation of contact. The whole +clear white interior of the hall became instantly +unclean. Her standards of right and wrong were +shaken; the wholesale assaults on her ideals left her +shocked and unconfident. She felt the panic that all +innocent women feel when suddenly aroused to the +unfitness of their surroundings. +</p> + +<p> +When she turned to hurry to her room, a flood of +scarlet rushed into her cheeks and she shrank back, +shaken with surprise and delight. +</p> + +<p> +Before her stood a man, pale and thin, with his +eyes upon her. +</p> + + + + + +<h2 id="ch12">Chapter XII</h2> + +<h2>THE PRINCE RETURNS</h2> + + +<p> +Joseph, the shepherd, son of Thomas of Pella, +moved out of the green marsh before sunset, as he +had planned to do, but not for the original motive. +The sheep, indeed, would not have flourished in that +dampness, rich as it was in young grass, but, more +than that, there was no shelter for the wounded man +who lay by the roadside. +</p> + +<p> +The shepherd, who knew the hills of Judea as far +as the Plain of Esdraelon as well as he knew the +stony streets of the Christian city, located the nearest +roof as one which a fagot-maker had occupied two +years before. It was some distance up in the hills to +the west. Since the scourge of war had passed over +Palestine, there were scores of such hovels, vacant +and abandoned to the bats and the small wild life +about the countryside, and the boy doubted seriously +if the thatch that covered it were still whole. But he +attracted the attention of a pair of robust young +Galileans on the way to the Passover, and, by their +help, carried the wounded man to shelter in this hut. +Urge, the sheep-dog, rushed the sheep out of the +sedge and hurried them after his master, and in an +hour Joseph was once more settled, his sheep were once +more nosing over the rocky slants of a hill, his dog +once more flat on his belly, watching. But it was a +different day, after all. +</p> + +<p> +The hut of the fagot-maker was the four walls +and a roof and the earth that floored it, but it was +wealth because it was shelter. It had two doors +which were merely openings in the sides and between +them lay the man on sheep-pelts with a cotton abas, +which one of the Galileans had left, over him. At +one of these doors, sitting sidewise, so that he could +watch in or out, sat Joseph. +</p> + +<p> +All night the man on the sheepskins spoke to the +blackened thatch above him of the siege of Jerusalem +and the treachery of Julian of Ephesus. He read +letters from Costobarus and instructed Aquila over +and over again. Then he tossed a coin and spent +hours counting the hairs in the long locks that fell +from the shining head of the moon down upon his +breast, at midnight. +</p> + +<p> +At times the boy, with the exquisite beauty of +sleep on his heavy lids, would creep over from his +vigil at the door and lay his cool hand on the sick +man's forehead. And the sick man would speak in a +low controlled voice, saying: +</p> + +<p> +"Naaman being a leper, my friend, why was not +the law fulfilled against him?" +</p> + +<p> +But the soothing influence of that touch did not +endure. Again, he took census of the fighting-men +of Judea, by the Roman statistics which he had from +the decurion, and searched through his tunic for his +wallet to write down the result. Failing to find it, +he raised himself to shout for Julian to return his +property. +</p> + +<p> +Again the cool hands would stroke the fevered +forehead and the sick man would say: +</p> + +<p> +"Good my Lord, they fetched snow from the +mountains to cool this wine." +</p> + +<p> +But how white the hands of that fair girl in the +hills! Why, these hands beside hers were as satyrs' +hooves to anemones! Her lashes were so long, and +he knew that her lips were as cool as the heart of a +melon; but that husband of hers knew better than +he! +</p> + +<p> +And he, grandson of the just Maccabee, allied by +marriage to the noble line of Costobarus through his +daughter, Laodice, the bride with the greatest dowry +in Judea, had staked his soul on the toss of a coin +and had lost it! +</p> + +<p> +At this the shepherd boy straightened himself and +gave attention. +</p> + +<p> +But he was wholly lost, the sick man would go on, +rolling his head from side to side; he could not join +Laodice because he had loved a woman of the wayside +and could not cast out that love; he was not a Jew +because he had rather linger with this strange beauty +in the hills than hasten on the rescue of Jerusalem; +he had not apostatized, though he was as wholly lost +as if he had done so; he hated the heathen and would +not be one of them. He would abide in the wilderness +and perish, if this young spirit that abode by his +side, with a face like Michael's and a form so like +the shepherd David's, would only suffer the darkness +to come at him. +</p> + +<p> +"Unless I mistake," the little shepherd said at such +times, "there is more than a wound troubling this +head." +</p> + +<p> +Thus day in and day out the shepherd watched by +the sick man who had no medicine but the recuperative +powers of his strong young body. So there came +a night when the boy, rousing from a doze into which +he had dropped, saw the sick man stretched upon his +pallet motionless as he had not been for days. The +shepherd felt the forehead and the wrists and sank +again into slumber. At dawn he rose from the earth +which had been his bed throughout this time and went +forth to attend his flocks, and when he was gone, the +sick man opened his eyes. +</p> + +<p> +He looked up at the blackened rafters; he looked +out at either door and frowned perplexed, first at the +hills, then at the valley. He raised his head and +dropped it suddenly with great amazement and much +weariness. Finally he ventured to lift a wilted and +fragile hand and looked at it. It was not white; +but it was unsteady as a laurel leaf beside a waterfall. +After a moment's rest from the exertion he +parted his lips to speak, but a whisper faint as the +sound of the air in the shrubs issued from them. He +listened but there was no answer. There was the +activity of birds and insects, moving leaves and bleating +sheep without, but it was all blithely indifferent +to him. Finally he extended his arms and pressing +them on his pallet tried to rise, but he could have +lifted the earth as easily. Falling back and dazed +with weakness, he lay still and slept again. +</p> + +<p> +When he awoke rested sufficiently to think, he recalled +that he had been twice stabbed by Julian of +Ephesus by the marsh on the road to Jerusalem. +He had probably been carried to this place and +nursed back to life by the householder. +</p> + +<p> +Then he remembered. In his search after cause +for his cousin's attack upon him, he readily fixed upon +Julian's rage at the Maccabee's preėmption of the +beautiful girl in the hills. Instantly, the disgrace of +violence committed in a quarrel between himself and +his cousin over the possession of a woman, appealed +to him. And even as instantly, his defiant heart accepted +its shame and persisted in its fault. It is an +extreme of love, indeed, if no circumstance however +impelling raises a regret in the heart of a man; for +he flung off with a weak gesture any chiding of conscience +against cherishing his dream, and abandoned +himself wholly to his yearning for the girl in the +tissue of moonbeams. +</p> + +<p> +There was a quiet step on the earth at the threshold. +Joseph, the shepherd, stood there. The two +looked at each other; one with inquiry and weakness +in his face; the other with good-will and reassurance. +</p> + +<p> +"Boy," said the Maccabee feebly, "I have been +sick." +</p> + +<p> +"Friend, I am witness to that. I am your nurse," +the boy replied. +</p> + +<p> +After a little silence the Maccabee extended his +hand. The boy took it with a sudden flush of emotion, +but feeling its weakness, refrained from pressing +it too hard, and laid it back with great care on his +patient's breast. The Maccabee looked out at the +door, away from the full eyes of his young host. +</p> + +<p> +He was touched presently, and a cup of milk was +silently put to his lips. He drank and turning himself +with effort fell asleep. +</p> + +<p> +When he awoke again, after many hours, it was +night. In the door with his head dropped back +between his shoulders gazing up at the sky overhead, +sat the boy. +</p> + +<p> +"Where," the Maccabee began, "are the rest of +you?" +</p> + +<p> +The boy turned around quickly, and answered with +all seriousness. +</p> + +<p> +"I am all here." +</p> + +<p> +"Did you," the Maccabee began again, after silence, +"care for me alone?" +</p> + +<p> +"There has been no one here but us," the boy said, +hesitating at the symptoms of gratitude in the +Maccabee's voice. +</p> + +<p> +"Us?" +</p> + +<p> +"You and me." +</p> + +<p> +After another silence, the Maccabee laughed +weakly. +</p> + +<p> +"It requires two to constitute 'us' and I am, by +all signs, not a whole one!" +</p> + +<p> +"But you will be in a few days," the boy declared +admiringly. "You are an excellent sick +man." +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee looked at him meditatively. +</p> + +<p> +"I am merely perverse," he said darkly; "I knew +it would be so much pleasure to my murderer to know +that I died, duly." +</p> + +<p> +The shepherd repressed his curiosity, as the best +thing for his patient's welfare, and suggested another +subject rather disjointedly. +</p> + +<p> +"I have been thinking," he said, "about Jerusalem. +I was there once upon a time." +</p> + +<p> +"Once!" the Maccabee said. "You are old +enough to attend the Passover." +</p> + +<p> +"But our people do not attend the feast. We are +Christians." +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee moved so that he could look at the +boy. He might have known it, he exclaimed to himself. +It was just such an extreme act of mercy, this +assuming the care of a stranger in a wilderness, as +he had ever known Christians to do in that city of +irrational faiths, Ephesus. +</p> + +<p> +"Well?" he said, hoping the boy would go on and +spare him an expression on that announcement. +</p> + +<p> +"I can not forget Jerusalem." +</p> + +<p> +"No one forgets Jerusalem–except one that falls +in love by the wayside," the man said. +</p> + +<p> +Again the boy detected a ring of unexplained +melancholy in his patient's voice, and talked on as a +preventive. +</p> + +<p> +"Urban, the pastor, took me there. It was in the +days of mine instruction for baptism. He went to +Jerusalem to trial, but there was disorder in the city +about the procurator, who was driven out that day, +and Urban was not called. But he remained, lest he +be accused of fleeing, and then it was he took me over +the walks of Jesus." +</p> + +<p> +"Jesus–that is the name," the Maccabee said +to himself. "They are born, given in marriage, fall +or flourish, live and die in that name. Likewise they +pick up a wounded stranger and care for him in that +name. They are a strange people, a strange people!" +</p> + +<p> +"They would not let us into the Temple," Joseph +went on, "because I am an Arab, born a Christian. +So I could not see where Jesus was presented, in infancy. +But we went to the synagogues where He +taught; we went out upon Olivet to Gethsemane where +He suffered in the Garden; we climbed that hill to the +south from which He looked upon the City and wept +over it, and prophesied this hour. Then we sought +the ravine where Judas betrayed Him with a kiss, and +afterward Urban led me over the streets by which He +was taken first to Annas and to Caiaphas and thence +to Pilate and to Herod. After that, by the Way of +the Cross to Golgotha; from there to His Tomb. +And when we had seen the Guest-chamber and stood +upon the Place of the Ascension, I needed no further +instruction." +</p> + +<p> +The boy had forgotten his guest. By the rapt +light in his eyes, the Maccabee knew that the boy was +once more journeying over the stones of the streets +of the Holy City, or standing awed on the polished +pavements of its lordly interiors, or on the topmost +point of her hills with the broad-winged wind from +the east flying his long locks. +</p> + +<p> +"<i>If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand +forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let +my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer +not Jerusalem above my chief joy</i>," the Maccabee +said, half to himself. +</p> + +<p> +The boy heard him, but his patient's words merged +with the dream that held him entranced. The Maccabee +went on. +</p> + +<p> +"So said the Psalmist to himself," he said. +"What had he to do for Jerusalem; what did he +fear would win him away from that labor for Jerusalem, +that he took that vow? It was easy enough to +revile Babylon, the oppressor, that stood between him +and Jerusalem; but what if he had been the captive +of beauty, and chained by the bonds of lovely hair!" +</p> + +<p> +The boy turned now and looked at the Maccabee. +The eyes of the two met fair. Then the Maccabee +unburdened his soul and told of the girl to this child, +who was a Christian and a humble shepherd in the +starved hills of Judea. +</p> + +<p> +"I met her," the boy said after a long silence. +"And by what I learned of her spirit that night, she +will not be happy to know that you have stepped +aside for her sake." +</p> + +<p> +"You met her, also; and you loved her, too?" +</p> + +<p> +The boy assented gravely. The Maccabee slowly +lifted his eyes from the young shepherd's face, till +they rested on the slope of sky filled with stars +visible through the open door. +</p> + +<p> +"And she would have me go on to this city, to +the one who awaits me there and whom I shall not be +glad to see; take up the labor that will be robbed of +its chief joy in its success and live the long, long +days of life without her?" +</p> + +<p> +The boy made no answer to this; he knew that this +white-faced man was wrestling with himself and comment +from him was not expected. By the light of the +failing fire without, he saw that face sober, take on +shadow and grow immeasurably sad. The minutes +passed and he knew that the Maccabee would not +speak again. +</p> + +<p> +Thereafter followed three days of silence, except +the essential communication or the mutterings of the +Maccabee against his weakness and unsteadiness. +On the fourth day the Maccabee declared that he was +able to travel. Joseph protested, but not for long. +He had learned in the sojourn of his guest that this +man was in the habit of doing as he pleased. So the +shepherd sighed and let him go reluctantly. +</p> + +<p> +"But," he insisted to the last moment, "remember +that Pella is a City of Refuge. If Jerusalem +ceases to be hospitable, come to Pella." +</p> + +<p> +A thought struck him. +</p> + +<p> +"She," he said in a low tone, "promised that she +would come." +</p> + +<p> +"Then expect me," the Maccabee said. +</p> + +<p> +The shepherd boy smiled contentedly and blessed +the Maccabee and let him go. As long as the man +could see, his young host watched him, and at the +summit of the hill the Maccabee turned to wave his +final farewell. When the path dipped down the other +side of the hill, the man felt that more than the sunshine +had been cut off by its great shadow. +</p> + +<p> +He did not go forward with a light heart. The +whole of his purpose had suddenly resolved itself +into duty. There had been a certain nervous expectancy +that was almost fear in the thought of +meeting the grown woman he had married in her +babyhood. He had lived in Ephesus with an unengaged +heart in all the crowd of opportunities for +love, good and bad. He had magnetism, strength, +aloofness and a certain beauty–four qualifications +which had made him over and over again immensely +attractive to all classes of Ephesian women. But +whatever his response to them, he had not loved. Love +and marriage were things so apart from his activities +as to be uninteresting. When finally he was called in +full manhood to assume without preliminary both of +these things, he was uncomfortable and apprehensive. +But after he had met the girl in the hills, his sensations +of reluctance became emphatic, became an actual +dread, so that he thrust away all thought of the domestic +side of the life that confronted him, and bitterly +resigned all hope in the tender things that were +the portion of all men. The villainy of Julian of +Ephesus engaged him chiefly, and his punishment. +After that, then the establishment of his kingdom, +politics, conquest and power–but not love! +</p> + +<p> +Late that afternoon, he stepped out of a wady +west of Jerusalem and halted. +</p> + +<p> +Ahead of him ran a road depressed between worn, +hard, bare banks of earth, past a deserted pool, +marged with stone, up shining surfaces of outcropping +rock, through avenues of clustered tombs, pillars, +pagan monuments which were tracks of the Herods, +dead and abandoned, splendid pleasure gardens, suburban +palaces lifeless and still, toward the looming +Tower of Hippicus, brooding over a fast-closed gate. +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee nodded. It was as he had expected. +The city was besieged. +</p> + +<p> +It was afternoon, a week-day at the busiest portal +of Jerusalem; but save for the fixed and pygmy sentry +upon the tower, there was no living thing to be +seen, no single sound to be heard. +</p> + +<p> +Beyond the mounting hills of the City of David +stood up, shouldering like mantles of snow their burden +of sun-whitened houses. Above it all, supreme +over the blackened masonry of Roman Antonia, stood +a glittering vision in marble and gold–the Temple. +At a distance it could not be seen that any of +those inwalled splendors lacked; Jerusalem appeared +intact, but the multitudes at the gate were absent and +the voice of the city was stilled. +</p> + +<p> +For one expecting to find Jerusalem animated and +beholding it still and lifeless, how quickly its white +walls, its white houses and its sparkling Temple became +haunted, dead crypts and sepulchers. +</p> + +<p> +But presently there came across the considerable distance +that lay between him and Jerusalem, a sound +remarkably distinct because of the utter stillness that +prevailed. It was the jingle of harness and the ring +of hoof-beats upon stones embedded in the gray earth. +</p> + +<p> +A Roman in armor polished like gold, with a floating +mantle significantly bordered in purple, rode +slowly into the open space, drew up his horse and +stopped. The Maccabee looked at him sharply, then +quitted his shelter and walked down toward the rider. +At sight of him, the horseman clapped his hand to his +short sword, but the Maccabee put up his empty +hands and smiled at the man of all superior advantage. +Then the light of recognition broke over the +Roman's face. +</p> + +<p> +"You!" he cried. +</p> + +<p> +"I, Cęsar," the Maccabee responded. For a moment +there was silence in which the Jew watched the +flickering of amazement and perplexity on Titus' +face. +</p> + +<p> +"What do you here, away from Ephesus, and +worse, attempting to run my lines?" he demanded finally. +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee signed toward the walls. +</p> + +<p> +"My wife is there," he said briefly. +</p> + +<p> +The Roman made an exclamation which showed the +sudden change to enlightenment. +</p> + +<p> +"Solicitous after these many years?" he demanded. +</p> + +<p> +"She has two hundred talents," the Maccabee replied. +</p> + +<p> +Titus smiled and shook his head. +</p> + +<p> +"I ought to keep her there. Rome must get treasure +enough out of that rebellious city to repay her +for her pains in subjugating it." +</p> + +<p> +"Pay yourself out of another pocket than mine. +It will take two hundred talents to repay me for all +that I have suffered to get it. I want the countersign, +Titus. You owe me it." +</p> + +<p> +"Will you come out of there, at once?" the Roman +demanded. "Not that I suspect you will make the +city harder to take, but I should dislike to make war +on an old comrade in my Ephesian revels." +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee looked doubtful. +</p> + +<p> +"I can not promise," he said. "At least do not +hold off the siege until you see me again without the +walls. It might lose you prestige in Rome." +</p> + +<p> +Titus swung his bridle while he gazed at the Maccabee. +</p> + +<p> +"I wish Nicanor were here," he said finally. "He +might be able to see harm in you; but I never could. +You will have to promise me something–anything +so it is a promise–before I can let you in. Something +to appease Nicanor, else I shall never hear the +last of this." +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee laughed, the sudden harsh laugh of +one impelled to amusement unexpectedly. +</p> + +<p> +"Assure Nicanor, for me, that I shall come out of +Jerusalem one day. Dead or alive, I shall do it! +You need not add that I did not specify the date of +my exodus. What is the word?" +</p> + +<p> +"Berenice. And Jove help you! Farewell." +</p> + +<p> +Titus rode on. +</p> + +<p> +A little later, after a parley with the Roman sentries +and again with the sentries at the Gate of Hippicus, +the Maccabee was admitted to the Holy City. +</p> + +<p> +About him as he passed through the gates were +the soldiers of Simon. They were not such men +as he expected to see defending the City of David. +There was an extravagant, half-pastoral manner +about them, a pose of which they should not have +been conscious at this hour of peril for the nation +and the hierarchy. He looked at their incomplete, +meaningless uniform, at their arms, half +savage, at their faces, half mad, and believed that he, +with an army rationally organized and effectually +equipped, would have little difficulty in subduing the +unbalanced forces of Simon. +</p> + +<p> +Since siege was laid, he did not expect to be met +by Amaryllis' servant in the purple turban. He approached +a citizen. +</p> + +<p> +"I seek Amaryllis, the Seleucid," he said. +</p> + +<p> +The eye of the Jew traveled over him, with some +disapproval. +</p> + +<p> +"The mistress of the Gischalan?" was the returned +inquiry. The Maccabee assented calmly. The +young man indicated a broad street moving with people +which led with tolerable directness toward the base +of Moriah. +</p> + +<p> +"Hence to the Tyropean Bridge at the end of this +street; thence down beside the bridge into Gihon. +Cross to the wall supporting Moriah and builded +against it thou wilt find a new house, of the fashion of +the Greeks. If thou canst pass her sentries, thou +wilt find her within." +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee thanked his informant and turned +through the Passover hosts to follow the directions. +</p> + +<p> +To a visitor recently familiar with the city, Jerusalem +would have been strange; he would have +been lost in its ruined and disordered streets. But +this man came with only the four corners of the compass +to direct him and the Temple as a landmark to +guide him. Therefore though he entered upon territory +which he had not traversed since childhood he +went forward confidently. +</p> + +<p> +It was not simple; it was not readily done; but the +darkness found him at his destination. +</p> + +<p> +When he was within a rod of the house, he was +halted by a Jewish soldier. He whispered to the man +the word which Amaryllis had sent to him, and the +soldier stepped aside and let him pass. +</p> + +<p> +In another moment he was admitted to the house +of Amaryllis. +</p> + +<p> +A wick coated with aromatic wax burned in the +brass bowl on a tripod and cast a crystal clear light +down upon the exedra and the delicate lectern with +its rolls of parchment and brass cylinders from which +they had been withdrawn. Opposite, with her arms +close down to her sides, her hands clenched, her shoulders +drawn up, stood the girl he had played for and +won in the hills of Judea! +</p> + + + + + +<h2 id="ch13">Chapter XIII</h2> + +<h2>A NEW PRETENDER</h2> + + +<p> +A sudden wave of delight, a sudden rush of blood +through his veins, swept before it and away for that +time all memory of his struggle and his resolution to +renounce her. All that was left was the irresistible +storm of impulse upon his reserve and his self-control. +</p> + +<p> +When she recognized him, she started violently, +smote her hands together and gazed at him with such +overweening joy written on her face, that he would +have swept her into his arms, but for her quick recovery +and retreat. In shelter behind the exedra +she halted, fended from him by the marble seat. He +gazed across its back at her with all the love of his +determined soul shining in his eyes. +</p> + +<p> +"You! You!" she cried. +</p> + +<p> +"But you!" he cried back at her across the exedra. +</p> + +<p> +The preposterousness of their greetings appealed +to them at that moment and they both laughed. He +started around the exedra; she moved away. +</p> + +<p> +"Stay!" he begged. "I want only to touch–your +hand." +</p> + +<p> +Shyly, she let him take both of her hands, and he +lifted them in spite of her little show of resistance +and kissed them. +</p> + +<p> +"We might have saved ourselves farewells and +journeyed together," he said blithely. +</p> + +<p> +"But I thought you had gone back to Ephesus," +she said. +</p> + +<p> +"What! After you had told me you were going to +Jerusalem? No. I have been nursing a knife wound +in a sheep hovel in the hills since an hour after I saw +you last." +</p> + +<p> +Her lips parted and her face grew grave, deeply +compassionate and grieved. If there remained any +weakness in his frame before that moment, the spell +of her pity enchanted him to strength again. He +found himself searching for words to describe his pain, +that he might elicit more of that curative sweet. +</p> + +<p> +"I was very near to death," he added seriously. +</p> + +<p> +"What–what happened?" she asked, noting the +pallor on his face under the suffusion which his pleasure +had made there. +</p> + +<p> +"There was one more in the party than was needed; +so my amiable companion reduced the number by stabbing +me in the back," he explained. +</p> + +<p> +There was instant silence. Slowly she drew away +from him. Entire pallor covered her face and in her +eyes grew a horror. +</p> + +<p> +"Did–do you say that Philadelphus stabbed–you–in +the back?" she asked, speaking slowly. +</p> + +<p> +"Phila–" he stopped on the brink of a puzzled +inquiry, and for a space they regarded each other, +each turning over his own perplexity for himself. +</p> + +<p> +"Ask me that again," he commanded her suddenly. +"I did not understand." +</p> + +<p> +She hesitated and closed her lips. Her husband +had stabbed this man in the back! Because of her? +No! Philadelphus had refused to believe her. Why +then should he have committed such a deed? +</p> + +<p> +"So you are not ready to believe it of this–Philadelphus?" +he asked, venturing his question on +an immense surmise that was forcing itself upon him. +</p> + +<p> +She looked at him with beseeching eyes. How was +she to regard herself in this matter? A partizan of +the man she hated, or a sympathizer with this stranger +who had already given her too much joy? Was +she never to know any good of this man to