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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Last of the Legions and Other Tales of
+Long Ago, by Arthur Conan Doyle
+
+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 Last of the Legions and Other Tales of Long Ago
+
+Author: Arthur Conan Doyle
+
+Release Date: July 31, 2008 [EBook #26153]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LAST OF THE LEGIONS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Chris Curnow, Joseph Cooper, Stephen Blundell
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+    THE LAST OF THE LEGIONS
+ _and Other Tales of Long Ago_
+
+        A. CONAN DOYLE
+
+
+
+
+                By SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
+
+
+_Novels and Stories_
+
+    DANGER! _And Other Stories_
+    THE DOINGS OF RAFFLES HAW
+    HIS LAST BOW
+      _Some Later Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes_
+    THE BLACK DOCTOR
+      _And Other Tales of Terror and Mystery_
+    THE MAN FROM ARCHANGEL
+      _And Other Tales of Adventure_
+    THE CROXLEY MASTER
+      _And Other Tales of the Ring and Camp_
+    THE GREAT KEINPLATZ EXPERIMENT
+      _And Other Tales of Twilight and the Unseen_
+    THE LAST OF THE LEGIONS
+      _And Other Tales of Long Ago_
+    THE DEALINGS OF CAPTAIN SHARKEY
+      _And Other Tales of Pirates_
+
+_On the Life Hereafter_
+
+    THE NEW REVELATION
+    THE VITAL MESSAGE
+    THE COMING OF THE FAIRIES
+    THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
+    THE WANDERINGS OF A SPIRITUALIST
+    OUR AMERICAN ADVENTURE
+
+_A History of the Great War_
+
+    THE BRITISH CAMPAIGN IN FRANCE AND FLANDERS--Six Vols.
+
+_Poems_
+
+    THE GUARDS CAME THROUGH
+
+
+                        NEW YORK
+                 GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY
+
+
+
+
+           THE LAST
+        OF THE LEGIONS
+ _and Other Tales of Long Ago_
+
+
+              BY
+        A. CONAN DOYLE
+
+
+           NEW YORK
+    GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY
+
+
+
+
+ COPYRIGHT, 1905, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911,
+       1913, 1914, 1918, 1919, 1922
+            BY A. CONAN DOYLE
+
+             COPYRIGHT, 1910,
+        BY CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
+
+             COPYRIGHT, 1911,
+   BY ASSOCIATED SUNDAY MAGAZINES, INC.
+
+             COPYRIGHT, 1908,
+          BY THE MCCLURE COMPANY
+
+          COPYRIGHT, 1900, 1902,
+       BY THE S. S. MCCLURE COMPANY
+
+
+                 [Device]
+
+ THE LAST OF THE LEGIONS AND OTHER TALES
+               OF LONG AGO
+
+                ----Q----
+
+ PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+                                   PAGE
+
+    I THE LAST OF THE LEGIONS         9
+
+   II THE LAST GALLEY                22
+
+  III THROUGH THE VEIL               37
+
+   IV THE COMING OF THE HUNS         47
+
+    V THE CONTEST                    68
+
+   VI THE FIRST CARGO                83
+
+  VII AN ICONOCLAST                  98
+
+ VIII GIANT MAXIMIN                 112
+
+   IX THE RED STAR                  141
+
+    X THE SILVER MIRROR             158
+
+   XI THE HOME-COMING               177
+
+  XII A POINT OF CONTACT            202
+
+ XIII THE CENTURION                 215
+
+
+
+
+THE LAST OF THE LEGIONS
+
+
+
+
+    THE LAST OF THE LEGIONS
+ _and Other Tales of Long Ago_
+
+
+
+
+I
+
+THE LAST OF THE LEGIONS
+
+
+Pontus, the Roman viceroy, sat in the atrium of his palatial villa by
+the Thames, and he looked with perplexity at the scroll of papyrus which
+he had just unrolled. Before him stood the messenger who had brought it,
+a swarthy little Italian, whose black eyes were glazed with want of
+sleep, and his olive features darker still from dust and sweat. The
+viceroy was looking fixedly at him, yet he saw him not, so full was his
+mind of this sudden and most unexpected order. To him it seemed as if
+the solid earth had given way beneath his feet. His life and the work of
+his life had come to irremediable ruin.
+
+"Very good," he said at last in a hard dry voice, "you can go."
+
+The man saluted and staggered out of the hall. A yellow-haired British
+major-domo came forward for orders.
+
+"Is the General there?"
+
+"He is waiting, your excellency."
+
+"Then show him in, and leave us together."
+
+A few minutes later Licinius Crassus, the head of the British military
+establishment, had joined his chief. He was a large, bearded man in a
+white civilian toga, hemmed with the Patrician purple. His rough, bold
+features, burned and seamed and lined with the long African wars, were
+shadowed with anxiety as he looked with questioning eyes at the drawn,
+haggard face of the viceroy.
+
+"I fear, your excellency, that you have had bad news from Rome."
+
+"The worst, Crassus. It is all over with Britain. It is a question
+whether even Gaul will be held."
+
+"Saint Albus save us! Are the orders precise?"
+
+"Here they are, with the Emperor's own seal."
+
+"But why? I had heard a rumour, but it had seemed too incredible."
+
+"So had I only last week, and had the fellow scourged for having spread
+it. But here it is as clear as words can make it: 'Bring every man of
+the Legions by forced marches to the help of the Empire. Leave not a
+cohort in Britain.' These are my orders."
+
+"But the cause?"
+
+"They will let the limbs wither so that the heart be stronger. The old
+German hive is about to swarm once more. There are fresh crowds of
+Barbarians from Dacia and Scythia. Every sword is needed to hold the
+Alpine passes. They cannot let three legions lie idle in Britain."
+
+The soldier shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"When the legions go no Roman would feel that his life was safe here.
+For all that we have done, it is none the less the truth that it is no
+country of ours, and that we hold it as we won it by the sword."
+
+"Yes, every man, woman, and child of Latin blood must come with us to
+Gaul. The galleys are already waiting at Portus Dubris. Get the orders
+out, Crassus, at once. As the Valerian legion falls back from the Wall
+of Hadrian it can take the northern colonists with it. The Jovians can
+bring in the people from the west, and the Batavians can escort the
+easterns if they will muster at Camboricum. You will see to it." He sank
+his face for a moment in his hands. "It is a fearsome thing," said he,
+"to tear up the roots of so goodly a tree."
+
+"To make more space for such a crop of weeds," said the soldier
+bitterly. "My God, what will be the end of these poor Britons! From
+ocean to ocean there is not a tribe which will not be at the throat of
+its neighbour when the last Roman Lictor has turned his back. With these
+hot-headed Silures it is hard enough now to keep the swords in their
+sheaths."
+
+"The kennel might fight as they choose among themselves until the best
+hound won," said the Roman Governor. "At least the victor would keep the
+arts and the religion which we have brought them, and Britain would be
+one land. No, it is the bear from the north and the wolves from oversea,
+the painted savage from beyond the walls and the Saxon pirate from over
+the water, who will succeed to our rule. Where we saved, they will
+slay; where we built, they will burn; where we planted, they will
+ravage. But the die is cast, Crassus. You will carry out the orders."
+
+"I will send out the messengers within an hour. This very morning there
+has come news that the Barbarians are through the old gap in the wall,
+and their outriders as far south as Vinovia."
+
+The Governor shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"These things concern us no longer," said he. Then a bitter smile broke
+upon his aquiline clean-shaven face. "Whom think you that I see in
+audience this morning?"
+
+"Nay, I know not."
+
+"Caradoc and Regnus, and Celticus the Icenian, who, like so many of the
+richer Britons, have been educated at Rome, and who would lay before me
+their plans as to the ruling of this country."
+
+"And what is their plan?"
+
+"That they themselves should do it."
+
+The Roman soldier laughed. "Well, they will have their will," said he,
+as he saluted and turned upon his heel. "Farewell, your excellency.
+There are hard days coming for you and for me."
+
+An hour later the British deputation was ushered into the presence of
+the Governor. They were good, steadfast men, men who with a whole heart,
+and at some risk to themselves, had taken up their country's cause, so
+far as they could see it. At the same time they well knew that under the
+mild and beneficent rule of Rome it was only when they passed from words
+to deeds that their backs or their necks would be in danger. They stood
+now, earnest and a little abashed, before the throne of the viceroy.
+Celticus was a swarthy, black-bearded little Iberian. Caradoc and Regnus
+were tall middle-aged men of the fair flaxen British type. All three
+were dressed in the draped yellow toga after the Latin fashion, instead
+of in the bracæ and tunic which distinguished their more insular
+fellow-countrymen.
+
+"Well?" asked the Governor.
+
+"We are here," said Celticus boldly, "as the spokesmen of a great number
+of our fellow-countrymen, for the purpose of sending our petition
+through you to the Emperor and to the Roman Senate, that we may urge
+upon them the policy of allowing us to govern this country after our
+own ancient fashion." He paused, as if awaiting some outburst as an
+answer to his own temerity; but the Governor merely nodded his head as a
+sign that he should proceed. "We had laws of our own before ever Cæsar
+set foot in Britain, which have served their purpose since first our
+forefathers came from the land of Ham. We are not a child among the
+nations, but our history goes back in our own traditions further even
+than that of Rome, and we are galled by this yoke which you have laid
+upon us."
+
+"Are not our laws just?" asked the Governor.
+
+"The code of Cæsar is just, but it is always the code of Cæsar. Our own
+laws were made for our own uses and our own circumstances, and we would
+fain have them again."
+
+"You speak Roman as if you had been bred in the Forum; you wear a Roman
+toga; your hair is filleted in Roman fashion--are not these the gifts of
+Rome?"
+
+"We would take all the learning and all the arts that Rome or Greece
+could give, but we would still be Britain, and ruled by Britons."
+
+The viceroy smiled. "By the rood of Saint Helena," said he, "had you
+spoken thus to some of my heathen ancestors, there would have been an
+end to your politics. That you have dared to stand before my face and
+say as much is a proof for ever of the gentleness of our rule. But I
+would reason with you for a moment upon this your request. You know well
+that this land has never been one kingdom, but was always under many
+chiefs and many tribes, who have made war upon each other. Would you in
+very truth have it so again?"
+
+"Those were in the evil pagan days, the days of the Druid and the
+oak-grove, your excellency. But now we are held together by a gospel of
+peace."
+
+The viceroy shook his head. "If all the world were of the same way of
+thinking, then it would be easier," said he. "It may be that this
+blessed doctrine of peace will be little help to you when you are face
+to face with strong men who still worship the god of war. What would you
+do against the Picts of the north?"
+
+"Your excellency knows that many of the bravest legionaries are of
+British blood. These are our defence."
+
+"But discipline, man, the power to command, the knowledge of war, the
+strength to act--it is in these things that you would fail. Too long
+have you leaned upon the crutch."
+
+"The times may be hard, but when we have gone through them, Britain will
+be herself again."
+
+"Nay, she will be under a different and a harsher master," said the
+Roman. "Already the pirates swarm upon the eastern coast. Were it not
+for our Roman Count of the Saxon shore they would land to-morrow. I see
+the day when Britain may, indeed, be one; but that will be because you
+and your fellows are either dead or are driven into the mountains of the
+west. All goes into the melting pot, and if a better Albion should come
+forth from it, it will be after ages of strife, and neither you nor your
+people will have part or lot in it."
+
+Regnus, the tall young Celt, smiled. "With the help of God and our own
+right arms we should hope for a better end," said he. "Give us but the
+chance, and we will bear the brunt."
+
+"You are as men that are lost," said the viceroy sadly. "I see this
+broad land, with its gardens and orchards, its fair villas and its
+walled towns, its bridges and its roads, all the work of Rome. Surely it
+will pass even as a dream, and these three hundred years of settled
+order will leave no trace behind. For learn that it will indeed be as
+you wish, and that this very day the orders have come to me that the
+legions are to go."
+
+The three Britons looked at each other in amazement. Their first impulse
+was towards a wild exultation, but reflection and doubt followed close
+upon its heels.
+
+"This is indeed wondrous news," said Celticus. "This is a day of days to
+the motherland. When do the legions go, your excellency, and what troops
+will remain behind for our protection?"
+
+"The legions go at once," said the viceroy. "You will doubtless rejoice
+to hear that within a month there will be no Roman soldier in the
+island, nor, indeed, a Roman of any sort, age, or sex, if I can take
+them with me."
+
+The faces of the Britons were shadowed, and Caradoc, a grave and
+thoughtful man, spoke for the first time.
+
+"But this is over sudden, your excellency," said he. "There is much
+truth in what you have said about the pirates. From my villa near the
+fort of Anderida I saw eighty of their galleys only last week, and I
+know well that they would be on us like ravens on a dying ox. For many
+years to come it would not be possible for us to hold them off."
+
+The viceroy shrugged his shoulders. "It is your affair now," said he.
+"Rome must look to herself."
+
+The last traces of joy had passed from the faces of the Britons.
+Suddenly the future had started up clearly before them, and they quailed
+at the prospect.
+
+"There is a rumour in the market-place," said Celticus, "that the
+northern Barbarians are through the gap in the wall. Who is to stop
+their progress?"
+
+"You and your fellows," said the Roman.
+
+Clearer still grew the future, and there was terror in the eyes of the
+spokesmen as they faced it.
+
+"But, your excellency, if the legions should go at once, we should have
+the wild Scots at York, and the Northmen in the Thames within the month.
+We can build ourselves up under your shield, and in a few years it would
+be easier for us; but not now, your excellency, not now."
+
+"Tut, man; for years you have been clamouring in our ears and raising
+the people. Now you have got what you asked. What more would you have?
+Within the month you will be as free as were your ancestors before Cæsar
+set foot upon your shore."
+
+"For God's sake, your excellency, put our words out of your head. The
+matter had not been well considered. We will send to Rome. We will ride
+post-haste ourselves. We will fall at the Emperor's feet. We will kneel
+before the Senate and beg that the legions remain."
+
+The Roman proconsul rose from his chair and motioned that the audience
+was at an end.
+
+"You will do what you please," said he. "I and my men are for Italy."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+And even as he said, so was it, for before the spring had ripened into
+summer, the troops were clanking down the via Aurelia on their way to
+the Ligurian passes, whilst every road in Gaul was dotted with the carts
+and the waggons which bore the Brito-Roman refugees on their weary
+journey to their distant country. But ere another summer had passed
+Celticus was dead, for he was flayed alive by the pirates and his skin
+nailed upon the door of a church near Caistor. Regnus, too, was dead,
+for he was tied to a tree and shot with arrows when the painted men came
+to the sacking of Isca. Caradoc only was alive, but he was a slave to
+Elda the red Caledonian and his wife was mistress to Mordred the wild
+chief of the western Cymri. From the ruined wall in the north to Vectis
+in the south blood and ruin and ashes covered the fair land of Britain.
+And after many days it came out fairer than ever, but, even as the Roman
+had said, neither the Britons nor any men of their blood came into the
+heritage of that which had been their own.
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+THE LAST GALLEY
+
+
+    "Mutato nomine, de te, Britannia, fabula narratur."
+
+It was a spring morning, one hundred and forty-six years before the
+coming of Christ. The North African coast, with its broad hem of golden
+sand, its green belt of feathery palm trees, and its background of
+barren, red-scarped hills, shimmered like a dream country in the opal
+light. Save for a narrow edge of snow-white surf, the Mediterranean lay
+blue and serene as far as the eye could reach. In all its vast expanse
+there was no break but for a single galley, which was slowly making its
+way from the direction of Sicily and heading for the distant harbour of
+Carthage.
+
+Seen from afar it was a stately and beautiful vessel, deep red in
+colour, double-banked with scarlet oars, its broad, flapping sail
+stained with Tyrian purple, its bulwarks gleaming with brass work. A
+brazen, three-pronged ram projected in front, and a high golden figure
+of Baal, the God of the Phœnicians, children of Canaan, shone upon the
+after-deck. From the single high mast above the huge sail streamed the
+tiger-striped flag of Carthage. So, like some stately scarlet bird, with
+golden beak and wings of purple, she swam upon the face of the waters--a
+thing of might and of beauty as seen from the distant shore.
+
+But approach and look at her now! What are these dark streaks which foul
+her white decks and dapple her brazen shields? Why do the long red oars
+move out of time, irregular, convulsive? Why are some missing from the
+staring portholes, some snapped with jagged, yellow edges, some trailing
+inert against the sides? Why are two prongs of the brazen ram twisted
+and broken? See, even the high image of Baal is battered and disfigured!
+By every sign this ship has passed through some grievous trial, some day
+of terror, which has left its heavy marks upon her.
+
+And now stand upon the deck itself, and see more closely the men who man
+her! There are two decks forward and aft, while in the open waist are
+the double banks of seats, above and below, where the rowers, two to an
+oar, tug and bend at their endless task. Down the centre is a narrow
+platform, along which pace a line of warders, lash in hand, who cut
+cruelly at the slave who pauses, be it only for an instant, to sweep the
+sweat from his dripping brow. But these slaves--look at them! Some are
+captured Romans, some Sicilians, many black Libyans, but all are in the
+last exhaustion, their weary eyelids drooped over their eyes, their lips
+thick with black crusts, and pink with bloody froth, their arms and
+backs moving mechanically to the hoarse chant of the overseer. Their
+bodies of all tints from ivory to jet, are stripped to the waist, and
+every glistening back shows the angry stripes of the warders. But it is
+not from these that the blood comes which reddens the seats and tints
+the salt water washing beneath their manacled feet. Great gaping wounds,
+the marks of sword slash and spear stab, show crimson upon their naked
+chests and shoulders, while many lie huddled and senseless athwart the
+benches, careless for ever of the whips which still hiss above them. Now
+we can understand those empty portholes and those trailing oars.
+
+Nor were the crew in better case than their slaves. The decks were
+littered with wounded and dying men. It was but a remnant who still
+remained upon their feet. The most lay exhausted upon the fore-deck,
+while a few of the more zealous were mending their shattered armour,
+restringing their bows, or cleaning the deck from the marks of combat.
+Upon a raised platform at the base of the mast stood the sailing-master
+who conned the ship, his eyes fixed upon the distant point of Megara
+which screened the eastern side of the Bay of Carthage. On the
+after-deck were gathered a number of officers, silent and brooding,
+glancing from time to time at two of their own class who stood apart
+deep in conversation. The one, tall, dark, and wiry, with pure, Semitic
+features, and the limbs of a giant, was Magro, the famous Carthaginian
+captain, whose name was still a terror on every shore, from Gaul to the
+Euxine. The other, a white-bearded, swarthy man, with indomitable
+courage and energy stamped upon every eager line of his keen, aquiline
+face, was Gisco the politician, a man of the highest Punic blood, a
+Suffete of the purple robe, and the leader of that party in the state
+which had watched and striven amid the selfishness and slothfulness of
+his fellow-countrymen to rouse the public spirit and waken the public
+conscience to the ever-increasing danger from Rome. As they talked, the
+two men glanced continually, with earnest anxious faces, towards the
+northern skyline.
+
+"It is certain," said the older man, with gloom in his voice and
+bearing, "none have escaped save ourselves."
+
+"I did not leave the press of the battle whilst I saw one ship which I
+could succour," Magro answered. "As it was, we came away, as you saw,
+like a wolf which has a hound hanging on to either haunch. The Roman
+dogs can show the wolf-bites which prove it. Had any other galley won
+clear, they would surely be with us by now, since they have no place of
+safety save Carthage."
+
+The younger warrior glanced keenly ahead to the distant point which
+marked his native city. Already the low, leafy hill could be seen,
+dotted with the white villas of the wealthy Phœnician merchants. Above
+them, a gleaming dot against the pale blue morning sky, shone the brazen
+roof of the citadel of Byrsa, which capped the sloping town.
+
+"Already they can see us from the watch-towers," he remarked. "Even from
+afar they may know the galley of Black Magro. But which of all of them
+will guess that we alone remain of all that goodly fleet which sailed
+out with blare of trumpet and roll of drum but one short month ago?"
+
+The patrician smiled bitterly. "If it were not for our great ancestors
+and for our beloved country, the Queen of the Waters," said he, "I could
+find it in my heart to be glad at this destruction which has come upon
+this vain and feeble generation. You have spent your life upon the seas,
+Magro. You do not know how it has been with us on the land. But I have
+seen this canker grow upon us which now leads us to our death. I and
+others have gone down into the market-place to plead with the people,
+and been pelted with mud for our pains. Many a time have I pointed to
+Rome, and said, 'Behold these people, who bear arms themselves, each man
+for his own duty and pride. How can you who hide behind mercenaries hope
+to stand against them?'--a hundred times I have said it."
+
+"And had they no answer?" asked the Rover.
+
+"Rome was far off and they could not see it, so to them it was nothing,"
+the old man answered. "Some thought of trade, and some of votes, and
+some of profits from the State, but none would see that the State
+itself, the mother of all things, was sinking to her end. So might the
+bees debate who should have wax or honey when the torch was blazing
+which would bring to ashes the hive and all therein. 'Are we not rulers
+of the sea?' 'Was not Hannibal a great man?' Such were their cries,
+living ever in the past and blind to the future. Before that sun sets
+there will be tearing of hair and rending of garments; but what will
+that now avail us?"
+
+"It is some sad comfort," said Magro, "to know that what Rome holds she
+cannot keep."
+
+"Why say you that? When we go down, she is supreme in all the world."
+
+"For a time, and only for a time," Magro answered gravely. "Yet you will
+smile, perchance, when I tell you how it is that I know it. There was a
+wise woman who lived in that part of the Tin Islands which juts forth
+into the sea, and from her lips I have heard many things, but not one
+which has not come aright. Of the fall of our own country, and even of
+this battle, from which we now return, she told me clearly. There is
+much strange lore amongst these savage peoples in the west of the land
+of Tin."
+
+"What said she of Rome?"
+
+"That she also would fall, even as we, weakened by her riches and her
+factions."
+
+Gisco rubbed his hands. "That at least makes our own fall less bitter,"
+said he. "But since we have fallen, and Rome will fall, who in turn may
+hope to be Queen of the Waters?"
+
+"That also I asked her," said Magro, "and gave her my Tyrian belt with
+the golden buckle as a guerdon for her answer. But, indeed, it was too
+high payment for the tale she told, which must be false if all else she
+said was true. She would have it that in coming days it was her own
+land, this fog-girt isle where painted savages can scarce row a wicker
+coracle from point to point, which shall at last take the trident which
+Carthage and Rome have dropped."
+
+The smile which flickered upon the old Patrician's keen features died
+away suddenly, and his fingers closed upon his companion's wrist. The
+other had set rigid, his head advanced, his hawk eyes upon the northern
+skyline. Its straight, blue horizon was broken by two low black dots.
+
+"Galleys!" whispered Gisco.
+
+The whole crew had seen them. They clustered along the starboard
+bulwarks, pointing and chattering. For a moment the gloom of defeat was
+lifted, and a buzz of joy ran from group to group at the thought that
+they were not alone--that some one had escaped the great carnage as well
+as themselves.
+
+"By the spirit of Baal," said Black Magro, "I could not have believed
+that any could have fought clear from such a welter. Could it be young
+Hamilcar in the _Africa_, or is it Beneva in the Blue Syrian ship? We
+three with others may form a squadron and make head against them yet. If
+we hold our course, they will join us ere we round the harbour mole."
+
+Slowly the injured galley toiled on her way, and more swiftly the two
+new-comers swept down from the north. Only a few miles off lay the green
+point and the white houses which flanked the great African city.
+Already, upon the headland, could be seen a dark group of waiting
+townsmen. Gisco and Magro were still watching with puckered gaze the
+approaching galleys, when the brown Libyan boatswain, with flashing
+teeth and gleaming eyes, rushed upon the poop, his long thin arm
+stabbing to the north.
+
+"Romans!" he cried. "Romans!"
+
+A hush had fallen over the great vessel. Only the wash of the water and
+the measured rattle and beat of the oars broke in upon the silence.
+
+"By the horns of God's altar, I believe the fellow is right!" cried old
+Gisco. "See how they swoop upon us like falcons. They are full-manned
+and full-oared."
+
+"Plain wood, unpainted," said Magro. "See how it gleams yellow where the
+sun strikes it."