whom she +was wedded? For a moment losing sight of her concern +for Judea and her resolution that her father +should not have died in vain, she was rejoiced that another +woman had taken her place by his side. The +quasi liberty made her interest in this stranger at least +not entirely sinful. +</p> + +<p> +"Who are you?" he demanded finally. +</p> + +<p> +How, then, could she tell him that she was the wife +of the man who had treacherously attempted his life? +How, also, since she was denied by every one in that +house, expect him to believe her? The bitterness of +her recent interview with Amaryllis rose to the surface +again. +</p> + +<p> +"I am nothing; I have no name; I am nobody!" +she cried. +</p> + +<p> +He was startled. +</p> + +<p> +"What is this? Are you not welcome in this +house?" he demanded. +</p> + +<p> +"Yes–and no! Amaryllis is good–but–" +</p> + +<p> +"But what?" +</p> + +<p> +She shook her head. +</p> + +<p> +"Surely, thou canst speak without fear to me," he +said gently. +</p> + +<p> +"There is–only Amaryllis is kind," she essayed +finally. +</p> + +<p> +He laid his hand on her wrist. +</p> + +<p> +"Is it–the woman from Ascalon?" he asked, his +suspicion lighting instantly upon the wife whom he +had expected to meet. +</p> + +<p> +She flung up her head and gazed at him with +startled eyes. He believed that he had touched upon +the fact. +</p> + +<p> +"So!" he exclaimed. +</p> + +<p> +"She has deceived Philadelphus–" she whispered +defensively, but he broke in sharply. +</p> + +<p> +"Whom hath she deceived?" +</p> + +<p> +She closed her lips and looked at him perplexed. +Certainly this was the companion of Philadelphus, who +had told her freely half of her husband's ambitions, +long before he had come to Jerusalem. She could not +have betrayed her husband in thus mentioning his +name. +</p> + +<p> +"Your companion of the journey hither–whom +you even now accused–Philadelphus Maccabaeus." +</p> + +<p> +There was a dead pause in which his fingers still +held her wrist and his deep eyes were fixed on her face. +He was recalling by immense mental bounds all the +evidence that would tend to confirm the suspicion in +his brain. He had told her his own story but had invested +it in Julian of Ephesus. His wallet, with all +its proofs, was gone; the Ephesian had examined him +carefully to know if any one in Jerusalem would recognize +him; and lastly, without cause, Julian had +stabbed him in the back. Could it be possible that +Julian of Ephesus, believing that he had made way +with the Maccabee, had come to Jerusalem, masquerading +under his name? +</p> + +<p> +While he stood thus gazing, hardly seeing the face +that looked up at him with such troubled wonder, he +saw her turn her eyes quickly, shrink; and then +wrenching her hands from his, she fled. +</p> + +<p> +He looked up. Two women were standing before +him. +</p> + +<p> +"I seek Amaryllis, the Seleucid," he said, recovering +himself. +</p> + +<p> +"I am she," the Greek said, stepping forward. +</p> + +<p> +"Thou entertainest Laodice, daughter of Costobarus +of Ascalon?" he added. +</p> + +<p> +The Greek bowed. +</p> + +<p> +"I would see her," he said bluntly. +</p> + +<p> +Amaryllis signed to the woman at her side. +</p> + +<p> +"This is she," she said simply. +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee looked quickly at the woman. After +his close communication with the beautiful girl +for whom his heart warmed as it had never done before, +he was instantly aware of an immense contrast +between her and the woman who had been introduced +to him at that moment. They were both Jewesses; +both were beautiful, each in her own way; both appeared +intelligent and winsome. But he loved the +girl, and this woman stood in the way of that love. +Therefore her charms were nullified; her latent faults +intensified; all in all she repelled him because she was +an obstacle. +</p> + +<p> +The injustice in his feelings toward her did not occur +to him. He was angry because she had come; he +hated her for her stateliness; he found himself looking +for defects in her and belittling her undeniable graces. +Confused and for the moment without plan, he looked +at her frowning, and with cold astonishment the +woman gazed back at him. +</p> + +<p> +"Thou art Laodice, daughter of Costobarus?" he +asked, to gain time. +</p> + +<p> +She inclined her head. +</p> + +<p> +"When–when dost thou expect Philadelphus?" +he asked next. +</p> + +<p> +"Why do you ask?" she parried. +</p> + +<p> +"I–I have a message for him," he essayed finally. +"Is he here?" +</p> + +<p> +"Tell me, who art thou?" the woman asked pointedly. +</p> + +<p> +A vision of the girl, flushed and trembling with +pleasure at sight of him, flashed with poignant effect +upon him at that moment. The warmth and softness +of her hands under the pressure of his happy lips +was still with him. It would be infidelity to his own +feelings to renounce her then. It was becoming a +physical impossibility for him to accept this other +woman. +</p> + +<p> +He hesitated and reddened. An old subterfuge occurred +to him at a desperate minute. +</p> + +<p> +"I–I am Hesper–of Ephesus," he essayed. +</p> + +<p> +"What is thy business with Philadelphus?" the +woman persisted. +</p> + +<p> +Again the Maccabee floundered. It had been easy +to invent a story to keep the woman he loved from +discovering that he was a married man, but the point +in question was different. Now, filled with dismay and +indignation, apprehension and reluctance, his fertile +mind failed him at the moment of its greatest +need. +</p> + +<p> +And the eyes of the Greek, filling with suspicion and +intense interest, rested upon him. +</p> + +<p> +"I asked," the actress repeated calmly, "thy business +with Philadelphus." +</p> + +<p> +At that instant a tremendous shock shook the house +to its foundations; the hanging lamps lurched; the +exedra jarred and in an instant several of the servants +appeared at various openings into passages. Before +any of the group could stir, a second thunderous +shock sent a tremor over the room, and a fragment of +marble detached from a support overhead and dropped +to the pavement. +</p> + +<p> +"It is an attack!" Amaryllis cried. +</p> + +<p> +"On this house?" Salome demanded. +</p> + +<p> +There was a clatter of arms and several men in +Jewish armor rushed through the chamber from the +passage that led in from the Temple. +</p> + +<p> +"I shall see," said the Maccabee, and followed the +men at once. +</p> + +<p> +Without he saw the night sky overhead crossed by +dark stones flying over the wall to the east. Warfare +had begun. +</p> + +<p> +But the attack was simply preliminary and desultory. +It ceased while he waited. Presently it began +farther toward the north. The catapult had been +moved. The Maccabee hesitated in the colonnade. +</p> + +<p> +The beautiful girl in the house of Amaryllis was in +no further danger. The interruption had saved him +at a critical moment. +</p> + +<p> +He walked down the steps and out into the night. +</p> + +<p> +"Liberty!" he whispered with a sigh of relief. +"Now what to do?" +</p> + + + + + +<h2 id="ch14">Chapter XIV</h2> + +<h2>THE PRIDE OF AMARYLLIS</h2> + + +<p> +The night following the wounding of Nicanor, John +spent on his fortifications expecting an attack. It +was one of the few nights when the Gischalan kept +vigil, for he refused to contribute fatigue to the prospering +of his cause. +</p> + +<p> +Sometime in mid-morning he appeared in the house +of Amaryllis and sent a servant to her asking her to +breakfast with him. The Greek sent him in return a +wax tablet on which she had written that she was shut +up in her chamber writing verse, but that she had +provided him a companion as entertaining as she. +</p> + +<p> +When he passed into the Greek's dining-room, the +woman who called herself wife to Philadelphus +awaited him at the table. +</p> + +<p> +When he sat she dropped into a chair beside him +and laid before him a bunch of grapes from Crete, +preserved throughout the winter in casks filled with +ground cork. +</p> + +<p> +"It is the last, Amaryllis says," she observed. +"And siege is laid." +</p> + +<p> +John looked ruefully at the fruit. +</p> + +<p> +"Perhaps," he said after thought, "were I a +thrifty man and a spiteful one, I would not eat them. +Instead, I should have the same cluster served me +every morning that I might say to mine enemies, with +truth, that I have Cretan grapes for breakfast daily. +They will keep," he added presently, "for it is tradition +that stores laid up for siege never decay." +</p> + +<p> +"Obviously," said the woman, "they do not last +long enough." +</p> + +<p> +John plucked off one of the light green grapes and +ate it with relish. +</p> + +<p> +"Since thou doubtest the tradition, I shall not have +these spoil." +</p> + +<p> +"But you destroy even a better boast over your +enemy. Then you could say to him, 'We can not consume +all our food. Behold the grapes rot in the +lofts!'" +</p> + +<p> +John smiled. +</p> + +<p> +"Half of the lies go to preserve another's opinion +of us. How much we respect our fellows!" +</p> + +<p> +"Be comforted; there are as many lying for our +sakes! But how goes it without on the walls?" +</p> + +<p> +"Against Rome or against Simon?" +</p> + +<p> +"Both." +</p> + +<p> +"Ill enough. But when Titus presses too close +Simon will lay down his hostility toward me; and +when Titus becomes too effective, we are to have a divine +interference, so our prophets say." +</p> + +<p> +"I observe," the woman said, "we Jews at this +time are relying much on the prophets to fight our +battles. Behold, our stores will hold out, we say, because +it is said; and we shall fight indifferently, because +Daniel hath bespoken a Deliverer for us at this +time!" +</p> + +<p> +John, with his wine-glass between thumb and finger, +looked at her. +</p> + +<p> +"I should expect a heretic to be so critical for us," +he said. +</p> + +<p> +The woman sat with her elbows on the table, her chin +in her hands, gazing moodily at the sunlight falling +through the brass grill over the windows on the court. +She ignored his remark, but answered presently in another +tone. +</p> + +<p> +"There is nothing to employ a surfeited mind in +this city." +</p> + +<p> +"No?" he said lightly, while interest began to +awaken in his eyes. "The making of enjoyment is +here. I have found it so." +</p> + +<p> +"Perchance you have," but she halted and resumed +her moody gaze at the flood of sunlight. +</p> + +<p> +"Are you weary?" he asked. "What is it?" +</p> + +<p> +"Idleness! Eating, sleeping–no; not even that; +for idleness steals away my appetite and my repose." +</p> + +<p> +"Strange restiveness for one reared in the quiet +inner chambers of a Jewish house," he observed. +</p> + +<p> +Her eyes dropped away to the floor; he saw that she +was breathing quickly. +</p> + +<p> +"I dreamed of a free life once," she said in a restrained +way. "I have not since been satisfied. I +dreamed of cities and kings, that were mine! of crises +that I dared, of–of things that I did!" +</p> + +<p> +There was indignation and pride in the words, too +much recollection of an actuality to rise from the reminiscences +of a dream. John watched her alertly. +</p> + +<p> +"Enough will happen here in time to divert you," +he said. +</p> + +<p> +She made a motion with her hand that swept the +round of masonry about her. +</p> + +<p> +"Not until this falls." +</p> + +<p> +"Come, then, up into my fortress and see my fellows +from Gischala," he offered. "They fled with me from +that city when Titus took it and together we came to +this place. They are hardened to disaster; they and +death are fellow-jesters." +</p> + +<p> +"Soldiers?" +</p> + +<p> +"Everything! Better athletes than soldiers, better +mummers than athletes; villains most engaging of +all!" +</p> + +<p> +She showed no interest and, after a critical pause, +he continued: +</p> + +<p> +"They robbed the booth of some costumer whom +the Sadducees had made rich and captured a maid +whom they held until she had taught them how to use +henna and kohl. So I had a garrison of swearing +girls until they wearied of the fatigue of stepping +mincingly and untangling their garments. It was +that which robbed the sport of its pleasure and +changed my harem back to a fortress. But while it +lasted they were kings over Jerusalem. And what +dear mad dangerous wantons they were! What confusion +to short-sighted citizens; what affrights to sociable +maidens! Even I laughed at them." +</p> + +<p> +"What antics indeed!" she murmured perfunctorily. +</p> + +<p> +"Now they want new entertainment; something immense +and different," he said. +</p> + +<p> +She looked up at him; in her eyes he read, "Even +as I do!" +</p> + +<p> +"But they are not unique in that," he continued. +"All the world seeks diversion. Observe the pretty +stranger come here fresh from some lady's tiring-room, +hunting adventure, bearding thee and wearing +thy name!" +</p> + +<p> +Her eyes sparkled. +</p> + +<p> +"She shall have adventure enough," she declared. +</p> + +<p> +"I hear," John pursued, "that she does not expect +her servant to return, whom she sent to Ascalon for +proofs." +</p> + +<p> +"No?" the woman cried, sitting up. +</p> + +<p> +"How can she, when the siege is laid?" +</p> + +<p> +There was a moment of silence. The woman drew +in a deep breath that was wholly one of relief. +</p> + +<p> +"Now what will she do?" she asked. +</p> + +<p> +"She expects," John answered, "the mediation of +the Messiah. It is the talk among the slaves that He +is in the city and she has heard it. She seems not to +be overconfident, however." +</p> + +<p> +"It is her end," the woman remarked with meaning. +</p> + +<p> +"Perchance not. She is a good Jew, it seems, +whatever else she may be, and every good Jew may +have his wishes come to pass if the Messiah come. So +it has become the national habit to expect the Messiah +in every individual difficulty. Now, according to +prophecies, the time is of a surety ripe and the whole +city is expectant. She may have her wish." +</p> + +<p> +She stared at him coolly. There was implied disbelief +in this speech. She debated with herself if it +would serve to resent his doubt. Whatever her conclusion +she added no more to the discussion of Laodice's +hopes. +</p> + +<p> +"Are you expectant?" she asked. +</p> + +<p> +"I see the need of a Messiah," he responded. +</p> + +<p> +"Doubtless. You and Simon do not unite the +city; nothing but an united, confident and supremely +capable people can resist Rome in even this most majestic +fortification in the world–unless miracle be +performed, indeed." +</p> + +<p> +"Nothing but a divine visitor can achieve union +here." +</p> + +<p> +"What an event to behold!" she mused. "That +would be an excitement! Surely that would be a new +thing! No one really ever beheld a god before." +</p> + +<p> +"What learned things dreams are! What things +of experience!" he remarked with a sly smile. She +refused to observe his insisted disbelief in her claim, +but went on as if to herself. +</p> + +<p> +"Whatever Jove can do, man can do!" she declared. +"I never heard that the gods do more than +change maidens into trees or themselves into swans +for an old mortal purpose that even man's a better +adept at. Why can there not rise one who is greater +than Alexander and of stouter heart than Julius Cęsar? +There is no limit to the greatness of mankind. +Behold, here is a city rich beyond even the wealth of +Croesus; and a country which the emperor is longing +to bestow upon some orderly king! Heavens, what +an opportunity! I could pray, Jerusalem should +pray, that the hour may bring forth the man!" +</p> + +<p> +Her eyes shone with an unnatural yearning. The +immense scope of her desires suddenly brought a +smile to his lips that he checked in time. He had +remembered offering his Idumeans in women's clothing +for her diversion. +</p> + +<p> +Hunger for power, the next greatest hunger after +hunger for love! He felt that he stood in the presence +of a desire so immense that it belittled his own +hopes. He was not too much of a Jew to have sympathy +with the ambition that dwells in the breasts of +women. Cleopatra had been an evil that he had admired +profoundly, because she had attained that +which his own soul yearned after but which had +eluded him. Yet he was large enough not to be envious +of a success. He was made of the stuff that +seekers of excitement are made of. If he could not +furnish the intoxication of activity he was a ready +supporter of that one who could. +</p> + +<p> +"What disorder, then, in the world," she went on, +as if she had followed a train of imagination through +the triumph of the risen great man. "Rome, the +ruler of nations humbled! Conquest from Germany +to the First Cataract, from Gaul to the dry rocks +of Ecbatana! A world in anarchy, for one greater +than Alexander to subjugate! The ancient splendor +of Asia, the wisdom of Africa and the virginity +of Europe to be his, and the homage of the four corners +of the earth to be to him!" +</p> + +<p> +John said nothing. Before him, the woman had +entirely stripped off her disguise. Now for the purpose! +</p> + +<p> +At that moment one of Amaryllis' servants, who +had stood guard without the door, dodged apprehensively +into the room and fled across to the opposite +arch. There he paused, ready for flight, and looked +back with wide eyes. John turned hastily but with +an impatient gesture fell again to his neglected meal. +The actress looked to see what had annoyed him. +There passed in from the outer corridor a young +man, tall, magnificently formed, covered with a turban +and draped in quaint garments, which to her who +was familiar with all the guises of the theater seemed +to be Buddhistic. He looked neither to the right nor +left, but passed with a step infinitely soft and gliding +across to the arch, from which the terrified servant +vanished instantly. The stranger stayed only a +dramatic instant on the threshold and then disappeared +into the corridor which led up into the Temple. +When he had gone the startled actress retained +a picture of a face, fearless, beatified, mystic to the +very edge of the supernatural. +</p> + +<p> +"Who was that?" she asked of the Gischalan, +who was gazing at the color of his wine, sitting in a +shaft of sunlight. +</p> + +<p> +"Seraiah! But more than that, no one knows. +He appeared with the slaying of Zechariah the Just. +He haunts the garrisons. Hence his name–Soldier +of Jehovah!" +</p> + +<p> +"He did not speak; why did he come?" +</p> + +<p> +"He never speaks; he goes where he will; no one +would dare to stop him!" +</p> + +<p> +Then suddenly realizing that he was showing disinterest +the Gischalan drew himself up and smiled. +</p> + +<p> +"He is mad; I believe he is mad. The city is full +of demoniacs." +</p> + +<p> +"There is something great about him!" the woman +declared. "He seems to be the instrument of miracle." +</p> + +<p> +"Is it that?" John asked in an amused tone. +</p> + +<p> +She studied him for a moment that was tense with +meaning. +</p> + +<p> +"Do you know," she began slowly, "that neither +you nor Simon, nor any of these who aspire to the +control of Jerusalem, have come upon the plan which +will best appeal to your distracted subjects?" +</p> + +<p> +"Have we not?" he repeated. "We have bought +them and bullied them; we are fighting the Romans +for them; we are preaching patience in the will of +the Lord. What more, lady?" +</p> + +<p> +"What have you to offer them in their hope of +a Messiah?" she said pointedly. +</p> + +<p> +"Messiah! What else is preached in the Temple +but the Messiah, or in the proseuchę or the streets +or on the walls? We eat, drink, sleep, fight, buy, +sell, rob or restore in the name of the Messiah! They +are surfeited with religion." +</p> + +<p> +"Are they?" she asked sententiously. "But you +haven't given them a Messiah." +</p> + +<p> +He looked at her without comprehending. +</p> + +<p> +"You have a mad city here; you can not reason +with it; indulge it, then, as you indulge your lunatics," +she suggested. +</p> + +<p> +He shook his head, smiling that he did not understand +her. She turned again to Seraiah. +</p> + +<p> +"Watch him," she insisted. "He possesses me." +</p> + +<p> +After a long silence in which John trifled with his +wine, she prepared to rise. +</p> + +<p> +"Send me the roll of the law," the woman said suddenly. +</p> + +<p> +"Posthumus shall bring it. He is another lunatic. +Experiment with him and learn how I shall act +toward the city." +</p> + +<p> +"Well said," she averred; "and I will see your +Idumeans. Is it proper for me to appear in the +Temple?" +</p> + +<p> +The Gischalan's eyes flashed a sudden elation and +delight. He bent low and kissed her hand. +</p> + +<p> +"And I will fetch somewhat which will divert +us," she added and was gone. +</p> + +<p> +When a few moments later John passed again into +the Greek's apartment, Amaryllis entered from an +inner corridor. Before she spoke to the master of +the house she addressed a servant who had been a +moment before summoned. +</p> + +<p> +"Send hither my guest." +</p> + +<p> +"The stranger?" John asked. "Is she still with +you?" +</p> + +<p> +"I mean to add her to my household, if you will," +she explained. +</p> + +<p> +"Keep her or dismiss her at your pleasure." +</p> + +<p> +"It shall be for my pleasure. She has a charm +that besets me. It will be entertainment to discover +her history." +</p> + +<p> +"I see no mystery in her. It is plain enough that +there is between her and this married Philadelphus +some cause for her coming. His wife is much more +engaging." +</p> + +<p> +She sighed and dropped into her ivory chair, +pushed back the locks of fair hair that had loosened +from their fillet and waited languidly. +</p> + +<p> +John studied her critically. In the last hour the +slowly dissolving bond between them seemed to have +vanished, wholly, at once. +</p> + +<p> +"O Queen of Kings," he said, "art thou lonely in +this mad place?" +</p> + +<p> +"I have found diversion," she answered. +</p> + +<p> +"With these new guests?" +</p> + +<p> +"With these new guests. Observe them; there +are a pair of lovers among them, mersed in difficulty, +hampering themselves, multiplying sorrow and sure +to accomplish the same end as if they had proceeded +happily." +</p> + +<p> +"Interested no longer in thine own passion? Alas, +my Amaryllis, that love is dead that is interested no +longer in itself." +</p> + +<p> +"O thou bearded warrior, are we then still in the +self-centered period of our romance?" +</p> + +<p> +"I fear not; I see the twilight." +</p> + +<p> +Amaryllis looked down and her face grew more +weary. +</p> + +<p> +"You have maintained a long fidelity, John," she +said. +</p> + +<p> +He gazed at her, waiting a further remark, and +she went on at last. +</p> + +<p> +"I wonder why?" +</p> + +<p> +He flung out his hands. +</p> + +<p> +"Shall I be faithless to Sheba? Is the charm of +the Queen of Kings faded? Shall I turn from Aphrodite +or weary of the lips of Astarte?" +</p> + +<p> +"Nothing so stamps your love of me as wicked, +in your own eyes, as the paganism you fall into when +you speak of it!" +</p> + +<p> +He laughed. +</p> + +<p> +"But it is not that I am lovely which made you +a lover–until now," she went on. "I have seen men +faithful to women unlovely as Hecate. It is not +that. And I am still as I was, but–" +</p> + +<p> +He looked down on the triple bands of the ampyx +that bound her gold-powdered hair and said: +</p> + +<p> +"It is you who have grown weary; not I." +</p> + +<p> +She astutely drew back from the ground upon +which she had entered. It lay in the power of this +Gischalan to refuse further protection to her out of +sheer spite if she made her disaffection too patent. +</p> + +<p> +"O leader of hosts, canst thou be mummer, languishing +poet, pettish woman and spoiled princeling +all in one? No! And I shall love the clanking of +arms and thy mailed footsteps all the more if thou +permittest me to look upon irresponsible folly while +thou art absent." +</p> + +<p> +"Have thy way. I have mine. Furthermore, I +wish to thank thee for the companion thou sentest me +at breakfast. He who dines alone with her, hath his +table full. Farewell." +</p> + + + + + +<h2 id="ch15">Chapter XV</h2> + +<h2>THE IMAGE OF JEALOUSY</h2> + + +<p> +The Maccabee resolved that in spite of his heart-hunger, +he must not be a frequent visitor to the +house of Amaryllis because of the imminent risk of +confronting the impostor Julian and the danger of +exposure. Not danger to his life, but danger to his +freedom to court the beautiful girl, which an unmasking +might accomplish. Besides, he had made an +extraordinary entry into the Greek's house in the beginning, +and he was not prepared to explain himself +even now, if he returned. +</p> + +<p> +But his longing to look at her again was stronger +than his caution. Much had happened since he +had left the house of the Greek on the evening of his +first day in Jerusalem, and he feared that his absorption +in his own plans might result in the loss of her +soon or late. So when the evening of the second week +to a day of his sojourn in the city came round, unable +to endure longer, he turned his steps with considerable +apprehension toward the house of Amaryllis. +</p> + +<p> +When he was led across the threshold of the Greek's +hall, he saw Amaryllis sitting in her exedra, her +slim white arms crossed back of her head, her tiring-woman, +summoned for a casual attention, busy with a +parted ribbon on the sandal of the lady's foot. +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee awaited her invitation. Her eyes +flashed a sudden pleasure when she looked up and saw +him. +</p> + +<p> +"Enter," she said, with an unwonted lightness +in her voice that was usually low and grave; "and be +welcome." +</p> + +<p> +He came to the place she indicated at her side and +sat. In silence he waited until the tiring-woman had +finished her service and departed. Then it was +Amaryllis who spoke. +</p> + +<p> +"You left us abruptly on occasion of your first +visit." +</p> + +<p> +"The siege was of greater interest to you than I +was. When I discovered the cause of the disturbance, +you would have failed to remember me." +</p> + +<p> +"Yet I recall you readily after many days." +</p> + +<p> +"The city is in disorder; conventions can not always +be observed in war-time. I returned when I +could." +</p> + +<p> +"Our interest in you as our guest has not abated. +Philadelphus is ready to see you, at any time," she +said, watching his face. +</p> + +<p> +"And in time of war," he answered composedly, +"we intend many things in the first place which we +do not carry out in the second. I do not care to +see–Philadelphus." +</p> + +<p> +She lifted her brows. He answered the implied +question. +</p> + +<p> +"I was a familiar to this Philadelphus; he is young +and boastful, talkative as a woman. If he means to +be king, as those who knew him in Ephesus were +given to believe, it is not unnatural that some of us, +without fortune or tie to keep us home, should follow +him–as parasites, if you will–to share in the +largess which he will surely give his friends if he succeeds." +</p> + +<p> +He did not face her when he made this speech, +and he did not observe the amusement that crept into +her eyes. He could not sense his own greatness of +presence sufficiently to know that his claim to be a +parasite upon so incapable a creature as the false +Philadelphus would awaken doubt in the mind of an +intelligent woman like Amaryllis. +</p> + +<p> +He felt that he was not covering his tracks well, +and put his ingenuity to a test. +</p> + +<p> +"The boon-craver therefore should not sit like a +dog, begging crumbs, till the table is laid. My hunger +would appear as competition, if I showed it him, +while he is yet unfed. Of a truth, I would not have +him know I am here." +</p> + +<p> +"I will keep thy secret," she promised, smiling. +</p> + +<p> +"I thank you," he said gravely. "I came, on this +occasion, to ask after the young woman, whose name +I have not learned–her whom you have sheltered." +</p> + +<p> +Amaryllis' smiling eyes darkened suddenly. +</p> + +<p> +"Pouf!" she said. "I had begun to hope that +you had come to see me!" +</p> + +<p> +"I had not John's permission," he objected. +</p> + +<p> +"Have you Philadelphus' permission to see her?" +</p> + +<p> +He looked his perplexity. +</p> + +<p> +"What," she exclaimed, "has she not laid her +claim before you yet?" +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee shook his head. +</p> + +<p> +"Know, then, that this pretty nameless creature +claims to be the wife of this same Philadelphus." +</p> + +<p> +He sat up in his earnestness. +</p> + +<p> +"What!" he cried. +</p> + +<p> +"Even so! Insists upon it in the face of the lady +princess' proofs and Philadelphus' denial!" +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee's brows dropped while he gazed +down at the Greek. +</p> + +<p> +Julian of Ephesus was then the husband that she +was to join in Jerusalem! Small wonder she had +been indignant when he, the Maccabee, in the spirit +of mischief, had laid a wife to Julian's door and had +described her as most unprepossessing. And that +was why her terror of Julian had been so abject! +That was why she had flown to him, a stranger, rather +than be left alone with a husband who, it seemed, +would be rid of her that he might pursue his ends the +better! +</p> + +<p> +"What think you of it!" he exclaimed aloud, but +to himself. +</p> + +<p> +"And I never saw in all my life such pretensions +of probity!" the Greek continued. "She is outraged +by any little word that questions her virtue; +she holds herself aloof from me as if she were not +certain that I am fit for her companionship; and she +flies with fluffed feathers and cries of rage in the face +of the least compliment that comes from any lips–even +Philadelphus!" +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee continued to gaze at the Greek. +He did not see the woman's search of his face for an +assent to her speech. He was struggling with a desire +to tell her that he was eager to exchange his wife +for Julian's. +</p> + +<p> +"Perchance she is right," he said instead. "What +know we of this paganized young Jew? He has +been separated from his lady from childhood. It is +right easy to marry, once we fall into the way." +</p> + +<p> +"No, no! Her claim is hopeless. She confesses +it. But she maintains the assumption, nevertheless." +</p> + +<p> +"Absolutely? No little sign of lapse among thy +handsome servants, here?" +</p> + +<p> +"I do not see her when she is with the servants," +she said astutely. +</p> + +<p> +"What will you do with her?" he asked. +</p> + +<p> +"She is beautiful, unique, and so eligible to my +collection of arts and artists under this roof. She +shall stay till fate shows its hand for all of us." +</p> + +<p> +"You have housed Discord under your roof, +then," he said. "Laodice, the wife to this Philadelphus, +will not be a happy woman; and I–I shall +not be a happy man. Let me return favor for your +favor to me. I will take her away." +</p> + +<p> +She laughed, though it seemed that a hard note +had entered her voice. +</p> + +<p> +"You will permit me, then, to surmise for myself +why you came to Jerusalem. You seem to have +known this girl before. I shall not ask you; in +return for that promise that I may conclude what I +will." +</p> + +<p> +"If you are too discerning, lady," he answered, +while his eyes sought down the corridor for a glimpse +of the one he had come to see, "you are dangerous." +</p> + +<p> +"And what then?" +</p> + +<p> +"I must devise a way to silence you." +</p> + +<p> +She lifted her brows. In that very speech was the +portrait of the Maccabee that she had come to love +through letters. +</p> + +<p> +"There is something familiar in your mood," she +said thoughtfully. "It seems that I have known +you–for many years." +</p> + +<p> +He made no answer. He had said all that he +wished to say to this woman. She noted his silence +and rose. +</p> + +<p> +"I shall send the girl to you." +</p> + +<p> +"Thou art good," he answered and she withdrew. +</p> + +<p> +A moment later Laodice came into the chamber. +She was not startled. In her innocent soul she did +not realize that this was a sign of the depth of her +love for him. He rose and met her half-way across +the hall; took her hand and held it while they walked +back to the exedra, and gazed at her face for evidence +that her sojourn in this house had been unhappy +or otherwise; noted that she had let down her +hair and braided it; observed every infinitesimal +change that can attract only the lover's eye. +</p> + +<p> +"Sit," he said, giving her a place beside him. "I +came of habit to see you. Of habit, I was interrupted. +Is there no way that I can talk to you without +the resentment of some one who flourishes a better +right to be with you than I can show?" +</p> + +<p> +"Where hast thou been," Laodice asked, "so +long?" +</p> + +<p> +"Was it long," he demanded impulsively, "to +you?" +</p> + +<p> +"New places, new faces, uncertainty and other +things make time seem long," she explained hastily. +</p> + +<p> +"Nay, then," he said, "I have been busy. I +have been attending to that labor I had in mind for +Judea, of which we spoke in the hills that morning." +</p> + +<p> +Laodice drew in a quick breath. Then some one, +if not herself or the husband who had denied her, +was at work for Judea. +</p> + +<p> +"There is no nation, here, for a king," he went +on. "It is a great horde that needs organization. +It wants a leader. I am ambitious and Judea will +be the prize to the ablest man. Seest thou mine +intent?" +</p> + +<p> +"You–you aspire–" she began and halted, +suddenly impressed with the complication his announcement +had effected. +</p> + +<p> +"Go on," he said. +</p> + +<p> +"You would take Judea?" +</p> + +<p> +"I would." +</p> + +<p> +"But it belongs of descent to the Maccabees!" +</p> + +<p> +"To Philadelphus Maccabaeus, yes; but what is he +doing?" +</p> + +<p> +She dropped her head. +</p> + +<p> +"Nothing," she said in a half-whisper. +</p> + +<p> +"No? But let me tell you what I have done already. +Three days ago Titus took revenge upon +Coenopolis for her sortie against Nicanor by firing +the suburbs. The citizens could not spare water to +fight the fire, and after futile attempts they gathered +up food and treasure and fled into Jerusalem. Now, +a thousand householders in the streets of this oppressed +city, with their gods and their goods in their +arms, made the pillagers of Simon and John laugh +aloud. They fell upon these wandering, bewildered, +treasure-laden people and robbed them as readily and +as joyously as a husbandman gathers olives in a +fat year. Oh, it was a merry time for the men of +Simon and the men of John! But I in my wanderings +over the city came upon a party of Bezethans, +reluctant to surrender their goods for the asking, +and they were fighting with right good will a body +of Idumeans twice their number. In fact they +fought so well, so unanimously, so silently that I saw +they lacked the essential part of the fight–the +shouting. That I supplied. And when they had +whipped the Idumeans and had a chance for flight +before reinforcements came, they obeyed my voice +in so far as they followed me into a subterranean +chamber beneath a burned ruin on Zion. +</p> + +<p> +"We were not followed and our hiding-place was +not discovered. In fact, their resistance was a complete +success. Whereupon, they were ready to unite +and take Jerusalem! No–it was not strange! It +is the nature of men. I never saw a wine-merchant +in Ephesus, who, after clearing his shop of brawlers +single-handed, was not ready thereupon to march +upon Rome and besiege Cęsar on the Palatine! So +it was with these Bezethans. +</p> + +<p> +"I, with my voice, expressed the yearnings that +they felt in their victorious breasts, and plotted for +them. After council and organization we went forth +by night and finding Idumean patrols by the score +sleepy and inert from overfeeding we robbed them of +that which was our own. Then we sought out hungry +Bezethans and fed them when they promised to +become of our party. Nothing was more simple! By +dawn we had a hundred under our ruin, bound to us +by oath and the enticements of our larder, and hungry +only for fight! Will you believe me when I +boast that I have an army in Jerusalem?" +</p> + +<p> +She heard him with a strange confusion of emotions. +In her soul she was excited and eager for his +success; but here was a strong and growing enemy to +Philadelphus, who was reluctant to become a king! +Her impulsive joy in a forceful man struggled with +her sense of duty to the man she could not love. +</p> + +<p> +"Why do you tell me these things?" she said uneasily. +"It is perilous for any one to know that +you are constructing sedition against these ferocious +powers in Jerusalem." +</p> + +<p> +"Ah, but you fear for me; therefore you will +not betray me. None else but those as deeply committed +know of it." +</p> + +<p> +He had confided in her, and because of it his ambitions +took stealthy hold upon her. +</p> + +<p> +"But–but is there no other way to take Jerusalem, +except–by predatory warfare?" she hesitated. +</p> + +<p> +"No," he laughed. "We are fighting thieves +and murderers; they do not understand the open +field; we must go into the dark to find them." +</p> + +<p> +"Then–then if your soldiers have the good of +the city and the love of their fellows in their hearts, +and if you feed them and shelter them–why shall +you not succeed?" she asked, speaking slowly as the +sum of his advantages occurred to her. +</p> + +<p> +He dropped his hand on hers. +</p> + +<p> +"It lacks one thing; if I have discouragement in +my soul, it will weaken my arm, and so the arm of +all my army." +</p> + +<p> +Intuition bade her hesitate to ask for that essential +thing; his eyes named it to her and she looked away +from him quickly that he might not see the sudden +flush which she could not repress. +</p> + +<p> +"Tell me," she said, "more of that night–" +</p> + +<p> +"That would be recounting the same incident +many times. But one thing unusual happened; nay, +two things. In the middle of the night, after we +had brought in our second enlistment of patriots, we +were feeding them and I was giving them instruction. +At the entrance, I had posted a sentry; none of us +believed that any one had seen us take refuge in that +crypt. Indeed, we were all frank in our congratulations +and defiant in our security. Suddenly, I saw +half of my army scuttle to cover; the rest stood +transfixed in their tracks. I looked up and there before +me in the firelight stood a young man, whom +I had not, I am convinced, brought in with me. He +was tall, comely, dressed as I have seen the Hindu +priests dress in Ephesus, but in garments that were +fairly radiant for whiteness. But his face gave cause +enough to make any man lose his tongue. Believe +me, when I say he looked as if he had seen angels, +and had talked with the dead. His eyes gazed +through us as if we had been thin air. So dreadful +they were in their unseeing look that every man asked +himself what would happen if that gaze should light +upon him. He stood a moment, walked as soft-footed +and as swiftly as some shade through our +burrow and vanished as he had come. In all the time +he tarried, he made not one sound!" +</p> + +<p> +Laodice was looking at him with awed, but understanding +eyes. +</p> + +<p> +"It was Seraiah," she said in a low voice. "He +entered this place on a day last week. All the city +is afraid of him." +</p> + +<p> +"So my soldiers told me afterward, between chattering +teeth. He almost damped our patriotism. +We uttered our bombast, sealed our vows and made +our sorties, thereafter, every man of us, with our +chins over our shoulders! Spare me Seraiah! He +has too much influence!" +</p> + +<p> +"Is he a madman?" she asked. +</p> + +<p> +"Or else a supernatural man. Would I could +manage men by the fall of my foot, as he does. I +should have Jerusalem's fealty by to-morrow night. +But it was near early morning that the other incident +occurred. That was of another nature. We +stumbled upon a pair huddled in the shadow of a +building. We stumbled upon many figures in shadows, +but one of these murmured a name that I heard +once in the hills hereabout, and I had profited by +that name, so I halted. It was an old man, starved +and weary and ill; with him was a gray ghost of a +creature with long white hair, that seemed to be +struck with terror the instant it heard my voice. At +first I thought it was a withered old woman, but it +proved to be a man–somehow seeming young in +spite of the snow-white hair and wasted frame. I +had them taken up, the gray ghost resisting mightily, +and carried to my burrow where they now lie. They +eat; they take up space; they add nothing to my +cause. But I can not turn them out. The old man +disarms me by that name." +</p> + +<p> +He looked down at her with softening eyes. +</p> + +<p> +"And the shepherd held thy hand?" he said softly. +She turned upon him in astonishment. How much +of joy and surprise and hope he could bring in a +single visit, she thought. Now, behold he had met +that same delightsome child that had passed like a +dash of sunlight across her dark day. +</p> + +<p> +"Did you meet the shepherd of Pella?" she asked. +Instant deduction supplied her the name that had +moved him to compassion. "And did he serve you +in the name of his Prophet?" she whispered. +</p> + +<p> +"He saved my life in the name of his Christ, but +was tender of me in thy name," he replied. +</p> + +<p> +"His is a sweet apostasy," she ventured bravely, +"if it be his apostasy that made him kind. And +I–I owe him much, that he repaired that for which +I feel at fault." +</p> + +<p> +He smiled at her and stroked her hand once, soothingly. +</p> + +<p> +"Let us not remember blames or injury. It damages +my happiness. But of this apostasy that the +shepherd preached me. I passed the stones of the +Palace of Antipas to-day, a ruin, black and shapeless. +Thought I, where is the majesty of order and the +beauty of strength that was this place? And then," +his voice fell to a whisper, "beshrew the boy's tattle, +I said, the footprints of his Prophet before the throne +of Herod are erased." +</p> + +<p> +"Even then," she whispered when he paused, "you +do not forget!" +</p> + +<p> +"No! Why, these streets, that should ring for +me with the footsteps of all the great from the days +of David, are marked by the passage of that Prophet. +I might forget that Felix and Florus and Gessius +were legates in that Roman residence, but I do not +fail to remember that they took that Prophet before +Pilate there. By my soul, the street that leads north +hath become the way of the Cross, and there are three +crosses for me on the Hill of the Skull!" +</p> + +<p> +She looked at him gravely and with alarm. What +was it in this history of the Nazarene which won aristocrats +and shepherds alike? She would see from +this man if there were indeed any truth in the story +that Philadelphus had told her. +</p> + +<p> +"I have heard," she began, faltering, "I have +heard that–" She stopped. Her tongue would +not shape the story. But after a glance at her, he +understood. +</p> + +<p> +"And thou hast heard it, also?" he whispered. +"Thou believest it?" +</p> + +<p> +It seemed that to acknowledge her fear that the +King had come and gone would establish the fact. +</p> + +<p> +"No!" she cried. +</p> + +<p> +"It is enough," he said nervously. "We do not +well to talk of it. I came for another reason. Tell +me; hast thou other shelter than this house?" +</p> + +<p> +"No," she answered. +</p> + +<p> +"Hast thou talked with this Philadelphus, here?" +he asked after silence. +</p> + +<p> +She assented with averted face. +</p> + +<p> +"Is he that one who was with me in the hills?" +he persisted. +</p> + +<p> +Again she assented, with surprise. +</p> + +<p> +His hands clenched and for a moment he struggled +with his rage. +</p> + +<p> +"This house is no place for you!" he declared at +last. +</p> + +<p> +"What manner of house is this?" she asked pathetically. +"It is so strange!" +</p> + +<p> +"Why did you come here?" +</p> + +<p> +"Because there was nowhere else to go." +</p> + +<p> +He was silent. +</p> + +<p> +"Who is this Amaryllis?" she asked. +</p> + +<p> +"John's mistress." +</p> + +<p> +She shrank away from him and looked at him +with horror-stricken eyes. +</p> + +<p> +"Hast thou not yet seen him, who buys thy bread +and meat and insures this safe roof?" he persisted. +</p> + +<p> +"And–and I eat bread–bought–bought +by–" she stammered. +</p> + +<p> +"Even so!" +</p> + +<p> +Her hands dropped at her sides. +</p> + +<p> +"Are the good all dead?" she said. +</p> + +<p> +"In Jerusalem, yes; for Virtue gets hungry, at +times." +</p> + +<p> +She had risen and moved away from him, but he +followed her with interested eyes. +</p> + +<p> +"Then–then–" she began, hesitating under a +rush of convictions. "That is why–why I can +not–why he–he–" +</p> + +<p> +He knew she spoke of Philadelphus. +</p> + +<p> +"Go on," he said. +</p> + +<p> +"Why I can not live in safety near him!" +</p> + +<p> +He, too, arose. Until that moment it had not occurred +to him that Julian of Ephesus, as repugnant +to her as she had shown him ever to be, might prove +a peril to her life as he had been to the Maccabee who +had stood in his way. +</p> + +<p> +"What has he said to you?" he demanded +fiercely. "How do you live, here in this house?" +</p> + +<p> +She threw up her head, seeing another meaning in +his question. +</p> + +<p> +"Shut in! Locked!" she said between her teeth. +</p> + +<p> +"But even then you are not safe!" +</p> + +<p> +She drew back hastily and looked at him with +alarm. What did he mean? +</p> + +<p> +He was beside her. +</p> + +<p> +"Tell me, in truth, who you are," he said +tenderly, "and I shall reveal myself." +</p> + +<p> +Then, indeed, Amaryllis had told him her claim +and had convinced him that it was fraudulent. +</p> + +<p> +"And she told you?" she said wearily. +</p> + +<p> +"Tell me," he insisted. "I have truly a revelation +worth hearing!" +</p> + +<p> +She made no answer. +</p> + +<p> +"You owe it me," he added presently. "Behold +what damaging things I have intrusted to you. +You can ruin me by the droop of an eyelash." +</p> + +<p> +"I should have told you at first who I am," she +said finally. "I will not betray what you told me +in ignorance–" +</p> + +<p> +"But Amaryllis told me this before you came." +</p> + +<p> +"Nevertheless, tell me no more; if I must be a +partizan, I shall be a partizan to my husband." +</p> + +<p> +"There is nothing for you here, clinging to this +man," he continued persuasively. "This woman +brought him a great dowry. She is ambitious and +therefore jealous. You will win nothing but mistreatment, +and worse, if you stay here for him." +</p> + +<p> +"It is my place," she said. +</p> + +<p> +After a moment's helpless silence, he demanded +bitterly: +</p> + +<p> +"Dost thou love that man?" +</p> + +<p> +The truth leaped to her lips with such wilful +force that he read the reply on her face, though her +eyes were down and by intense resolution she restrained +the denial. He was close to her, speaking +quickly under the pressure of his earnestness. +</p> + +<p> +"I have sacrificed name, birthright, fortune–even +honor–that I might be free to love thee!" +</p> + +<p> +She drew back from him hurriedly, afraid that +his very insistence would destroy her fortitude. +</p> + +<p> +"Let me not have bankrupted myself for a trust +thou wilt not give!" +</p> + +<p> +"It–it is not mine to give," she stammered. +</p> + +<p> +"Otherwise–otherwise–" he prompted, leaning +near her. But she put him back from her, desperately. +</p> + +<p> +"Go, go!" she whispered. "I hear–I hear +Philadelphus!" +</p> + +<p> +He turned from her obediently. +</p> + +<p> +"It is not my last hope," he said to himself. +"Neither has she suffered her last perplexity in this +house. I shall come again." +</p> + +<p> +He passed out into the streets of Jerusalem. +</p> + + + + + +<h2 id="ch16">Chapter XVI</h2> + +<h2>THE SPREAD NET</h2> + + +<p> +Beginning with the moment that the Maccabee first +entered her hall, Amaryllis struggled with a perplexity. +Certain discrepancies in the hastily concocted +story which that stern compelling stranger +who had called himself Hesper of Ephesus had told +had started into life a doubt so feeble that it was +little more than a sensation. +</p> + +<p> +Love and its signs had been a lifelong study to +her; she knew its stubbornness; she was wise in the +judgment of human nature to know that love in this +stranger was no light thing to be dislodged. And +to finish the sum of her perplexities, she felt in her +own heart the kindling of a sorrowful longing to be +preferred by a spirit strong, forceful and magnetic +as was that of the man who had called himself Hesper +of Ephesus. +</p> + +<p> +With the egotism of the courtezan she summarized +her charms. Even there were spirits in that fleshly +land of Judea to whom the delicate refinement of her +beauty, the reserve of her bearing and the power of +her mentality had appealed more strongly than a +mere opulence of physical attraction. She had her +ambitions; not the least of these was to be loved by +an understanding nature. The greater the congeniality, +the greater the attraction, she argued; but +behold, was this iron Hesper, the man of all force, +to be dashed and shaken by the rich loveliness of +Laodice, who was simply a woman? +</p> + +<p> +"Such attachments do not last," she argued hopefully. +"Such attachments make unfaithful husbands. +They are monotonous and wearisome. She +is but a mirror giving back the blaze of the sun, one-surfaced +and blinding. It is the many lights of the +diamond that make it charming." +</p> + +<p> +She had arrived at no definite resolution when she +met Laodice in the hall that led to the quarters of +the artists, as the Greek went that way for her +day's observation of their work. +</p> + +<p> +"What an unrefreshed face!" the Greek said +softly, as the light from the cancelli showed the weariness +and distress that had begun to make inroads +on the animation of the girl's beauty. "No woman +who would preserve her loveliness should let her cares +trouble her dreams." +</p> + +<p> +"How am I to do that?" Laodice asked with a +flare of scorn. +</p> + +<p> +"Do I perceive in that a desire for advice or an +explanation of a situation?" +</p> + +<p> +"Both." +</p> + +<p> +Amaryllis smiled thoughtfully at the girl, while +the light of sudden intent appeared on her face. +</p> + +<p> +"You are unhappy, my dear, through your prejudices," +she began. "We call convictions prejudices +when they are other than our own beliefs. By that +sign, you shall know that I am going to take issue +with you. I am, perhaps, the ideal of that which +you would not be. But no man will say that my lot +is not enviable." +</p> + +<p> +"Are you happy?" Laodice asked in a low voice. +</p> + +<p> +"Are you?" the Greek returned. "No," she +went on after a pause. "A woman has the less +happy part in life, though the greater one, if she will +permit herself to make it great. It was not her purpose +on earth to be happy, but to make happy." +</p> + +<p> +"You take issue with Philadelphus in that," Laodice +interposed. "It is his preachment to me that all +that is expected of all mankind is to be happy." +</p> + +<p> +"He is a man, arguing from the man's view. It +is inevitable law that one must be gladder than +another. Woman has the greater capacity for suffering, +hence her feeling for the suffering of others is +the quicker to respond. And some creature of the +gods must be compassionate, else creation long since +had perished from the earth." +</p> + +<p> +Laodice made no answer. This was new philosophy +to her, who had been taught only to aspire at +great sacrifice as long as God gave her strength. +She could not know that this strange and purposeful +creed might some day appeal to her beyond her +strength. +</p> + +<p> +"Yet," Amaryllis added presently in a brighter +tone, "there is much that is sweet in the life of a +woman." +</p> + +<p> +Laodice played with the tassels of her girdle and +did not look up. What was all this to lead to? +</p> + +<p> +"I have spoken to Philadelphus about you," the +Greek continued. "He has no doubt of this woman +who hath established her claim to his name by proofs +but without the manner of the wife he expected. +Yet he can not turn her out. The siege hath put +an end to your efforts in your own behalf and it is +time to face your condition and make the best of it. +John feels restive; I dare not ask too much of him. +My household was already full, before you came." +</p> + +<p> +Laodice was looking at her, now with enlightenment +in her face. +</p> + +<p> +"Philadelphus," Amaryllis continued, following +up her advantage, "is nothing more than a man and +you are very lovely." +</p> + +<p> +"All this," Laodice said, rousing, "is to persuade +me to–" +</p> + +<p> +"There are two standards for women," the Greek +interposed before Laodice finished her indignant sentence. +"Yours and another's. As between yours, +who would have love from him whom you have married, +and hers, who hath love from him whom she +hath not married, there is only the difference of a +formula. Between her condition and yours, she is +the freer; between her soul and yours, she is the more +willingly faithful. If woman be born to a purpose, +she fulfils it; if not she hath not consecrated her life +to a mistake. You overrate the importance of marriage. +It is your whole purpose to preserve yourself +for a ceremony. It is too much pains for too trivial +an end. At least, there are many things which are +farther reaching and less selfish in intent. And who, +by the way, holds the longest claim on history? +Your kind or this other? The world does not perpetuate +in its chronicles the continence of women; it is +too small, too personal, too common to be noted. +Cleopatra were lost among the horde of forgotten +sovereigns, had she wedded duly and scorned Mark +Antony; Aspasia would have been buried in a gynaeconitis +had she wedded Pericles, and Sappho–but +the list is too long; I will not bury you in testimony." +</p> + +<p> +Laodice raised her head. +</p> + +<p> +"You reason well," she said. "It never occurred +to me how wickedness could justify itself by reason. +But I observe now how serviceable a thing it is. It +seems that you can reason away any truth, any fact, +any ideal. Perhaps you can banish God by reason, +or defend crime by reason; reason, I shall not be surprised +to learn, can make all things possible or impossible. +But–does reason hush that strange +speaking voice in you, which we Jews call conscience? +Tell me; have you reasoned till it ceases to rebuke +you?" +</p> + +<p> +"Ah, how hard you are to accommodate," Amaryllis +smiled. "I mean to show you how you can +abide here. I can ask no more of John. Philadelphus +alone is master of your fate. I have not sought +to change you before I sought to change Philadelphus. +He will not change so long as you are beautiful. +This is life, my dear. You may as well prepare +for it now." +</p> + +<p> +Laodice gazed with wide, terrorized eyes at the +Greek. She saw force gathering against her. Amaryllis +shaped her device to its end. +</p> + +<p> +"And if you do not accept this shelter," she concluded, +"what else is there for you?" +</p> + +<p> +Hesper, many times her refuge, rose before the +hard-pressed girl. +</p> + +<p> +"There is another in Jerusalem who will help me," +she declared. +</p> + +<p> +"And that one?" Amaryllis asked coolly. +</p> + +<p> +"Is he who calls himself Hesper, the Ephesian," +Laodice answered. +</p> + +<p> +"Why should you trust him?" the Greek asked +pointedly. +</p> + +<p> +"He–when Philadelphus–you remember that +Philadelphus told you what happened–" +</p> + +<p> +"That he tossed a coin with a wayfarer in the +hills for you?" the Greek asked. +</p> + +<p> +Laodice dropped her head painfully. +</p> + +<p> +"This Hesper let me go then, and afterward–" +</p> + +<p> +"He has repented of that by this time. It is not +safe to try him a second time. Besides, if you must +risk yourself to the protection of men, why turn +from him whom you call your husband for this +stranger?" +</p> + +<p> +The question was deft and telling. Laodice started +with the suddenness of the accusation embodied in it. +And while she stood, wrestling with the intolerable +alternative, the Greek smiled at her and went her way. +</p> + +<p> +Laodice stood where Amaryllis had left her, at +times motionless with helplessness, at others struck +with panic. On no occasion did homelessness in the +war-ridden city of Jerusalem appear half so terrible +as shelter under the roof of that hateful house. +</p> + +<p> +The little golden-haired girl from the chamber of +artists beyond skipped by her. +</p> + +<p> +"Hast seen Demetrius?" she called back as she +passed. "Demetrius, the athlete, stupid!" +</p> + +<p> +Laodice turned away from her. +</p> + +<p> +"Nay, then," the girl declared; "if I have insulted +you let me heal over the wound with the best jest, +yet! John hath written a sonnet on Philadelphus' +wife and our Lady Amaryllis is truing his meter for +him. Ha! Gods! What a place this is for a child +to be brought up! I would not give a denarius for +my morals when I am grown. There's Demetrius! +Now for a laugh!" +</p> + +<p> +She was gone. +</p> + +<p> +Where was that ancient rigor of atmosphere in +which she had been reared? thought Laodice. Had it +existed only in the shut house of Costobarus? Was +all the world wicked except that which was confined +within the four walls of her father's house? Could +she survive long in this unanimously bad environment? +But she remembered Joseph of Pella, the +shepherd; even then his wholesomeness was not without +its canker. He was a Christian! +</p> + +<p> +Philadelphus was at her side. +</p> + +<p> +She flinched from him and would have fled, but he +stopped her with a sign. +</p> + +<p> +"My lady objects to your presence in this house," +he said. "You have not made it worth my while to +insist on your shelter here." +</p> + +<p> +"Your lady," she said hotly, "is two-fold evilly +engaged, then. She has time to ruin you, while +she furnishes John with all the inspiration he would +have for sonnets." +</p> + +<p> +"So she refrains from furnishing John with my +two hundred talents, I shall not quarrel with her. +You have your own difficulties to adjust, and mine, +only in so far as they concern you." +</p> + +<p> +His voice had lost none of its smoothness, but it +had become hard and purposeful. +</p> + +<p> +"I have come to that point, Philadelphus, where +my difficulties and not yours concern me," she replied. +"I had nothing to give you but my good +will. You have outraged even that. Hereafter, no +tie binds us." +</p> + +<p> +"No? You cast off our ties as lightly as you assumed +them. With a word you announce me wedded +to you; with another you speak our divorcement. +And I, poor clod, suffer it? The first, yes; but the +last, no. You see, I have fallen in love with you." +</p> + +<p> +She turned her clear eyes away from him and +waited calmly till she could escape. +</p> + +<p> +"You have spent your greatest argument in persuading +me to be a king. Kings, lady, are essentially +tyrants, in these bad days. Wherefore, if I +am to be one, I shall not fail to be the other. And +you–ah, you! Will you endure the oppressor that +you made?" +</p> + +<p> +There was enough that was different in his manner +and his words for her to believe that something +worthy of attention was to follow. She looked at +him, now. +</p> + +<p> +"This roof, since the alienation of John to my +wife, is mine empire. Within it, I am despot. +From its lady mistress, the Greek, to the meanest +slave, I have homage and subjection. Even thou wilt +be submissive to me–for having lost one wife +through indulgence, I shall be most tyrannical to the +one yet in my power!" +</p> + +<p> +She drew herself up in splendid defiance. +</p> + +<p> +"I have not submitted!" she said. "I will not +submit!" +</p> + +<p> +"No? Nothing stands in your way now but +yourself. Your supplanter hath removed herself. +And I shall make your submission easy." +</p> + +<p> +She turned from him and would have hurried back +into the Greek's andronitis, but he put himself in her +way. +</p> + +<p> +"Listen!" he said, suddenly lifting his hand. +</p> + +<p> +In the stillness which she finally was able to observe +over the tumultuous beating of her enraged +heart, a profound moan of great volume as from immense +but remote struggle came into the corridor. +Through it at times cut a sharp accession of sound, as +if violence heightened at intervals, and steadily over +it pulsated the throb of tireless siege-engines. It +was the groan of the City of Delight in mortal anguish. +</p> + +<p> +"This," he said in a soft voice touching his breast, +"or that," motioning toward the dying city. +"Choose. And by midnight!" +</p> + +<p> +While she stood, gazing at him transfixed with the +horror of her predicament, there was the sweeping of +garments, the soft tinkle of pendants as they struck +together, and Salome, the actress, was beside the pair. +Close at hand was Amaryllis. The Greek showed +for the first time discomfiture and an inability to rise +to the demand of the occasion. The glance she shot +at Laodice was full of cold anger that she had permitted +herself to be surprised in company with Philadelphus. +</p> + +<p> +Philadelphus drew back a step, but made no further +movement toward withdrawing. Laodice would have +retreated, but the actress stood in her way. With +a motion full of stately indignation, Salome turned to +Amaryllis. +</p> + +<p> +"It so occurs, madam, that I can point out to you +the disease which saps my husband's ambition. You +observe that he is diverted now, as all men are diverted +six weeks after marriage–by another woman. I +am not a jealous woman. I am only concerned for +his welfare and the welfare of the city of our fathers. +For it is not himself that his luxurious indolence +affects; but all the unhappy city which is suffering +while he is able to help it. He must be saved. And +I shall go with him out of this house into want and +peril, but he shall be saved." +</p> + +<p> +Laodice said nothing. She stood drawn up intensely; +her brows knitted; her teeth on her lip; her +insulted pride and growing resolution effecting a certain +magnificence in her pose. +</p> + +<p> +"I can find her another house," Amaryllis said. +</p> + +<p> +"Also my husband can find it," the woman broke +in. "Let the streets do their will with the woman of +the streets. Bread and shelter are too precious to +waste on the iniquitous this hour." +</p> + +<p> +Amaryllis turned to Laodice. +</p> + +<p> +"What wilt thou do?" she asked. +</p> + +<p> +"The streets can offer me no more insult than is +offered me in this house," she said slowly. +</p> + +<p> +It was in her mind that there were certainly unprotected +gates at which she could get out of the city and +return to Ascalon. +</p> + +<p> +At least the peril for her in this house was already +too imminent for her to remain longer. She continued +to Amaryllis: +</p> + +<p> +"Lady, you have been kind to me–in your way. +You have been so in the face of your doubt that I +am what I claim to be. How happy, then, you would +have made my lot had I not been supplanted and +denied! For all this I thank you. Mine would be a +poor gratitude if I stay to make you regret your +generosity. Wherefore I will go." +</p> + +<p> +She slipped past the three and entered her room. +Before Amaryllis could gather resolution to protest, +she was out again, clothed in mantle and vitta and, +walking swiftly, disappeared into the vestibule. As +they sat in the darkening hall, the three heard the +doors close behind her. +</p> + +<p> +"She will return," said Philadelphus coolly, moving +away. +</p> + +<p> +Gathering her robes about her, Salome swept out of +the corridor and away. Amaryllis stood alone. +</p> + +<p> +Somewhere out in the city was Hesper the Ephesian. +Amaryllis knew that Laodice would not return. +</p> + + + + + +<h2 id="ch17">Chapter XVII</h2> + +<h2>THE TANGLED WEB</h2> + + +<p> +Meanwhile Jerusalem was in the fury of barbarous +warfare. At this ravine and that debouching upon +Golgotha, the Vale of Hinnom and the Valley of +Tophet, whole legions of besiegers were stationed. +Along the walls the men of Simon and the men of +John tramped in armor. From the various gates +furious sorties were made by swarms of unorganized +Jews who fell upon the Romans unused to frantic +warfare, and slaughtered, set fire to engines, destroyed +banks and threw down fortifications and retreated +within the gates before the demoralized Romans could +rally. +</p> + +<p> +Catapult and ballista upon the eminences outside +the walls kept up an unceasing rain of enormous +stones which whistled and screamed in the air and +shook Jerusalem to its foundations. The reverberating +boom and the tremor of earth were varied from +time to time by the splintering crash of houses crushing +and the increase of uproar, as scores of luckless +inhabitants went down under the falling rock. Giant +cranes with huge, ludicrous awkward arms, heaved up +pots of burning pitch and oil and flung them ponderously +into the city to do whatever horror of fire and +torture had not been done by the engines. Hourly +the rattle of small stones increased, merely to attract +the attention of the citizens to an activity to which +they were so accustomed that it was almost unnoticed. +At times citizens and soldiers rushed upon a threatened +gate or segment of the wall and lent strength to +keep the Romans out; at other times the defenses were +forsaken while the besieged fell upon one another. +Back from the broad summit of Olivet, which was +the mountain of peace, the echoes gave all day long +the shudder of the struggling city. +</p> + +<p> +The sun daily grew more heated; the cisterns and +pools within the city began to shrink so rapidly that +the inhabitants feared that the enemy had come at +the source of the waters of Jerusalem and had cut +them off. Hundreds of the wounded were allowed +to die, simply as a defense of the wells and store-houses. +Burial became too gigantic a labor, and John +and Simon ordered the bodies thrown over the walls to +prevent pestilence. +</p> + +<p> +Titus riding around the city on a day came upon +a heap of this outcast dead and turned suddenly +white. He rode back to his camp and within the hour +there approached the walls under a flag of truce an +imposing Jew of middle-age, with a superb beard and +a veritable mantle of rich black hair escaping from +his turban and falling heavy with life and strength +upon a pair of great shoulders. He was simply +dressed, but his stately carriage and splendid presence +made a kingly garment out of his white gown. +</p> + +<p> +Those upon the wall knew him and though they +were obliged to respect the banner under which he +approached, they gnashed their teeth and greeted +him with epithets, poisonous with hate. He was Flavius +Josephus, one time patriot and enemy of Rome, +but now secure under Titus' patronage, abettor of +his patron against his fellow-countrymen. +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee, among the fighting-men on the +wall, saw his approach and discreetly stepped behind +a soldier that he might not be singled out as a +familiar toward which the approaching mediator +would logically direct his appeal. He had no desire +to be addressed by his name before this precarious +mob already mad with rage at a turncoat. +</p> + +<p> +And thus concealed the Maccabee heard Josephus +appeal to the Jews with apparent sincerity and affection, +promise amnesty, protection and justice in his +patron's name; heard his overtures greeted with fury +and finally saw the Jews swarm over the walls and +drive him to fly for his life up Gareb to the camp of +Titus. +</p> + +<p> +It was not the first incident he had seen which +showed him his own fate if it became known that he +intended to treat with Rome. He put aside his calculations +in that direction as a detail not yet in order, +and turned to the organization of his army. Here +again he met obstacle. +</p> + +<p> +Among his council of Bezethans he found an enthusiasm +for some intangible purpose, objection to +his own plans and a certain hauteur that he could not +understand. +</p> + +<p> +"What is it you hope for, brethren?" he asked +one night as he stood in the gloom of the crypt under +the ruin with fifty of his ablest thinkers and soldiers +about him. +</p> + +<p> +"The days of Samuel before Israel cursed itself +with a king," one man declared. The others were +suddenly silent. +</p> + +<p> +"Those days will not come to you," he answered +patiently. "You must fight for them." +</p> + +<p> +"We will fight." +</p> + +<p> +"Good! Let us unite and I will lead you," the +Maccabee offered. +</p> + +<p> +"But after you have led us, perhaps to victory, +then what?" they asked pointedly. +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee saw that they were sounding him for +his ambitions, and discreetly effaced them. +</p> + +<p> +"Do with me what you will; or if you doubt me, +choose a leader among yourselves." +</p> + +<p> +They shook their heads. +</p> + +<p> +"Then enlist under Simon and John and fight +with them," he cried, losing patience. +</p> + +<p> +Murmurs and angry looks greeted this suggestion, +and the Maccabee put out his hands toward them +hopelessly. +</p> + +<p> +"Then what will you do?" he asked. +</p> + +<p> +"It shall be shown us," they replied; and with this +answer, with his organization yet uneffected, his plans +more than ever chaotic, the Maccabee began another +day. Shrewd and resourceful as he believed himself +to be, he beheld plan after plan reveal its inefficiency. +Forced by some act of the city to abandon one idea, +the next that followed found a new intractability. It +seemed that there were no two heads in Jerusalem +of a similar thought. Whoever was not demoralized +by panic was fatally stubborn or mad. The single +purpose that seemed to prevail was to hold out against +reason. +</p> + +<p> +Finally he determined to pick the most rational of +his men and shape an army that would be distinctly +Jewish and enviable. Nothing Roman should mar +its organization. He would have again the six hundred +Gibborim of David, and after he had formed +them into a body he would trust to the existing circumstances +to direct him how to proceed to the assistance +of Jerusalem with them. He should be the sole +captain, the sole authority, the single commander of +them all. He would not have an unwieldy army, but +one perfectly devoted. He would lead by his own +genius, attract and command by his own personality. +With six hundred absolutely subject to his will, +trained in endurance and steadfastness, he could +achieve more surely than with an undisciplined horde +which first of all must be fed. +</p> + +<p> +Throughout those days of predatory warfare he +made careful selection of material for his army. As +yet, while famine had not reduced Jerusalem to a +skeleton, he could select for bodily strength and +mental balance. He worked swiftly, sparing his +men daily to the defense of the city against the +Roman and daily sacrificing precious numbers of +them to the pit of the dead just over the wall. +</p> + +<p> +They were weary days–days of increasing storm +and multiplying calamity. Famine in some quarters +of the city reached appalling proportions. Insurrections +in these regions were so vigorously suppressed +that the victims chose to starve and live rather than +to revolt and perish. Pestilence broke out among the +inhabitants near the eastern wall, against the other +side of which the dead had been cast by hundreds; +and a general flight from the city was stopped in full +flood by the spectacle of some scores of unfortunates +crucified by the Roman soldiers and set up in sight +of the walls. +</p> + +<p> +Simon and John had a disastrous quarrel and during +the interval, when the sentries and the fighting-men +were killing each other, the Romans possessed +the first fortification around Jerusalem, the Wall of +Agrippa. The following day Titus pitched his camp +within the limits of the Holy City, upon the site of +Sennacherib's Assyrian bivouac. +</p> + +<p> +At sight of this signal advance, tumult broke out +afresh in the city and for days Titus lay calmly by, +merely harassing the Jews while he watched Jerusalem +weaken itself by internal combat. The Maccabee, +steadily training his picked Gibborim, saw these +lulls as signs that Titus was still in the hope that the +city would submit to occupation and spare him the +repugnant task of slaughtering half a nation. In +his soul he knew that at no time would Titus be +unwilling to receive the voluntary capitulation of the +city. +</p> + +<p> +So, composed and intent through struggle and terror, +he continued to prepare for the day when an +organized army could take the unhappy inhabitants +out of the bloody hands of the two factionists, Simon +and John. +</p> + +<p> +During one of the casual attacks on the Second +Wall, a lean, lash-scarred maniac that had not ceased +to cry night or day for seven years, "Woe unto +Jerusalem!" mounted the Old Second Wall, and there +pointed to his breast and added, "Woe unto me +also!" At that instant a great stone struck him +and tumbling with it to the ground, he was crushed +into the earth and left so buried for all time. +</p> + +<p> +With the hushing of that embodiment of doom, +silence fell upon the city and after that, panic; and +during that Titus heaved his four legions against the +Second Wall and took it. Simon was seized with +frenzy, and with a body of crazed Idumeans rushed +out upon the banks of the Romans and in one +hour's time overthrew the army's work of days and +so thoroughly set back the advance of the besieger +that Titus resolved that no more insane sorties should +be made from the gates. +</p> + +<p> +He retired to his camp and in a short time soldiers +appeared with tape, stakes, sledges and spades and +laid out an immense circle, all but compassing the +great city of Jerusalem. +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee saw all this. He stood on the wall +above the roar and frenzy and looked across bleached +stretches of sunny, rocky earth toward the orderly +ranks of soldiers, the simple business, the tranquil +speed of Rome making war, and understood that +peaceful despatch as deadly. +</p> + +<p> +He saw the young general ride down to this circle, +dismount and, catching a spade from the nearest +legionary, drive it into the earth. When he tossed +out the first clay, each of the men in the visible segment +of that great cordon struck his implement into +the ground. And even as the Maccabee watched, he +saw grow up under his eyes a wall! +</p> + +<p> +He understood. Titus was walling against a wall; +turning upon the Jews that same thing which they +had reared against him. As the Maccabee stood +gazing transfixed at this grim work, he heard beside +him an old voice say, with terrible conviction: +</p> + +<p> +"<i>O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the +prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, +how often would I have gathered thy children together, +even as a hen gathereth her chickens under +her wings, and ye would not!... For the days +shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a +trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep +thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the +ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall +not leave in thee one stone upon another; because +thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.</i>" +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee, shaken with the culmination of +Rome's resolution and afraid in spite of himself, +whirled angrily upon that voice speaking doom at +his side. There in the old ragged tunic bound about +him with rope, stood the old man he had rescued and +had sheltered persistently for many days. +</p> + +<p> +The old man faced the young man's rage with +supernatural composure and strength. With clenched +hands, the Maccabee stood away from him and felt +that he threatened with his fists a hoary citadel that +armies had beaten themselves against in vain. +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee did not speak to his old pensioner. +He felt the futility of words against this thing which +seemed to be a revelation, denying absolutely all of +his ambitions. He dropped from his position and, +pushing his way through the distress upon the city, +turned toward the house of Amaryllis. It was a +climacteric hour, when men should look well to the +protection of all that was near and dear to them. +</p> + +<p> +When he was gone a strange, bent figure with long +white hair and a gray distorted face came from the +shadow of one of the towers and plucked the old +Christian's tunic. The Christian turned and seeing +who stood beside him said with intense surety in his +tones: +</p> + +<p> +"It is proven. Accept the Lord Jesus while it is +time, my son, for behold the hour of the last day of +this city is fulfilled!" +</p> + +<p> +The apparition lifted a palsied hand on which the +skin was yet fair and young and pointed after the +Maccabee, losing himself in the groaning mass in the +city. +</p> + +<p> +"If I believe, I must tell him!" he said. +</p> + +<p> +"Whatever thou hast done against that man must +be amended," the Christian declared. +</p> + +<p> +The palsied figure shrank and wringing his hands +about each other said in a whisper that sounded like +wind among dried leaves: +</p> + +<p> +"I, who saw the candor of perfect trust in his +eyes, once, I can not behold their reproach–I, who +love him, and sold him–for a handful of gold!" +</p> + +<p> +The old Christian laid his hand on the other's arm. +</p> + +<p> +"Another Judas?" he said. The apparition made +no answer. +</p> + +<p> +"Nay, then; tell it me," the Christian urged. But +the other shrank away from him, while distrust collected +in his eyes. +</p> + +<p> +"I fear thee; the evil man fears the good one, even +more than the good man fears the evil one. I will +not tell thee." +</p> + +<p> +"But thou hast thy bread from this Hesper; thou +hast thy shelter from him. He will not injure thee." +</p> + +<p> +"Injure me! Not with his hands, perhaps. But +he would look at me, he would kill me with his eyes! +Thou canst not dream what evil I have done him!" +</p> + +<p> +The old Christian looked at him for a time, but +with the hopefulness of the spiritually confident. +</p> + +<p> +"Christ spare thee, till thou hast the strength to +do right!" he exclaimed. But the palsied man covered +his face with his hands and groaned. The old +Christian took him by the arm and led him down from +the wall and back to the cavern under the ruins. +</p> + +<p> +"In thy good time, O Lord," he said to himself, +beginning with that incident a ministry that should +not end. +</p> + +<p> +It was dark when the Maccabee came down into +the ravine in which the Greek's house was builded. +In the shadow the house cast before it he saw some +one pass the sentry lines. The soldiers looked after +that figure. Presently, emerging into the lesser darkness +of the open streets, it proved to be a woman. +The Maccabee stopped. By the movements, now hurried, +now slow, he believed that the night was full of +apprehension for this unknown faring into the disordered +city. She was coming in his direction. He +stepped into shadow to see who would come forth +from shelter at such an hour. +</p> + +<p> +The next instant she hurried by his hiding-place +and the Maccabee saw with amazement that it was the +girl he loved. He sprang out to speak to her, but +the sound of his footsteps frightened her and she ran. +</p> + +<p> +The whole hilly foreground of Jerusalem was lifted +like a black and impending cloud over her, a-throb +with violence and strife. Here and there were lights +on the bosom of the looming blackness, but they only +emphasized the darkness pressing on the outskirts of +the radiance. Every area way and alley had its +sound. The air was full of footsteps; behind her a +voice called to her. She dashed by yawning darkness +that was an open alley, hurried toward lights, halted +precipitately at signals of danger and veered aside +at unexpected sounds. Once she stumbled upon the +body of a sleeper who had come down into the darkness +of the ravine to pass the night. At her suppressed +cry the Maccabee sprang forward, but she +caught herself and ran faster. +</p> + +<p> +He ceased then to attempt to stop her. Curiosity +to know what brought her out into danger at night +impelled him to follow near enough to protect her, +but unsuspected until she had revealed her mission +to him. +</p> + +<p> +A hungry dog, probably the last one to escape the +execution which had been meted out to all useless +consumers of food, barked at her heels and brought +her up sharply. +</p> + +<p> +The beast in his siege of her circled in the dark +around near enough to the Maccabee hidden in the +darkness for him to deliver a vindictive kick in the +staring ribs of the brute. When the howl of the +surprised dog faded up the black ravine, Laodice +ran on. The Maccabee, silently pursuing, heard with +a contracting heart that she was crying softly from +terror and bewilderment. Not yet, however, had she +approached the danger of Jerusalem, which John had +kept far removed from the precincts of Amaryllis' +house. +</p> + +<p> +She was entering Akra. The heap of grain, yet +burning, showed a dull black-red mound over which +towered a column of strong incense. Here, for the +night