+
+"And yonder thing beneath the mast. Is it not the cursed bridge they use
+for boarding?"
+
+"So they grudge us even one," said Magro with a bitter laugh. "Not even
+one galley shall return to the old sea-mother. Well, for my part, I
+would as soon have it so. I am of a mind to stop the oars and await
+them."
+
+"It is a man's thought," answered old Gisco; "but the city will need us
+in the days to come. What shall it profit us to make the Roman victory
+complete? Nay, Magro, let the slaves row as they never rowed before, not
+for our own safety, but for the profit of the State."
+
+So the great red ship laboured and lurched onwards, like a weary panting
+stag which seeks shelter from his pursuers, while ever swifter and ever
+nearer sped the two lean fierce galleys from the north. Already the
+morning sun shone upon the lines of low Roman helmets above the
+bulwarks, and glistened on the silver wave where each sharp prow shot
+through the still blue water. Every moment the ships drew nearer, and
+the long thin scream of the Roman trumpets grew louder upon the ear.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Upon the high bluff of Megara there stood a great concourse of the
+people of Carthage who had hurried forth from the city upon the news
+that the galleys were in sight. They stood now, rich and poor, effete
+and plebeian, white Phœnician and dark Kabyle, gazing with breathless
+interest at the spectacle before them. Some hundreds of feet beneath
+them the Punic galley had drawn so close that with their naked eyes
+they could see those stains of battle which told their dismal tale. The
+Romans, too, were heading in such a way that it was before their very
+faces that their ship was about to be cut off; and yet of all this
+multitude not one could raise a hand in its defence. Some wept in
+impotent grief, some cursed with flashing eyes and knotted fists, some
+on their knees held up appealing hands to Baal; but neither prayer,
+tears, nor curses could undo the past nor mend the present. That broken,
+crawling galley meant that their fleet was gone. Those two fierce
+darting ships meant that the hands of Rome were already at their throat.
+Behind them would come others and others, the innumerable trained hosts
+of the great Republic, long mistress of the land, now dominant also upon
+the waters. In a month, two months, three at the most, their armies
+would be there, and what could all the untrained multitudes of Carthage
+do to stop them?
+
+"Nay!" cried one, more hopeful than the rest, "at least we are brave men
+with arms in our hands."
+
+"Fool!" said another, "is it not such talk which has brought us to our
+ruin? What is the brave man untrained to the brave man trained? When
+you stand before the sweep and rush of a Roman legion you may learn the
+difference."
+
+"Then let us train!"
+
+"Too late! A full year is needful to turn a man to a soldier. Where will
+you--where will your city be within the year? Nay, there is but one
+chance for us. If we give up our commerce and our colonies, if we strip
+ourselves of all that made us great, then perchance the Roman conqueror
+may hold his hand."
+
+And already the last sea-fight of Carthage was coming swiftly to an end
+before them. Under their very eyes the two Roman galleys had shot in,
+one on either side of the vessel of Black Magro. They had grappled with
+him, and he, desperate in his despair, had cast the crooked flukes of
+his anchors over their gunwales, and bound them to him in an iron grip,
+whilst with hammer and crowbar he burst great holes in his own
+sheathing. The last Punic galley should never be rowed into Ostia, a
+sight for the holiday-makers of Rome. She would lie in her own waters.
+And the fierce, dark soul of her rover captain glowed as he thought
+that not alone should she sink into the depths of the mother sea.
+
+Too late did the Romans understand the man with whom they had to deal.
+Their boarders who had flooded the Punic decks felt the planking sink
+and sway beneath them. They rushed to gain their own vessels; but they,
+too, were being drawn downwards, held in the dying grip of the great red
+galley. Over they went and ever over. Now the deck of Magro's ship is
+flush with the water, and the Romans', drawn towards it by the iron
+bonds which hold them, are tilted downwards, one bulwark upon the waves,
+one reared high in the air. Madly they strain to cast off the death-grip
+of the galley. She is under the surface now, and ever swifter, with the
+greater weight, the Roman ships heel after her. There is a rending
+crash. The wooden side is torn out of one, and mutilated, dismembered,
+she rights herself, and lies a helpless thing upon the water. But a last
+yellow gleam in the blue water shows where her consort has been dragged
+to her end in the iron death-grapple of her foeman. The tiger-striped
+flag of Carthage has sunk beneath the swirling surface, never more to
+be seen upon the face of the sea.
+
+For in that year a great cloud hung for seventeen days over the African
+coast, a deep black cloud which was the dark shroud of the burning city.
+And when the seventeen days were over, Roman ploughs were driven from
+end to end of the charred ashes, and salt was scattered there as a sign
+that Carthage should be no more. And far off a huddle of naked, starving
+folk stood upon the distant mountains, and looked down upon the desolate
+plain which had once been the fairest and richest upon earth. And they
+understood too late that it is the law of heaven that the world is given
+to the hardy and to the self-denying, whilst he who would escape the
+duties of manhood will soon be stripped of the pride, the wealth, and
+the power, which are the prizes which manhood brings.
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+THROUGH THE VEIL
+
+
+He was a great shock-headed, freckle-faced Borderer, the lineal
+descendant of a cattle-thieving clan in Liddesdale. In spite of his
+ancestry he was as solid and sober a citizen as one would wish to see, a
+town councillor of Melrose, an elder of the Church, and the chairman of
+the local branch of the Young Men's Christian Association. Brown was his
+name--and you saw it printed up as "Brown and Handiside" over the great
+grocery stores in the High Street. His wife, Maggie Brown, was an
+Armstrong before her marriage, and came from an old farming stock in the
+wilds of Teviothead. She was small, swarthy, and dark-eyed, with a
+strangely nervous temperament for a Scotch woman. No greater contrast
+could be found than the big tawny man and the dark little woman, but
+both were of the soil as far back as any memory could extend.
+
+One day--it was the first anniversary of their wedding--they had driven
+over together to see the excavations of the Roman Fort at Newstead. It
+was not a particularly picturesque spot. From the northern bank of the
+Tweed, just where the river forms a loop, there extends a gentle slope
+of arable land. Across it run the trenches of the excavators, with here
+and there an exposure of old stonework to show the foundations of the
+ancient walls. It had been a huge place, for the camp was fifty acres in
+extent, and the fort fifteen. However, it was all made easy for them
+since Mr. Brown knew the farmer to whom the land belonged. Under his
+guidance they spent a long summer evening inspecting the trenches, the
+pits, the ramparts, and all the strange variety of objects which were
+waiting to be transported to the Edinburgh Museum of Antiquities. The
+buckle of a woman's belt had been dug up that very day, and the farmer
+was discoursing upon it when his eyes fell upon Mrs. Brown's face.
+
+"Your good leddy's tired," said he. "Maybe you'd best rest a wee before
+we gang further."
+
+Brown looked at his wife. She was certainly very pale, and her dark eyes
+were bright and wild.
+
+"What is it, Maggie? I've wearied you. I'm thinkin' it's time we went
+back."
+
+"No, no, John, let us go on. It's wonderful! It's like a dreamland
+place. It all seems so close and so near to me. How long were the Romans
+here, Mr. Cunningham?"
+
+"A fair time, mam. If you saw the kitchen midden-pits you would guess it
+took a long time to fill them."
+
+"And why did they leave?"
+
+"Well, mam, by all accounts they left because they had to. The folk
+round could thole them no longer, so they just up and burned the fort
+aboot their lugs. You can see the fire marks on the stanes."
+
+The woman gave a quick little shudder. "A wild night--a fearsome night,"
+said she. "The sky must have been red that night--and these grey stones,
+they may have been red also."
+
+"Aye, I think they were red," said her husband. "It's a queer thing,
+Maggie, and it may be your words that have done it; but I seem to see
+that business aboot as clear as ever I saw anything in my life. The
+light shone on the water."
+
+"Aye, the light shone on the water. And the smoke gripped you by the
+throat. And all the savages were yelling."
+
+The old farmer began to laugh. "The leddy will be writin' a story aboot
+the old fort," said he. "I've shown many a one ower it, but I never
+heard it put so clear afore. Some folk have the gift."
+
+They had strolled along the edge of the foss, and a pit yawned upon the
+right of them.
+
+"That pit was fourteen foot deep," said the farmer. "What d'ye think we
+dug oot from the bottom o't? Weel, it was just the skeleton of a man wi'
+a spear by his side. I'm thinkin' he was grippin' it when he died. Now,
+how cam' a man wi' a spear doon a hole fourteen foot deep. He wasna'
+buried there, for they aye burned their dead. What make ye o' that,
+mam?"
+
+"He sprang doon to get clear of the savages," said the woman.
+
+"Weel, it's likely enough, and a' the professors from Edinburgh couldna'
+gie a better reason. I wish you were aye here, mam, to answer a' oor
+deeficulties sae readily. Now, here's the altar that we foond last week.
+There's an inscreeption. They tell me it's Latin, and it means that the
+men o' this fort give thanks to God for their safety."
+
+They examined the old worn stone. There was a large deeply-cut "VV" upon
+the top of it.
+
+"What does 'VV' stand for?" asked Brown.
+
+"Naebody kens," the guide answered.
+
+"_Valeria Victrix_," said the lady softly. Her face was paler than ever,
+her eyes far away, as one who peers down the dim aisles of overarching
+centuries.
+
+"What's that?" asked her husband sharply.
+
+She started as one who wakes from sleep. "What were we talking about?"
+she asked.
+
+"About this 'VV' upon the stone."
+
+"No doubt it was just the name of the Legion which put the altar up."
+
+"Aye, but you gave some special name."
+
+"Did I? How absurd! How should I ken what the name was?"
+
+"You said something--'_Victrix_,' I think."
+
+"I suppose I was guessing. It gives me the queerest feeling, this place,
+as if I were not myself, but some one else."
+
+"Aye, it's an uncanny place," said her husband, looking round with an
+expression almost of fear in his bold grey eyes. "I feel it mysel'. I
+think we'll just be wishin' you good evenin', Mr. Cunningham, and get
+back to Melrose before the dark sets in."
+
+Neither of them could shake off the strange impression which had been
+left upon them by their visit to the excavations. It was as if some
+miasma had risen from those damp trenches and passed into their blood.
+All the evening they were silent and thoughtful, but such remarks as
+they did make showed that the same subject was in the mind of each.
+Brown had a restless night, in which he dreamed a strange connected
+dream, so vivid that he woke sweating and shivering like a frightened
+horse. He tried to convey it all to his wife as they sat together at
+breakfast in the morning.
+
+"It was the clearest thing, Maggie," said he. "Nothing that has ever
+come to me in my waking life has been more clear than that. I feel as if
+these hands were sticky with blood."
+
+"Tell me of it--tell me slow," said she.
+
+"When it began, I was oot on a braeside. I was laying flat on the
+ground. It was rough, and there were clumps of heather. All round me was
+just darkness, but I could hear the rustle and the breathin' of men.
+There seemed a great multitude on every side of me, but I could see no
+one. There was a low chink of steel sometimes, and then a number of
+voices would whisper 'Hush!' I had a ragged club in my hand, and it had
+spikes o' iron near the end of it. My heart was beatin' quickly, and I
+felt that a moment of great danger and excitement was at hand. Once I
+dropped my club, and again from all round me the voices in the darkness
+cried, 'Hush!' I put oot my hand, and it touched the foot of another man
+lying in front of me. There was some one at my very elbow on either
+side. But they said nothin'.
+
+"Then we all began to move. The whole braeside seemed to be crawlin'
+downwards. There was a river at the bottom and a high-arched wooden
+bridge. Beyond the bridge were many lights--torches on a wall. The
+creepin' men all flowed towards the bridge. There had been no sound of
+any kind, just a velvet stillness. And then there was a cry in the
+darkness, the cry of a man who had been stabbed suddenly to the hairt.
+That one cry swelled out for a moment, and then the roar of a thoosand
+furious voices. I was runnin'. Every one was runnin'. A bright red
+light shone out, and the river was a scarlet streak. I could see my
+companions now. They were more like devils than men, wild figures clad
+in skins, with their hair and beards streamin'. They were all mad with
+rage, jumpin' as they ran, their mouths open, their arms wavin', the red
+light beatin' on their faces. I ran, too, and yelled out curses like the
+rest. Then I heard a great cracklin' of wood, and I knew that the
+palisades were doon. There was a loud whistlin' in my ears, and I was
+aware that arrows were flyin' past me. I got to the bottom of a dyke,
+and I saw a hand stretched doon from above. I took it, and was dragged
+to the top. We looked doon, and there were silver men beneath us holdin'
+up their spears. Some of our folk sprang on to the spears. Then we
+others followed, and we killed the soldiers before they could draw the
+spears oot again. They shouted loud in some foreign tongue, but no mercy
+was shown them. We went ower them like a wave, and trampled them doon
+into the mud, for they were few, and there was no end to our numbers.
+
+"I found myself among buildings, and one of them was on fire. I saw the
+flames spoutin' through the roof. I ran on, and then I was alone among
+the buildings. Some one ran across in front o' me. It was a woman. I
+caught her by the arm, and I took her chin and turned her face so as the
+light of the fire would strike it. Whom think you that it was, Maggie?"
+
+His wife moistened her dry lips. "It was I," she said.
+
+He looked at her in surprise. "That's a good guess," said he. "Yes, it
+was just you. Not merely like you, you understand. It was you--you
+yourself. I saw the same soul in your frightened eyes. You looked white
+and bonnie and wonderful in the firelight. I had just one thought in my
+head--to get you awa' with me; to keep you all to mysel' in my own home
+somewhere beyond the hills. You clawed at my face with your nails. I
+heaved you over my shoulder, and I tried to find a way oot of the light
+of the burning hoose and back into the darkness.
+
+"Then came the thing that I mind best of all. You're ill, Maggie. Shall
+I stop? My God! you have the very look on your face that you had last
+night in my dream. You screamed. He came runnin' in the firelight. His
+head was bare; his hair was black and curled; he had a naked sword in
+his hand, short and broad, little more than a dagger. He stabbed at me,
+but he tripped and fell. I held you with one hand, and with the
+other----"
+
+His wife had sprung to her feet with writhing features.
+
+"Marcus!" she cried. "My beautiful Marcus! Oh, you brute! you brute! you
+brute!" There was a clatter of tea-cups as she fell forward senseless
+upon the table.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+They never talk about that strange isolated incident in their married
+life. For an instant the curtain of the past had swung aside, and some
+strange glimpse of a forgotten life had come to them. But it closed
+down, never to open again. They live their narrow round--he in his shop,
+she in her household--and yet new and wider horizons have vaguely formed
+themselves around them since that summer evening by the crumbling Roman
+fort.
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+THE COMING OF THE HUNS
+
+
+In the middle of the fourth century the state of the Christian religion
+was a scandal and a disgrace. Patient, humble, and long-suffering in
+adversity, it had become positive, aggressive, and unreasonable with
+success. Paganism was not yet dead, but it was rapidly sinking, finding
+its most faithful supporters among the conservative aristocrats of the
+best families on the one hand, and among those benighted villagers on
+the other who gave their name to the expiring creed. Between these two
+extremes the great majority of reasonable men had turned from the
+conception of many gods to that of one, and had rejected for ever the
+beliefs of their forefathers. But with the vices of polytheism, they had
+also abandoned its virtues, among which toleration and religious good
+humour had been conspicuous. The strenuous earnestness of the Christians
+had compelled them to examine and define every point of their own
+theology; but as they had no central authority by which such definitions
+could be checked, it was not long before a hundred heresies had put
+forward their rival views, while the same earnestness of conviction led
+the stronger bands of schismatics to endeavour, for conscience sake, to
+force their views upon the weaker, and thus to cover the Eastern world
+with confusion and strife.
+
+Alexandria, Antioch, and Constantinople were centres of theological
+warfare. The whole north of Africa, too, was rent by the strife of the
+Donatists, who upheld their particular schism by iron flails and the
+war-cry of "Praise to the Lord!" But minor local controversies sank to
+nothing when compared with the huge argument of the Catholic and the
+Arian, which rent every village in twain, and divided every household
+from the cottage to the palace. The rival doctrines of the Homoousian
+and of the Homoiousian, containing metaphysical differences so
+attenuated that they could hardly be stated, turned bishop against
+bishop and congregation against congregation. The ink of the theologians
+and the blood of the fanatics were spilled in floods on either side,
+and gentle followers of Christ were horrified to find that their faith
+was responsible for such a state of riot and bloodshed as had never yet
+disgraced the religious history of the world. Many of the more earnest
+among them, shocked and scandalised, slipped away to the Libyan Desert,
+or to the solitude of Pontus, there to await in self-denial and prayer
+that second coming which was supposed to be at hand. Even in the deserts
+they could not escape the echo of the distant strife, and the hermits
+themselves scowled fiercely from their dens at passing travellers who
+might be contaminated by the doctrines of Athanasius or of Arius.
+
+Such a hermit was Simon Melas, of whom I write. A Trinitarian and a
+Catholic, he was shocked by the excesses of the persecution of the
+Arians, which could be only matched by the similar outrages with which
+these same Arians in the day of their power avenged their treatment on
+their brother Christians. Weary of the whole strife, and convinced that
+the end of the world was indeed at hand, he left his home in
+Constantinople and travelled as far as the Gothic settlements in Dacia,
+beyond the Danube, in search of some spot where he might be free from
+the never-ending disputes. Still journeying to the north and east, he
+crossed the river which we now call the Dniester, and there, finding a
+rocky hill rising from an immense plain, he formed a cell near its
+summit, and settled himself down to end his life in self-denial and
+meditation. There were fish in the stream, the country teemed with game,
+and there was an abundance of wild fruits, so that his spiritual
+exercises were not unduly interrupted by the search of sustenance for
+his mortal frame.
+
+In this distant retreat he expected to find absolute solitude, but the
+hope was in vain. Within a week of his arrival, in an hour of worldly
+curiosity, he explored the edges of the high rocky hill upon which he
+lived. Making his way up to a cleft, which was hung with olives and
+myrtles, he came upon a cave in the opening of which sat an aged man,
+white-bearded, white-haired, and infirm--a hermit like himself. So long
+had this stranger been alone that he had almost forgotten the use of his
+tongue; but at last, words coming more freely, he was able to convey the
+information that his name was Paul of Nicopolis, that he was a Greek
+citizen, and that he also had come out into the desert for the saving of
+his soul, and to escape from the contamination of heresy.
+
+"Little I thought, brother Simon," said he, "that I should ever find any
+one else who had come so far upon the same holy errand. In all these
+years, and they are so many that I have lost count of them, I have never
+seen a man, save indeed one or two wandering shepherds far out upon
+yonder plain."
+
+From where they sat, the huge steppe, covered with waving grass and
+gleaming with a vivid green in the sun, stretched away as level and as
+unbroken as the sea, to the eastern horizon. Simon Melas stared across
+it with curiosity.
+
+"Tell me, brother Paul," said he, "you who have lived here so long--what
+lies at the further side of that plain?"
+
+The old man shook his head. "There is no further side to the plain,"
+said he. "It is the earth's boundary, and stretches away to eternity.
+For all these years I have sat beside it, but never once have I seen
+anything come across it. It is manifest that if there had been a
+further side there would certainly at some time have come some traveller
+from that direction. Over the great river yonder is the Roman post of
+Tyras; but that is a long day's journey from here, and they have never
+disturbed my meditations."
+
+"On what do you meditate, brother Paul?"
+
+"At first I meditated on many sacred mysteries; but now, for twenty
+years, I have brooded continually on the nature of the Logos. What is
+your view upon that vital matter, brother Simon?"
+
+"Surely," said the younger man, "there can be no question as to that.
+The Logos is assuredly but a name used by St. John to signify the
+Deity."
+
+The old hermit gave a hoarse cry of fury, and his brown, withered face
+was convulsed with anger. Seizing the huge cudgel which he kept to beat
+off the wolves, he shook it murderously at his companion.
+
+"Out with you! Out of my cell!" he cried. "Have I lived here so long to
+have it polluted by a vile Trinitarian--a follower of the rascal
+Athanasius? Wretched idolater, learn once for all, that the Logos is in
+truth an emanation from the Deity, and in no sense equal or co-eternal
+with Him! Out with you, I say, or I will dash out your brains with my
+staff!"
+
+It was useless to reason with the furious Arian, and Simon withdrew in
+sadness and wonder, that at this extreme verge of the known earth the
+spirit of religious strife should still break upon the peaceful solitude
+of the wilderness. With hanging head and heavy heart he made his way
+down the valley, and climbed up once more to his own cell, which lay at
+the crown of the hill, with the intention of never again exchanging
+visits with his Arian neighbour.
+
+Here, for a year, dwelt Simon Melas, leading a life of solitude and
+prayer. There was no reason why any one should ever come to this
+outermost point of human habitation. Once a young Roman officer--Caius
+Crassus--rode out a day's journey from Tyras, and climbed the hill to
+have speech with the anchorite. He was of an equestrian family, and
+still held his belief in the old dispensation. He looked with interest
+and surprise, but also with some disgust, at the ascetic arrangements
+of that humble abode.
+
+"Whom do you please by living in such a fashion?" he asked.
+
+"We show that our spirit is superior to our flesh," Simon answered. "If
+we fare badly in this world, we believe that we shall reap an advantage
+in the world to come."
+
+The centurion shrugged his shoulders. "There are philosophers among our
+people, Stoics and others, who have the same idea. When I was in the
+Herulian Cohort of the Fourth Legion we were quartered in Rome itself,
+and I saw much of the Christians, but I could never learn anything from
+them which I had not heard from my own father, whom you, in your
+arrogance, would call a Pagan. It is true that we talk of numerous gods;
+but for many years we have not taken them very seriously. Our thoughts
+upon virtue and duty and a noble life are the same as your own."
+
+Simon Melas shook his head.
+
+"If you have not the holy books," said he, "then what guide have you to
+direct your steps?"
+
+"If you will read our philosophers, and above all the divine Plato, you
+will find that there are other guides who may take you to the same end.
+Have you by chance read the book which was written by our Emperor Marcus
+Aurelius? Do you not discover there every virtue which man could have,
+although he knew nothing of your creed? Have you considered, also, the
+words and actions of our late Emperor Julian, with whom I served my
+first campaign when he went out against the Persians? Where could you
+find a more perfect man than he?"
+
+"Such talk is unprofitable, and I will have no more of it," said Simon
+sternly. "Take heed while there is time, and embrace the true faith; for
+the end of the world is at hand, and when it comes there will be no
+mercy for those who have shut their eyes to the light." So saying, he
+turned back once more to his praying-stool and to his crucifix, while
+the young Roman walked in deep thought down the hill, and mounting his
+horse, rode off to his distant post. Simon watched him until his brazen
+helmet was but a bead of light on the western edge of the great plain;
+for this was the first human face that he had seen in all this long
+year, and there were times when his heart yearned for the voices and the
+faces of his kind.
+
+So another year passed, and save for the change of weather and the slow
+change of the seasons, one day was as another. Every morning when Simon
+opened his eyes, he saw the same grey line ripening into red in the
+furthest east, until the bright rim pushed itself above that far-off
+horizon across which no living creature had ever been known to come.
+Slowly the sun swept across the huge arch of the heavens, and as the
+shadows shifted from the black rocks which jutted upward from above his
+cell, so did the hermit regulate his terms of prayer and meditation.
+There was nothing on earth to draw his eye, or to distract his mind, for
+the grassy plain below was as void from month to month as the heaven
+above. So the long hours passed, until the red rim slipped down on the
+further side, and the day ended in the same pearl-grey shimmer with
+which it had begun. Once two ravens circled for some days round the
+lonely hill, and once a white fish-eagle came from the Dniester and
+screamed above the hermit's head. Sometimes red dots were seen on the
+green plain where the antelopes grazed, and often a wolf howled in the
+darkness from the base of the rocks. Such was the uneventful life of
+Simon Melas the anchorite, until there came the day of wrath.
+
+It was in the late spring of the year 375 that Simon came out from his
+cell, his gourd in his hand, to draw water from the spring. Darkness had
+closed in, the sun had set, but one last glimmer of rosy light rested
+upon a rocky peak, which jutted forth from the hill, on the further side
+from the hermit's dwelling. As Simon came forth from under his ledge,
+the gourd dropped from his hand, and he stood gazing in amazement.