was cool, lay in circles many of the unhoused +Passover guests. Here, also, was wakefulness and +the hatchment of evil. +</p> + +<p> +The running girl was upon them before she knew +it. One of the figures that sat with its back to the +dull glow saw her approaching. Instantly he rose +upon one knee and snatched her dress as she ran. +</p> + +<p> +Jerked from her balance, she screamed and threw +out her hands to keep from falling upon the shoulders +of her assailant. One or two others with unintelligible +sounds struggled up, and as she fell, the Maccabee +leaped from the darkness, wrenched her from the +grasp of her captor, and warding off attack with +his knife, fled with her into the darkness. +</p> + +<p> +The transfer of control over her had been made so +swiftly that in her stupor of terror she hardly realized +it. She was struggling silently and strongly in +his hold, when he clasped her to him with a firmer +impulsive embrace and whispered to her: +</p> + +<p> +"Comfort thee, dear heart! It is I, Hesper!" +</p> + +<p> +She ceased to resist so suddenly and was so tensely +still that he knew the shock of immense reaction was +having its way with her. +</p> + +<p> +He knew without asking that she had been forced +to leave the shelter of the Greek's roof, and though +his rage threatened to rise up and blind him he was +not entirely unaware of the benefit the inhospitality +of others had given him. At last she was with him; +entirely in his care. +</p> + +<p> +It was a safe shelter into which she was brought, +but no luxurious one. There was light enough from +the single torch stuck in a crevice in the ancient rock +to show that it was habitable. The immense floor was +packed hard by the trampling of many feet; overhead, +lost in gloom, there must have been a rocky +roof, but it was invisible. On the ledges of rocks +were belongings by heaps and collections, showing that +this was an abiding-place for great numbers. In the +far shadows she distinguished long, silent, mummied +windrows of men wrapped in blankets, sleeping. +Huge gloomy piles of provisions filled up shadowy +corners; about under the light was the litter left in +the wake of human counsel; over all was the air of +repose and occupancy that made a home out of the +burrow. +</p> + +<p> +Though the place held a great number of refugees, +the footstep of the Maccabee wakened resounding +emptiness. At the threshold he slackened his step +and looked with pathetic anxiety at whatever light on +Laodice's face would show her opinion of her refuge. +But the uncertain torch revealed nothing and he led +her in and across to a solitary place where rugs from +some looted house had been folded up for a pallet +and spread about for carpets. She sat down and +awaited his speech. +</p> + +<p> +He motioned to the spacious barrenness about him. +</p> + +<p> +"Canst thou content thyself in this place?" he +asked, hesitating. +</p> + +<p> +She nodded, but feeling that her reply had not +shown all that words might, she lifted her face that +he might see therein that which she could not trust +her lips to say. +</p> + +<p> +It was her undoing. Her weakness overwhelmed +her and burying her face in the folds of her mantle, +she wept. +</p> + +<p> +After a dismayed silence, he bent over her and said +with a quiver of distress in his voice: +</p> + +<p> +"I–I have work, here, to do, but I shall take +thee out of the city for better refuge–" +</p> + +<p> +That she should seem to be grieving over the +nature of the shelter given her, stirred her deeply. +She half rose and with the light shining on her face, +filled with gratitude in spite of her tears, took his +hand in both of hers and pressed it with pathetic +insistence. +</p> + +<p> +He understood her. +</p> + +<p> +He laid a hand unsteady with its tremor of delight +and young eagerness upon the vitta and it slipped +off her hair. As it dropped, the subtle warm fragrance +of the heavy locks, now braided in maidenly +style, reached him; the liveliness of her relaxed young +figure communicated itself to him without his touch; +all the invitation of her helplessness swept him to the +very edge of abandoning his restraint. On his dark +face a transformation occurred. All the hardness, +even his years and his experience vanished from him +and a soft recovering flush faintly colored his cheeks. +In that sudden bloom of beauty in his face was +stamped a realization of the far progress of his +triumph. She was in his house and dependent on +him, within the very reach of his arms. +</p> + +<p> +When she looked up at him again, she read all this +in his face, and instantly there returned to her, with +warning intensity, the fear of her love of him. The +last obstacle but her own conscience that stood between +her and his perfect supremacy over her life had suddenly +been swept away. +</p> + +<p> +She started away from him, and put up her hands +to ward off his touch. +</p> + +<p> +"If you do that," she said in a tone sharp with +distress, "it is sin and I shall be cursed! I shall have +to go back to him!" +</p> + +<p> +Then she had voluntarily left Julian, perhaps to +seek him! +</p> + +<p> +"You shall not go back to him!" he exclaimed. +"After I have given up everything but my life to +have you for myself!" +</p> + +<p> +"You must not think of me in that way!" she +commanded him vehemently. "I am a married +woman! You shall remember that! If you forget +it, I will go out into the streets and ask the Idumeans +to kill me!" +</p> + +<p> +"Nay, peace, peace! I shall do you no harm! +You are frightened! I will do nothing that you +would not have me do! Be comforted. Not any one +in all the world has your happiness at heart so much +as I. Believe me!" +</p> + +<p> +"Believe <i>me</i>!" she insisted. "I am weary of +doubt and denial. I am only safe if you recognize +me as that which I claim to be. Answer me! You do +believe I am the wife of Philadelphus?" +</p> + +<p> +"I believed it, at once," he said frankly. +</p> + +<p> +"Then–then–" but she flung her hands over +her face and slipped down on the rugs. For a +moment he hesitated, restraining the impulse to break +over the limits she had laid down for him. +</p> + +<p> +Then he rose and, summoning one of the women +who had taken refuge in the crypt, sent her to remain +with the girl, and departed, shaken and uncertain, to +his own place. +</p> + + + + + +<h2 id="ch18">Chapter XVIII</h2> + +<h2>IN THE SUNLESS CRYPT</h2> + + +<p> +The twilight of the cavern rarely revealed enough +of the features of her fellows to Laodice for her to +identify them or for them to identify her. She lived +among them a dusky shadow among shadows. And +because of her fear that Philadelphus might be +searching for her, she stayed in the sunless crypt day +by day until the Maccabee, noting with affectionate +distress that she was growing white and weak, bade +her take one of the women and venture up to the +light. +</p> + +<p> +There were, besides the women, two men who took +no part in the preparation for war which went on +about them in the cavern day and night. While +weapons and armor were made and tramping ranks +formed and broke before the commands of the lithe +dark commander of that fortress and subdued but +fierce councils took place around torches–while all +this went on, they kept back, even apart from the +women, and said nothing. +</p> + +<p> +Laodice saw that they were physically unfit; that +one was very old and the other very feeble and her +heart warmed again to that stern master who saw +them fed as abundantly as his most valued men. +These, then, were those Christians whom he had taken +into his protection because of the Name which had +inspired a shepherd boy to save his life. +</p> + +<p> +When he commanded Laodice to go up into the +sunlight, he approached the corner in which the two +useless men hid and bade them, too, to go up into +the air. +</p> + +<p> +"Let us have no sickness in this place," he said +bluntly and turned on his heel and left them to obey. +</p> + +<p> +Laodice took one of the older women and timidly +climbing the steps from which the rubbish had been +pushed away by the climbing hundreds, went through +the dusk of the passage that terminated in a brilliancy +that dazzled her. And as she walked she +heard the footsteps of the two men behind her. +</p> + +<p> +Up in the chaos of fallen columns, she stood a +moment with her hands pressed over her eyes. +Only little by little was she able to permit the full +blaze of the Judean sun to reach them. The uproar +on Jerusalem after the muffled silence of the underground +cavern filled her with terror, and she pressed +close to the shelter of the entrance until the woman +at her side reassured her. +</p> + +<p> +"It is nothing," the woman said, with a dreary +patience. "It is as it was yesterday. I come here +every day. I know." +</p> + +<p> +After a while Laodice looked about her. The entrance +to their refuge was about the middle of the +ruin and therefore a great many paces back from the +streets, so that she did not see Jerusalem's agonies +face to face. But she saw enough to make her cold +and to turn her shivering and panic-stricken into the +darkness of the crypt below. +</p> + +<p> +She saw the ascending streets of Zion and the tall +fortifications mounting the heights within the city's +limits. There she saw the flash of swords, swung +afar off, spears brandished and the running hither +and thither of defenders on the wall. Below she saw +the remote constricted passages between rows of desolate +houses, moving with people, sounding with +clamor. There she saw combats, terrible scenes of +frenzy, deaths and unnamable horrors; starvelings +gnawing their nails; shadows of infants pressed to +hollow bosoms; old men too weak to walk that went +on hands and knees; young men and young women +in rags that failed to cover them, and wandering +skeletons screaming, "Woe!" +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile huge stones mounted over the walls and +fell within the city; three great towers planted beyond +the walls, out of range of the Jewish engines +and equipped with superior machines, were steadily +devastating the entire quarter near which they were +erected. Here two-thirds of the forces of Jerusalem +were concentrated in a vain effort to resist the dire +inroads of these effective engines. Here, the Maccabee +and his Gibborim stood shoulder to shoulder +with the Idumeans and fanatics of Simon and John, +and here the half-mad defenders awakened at last to +the fact that only divine interference could save the +city against Rome. +</p> + +<p> +In the south and the east conflagrations roared +and crackled, where burning oil had been scattered +over some remaining structures near the walls. When +a great ram began its thunder somewhere near the +Sheep Gate, there came a hollow booming noise of +deafening volume from the charnel pits outside the +walls and a black cloud of incredible depth soared up +into the skies. +</p> + +<p> +Laodice, dumb with horror, looked at the prodigy +without understanding, but the woman at her side +shuddered. +</p> + +<p> +"God help us!" she exclaimed. "They are vultures!" +</p> + +<p> +Laodice turned to rush back into the cavern and +so faced the two men who stood behind her. +</p> + +<p> +One, at sight of her, shrank with a gasp, and, +averting his shaggy head till the long white locks +covered his face, fled back into the crypt. +</p> + +<p> +The other was gazing with unseeing eyes across +groaning Jerusalem. +</p> + +<p> +"<i>I am the man</i>," he was saying aloud, but to himself, +"<i>that hath seen affliction by the rod of His +wrath.</i>" +</p> + +<p> +The sight of him had a paralyzing effect upon +Laodice. She saw, before her, Nathan, the Christian, +who had buried her father, who had blessed her, who +would know and could testify to a surety that she was +the wife of Philadelphus! +</p> + +<p> +She slipped by him without a sound and hurried +down into the darkest corner of the cavern. +</p> + +<p> +Circumstance had found her in her refuge and +would drive her away from this sweet home back to +that hateful house, to the man she did not love! +</p> + +<p> +For many days, with increasing distress, Laodice +avoided Nathan, the Christian. With that fascinated +terror which at times forces human creatures to examine +a peril, she felt irresistibly impelled to try his +memory of events, that she might know if indeed he +would recognize her. +</p> + +<p> +Though she turned cold and flashed white when he +came upon her one day in the darkness of their +shelter, she felt nevertheless the relief of approaching +a solution to her perplexity. +</p> + +<p> +"They tell me," he said with the deliberate speech +of the old, "that Titus is once more permitting citizens +to depart from Jerusalem unharmed." +</p> + +<p> +"Then," she said, grasping at this hope, "why +do you stay here in this peril?" +</p> + +<p> +"Why should I leave it? Even with the singers +who wept by the waters of Babylon, I prefer Jerusalem +above my chief joy. Except for the time when +we of the Way were warned to depart, I have been +in Jerusalem all my life. Then, though I had gone +as far as Cęsarea on my way to Antioch to join the +brethren there, homesickness overtook me and I +turned in my tracks, saying no man farewell, and +came back." +</p> + +<p> +"A weary journey for one so old," she said gently. +</p> + +<p> +Would he remember also that it had been dangerous? +</p> + +<p> +"Nay, but a journey full of works and reward. +And I discovered at the end of it that I had lived in +error forty years; that Christ never ceases to prove +Himself." +</p> + +<p> +Already the forbidden tenets of the Nazarene faith +had entered into his words. But feeling somehow +that her deflection from uprightness covered her whole +life, there was no reason why she should not hear +what these people believed and have done with it. +</p> + +<p> +"Art thou a Christian?" she asked timidly. +</p> + +<p> +"I am a believer in Christ, but whether I may call +myself one of the blessed I do not know, for they +have had faith. But I demanded a sign. Behold it! +The ruin of the City of David!" +</p> + +<p> +Her eyes widened with alarm. +</p> + +<p> +"Is there no hope?" she exclaimed. +</p> + +<p> +He looked at her, even in his old age impressed +with the immense importance life and love must have +to so beautiful and beloved a woman. Presently he +said, as if to himself: +</p> + +<p> +"Yea, be thou blessed, O thou Redeemer, that givest +life to them to whom life is dear and death approacheth." +</p> + +<p> +Her concern for concealment vanished entirely in +her rising terror for the future of the Holy City. +</p> + +<p> +"I pray thee, Rabbi," she said in a low voice, drawing +close to him, "tell me what thy people believe +about the city. I have heard–but it can not be +true!" +</p> + +<p> +"Do not be troubled about the city," he answered. +"Ask me rather how to become safeguarded against +any disaster, greater even than the fall of cities." +</p> + +<p> +"It is not for myself," she protested earnestly, +"but for the world. Is there not a King to come to +Israel?" +</p> + +<p> +"There is, but not yet, my daughter. Of that +day and hour no man knoweth. Now is Daniel's +abomination of desolation; the generation passeth +and the prophecy is fulfilled. Jerusalem is perishing." +</p> + +<p> +Seeing the wave of panic sweep over her, he put +out a soothing hand. +</p> + +<p> +"Yet, do not fear. For such as you the Redeemer +died; for your kind the Kingdom of Heaven is built, +and the King whom the earth did not receive is for +ever Lord of it." +</p> + +<p> +The veiled reference to the tragedy which Philadelphus +had recounted stood out with more prominence +than the promise in his words. +</p> + +<p> +"Whom the earth did not receive?" she repeated. +"O prophet, as thou boasteth truthful lips and a +hoary head, tell me what hath befallen us." +</p> + +<p> +"Hear it not as a calamity," he said reassuringly. +"Thou canst make it of all things the most profitable, +if thou wilt. Forget the city. I, who would +forget it but can not, bid thee do this. Behold, there +is another Jerusalem which shall not fall. Look to +that and be not afraid." +</p> + +<p> +Her lips, parted to protest against the vague +answer, closed at the final sentence and the Christian +pressed his advantage. +</p> + +<p> +"Of that Jerusalem there is no like on earth. +Against its walls no enemy ever comes; neither warfare +nor hunger nor thirst nor suffering nor death. +This which David builded is a poor city, a humble +city compared to that New Jerusalem. There the +King is already come; there the citizens are at peace +and in love with one another. There thou shalt have +all that thy heart yearneth after, and all that thy +heart yearneth after shall be right." +</p> + +<p> +In that city would it be right that she love Hesper +instead of Philadelphus, and that she should have her +lover instead of her lawful husband? +</p> + +<p> +While she turned these things over in her mind, +he wisely went on with his story. Shrewdly sensing +the young woman's anxiety, the old Christian guessed +the interest to her of the Messiah's history before +His teaching and began with prophecy to support +the authenticity of the wonderful Galilean's claim to +divinity. It was no fisherman or weaver of tent-cloth +who brought forth the declarations of the comforter +of Hezekiah, the captive prophet and the priest in +the land of the Chaldeans. His was no barbarous +manner or slipshod tongue of the market-place and +the wheat-fields, but the polish and the clean-cut flawless +language of the synagogues and the colleges. +Laodice saw in the gesture and phrase the refinement +of her father, Costobarus, of the gentlest Judean +blood. +</p> + +<p> +"I saw Him," he went on in a low voice. +</p> + +<p> +Laodice with her intent gaze on the beatified face +put her hand to her heart. +</p> + +<p> +"Forty years ago," the old voice continued, "I +saw Him first in Galilee. There He was disbelieved +and cast out. He came then unto Jerusalem and I +saw Him there heal lepers, cast out evil spirits, cure +the blind and the sick and the palsied. And in the +house of Jairus and at Nain, I saw Him raise the +dead. +</p> + +<p> +"I saw Him come to Jerusalem. Multitudes followed +Him and accompanied Him, casting their mantles +and palm-branches in the way that His mule +might tread upon them." +</p> + +<p> +The old man pointed south toward the single summit +from which Christ approaching could overlook +Jerusalem. +</p> + +<p> +"On that hill," he said, "while the multitudes +hailed Him and the sound of Alleluia shook the air, +He reined in His meek beast and looked upon this +city, and wept over it. When He spoke, He said, <i>If +thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, +the things which belong unto thy peace! but now +they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall +come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench +about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in +on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, +and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave +in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest +not the time of thy visitation.</i> +</p> + +<div class="ctr"> + <a href="images/image06l.jpg"> + <img src="images/image06.jpg" + alt='"And there His enemies crucified Him."' + title='"And there His enemies crucified Him."' /> +</a> <p class="caption">"And there His enemies crucified Him."</p> +</div> + +<p> +"And three days later, I saw the Rock of David +and all that multitude follow Him unto the Hill of the +Skull and there His enemies crucified Him!" +</p> + +<p> +After a paralyzed silence, Laodice whispered with +frozen lips, +</p> + +<p> +"In God's name, why?" +</p> + +<p> +But he wisely did not pause with the calamity. He +had the whole of the beginnings of Christianity to +tell, a long narrative that contained as yet no dogma. +Paul had seen the great light on the road to Damascus, +and accepting apostleship to all the world had +fought a good fight and had come unto his crown +of righteousness; Peter had established the Church +and had fed the sheep and had been offered up by +the Beast who was Nero; John the Divine was seeing +visions of the Apocalypse in the Island of Patmos; +Herod Antipas, "that fox," had passed to his own +place, prisoner and exile, sacrifice to a mad Cęsar's +imaginings; Judas had hanged himself; Pilate had +drowned himself; thousands of the saints had died +for the faith by fire and sword and wild beasts; kings +had been converted and of the believers in Rome it +was said, <i>Your faith is spoken of throughout the +whole world</i>. +</p> + +<p> +Laodice sat with clasped hands, intent on each word +as it fell from the lips of the aged teacher, seeing +at one and the same time the Kingdom of Heaven +constructed and her dream of an earthly empire +falling. +</p> + +<p> +"He said," the Christian continued, "<i>They that +are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. +I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.</i>" +</p> + +<p> +Repentance was a rite for Laodice, a payment of +offering, a process to the righteously inclined, a +thing that could in no wise purify the sinner as to +make him worthy of association with the upright. +The old Christian's use of the word was different; +he had said that the Messiah came to the sinner, +and not to the righteous. Had the young Jewess +been less in need of comfort in her own consciousness +of spiritual delinquency she would have set down the +old teacher as one of the idlest dealers in contradiction. +But now she listened with keener zest; perchance +in this doctrine there was balm for her hurt. +She made some answer which showed the awakening +of this new interest and then with infinite poetry and +earnestness he began to unfold the teachings of +Christ. +</p> + +<p> +A woman came to them with wine and food, for the +midday had come, but neither noticed it. In his fervor +to enlighten this tender soul, the old man forgot +his weariness; in her wonder at the strangely gentle +doctrine which had contradicted all the world's previous +usage, the girl forgot her prejudice. She listened; +and with such signs as change of expression, +flushes of emotion, movements of surprise and brightenings +of interest to encourage him, the old Christian +talked. When he had progressed sufficiently to round +out the theory of Christianity, she had grasped a new +standard. The contrast between the old and the new +made itself instantly felt. On one hand was the simple +and logical; on the other the complex and dogmatic. +The Christian was able to measure proportionately +how much should be laid upon her mind for +study at once and while she still waited, he rose from +his place. +</p> + +<p> +"There is more; yet there are other days," he said. +</p> + +<p> +But she caught his hand as he rose and with a +sudden yearning in her eyes whispered: +</p> + +<p> +"O Rabbi, what said He of love?" +</p> + +<p> +"Love?" he repeated, with a softening about his +lips. "The Master blessed love between man and +woman." +</p> + +<p> +"But, but–" she faltered, "if one love another +than one's wedded spouse, then what?" +</p> + +<p> +His face grew grave. +</p> + +<p> +"That is not lawful even among you, who are still +of the old faith." +</p> + +<p> +"But suppose–" +</p> + +<p> +He laid a kindly hand on the one that held his. +</p> + +<p> +"Suffer but sin not. He that endureth unto the +end shall be saved." +</p> + +<p> +"What end?" +</p> + +<p> +"Death." +</p> + +<p> +She was silent while she gazed at him with change +showing on her gradually paling face. +</p> + +<p> +"Then–then what is in thy faith for the forlorn +in love?" she exclaimed. +</p> + +<p> +"Peace, and the consciousness of the joy of Christ +in your steadfastness," he said. +</p> + +<p> +She rose. How much longer had she to live? +</p> + +<p> +"And thou sayest we die?" +</p> + +<p> +"<i>Fear not them which kill the body, but are not +able to kill the soul</i>," he said gently. +</p> + +<p> +Fear Hesper, then, but not the Roman. While +she stood in the immense debate of heart and conscience +he laid a tender hand on her head. +</p> + +<p> +"Perchance in His mercy thou shalt be welcomed +there first by thy father, whom I buried, and by thy +mother." +</p> + +<p> +The sudden recurrence to that past tragedy and the +unfolding of his recognition fairly swept Laodice +off her feet with shock and alarm. If he noted her +feeling, he was sorry he had not succeeded in comforting +her with a promise of reunion with her beloved +in that other land. He took away his tremulous +hand from her hair. +</p> + +<p> +Leaving her transfixed with all he had said, he +moved painfully away, stiffened by long sitting while +he discoursed. +</p> + + + + + +<h2 id="ch19">Chapter XIX</h2> + +<h2>THE FALSE PROPHET</h2> + + +<p> +It was a different Amaryllis that the pretended +Philadelphus faced now, from the one who had welcomed +him on his arrival in Jerusalem months ago. +Then she had been so cold and self-contained that +it would have been effrontery to discuss her hopes with +her. Now, with the avarice of love in her eyes, with +wishfulness and defeat making their sorry signs on +her face, she was a creature that even the humblest +would have longed to help. +</p> + +<p> +Philadelphus sat opposite her in the ivory chair +which was hers by right. She sat in the exedra and +listened eagerly to the things he said with her finger-tips +on her lips and her eyes gazing from under her +brow as her head drooped. +</p> + +<p> +She had ceased long ago to debate idly on the actual +identity of the man who had called himself Hesper +of Ephesus. There was another question that +absorbed her. Of late, it had been brought home to +her that the charm of Laodice for the stranger from +Ephesus, to whom the Greek knew the girl had fled, +had been her purity. Why should it matter so much +about virtue? she had asked herself. Why should +it weigh so immeasurably more than the noble gifts +of wit and beauty and strength and charm? Behold, +she was wise enough to educate a barbarous nation, +beautiful enough to bewitch potentates–for +a time–strong enough to take a city; yet Hesper, +who best of all could appreciate the value of these +things, had turned from her to Laodice, who was +merely chaste. +</p> + +<p> +The greater part of the jealous and bitter passion +that had shaken her then was dumb regret that +the measure of charm was so irrational–and that +she had not believed in it, in time, in time! +</p> + +<p> +Now, however, since she had become convinced +that Laodice had gone to Hesper for refuge, hope +had awakened in her, but so filled with uncertainty +and lack of confidence in another's weakness that it +was little more than a torture to her. +</p> + +<p> +If Laodice had gone to this winsome stranger, +either claiming to be the wife of Philadelphus or acknowledging +the imposture, there was now no difference +between Laodice and herself! +</p> + +<p> +But, she asked herself, was it not possible that this +lovely girl who had shown signs of illimitable fortitude, +could live in the shelter of the captivating Hesper +as uprightly as she had lived under the roof of +the man she called her husband? +</p> + +<p> +In one exigency, the hopes of Amaryllis budded; +in the other, her intuitive belief in the strength of +Laodice discouraged her. And while she alternately +hoped and doubted, Philadelphus, in the chair opposite +her, talked. +</p> + +<p> +"It follows that you and I must work together to +gain diverse ends. If our fortunes are to be tragic, +we are undoing each other in this conjunction. Since +I in all frankness prefer it to turn out comedy, let +us make no error. Are you weary of John? Do +you seek a new diversion?" +</p> + +<p> +She looked at him, at first puzzled, then with a +frown. It leaped to her lips, grown impatient with +suffering, to tell him all that she had evolved of the +histories of himself, his lady and of Hesper; but +there seemed to be an element of recklessness in that +which threatened to do away with a means for her success. +He did not wait for her answer. +</p> + +<p> +"And I," he said with mock intensity, "am done +to death with weariness–with my moneyer, this +lady of mine. Let us be diverted while we live, for +by the signs we shall all die soon." +</p> + +<p> +"Where," he began when her mind wandered entirely +from him, "dost thou think the mysterious man +hath taken my other wife? +</p> + +<p> +"I would I knew," he continued, conducting his +inquiry alone. "It will be right simple to have her +beauty spoiled in this hungry town, unless he takes +tenderest care of her." +</p> + +<p> +There was still no comment, but the lively sparkle +in the Greek's eye showed that he had touched upon a +jealous spot. +</p> + +<p> +"And by the by," he pursued, "what does this +stranger, whom I can not remember having known, +look like? A villain?" +</p> + +<p> +She answered now in a voice filled with rancor. +</p> + +<p> +"Win away the girl from him and thou wilt know +thyself to be the better man; but study how much +he hath outstripped thee and thou shalt decide for +thyself, then, that he is handsomer, more winsome, +stronger and more profitable. Describe him for thyself." +</p> + +<p> +"Out upon you! How irritable misfortune makes +most of us! Now, here is my lady. She would fail +to see the humor in my fetching back this pretty impostor. +Alas! Were I Deucalion or Pyrrha or whoever +else it was that repeopled the world, I should +have left jealousy out of the make-up of wives. It +is a needless element. It gives them no pleasure, and +Jove! how inconvenient it is for husbands! Now, I +am not jealous of my wife. In fact, had any man +the hardihood to supplant me, I should not discourage +him; I should not, by my soul!" +</p> + +<p> +"Why," she burst out again, irritated beyond control +at his manner, "do you not leave this place?" +</p> + +<p> +He swung his foot idly and smiled. +</p> + +<p> +"I shall when I can take with me this dear pretty +impostor who is so determined to have me," he answered +lightly. +</p> + +<p> +"Will you?" she asked eagerly. "Is that why +you remain?" +</p> + +<p> +"And for my lady's dowry. She keeps the key. +But had I the girl cloaked and hooded for flight, I +might go, even without the treasure. The times are +precarious, you observe." +</p> + +<p> +She rose almost precipitately and hurried over to +the swaying curtain of some heavy white material +like samite, covering that which appeared to be +a blind arch in the wall. She drew the hanging +aside. It had hidden the black mouth of a tunnel, +closed by a brass wicket which was locked. +</p> + +<p> +"Here," she said rapidly, "is what strengthens +John in his folly. This is a passage that leads under +the Temple through Moriah into Tophet. The whole +city is underlaid with these galleries, but this is the +only one which leads to safety." +</p> + +<p> +She dropped the curtain and approached him. +</p> + +<p> +"But thou canst not go out of that passage alone!" +</p> + +<p> +He smiled, and then with that boyish impulsiveness +that he had cultivated to cover the evil in his +nature, he thrust out his hand to her. +</p> + +<p> +"Here is my hand on it!" he exclaimed. +</p> + +<p> +"Go, then, and cease not till you have found her. +Then, by any or all the gods, I shall see that you do +not go out of that passage empty-handed." +</p> + +<p> +He smiled at her radiantly and went at once to his +chambers. +</p> + +<p> +When he reached the apartments, he found them silent +and deserted. He seized upon the opportunity +as most propitious for a search for the possible hiding-place +of the dowry of two hundred talents. +</p> + +<p> +When he opened first the great press in which his +lady kept her raiment he was confronted by emptiness. +Dismayed, he turned to look into the room and +found the chests for the most part open and rifled. +On the brazier, now cold, lay a wax tablet. He +snatched it up and read: +</p> + +<blockquote> +<p> +Received of Julian of Ephesus the appended salvage in +good repair. Items: One wife, Two hundred talents. +</p> + +<p> +JOHN, KING OF JERUSALEM. +</p> +</blockquote> + +<p> +He went back to the andronitis of Amaryllis. +</p> + +<p> +"I have lost interest in the treasure," he said whimsically. +"But I'll go out and look for the girl. I–I +should like to discover of a truth if the passage +leads out of Jerusalem." +</p> + +<p> +Amaryllis closed her lips firmly. Philadelphus read +in the look that he could not escape without Laodice. +</p> + +<p> +Without further speech, he went to the vestibule, +took his cloak and kerchief from the porter and went +out into the city. +</p> + +<p> +It was nearly midnight when he passed into the +streets. The tumult of assault on the walls had +ceased. The long lines of beacon-fires on the walls +showed only a few men in arms posted there. Without +there came no sound of activity in the camp of the +Roman. The streets below, lighted up by the ever-burning +beacons, showed its usual restless tramping +of houseless, hungry ones. But there was no talk; +each one who walked the passages went wrapped in +his own dismal thoughts; the thousands took no notice +of one another. Jerusalem was as silent as a city +stricken with plague. +</p> + +<p> +From the summit of Zion, which Philadelphus +mounted, he could see three Roman war-towers, +planted along the outer works, dimly lighted, and +manned by a vigilant garrison of legionaries. These +had been a dread and a destruction which the Jews had +been unable to overthrow; coigns of vantage from +which the enemy had been able to deal the sturdiest +blows of the campaign. They had permitted no rest +to the defenders on the wall; they had spread ruin +by fire and carnage, by arrow and sling for days. +Sorties against them had resulted in the death of their +assailants, only. Jewish engines accomplished nothing +against them. The three, alone, were taking Jerusalem. +</p> + +<p> +Philadelphus looked at their tall shapes, black +against the remote illumination of the Roman camp, +and inwardly hoped that they would hold off complete +destruction of the city, until he had found the +desirable woman. +</p> + +<p> +No one noticed him; men passed him like shadows +with their eyes ever on the ground; no one spoke; +nothing disturbed the deadly quiet of the falling +city. +</p> + +<p> +But the next minute, Philadelphus, who walked +alertly, saw people step out into gutters or press +against walls, as if to allow some one to pass. Awakening +interest ran abroad over the street ahead of +him. A lane between the wandering multitude +opened almost by magic. Through it, walking +swiftly, his head up, his mystic eyes ignited, came +Seraiah, soldier of Jehovah. There was no sound of +his footfall. His garments flashed in the light of +the beacons, but there was not even a whisper of their +motion. But he had changed. There was fierce, +superhuman intent in the despatch of his gait and in +the uplift of his superb head. After him, as he +passed, ran whispers. Each one stopped and looked. +He went down the uneven slope of Zion as some great +shade borne on a swift air. +</p> + +<p> +Two or three bold ones began to move after him. +Others followed. The little nucleus grew. Philadelphus +was caught in it. Numbers were added as +courage grew with numbers. From intersecting +streets people came. Some, although oppressed by +the silence, asked what it was and were silenced +quickly. Others began to mutter unintelligible predictions, +and their neighbors shook their heads without +understanding that which was said. +</p> + +<p> +The news of Seraiah's mysterious progress communicated +itself to rank and rank and spread abroad. +Faces appeared against a background of lights at +barred windows, along the balustrades of house-tops, +from areas and ruins. Philadelphus, fascinated and +astonished at this curious demonstration, was contented +to pass with it. Silence, except for the rustling +of garments and the multitudinous footfall, fell +about the vicinity. +</p> + +<p> +Ahead of them, Seraiah moved. His steps, finely +balanced, passed over obstructions where most of his +followers stumbled, and when he turned across Akra +and faced the Old Wall, the excitement became painful. +</p> + +<p> +His pace was flying; many of his followers were +running. It seemed that he was going against the +Wall. Dozens anticipated that course and skirting +through short ways clambered up on the fortifications +and clung there though menaced by the sentries until +Seraiah appeared. +</p> + +<p> +At a narrow point in the street that ended against +the wall, Seraiah met that Jew who had become a +maniac on the day Jerusalem attacked Titus. Without +warning the maniac leaped up into an intensely +rigid posture; his legs spread, his lean arms upstretched +at painful tension, his mouth wide, his eyes +dilated immensely in their hollow depths. +</p> + +<p> +Seraiah passed him as if no man stood in his way. +Instantly the maniac wheeled, as a huge spread-eagle +wind-vane on its staff, and stood at gaze, the broad +uninterrupted light of the beacon shining down on +him and the mysterious man. The street ended short +of the wall. About the base of the fortification was +an open space, in which was planted a scaling-ladder. +Seraiah climbed this, an infinitesimal detail on the +great blank of blackened stone. +</p> + +<p> +Hundreds, rushing upon the wall, though a goodly +distance from the point at which the strange man had +mounted, climbed it and beat off the sentries. +</p> + +<p> +And the foremost who reached the top saw the +Roman Tower directly opposite Seraiah shudder suddenly +and sink in a roaring cloud of dust upon itself +to the earth. +</p> + +<p> +Instantly the maniac below broke the tense silence +with a scream that was heard in the paralyzed Roman +camp: +</p> + +<p> +"It is He, the Deliverer! Come!" +</p> + +<p> +Of the thousands of Jews that heard the madman's +cry, every heart credited it. Hundreds melted away +suddenly, as if stricken with terror at what they might +see; other hundreds scrambled down from their places +to run purposelessly, crying aimless things to the +night over the city; yet others covered their faces with +their arms and fell in their places, expecting the end +of the world; and of the rest, the less imaginative, the +more composed and the more curious, remained on +the walls to see enacted a further miracle. Uproar +had broken out instantly among the four stolid legions +of Titus on the Assyrian bivouac. Lights +flashed out everywhere; great running to and fro +could be distinguished; rapid trumpet-calls and +the prolonged roll of drums from company quarters +to quarters were echoed back from Antonia and from +Hippicus. The startled shouts of commanders; the +nervous dropping of arms; the sharp excited response +to roll-call; the sound of sentries challenging, the curt +response by countersign, showed everywhere irregularities +and the symptoms of panic in the immovable +ranks of Titus. +</p> + +<p> +Seraiah meanwhile had disappeared from his place +as mysteriously as he had come. +</p> + +<p> +Many of the Jews who remained on the wall believed +that he had passed into the Roman camp and +was troubling it. The fall of the tower, and the confusion +it had wrought in the Roman camp, never occurred +to them to have been fortuitous incidents with +which Seraiah had nothing to do. Of the thousands +that witnessed that miracle, most of them were convinced +that the hour had come. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile Jerusalem was roaring with excitement. +The city was ready for a Messiah. Seraiah had +arisen at the psychological moment. Earlier the +Jews would have been too critical to accept him readily; +later they would have reviled him for coming too +late. Whatever his advent lacked in thunders, in +darkness, voices, and shaking of the earth, had been +passed by his miraculous work against the Romans. +</p> + +<p> +Philadelphus, who had seen the fall of the tower, +and had dropped down from the wall as soon as he +had explained it all to himself, came upon new disorders. +Great concourses of awakened Jews were +hurrying to the walls to see what had happened, or +to behold the Roman army wiped out by the Angel +of Death as the army of Sennacherib had perished. +Others collected at the end of the Tyropean Bridge +and watched the pinnacle of the Temple for the miracle +which should restore the city. But the burned +ruin where the Herodian palace had stood was the +center of the most characteristic frenzy. +</p> + +<p> +There thousands were congregated. A great bonfire +had been kindled and above the multitude, on a +colossal architrave fallen at one end from the giant +columns that had supported it, stood a figure, +redly illuminated by the fire, tiny as compared to +the immense ruin of its high place, but Titan in its +control over the wild mob below it. +</p> + +<p> +It was a woman, a Jewess, dressed in faithful imitation +of the archaic garb of the prophetesses, mantled +with a storm of flying black hair, stripped of +veil or cloak, and splendidly defiant of the restrictions +laid upon woman long after the days of Deborah. +</p> + +<p> +Over the heads of the panting multitude she shook +a pair of arms that glistened for whiteness, and bewitched +by the spell of their motion. From under her +half-fallen lids shot gleams of fire that transfixed any +upon whom they fell; from her supple body shaken +at times with the power of its own dynamic force +her hearers caught the grosser infection of physical +excitement; they swayed with her as blown by the +wind; they ceased to breathe in her periods; they +groaned as the intensity of her fervor pressed upon +them for response that they could not shape in words; +they wept, they shouted, they prophesied, and over +them swept ever the witchery of her wonderful voice, +preaching impiety–the worship of Seraiah! +</p> + +<p> +Philadelphus looked at this frantic work with a +creeping chill. He knew the sorceress. Salome of +Ephesus, who could send the sated theaters wild with +her appeal to their senses, had found enchantment of +a half-mad city not hard. Aside from the impiety, +in fear of which his own irreligious spirit stood, he +saw suddenly opened to him the immense scope of +her influence. Not Simon, not John, not Titus, had +discovered the logical appeal to the city's unbalanced +impulses. But the reckless woman, robing herself in +the ancient garb of the days to which the citizens +would revert, assuming the pose of a woman they had +sanctified, preaching the dogma they would hear, +showing them the sign that helped them most, held +Jerusalem, at least for that hour, in her hands. +</p> + +<p> +He realized at once that to attempt to denounce +her would expose him to destruction at the wolfish +hands of the frenzied mob. There were not soldiers +enough in the city to destroy her influence, for she +had achieved in her followers that infatuation that +goes down to death before it relinquishes its conviction. +Her control was complete. Seraiah was the +anointed one, but the prophetess, the instigator, the +founder of the worship, as follows in all apostasies, +was the final recipient of the benefits of that devotion. +</p> + +<p> +Philadelphus walked away from the sight of Salome's +triumph. He had surrendered instantly his +hope of regaining the treasure. The whole of mad +Jerusalem had ranged itself with her to protect it. +And Laodice was not yet found. +</p> + + + + + +<h2 id="ch20">Chapter XX</h2> + +<h2>AS THE FOAM UPON WATER</h2> + + +<p> +The madness on Jerusalem poured like an overwhelming +flood into the cavern under the ruin of the +Herodian palaces. There was Hesper, with most of +his Gibborim gathered, preparing to proceed to the +defense of the First Wall in Akra against which the +Roman would hurl himself in the morning. +</p> + +<p> +For days he had controlled his men only by the +force of his fierce will. Restlessness, little short of +turbulence, had changed his six hundred from earnest +recruits to bright-eyed, contentious, irresponsible enthusiasts +whom only intimidation could manage. +They seemed to be balanced, prepared, ready at the +least whisper in the wind to scatter madly, each in +his own direction, after a vagary, albeit the end were +destruction. +</p> + +<p> +Throughout these latter days the Maccabee had +become strained and unnatural in his manner. There +was a vehemence in all he did which seemed to be a +final resolution against despair. His decisions were +arbitrary; his methods extreme. Laodice, sensing +something climacteric in his atmosphere, kept aloof +from him, and regarded him from the dusk of her +corner with wonder and a pity that she could not +explain. The Christian on the other hand seemed +always in an unobtrusive way to be at the Maccabee's +elbow. The apparition with the long white hair, +however, ran away and was found on the streets by +the Christian and brought back to the cavern, where +he hid in a dark shadow in the remote end of the +crypt and was not seen. +</p> + +<p> +Of late the cavern was always full of suppressed +excitement; unpremeditated conferences among the +Gibborim, which Hesper harshly forbade; and general +sharp resentment against imposed regulations +and military drill. On several occasions the six hundred +were sent in defense of the walls only by sheer +force of their leader's will-power. And there they +fell in at once with the irregular methods of the Idumeans +and fanatics that fought each after his own +liking, and the careful instruction of the Maccabee +was disregarded. Only so long as he cowed them, +they obeyed him; and he seemed to feel, as they seemed +to indicate, that when that thing happened which all +Jerusalem indefinitely expected and could not name, +his control over them would be lost beyond restoration. +</p> + +<p> +On the night of the fall of the Roman tower, the +Maccabee's forces had been withdrawn for rest to their +retreat and at midnight were formed again for return +to the fortifications. +</p> + +<p> +By the strange inscrutable spread of rumor, sweeping +with the air, the tidings of the miracle and the +rise of Seraiah poured in upon the restive hundreds +that the Maccabee was attempting to form in his +fortress. It came like the gradual velocity of a +burning star across the sky. From the ranks nearest +the exit from the burrow the murmur issued, growing +into intelligible sound, mounting to the wildness of +hysteria and prevailing wholly over the Gibborim in +the space between heart-beats. Everywhere they +cast down their spears and their weapons, everywhere +they gazed at him with brilliant threatening eyes +and cried in loud voices so that the things each mad +mind put into expression were lost in a great unintelligible +raving. +</p> + +<p> +Laodice, the Christian and that white-haired trembler +in his refuge, saw the Maccabee raise himself to +his full height and lifting his sword confront in one +grand effort at command a mob of six hundred madmen! +</p> + +<p> +Perhaps that manifestation of iron courage and +strength, which the crazy lot somehow realized, saved +him from death. Instead of falling upon him they +turned away from the scene of the last vain effort for +their own salvation and rushed, trampling one another, +into the mad city of Jerusalem. +</p> + +<p> +From without, the hoarse uproar of their desertion +was heard to merge with the great tumult over the +Holy City. Tense silence fell in the crypt. +</p> + +<p> +The light of the torch wavered up and down the +tall figure of the Maccabee as he stood transfixed in +the attitude of command that had achieved nothing. +It seemed the final inclination beyond the perpendicular +that precedes the fall. The Christian started +from his place and hurried toward the tense figure in +the torch-light. Laodice, unconscious of what she +did, approached him with an agony of distress for +him written in her face. The white-haired apparition +crept out a little way on his knees and putting +aside his tangled locks gazed with burning eyes at the +defeated man. +</p> + +<p> +Laodice, in her anxiety, moved into the range of +the Maccabee's vision. The next instant he had +thrown away his sword and had caught her in a crushing +embrace to him. His voice, blunted and repressed +as if something had him by the throat, was stunning +her ear. +</p> + +<p> +"And thou!" he was saying. "What from thee, +now? Hate! Curses! Ingratitude! Hast thou +poison for me, or a knife? Or worse, yet, scorn? +Speak! It is a day of enlightenment! I'll brook +anything but deceit!" +</p> + +<p> +She stopped him in the midst of his vehement despair, +by laying her hands on his hair. There surged +to her lips all the eloquence of her love and sympathy, +but beside her old Nathan stood–an embodiment of +her conscience, watching. +</p> + +<p> +Twice she essayed to put into words the comfort +of her submission to his love. Twice her lips failed +her; but the third time she turned to the Christian. +</p> + +<p> +"Rabbi, what shall I do?" she implored. "Tell +me out of thy wisdom!" +</p> + +<p> +"What is it?" he asked, feeling that there was +more than sympathy for the defeated man in her +heart. +</p> + +<p> +"What would thy Christ have me to do?" she insisted. +"This stranger, here, is the joy of my heart; +I am like to die if I can not give him the love that +I feel for him this hour!" +</p> + +<p> +The startled Christian looked at her with suspicion +growing in his eyes. +</p> + +<p> +"Art thou a wife? Wedded to another than this +man?" he asked gravely. +</p> + +<p> +"Wedded," she whispered, "to one who hath denied +me, affronted me and cast me out of his house! +In this man I have found favor from the beginning. +He has been tender of me, he has sheltered me, and he +has strengthened me against himself to this hour. +There has been nothing sinful between us!" +</p> + +<p> +The old Christian's face grew immeasurably sad. +</p> + +<p> +"There is but one thing for you to do," he said. +</p> + +<p> +She wrenched herself away from the Maccabee, +who had been angrily protesting against her carrying +his case to another for decision, and confronted +Nathan. +</p> + +<p> +"But he rejected me!" she cried with earnestness. +"That alone is enough among our people for divorcement!" +</p> + +<p> +The Christian shook his head sadly. He was not +happy to lay down this prohibition before them who +suffered. +</p> + +<p> +"There is no help in thy faith for such as I am. +In that thy religion fails!" she cried. +</p> + +<p> +"Love, now, is all in all to thee, daughter. It is +but the speech of thy young blood running through +thy veins, the claim of thy youth to thy use upon +earth. Resist it; for when thy years are as many as +mine thou wilt lose thy rebellious spirit and the fervor +will have died out of thy heart. Then, if thou +hast fallen in this hour, how vain and worthless it will +seem to thee! Divine fires in the heart of men never +become changed in value. Love purely and thou wilt +never repent; but I say unto thee thou fashionest +for thyself humbled and shamed old age if thou +transgressest the Law!" +</p> + +<p> +"What mercy, then, since thou preachest mercy, +in filling me with this weakness if my life must be +darkened resisting it, and my future show no relief +for it?" she insisted passionately. +</p> + +<p> +It was the cry old as the world. He looked at her +sadly, hopelessly. +</p> + +<p> +"As for God, His way is perfect," he said. "<i>How +unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past +finding out!