+
+On the opposite peak a man was standing, his outline black in the fading
+light. He was a strange, almost a deformed figure, short-statured,
+round-backed, with a large head, no neck, and a long rod jutting out
+from between his shoulders. He stood with his face advanced, and his
+body bent, peering very intently over the plain to the westward. In a
+moment he was gone, and the lonely black peak showed up hard and naked
+against the faint eastern glimmer. Then the night closed down, and all
+was black once more.
+
+Simon Melas stood long in bewilderment, wondering who this stranger
+could be. He had heard, as had every Christian, of those evil spirits
+which were wont to haunt the hermits in the Thebaid and on the skirts of
+the Ethiopian waste. The strange shape of this solitary creature, its
+dark outline and prowling, intent attitude, suggestive rather of a
+fierce, rapacious beast than of a man, all helped him to believe that he
+had at last encountered one of those wanderers from the pit, of whose
+existence, in those days of robust faith, he had no more doubt than of
+his own. Much of the night he spent in prayer, his eyes glancing
+continually at the low arch of his cell door, with its curtain of deep
+purple wrought with stars. At any instant some crouching monster, some
+horned abomination, might peer in upon him, and he clung with frenzied
+appeal to his crucifix, as his human weakness quailed at the thought.
+But at last his fatigue overcame his fears, and falling upon his couch
+of dried grass, he slept until the bright daylight brought him to his
+senses.
+
+It was later than was his wont, and the sun was far above the horizon.
+As he came forth from his cell, he looked across at the peak of rock,
+but it stood there bare and silent. Already it seemed to him that that
+strange dark figure which had startled him so was some dream, some
+vision of the twilight. His gourd lay where it had fallen, and he picked
+it up with the intention of going to the spring. But suddenly he was
+aware of something new. The whole air was throbbing with sound. From all
+sides it came, rumbling, indefinite, an inarticulate mutter, low, but
+thick and strong, rising, falling, reverberating among the rocks, dying
+away into vague whispers, but always there. He looked round at the blue,
+cloudless sky in bewilderment. Then he scrambled up the rocky pinnacle
+above him, and sheltering himself in its shadow, he stared out over the
+plain. In his wildest dream he had never imagined such a sight.
+
+The whole vast expanse was covered with horsemen, hundreds and thousands
+and tens of thousands, all riding slowly and in silence, out of the
+unknown east. It was the multitudinous beat of their horses' hoofs
+which caused that low throbbing in his ears. Some were so close to him
+as he looked down upon them that he could see clearly their thin, wiry
+horses, and the strange humped figures of their swarthy riders, sitting
+forward on the withers, shapeless bundles, their short legs hanging
+stirrupless, their bodies balanced as firmly as though they were part of
+the beast. In those nearest he could see the bow and the quiver, the
+long spear and the short sword, with the coiled lasso behind the rider,
+which told that this was no helpless horde of wanderers, but a
+formidable army upon the march. His eyes passed on from them and swept
+further and further, but still to the very horizon, which quivered with
+movement, there was no end to this monstrous cavalry. Already the
+vanguard was far past the island of rock upon which he dwelt, and he
+could now understand that in front of this vanguard were single scouts
+who guided the course of the army, and that it was one of these whom he
+had seen the evening before.
+
+All day, held spell-bound by this wonderful sight, the hermit crouched
+in the shadow of the rocks, and all day the sea of horsemen rolled
+onward over the plain beneath. Simon had seen the swarming quays of
+Alexandria, he had watched the mob which blocked the hippodrome of
+Constantinople, yet never had he imagined such a multitude as now
+defiled beneath his eyes, coming from that eastern skyline which had
+been the end of his world. Sometimes the dense streams of horsemen were
+broken by droves of brood-mares and foals, driven along by mounted
+guards; sometimes there were herds of cattle; sometimes there were lines
+of waggons with skin canopies above them; but then once more, after
+every break, came the horsemen, the horsemen, the hundreds and the
+thousands and the tens of thousands, slowly, ceaselessly, silently
+drifting from the east to the west. The long day passed, the light
+waned, and the shadows fell, but still the great broad stream was
+flowing by.
+
+But the night brought a new and even stranger sight. Simon had marked
+bundles of faggots upon the backs of many of the led horses, and now he
+saw their use. All over the great plain, red pin-points gleamed through
+the darkness, which grew and brightened into flickering columns of
+flame. So far as he could see both to east and west the fires extended,
+until they were but points of light in the furthest distance. White
+stars shone in the vast heavens above, red ones in the great plain
+below. And from every side rose the low, confused murmur of voices, with
+the lowing of oxen and the neighing of horses.
+
+Simon had been a soldier and a man of affairs before ever he forsook the
+world, and the meaning of all that he had seen was clear to him. History
+told him how the Roman world had ever been assailed by fresh swarms of
+Barbarians, coming from the outer darkness, and that the eastern Empire
+had already, in its fifty years of existence since Constantine had moved
+the capital of the world to the shores of the Bosphorus, been tormented
+in the same way. Gepidæ and Heruli, Ostrogoths and Sarmatians, he was
+familiar with them all. What the advanced sentinel of Europe had seen
+from this lonely outlying hill, was a fresh swarm breaking in upon the
+Empire, distinguished only from the others by its enormous, incredible
+size and by the strange aspect of the warriors who composed it. He alone
+of all civilised men knew of the approach of this dreadful shadow,
+sweeping like a heavy storm cloud from the unknown depths of the east.
+He thought of the little Roman posts along the Dniester, of the ruined
+Dacian wall of Trajan behind them, and then of the scattered,
+defenceless villages which lay with no thought of danger over all the
+open country which stretched down to the Danube. Could he but give them
+the alarm! Was it not, perhaps, for that very end that God had guided
+him to the wilderness?
+
+Then suddenly he remembered his Arian neighbour, who dwelt in the cave
+beneath him. Once or twice during the last year he had caught a glimpse
+of his tall, bent figure hobbling round to examine the traps which he
+laid for quails and partridges. On one occasion they had met at the
+brook; but the old theologian waved him away as if he were a leper. What
+did he think now of this strange happening? Surely their differences
+might be forgotten at such a moment. He stole down the side of the hill,
+and made his way to his fellow-hermit's cave.
+
+But there was a terrible silence as he approached it. His heart sank at
+that deadly stillness in the little valley. No glimmer of light came
+from the cleft in the rocks. He entered and called, but no answer came
+back. Then, with flint, steel, and the dry grass which he used for
+tinder, he struck a spark, and blew it into a blaze. The old hermit, his
+white hair dabbled with crimson, lay sprawling across the floor. The
+broken crucifix, with which his head had been beaten in, lay in
+splinters across him. Simon had dropped on his knees beside him,
+straightening his contorted limbs, and muttering the office for the
+dead, when the thud of a horse's hoofs was heard ascending the little
+valley which led to the hermit's cell. The dry grass had burned down,
+and Simon crouched trembling in the darkness, pattering prayers to the
+Virgin that his strength might be upheld.
+
+It may have been that the new-comer had seen the gleam of the light, or
+it may have been that he had heard from his comrades of the old man whom
+they had murdered, and that his curiosity had led him to the spot. He
+stopped his horse outside the cave, and Simon, lurking in the shadows
+within, had a fair view of him in the moonlight. He slipped from his
+saddle, fastened the bridle to a root, and then stood peering through
+the opening of the cell. He was a very short, thick man, with a dark
+face, which was gashed with three cuts upon either side. His small eyes
+were sunk deep in his head, showing like black holes in the heavy, flat,
+hairless face. His legs were short and very bandy, so that he waddled
+uncouthly as he walked.
+
+Simon crouched in the darkest angle, and he gripped in his hand that
+same knotted cudgel which the dead theologian had once raised against
+him. As that hideous stooping head advanced into the darkness of the
+cell, he brought the staff down upon it with all the strength of his
+right arm, and then, as the stricken savage fell forward upon his face,
+he struck madly again and again, until the shapeless figure lay limp and
+still. One roof covered the first slain of Europe and of Asia.
+
+Simon's veins were throbbing and quivering with the unwonted joy of
+action. All the energy stored up in those years of repose came in a
+flood at this moment of need. Standing in the darkness of the cell, he
+saw, as in a map of fire, the outlines of the great Barbaric host, the
+line of the river, the position of the settlements, the means by which
+they might be warned. Silently he waited in the shadow until the moon
+had sunk. Then he flung himself upon the dead man's horse, guided it
+down the gorge, and set forth at a gallop across the plain.
+
+There were fires on every side of him, but he kept clear of the rings of
+light. Round each he could see, as he passed, the circle of sleeping
+warriors, with the long lines of picketed horses. Mile after mile and
+league after league stretched that huge encampment. And then, at last,
+he had reached the open plain which led to the river, and the fires of
+the invaders were but a dull smoulder against the black eastern sky.
+Ever faster and faster he sped across the steppe, like a single
+fluttered leaf which whirls before the storm. Even as the dawn whitened
+the sky behind him, it gleamed also upon the broad river in front, and
+he flogged his weary horse through the shallows, until he plunged into
+its full yellow tide.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+So it was that, as the young Roman centurion--Caius Crassus--made his
+morning round in the fort of Tyras he saw a single horseman, who rode
+towards him from the river. Weary and spent, drenched with water and
+caked with dirt and sweat, both horse and man were at the last stage of
+their endurance. With amazement the Roman watched their progress, and
+recognised in the ragged, swaying figure, with flying hair and staring
+eyes, the hermit of the eastern desert. He ran to meet him, and caught
+him in his arms as he reeled from the saddle.
+
+"What is it, then?" he asked. "What is your news?"
+
+But the hermit could only point at the rising sun. "To arms!" he
+croaked. "To arms! The day of wrath is come!" And as he looked, the
+Roman saw--far across the river--a great dark shadow, which moved slowly
+over the distant plain.
+
+
+
+
+V
+
+THE CONTEST
+
+
+In the year of our Lord 66, the Emperor Nero, being at that time in the
+twenty-ninth year of his life and the thirteenth of his reign, set sail
+for Greece with the strangest company and the most singular design that
+any monarch has ever entertained. With ten galleys he went forth from
+Puteoli, carrying with him great stores of painted scenery and
+theatrical properties, together with a number of knights and senators,
+whom he feared to leave behind him at Rome, and who were all marked for
+death in the course of his wanderings. In his train he took Natus, his
+singing coach; Cluvius, a man with a monstrous voice, who should bawl
+out his titles; and a thousand trained youths who had learned to applaud
+in unison whenever their master sang or played in public. So deftly had
+they been taught that each had his own rôle to play. Some did no more
+than give forth a low deep hum of speechless appreciation. Some clapped
+with enthusiasm. Some, rising from approbation into absolute frenzy,
+shrieked, stamped, and beat sticks upon the benches. Some--and they were
+the most effective--had learned from an Alexandrian a long droning
+musical note which they all uttered together, so that it boomed over the
+assembly. With the aid of these mercenary admirers, Nero had every hope,
+in spite of his indifferent voice and clumsy execution, to return to
+Rome, bearing with him the chaplets for song offered for free
+competition by the Greek cities. As his great gilded galley with two
+tiers of oars passed down the Mediterranean, the Emperor sat in his
+cabin all day, his teacher by his side, rehearsing from morning to night
+those compositions which he had selected, whilst every few hours a
+Nubian slave massaged the Imperial throat with oil and balsam, that it
+might be ready for the great ordeal which lay before it in the land of
+poetry and song. His food, his drink, and his exercise were prescribed
+for him as for an athlete who trains for a contest, and the twanging of
+his lyre, with the strident notes of his voice, resounded continually
+from the Imperial quarters.
+
+Now it chanced that there lived in those days a Grecian goatherd named
+Policles, who tended and partly owned a great flock which grazed upon
+the long flanks of the hills near Herœa, which is five miles north of
+the river Alpheus, and no great distance from the famous Olympia. This
+person was noted over all the country-side as a man of strange gifts and
+singular character. He was a poet who had twice been crowned for his
+verses, and he was a musician to whom the use and sound of an instrument
+were so natural that one would more easily meet him without his staff
+than his harp. Even in his lonely vigils on the winter hills he would
+bear it always slung over his shoulder, and would pass the long hours by
+its aid, so that it had come to be part of his very self. He was
+beautiful also, swarthy and eager, with a head like Adonis, and in
+strength there was no one who could compete with him. But all was ruined
+by his disposition, which was so masterful that he would brook no
+opposition nor contradiction. For this reason he was continually at
+enmity with all his neighbours, and in his fits of temper he would
+spend months at a time in his stone hut among the mountains, hearing
+nothing from the world, and living only for his music and his goats.
+
+One spring morning, in the year of 67, Policles, with the aid of his boy
+Dorus, had driven his goats over to a new pasturage which overlooked
+from afar the town of Olympia. Gazing down upon it from the mountain,
+the shepherd was surprised to see that a portion of the famous
+amphitheatre had been roofed in, as though some performance was being
+enacted. Living far from the world and from all news, Policles could not
+imagine what was afoot, for he was well aware that the Grecian games
+were not due for two years to come. Surely some poetic or musical
+contest must be proceeding of which he had heard nothing. If so, there
+would perhaps be some chance of his gaining the votes of the judges; and
+in any case he loved to hear the compositions and admire the execution
+of the great minstrels who assembled on such an occasion. Calling to
+Dorus, therefore, he left the goats to his charge, and strode swiftly
+away, his harp upon his back, to see what was going forward in the
+town.
+
+When Policles came into the suburbs, he found them deserted; but he was
+still more surprised when he reached the main street to see no single
+human being in the place. He hastened his steps, therefore, and as he
+approached the theatre he was conscious of a low sustained hum which
+announced the concourse of a huge assembly. Never in all his dreams had
+he imagined any musical competition upon so vast a scale as this. There
+were some soldiers clustering outside the door; but Policles pushed his
+way swiftly through them, and found himself upon the outskirts of the
+multitude who filled the great space formed by roofing over a portion of
+the national stadium. Looking around him, Policles saw a great number of
+his neighbours, whom he knew by sight, tightly packed upon the benches,
+all with their eyes fixed upon the stage. He also observed that there
+were soldiers round the walls, and that a considerable part of the hall
+was filled by a body of youths of foreign aspect, with white gowns and
+long hair. All this he perceived; but what it meant he could not
+imagine. He bent over to a neighbour to ask him, but a soldier prodded
+him at once with the butt end of his spear, and commanded him fiercely
+to hold his peace. The man whom he had addressed, thinking that Policles
+had demanded a seat, pressed closer to his neighbour, and so the
+shepherd found himself sitting at the end of the bench which was nearest
+to the door. Thence he concentrated himself upon the stage, on which
+Metas, a well-known minstrel from Corinth and an old friend of Policles,
+was singing and playing without much encouragement from the audience. To
+Policles it seemed that Metas was having less than his due, so he
+applauded loudly, but he was surprised to observe that the soldiers
+frowned at him, and that all his neighbours regarded him with some
+surprise. Being a man of strong and obstinate character, he was the more
+inclined to persevere in his clapping when he perceived that the general
+sentiment was against him.
+
+But what followed filled the shepherd poet with absolute amazement. When
+Metas of Corinth had made his bow and withdrawn to half-hearted and
+perfunctory applause, there appeared upon the stage, amid the wildest
+enthusiasm upon the part of the audience, a most extraordinary figure.
+He was a short fat man, neither old nor young, with a bull neck and a
+round, heavy face, which hung in creases in front like the dewlap of an
+ox. He was absurdly clad in a short blue tunic, braced at the waist with
+a golden belt. His neck and part of his chest were exposed, and his
+short, fat legs were bare from the buskins below to the middle of his
+thighs, which was as far as his tunic extended. In his hair were two
+golden wings, and the same upon his heels, after the fashion of the god
+Mercury. Behind him walked a negro bearing a harp, and beside him a
+richly dressed officer who bore rolls of music. This strange creature
+took the harp from the hands of the attendant, and advanced to the front
+of the stage, whence he bowed and smiled to the cheering audience. "This
+is some foppish singer from Athens," thought Policles to himself, but at
+the same time he understood that only a great master of song could
+receive such a reception from a Greek audience. This was evidently some
+wonderful performer whose reputation had preceded him. Policles settled
+down, therefore, and prepared to give his soul up to the music.
+
+The blue-clad player struck several chords upon his lyre, and then
+burst suddenly out into the "Ode of Niobe." Policles sat straight up on
+his bench and gazed at the stage in amazement. The tune demanded a rapid
+transition from a low note to a high, and had been purposely chosen for
+this reason. The low note was a grunting, a rumble, the deep discordant
+growling of an ill-conditioned dog. Then suddenly the singer threw up
+his face, straightened his tubby figure, rose upon his tiptoes, and with
+wagging head and scarlet cheeks emitted such a howl as the same dog
+might have given had his growl been checked by a kick from his master.
+All the while the lyre twanged and thrummed, sometimes in front of and
+sometimes behind the voice of the singer. But what amazed Policles most
+of all was the effect of this performance upon the audience. Every Greek
+was a trained critic, and as unsparing in his hisses as he was lavish in
+his applause. Many a singer far better than this absurd fop had been
+driven amid execration and abuse from the platform. But now, as the man
+stopped and wiped the abundant sweat from his fat face, the whole
+assembly burst into a delirium of appreciation. The shepherd held his
+hands to his bursting head, and felt that his reason must be leaving
+him. It was surely a dreadful musical nightmare, and he would wake soon
+and laugh at the remembrance. But no; the figures were real, the faces
+were those of his neighbours, the cheers which resounded in his ears
+were indeed from an audience which filled the theatre of Olympia. The
+whole chorus was in full blast, the hummers humming, the shouters
+bellowing, the tappers hard at work upon the benches, while every now
+and then came a musical cyclone of "Incomparable! Divine!" from the
+trained phalanx who intoned their applause, their united voices sweeping
+over the tumult as the drone of the wind dominates the roar of the sea.
+It was madness--insufferable madness! If this were allowed to pass,
+there was an end of all musical justice in Greece. Policles' conscience
+would not permit him to be still. Standing upon his bench with waving
+hands and up-raised voice, he protested with all the strength of his
+lungs against the mad judgment of the audience.
+
+At first, amid the tumult, his action was hardly noticed. His voice was
+drowned in the universal roar which broke out afresh at each bow and
+smirk from the fatuous musician. But gradually the folk round Policles
+ceased clapping, and stared at him in astonishment. The silence grew in
+ever widening circles, until the whole great assembly sat mute, staring
+at this wild and magnificent creature who was storming at them from his
+perch near the door.
+
+"Fools!" he cried. "What are you clapping at? What are you cheering? Is
+this what you call music? Is this cat-calling to earn an Olympian prize?
+The fellow has not a note in his voice. You are either deaf or mad, and
+I for one cry shame upon you for your folly."
+
+Soldiers ran to pull him down, and the whole audience was in confusion,
+some of the bolder cheering the sentiments of the shepherd, and others
+crying that he should be cast out of the building. Meanwhile the
+successful singer, having handed his lyre to his negro attendant, was
+enquiring from those around him on the stage as to the cause of the
+uproar. Finally a herald with an enormously powerful voice stepped
+forward to the front, and proclaimed that if the foolish person at the
+back of the hall, who appeared to differ from the opinion of the rest
+of the audience, would come forward upon the platform, he might, if he
+dared, exhibit his own powers, and see if he could outdo the admirable
+and wonderful exhibition which they had just had the privilege of
+hearing.
+
+Policles sprang readily to his feet at the challenge, and the great
+company making way for him to pass, he found himself a minute later
+standing in his unkempt garb, with his frayed and weather-beaten harp in
+his hand, before the expectant crowd. He stood for a moment tightening a
+string here and slackening another there until his chords rang true.
+Then, amid a murmur of laughter and jeers from the Roman benches
+immediately before him, he began to sing.
+
+He had prepared no composition, but he had trained himself to improvise,
+singing out of his heart for the joy of the music. He told of the land
+of Elis, beloved of Jupiter, in which they were gathered that day, of
+the great bare mountain slopes, of the swift shadows of the clouds, of
+the winding blue river, of the keen air of the uplands, of the chill of
+the evenings, and the beauties of earth and sky. It was all simple and
+childlike, but it went to the hearts of the Olympians, for it spoke of
+the land which they knew and loved. Yet when he at last dropped his
+hand, few of them dared to applaud, and their feeble voices were drowned
+by a storm of hisses and groans from his opponents. He shrank back in
+horror from so unusual a reception, and in an instant his blue-clad
+rival was in his place. If he had sung badly before, his performance now
+was inconceivable. His screams, his grunts, his discords, and harsh
+jarring cacophonies were an outrage to the very name of music. And yet
+every time that he paused for breath or to wipe his streaming forehead a
+fresh thunder of applause came rolling back from the audience. Policles
+sank his face in his hands and prayed that he might not be insane. Then,
+when the dreadful performance ceased, and the uproar of admiration
+showed that the crown was certainly awarded to this impostor, a horror
+of the audience, a hatred of this race of fools, and a craving for the
+peace and silence of the pastures mastered every feeling in his mind. He
+dashed through the mass of people waiting at the wings, and emerged in
+the open air. His old rival and friend Metas of Corinth was waiting
+there with an anxious face.
+
+"Quick, Policles, quick!" he cried. "My pony is tethered behind yonder
+grove. A grey he is, with red trappings. Get you gone as hard as hoof
+will bear you, for if you are taken you will have no easy death."
+
+"No easy death! What mean you, Metas? Who is the fellow?"
+
+"Great Jupiter! did you not know? Where have you lived? It is Nero the
+Emperor! Never would he pardon what you have said about his voice.
+Quick, man, quick, or the guards will be at your heels!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+An hour later the shepherd was well on his way to his mountain home, and
+about the same time the Emperor, having received the Chaplet of Olympia
+for the incomparable excellence of his performance, was making enquiries
+with a frowning brow as to who the insolent person might be who had
+dared to utter such contemptuous criticisms.
+
+"Bring him to me here this instant," said he, "and let Marcus with his
+knife and branding-iron be in attendance."
+
+"If it please you, great Cæsar," said Arsenius Platus, the officer of
+attendance, "the man cannot be found, and there are some very strange
+rumours flying about."
+
+"Rumours!" cried the angry Nero. "What do you mean, Arsenius? I tell you
+that the fellow was an ignorant upstart with the bearing of a boor and
+the voice of a peacock. I tell you also that there are a good many who
+are as guilty as he among the people, for I heard them with my own ears
+raise cheers for him when he had sung his ridiculous ode. I have half a
+mind to burn their town about their ears so that they may remember my
+visit."
+
+"It is not to be wondered at if he won their votes, Cæsar," said the
+soldier, "for from what I hear it would have been no disgrace had you,
+even you, been conquered in this contest."
+
+"I conquered! You are mad, Arsenius. What do you mean?"
+
+"None know him, great Cæsar! He came from the mountains, and he
+disappeared into the mountains. You marked the wildness and strange
+beauty of his face. It is whispered that for once the great god Pan has
+condescended to measure himself against a mortal."
+
+The cloud cleared from Nero's brow. "Of course, Arsenius! You are right!
+No man would have dared to brave me so. What a story for Rome! Let the
+messenger leave this very night, Arsenius, to tell them how their
+Emperor has upheld their honour in Olympia this day."
+
+
+
+
+VI
+
+THE FIRST CARGO
+
+
+    "Ex ovo omnia"
+
+When you left Britain with your legion, my dear Crassus, I promised that
+I would write to you from time to time when a messenger chanced to be
+going to Rome, and keep you informed as to anything of interest which
+might occur in this country. Personally, I am very glad that I remained
+behind when the troops and so many of our citizens left, for though the
+living is rough and the climate is infernal, still by dint of the three
+voyages which I have made for amber to the Baltic, and the excellent
+prices which I obtained for it here, I shall soon be in a position to
+retire, and to spend my old age under my own fig tree, or even perhaps
+to buy a small villa at Baiae or Posuoli, where I could get a good
+sun-bath after the continued fogs of this accursed island. I picture
+myself on a little farm, and I read the Georgics as a preparation; but
+when I hear the rain falling and the wind howling, Italy seems very far
+away.