</i> Thou shalt struggle with the truth, my +daughter, but without fail and most readily thou +shalt know when thou hast sinned!" +</p> + +<p> +She was past the influence of argument. Impulse +controlled her now entirely. She would see if there +were not an intelligence, even a religion which would +see her sorrow from her own heart's position. +</p> + +<p> +She listened now to the words of her lover. +</p> + +<p> +"He is an exclaimer, a prophet of doom!" he was +crying. "Love me and let us die!" +</p> + +<p> +Without in the entrance of the crypt some great-lunged +fanatic was calling the multitude to harken +to the prophetess. +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee's lips were against her cheek as he +continued to speak. +</p> + +<p> +"It is the end! There is no help for us. Love +me, and let me be happy an hour before we perish! +The Nazarene is right! The city is cursed! God's +wrath is upon us. The hour is still ours. Love me +and let us die!" +</p> + +<p> +Without the great voice, like an unwearying bell, +was calling: +</p> + +<p> +"A sign! A sign! Behold the Deliverer! Come +all ye who would share his triumph and hear! Hear! +Come ye and be fed, ye hungry; be drunken, ye +thirsty; love and be loved, ye forlorn!" +</p> + +<p> +Laodice stiffened in the Maccabee's clasp. +</p> + +<p> +"Dost thou hear?" she whispered. "It may be +true!" +</p> + +<p> +He shook his head that he had bowed upon her +shoulder. +</p> + +<p> +"Let us go," she urged. "Perchance he has +comfort for us. Come, Hesper; let us see what he +has for the forlorn." +</p> + +<p> +"Who?" he asked dully. +</p> + +<p> +"They say the Deliverer has come." +</p> + +<p> +He shook his head again, but with her two hands +she lifted his face from its refuge, and urging with +her eyes and her hands and her lips she led him toward +the stairs. The Christian looked after them. +</p> + +<p> +"<i>For there shall arise false Christs; and false +prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; +insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive +the very elect</i>," he said sorrowfully. +</p> + +<p> +The horror of the city augmented hour by hour. +The Jerusalem Laodice locked upon now was infinitely +more afflicted than the one she had seen in the daylight +days before. +</p> + +<p> +The walls were now outlined by fire which illuminated +all the city that lay directly beneath the beacons. +To the north gnomish outlines by hundreds +against the flames showed where the soldiers of the +factionists were placing the topmost stones upon an +inner wall or curtain erected just within the Old +Wall, which was by this time shaking and cracking +under the assaults of a great siege-engine without. +Titus, awakened by the fall of his tower, had immediately +renewed the attack, although the morning +was still some hours distant. +</p> + +<p> +But the citizens were no longer disinterested, no +longer wrapped in hopelessness and dull misery. +</p> + +<p> +Hungry, sleepless, houseless, diseased and mad +though they were, their hollow eyes gleamed now +with hope that was almost defiant. Around the Maccabee +and Laodice roared the comment of the multitude. +</p> + +<p> +"They say he climbed to the summit of the outer +wall overlooking Tophet and remains there a target +for the Roman arrows, which rebound from him!" +cried one. +</p> + +<p> +"One of John's men says that the heads of the +arrows are blunted and the most of them snapped +in two when they are picked up." +</p> + +<p> +"The Romans have ceased to shoot at him!" +</p> + +<p> +"They say that his footprints in the dust on the +Tyropean Bridge are Hebrew letters writing 'Elia' +in gold!" +</p> + +<p> +"It is said that the inner Temple is rocking with +trumpet blasts and that John is struck dead!" +</p> + +<p> +"They say that those who believe in him shall ask +for whatever they would have and have it!" +</p> + +<p> +"The breaches in the First Wall have been healed; +the old rock is back in its place!" +</p> + +<p> +"They say that the dead beyond the wall in Tophet +are prophesying!" +</p> + +<p> +"There is a bolt of lightning fixed in the sky over +Titus' camp. We are called to go forth and see it +fall!" +</p> + +<p> +A voice swept by distantly crying that a woman +had eaten her child. Crazed Posthumus, self-elected +guardian of the Law, with the sacred roll under his +arm, declaimed, without any of his audience attending, +that prophecy which this horror fulfilled. +</p> + +<p> +All Jerusalem was in the streets; all Jerusalem +poured into the immense open space where some palatial +ruin stood, and melted in the giant concourse +that gathered to hear the prophetess. +</p> + +<p> +Laodice and the Maccabee were unable to see the +woman; only her voice, mystic, musical, pitched at a +singing monotone, intoning rather than speaking, +reached them from the distance. The long harangue, +delivered as a chant, had long ago had +a mesmerizing effect on her audience. Absolutely +she controlled them; along the dead level of her +preaching they maintained a low continuous murmur, +accompanied by a slight slow swaying of the +body; in the climaxes of the appeal they responded +with cries and wild gestures, flinging themselves about +in attitudes characteristic of their frenzy. In their +faces was the reflection of a peculiar light that +proved that derangement had settled over Jerusalem. +It was the end of the reign of reason. +</p> + +<p> +"It is the abomination of desolation. Even so, it +is finished! It is the time, it is full time, and +Michael hath come. There are seventy weeks; behold +them. The transgression is finished and the end +hereto of all sins. Approacheth the hour for the +reconciliation for iniquity and to bring in everlasting +righteousness and to seal up the vision and prophecy +and to anoint the most Holy! Prepare ye!" +</p> + +<p> +Somewhere in the city a voice that was heard even by +the fighting-men on the wall in Akra cried: +</p> + +<p> +"The Sacrifice has failed! The Oblation is +ceased! There is no Offering for the Altar; none is +left to offer it!" +</p> + +<p> +The vast gathering heard it, and immediately from +the high place of the prophetess came back the words, +prompt and effective: +</p> + +<p> +"<i>And he shall confirm the covenant with many for +one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause +the sacrifice and the oblation to cease!</i>" +</p> + +<p> +Posthumus, buried in the midst of the crowd, was +shouting, but over him the splendid mesmerism of the +prophetess' voice soared. +</p> + +<p> +"<i>The hands of the pitiful women have sodden +their own children; they were their meat in the destruction +of the daughter of my people ... +The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, O +daughter of Zion; ... and for the overspreading +of abominations he shall make it desolate, even +until the consummation, and that determined shall be +poured upon the desolate</i>!" +</p> + +<p> +Among the crowd now growing frantic, people began +to cry: +</p> + +<p> +"A sign! A sign!" +</p> + +<p> +Others shouted: +</p> + +<p> +"Lead us!" +</p> + +<p> +"Persecute and destroy them in anger from under +the Heaven of the Lord!" +</p> + +<p> +"Lead us!" they still shouted. +</p> + +<p> +They were hungry; they had been abstinent; they +had surrendered their riches and their comforts. It +was not independence but necessities that they wanted +now. The primal wants were at the surface. +</p> + +<p> +"Come up and be filled!" she cried. "Ask and it +shall be given unto you! Eat of the grapes and the +honey; drink of wine and warm milk; sleep as kings; +be housed in mansions; be rulers; command potentates! +Let kings bow at your footstools! Be replenished; +be great! Suffering hath been your +portion since the earth was; but the end is come. +Draw nigh and have your recompense. Laugh, you +whose eyes have trickled down with the waters of affliction! +You in the low dungeon come forth and range +all the free boundaries of the world. Whosoever hath +gravel between his teeth, let them be grapes! He +who sitteth alone, gather company and revel unto +him! Feast, ye hungry; be drunken, ye thirsty; love +and be loved, ye forlorn!" +</p> + +<p> +Laodice leaned forward suddenly and hung on +the woman's words. +</p> + +<p> +"The time for sacrifice and humiliation is paid +out! It was a long time! Now, behold in the generosity +of his repentance, ye shall ask and nothing shall +be denied. Speak! Ask! The whole world, Heaven +and earth and the delights of all the years are yours, +now and for all time!" +</p> + +<p> +At Laodice's side was Amaryllis. The Greek's +face was pale but lighted with a certain enlightenment +that was almost threatening. +</p> + +<p> +Startled and frightened Laodice moved back from +the Greek, who moved with her, without a glance at +the Maccabee. +</p> + +<p> +The voice of the prophetess swept on: +</p> + +<p> +"Ye have bowed to tyrants and bent your necks to +murderers; ye have waged wars for pillagers and +shared not in the spoils. Why are ye hungry now? +Who is full-fed in these days of want, yourselves or +your masters? A sword, a sword is drawn; uphold +the arm that wields it!" +</p> + +<p> +"Sedition!" Amaryllis whispered, as the mob began +to murmur and stir at this new doctrine. +</p> + +<p> +"For behold, he shall go forth with great fury to +destroy and utterly to make away many!" +</p> + +<p> +Amaryllis bent so she could whisper in Laodice's +ear. +</p> + +<p> +"John hath taken him a new woman to keep him +cheerful this hour. I was not daring enough. Philadelphus' +wife hath supplanted me. Your place with +him is vacant. Go back and possess it!" +</p> + +<p> +"Why was appetite and desire and thirst of power +and the love of riches lighted in you, but to be satisfied?" +The prophetess' words swept in after Laodice's +sudden fear of returning to Philadelphus. +"We have expiated the sin of Adam, the greed of +Jacob and the fault of David. The judgment is +run out; ye have come to your own! Verily, I say +unto you, if ye follow me in the name of him who +hath come unto you, the world shall be yours!" +</p> + +<p> +Amaryllis still continued to whisper, and Laodice, +fearing that the Maccabee might hear, drew farther +away. He stood where she had left him, with his +head lowered, waiting–at last a creature dependent +on another's will. +</p> + +<p> +"Listen!" Amaryllis said. "I have been seeking +you since midnight! Philadelphus' doubt was awakened +in this woman. He questioned her, so minutely +that she betrayed ignorance of many things she +should have known had she been the real daughter of +Costobarus. And when finally he taxed her with imposture, +she robbed him of the dowry and fled to John. +Convinced that you are his wife, he set forth and +hath since searched for you without ceasing! See, +over there! He seeks you, now!" +</p> + +<p> +Laodice looked the way the Greek pointed and saw +Philadelphus, standing with lifted head and stretched +to his full height, as if searching over the crowd for +her. +</p> + +<p> +Panic seized her. She wrenched herself from the +Greek's hold and, forgetting even the protection of +Hesper who was within touch of her, she threw herself +into the crowd behind her and struggled out of +the press. +</p> + +<p> +Nathan, the Christian, saw her turn and followed +instantly in the path she made. +</p> + +<p> +Once out, she turned in a bewildered manner this +way and that. What refuge, now, for her, indeed, but +the cavern under the ruin and the care of Hesper, +until the end which should swallow them all! +</p> + +<p> +A trembling hand was laid on her arm. +</p> + +<p> +She whirled, expecting to find Philadelphus. Beside +her, his old face radiant with emotion, stood +Momus! +</p> + + + + + +<h2 id="ch21">Chapter XXI</h2> + +<h2>THE FAITHFUL SERVANT</h2> + + +<p> +Within the Roman lines was a bent and deformed +figure of an old waif that the soldiers had picked up +attempting to run the lines into Jerusalem the second +day after the siege had been laid about the Holy +City. +</p> + +<p> +The old man, though wrinkled and twisted and +bowed, had fought with such terrible savagery and +had incontinently laid in the dust in succession three +of the camp's best fighting-men, that the Roman soldiers, +for ever partizan to the strong man, had +finally with great difficulty succeeded in trussing the +old belligerent and had brought him before Titus. +</p> + +<p> +There they laid the twisted old burden before the +young general and shamelessly told how he, thrice +the age of the vanquished men, had finished them +with despatch. +</p> + +<p> +It was evident that the old man was a Jew; it +became also apparent that he was dumb and partly +deaf, and further to their amazement and admiration, +they discovered that his right leg and arm were too +stiff for ordinary use and that he had done his wonderful +execution with terrific left limbs. +</p> + +<p> +This saved his life and gave him a partial liberty. +Titus, however, admitted to Carus that the old man's +distress at being kept out of Jerusalem was pitiable +enough to urge the young general to deport him and +get him out of sight. +</p> + +<p> +For it was manifest that the old minotaur was in +deep trouble. But his paralyzed tongue would not +serve him, and his menial ignorance had not provided +him with the means of telling his desire by writing. +Titus was unable to understand from his signs anything +further than that he wished to get into the city. +The young general in one of his outbursts of generosity +would have permitted this, but that Nicanor happened +in at an evil moment and drew such pictures of +calamitous effect in passing the old servant into Jerusalem +that Titus was forced reluctantly and irritably +to be convinced of the folly of his kindness. So here, +through the terrible days of the siege, old Momus +at times desperate and savage, at others piteously suppliant, +wore on the sentries' peace of mind and stood +like a shadow, for ever watching the white walls of +the besieged city. +</p> + +<p> +The Romans were now within the city. Only Zion +and the Temple held against them. A wall built with +the thoroughness of David, the ancient, and solidified +by the mortising of Time, ran directly from Hippicus +to the Tyropean Valley, joining the tremendous +fortifications of Moriah and so cut off Zion from the +advance of the army. Securely intrenched within +that quarter and the Temple, Simon and John began +the last resistance which should tax Roman endurance +and Roman patience as it had not been taxed before. +</p> + +<p> +Titus no longer lagged. Famine had long since +become a powerful ally and the honor of the Flavian +house rested upon his immediate subjugation of the +rebellious city. He no longer expected capitulation; +yet he did not neglect to be prepared for it and to +encourage it. Though the heart of the historian +Josephus broke, he did not fail to serve his patron +as mediator, though without hope. Titus himself, +as from time to time the horror of his work impressed +itself upon him, made overtures to the factionists, +neglecting no art or inducement which should convince +the seditious that their resistance was foolhardy, +even mad. At such times, Nicanor's face became +contemptuous and Carus himself frowned at +the young general's attitude. But the spirit of a +Roman and the traditions of a soldier even could not +prevent the young man from weakening at times before +the charnel pit in Tophet where countless thousands +of vultures fattened with roaring of wings and +hissing of combat. +</p> + +<p> +But under an ever-thickening veil of horrid airs, +the struggle went on. +</p> + +<p> +The Roman Ides of July arrived. +</p> + +<p> +Titus had erected banks upon which his engines +were raised to batter the walls of the Temple. +</p> + +<p> +From Titus' camp, the Romans on sick leave, the +commissaries, those attached to the army who were not +fighting-men, and old Momus, saw first, before the +attack on the Temple began, a soft increasing dun-colored +vapor rise between the Temple and Antonia. +It issued from the cloister at the northwest which +joined the Roman tower. As they watched, they +saw that vapor grow into a pale but intensely luminous +smoke, as if fine woods and burning metals were +consumed together. In a moment the whole north-west +section was embraced in a sublime pall of fire. +</p> + +<p> +John was burning away the connection between +the Temple and the tower and was making the sacred +edifice four-square. +</p> + +<p> +As soon as it became confirmed, in the minds of +the watchers in the Roman camp, that the Temple +had been fired, the old mute among them seemed to +become wholly unbalanced. Without warning, he +leaped upon the nearest sentry who, not expecting +the attack, went down with a clatter of armor and +a shout of astonishment. The next instant the old +man was making across the intervening space between +the camp and Jerusalem as fast as his stiff legs could +carry him. +</p> + +<p> +The purple sentry sprang to his feet and strung an +arrow, but before he could send it singing, the old +minotaur was mixed with a second soldier in such confusion +that the first sentry hesitated to shoot lest he +should kill his fellow. Another moment and a second +soldier was struggling in the impediment of his +armor in the dust and the old mute was again hobbling +straight away toward the walls of Jerusalem. +He was now a fair mark for the first sentry, but that +Roman's rancor died after he had seen his own disgrace +covered by the overthrow of his fellow. Two +of Titus' scouts next stood in the path of the running +old man. One went to the ground so suddenly and so +violently that the watchers, now breaking into howls +of delight, knew that he had been tripped. The +other stood but a moment longer, than he, too, rolled +into the dust. +</p> + +<p> +The old man might have gone no farther at this +juncture, for at every latest triumph he left a crimson +soldier murderous with shame. But before the +arrow next strung to overtake him could fly, Titus, +Carus and Nicanor, accompanied by their escort, rode +between the fugitive and the men he had defeated. +</p> + +<p> +"There goes our minotaur," Carus said quietly. +Titus drew up his horse and looked. Nicanor with a +sidelong glance awaited the young Roman's command +to his escort to ride down the fugitive. But he +waited, and continued to wait, while Titus with lifted +head and with indecision in his eyes watched the deformed +old shape hobble on toward the Wall of Circumvallation. +</p> + +<p> +"Shall we let him go?" Nicanor inquired coldly. +</p> + +<p> +"If some of my legionaries or those erratic Jews +fail to get him between here and Jerusalem, he shall +get into Jerusalem. But by Hector, he will earn his +entry!" +</p> + +<p> +They saw the old man mount by the causeway of +earth which the Romans had built over the siege +wall for the passage of the troops, saw him an instant +outlined against the sky on the summit, and +the next instant he disappeared. +</p> + +<p> +Titus touched his horse and rode at a trot toward +the causeway himself. He would see the end of this +mad venture. +</p> + +<p> +In the hour of sunrise the sentinel above the North +Gate in the Old Wall saw among the ruins of the +houses of Coenopolis a figure dodging painfully +hither and thither. It was not habited in the brasses +of the Roman armor. Also, it hobbled as if lame and +ran toward the gate fast closed below the sentry. +</p> + +<p> +The Jew, too intensely interested in the great climax +enacting in the city below, ceased to remark on +this figure. +</p> + +<p> +Presently, however, he looked again into ruined +Coenopolis. He saw there this un-uniformed figure +wrapped in fierce embrace with a young legionary. +Almost before the sentry's astonishment shaped itself +into exclamation, the legionary was tumbled aside as +if crushed and the old figure hobbled on. +</p> + +<p> +Suddenly there appeared in the path of the wayfarer +a galloping horseman, who drew his mount back +on his haunches, then spurred him to ride down the +old man. +</p> + +<p> +The sentry on the Old Wall made a choked sound, +unslung his bow and sent an arrow singing. There +was a shout and the figure of the horseman plunged +from his saddle face down on the earth. +</p> + +<p> +The wayfarer flung himself away and rushed toward +the wall, only a little distance away. +</p> + +<p> +But all Coenopolis seemed to swarm now with legionaries, +afoot or horseback. +</p> + +<p> +The Jewish sentry rushed to the edge of the tower +overhanging the gate. +</p> + +<p> +"Open!" he shouted below. "One cometh!" +</p> + +<p> +With a rattle and clang of falling bars and chains +the gate of the Old Wall swung. +</p> + +<p> +Disregarding the known wishes of Titus, two of +the legionaries simultaneously let fly their javelins. +But the mute, hobbling uncertainly, was not +a steady mark and under the whistle of arrows received +and sent, he blundered up the causeway leading +to the Gate of the Old Wall, and the portal slowly +and ponderously closed behind him. +</p> + +<p> +Wild howls of derision and exultation went up from +the Jews. Many of the soldiers clambered down to +satisfy their curiosity about the latest addition to +the starving garrison. But he proved to be a deformed +old man, mute and weary, who was distressed +for fear he would be detained by them and who hobbled +out into the besieged city and posted as fast as +his legs could carry him toward the house of Amaryllis, +the Seleucid. +</p> + +<p> +But at the edge of a great open space where the +Herodian palaces had stood he came upon a concourse +which seemed to be all Jerusalem. It was a gaunt +horde, shouting, raging, prophesying and drowning +the roar of battle at the Temple fortifications with +the sound of religious frenzy. +</p> + +<p> +Momus, fresh from the orderly camp of Titus, +was struck with terror. He would have retreated +and followed some side street toward his destination, +when he caught sight of a girl on the very outskirts +of this mob. Momus laid a trembling hand on her +arm. She threw up her head with a start. +</p> + + + + + +<h2 id="ch22">Chapter XXII</h2> + +<h2>VANISHED HOPES</h2> + + +<p> +The tremulous old man, weakened from his long +and superhuman struggle to enter the doomed city, +held Laodice to his breast while she stroked his rough +cheeks and murmured things that he did not hear and +which she did not realize in the rush of her helplessness +and dismay. +</p> + +<p> +At the corner of Moriah and the Old Wall, the +tumult was infernal. Out of the suffocating sallow +smoke from the tuns of burning tar heaved over the +fortification upon the engines and their managers, +the stones from the catapults soared into view and +fell upon the sun-colored marbles that paved the +Court of the Gentiles. Clouded by the vapor, targets +for the immense missiles, the Jews heaving and writhing +in personal encounters appeared black and inhuman. +Every combatant shouted; the great stones +screamed; the boiling pitch hissed and roared, and +the thunder of the conflict shook the Temple to its +very foundations. +</p> + +<p> +Without, the Romans planted scaling ladders, +mounted them and were pitched backward into the +moat regularly. Regularly, the ladders were set up +again after struggle, mounted without hesitation and +thrown down again, with an inevitability which furnished +a grim travesty to the struggle. The two +remaining towers were set in position against the +base of Moriah and resumed execution. One after +another the engines of the Romans were hauled into +position, and worked unceasingly until covered with +burning oil from the battlements above and consumed. +Others were hauled into place; fresh detachments +of Romans seized upon the scaling-ladders or +mounted to the towers, and the roar of the conflict +never abated. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile on the slopes of Zion the whole of +Jerusalem, gaunt, dying and demoniacal, was packed +in the ruins of the palace of Herod. +</p> + +<p> +Old Momus with triumph and tearful exultation +was holding out to Laodice a heavy roll of writings, +dangling important seals, ancient papers showing +yellow beside the fresh parchment, and an old record +dark with long handling. +</p> + +<p> +Here were the proofs of her identity! +</p> + +<p> +Laodice shrank from him with a gasp that was +almost a cry. Behold, the faithful old servant had +suffered she knew not what to bring such evidence +as would force her to do that which she believed she +could not do and survive! +</p> + +<p> +Momus sought to put the papers in her hands, +but she thrust them away and he stood looking at +her in amazement and sorrow. +</p> + +<p> +Nathan, the Christian, stood close to her. From +the opposite side, Philadelphus rounded the outskirts +of the mob, searching. He did not see her. She +flung herself between Momus and Nathan and cowered +down until Philadelphus had passed from sight. +When she lifted her head, Momus was gazing at her +with the light of shocked comprehension growing in +his eyes. Nathan, the Christian, touched her. +</p> + +<p> +"Who was that man?" he asked gravely. +</p> + +<p> +She rose and laid her hands on the Christian's +shoulders. +</p> + +<p> +"My husband," she said. +</p> + +<p> +Something had happened at the Temple. She +saw the Jews at the wall recoil from the dust of battle, +rally, plunge in and disappear. From out that +presently shone now and again, then with increasing +frequency and finally in great numbers, the brass +mail of Roman legionaries. Titus' forces had scaled +the wall. +</p> + +<p> +From her position, she saw running toward them +John of Gischala, with his long garments whipping +about him, wrapping his tall figure in live cerements. +He was disarmed and bleeding. She saw next +Amaryllis, with compassionate uplifted hands stop in +his way; saw next the Gischalan thrust her aside +with a blow and the next instant disappear as if the +earth had swallowed him. +</p> + +<p> +Nathan was speaking to her. +</p> + +<p> +"How often, O my daughter, we recognize truth +and deny it because it does not give us our way! +God put a sense of the right in us. We transgress +it oftener than we mistake it!" +</p> + +<p> +The roar of the turning battle and the mob about +her drowned his next words, except, +</p> + +<p> +"You can not be happy in iniquity; neither +blessed; but you are sure to be afraid. Right has +its own terror, but there is at least courage in being +right, against your desires." +</p> + +<p> +He was talking continuously, but only at times +did the wind from the uproar sweep his fervent words +to her. +</p> + +<p> +"Christ had His own conflict with Himself. What +had become of us had He listened to the tempter +in the wilderness, or failed to accept the cup in the +Garden of Gethsemane! How much we have the happiness +of Christ in our hands! Alas! that His should +be a sorrowful countenance in Heaven! +</p> + +<p> +"The love of a man for a woman was near to the +Master's heart! How can you feel that you must +love and be loved in spite of Him! Pity yourself +all you may you can not then be pitied so much as +He pities you! +</p> + +<p> +"Love as long and as wilfully as you will, and +then it is only a little space. The time of the supremacy +of Christ cometh surely, and that is all eternity! +Which will you do–please yourself for an +hour, or be pleased by the will of God through all +time? Love is in the hands of the Lord; you can +not consign it longer than the little span of your life +to the hands of the devil." +</p> + +<p> +Momus, in whose mind had passed an immense +surmise, was again at her side. +</p> + +<p> +"O daughter of a noble father," his dumb gaze +said, "wilt thou put away that virtue which was +born in thee and let my labor come to naught?" +</p> + +<p> +But the preaching of Nathan and the reproach of +Momus were feeble, compared to the great tumult +that went on in her soul. She had seen John of +Gischala cast Amaryllis aside. Even the Greek's +sympathy was hateful to him. Yet when Laodice +had first entered the house of Amaryllis, the woman +had been obliged to dismiss John from her presence +for his own welfare and the welfare of the city. +Why this change? +</p> + +<p> +Amaryllis was no less beautiful, no less brilliant, +no less attractive than she had once been; but the +Gischalan had wearied of her. +</p> + +<p> +Laodice recalled that she had not been surprised +to see the man throw Amaryllis aside. It seemed +to be the logical outcome of love such as theirs. +How, then, was she to escape that which no other +woman escaped who loved without law? In the soul +of that stranger who had called himself Hesper, were +lofty ideals, which had not been the least charm +which had attracted her to him. Was she, then, to +dislodge these holy convictions, to take her place in +his heart as one falling short of them, or were they +still to exist as standards which he loved and which +she could not reach? In either event, how long would +he love–what was the length of her probation before +she, too, would encounter the inevitable weariness? +</p> + +<p> +It occurred to her, then, how nearly the natural +law of such love paralleled the religious prohibition +that the Christian had shown to her. However harsh +and unjust the sentence seemed, it was rational. With +her own eyes she had seen its predictions borne out. +Already the relief of the sorrowing righteous possessed +her. She turned to the Christian. +</p> + +<p> +"Take me to my husband," she said. "Now! +While I have strength." +</p> + +<p> +Momus caught the old Christian by the arm and, +signing eagerly that he would lead, hurried away in +advance of the two down into the ravine and crossed +to the house of Amaryllis. +</p> + +<p> +There were no soldiers to stop them about the +house. When no response was made to her knock, +Laodice opened the door and passed in. +</p> + +<p> +Her old conductors followed her. +</p> + +<p> +Amaryllis sat in her ivory chair; opposite her in +the exedra was Philadelphus. At sight of him, the +last of the soft color went out of Laodice's face. A +curve of despair marked the corners of her mouth +and she seemed to grow old before those that looked +at her. +</p> + +<p> +Philadelphus and the Greek sprang to their feet, +the instant the group entered. +</p> + +<p> +Laodice waited for no preliminary. Amaryllis' +design was patent to her; it was part of her sorrow +that now Hesper would be free to the devices of