+
+In my previous letter I let you know how things were going in this
+country. The poor folk, who had given up all soldiering during the
+centuries that we guarded them, are now perfectly helpless before these
+Picts and Scots, tattooed Barbarians from the north, who overrun the
+whole country and do exactly what they please. So long as they kept to
+the north, the people in the south, who are the most numerous, and also
+the most civilised of the Britons, took no heed of them; but now the
+rascals have come as far as London, and the lazy folk in these parts
+have had to wake up. Vortigern, the king, is useless for anything but
+drink or women, so he sent across to the Baltic to get over some of the
+North Germans, in the hope that they would come and help him. It is bad
+enough to have a bear in your house, but it does not seem to me to mend
+matters if you call in a pack of ferocious wolves as well. However,
+nothing better could be devised, so an invitation was sent and very
+promptly accepted. And it is here that your humble friend appears upon
+the scene. In the course of my amber trading I had learned the Saxon
+speech, and so I was sent down in all haste to the Kentish shore that I
+might be there when our new allies came. I arrived there on the very day
+when their first vessel appeared, and it is of my adventures that I wish
+to tell you. It is perfectly clear to me that the landing of these
+warlike Germans in England will prove to be an event of historical
+importance, and so your inquisitive mind will not feel wearied if I
+treat the matter in some detail.
+
+It was, then, upon the day of Mercury, immediately following the Feast
+of Our Blessed Lord's Ascension, that I found myself upon the south bank
+of the river Thames, at the point where it opens into a wide estuary.
+There is an island there named Thanet, which was the spot chosen for the
+landfall of our visitors. Sure enough, I had no sooner ridden up than
+there was a great red ship, the first as it seems of three, coming in
+under full sail. The white horse, which is the ensign of these rovers,
+was hanging from her topmast, and she appeared to be crowded with men.
+The sun was shining brightly, and the great scarlet ship, with
+snow-white sails and a line of gleaming shields slung over her side,
+made as fair a picture on that blue expanse as one would wish to see.
+
+I pushed off at once in a boat, because it had been arranged that none
+of the Saxons should land until the king had come down to speak with
+their leaders. Presently I was under the ship, which had a gilded dragon
+in the bows, and a tier of oars along either side. As I looked up, there
+was a row of helmeted heads looking down at me, and among them I saw, to
+my great surprise and pleasure, that of Eric the Swart, with whom I do
+business at Venta every year. He greeted me heartily when I reached the
+deck, and became at once my guide, friend, and counsellor. This helped
+me greatly with these Barbarians, for it is their nature that they are
+very cold and aloof unless one of their own number can vouch for you,
+after which they are very hearty and hospitable. Try as they will, they
+find it hard, however, to avoid a certain suggestion of condescension,
+and in the baser sort, of contempt, when they are dealing with a
+foreigner.
+
+It was a great stroke of luck meeting Eric, for he was able to give me
+some idea of how things stood before I was shown into the presence of
+Kenna, the leader of this particular ship. The crew, as I learned from
+him, was entirely made up of three tribes or families--those of Kenna,
+of Lanc, and of Hasta. Each of these tribes gets its name by putting the
+letters "ing" after the name of the chief, so that the people on board
+would describe themselves as Kennings, Lancings, and Hastings. I
+observed in the Baltic that the villages were named after the family who
+lived in them, each keeping to itself, so that I have no doubt that if
+these fellows get a footing on shore, we shall see settlements with
+names like these rising up among the British towns.
+
+The greater part of the men were sturdy fellows with red, yellow, or
+brown hair, mostly the latter. To my surprise, I saw several women among
+them. Eric, in answer to my question, explained that they always take
+their women with them so far as they can, and that instead of finding
+them an encumbrance as our Roman dames would be, they look upon them as
+helpmates and advisers. Of course, I remembered afterwards that our
+excellent and accurate Tacitus has remarked upon this characteristic of
+the Germans. All laws in the tribes are decided by votes, and a vote
+has not yet been given to the women, but many are in favour of it, and
+it is thought that woman and man may soon have the same power in the
+State, though many of the women themselves are opposed to such an
+innovation. I observed to Eric that it was fortunate there were several
+women on board, as they could keep each other company; but he answered
+that the wives of chiefs had no desire to know the wives of the inferior
+officers, and that both of them combined against the more common women,
+so that any companionship was out of the question. He pointed as he
+spoke to Editha, the wife of Kenna, a red-faced, elderly woman, who
+walked among the others, her chin in the air, taking no more notice than
+if they did not exist.
+
+Whilst I was talking to my friend Eric, a sudden altercation broke out
+upon the deck, and a great number of the men paused in their work, and
+flocked towards the spot with faces which showed that they were deeply
+interested in the matter. Eric and I pushed our way among the others,
+for I was very anxious to see as much as I could of the ways and
+manners of these Barbarians. A quarrel had broken out about a child, a
+little blue-eyed fellow with curly yellow hair, who appeared to be
+greatly amused by the hubbub of which he was the cause. On one side of
+him stood a white-bearded old man, of very majestic aspect, who
+signified by his gestures that he claimed the lad for himself, while on
+the other was a thin, earnest, anxious person, who strongly objected to
+the boy being taken from him. Eric whispered in my ear that the old man
+was the tribal high priest, who was the official sacrificer to their
+great god Woden, whilst the other was a man who took somewhat different
+views, not upon Woden, but upon the means by which he should be
+worshipped. The majority of the crew were on the side of the old priest;
+but a certain number, who liked greater liberty of worship, and to
+invent their own prayers instead of always repeating the official ones,
+followed the lead of the younger man. The difference was too deep and
+too old to be healed among the grown men, but each had a great desire to
+impress his view upon the children. This was the reason why these two
+were now so furious with each other, and the argument between them ran
+so high that several of their followers on either side had drawn the
+short saxes, or knives from which their name of Saxon is derived, when a
+burly, red-headed man pushed his way through the throng, and in a voice
+of thunder brought the controversy to an end.
+
+"You priests, who argue about the things which no man can know, are more
+trouble aboard this ship than all the dangers of the sea," he cried.
+"Can you not be content with worshipping Woden, over which we are all
+agreed, and not make so much of those small points upon which we may
+differ. If there is all this fuss about the teaching of the children,
+then I shall forbid either of you to teach them, and they must be
+content with as much as they can learn from their mothers."
+
+The two angry teachers walked away with discontented faces; and
+Kenna--for it was he who spoke--ordered that a whistle should be
+sounded, and that the crew should assemble. I was pleased with the free
+bearing of these people, for though this was their greatest chief, they
+showed none of the exaggerated respect which soldiers of a legion might
+show to the Prætor, but met him on a respectful equality, which showed
+how highly they rated their own manhood.
+
+From our Roman standard, his remarks to his men would seem very wanting
+in eloquence, for there were no graces nor metaphors to be found in
+them, and yet they were short, strong and to the point. At any rate it
+was very clear that they were to the minds of his hearers. He began by
+reminding them that they had left their own country because the land was
+all taken up, and that there was no use returning there, since there was
+no place where they could dwell as free and independent men. This island
+of Britain was but sparsely inhabited, and there was a chance that every
+one of them would be able to found a home of his own.
+
+"You, Whitta," he said, addressing some of them by name, "you will found
+a Whitting hame, and you, Bucka, we shall see you in a Bucking hame,
+where your children and your children's children will bless you for the
+broad acres which your valour will have gained for them." There was no
+word of glory or of honour in his speech, but he said that he was aware
+that they would do their duty, on which they all struck their swords
+upon their shields so that the Britons on the beach could hear the
+clang. Then, his eyes falling upon me, he asked me whether I was the
+messenger from Vortigern, and on my answering, he bid me follow him into
+his cabin, where Lanc and Hasta, the other chiefs, were waiting for a
+council.
+
+Picture me, then, my dear Crassus, in a very low-roofed cabin, with
+these three huge Barbarians seated round me. Each was clad in some sort
+of saffron tunic, with a chain-mail shirt over it, and a helmet with the
+horns of oxen on the sides, laid upon the table before him. Like most of
+the Saxon chiefs, their beards were shaved, but they wore their hair
+long and their huge light-coloured moustaches drooped down on to their
+shoulders. They are gentle, slow, and somewhat heavy in their bearing,
+but I can well fancy that their fury is the more terrible when it does
+arise.
+
+Their minds seem to be of a very practical and positive nature, for they
+at once began to ask me a series of question upon the numbers of the
+Britons, the resources of the kingdom, the conditions of its trade, and
+other such subjects. They then set to work arguing over the information
+which I had given, and became so absorbed in their own contention that I
+believe there were times when they forgot my presence. Everything, after
+due discussion, was decided between them by the vote, the one who found
+himself in the minority always submitting, though sometimes with a very
+bad grace. Indeed, on one occasion Lanc, who usually differed from the
+others, threatened to refer the matter to the general vote of the whole
+crew. There was a constant conflict in the point of view; for whereas
+Kenna and Hasta were anxious to extend the Saxon power, and to make it
+greater in the eyes of the world, Lanc was of opinion that they should
+give less thought to conquest and more to the comfort and advancement of
+their followers. At the same time it seemed to me that really Lanc was
+the most combative of the three; so much so that, even in time of peace,
+he could not forego this contest with his own brethren. Neither of the
+others seemed very fond of him, for they were each, as was easy to see,
+proud of their chieftainship, and anxious to use their authority,
+referring continually to those noble ancestors from whom it was
+derived; while Lanc though he was equally well born, took the view of
+the common men upon every occasion, claiming that the interests of the
+many were superior to the privileges of the few. In a word, Crassus, if
+you could imagine a free-booting Gracchus on one side, and two piratical
+Patricians upon the other, you would understand the effect which my
+companions produced upon me.
+
+There was one peculiarity which I observed in their conversation which
+soothed me very much. I am fond of these Britons, among whom I have
+spent so much of my life, and I wish them well. It was very pleasing,
+therefore, to notice that these men insisted upon it in their
+conversation that the whole object of their visit was the good of the
+Islanders. Any prospect of advantage to themselves was pushed into the
+background. I was not clear that these professions could be made to
+agree with the speech in which Kenna had promised a hundred hides of
+land to every man on the ship; but on my making this remark, the three
+chiefs seemed very surprised and hurt by my suspicions, and explained
+very plausibly that, as the Britons needed them as a guard, they could
+not aid them better than by settling on the soil, and so being
+continually at hand in order to help them. In time, they said, they
+hoped to raise and train the natives to such a point that they would be
+able to look after themselves. Lanc spoke with some degree of eloquence
+upon the nobleness of the mission which they had undertaken, and the
+others clattered their cups of mead (a jar of that unpleasant drink was
+on the table) in token of their agreement.
+
+I observed also how much interested, and how very earnest and intolerant
+these Barbarians were in the matter of religion. Of Christianity they
+knew nothing, so that although they were aware that the Britons were
+Christians, they had not a notion of what their creed really was. Yet
+without examination they started by taking it for granted that their own
+worship of Woden was absolutely right, and that therefore this other
+creed must be absolutely wrong. "This vile religion," "This sad
+superstition," and "This grievous error" were among the phrases which
+they used towards it. Instead of expressing pity for any one who had
+been misinformed upon so serious a question, their feelings were those
+of anger, and they declared most earnestly that they would spare no
+pains to set the matter right, fingering the hilts of their long
+broadswords as they did so.
+
+Well, my dear Crassus, you will have had enough of me and of my Saxons.
+I have given you a short sketch of these people and their ways. Since I
+began this letter, I have visited the two other ships which have come
+in, and as I find the same characteristics among the people on board
+them, I cannot doubt that they lie deeply in the race. For the rest,
+they are brave, hardy, and very pertinacious in all that they undertake;
+whereas the Britons, though a great deal more spirited, have not the
+same steadiness of purpose, their quicker imaginations suggesting always
+some other course, and their more fiery passions being succeeded by
+reaction. When I looked from the deck of the first Saxon ship, and saw
+the swaying excited multitude of Britons on the beach, contrasting them
+with the intent, silent men who stood beside me, it seemed to me more
+than ever dangerous to call in such allies. So strongly did I feel it
+that I turned to Kenna, who was also looking towards the beach.
+
+"You will own this island before you have finished," said I.
+
+His eyes sparkled as he gazed. "Perhaps," he cried; and then suddenly
+correcting himself and thinking that he had said too much, he added--
+
+"A temporary occupation--nothing more."
+
+
+
+
+VII
+
+AN ICONOCLAST
+
+
+It was daybreak of a March morning in the year of Christ 92. Outside the
+long Semita Alta was already thronged with people, with buyers and
+sellers, callers and strollers, for the Romans were so early-rising a
+people that many a Patrician preferred to see his clients at six in the
+morning. Such was the good republican tradition, still upheld by the
+more conservative; but with more modern habits of luxury, a night of
+pleasure and banqueting was no uncommon thing. Thus one, who had learned
+the new and yet adhered to the old, might find his hours overlap, and
+without so much as a pretence of sleep come straight from his night of
+debauch into his day of business, turning with heavy wits and an aching
+head to that round of formal duties which consumed the life of a Roman
+gentleman.
+
+So it was with Emilius Flaccus that March morning. He and his fellow
+senator, Caius Balbus, had passed the night in one of those gloomy
+drinking bouts to which the Emperor Domitian summoned his chosen friends
+at the high palace on the Palatine. Now, having reached the portals of
+the house of Flaccus, they stood together under the pomegranate-fringed
+portico which fronted the peristyle and, confident in each other's tried
+discretion, made up by the freedom of their criticism for the long
+self-suppression of that melancholy feast.
+
+"If he would but feed his guests," said Balbus, a little red-faced,
+choleric nobleman with yellow-shot angry eyes. "What had we? Upon my
+life, I have forgotten. Plovers' eggs, a mess of fish, some bird or
+other, and then his eternal apples."
+
+"Of which," said Flaccus, "he ate only the apples. Do him the justice to
+confess that he takes even less than he gives. At least they cannot say
+of him as of Vitellius, that his teeth beggared the empire."
+
+"No, nor his thirst either, great as it is. That fiery Sabine wine of
+his could be had for a few sesterces the amphora. It is the common drink
+of the carters at every wine-house on the country roads. I longed for a
+glass of my own rich Falernian or the mellow Coan that was bottled in
+the year that Titus took Jerusalem. Is it even now too late? Could we
+not wash this rasping stuff from our palates?"
+
+"Nay, better come in with me now and take a bitter draught ere you go
+upon your way. My Greek physician Stephanos has a rare prescription for
+a morning head. What! Your clients await you? Well, I will see you later
+at the Senate house."
+
+The Patrician had entered his atrium, bright with rare flowers, and
+melodious with strange singing birds. At the jaws of the hall, true to
+his morning duties, stood Lebs, the little Nubian slave, with snow-white
+tunic and turban, a salver of glasses in one hand, whilst in the other
+he held a flask of thin lemon-tinted liquid. The master of the house
+filled up a bitter aromatic bumper, and was about to drink it off when
+his hand was arrested by a sudden perception that something was much
+amiss in his household. It was to be read all around him--in the
+frightened eyes of the black boy, in the agitated face of the keeper of
+the atrium, in the gloom and silence of the little knot of ordinarii,
+the procurator or major-domo at their head, who had assembled to greet
+their master. Stephanos the physician, Cleios the Alexandrine reader,
+Promus the steward each turned his head away to avoid his master's
+questioning gaze.
+
+"What in the name of Pluto is the matter with you all?" cried the amazed
+senator, whose night of potations had left him in no mood for patience.
+"Why do you stand moping there? Stephanos, Vacculus, is anything amiss?
+Here, Promus, you are the head of my household. What is it, then? Why do
+you turn your eyes away from me?"
+
+The burly steward, whose fat face was haggard and mottled with anxiety,
+laid his hand upon the sleeve of the domestic beside him.
+
+"Sergius is responsible for the atrium, my lord. It is for him to tell
+you the terrible thing that has befallen in your absence."
+
+"Nay, it was Datus who did it. Bring him in, and let him explain it
+himself," said Sergius in a sulky voice.
+
+The patience of the Patrician was at an end. "Speak this instant, you
+rascal!" he shouted angrily. "Another minute, and I will have you
+dragged to the ergastulum, where, with your feet in the stocks and the
+gyves round your wrists, you may learn quicker obedience. Speak, I say,
+and without delay."
+
+"It is the Venus," the man stammered; "the Greek Venus of Praxiteles."
+
+The senator gave a cry of apprehension and rushed to the corner of the
+atrium, where a little shrine, curtained off by silken drapery, held the
+precious statue, the greatest art treasure of his collection--perhaps of
+the whole world. He tore the hangings aside and stood in speechless
+anger before the outraged goddess. The red, perfumed lamp which always
+burned before her had been spilled and broken; her altar fire had been
+quenched, her chaplet had been dashed aside. But worst of
+all--insufferable sacrilege!--her own beautiful nude body of glistening
+Pentelic marble, as white and fair as when the inspired Greek had hewed
+it out five hundred years before, had been most brutally mishandled.
+Three fingers of the gracious outstretched hand had been struck off, and
+lay upon the pedestal beside her. Above her delicate breast a dark mark
+showed, where a blow had disfigured the marble. Emilius Flaccus, the
+most delicate and judicious connoisseur in Rome, stood gasping and
+croaking, his hand to his throat, as he gazed at his disfigured
+masterpiece. Then he turned upon his slaves, his fury in his convulsed
+face; but, to his amazement, they were not looking at him, but had all
+turned in attitudes of deep respect towards the opening of the
+peristyle. As he faced round and saw who had just entered his house, his
+own rage fell away from him in an instant, and his manner became as
+humble as that of his servants.
+
+The new-comer was a man forty-three years of age, clean shaven, with a
+massive head, large engorged eyes, a small clear-cut nose, and the full
+bull neck which was the especial mark of his breed. He had entered
+through the peristyle with a swaggering, rolling gait, as one who walks
+upon his own ground, and now he stood, his hands upon his hips, looking
+round him at the bowing slaves, and finally at their master, with a
+half-humorous expression upon his flushed and brutal face.
+
+"Why, Emilius," said he, "I had understood that your household was the
+best-ordered in Rome. What is amiss with you this morning?"
+
+"Nothing could be amiss with us now that Cæsar has deigned to come under
+my roof," said the courtier. "This is indeed a most glad surprise which
+you have prepared for me."
+
+"It was an afterthought," said Domitian. "When you and the others had
+left me, I was in no mood for sleep, and so it came into my mind that I
+would have a breath of morning air by coming down to you, and seeing
+this Grecian Venus of yours, about which you discoursed so eloquently
+between the cups. But, indeed, by your appearance and that of your
+servants, I should judge that my visit was an ill-timed one."
+
+"Nay, dear master; say not so. But, indeed, it is truth that I was in
+trouble at the moment of your welcome entrance, and this trouble was, as
+the Fates have willed it, brought forth by that very statue in which you
+have been graciously pleased to show your interest. There it stands, and
+you can see for yourself how rudely it has been mishandled."
+
+"By Pluto and all the nether gods, if it were mine some of you should
+feed the lampreys," said the Emperor, looking round with his fierce
+eyes at the shrinking slaves. "You were always overmerciful, Emilius. It
+is the common talk that your catenæ are rusted for want of use. But
+surely this is beyond all bounds. Let me see how you handle the matter.
+Whom do you hold responsible?"
+
+"The slave Sergius is responsible, since it is his place to tend the
+atrium," said Flaccus. "Stand forward, Sergius. What have you to say?"
+
+The trembling slave advanced to his master. "If it please you, sir, the
+mischief has been done by Datus the Christian."
+
+"Datus! Who is he?"
+
+"The matulator, the scavenger, my lord. I did not know that he belonged
+to these horrible people, or I should not have admitted him. He came
+with his broom to brush out the litter of the birds. His eyes fell upon
+the Venus, and in an instant he had rushed upon her and struck her two
+blows with his wooden besom. Then we fell upon him and dragged him away.
+But alas! alas! it was too late, for already the wretch had dashed off
+the fingers of the goddess."
+
+The Emperor smiled grimly, while the Patrician's thin face grew pale
+with anger.
+
+"Where is the fellow?" he asked.
+
+"In the ergastulum, your honour, with the furca on his neck."
+
+"Bring him hither and summon the household."
+
+A few minutes later the whole back of the atrium was thronged by the
+motley crowd who ministered to the household needs of a great Roman
+nobleman. There was the arcarius, or account keeper, with his stylum
+behind his ear; the sleek prægustator, who sampled all foods, so as to
+stand between his master and poison, and beside him his predecessor, now
+a half-witted idiot through the interception twenty years before of a
+datura draught from Canidia; the cellar-man, summoned from amongst his
+amphoræ; the cook, with his basting-ladle in his hand; the pompous
+nomenclator, who ushered the guests; the cubicularius, who saw to their
+accommodation; the silentiarius, who kept order in the house; the
+structor, who set forth the tables; the carptor, who carved the food;
+the cinerarius, who lit the fires--these and many more, half-curious,
+half-terrified, came to the judging of Datus. Behind them a chattering,
+giggling swarm of Lalages, Marias, Cerusas, and Amaryllides, from the
+laundries and the spinning-rooms, stood upon their tiptoes, and extended
+their pretty wondering faces over the shoulders of the men. Through this
+crowd came two stout varlets leading the culprit between them. He was a
+small, dark, rough-headed man, with an unkempt beard and wild eyes which
+shone brightly with strong inward emotion. His hands were bound behind
+him, and over his neck was the heavy wooden collar or furca which was
+placed upon refractory slaves. A smear of blood across his cheek showed
+that he had not come uninjured from the preceding scuffle.
+
+"Are you Datus the scavenger?" asked the Patrician.
+
+The man drew himself up proudly. "Yes," said he, "I am Datus."
+
+"Did you do this injury to my statue?"
+
+"Yes, I did."
+
+There was an uncompromising boldness in the man's reply which compelled
+respect. The wrath of his master became tinged with interest.
+
+"Why did you do this?" he asked.
+
+"Because it was my duty."
+
+"Why, then, was it your duty to destroy your master's property?"
+
+"Because I am a Christian." His eyes blazed suddenly out of his dark
+face. "Because there is no God but the one eternal, and all else are
+sticks and stones. What has this naked harlot to do with Him to whom the
+great firmament is but a garment and the earth a footstool? It was in
+His service that I have broken your statue."
+
+Domitian looked with a smile at the Patrician. "You will make nothing of
+him," said he. "They speak even so when they stand before the lions in
+the arena. As to argument, not all the philosophers of Rome can break
+them down. Before my very face they refuse to sacrifice in my honour.
+Never were such impossible people to deal with. I should take a short
+way with him if I were you."
+
+"What would Cæsar advise?"
+
+"There are the games this afternoon. I am showing the new
+hunting-leopard which King Juba has sent from Numidia. This slave may
+give us some sport when he finds the hungry beast sniffing at his
+heels."
+
+The Patrician considered for a moment. He had always been a father to
+his servants. It was hateful to him to think of any injury befalling
+them. Perhaps even now, if this strange fanatic would show his sorrow
+for what he had done, it might be possible to spare him. At least it was
+worth trying.
+
+"Your offence deserves death," he said. "What reasons can you give why
+it should not befall you, since you have injured this statue, which is
+worth your own price a hundred times over?"
+
+The slave looked steadfastly at his master. "I do not fear death," he
+said. "My sister Candida died in the arena, and I am ready to do the
+same. It is true that I have injured your statue, but I am able to find
+you something of far greater value in exchange. I will give you the
+truth and the gospel in exchange for your broken idol."
+
+The Emperor laughed. "You will do nothing with him, Emilius," he said.
+"I know his breed of old. He is ready to die; he says so himself. Why
+save him, then?"
+
+But the Patrician still hesitated. He would make a last effort.
+
+"Throw off his bonds," he said to the guards. "Now take the furca off
+his neck. So! Now, Datus, I have released you to show you that I trust
+you. I have no wish to do you any hurt if you will but acknowledge your
+error, and so set a better example to my household here assembled."
+
+"How, then, shall I acknowledge my error?" the slave asked.
+
+"Bow your head before the goddess, and entreat her forgiveness for the
+violence you have done her. Then perhaps you may gain my pardon as
+well."
+
+"Put me, then, before her," said the Christian.
+
+Emilius Flaccus looked triumphantly at Domitian. By kindness and tact he
+was effecting that which the Emperor had failed to do by violence. Datus
+walked in front of the mutilated Venus. Then with a sudden spring he
+tore the baton out of the hand of one of his guardians, leaped upon the
+pedestal, and showered his blows upon the lovely marble woman. With a
+crack and a dull thud her right arm dropped to the ground. Another
+fierce blow and the left had followed. Flaccus danced and screamed with
+horror, while his servants dragged the raving iconoclast from his
+impassive victim. Domitian's brutal laughter echoed through the hall.
+
+"Well, friend, what think you now?" he cried. "Are you wiser than your
+Emperor? Can you indeed tame your Christian with kindness?"
+
+Emilius Flaccus wiped the sweat from his brow. "He is yours, great
+Cæsar. Do with him as you will."
+
+"Let him be at the gladiators' entrance of the circus an hour before the
+games begin," said the Emperor. "Now, Emilius, the night has been a
+merry one. My Ligurian galley waits by the river quay. Come, cool your
+head with a spin to Ostia ere the business of State calls you to the
+Senate."
+
+
+
+
+VIII
+
+GIANT MAXIMIN
+
+
+I: THE COMING OF GIANT MAXIMIN
+
+Many are the strange vicissitudes of history. Greatness has often sunk
+to the dust, and has tempered itself to its new surrounding. Smallness
+has risen aloft, has flourished for a time, and then has sunk once more.
+Rich monarchs have become poor monks, brave conquerors have lost their
+manhood, eunuchs and women have overthrown armies and kingdoms. Surely
+there is no situation which the mind of man could invent which has not
+taken shape and been played out upon the world stage. But of all the
+strange careers and of all the wondrous happenings, stranger than
+Charles in his monastery, or Justin on his throne, there stands the case
+of Giant Maximin, what he attained, and how he attained it. Let me tell
+the sober facts of history, tinged only by that colouring to which the
+more austere historians could not condescend. It is a record as well as
+a story.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In the heart of Thrace some ten miles north of the Rhodope mountains,
+there is a valley which is named Harpessus, after the stream which runs
+down it. Through this valley lies the main road from the east to the
+west, and along the road, returning from an expedition against the
+Alani, there marched, upon the fifth day of the month of June in the
+year 210, a small but compact Roman army. It consisted of three
+legions--the Jovian, the Cappadocian, and the men of Hercules. Ten turmæ
+of Gallic cavalry led the van, whilst the rear was covered by a regiment
+of Batavian Horse Guards, the immediate attendants of the Emperor
+Septimius Severus, who had conducted the campaign in person. The
+peasants who lined the low hills which fringed the valley looked with
+indifference upon the long files of dusty, heavily-burdened infantry,
+but they broke into murmurs of delight at the gold-faced cuirasses and
+high brazen horse-hair helmets of the guardsmen, applauding their
+stalwart figures, their martial bearing, and the stately black chargers
+which they rode. A soldier might know that it was the little weary men
+with their short swords, their heavy pikes over their shoulders, and
+their square shields slung upon their backs, who were the real terror of
+the enemies of the Empire, but to the eyes of the wondering Thracians it
+was this troop of glittering Apollos who bore Rome's victory upon their
+banners, and upheld the throne of the purple-togaed prince who rode
+before them.
+
+Among the scattered groups of peasants who looked on from a respectful
+distance at this military pageant, there were two men who attracted much
+attention from those who stood immediately around them. The one was
+commonplace enough--a little grey-headed man, with uncouth dress and a
+frame which was bent and warped by a long life of arduous toil,
+goat-driving and wood-chopping, among the mountains. It was the
+appearance of his youthful companion which had drawn the amazed
+observation of the bystanders. In stature he was such a giant as is seen
+but once or twice in each generation of mankind. Eight feet and two
+inches was his measure from his sandalled sole to the topmost curls of
+his tangled hair. Yet for all his mighty stature there was nothing heavy
+or clumsy in the man. His huge shoulders bore no redundant flesh, and
+his figure was straight and hard and supple as a young pine tree. A
+frayed suit of brown leather clung close to his giant body, and a cloak
+of undressed sheep-skin was slung from his shoulder. His bold blue eyes,
+shock of yellow hair and fair skin showed that he was of Gothic or
+northern blood, and the amazed expression upon his broad frank face as
+he stared at the passing troops told of a simple and uneventful life in
+some back valley of the Macedonian mountains.
+
+"I fear your mother was right when she advised that we keep you at
+home," said the old man anxiously. "Tree-cutting and wood-carrying will
+seem but dull work after such a sight as this."
+
+"When I see mother next it will be to put a golden torque round her
+neck," said the young giant. "And you, daddy; I will fill your leather
+pouch with gold pieces before I have done."
+
+The old man looked at his son with startled eyes. "You would not leave
+us, Theckla! What could we do without you?"
+
+"My place is down among yonder men," said the young man. "I was not born
+to drive goats and carry logs, but to sell this manhood of mine in the
+best market. There is my market in the Emperor's own Guard. Say nothing,
+daddy, for my mind is set, and if you weep now it will be to laugh
+hereafter. I will to great Rome with the soldiers."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The daily march of the heavily laden Roman legionary was fixed at twenty
+miles; but on this afternoon, though only half the distance had been
+accomplished, the silver trumpets blared out their welcome news that a
+camp was to be formed. As the men broke their ranks, the reason of their
+light march was announced by the decurions. It was the birthday of Geta,
+the younger son of the Emperor, and in his honour there would be games
+and a double ration of wine. But the iron discipline of the Roman army
+required that under all circumstances certain duties should be
+performed, and foremost among them that the camp should be made secure.
+Laying down their arms in the order of their ranks, the soldiers seized
+their spades and axes, and worked rapidly and joyously until sloping
+vallum and gaping fossa girdled them round, and gave them safe refuge
+against a night attack. Then in noisy, laughing, gesticulating crowds
+they gathered in their thousands round the grassy arena where the sports
+were to be held. A long green hill-side sloped down to a level plain,
+and on this gentle incline the army lay watching the strife of the
+chosen athletes who contended before them. They stretched themselves in
+the glare of the sunshine, their heavy tunics thrown off, and their
+naked limbs sprawling, wine-cups and baskets of fruit and cakes circling
+amongst them, enjoying rest and peace as only those can to whom it comes
+so rarely.
+
+The five-mile race was over, and had been won as usual by Decurion
+Brennus, the crack long-distance champion of the Herculians. Amid the
+yells of the Jovians, Capellus of the corps had carried off both the
+long and the high jump. Big Brebix the Gaul had out-thrown the long
+guardsman Serenus with the fifty pound stone. Now, as the sun sank
+towards the western ridge, and turned the Harpessus to a riband of
+gold, they had come to the final of the wrestling, where the pliant
+Greek, whose name is lost in the nickname of "Python," was tried out
+against the bull-necked Lictor of the military police, a hairy Hercules,
+whose heavy hand had in the way of duty oppressed many of the
+spectators.
+
+As the two men, stripped save for their loincloths, approached the
+wrestling-ring, cheers and counter-cheers burst from their adherents,
+some favouring the Lictor for his Roman blood, some the Greek from their
+own private grudge. And then, of a sudden, the cheering died, heads were
+turned towards the slope away from the arena, men stood up and peered
+and pointed, until finally, in a strange hush, the whole great assembly
+had forgotten the athletes, and were watching a single man walking
+swiftly towards them down the green curve of the hill. This huge
+solitary figure, with the oaken club in his hand, the shaggy fleece
+flapping from his great shoulders, and the setting sun gleaming upon a
+halo of golden hair, might have been the tutelary god of the fierce and
+barren mountains from which he had issued. Even the Emperor rose from
+his chair and gazed with open-eyed amazement at the extraordinary being
+who approached them.
+
+The man, whom we already know as Theckla the Thracian, paid no heed to
+the attention which he had aroused, but strode onwards, stepping as
+lightly as a deer, until he reached the fringe of the soldiers. Amid
+their open ranks he picked his way, sprang over the ropes which guarded
+the arena, and advanced towards the Emperor, until a spear at his breast
+warned him that he must go no nearer. Then he sunk upon his right knee
+and called out some words in the Gothic speech.
+
+"Great Jupiter! Whoever saw such a body of a man!" cried the Emperor.
+"What says he? What is amiss with the fellow? Whence comes he, and what
+is his name?"
+
+An interpreter translated the Barbarian's answer. "He says, great Cæsar,
+that he is of good blood, and sprung by a Gothic father from a woman of
+the Alani. He says that his name is Theckla, and that he would fain
+carry a sword in Cæsar's service."
+
+The Emperor smiled. "Some post could surely be found for such a man,
+were it but as janitor at the Palatine Palace," said he to one of the
+Prefects. "I would fain see him walk even as he is through the forum. He
+would turn the heads of half the women in Rome. Talk to him, Crassus.
+You know his speech."
+
+The Roman officer turned to the giant. "Cæsar says that you are to come
+with him, and he will make you the servant at his door."
+
+The Barbarian rose, and his fair cheeks flushed with resentment.
+
+"I will serve Cæsar as a soldier," said he, "but I will be house-servant
+to no man--not even to him. If Cæsar would see what manner of man I am,
+let him put one of his guardsmen up against me."
+
+"By the shade of Milo this is a bold fellow!" cried the Emperor. "How
+say you, Crassus? Shall he make good his words?"
+
+"By your leave, Cæsar," said the blunt soldier, "good swordsmen are too
+rare in these days that we should let them slay each other for sport.
+Perhaps if the Barbarian would wrestle a fall----"
+
+"Excellent!" cried the Emperor. "Here is the Python, and here Varus the
+Lictor, each stripped for the bout. Have a look at them, Barbarian, and
+see which you would choose. What does he say? He would take them both?
+Nay then he is either the king of wrestlers or the king of boasters, and
+we shall soon see which. Let him have his way, and he has himself to
+thank if he comes out with a broken neck."
+
+There was some laughter when the peasant tossed his sheep-skin mantle to
+the ground and, without troubling to remove his leathern tunic, advanced
+towards the two wrestlers; but it became uproarious when with a quick
+spring he seized the Greek under one arm and the Roman under the other,
+holding them as in a vice. Then with a terrific effort he tore them both
+from the ground, carried them writhing and kicking round the arena, and
+finally walking up to the Emperor's throne, threw his two athletes down
+in front of him. Then, bowing to Cæsar, the huge Barbarian withdrew, and
+laid his great bulk down among the ranks of the applauding soldiers,
+whence he watched with stolid unconcern the conclusion of the sports.
+
+It was still daylight, when the last event had been decided, and the
+soldiers returned to the camp. The Emperor Severus had ordered his
+horse, and in the company of Crassus, his favourite prefect, rode down
+the winding pathway which skirts the Harpessus, chatting over the future
+dispersal of the army. They had ridden for some miles when Severus,
+glancing behind him, was surprised to see a huge figure which trotted
+lightly along at the very heels of his horse.
+
+"Surely this is Mercury as well as Hercules that we have found among the
+Thracian mountains," said he with a smile. "Let us see how soon our
+Syrian horses can out-distance him."
+
+The two Romans broke into a gallop, and did not draw rein until a good
+mile had been covered at the full pace of their splendid chargers. Then
+they turned and looked back; but there, some distance off, still running
+with a lightness and a spring which spoke of iron muscles and
+inexhaustible endurance, came the great Barbarian. The Roman Emperor
+waited until the athlete had come up to them.
+
+"Why do you follow me?" he asked.
+
+"It is my hope, Cæsar, that I may always follow you." His flushed face
+as he spoke was almost level with that of the mounted Roman.
+
+"By the god of war, I do not know where in all the world I could find
+such a servant!" cried the Emperor. "You shall be my own body-guard,
+the one nearest to me of all."
+
+The giant fell upon his knee. "My life and strength are yours," he said.
+"I ask no more than to spend them for Cæsar."
+
+Crassus had interpreted this short dialogue. He now turned to the
+Emperor.
+
+"If he is indeed to be always at your call, Cæsar, it would be well to
+give the poor Barbarian some name which your lips can frame. Theckla is
+as uncouth and craggy a word as one of his native rocks."
+
+The Emperor pondered for a moment. "If I am to have the naming of him,"
+said he, "then surely I shall call him Maximus, for there is not such a
+giant upon earth."
+
+"Hark you," said the Prefect. "The Emperor has deigned to give you a
+Roman name, since you have come into his service. Henceforth you are no
+longer Theckla, but you are Maximus. Can you say it after me?"
+
+"Maximin," repeated the Barbarian, trying to catch the Roman word.
+
+The Emperor laughed at the mincing accent. "Yes, yes, Maximin let it be.
+To all the world you are Maximin, the body-guard of Severus. When we
+have reached Rome, we will soon see that your dress shall correspond
+with your office. Meanwhile march with the guard until you have my
+further orders."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+So it came about that as the Roman army resumed its march next day, and
+left behind it the fair valley of the Harpessus, a huge recruit, clad in
+brown leather, with a rude sheep-skin floating from his shoulders,
+marched beside the Imperial troop. But far away in the wooden farmhouse
+of a distant Macedonian valley two old country folk wept salt tears, and
+prayed to the gods for the safety of their boy who had turned his face
+to Rome.
+
+
+II: THE RISE OF GIANT MAXIMIN
+
+Exactly twenty-five years had passed since the day that Theckla the huge
+Thracian peasant had turned into Maximin the Roman guardsman. They had
+not been good years for Rome. Gone for ever were the great Imperial days
+of the Hadrians and the Trajans. Gone also the golden age of the two
+Antonines, when the highest were for once the most worthy and most
+wise. It had been an epoch of weak and cruel men. Severus, the swarthy
+African, a stark grim man had died in far away York, after fighting all
+the winter with the Caledonian Highlanders--a race who have ever since
+worn the martial garb of the Romans. His son, known only by his
+slighting nickname of Caracalla, had reigned during six years of insane
+lust and cruelty, before the knife of an angry soldier avenged the
+dignity of the Roman name. The nonentity Macrinus had filled the
+dangerous throne for a single year before he also met a bloody end, and
+made room for the most grotesque of all monarchs, the unspeakable
+Heliogabalus with his foul mind and his painted face. He in turn was cut
+to pieces by the soldiers; and Severus Alexander, a gentle youth, scarce
+seventeen years of age, had been thrust into his place. For thirteen
+years now he had ruled, striving with some success to put some virtue
+and stability into the rotting Empire, but raising many fierce enemies
+as he did so--enemies whom he had not the strength nor the wit to hold
+in check.
+
+And Giant Maximin--what of him? He had carried his eight feet of manhood
+through the lowlands of Scotland and the passes of the Grampians. He
+had seen Severus pass away, and had soldiered with his son. He had
+fought in Armenia, in Dacia, and in Germany. They had made him a
+centurion upon the field when with his hands he plucked out one by one
+the stockades of a northern village, and so cleared a path for the
+stormers. His strength had been the jest and the admiration of the
+soldiers. Legends about him had spread through the army, and were the
+common gossip round the camp fires--of his duel with the German axe-man
+on the Island of the Rhine, and of the blow with his fist that broke the
+leg of a Scythian's horse. Gradually he had won his way upwards, until
+now, after quarter of a century's service, he was tribune of the fourth
+legion and superintendent of recruits for the whole army. The young
+soldier who had come under the glare of Maximin's eyes, or had been
+lifted up with one huge hand while he was cuffed by the other, had his
+first lesson from him in the discipline of the service.
+
+It was nightfall in the camp of the fourth legion upon the Gallic shore
+of the Rhine. Across the moonlit water, amid the thick forests which
+stretched away to the dim horizon, lay the wild untamed German tribes.
+Down on the river bank the light gleamed upon the helmets of the Roman
+sentinels who kept guard along the river. Far away a red point rose and
+fell in the darkness--a watch-fire of the enemy upon the further shore.
+
+Outside his tent, beside some smouldering logs, Giant Maximin was
+seated, a dozen of his officers around him. He had changed much since
+the day when we first met him in the Valley of the Harpessus. His huge
+frame was as erect as ever, and there was no sign of diminution of his
+strength. But he had aged none the less. The yellow tangle of hair was
+gone, worn down by the ever-pressing helmet. The fresh young face was
+drawn and hardened, with austere lines wrought by trouble and privation.
+The nose was more hawk-like, the eyes more cunning, the expression more
+cynical and more sinister. In his youth, a child would have run to his
+arms. Now it would shrink screaming from his gaze. That was what
+twenty-five years with the eagles had done for Theckla the Thracian
+peasant.
+
+He was listening now--for he was a man of few words--to the chatter of
+his centurions. One of them, Balbus the Sicilian, had been to the main
+camp at Mainz, only four miles away, and had seen the Emperor Alexander
+arrive that very day from Rome. The rest were eager at the news, for it
+was a time of unrest, and the rumour of great changes was in the air.
+
+"How many had he with him?" asked Labienus, a black-browed veteran from
+the south of Gaul. "I'll wager a month's pay that he was not so trustful
+as to come alone among his faithful legions."
+
+"He had no great force," replied Balbus. "Ten or twelve cohorts of the
+Prætorians and a handful of horse."
+
+"Then indeed his head is in the lion's mouth," cried Sulpicius, a
+hot-headed youth from the African Pentapolis. "How was he received?"
+
+"Coldly enough. There was scarce a shout as he came down the line."
+
+"They are ripe for mischief," said Labienus. "And who can wonder, when
+it is we soldiers who uphold the Empire upon our spears, while the lazy
+citizens at Rome reap all of our sowing. Why cannot a soldier have what
+the soldier gains? So long as they throw us our denarius a day, they
+think that they have done with us."
+
+"Aye," croaked a grumbling old greybeard. "Our limbs, our blood, our
+lives--what do they care so long as the Barbarians are held off, and
+they are left in peace to their feastings and their circus? Free bread,
+free wine, free games--everything for the loafer at Rome. For us the
+frontier guard and a soldier's fare."
+
+Maximin gave a deep laugh. "Old Plancus talks like that," said he; "but
+we know that for all the world he would not change his steel plate for a
+citizen's gown. You've earned the kennel, old hound, if you wish it. Go
+and gnaw your bone and growl in peace."
+
+"Nay, I am too old for change. I will follow the eagle till I die. And
+yet I had rather die in serving a soldier master than a long-gowned
+Syrian who comes of a stock where the women are men and the men are
+women."
+
+There was a laugh from the circle of soldiers, for sedition and mutiny
+were rife in the camp, and even the old centurion's outbreak could not
+draw a protest. Maximin raised his great mastiff head and looked at
+Balbus.
+
+"Was any name in the mouths of the soldiers?" he asked in a meaning
+voice.
+
+There was a hush for the answer. The sigh of the wind among the pines
+and the low lapping of the river swelled out louder in the silence.
+Balbus looked hard at his commander.
+
+"Two names were whispered from rank to rank," said he. "One was Ascenius
+Pollio, the General. The other was----"
+
+The fiery Sulpicius sprang to his feet waving a glowing brand above his
+head.
+
+"Maximinus!" he yelled. "Imperator Maximinus Augustus!"
+
+Who could tell how it came about? No one had thought of it an hour
+before. And now it sprang in an instant to full accomplishment. The
+shout of the frenzied young African had scarcely rung through the
+darkness when from the tents, from the watch-fires, from the sentries,
+the answer came pealing back: "Ave Maximinus! Ave Maximinus Augustus!"
+From all sides men came rushing, half-clad, wild-eyed, their eyes
+staring, their mouths agape, flaming wisps of straw or flaring torches
+above their heads. The giant was caught up by scores of hands, and sat
+enthroned upon the bull-necks of the legionaries. "To the camp!" they
+yelled. "To the camp! Hail! Hail to the soldier Cæsar!"
+
+That same night Severus Alexander, the young Syrian Emperor, walked
+outside his Prætorian camp, accompanied by his friend Licinius Probus,
+the Captain of the Guard. They were talking gravely of the gloomy faces
+and seditious bearing of the soldiers. A great foreboding of evil
+weighed heavily upon the Emperor's heart, and it was reflected upon the
+stern bearded face of his companion.
+
+"I like it not," said he. "It is my counsel, Cæsar, that with the first
+light of morning we make our way south once more."
+
+"But surely," the Emperor answered, "I could not for shame turn my back
+upon the danger. What have they against me? How have I harmed them that
+they should forget their vows and rise upon me?"
+
+"They are like children who ask always for something new. You heard the
+murmur as you rode along the ranks. Nay, Cæsar, fly to-morrow, and your
+Prætorians will see that you are not pursued. There may be some loyal
+cohorts among the legions, and if we join forces----"
+
+A distant shout broke in upon their conversation--a low continued roar,
+like the swelling tumult of a sweeping wave. Far down the road upon
+which they stood there twinkled many moving lights, tossing and sinking
+as they rapidly advanced, whilst the hoarse tumultuous bellowing broke
+into articulate words, the same tremendous words, a thousand-fold
+repeated. Licinius seized the Emperor by the wrist and dragged him under
+the cover of some bushes.
+
+"Be still, Cæsar! For your life be still!" he whispered. "One word and
+we are lost!"
+
+Crouching in the darkness, they saw that wild procession pass, the
+rushing, screaming figures, the tossing arms, the bearded, distorted
+faces, now scarlet and now grey, as the brandished torches waxed or
+waned. They heard the rush of many feet, the clamour of hoarse voices,
+the clang of metal upon metal. And then suddenly, above them all, they
+saw a vision of a monstrous man, a huge bowed back, a savage face, grim
+hawk eyes, that looked out over the swaying shields. It was seen for an
+instant in a smoke-fringed circle of fire, and then it had swept on into
+the night.
+
+"Who is he?" stammered the Emperor, clutching at his guardsman's sleeve.
+"They call him Cæsar."
+
+"It is surely Maximin the Thracian peasant." In the darkness the
+Prætorian officer looked with strange eyes at his master.
+
+"It is all over, Cæsar. Let us fly together to your tent."
+
+But even as they went a second shout had broken forth tenfold louder
+than the first. If the one had been the roar of the oncoming wave, the
+other was the full turmoil of the tempest. Twenty thousand voices from
+the camp had broken into one wild shout which echoed through the night,
+until the distant Germans round their watch-fires listened in wonder and
+alarm.
+
+"Ave!" cried the voices. "Ave Maximinus Augustus!"
+
+High upon their bucklers stood the giant, and looked round him at the
+great floor of up-turned faces below. His own savage soul was stirred by
+the clamour, but only his gleaming eyes spoke of the fire within. He
+waved his hand to the shouting soldiers as the huntsman waves to the
+leaping pack. They passed him up a coronet of oak leaves, and clashed
+their swords in homage as he placed it on his head. And then there came
+a swirl in the crowd before him, a little space was cleared, and there
+knelt an officer in the Prætorian garb, blood upon his face, blood upon
+his bared forearm, blood upon his naked sword. Licinius too had gone
+with the tide.
+
+"Hail, Cæsar, hail!" he cried, as he bowed his head before the giant. "I
+come from Alexander. He will trouble you no more."
+
+
+III: THE FALL OF GIANT MAXIMIN
+
+For three years the soldier Emperor had been upon the throne. His palace
+had been his tent, and his people had been the legionaries. With them he
+was supreme; away from them he was nothing. He had gone with them from
+one frontier to the other. He had fought against Dacians, Sarmatians,
+and once again against the Germans. But Rome knew nothing of him, and
+all her turbulence rose against a master who cared so little for her or
+her opinion that he never deigned to set foot within her walls. There
+were cabals and conspiracies against the absent Cæsar. Then his heavy
+hand fell upon them, and they were cuffed, even as the young soldiers
+had been who passed under his discipline. He knew nothing, and cared as
+much for consuls, senates, and civil laws. His own will and the power of
+the sword were the only forces which he could understand. Of commerce
+and the arts he was as ignorant as when he left his Thracian home. The
+whole vast Empire was to him a huge machine for producing the money by
+which the legions were to be rewarded. Should he fail to get that money,
+his fellow soldiers would bear him a grudge. To watch their interests
+they had raised him upon their shields that night. If city funds had to
+be plundered or temples desecrated, still the money must be got. Such
+was the point of view of Giant Maximin.