this +deceitful woman. So she did not look at the Greek. +She addressed Philadelphus in a voice from which all +hope and vivacity had gone. +</p> + +<p> +"I have brought proofs. Behold them!" +</p> + +<p> +Nathan, the Christian, stood forth. +</p> + +<p> +"I, Nathan of Jerusalem, met and talked with +this Laodice, daughter of Costobarus, in company +with Aquila, the Ephesian, three men-servants in all +the panoply and state of a coming princess three +leagues out of Ascalon, her native city. I buried by +the roadside her father, who died of pestilence on their +journey hither. I bear witness that she is the daughter +of Costobarus and thy wedded wife." +</p> + +<p> +A great light sprang into the face of the Greek. +Philadelphus, nervous, albeit the news he heard filled +him with pleasure, stood and waited. +</p> + +<p> +The Christian stepped back and Momus, bowing, +approached and handed the leather roll into the none +too steady hands of the Ephesian. He opened it and +drew forth parchments. +</p> + +<p> +Aloud he read a minute description of Laodice +from the rabbi of the synagogue in Ascalon; under +the great seals of the Roman state, he found and read +the oath of the prefect, that such a maiden as the +rabbi had described had been married before him to +Philadelphus Maccabaeus fourteen years before. +Then followed the depositions of forty Jews and Gentiles +who were nurses, tradesmen and other people like +to have daily contact with the young woman in her +house, setting entirely at naught any claim that Laodice +was other than the wife who had been supplanted +by an adventuress. Philadelphus did not +read them all. Before he made an end he dropped +the documents and flung wide his arms. But Laodice +with a countenance frozen with suffering held him off +for a moment. +</p> + +<p> +"Go," she said to the old Christian, "unto Hesper +and lead him into the belief of the Lord Jesus +Christ which is mine." +</p> + +<p> +The old Christian approached the fountain in the +center of the andronitis and taking up water in his +palm sprinkled a few drops on her hair while she +knelt. +</p> + +<p> +"In the name of the Father and the Son and the +Holy Ghost, I baptize thee, Laodice. Amen!" +</p> + +<p> +While she knelt, he said: +</p> + +<p> +"I shall search for him also. Christ have mercy +on thee now and for ever. Farewell." +</p> + +<p> +He was gone. +</p> + + + + + +<h2 id="ch23">Chapter XXIII</h2> + +<h2>THE FULFILMENT</h2> + + +<p> +When Nathan, the Christian, stepped into the +streets once more there was an immense accession of +tumult about him. +</p> + +<p> +He turned to look toward the corner of the Old +Wall in time to behold Jews in armor and Romans +in blazing brass rush together in a great cloud of +dust as the Old Wall went in and Titus swept down +upon Jerusalem. +</p> + +<p> +At the same instant from the ruined high place +upon Zion came a roar of stupendous menace. The +Christian, with sublime indifference to danger, kept +his path toward the concourse from which he had +taken Laodice. As he ascended the opposite slope of +the ravine, he saw, descending toward the battle, the +front of a rushing multitude, as irresistible and as +destructive as a great sea in a storm. +</p> + +<p> +He saw that the mob was turning toward Akra, +and to avoid it, the Christian climbed up to the Tyropean +Bridge, and from that point viewed the whole +of Jerusalem sweeping down upon the heathen. +</p> + +<p> +At the head of the inundation passed a melodious +voice crying: +</p> + +<p> +"An end, an end is come upon the four corners of +the land! Draw near every man with his destroying +weapon in his hands for the glory of the Lord! For +His house is filled with cloud and the Court is full +of the brightness of the Lord's glory! A sword! +A sword is sharpened! The way is appointed that +the sword may come! For the time for favor to +Zion is here; yea, the set time is come!" +</p> + +<p> +After this poured a gaunt horde numbering tens +of thousands. They bore paving-stones, stakes, +posts, railings, garden implements, weapons from +kitchens, from hardware booths and from armories; +anything that one man or a body of men could wield; +torches and kettles of tar; chains and ropes; knotted +whips, and bundles of fagots; iron spikes, instruments +of torture, anything and everything which +could be turned as a weapon or to inflict pain upon +the Roman, who believed at this moment that Jerusalem +was his! +</p> + +<p> +The Christian overlooked this ferocious inundation +and shook his head. On a mound near him stood the +spirit of the mob concentrated and personified. It +was crazed Posthumus. +</p> + +<p> +He was screaming: "It is finished; the law is run +out! All prophecy is fulfilled!" +</p> + +<p> +And over his head he was swinging a parchment +fiercely burning. +</p> + +<p> +It was the Scroll of the Law! +</p> + +<p> +After uncounted minutes, vibrating with roar, the +terrible flood rushed by. Feeble arms clasped the +Christian about the knees and he looked down on the +tangled white locks of the palsied man, who had +searched for him until he had found him. The Christian +laid his hand on the man's head but did not +speak. +</p> + +<p> +At the breach in the Old Wall, the watchers on that +almost deserted street saw the brazen wave of four +legions gather and sweep forward to gain ground +in the city before the mob swept down on them. +</p> + +<p> +Between the two warring bodies, one orderly, prepared +but apprehensive, the other mad and perishing, +was a considerable space. Fighting still went +on at the breach in the walls, but the supreme conflict +of a comparatively small body of soldiers and +an uncounted horde was not yet precipitated. +</p> + +<p> +Ordinarily, the Roman army could have reduced +any popular insurrection with half that number of +men. But at present the legionaries confronted desperate +citizens who were simply choosing their own +way to die. Reason and human fear long since had +ceased to inspire them. They were believing now +and following a prophet because it was the final respite +before despair. There was no alternative. It +was death whatever they did, unless, in truth, this +splendid sorceress was indeed the Voice of the Risen +Prince. Force would be of no avail against them. +Madness had flung them against Rome; only some +other madness would turn them back. +</p> + +<p> +The Christian, from his commanding position, expected +anything. +</p> + +<p> +It was the moment which would show if the false +prophet would triumph. If the four legions went +down before the multitude, it would mean the ascendancy +of a strange woman over Israel, and the obliteration +of the faith in Jesus Christ in the Holy Land. +</p> + +<p> +It can not be said that the Christian watched the +crisis with a calm spirit. He did not wish to see the +heathen overthrow the ancient people of God, nor +could he behold the triumph of a false Christ. He +put his hands together and prayed. +</p> + +<p> +A figure appeared between the two bodies of combatants, +rushing on intensely, to grapple. +</p> + +<p> +It was a tall commanding form, clothed in garments +that glittered for whiteness. By the step, by +the poise of the head, the Christian recognized Seraiah. +</p> + +<p> +The front of the multitude fell on their faces at +that moment as if he had struck them down. +</p> + +<p> +Out of the forefront, the prophetess appeared. +The Christian heard her splendid voice out of the +uproar, and while he gazed, he saw mad Seraiah +turn away from her, with the front of the mob turning +after him, as a needle turns to the pole. +</p> + +<p> +In that fatal moment of pause, out of which the +warning cry of the prophetess rang wildly, the Roman +tribune, in view for a moment under the blowing +veils of smoke, flung up his sword, the Roman bugle +sang, and the brassy legions of Titus hurled themselves +upon the halted mob. +</p> + +<p> +The Christian dropped his head into the bend of +his elbow and strove to shut out the sound. The nervous +arms of the palsied man at his feet gripped him +frantically. +</p> + +<p> +Up from the corner of the Old Wall, came the prolonged +"A-a-a-a!" of dying thousands. +</p> + +<p> +Jerusalem had fallen. +</p> + +<p> +The foremost of the mob, turning with Seraiah, +escaped the onslaught of the Romans, and as the mad +Pretender strode toward the broad street from which +the Tyropean Bridge crossed to the demesnes of the +Temple, they followed him fatuously, blind to +the death behind them and the oncoming slaughter +in which they might fall. +</p> + +<p> +Seraiah passed above the spot where the sorrowful +Christian stood, crossed the great causeway leading +toward the Royal Portico and after him six thousand +blind and insane enthusiasts followed, expecting imminent +miracle. Above them towered the heights of +Moriah, now veiled in smoke. Up the great white +bank of stairs they rushed after him, facing an ordeal +which must mean a baptism in fire, and on through +a curtain of luminous smoke into a gate pillared in +flame, up into the Royal Portico, resounding with +the tread of the advancing Destroyer, out into the +great Court of Gentiles wrapped in cloud through +which the Temple showed, a stupendous cube of heat, +through the Gate Beautiful where the Keeper no +longer stood, thence into the Women's Court, raftered +with red coals, up smoking stones tier upon tier +till the roof of the Royal Portico was reached. +</p> + +<p> +At the brink of the pinnacle, they saw through +tumbling clouds Seraiah towering. He was looking +down through masses of smoke upon the City of +Delight, perishing. They who had followed watched, +uplifted with terror and frenzy, and while they +waited for the miracle which should save, the roof +crumbled under them and a grave of thrice heated +rock received them and covered them up. +</p> + +<p> +Below, Nathan, the Christian, seized upon the +shoulders of the Maccabee as he was dashing after +the thousands. His face was black with terror for +Laodice. He struggled to throw off Nathan, crying +futilely against the uproar that Laodice was perishing. +</p> + +<p> +"Comfort thee!" the Christian shouted in his +ear. "She is saved. She sent me to thee." +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee stopped, as if he realized that he +need not go on, but had not comprehended what was +said to him. +</p> + +<p> +Nathan dragged him out of the way, still choked +with people struggling to pass on to the Temple or +to flee from it. Half-way down the Vale of Gihon, +where speech was a little more possible, the Maccabee, +who had been crying questions, made the old +man hear. +</p> + +<p> +"Where is she? Where is she?" +</p> + +<p> +"She has returned to her husband. In love with +thee, she has done that only which she could do and +escape sin. She has gone to shelter with him whom +she does not love!" +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee seized his head in his hands. +</p> + +<p> +"It is like her–like her!" he groaned. +</p> + +<p> +In the Christian's heart he knew how narrowly +Laodice had made her lover's mark for her. +</p> + +<p> +"It is her wish," Nathan continued, "that I teach +thee Christ whom she hath received." +</p> + +<p> +"How can I receive Him, when He sent her from +me?" the unhappy man groaned, unconscious of his +contradictions. +</p> + +<p> +"How canst thou reject Him when His teaching +led thy love to do that which thine own lips have +confessed to be the better thing?" +</p> + +<p> +"Then what of myself, when I love where I should +not love?" the Maccabee insisted. +</p> + +<p> +"You may suffer and sin not," the Christian said +kindly. +</p> + +<p> +The unhappy man dropped to his knees. +</p> + +<p> +"O Christ, why should I resist Thee!" he groaned. +"Thou hast stripped me and made me see that my +loss is good!" +</p> + +<p> +The Christian laid his hands on the Maccabee's +head. +</p> + +<p> +"Dost thou believe?" he asked. +</p> + +<p> +"Will Christ accept me, coming because I must?" +</p> + +<p> +"It is not laid down how we shall baptize in the +thirst of a famine," Nathan said, "yet He who sees +fit to deny water never yet hath denied grace." +</p> + +<p> +But the Christian's hand extended over the kneeling +man was caught in a grip steadied with intense +emotion. The unknown had seized him. +</p> + +<p> +But for his feeling that this interruption was necessary +to the welfare of another soul, the Christian +would not have paused in his ministry. +</p> + +<p> +The phantom straightened himself with a superb +reinvestment of manhood. +</p> + +<p> +"Thou, son of the Maccabee, Philadelphus!" he +exclaimed to the kneeling man. +</p> + +<p> +The Ephesian's arms sank. +</p> + +<p> +"Who art thou that knoweth me?" he asked in a +dead voice. +</p> + +<p> +"I am all that plague and sin hath left of thy +servant Aquila," the phantom declared. +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee lifted his face for what should follow +this revelation. It was only a manifestation of +his subjection to another will than his own. He was +not interested–he who was hoping to die. +</p> + +<p> +"Hear me, and curse me!" Aquila went on. "But +save thy wife yet. I say unto thee, master, that she +whom thou hast sheltered in the cavern is thy wife, +Laodice!" +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee struggled up to his feet and gazed +with stunned and unbelieving eyes at this wreck of +his pagan servant, who went on precipitately. +</p> + +<p> +"Her I plotted against at the instigation of +Julian of Ephesus. Her, my mistress, Salome the +Cyprian, robbed and hath impersonated thus long to +her safety in the house of the Greek. This hour, +through ignorance of thine own identity, through my +fault, she hath gone reluctantly to his arms. Curse +me and let me die!" +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee seized the hair at his temples. For +a moment the awful gaze he bent upon Aquila seemed +to show that the gentler spirit had been dislodged +from his heart. Then he cried: +</p> + +<p> +"God help us both, Aquila! My fault was greater +than thine!" +</p> + +<p> +He turned and fled toward the house of the Greek. +</p> + +<p> +The four legions of Titus swept after him. +</p> + +<p> +Aquila lifted his eyes for the first time and gazed +at Nathan. +</p> + +<p> +"I cursed thee for sparing me to such an existence +as was mine! Behold, father, thou didst bless me, +instead. I am ready to die." +</p> + +<p> +"Wait," the Christian said peacefully. +</p> + +<p> +A moment later, the Maccabee dashed into the +andronitis of Amaryllis. +</p> + +<p> +After him sprang a terrified servant crying: +</p> + +<p> +"The Roman! The Roman is upon us!" +</p> + +<p> +A roar of such magnitude that it penetrated the +stone walls of Amaryllis' house, swept in after the +servant. Quaking menials began to pour into the +hall. Among them came the blue-eyed girl, the +athlete and Juventius the Swan. These three joined +their mistress who stood under a hanging lamp. +Into the passage from the court, left open by the +frightened servants, swept the prolonged outcry of +perishing Jerusalem. Over it all thundered the boom +of the siege-engines shaking the earth. +</p> + +<p> +The slaves slipped down upon their knees and +began to groan together. The silver coins on the +lamp began to swing; the brass cyanthus which +Amaryllis had recently drained of her last drink of +wine moved gradually to the edge of the pedestal +upon which she had placed it. +</p> + +<p> +The dual nature of the uproar was now distinct; +organized warfare and popular disaster at the same +time. The Roman was sweeping up the ancient +ravine. Jerusalem had fallen. +</p> + +<p> +The gradual crescendo now attained deafening +proportions; the hanging lamp increased its swing; +the silver coins began to strike together with keen +and exquisitely fine music. Juventius the Swan, +with his dim eyes filled with horror, was looking at +them. The peculiar desperate indifference of the +wholly hopeless seized him. His long white hands +began to move with the motion of the lamp; the +music of the meeting coins became regular; he caught +the note, and mounting, with a bound, the rostrum +that had been his Olympus all his life, began to sing. +The melody of his glorious voice struggled only a +moment for supremacy with the uproar of imminent +death and then his increasing exaltation gave him +triumph. The great hall shook with the magnificent +power of his only song! +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee confronted Amaryllis, with fierce +question in his eyes. She pointed calmly at the heavy +white curtain pulled to one side and caught on a +bracket. The brass wicket over the black mouth of +the tunnel was wide. +</p> + +<p> +Without a word, the Maccabee plunged into it and +was swallowed up. +</p> + +<p> +Amaryllis looked after him. +</p> + +<p> +"And no farewell?" she said. +</p> + +<p> +The thunder of assault began at her door. Juventius +sang it down. The athlete and the girl crept +toward the mouth of the black passage, wavered a +moment and plunged in. After them tumbled a confusion +of artists and servants who were swallowed up, +and the hall was filled only with music. +</p> + +<p> +The woman by the lectern and the singer on the +rostrum had chosen. To live without beauty and to +live without love were not possible to the one who +had known beauty all his life, to the one who had +learned love so late–after she had been beggared +of her dowry of purity. +</p> + +<p> +There was hardly an appreciable interval between +the time of the desertion of her artists and the thunder +of assault at her door, but in that space there +passed before Amaryllis that useless retrospect which +is death's recapitulation of the life it means to take. +And out of that long procession, she singled one conviction +which made the step of the Roman on her +threshold welcome. It was an old, old moral, so old +that it had never had weight with her, who believed +it was time to reconstruct the whole artistic attitude +of the world. +</p> + +<p> +And that was why she waited impatiently at her +doorway for death, which was a kinder thing than +life. +</p> + + + + + +<h2 id="ch24">Chapter XXIV</h2> + +<h2>THE ROAD TO PELLA</h2> + + +<p> +There was no incident in the Maccabee's long +struggle through the inky blackness of the tunnel +leading under Moriah. +</p> + +<p> +It was night when the first new air from the outside +world reached him. So he rushed into great +open darkness, lighted with stars, before he knew that +he had emerged from the underground passage. +</p> + +<p> +Entire silence after the turmoil which had shaken +Jerusalem for many months fell almost like a blow +upon his unaccustomed ears. The air was sweet. He +had not breathed sweet air since May. The hills +were solitary. Week in and week out, he had never +been away from the sound of groaning thousands. +Not since he had assumed his disguise to Laodice in +the wilderness had he been close to the immemorial +repose of nature. All his primitive manhood rushed +back to him, now infuriated with a fear that his love +was the spoil of another. +</p> + +<p> +All instinct became alert; all his intelligence and +resource assembled to his aid. It came to him as +inspiration always occurs at such times, that if the +pair proceeded rationally, they would move toward a +secure place at once. Pella occurred to him in a +happy moment. +</p> + +<p> +He took his bearings by the stars and hurried +north and east. +</p> + +<p> +He came upon a road presently, almost obliterated +by a summer's drift of dust and sand. It had been +long since any one had gone up that way to Jerusalem. +There was no moon to show him whether there +were any recent marks of fugitives fleeing that way. +</p> + +<p> +He did not expect that Julian of Ephesus would +have courage to halt within sight of the glow on the +western horizon which was the burning from the +Temple. He expected the Ephesian to flee far and +long, and in that consciousness of the cowardice of +his enemy he based his hope. +</p> + +<p> +But he ran tirelessly, seeking right and left, +led on by instinct toward the Christian city in the +north. +</p> + +<p> +At times, his terror for Laodice made him cry out; +again, he made violent pictures of his revenge upon +Julian; and at other moments, he believed, while +drops stood on his forehead from the effort of faith, +that his new Christ would save her yet. There were +moments when he was ready to die of despair, when +he wondered at himself attempting to trace Julian +with all the directions of wild Judea to invite the +fugitives. Why might they not have fled toward +Arabia as well, or even toward the sea? Perhaps +they had not gone far, but had hidden in the rock, +and had been left behind. Conflicting argument +strove to turn him from his path, but the old instinct, +final resource after the mind gives up the puzzle, +kept him straight on the road to Pella. +</p> + +<p> +He came upon the rear of a flock of sheep, heading +away from him. A Natolian sheep-dog, galloping +hither and thither in his labor at keeping them +moving, scented the new-comer. There was a quick +savage bark that heightened at the end in an excited +yelp of welcome. The shepherd, a dim figure at the +head of the flock, turned in time to see his dog leaping +upon the Maccabee. +</p> + +<p> +"Down, Urge," the shepherd cried. +</p> + +<p> +"Joseph, in the name of God," the Maccabee cried, +"where is Laodice?" +</p> + +<p> +He threw off the excited dog and rushed toward +the boy, who turned back at the cry with extended +hands. +</p> + +<p> +"True to thy promise, friend, friend!" the boy +cried. "She is here!" +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee stiffened. +</p> + +<p> +"Is there one with her?" he demanded fiercely. +</p> + +<p> +"A man and her servant." +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee threw off the boy's hands. +</p> + +<p> +"Where?" he cried. +</p> + +<p> +"Ahead of the sheep," the boy said a little uncertainly. +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee dashed through the flock and rounding +a turn in the road came upon Laodice walking; +behind her Momus; at her side was Julian of Ephesus. +</p> + +<p> +Immense strain had sharpened their sense of fear +until it was as acute as an instinct. Before the +sound of the Maccabee's furious approach reached +Julian, the Ephesian whirled. +</p> + +<p> +Towering over him, the very picture of retribution, +was the man he had left, apparently dead by +his hand, by the roadside in the hills of Judea months +and months before. +</p> + +<p> +For an instant, Julian stood petrified. Over his +lips came a faint, frozen whisper that Laodice heard–that +was proof enough to her, the moment after. +</p> + +<p> +"Philadelphus–Maccabaeus!" +</p> + +<p> +When his outraged kinsman put out vengeful +hands to seize him, the Maccabee grasped the air. +Julian of Ephesus had vanished! +</p> + + +<hr /> + +<p> +Among the rocks at the base of the cliff that sheltered +Christian Pella from the rude winds of the +Perean mountains, the procurator of the city, Philadelphus +Maccabaeus, and his wife, Laodice, sat side +by side in the morning sun. There was a path little +wider than a man's hand wandering along below them +toward a well in the hollow of the rocks. Along this +way, in early morning, Joseph, the shepherd, was +in the habit of driving his sheep to drink. And +hither the procurator and his wife came to visit the +boy from time to time. Within their hall, there was +too much state. Something in the wild open of +Judea with its winds gave them all an ease whenever +they wished to talk with Joseph. +</p> + +<p> +But the shepherd was not in sight. The pair sat +down and waited for him. +</p> + +<p> +Laodice rested against her husband's arm, laid +along the rock behind her. Presently he freed that +arm and with the ease of much usage withdrew the +bodkins from her hair. The heavy coil dropped over +his breast down to his knee. With delicate touches +he began to free from the splendid tangle a single +strand of glistening white hair. When she saw it +shining like spun silver across the back of his hand, +she looked up at him. With infinite care he searched +her face, while she waited with questioning in her +tender eyes. +</p> + +<p> +"This," he said, lifting the hand that supported +the silver threads, "is the sole evidence that thou +hast seen the abomination of desolation." +</p> + +<p> +"And that came the night I journeyed away from +Jerusalem, without you," she declared. "But, my +Philadelphus," she said, turning herself a little that +she might hide her face away from him, "had I +stayed with you against my conscience, I had been +by this time wholly white." +</p> + +<p> +He kissed her. +</p> + +<p> +"I did not expect you to stay," he said. "I knew +from the beginning that you would not. Ask Joseph. +He will bear me out." +</p> + +<p> +Low on the slope of the hill, the shepherd approached, +calling his sheep that trailed after him contentedly +by the hundreds. The excited bark of Urge, +the sheep-dog, came up faintly to them. +</p> + +<p> +While they leaned watching them, old Momus, bent +and broken, stood before them. Laodice hurriedly +drew away from her husband's clasp. It was a habit +she had never entirely shaken off, whenever the mute +appeared, in spite of the old man's pathetic dumb +protest. +</p> + +<p> +He handed a linen scroll to his master. +</p> + +<p> +It read: +</p> + + +<blockquote> +<p> +The captives whom thou hast asked for freedom at Cęsar's +hand are this day sent to thee, Philadelphus, under escort. +They should reach thee a little later than this messenger. +However, it is Cęsar's pain to inform thee that the Greek +Amaryllis as well as the actress Salome were not to be found. +Julian of Ephesus, who named the woman for us, is here at +Cęsarea, but being a Roman citizen, is not a captive. However +it shall be seen to that his liberty is sufficiently curtailed +for the welfare of the public. Also, I send herewith a shittim-wood +casket found with John of Gischala when he was captured +in a cavern under Jerusalem. It contains treasure and +certain writings which identify it as property of thy wife. +There were other features in it which, coming to my hand +first, made it advisable that the State should not know of its +existence. And privately, it will be wise in thee to destroy +them. +</p> +</blockquote> + +<p> +The Maccabee stopped at this point and looked at +Laodice. +</p> + +<p> +"What does he mean?" he asked. +</p> + +<p> +"My father put your last letter in the case," she +said, with a little panic in her face. +</p> + +<p> +The Maccabee laughed, and went on, +</p> + +<blockquote> +<p> +Those that go forward to thee are Nathan of Jerusalem +and Aquila of Ephesus. To thy wife my obeisances. To +thyself, greeting. +</p> + +<p> +CARUS, TRIBUNE. +</p> +</blockquote> + + +<p> +THE END +</p> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The City of Delight, by Elizabeth Miller + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CITY OF DELIGHT *** + +***** This file should be named 15953-h.htm or 15953-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/5/9/5/15953/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Stefan Cramme and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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