+
+But there came resistance, and all the fierce energy of the man, all the
+hardness which had given him the leadership of hard men, sprang forth to
+quell it. From his youth he had lived amidst slaughter. Life and death
+were cheap things to him. He struck savagely at all who stood up to
+him, and when they hit back, he struck more savagely still. His giant
+shadow lay black across the Empire from Britain to Syria. A strange
+subtle vindictiveness became also apparent in him. Omnipotence ripened
+every fault and swelled it into crime. In the old days he had been
+rebuked for his roughness. Now a sullen, dangerous anger rose against
+those who had rebuked him. He sat by the hour with his craggy chin
+between his hands, and his elbows resting on his knees, while he
+recalled all the misadventures, all the vexations of his early youth,
+when Roman wits had shot their little satires upon his bulk and his
+ignorance. He could not write, but his son Verus placed the names upon
+his tablets, and they were sent to the Governor of Rome. Men who had
+long forgotten their offence were called suddenly to make most bloody
+reparation.
+
+A rebellion broke out in Africa, but was quelled by his lieutenant. But
+the mere rumour of it set Rome in a turmoil. The Senate found something
+of its ancient spirit. So did the Italian people. They would not be for
+ever bullied by the legions. As Maximin approached from the frontier,
+with the sack of rebellious Rome in his mind, he was faced with every
+sign of a national resistance. The country-side was deserted, the farms
+abandoned, the fields cleared of crops and cattle. Before him lay the
+walled town of Aquileia. He flung himself fiercely upon it, but was met
+by as fierce a resistance. The walls could not be forced, and yet there
+was no food in the country round for his legions. The men were starving
+and dissatisfied. What did it matter to them who was Emperor? Maximin
+was no better than themselves. Why should they call down the curse of
+the whole Empire upon their heads by upholding him? He saw their sullen
+faces and their averted eyes, and he knew that the end had come.
+
+That night he sat with his son Verus in his tent, and he spoke softly
+and gently as the youth had never heard him speak before. He had spoken
+thus in old days with Paullina, the boy's mother; but she had been dead
+these many years, and all that was soft and gentle in the big man had
+passed away with her. Now her spirit seemed very near him, and his own
+was tempered by its presence.
+
+"I would have you go back to the Thracian mountains," he said. "I have
+tried both, boy, and I can tell you that there is no pleasure which
+power can bring which can equal the breath of the wind and the smell of
+the kine upon a summer morning. Against you they have no quarrel. Why
+should they mishandle you? Keep far from Rome and the Romans. Old
+Eudoxus has money, and to spare. He awaits you with two horses outside
+the camp. Make for the valley of the Harpessus, lad. It was thence that
+your father came, and there you will find his kin. Buy and stock a
+homestead, and keep yourself far from the paths of greatness and of
+danger. God keep you, Verus, and send you safe to Thrace."
+
+When his son had kissed his hand and had left him, the Emperor drew his
+robe around him and sat long in thought. In his slow brain he revolved
+the past--his early peaceful days, his years with Severus, his memories
+of Britain, his long campaigns, his strivings and battlings, all leading
+to that mad night by the Rhine. His fellow soldiers had loved him then.
+And now he had read death in their eyes. How had he failed them? Others
+he might have wronged, but they at least had no complaint against him.
+If he had his time again, he would think less of them and more of his
+people, he would try to win love instead of fear, he would live for
+peace and not for war. If he had his time again! But there were
+shuffling steps, furtive whispers, and the low rattle of arms outside
+his tent. A bearded face looked in at him, a swarthy African face that
+he knew well. He laughed, and baring his arm, he took his sword from the
+table beside him.
+
+"It is you, Sulpicius," said he. "You have not come to cry 'Ave
+Imperator Maximin!' as once by the camp fire. You are tired of me, and
+by the gods I am tired of you, and glad to be at the end of it. Come and
+have done with it, for I am minded to see how many of you I can take
+with me when I go."
+
+They clustered at the door of the tent, peeping over each other's
+shoulders, and none wishing to be the first to close with that laughing,
+mocking giant. But something was pushed forward upon a spear point, and
+as he saw it, Maximin groaned and his sword sank to the earth.
+
+"You might have spared the boy," he sobbed. "He would not have hurt
+you. Have done with it then, for I will gladly follow him."
+
+So they closed upon him and cut and stabbed and thrust, until his knees
+gave way beneath him and he dropped upon the floor.
+
+"The tyrant is dead!" they cried. "The tyrant is dead," and from all the
+camp beneath them and from the walls of the beleaguered city the joyous
+cry came echoing back, "He is dead, Maximin is dead!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I sit in my study, and upon the table before me lies a denarius of
+Maximin, as fresh as when the triumvir of the Temple of Juno Moneta sent
+it from the mint. Around it are recorded his resounding
+titles--Imperator Maximinus, Pontifex Maximus, Tribunitia potestate, and
+the rest. In the centre is the impress of a great craggy head, a massive
+jaw, a rude fighting face, a contracted forehead. For all the pompous
+roll of titles it is a peasant's face, and I see him not as the Emperor
+of Rome, but as the great Thracian boor who strode down the hill-side on
+that far-distant summer day when first the eagles beckoned him to Rome.
+
+
+
+
+IX
+
+THE RED STAR
+
+
+The house of Theodosius, the famous eastern merchant, was in the best
+part of Constantinople at the Sea Point which is near the church of
+Saint Demetrius. Here he would entertain in so princely a fashion that
+even the Emperor Maurice had been known to come privately from the
+neighbouring Bucoleon palace in order to join in the revelry. On the
+night in question, however, which was the fourth of November in the year
+of our Lord 630, his numerous guests had retired early, and there
+remained only two intimates, both of them successful merchants like
+himself, who sat with him over their wine on the marble verandah of his
+house, whence on the one side they could see the lights of the shipping
+in the Sea of Marmora, and on the other the beacons which marked out the
+course of the Bosphorus. Immediately at their feet lay a narrow strait
+of water, with the low, dark loom of the Asiatic hills beyond. A thin
+haze hid the heavens, but away to the south a single great red star
+burned sullenly in the darkness.
+
+The night was cool, the light was soothing, and the three men talked
+freely, letting their minds drift back into the earlier days when they
+had staked their capital, and often their lives, on the ventures which
+had built up their present fortunes. The host spoke of his long journeys
+in North Africa, the land of the Moors; how he had travelled, keeping
+the blue sea ever upon his right, until he had passed the ruins of
+Carthage, and so on and ever on until a great tidal ocean beat upon a
+yellow strand before him, while on the right he could see the high rock
+across the waves which marked the Pillars of Hercules. His talk was of
+dark-skinned bearded men, of lions, and of monstrous serpents. Then
+Demetrius, the Cilician, an austere man of sixty, told how he also had
+built up his mighty wealth. He spoke of a journey over the Danube and
+through the country of the fierce Huns, until he and his friends had
+found themselves in the mighty forest of Germany, on the shores of the
+great river which is called the Elbe. His stories were of huge men,
+sluggish of mind, but murderous in their cups, of sudden midnight broils
+and nocturnal flights, of villages buried in dense woods, of bloody
+heathen sacrifices, and of the bears and wolves who haunted the forest
+paths. So the two elder men capped each other's stories and awoke each
+other's memories, while Manuel Ducas, the young merchant of gold and
+ostrich feathers, whose name was already known all over the Levant, sat
+in silence and listened to their talk. At last, however, they called
+upon him also for an anecdote, and leaning his cheek upon his elbow,
+with his eyes fixed upon the great red star which burned in the south,
+the younger man began to speak.
+
+"It is the sight of that star which brings a story into my mind," said
+he. "I do not know its name. Old Lascaris the astronomer would tell me
+if I asked, but I have no desire to know. Yet at this time of the year I
+always look out for it, and I never fail to see it burning in the same
+place. But it seems to me that it is redder and larger than it was.
+
+"It was some ten years ago that I made an expedition into Abyssinia,
+where I traded to such good effect that I set forth on my return with
+more than a hundred camel-loads of skins, ivory, gold, spices, and other
+African produce. I brought them to the sea-coast at Arsinoe, and carried
+them up the Arabian Gulf in five of the small boats of the country.
+Finally, I landed near Saba, which is a starting-point for caravans,
+and, having assembled my camels and hired a guard of forty men from the
+wandering Arabs, I set forth for Macoraba. From this point, which is the
+sacred city of the idolaters of those parts, one can always join the
+large caravans which go north twice a year to Jerusalem and the
+sea-coast of Syria.
+
+"Our route was a long and weary one. On our left hand was the Arabian
+Gulf, lying like a pool of molten metal under the glare of day, but
+changing to blood-red as the sun sank each evening behind the distant
+African coast. On our right was a monstrous desert which extends, so far
+as I know, across the whole of Arabia and away to the distant kingdom of
+the Persians. For many days we saw no sign of life save our own long,
+straggling line of laden camels with their tattered, swarthy guardians.
+In these deserts the soft sand deadens the footfall of the animals, so
+that their silent progress day after day through a scene which never
+changes, and which is itself noiseless, becomes at last like a strange
+dream. Often as I rode behind my caravan, and gazed at the grotesque
+figures which bore my wares in front of me, I found it hard to believe
+that it was indeed reality, and that it was I, I, Manuel Ducas, who
+lived near the Theodosian Gate of Constantinople, and shouted for the
+Green at the hippodrome every Sunday afternoon, who was there in so
+strange a land and with such singular comrades.
+
+"Now and then, far out at sea, we caught sight of the white triangular
+sails of the boats which these people use, but as they are all pirates,
+we were very glad to be safely upon shore. Once or twice, too, by the
+water's edge we saw dwarfish creatures--one could scarcely say if they
+were men or monkeys--who burrow for homes among the seaweed, drink the
+pools of brackish water, and eat what they can catch. These are the
+fish-eaters, the Ichthyophagi, of whom old Herodotus talks--surely the
+lowest of all the human race. Our Arabs shrank from them with horror,
+for it is well known that, should you die in the desert, these little
+people will settle on you like carrion crows, and leave not a bone
+unpicked. They gibbered and croaked and waved their skinny arms at us as
+we passed, knowing well that they could swim far out to sea if we
+attempted to pursue them; for it is said that even the sharks turn with
+disgust from their foul bodies.
+
+"We had travelled in this way for ten days, camping every evening at the
+vile wells which offered a small quantity of abominable water. It was
+our habit to rise very early and to travel very late, but to halt during
+the intolerable heat of the afternoon, when, for want of trees, we would
+crouch in the shadow of a sandhill, or, if that were wanting, behind our
+own camels and merchandise, in order to escape from the insufferable
+glare of the sun. On the seventh day we were near the point where one
+leaves the coast in order to strike inland to Macoraba. We had concluded
+our midday halt, and were just starting once more, the sun still being
+so hot that we could hardly bear it, when, looking up, I saw a
+remarkable sight. Standing on a hillock to our right there was a man
+about forty feet high, holding in his hand a spear which was the size
+of the mast of a large ship. You look surprised, my friends, and you can
+therefore imagine my feelings when I saw such a sight. But my reason
+soon told me that the object in front of me was really a wandering Arab,
+whose form had been enormously magnified by the strange distorting
+effects which the hot air of the desert is able to cause.
+
+"However, the actual apparition caused more alarm to my companions than
+the imagined one had to me, for with a howl of dismay they shrank
+together into a frightened group, all pointing and gesticulating as they
+gazed at the distant figure. I then observed that the man was not alone,
+but that from all the sandhills a line of turbaned heads was gazing down
+upon us. The chief of the escort came running to me, and informed me of
+the cause of their terror, which was that they recognised, by some
+peculiarity in their headgear, that these men belonged to the tribe of
+the Dilwas, the most ferocious and unscrupulous of the Bedouin, who had
+evidently laid an ambuscade for us at this point with the intention of
+seizing our caravan. When I thought of all my efforts in Abyssinia, of
+the length of my journey and of the dangers and fatigues which I had
+endured, I could not bear to think of this total disaster coming upon me
+at the last instant and robbing me not only of my profits, but also of
+my original outlay. It was evident, however, that the robbers were too
+numerous for us to attempt to defend ourselves, and that we should be
+very fortunate if we escaped with our lives. Sitting upon a packet,
+therefore, I commended my soul to our blessed Saint Helena, while I
+watched with despairing eyes the stealthy and menacing approach of the
+Arab robbers.
+
+"It may have been our own good fortune, or it may have been the handsome
+offering of beeswax candles--four to the pound--which I had mentally
+vowed to the Blessed Helena, but at that instant I heard a great outcry
+of joy from among my own followers. Standing up on the packet that I
+might have a better view, I was overjoyed to see a long caravan--five
+hundred camels at least--with a numerous armed guard, coming along the
+route from Macoraba. It is, I need not tell you, the custom of all
+caravans to combine their forces against the robbers of the desert, and
+with the aid of these new-comers we had become the stronger party. The
+marauders recognised it at once, for they vanished as if their native
+sands had swallowed them. Running up to the summit of a sandhill, I was
+just able to catch a glimpse of a dust-cloud whirling away across the
+yellow plain, with the long necks of their camels, the flutter of their
+loose garments, and the gleam of their spears breaking out from the
+heart of it. So vanished the marauders.
+
+"Presently I found, however, that I had only exchanged one danger for
+another. At first I had hoped that this new caravan might belong to some
+Roman citizen, or at least to some Syrian Christian, but I found that it
+was entirely Arab. The trading Arabs who are settled in the numerous
+towns of Arabia are, of course, very much more peaceable than the
+Bedouin of the wilderness, those sons of Ishmael of whom we read in Holy
+Writ. But the Arab blood is covetous and lawless, so that when I saw
+several hundred of them formed in a semi-circle round our camels,
+looking with greedy eyes at my boxes of precious metals and my packets
+of ostrich feathers, I feared the worst.
+
+"The leader of the new caravan was a man of dignified bearing and
+remarkable appearance. His age I would judge to be about forty. He had
+aquiline features, a noble black beard, and eyes so luminous, so
+searching, and so intense that I cannot remember in all my wanderings to
+have seen any which could be compared with them. To my thanks and
+salutations he returned a formal bow, and stood stroking his beard and
+looking in silence at the wealth which had suddenly fallen into his
+power. A murmur from his followers showed the eagerness with which they
+awaited the order to fall upon the plunder, and a young ruffian, who
+seemed to be on intimate terms with the leader, came to his elbow and
+put the desires of his companions into words.
+
+"'Surely, oh Reverend One,' said he, 'these people and their treasure
+have been delivered into our hands. When we return with it to the holy
+place, who of all the Koraish will fail to see the finger of God which
+has led us?'
+
+"But the leader shook his head. 'Nay, Ali, it may not be,' he answered.
+'This man is, as I judge, a citizen of Rome, and we may not treat him as
+though he were an idolater.'
+
+"'But he is an unbeliever,' cried the youth, fingering a great knife
+which hung in his belt. 'Were I to be the judge, he would lose not only
+his merchandise, but his life also, if he did not accept the faith.'
+
+"The older man smiled and shook his head. 'Nay, Ali; you are too
+hot-headed,' said he, 'seeing that there are not as yet three hundred
+faithful in the world, our hands would indeed be full if we were to take
+the lives and property of all who are not with us. Forget not, dear lad,
+that charity and honesty are the very nose-ring and halter of the true
+faith.'
+
+"'Among the faithful,' said the ferocious youth.
+
+"'Nay, towards every one. It is the law of Allah. And yet'--here his
+countenance darkened, and his eyes shone with a most sinister
+light--'the day may soon come when the hour of grace is past, and woe,
+then, to those who have not hearkened! Then shall the sword of Allah be
+drawn, and it shall not be sheathed until the harvest is reaped. First
+it shall strike the idolaters on the day when my own people and kinsmen,
+the unbelieving Koraish, shall be scattered, and the three hundred and
+sixty idols of the Caaba thrust out upon the dung-heaps of the town.
+Then shall the Caaba be the home and temple of one God only who brooks
+no rival on earth or in heaven.'
+
+"The man's followers had gathered round him, their spears in their
+hands, their ardent eyes fixed upon his face, and their dark features
+convulsed with such fanatic enthusiasm as showed the hold which he had
+upon their love and respect.
+
+"'We shall be patient,' said he; 'but some time next year, the year
+after, the day may come when the great angel Gabriel shall bear me the
+message that the time of words has gone by, and that the hour of the
+sword has come. We are few and weak, but if it is His will, who can
+stand against us? Are you of Jewish faith, stranger?' he asked.
+
+"I answered that I was not.
+
+"'The better for you,' he answered, with the same furious anger in his
+swarthy face. 'First shall the idolaters fall, and then the Jews, in
+that they have not known those very prophets whom they had themselves
+foretold. Then last will come the turn of the Christians, who follow
+indeed a true Prophet, greater than Moses or Abraham, but who have
+sinned in that they have confounded a creature with the Creator. To each
+in turn--idolater, Jew, and Christian--the day of reckoning will come.'
+
+"The ragamuffins behind him all shook their spears as he spoke. There
+was no doubt about their earnestness, but when I looked at their
+tattered dresses and simple arms, I could not help smiling to think of
+their ambitious threats, and to picture what their fate would be upon
+the day of battle before the battle-axes of our Imperial Guards, or the
+spears of the heavy cavalry of the Armenian Themes. However, I need not
+say that I was discreet enough to keep my thoughts to myself, as I had
+no desire to be the first martyr in this fresh attack upon our blessed
+faith.
+
+"It was now evening, and it was decided that the two caravans should
+camp together--an arrangement which was the more welcome as we were by
+no means sure that we had seen the last of the marauders. I had invited
+the leader of the Arabs to have supper with me, and after a long
+exercise of prayer with his followers, he came to join me, but my
+attempt at hospitality was thrown away, for he would not touch the
+excellent wine which I had unpacked for him, nor would he eat any of my
+dainties, contenting himself with stale bread, dried dates, and water.
+After this meal we sat alone by the smouldering fire, the magnificent
+arch of the heavens above us of that deep, rich blue with those
+gleaming, clear-cut stars which can only be seen in that dry desert air.
+Our camp lay before us, and no sound reached our ears save the dull
+murmur of the voices of our companions and the occasional shrill cry of
+a jackal among the sandhills around us. Face to face I sat with this
+strange man, the glow of the fire beating upon his eager and imperious
+features and reflecting from his passionate eyes. It was the strangest
+vigil, and one which will never pass from my recollection. I have spoken
+with many wise and famous men upon my travels, but never with one who
+left the impression of this one.
+
+"And yet much of his talk was unintelligible to me, though, as you are
+aware, I speak Arabian like an Arab. It rose and fell in the strangest
+way. Sometimes it was the babble of a child, sometimes the incoherent
+raving of a fanatic, sometimes the lofty dreams of a prophet and
+philosopher. There were times when his stories of demons, of miracles,
+of dreams, and of omens, were such as an old woman might tell to please
+the children of an evening. There were others when, as he talked with
+shining face of his converse with angels, of the intentions of the
+Creator, and the end of the universe, I felt as if I were in the company
+of some one more than mortal, some one who was indeed the direct
+messenger of the Most High.
+
+"There were good reasons why he should treat me with such confidence. He
+saw in me a messenger to Constantinople and to the Roman Empire. Even as
+Saint Paul had brought Christianity to Europe, so he hoped that I might
+carry his doctrines to my native city. Alas! be the doctrines what they
+may, I fear that I am not the stuff of which Pauls are made. Yet he
+strove with all his heart during that long Arabian night to bring me
+over to his belief. He had with him a holy book, written, as he said,
+from the dictation of an angel, which he carried in tablets of bone in
+the nose-bag of a camel. Some chapters of this he read me; but, though
+the precepts were usually good, the language seemed wild and fanciful.
+There were times when I could scarce keep my countenance as I listened
+to him. He planned out his future movements, and indeed, as he spoke, it
+was hard to remember that he was only the wandering leader of an Arab
+caravan, and not one of the great ones of the earth.
+
+"'When God has given me sufficient power, which will be within a few
+years,' said he, 'I will unite all Arabia under my banner. Then I will
+spread my doctrine over Syria and Egypt. When this has been done, I will
+turn to Persia, and give them the choice of the true faith or the sword.
+Having taken Persia, it will be easy then to overrun Asia Minor, and so
+to make our way to Constantinople.'
+
+"I bit my lip to keep from laughing. 'And how long will it be before
+your victorious troops have reached the Bosphorus?' I asked.
+
+"'Such things are in the hands of God, whose servants we are,' said he.
+'It may be that I shall myself have passed away before these things are
+accomplished, but before the days of our children are completed, all
+that I have now told you will come to pass. Look at that star,' he
+added, pointing to a beautiful clear planet above our heads. 'That is
+the symbol of Christ. See how serene and peaceful it shines, like His
+own teaching and the memory of His life. Now,' he added, turning his
+outstretched hand to a dusky red star upon the horizon--the very one on
+which we are gazing now--'that is my star, which tells of wrath, of war,
+of a scourge upon sinners. And yet both are indeed stars, and each does
+as Allah may ordain.'
+
+"Well, that was the experience which was called to my mind by the sight
+of this star to-night. Red and angry, it still broods over the south,
+even as I saw it that night in the desert. Somewhere down yonder that
+man is working and striving. He may be stabbed by some brother fanatic
+or slain in a tribal skirmish. If so, that is the end. But if he lives,
+there was that in his eyes and in his presence which tells me that
+Mahomet the son of Abdallah--for that was his name--will testify in some
+noteworthy fashion to the faith that is in him."
+
+
+
+
+X
+
+THE SILVER MIRROR
+
+
+_Jan. 3._--This affair of White and Wotherspoon's accounts proves to be
+a gigantic task. There are twenty thick ledgers to be examined and
+checked. Who would be a junior partner? However, it is the first big bit
+of business which has been left entirely in my hands. I must justify it.
+But it has to be finished so that the lawyers may have the result in
+time for the trial. Johnson said this morning that I should have to get
+the last figure out before the twentieth of the month. Good Lord! Well,
+have at it, and if human brain and nerve can stand the strain, I'll win
+out at the other side. It means office-work from ten to five, and then a
+second sitting from about eight to one in the morning. There's drama in
+an accountant's life. When I find myself in the still early hours, while
+all the world sleeps, hunting through column after column for those
+missing figures which will turn a respected alderman into a felon, I
+understand that it is not such a prosaic profession after all.
+
+On Monday I came on the first trace of defalcation. No heavy game hunter
+ever got a finer thrill when first he caught sight of the trail of his
+quarry. But I look at the twenty ledgers and think of the jungle through
+which I have to follow him before I get my kill. Hard work--but rare
+sport, too, in a way! I saw the fat fellow once at a City dinner, his
+red face glowing above a white napkin. He looked at the little pale man
+at the end of the table. He would have been pale too if he could have
+seen the task that would be mine.
+
+_Jan. 6._--What perfect nonsense it is for doctors to prescribe rest
+when rest is out of the question! Asses! They might as well shout to a
+man who has a pack of wolves at his heels that what he wants is absolute
+quiet. My figures must be out by a certain date; unless they are so, I
+shall lose the chance of my lifetime, so how on earth am I to rest? I'll
+take a week or so after the trial.
+
+Perhaps I was myself a fool to go to the doctor at all. But I get
+nervous and highly-strung when I sit alone at my work at night. It's
+not a pain--only a sort of fullness of the head with an occasional mist
+over the eyes. I thought perhaps some bromide, or chloral, or something
+of the kind might do me good. But stop work? It's absurd to ask such a
+thing. It's like a long distance race. You feel queer at first and your
+heart thumps and your lungs pant, but if you have only the pluck to keep
+on, you get your second wind. I'll stick to my work and wait for my
+second wind. If it never comes--all the same, I'll stick to my work. Two
+ledgers are done, and I am well on in the third. The rascal has covered
+his tracks well, but I pick them up for all that.
+
+_Jan. 9._--I had not meant to go to the doctor again. And yet I have had
+to. "Straining my nerves, risking a complete breakdown, even endangering
+my sanity." That's a nice sentence to have fired off at one. Well, I'll
+stand the strain and I'll take the risk, and so long as I can sit in my
+chair and move a pen I'll follow the old sinner's slot.
+
+By the way, I may as well set down here the queer experience which drove
+me this second time to the doctor. I'll keep an exact record of my
+symptoms and sensations, because they are interesting in themselves--"a
+curious psycho-physiological study," says the doctor--and also because I
+am perfectly certain that when I am through with them they will all seem
+blurred and unreal, like some queer dream betwixt sleeping and waking.
+So now, while they are fresh, I will just make a note of them, if only
+as a change of thought after the endless figures.
+
+There's an old silver-framed mirror in my room. It was given me by a
+friend who had a taste for antiquities, and he, as I happen to know,
+picked it up at a sale and had no notion where it came from. It's a
+large thing--three feet across and two feet high--and it leans at the
+back of a side-table on my left as I write. The frame is flat, about
+three inches across, and very old; far too old for hall-marks or other
+methods of determining its age. The glass part projects, with a bevelled
+edge, and has the magnificent reflecting power which is only, as it
+seems to me, to be found in very old mirrors. There's a feeling of
+perspective when you look into it such as no modern glass can ever give.
+
+The mirror is so situated that as I sit at the table I can usually see
+nothing in it but the reflection of the red window curtains. But a queer
+thing happened last night. I had been working for some hours, very much
+against the grain, with continual bouts of that mistiness of which I had
+complained. Again and again I had to stop and clear my eyes. Well, on
+one of these occasions I chanced to look at the mirror. It had the
+oddest appearance. The red curtains which should have been reflected in
+it were no longer there, but the glass seemed to be clouded and steamy,
+not on the surface, which glittered like steel, but deep down in the
+very grain of it. This opacity, when I stared hard at it, appeared to
+slowly rotate this way and that, until it was a thick white cloud
+swirling in heavy wreaths. So real and solid was it, and so reasonable
+was I, that I remember turning, with the idea that the curtains were on
+fire. But everything was deadly still in the room--no sound save the
+ticking of the clock, no movement save the slow gyration of that strange
+woolly cloud deep in the heart of the old mirror.
+
+Then, as I looked, the mist, or smoke, or cloud, or whatever one may
+call it, seemed to coalesce and solidify at two points quite close
+together, and I was aware, with a thrill of interest rather than of
+fear, that these were two eyes looking out into the room. A vague
+outline of a head I could see--a woman's by the hair, but this was very
+shadowy. Only the eyes were quite distinct; such eyes--dark, luminous,
+filled with some passionate emotion, fury or horror, I could not say
+which. Never have I seen eyes which were so full of intense, vivid life.
+They were not fixed upon me, but stared out into the room. Then as I sat
+erect, passed my hand over my brow, and made a strong conscious effort
+to pull myself together, the dim head faded in the general opacity, the
+mirror slowly cleared, and there were the red curtains once again.
+
+A sceptic would say, no doubt, that I had dropped asleep over my
+figures, and that my experience was a dream. As a matter of fact, I was
+never more vividly awake in my life. I was able to argue about it even
+as I looked at it, and to tell myself that it was a subjective
+impression--a chimera of the nerves--begotten by worry and insomnia. But
+why this particular shape? And who is the woman, and what is the
+dreadful emotion which I read in those wonderful brown eyes? They come
+between me and my work. For the first time I have done less than the
+daily tally which I had marked out. Perhaps that is why I have had no
+abnormal sensations to-night. To-morrow I must wake up, come what may.
+
+_Jan. 11._--All well, and good progress with my work. I wind the net,
+coil after coil, round that bulky body. But the last smile may remain
+with him if my own nerves break over it. The mirror would seem to be a
+sort of barometer which marks my brain pressure. Each night I have
+observed that it had clouded before I reached the end of my task.
+
+Dr. Sinclair (who is, it seems, a bit of a psychologist) was so
+interested in my account that he came round this evening to have a look
+at the mirror. I had observed that something was scribbled in crabbed
+old characters upon the metal work at the back. He examined this with a
+lens, but could make nothing of it. "Sanc. X. Pal." was his final
+reading of it, but that did not bring us any further. He advised me to
+put it away into another room, but, after all, whatever I may see in it
+is, by his own account, only a symptom. It is in the cause that the
+danger lies. The twenty ledgers--not the silver mirror--should be packed
+away if I could only do it. I'm at the eighth now, so I progress.
+
+_Jan. 13._--Perhaps it would have been wiser after all if I had packed
+away the mirror. I had an extraordinary experience with it last night.
+And yet I find it so interesting, so fascinating, that even now I will
+keep it in its place. What on earth is the meaning of it all?
+
+I suppose it was about one in the morning, and I was closing my books
+preparatory to staggering off to bed, when I saw her there in front of
+me. The stage of mistiness and development must have passed unobserved,
+and there she was in all her beauty and passion and distress, as
+clear-cut as if she were really in the flesh before me. The figure was
+small, but very distinct--so much so that every feature, and every
+detail of dress, are stamped in my memory. She is seated on the extreme
+left of the mirror. A sort of shadowy figure crouches down beside her--I
+can dimly discern that it is a man--and then behind them is cloud, in
+which I see figures--figures which move. It is not a mere picture upon
+which I look. It is a scene in life, an actual episode. She crouches and
+quivers. The man beside her cowers down. The vague figures make abrupt
+movements and gestures. All my fears were swallowed up in my interest.
+It was maddening to see so much and not to see more.
+
+But I can at least describe the woman to the smallest point. She is very
+beautiful and quite young--not more than five-and-twenty, I should
+judge. Her hair is of a very rich brown, with a warm chestnut shade
+fining into gold at the edges. A little flat-pointed cap comes to an
+angle in front and is made of lace edged with pearls. The forehead is
+high, too high perhaps for perfect beauty; but one would not have it
+otherwise, as it gives a touch of power and strength to what would
+otherwise be a softly feminine face. The brows are most delicately
+curved over heavy eyelids, and then come those wonderful eyes--so large,
+so dark, so full of overmastering emotion, of rage and horror,
+contending with a pride of self-control which holds her from sheer
+frenzy! The cheeks are pale, the lips white with agony, the chin and
+throat most exquisitely rounded. The figure sits and leans forward in
+the chair, straining and rigid, cataleptic with horror. The dress is
+black velvet, a jewel gleams like a flame in the breast, and a golden
+crucifix smoulders in the shadow of a fold. This is the lady whose image
+still lives in the old silver mirror. What dire deed could it be which
+has left its impress there, so that now, in another age, if the spirit
+of a man be but worn down to it, he may be conscious of its presence?
+
+One other detail: On the left side of the skirt of the black dress was,
+as I thought at first, a shapeless bunch of white ribbon. Then, as I
+looked more intently or as the vision defined itself more clearly, I
+perceived what it was. It was the hand of a man, clenched and knotted in
+agony, which held on with a convulsive grasp to the fold of the dress.
+The rest of the crouching figure was a mere vague outline, but that
+strenuous hand shone clear on the dark background, with a sinister
+suggestion of tragedy in its frantic clutch. The man is
+frightened--horribly frightened. That I can clearly discern. What has
+terrified him so? Why does he grip the woman's dress? The answer lies
+amongst those moving figures in the background. They have brought
+danger both to him and to her. The interest of the thing fascinated me.
+I thought no more of its relation to my own nerves. I stared and stared
+as if in a theatre. But I could get no further. The mist thinned. There
+were tumultuous movements in which all the figures were vaguely
+concerned. Then the mirror was clear once more.
+
+The doctor says I must drop work for a day, and I can afford to do so,
+for I have made good progress lately. It is quite evident that the
+visions depend entirely upon my own nervous state, for I sat in front of
+the mirror for an hour to-night, with no result whatever. My soothing
+day has chased them away. I wonder whether I shall ever penetrate what
+they all mean? I examined the mirror this evening under a good light,
+and besides the mysterious inscription "Sanc. X. Pal.," I was able to
+discern some signs of heraldic marks, very faintly visible upon the
+silver. They must be very ancient, as they are almost obliterated. So
+far as I could make out, they were three spear-heads, two above and one
+below. I will show them to the doctor when he calls to-morrow.
+
+_Jan. 14._--Feel perfectly well again, and I intend that nothing else
+shall stop me until my task is finished. The doctor was shown the marks
+on the mirror and agreed that they were armorial bearings. He is deeply
+interested in all that I have told him, and cross-questioned me closely
+on the details. It amuses me to notice how he is torn in two by
+conflicting desires--the one that his patient should lose his symptoms,
+the other that the medium--for so he regards me--should solve this
+mystery of the past. He advised continued rest, but did not oppose me
+too violently when I declared that such a thing was out of the question
+until the ten remaining ledgers have been checked.
+
+_Jan. 17._--For three nights I have had no experiences--my day of rest
+has borne fruit. Only a quarter of my task is left, but I must make a
+forced march, for the lawyers are clamouring for their material. I will
+give them enough and to spare. I have him fast on a hundred counts. When
+they realise what a slippery, cunning rascal he is, I should gain some
+credit from the case. False trading accounts, false balance-sheets,
+dividends drawn from capital, losses written down as profits,
+suppression of working expenses, manipulation of petty cash--it is a
+fine record!
+
+_Jan. 18._--Headaches, nervous twitches, mistiness, fullness of the
+temples--all the premonitions of trouble, and the trouble came sure
+enough. And yet my real sorrow is not so much that the vision should
+come as that it should cease before all is revealed.
+
+But I saw more to-night. The crouching man was as visible as the lady
+whose gown he clutched. He is a little swarthy fellow, with a black
+pointed beard. He has a loose gown of damask trimmed with fur. The
+prevailing tints of his dress are red. What a fright the fellow is in,
+to be sure! He cowers and shivers and glares back over his shoulder.
+There is a small knife in his other hand, but he is far too tremulous
+and cowed to use it. Dimly now I begin to see the figures in the
+background. Fierce faces, bearded and dark, shape themselves out of the
+mist. There is one terrible creature, a skeleton of a man, with hollow
+cheeks and eyes sunk in his head. He also has a knife in his hand. On
+the right of the woman stands a tall man, very young, with flaxen hair,
+his face sullen and dour. The beautiful woman looks up at him in
+appeal. So does the man on the ground. This youth seems to be the
+arbiter of their fate. The crouching man draws closer and hides himself
+in the woman's skirts. The tall youth bends and tries to drag her away
+from him. So much I saw last night before the mirror cleared. Shall I
+never know what it leads to and whence it comes? It is not a mere
+imagination, of that I am very sure. Somewhere, some time, this scene
+has been acted, and this old mirror has reflected it. But when--where?
+
+_Jan. 20._--My work draws to a close, and it is time. I feel a tenseness
+within my brain, a sense of intolerable strain, which warns me that
+something must give. I have worked myself to the limit. But to-night
+should be the last night. With a supreme effort I should finish the
+final ledger and complete the case before I rise from my chair. I will
+do it. I will.
+
+_Feb. 7._--I did. My God, what an experience! I hardly know if I am
+strong enough yet to set it down.
+
+Let me explain in the first instance that I am writing this in Dr.
+Sinclair's private hospital some three weeks after the last entry in my
+diary. On the night of January 20 my nervous system finally gave way,
+and I remembered nothing afterwards until I found myself three days ago
+in this home of rest. And I can rest with a good conscience. My work was
+done before I went under. My figures are in the solicitors' hands. The
+hunt is over.
+
+And now I must describe that last night. I had sworn to finish my work,
+and so intently did I stick to it, though my head was bursting, that I
+would never look up until the last column had been added. And yet it was
+fine self-restraint, for all the time I knew that wonderful things were
+happening in the mirror. Every nerve in my body told me so. If I looked
+up there was an end of my work. So I did not look up till all was
+finished. Then, when at last with throbbing temples I threw down my pen
+and raised my eyes, what a sight was there!
+
+The mirror in its silver frame was like a stage, brilliantly lit, in
+which a drama was in progress. There was no mist now. The oppression of
+my nerves had wrought this amazing clarity. Every feature, every
+movement, was as clear-cut as in life. To think that I, a tired
+accountant, the most prosaic of mankind, with the account-books of a
+swindling bankrupt before me, should be chosen of all the human race to
+look upon such a scene!
+
+It was the same scene and the same figures, but the drama had advanced a
+stage. The tall young man was holding the woman in his arms. She
+strained away from him and looked up at him with loathing in her face.
+They had torn the crouching man away from his hold upon the skirt of her
+dress. A dozen of them were round him--savage men, bearded men. They
+hacked at him with knives. All seemed to strike him together. Their arms
+rose and fell. The blood did not flow from him--it squirted. His red
+dress was dabbled in it. He threw himself this way and that, purple upon
+crimson, like an over-ripe plum. Still they hacked, and still the jets
+shot from him. It was horrible--horrible! They dragged him kicking to
+the door. The woman looked over her shoulder at him and her mouth gaped.
+I heard nothing, but I knew that she was screaming. And then, whether it
+was this nerve-racking vision before me, or whether, my task finished,
+all the overwork of the past weeks came in one crushing weight upon me,
+the room danced round me, the floor seemed to sink away beneath my feet,
+and I remembered no more. In the early morning my landlady found me
+stretched senseless before the silver mirror, but I knew nothing myself
+until three days ago I awoke in the deep peace of the doctor's nursing
+home.
+
+_Feb. 9._--Only to-day have I told Dr. Sinclair my full experience. He
+had not allowed me to speak of such matters before. He listened with an
+absorbed interest. "You don't identify this with any well-known scene in
+history?" he asked, with suspicion in his eyes. I assured him that I
+knew nothing of history. "Have you no idea whence that mirror came and
+to whom it once belonged?" he continued. "Have you?" I asked, for he
+spoke with meaning. "It's incredible," said he, "and yet how else can
+one explain it? The scenes which you described before suggested it, but
+now it has gone beyond all range of coincidence. I will bring you some
+notes in the evening."
+
+_Later._--He has just left me. Let me set down his words as closely as I
+can recall them. He began by laying several musty volumes upon my bed.
+
+"These you can consult at your leisure," said he. "I have some notes
+here which you can confirm. There is not a doubt that what you have seen
+is the murder of Rizzio by the Scottish nobles in the presence of Mary,
+which occurred in March, 1566. Your description of the woman is
+accurate. The high forehead and heavy eyelids combined with great beauty
+could hardly apply to two women. The tall young man was her husband,
+Darnley. Rizzio, says the chronicle, 'was dressed in a loose
+dressing-gown of furred damask, with hose of russet velvet.' With one
+hand he clutched Mary's gown, with the other he held a dagger. Your
+fierce, hollow-eyed man was Ruthven, who was new-risen from a bed of
+sickness. Every detail is exact."
+
+"But why to me?" I asked, in bewilderment. "Why of all the human race to
+me?"
+
+"Because you were in the fit mental state to receive the impression.
+Because you chanced to own the mirror which gave the impression."
+
+"The mirror! You think, then, that it was Mary's mirror--that it stood
+in the room where the deed was done?"
+
+"I am convinced that it was Mary's mirror. She had been Queen of France.
+Her personal property would be stamped with the Royal arms. What you
+took to be three spear-heads were really the lilies of France."
+
+"And the inscription?"
+
+"'Sanc. X. Pal.' You can expand it into Sanctæ Crucis Palatium. Some one
+has made a note upon the mirror as to whence it came. It was the Palace
+of the Holy Cross."
+
+"Holyrood!" I cried.
+
+"Exactly. Your mirror came from Holyrood. You have had one very singular
+experience, and have escaped. I trust that you will never put yourself
+into the way of having such another."
+
+
+
+
+XI
+
+THE HOME-COMING
+
+
+In the spring of the year 528, a small brig used to run as a passenger
+boat between Chalcedon on the Asiatic shore and Constantinople. On the
+morning in question, which was that of the feast of Saint George, the
+vessel was crowded with excursionists who were bound for the great city
+in order to take part in the religious and festive celebrations which
+marked the festival of the Megalo-martyr, one of the most choice
+occasions in the whole vast hagiology of the Eastern Church. The day was
+fine and the breeze light, so that the passengers in their holiday mood
+were able to enjoy without a qualm the many objects of interest which
+marked the approach to the greatest and most beautiful capital in the
+world.
+
+On the right, as they sped up the narrow strait, there stretched the
+Asiatic shore, sprinkled with white villages and with numerous villas
+peeping out from the woods which adorned it. In front of them, the
+Prince's Islands, rising as green as emeralds out of the deep sapphire
+blue of the Sea of Marmora, obscured for the moment the view of the
+capital. As the brig rounded these, the great city burst suddenly upon
+their sight, and a murmur of admiration and wonder rose from the crowded
+deck. Tier above tier it rose, white and glittering, a hundred brazen
+roofs and gilded statues gleaming in the sun, with high over all the
+magnificent shining cupola of Saint Sophia. Seen against a cloudless
+sky, it was the city of a dream--too delicate, too airily lovely for
+earth.
+
+In the prow of the small vessel were two travellers of singular
+appearance. The one was a very beautiful boy, ten or twelve years of
+age, swarthy, clear-cut, with dark, curling hair and vivacious black
+eyes, full of intelligence and of the joy of living. The other was an
+elderly man, gaunt-faced and grey-bearded, whose stern features were lit
+up by a smile as he observed the excitement and interest with which his
+young companion viewed the beautiful distant city and the many vessels
+which thronged the narrow strait.
+
+"See! see!" cried the lad. "Look at the great red ships which sail out
+from yonder harbour. Surely, your holiness, they are the greatest of all
+ships in the world."
+
+The old man, who was the abbot of the monastery of Saint Nicephorus in
+Antioch, laid his hand upon the boy's shoulder.
+
+"Be wary, Leon, and speak less loudly, for until we have seen your
+mother we should keep ourselves secret. As to the red galleys they are
+indeed as large as any, for they are the Imperial ships of war, which
+come forth from the harbour of Theodosius. Round yonder green point is
+the Golden Horn, where the merchant ships are moored. But now, Leon, if
+you follow the line of buildings past the great church, you will see a
+long row of pillars fronting the sea. It marks the Palace of the
+Cæsars."
+
+The boy looked at it with fixed attention. "And my mother is there," he
+whispered.
+
+"Yes, Leon, your mother the Empress Theodora and her husband the great
+Justinian dwell in yonder palace."
+
+The boy looked wistfully up into the old man's face.
+
+"Are you sure, Father Luke, that my mother will indeed be glad to see
+me?"
+
+The abbot turned away his face to avoid those questioning eyes.
+
+"We cannot tell, Leon. We can only try. If it should prove that there is
+no place for you, then there is always a welcome among the brethren of
+Saint Nicephorus."
+
+"Why did you not tell my mother that we were coming, Father Luke? Why
+did you not wait until you had her command?"
+
+"At a distance, Leon, it would be easy to refuse you. An Imperial
+messenger would have stopped us. But when she sees you, Leon--your eyes,
+so like her own, your face, which carries memories of one whom she
+loved--then, if there be a woman's heart within her bosom, she will take
+you into it. They say that the Emperor can refuse her nothing. They have
+no child of their own. There is a great future before you, Leon. When it
+comes, do not forget the poor brethren of Saint Nicephorus, who took you
+in when you had no friend in the world."
+
+The old abbot spoke cheerily, but it was easy to see from his anxious
+countenance that the nearer he came to the capital the more doubtful
+did his errand appear. What had seemed easy and natural from the quiet
+cloisters of Antioch became dubious and dark now that the golden domes
+of Constantinople glittered so close at hand. Ten years before, a
+wretched woman, whose very name was an offence throughout the eastern
+world, where she was as infamous for her dishonour as famous for her
+beauty, had come to the monastery gate, and had persuaded the monks to
+take charge of her infant son, the child of her shame. There he had been
+ever since. But she, Theodora, the harlot, returning to the capital, had
+by the strangest turn of fortune's wheel caught the fancy and finally
+the enduring love of Justinian the heir to the throne. Then on the death
+of his uncle Justin, the young man had become the greatest monarch upon
+the earth, and raised Theodora to be not only his wife and Empress, but
+to be absolute ruler with powers equal to and independent of his own.
+And she, the polluted one, had risen to the dignity, had cut herself
+sternly away from all that related to her past life, and had shown signs
+already of being a great Queen, stronger and wiser than her husband,
+but fierce, vindictive, and unbending, a firm support to her friends,
+but a terror to her foes. This was the woman to whom the Abbot Luke of
+Antioch was bringing Leon, her forgotten son. If ever her mind strayed
+back to the days when, abandoned by her lover Ecebolus, the Governor of
+the African Pentapolis, she had made her way on foot through Asia Minor,
+and left her infant with the monks, it was only to persuade herself that
+the brethren cloistered far from the world would never identify Theodora
+the Empress with Theodora the dissolute wanderer, and that the fruits of
+her sin would be for ever concealed from her Imperial husband.
+
+The little brig had now rounded the point of the Acropolis, and the long
+blue stretch of the Golden Horn lay before it. The high wall of
+Theodosius lined the whole harbour, but a narrow verge of land had been
+left between it and the water's edge to serve as a quay. The vessel ran
+alongside near the Neorion Gate, and the passengers, after a short
+scrutiny from the group of helmeted guards who lounged beside it, were
+allowed to pass through into the great city.
+
+The abbot, who had made several visits to Constantinople upon the
+business of his monastery, walked with the assured step of one who knows
+his ground; while the boy, alarmed and yet pleased by the rush of
+people, the roar and clatter of passing chariots, and the vista of
+magnificent buildings, held tightly to the loose gown of his guide,
+while staring eagerly about him in every direction. Passing through the
+steep and narrow streets which led up from the water, they emerged into
+the open space which surrounds the magnificent pile of Saint Sophia, the
+great church begun by Constantine, hallowed by Saint Chrysostom, and now
+the seat of the Patriarch, and the very centre of the Eastern Church.
+Only with many crossings and genuflections did the pious abbot succeed
+in passing the revered shrine of his religion, and hurried on to his
+difficult task.
+
+Having passed Saint Sophia, the two travellers crossed the marble-paved
+Augusteum, and saw upon their right the gilded gates of the hippodrome
+through which a vast crowd of people was pressing, for though the
+morning had been devoted to the religious ceremony, the afternoon was
+given over to secular festivities. So great was the rush of the
+populace that the two strangers had some difficulty in disengaging
+themselves from the stream and reaching the huge arch of black marble
+which formed the outer gate of the palace. Within they were fiercely
+ordered to halt by a gold-crested and magnificent sentinel who laid his
+shining spear across their breasts until his superior officer should
+give them permission to pass. The abbot had been warned, however, that
+all obstacles would give way if he mentioned the name of Basil the
+eunuch, who acted as chamberlain of the palace and also as
+Parakimomen--a high office which meant that he slept at the door of the
+Imperial bed-chamber. The charm worked wonderfully, for at the mention
+of that potent name the Protosphathaire, or Head of the Palace Guards,
+who chanced to be upon the spot, immediately detached one of his
+soldiers with instructions to convoy the two strangers into the presence
+of the chamberlain.
+
+Passing in succession a middle guard and an inner guard, the travellers
+came at last into the palace proper, and followed their majestic guide
+from chamber to chamber, each more wonderful than the last. Marbles and
+gold, velvet and silver, glittering mosaics, wonderful carvings, ivory
+screens, curtains of Armenian tissue and of Indian silk, damask from
+Arabia, and amber from the Baltic--all these things merged themselves in
+the minds of the two simple provincials, until their eyes ached and
+their senses reeled before the blaze and the glory of this, the most
+magnificent of the dwellings of man. Finally, a pair of curtains,
+crusted with, gold, were parted, and their guide handed them over to a
+negro eunuch who stood within. A heavy, fat, brown-skinned man, with a
+large, flabby, hairless face, was pacing up and down the small
+apartment, and he turned upon them as they entered with an abominable
+and threatening smile. His loose lips and pendulous cheeks were those of
+a gross old woman, but above them there shone a pair of dark malignant
+eyes, full of fierce intensity of observation and judgment.
+
+"You have entered the palace by using my name," he said. "It is one of
+my boasts that any of the populace can approach me in this way. But it
+is not fortunate for those who take advantage of it without due cause."
+Again he smiled a smile which made the frightened boy cling tightly to
+the loose serge skirts of the abbot.
+
+But the ecclesiastic was a man of courage. Undaunted by the sinister
+appearance of the great chamberlain, or by the threat which lay in his
+words, he laid his hand upon his young companion's shoulder and faced
+the eunuch with a confident smile.
+
+"I have no doubt, your excellency," said he, "that the importance of my
+mission has given me the right to enter the palace. The only thing which
+troubles me is whether it may not be so important as to forbid me from
+broaching it to you, or indeed, to anybody save the Empress Theodora,
+since it is she only whom it concerns."
+
+The eunuch's thick eyebrows bunched together over his vicious eyes.
+
+"You must make good those words," he said. "If my gracious master--the
+ever-glorious Emperor Justinian--does not disdain to take me into his
+most intimate confidence in all things, it would be strange if there
+were any subject within your knowledge which I might not hear. You are,
+as I gather from your garb and bearing, the abbot of some Asiatic
+monastery?"
+
+"You are right, your excellency, I am the Abbot of the Monastery of St.
+Nicephorus in Antioch. But I repeat that I am assured that what I have
+to say is for the ear of the Empress Theodora only."
+
+The eunuch was evidently puzzled, and his curiosity aroused by the old
+man's persistence. He came nearer, his heavy face thrust forward, his
+flabby brown hands, like two sponges, resting upon the table of yellow
+jasper before him.
+
+"Old man," said he, "there is no secret which concerns the Empress which
+may not be told to me. But if you refuse to speak, it is certain that
+you will never see her. Why should I admit you, unless I know your
+errand? How should I know that you are not a Manichean heretic with a
+poniard in your bosom, longing for the blood of the mother of the
+Church?"
+
+The abbot hesitated no longer. "If there be a mistake in the matter,
+then on your head be it," said he. "Know then that this lad Leon is the
+son of Theodora the Empress, left by her in our monastery within a month
+of his birth ten years ago. This papyrus which I hand you will show you
+that what I say is beyond all question or doubt."
+
+The eunuch Basil took the paper, but his eyes were fixed upon the boy,
+and his features showed a mixture of amazement at the news that he had
+received, and of cunning speculation as to how he could turn it to
+profit.
+
+"Indeed, he is the very image of the Empress," he muttered; and then,
+with sudden suspicion, "Is it not the chance of this likeness which has
+put the scheme into your head, old man?"
+
+"There is but one way to answer that," said the abbot. "It is to ask the
+Empress herself whether what I say is not true, and to give her the glad
+tidings that her boy is alive and well."
+
+The tone of confidence, together with the testimony of the papyrus, and
+the boy's beautiful face, removed the last shadow of doubt from the
+eunuch's mind. Here was a great fact; but what use could be made of it?
+Above all, what advantage could he draw from it? He stood with his fat
+chin in his hand, turning it over in his cunning brain.
+
+"Old man," said he at last, "to how many have you told this secret?"
+
+"To no one in the whole world," the other answered. "There is Deacon
+Bardas at the monastery and myself. No one else knows anything."
+
+"You are sure of this?"
+
+"Absolutely certain."
+
+The eunuch had made up his mind. If he alone of all men in the palace
+knew of this event, he would have a powerful hold over his masterful
+mistress. He was certain that Justinian the Emperor knew nothing of
+this. It would be a shock to him. It might even alienate his affections
+from his wife. She might care to take precautions to prevent him from
+knowing. And if he, Basil the eunuch, was her confederate in those
+precautions, then how very close it must draw him to her. All this
+flashed through his mind as he stood, the papyrus in his hand, looking
+at the old man and the boy.
+
+"Stay here," said he. "I will be with you again." With a swift rustle of
+his silken robes he swept from the chamber.
+
+A few minutes had elapsed when a curtain at the end of the room was
+pushed aside, and the eunuch, reappearing, held it back, doubling his
+unwieldy body into a profound obeisance as he did so. Through the gap
+came a small alert woman, clad in golden tissue, with a loose outer
+mantle and shoes of the Imperial purple. That colour alone showed that
+she could be none other than the Empress; but the dignity of her
+carriage, the fierce authority of her magnificent dark eyes, and the
+perfect beauty of her haughty face, all proclaimed that it could only be
+that of Theodora who, in spite of her lowly origin, was the most
+majestic as well as the most maturely lovely of all the women in her
+kingdom. Gone now were the buffoon tricks which the daughter of Acacius
+the bearward had learned in the amphitheatre; gone too was the light
+charm of the wanton, and what was left was the worthy mate of a great
+king, the measured dignity of one who was every inch an empress.
+
+Disregarding the two men, Theodora walked up to the boy, placed her two
+white hands upon his shoulders, and looked with a long questioning gaze,
+a gaze which began with hard suspicion and ended with tender
+recognition, into those large lustrous eyes which were the very
+reflection of her own. At first the sensitive lad was chilled by the
+cold intent question of the look; but as it softened, his own spirit
+responded, until suddenly, with a cry of "Mother! Mother!" he cast
+himself into her arms, his hands locked round her neck, his face buried
+in her bosom. Carried away by the sudden natural outburst of emotion,
+her own arms tightened round the lad's figure, and she strained him for
+an instant to her heart. Then, the strength of the Empress gaining
+instant command over the temporary weakness of the mother, she pushed
+him back from her, and waved that they should leave her to herself. The
+slaves in attendance hurried the two visitors from the room. Basil the
+eunuch lingered, looking down at his mistress, who had thrown herself
+upon a damask couch, her lips white and her bosom heaving with the
+tumult of her emotion. She glanced up and met the chancellor's crafty
+gaze, her woman's instinct reading the threat that lurked within it.
+
+"I am in your power," she said. "The Emperor must never know of this."
+
+"I am your slave," said the eunuch, with his ambiguous smile. "I am an
+instrument in your hand. If it is your will that the Emperor should
+know nothing, then who is to tell him?"
+
+"But the monk, the boy. What are we to do?"
+
+"There is only one way for safety," said the eunuch.
+
+She looked at him with horrified eyes. His spongy hands were pointing
+down to the floor. There was an underground world to this beautiful
+palace, a shadow that was ever close to the light, a region of dimly-lit
+passages, of shadowed corners, of noiseless, tongueless slaves, of
+sudden sharp screams in the darkness. To this the eunuch was pointing.
+
+A terrible struggle rent her breast. The beautiful boy was hers, flesh
+of her flesh, bone of her bone. She knew it beyond all question or
+doubt. It was her one child, and her whole heart went out to him. But
+Justinian! She knew the Emperor's strange limitations. Her career in the
+past was forgotten. He had swept it all aside by special Imperial decree
+published throughout the Empire, as if she were new-born through the
+power of his will, and her association with his person. But they were
+childless, and this sight of one which was not his own would cut him to
+the quick. He could dismiss her infamous past from his mind, but if it
+took the concrete shape of this beautiful child, then how could he wave
+it aside as if it had never been? All her instincts and her intimate
+knowledge of the man told her that even her charm and her influence
+might fail under such circumstances to save her from ruin. Her divorce
+would be as easy to him as her elevation had been. She was balanced upon
+a giddy pinnacle, the highest in the world, and yet the higher the
+deeper the fall. Everything that earth could give was now at her feet.
+Was she to risk the losing of it all--for what? For a weakness which was
+unworthy of an Empress, for a foolish new-born spasm of love, for that
+which had no existence within her in the morning? How could she be so
+foolish as to risk losing such a substance for such a shadow?
+
+"Leave it to me," said the brown watchful face above her.
+
+"Must it be--death?"
+
+"There is no real safety outside. But if your heart is too merciful,
+then by the loss of sight and speech----"
+
+She saw in her mind the white-hot iron approaching those glorious eyes,
+and she shuddered at the thought.
+
+"No, no! Better death than that!"
+
+"Let it be death then. You are wise, great Empress, for there only is
+real safety and assurance of silence."
+
+"And the monk?"
+
+"Him also."
+
+"But the Holy Synod! He is a tonsured priest. What would the Patriarch
+do?"
+
+"Silence his babbling tongue. Then let them do what they will. How are
+we of the palace to know that this conspirator, taken with a dagger in
+his sleeve, is really what he says?"
+
+Again she shuddered and shrank down among the cushions.
+
+"Speak not of it, think not of it," said the eunuch. "Say only that you
+leave it in my hands. Nay, then, if you cannot say it, do but nod your
+head, and I take it as your signal."
+
+In that instant there flashed before Theodora's mind a vision of all her
+enemies, of all those who envied her rise, of all whose hatred and
+contempt would rise into a clamour of delight could they see the
+daughter of the bearward hurled down again into that abyss from which
+she had been dragged. Her face hardened, her lips tightened, her little
+hands clenched in the agony of her thought.
+
+"Do it!" she said.
+
+In an instant, with a terrible smile, the messenger of death hurried
+from the room. She groaned aloud, and buried herself yet deeper amid the
+silken cushions, clutching them frantically with convulsed and twitching
+hands.
+
+The eunuch wasted no time, for this deed, once done, he became--save for
+that insignificant monk in Asia Minor, whose fate would soon be
+sealed--the only sharer of Theodora's secret, and therefore the only
+person who could curb and bend that imperious nature. Hurrying into the
+chamber where the visitors were waiting, he gave a sinister signal, only
+too well known in those iron days. In an instant the black mutes in
+attendance seized the old man and the boy, pushing them swiftly down a
+passage and into a meaner portion of the palace, where the heavy smell
+of luscious cooking proclaimed the neighbourhood of the kitchens. A side
+corridor led to a heavily-barred iron door, and this in turn opened upon
+a steep flight of stone steps, feebly illuminated by the glimmer of
+wall lamps. At the head and foot stood a mute sentinel like an ebony
+statue, and below, along the dusky and forbidding passages from which
+the cells opened, a succession of niches in the wall were occupied by a
+similar guardian. The unfortunate visitors were dragged brutally down a
+number of stone-flagged and dismal corridors until they descended
+another long stair which led so deeply into the earth that the damp
+feeling in the heavy air and the drip of water all round showed that
+they had come down to the level of the sea. Groans and cries, like those
+of sick animals, from the various grated doors which they passed showed
+how many there were who spent their whole lives in this humid and
+poisonous atmosphere.
+
+At the end of this lowest passage was a door which opened into a single
+large vaulted room. It was devoid of furniture, but in the centre was a
+large and heavy wooden board clamped with iron. This lay upon a rude
+stone parapet, engraved with inscriptions beyond the wit of the eastern
+scholars, for this old well dated from a time before the Greeks founded
+Byzantium, when men of Chaldea and Phœnicia built with huge unmortared
+blocks, far below the level of the town of Constantine. The door was
+closed, and the eunuch beckoned to the slaves that they should remove
+the slab which covered the well of death. The frightened boy screamed
+and clung to the abbot, who, ashy-pale and trembling, was pleading hard
+to melt the heart of the ferocious eunuch.
+
+"Surely, surely, you would not slay the innocent boy!" he cried. "What
+has he done? Was it his fault that he came here? I alone--I and Deacon
+Bardas--are to blame. Punish us, if some one must indeed be punished. We
+are old. It is to-day or to-morrow with us. But he is so young and so
+beautiful, with all his life before him. Oh, sir! oh, your excellency,
+you would not have the heart to hurt him!"
+
+He threw himself down and clutched at the eunuch's knees, while the boy
+sobbed piteously and cast horror-stricken eyes at the black slaves who
+were tearing the wooden slab from the ancient parapet beneath. The only
+answer which the chamberlain gave to the frantic pleadings of the abbot
+was to take a stone which lay on the coping of the well and toss it in.
+It could be heard clattering against the old, damp, mildewed walls,
+until it fell with a hollow boom into some far distant subterranean
+pool. Then he again motioned with his hands, and the black slaves threw
+themselves upon the boy and dragged him away from his guardian. So
+shrill was his clamour that no one heard the approach of the Empress.
+With a swift rush she had entered the room, and her arms were round her
+son.
+
+"It shall not be! It cannot be!" she cried. "No, no, my darling! my
+darling! they shall do you no hurt. I was mad to think of it--mad and
+wicked to dream of it. Oh, my sweet boy! to think that your mother might
+have had your blood upon her head!"
+
+The eunuch's brows were gathered together at this failure of his plans,
+at this fresh example of feminine caprice.
+
+"Why kill them, great lady, if it pains your gracious heart?" said he.
+"With a knife and a branding-iron they can be disarmed for ever."
+
+She paid no attention to his words. "Kiss me, Leon!" she cried. "Just
+once let me feel my own child's soft lips rest upon mine. Now again! No,
+no more, or I shall weaken for what I have still to say and still to
+do. Old man, you are very near a natural grave, and I cannot think from
+your venerable aspect that words of falsehood would come readily to your
+lips. You have indeed kept my secret all these years, have you not?"
+
+"I have in very truth, great Empress. I swear to you by Saint
+Nicephorus, patron of our house, that save old Deacon Bardas, there is
+none who knows."
+
+"Then let your lips still be sealed. If you have kept faith in the past,
+I see no reason why you should be a babbler in the future. And you,
+Leon"--she bent her wonderful eyes with a strange mixture of sternness
+and of love upon the boy, "can I trust you? Will you keep a secret which
+could never help you, but would be the ruin and downfall of your
+mother?"
+
+"Oh, mother, I would not hurt you! I swear that I will be silent."
+
+"Then I trust you both. Such provision will be made for your monastery
+and for your own personal comforts as will make you bless the day you
+came to my palace. Now you may go. I wish never to see you again. If I
+did, you might find me in a softer mood, or in a harder, and the one
+would lead to my undoing, the other to yours. But if by whisper or
+rumour I have reason to think that you have failed me, then you and your
+monks and your monastery will have such an end as will be a lesson for
+ever to those who would break faith with their Empress."
+
+"I will never speak," said the old abbot; "neither will Deacon Bardas;
+neither will Leon. For all three I can answer. But there are
+others--these slaves, the chancellor. We may be punished for another's
+fault."
+
+"Not so," said the Empress, and her eyes were like flints. "These slaves
+are voiceless; nor have they any means to tell those secrets which they
+know. As to you, Basil----" She raised her white hand with the same
+deadly gesture which he had himself used so short a time before. The
+black slaves were on him like hounds on a stag.
+
+"Oh, my gracious mistress, dear lady, what is this? What is this? You
+cannot mean it!" he screamed, in his high, cracked voice. "Oh, what have
+I done? Why should I die?"
+
+"You have turned me against my own. You have goaded me to slay my own
+son. You have intended to use my secret against me. I read it in your
+eyes from the first. Cruel, murderous villain, taste the fate which you
+have yourself given to so many others. This is your doom. I have
+spoken."
+
+The old man and the boy hurried in horror from the vault. As they
+glanced back they saw the erect, inflexible, shimmering, gold-clad
+figure of the Empress. Beyond they had a glimpse of the green-scummed
+lining of the well, and of the great red open mouth of the eunuch, as he
+screamed and prayed while every tug of the straining slaves brought him
+one step nearer to the brink. With their hands over their ears they
+rushed away, but even so they heard that last woman-like shriek, and
+then the heavy plunge far down in the dark abysses of the earth.
+
+
+
+
+XII
+
+A POINT OF CONTACT
+
+
+A curious train of thought is started when one reflects upon those great
+figures who have trod the stage of this earth, and actually played their
+parts in the same act, without ever coming face to face, or even knowing
+of each other's existence. Baber, the Great Mogul, was, for example,
+overrunning India at the very moment when Hernando Cortez was
+overrunning Mexico, and yet the two could never have heard of each
+other. Or, to take a more supreme example, what could the Emperor
+Augustus Cæsar know of a certain Carpenter's shop wherein there worked a
+dreamy-eyed boy who was destined to change the whole face of the world?
+It may be, however, that sometimes these great contemporary forces did
+approach, touch, and separate--each unaware of the true meaning of the
+other. So it was in the instance which is now narrated.
+
+It was evening in the port of Tyre, some eleven hundred years before
+the coming of Christ. The city held, at that time, about a quarter of a
+million of inhabitants, the majority of whom dwelt upon the mainland,
+where the buildings of the wealthy merchants, each in its own tree-girt
+garden, extended for seven miles along the coast. The great island,
+however, from which the town got its name, lay out some distance from
+the shore, and contained within its narrow borders the more famous of
+the temples and public buildings. Of these temples the chief was that of
+Melmoth, which covered with its long colonnades the greater part of that
+side of the island which looked down upon the Sidonian port, so called
+because only twenty miles away the older city of Sidon maintained a
+constant stream of traffic with its rising offshoot.
+
+Inns were not yet in vogue, but the poorer traveller found his quarters
+with hospitable citizens, while men of distinction were frequently
+housed in the annex of the temples, where the servants of the priests
+attended to their wants. On that particular evening there stood in the
+portico of the temple of Melmoth two remarkable figures who were the
+centre of observation for a considerable fringe of Phœnician idlers. One
+of these men was clearly by his face and demeanour a great chieftain.
+His strongly-marked features were those of a man who had led an
+adventurous life, and were suggestive of every virile quality from brave
+resolve to desperate execution. His broad, high brow and contemplative
+eyes showed that he was a man of wisdom as well as of valour. He was
+clad, as became a Greek nobleman of the period, with a pure white linen
+tunic, a gold-studded belt supporting a short sword, and a purple cloak.
+The lower legs were bare, and the feet covered by sandals of red
+leather, while a cap of white cloth was pushed back upon his brown
+curls, for the heat of the day was past and the evening breeze most
+welcome.
+
+His companion was a short, thick-set man, bull-necked and swarthy, clad
+in some dusky cloth which gave him a sombre appearance relieved only by
+the vivid scarlet of his woollen cap. His manner towards his comrade was
+one of deference, and yet there was in it also something of that
+freshness and frankness which go with common dangers and a common
+interest.
+
+"Be not impatient, sire," he was saying. "Give me two days, or three at
+the most, and we shall make as brave a show at the muster as any. But,
+indeed, they would smile if they saw us crawl up to Tenedos with ten
+missing oars and the mainsail blown into rags."
+
+The other frowned and stamped his foot with anger.
+
+"We should have been there now had it not been for this cursed
+mischance," said he. "Aeolus played us a pretty trick when he sent such
+a blast out of a cloudless sky."
+
+"Well, sire, two of the Cretan galleys foundered, and Trophimes, the
+pilot, swears that one of the Argos ships was in trouble. Pray Zeus that
+it was not the galley of Menelaus. We shall not be the last at the
+muster."
+
+"It is well that Troy stands a good ten miles from the sea, for if they
+came out at us with a fleet they might have us at a disadvantage. We had
+no choice but to come here and refit, yet I shall have no happy hour
+until I see the white foam from the lash of our oars once more. Go,
+Seleucas, and speed them all you may."
+
+The officer bowed and departed, while the chieftain stood with his eyes
+fixed upon his great dismantled galley over which the riggers and
+carpenters were swarming. Further out in the roadstead lay eleven other
+smaller galleys, waiting until their wounded flagship should be ready
+for them. The sun, as it shone upon them, gleamed upon hundreds of
+bronze helmets and breastplates, telling of the warlike nature of the
+errand upon which they were engaged. Save for them the port was filled
+with bustling merchant ships taking in cargoes or disgorging them upon
+the quays. At the very feet of the Greek chieftain three broad barges
+were moored, and gangs of labourers with wooden shovels were heaving out
+the mussels brought from Dor, destined to supply the famous Tyrian
+dye-works which adorn the most noble of all garments. Beside them was a
+tin ship from Britain, and the square boxes of that precious metal, so
+needful for the making of bronze, were being passed from hand to hand to
+the waiting waggons. The Greek found himself smiling at the uncouth
+wonder of a Cornishman who had come with his tin, and who was now lost
+in amazement as he stared at the long colonnades of the Temple of
+Melmoth and the high front of the Shrine of Ashtaroth behind it. Even
+as he gazed some of his ship-mates passed their hands through his arms
+and led him along the quay to a wine-shop, as being a building much more
+within his comprehension. The Greek, still smiling, was turning on his
+heels to return to the Temple, when one of the clean-shaven priests of
+Baal came towards him.
+
+"It is rumoured, sire," said he, "that you are on a very distant and
+dangerous venture. Indeed, it is well known from the talk of your
+soldiers what it is that you have on hand."
+
+"It is true," said the Greek, "that we have a hard task before us. But
+it would have been harder to bide at home and to feel that the honour of
+a leader of the Argives had been soiled by this dog from Asia."
+
+"I hear that all Greece has taken up the quarrel."
+
+"Yes, there is not a chief from Thessaly to the Malea who has not called
+out his men, and there were twelve hundred galleys in the harbour of
+Aulis."
+
+"It is a great host," said the priest. "But have ye any seers or
+prophets among ye who can tell what will come to pass?"
+
+"Yes, we had one such, Calchas his name. He has said that for nine years
+we shall strive, and only on the tenth will the victory come."
+
+"That is but cold comfort," said the priest. "It is, indeed, a great
+prize which can be worth ten years of a man's life."
+
+"I would give," the Greek answered, "not ten years but all my life if I
+could but lay proud Ilium in ashes and carry back Helen to her palace on
+the hill of Argos."
+
+"I pray Baal, whose priest I am, that you may have good fortune," said
+the Phœnician. "I have heard that these Trojans are stout soldiers, and
+that Hector, the son of Priam, is a mighty leader."
+
+The Greek smiled proudly.
+
+"They must be stout and well-fed also," said he, "if they can stand the
+brunt against the long-haired Argives with such captains as Agamemnon,
+the son of Atreus from golden Mycenæ, or Achilles, son of Peleus, with
+his myrmidons. But these things are on the knees of the Fates. In the
+meantime, my friend, I would fain know who these strange people are who
+come down the street, for their chieftain has the air of one who is made
+for great deeds."
+
+A tall man clad in a long white robe, with a golden fillet running
+through his flowing auburn hair, was striding down the street with the
+free elastic gait of one who has lived an active life in the open. His
+face was ruddy and noble, with a short, crisp beard covering a strong,
+square jaw. In his clear blue eyes as he looked at the evening sky and
+the busy waters beneath him there was something of the exaltation of the
+poet, while a youth walking beside him and carrying a harp hinted at the
+graces of music. On the other side of him, however, a second squire bore
+a brazen shield and a heavy spear, so that his master might never be
+caught unawares by his enemies. In his train there came a tumultuous
+rabble of dark hawk-like men, armed to the teeth, and peering about with
+covetous eyes at the signs of wealth which lay in profusion around them.
+They were swarthy as Arabs, and yet they were better clad and better
+armed than the wild children of the desert.
+
+"They are but barbarians," said the priest. "He is a small king from the
+mountain parts opposite Philistia, and he comes here because he is
+building up the town of Jebus, which he means to be his chief city. It
+is only here that he can find the wood, and stone, and craftsmanship
+that he desires. The youth with the harp is his son. But I pray you,
+chief, if you would know what is before you at Troy, to come now into
+the outer hall of the Temple with me, for we have there a famous seer,
+the prophetess Alaga who is also the priestess of Ashtaroth. It may be
+that she can do for you what she has done for many others, and send you
+forth from Tyre in your hollow ships with a better heart than you came."
+
+To the Greeks, who by oracles, omens, and auguries were for ever prying
+into the future, such a suggestion was always welcome. The Greek
+followed the priest to the inner sanctuary, where sat the famous
+Pythoness--a tall, fair woman of middle age, who sat at a stone table
+upon which was an abacus or tray filled with sand. She held a style of
+chalcedony, and with this she traced strange lines and curves upon the
+smooth surface, her chin leaning upon her other hand and her eyes cast
+down. As the chief and the priest approached her she did not look up,
+but she quickened the movements of her pencil, so that curve followed
+curve in quick succession. Then, still with downcast eyes, she spoke in
+a strange, high, sighing voice like wind amid the trees.
+
+"Who, then, is this who comes to Alaga of Tyre, the handmaiden of great
+Ashtaroth? Behold I see an island to the west, and an old man who is the
+father, and the great chief, and his wife, and his son who now waits him
+at home, being too young for the wars. Is this not true?"
+
+"Yes, maiden, you have said truth," the Greek answered.
+
+"I have had many great ones before me, but none greater than you, for
+three thousand years from now people will still talk of your bravery and
+of your wisdom. They will remember also the faithful wife at home, and
+the name of the old man, your father, and of the boy your son--all will
+be remembered when the very stones of noble Sidon and royal Tyre are no
+more."
+
+"Nay, say not so, Alaga!" cried the priest.
+
+"I speak not what I desire but what it is given to me to say. For ten
+years you will strive, and then you will win, and victory will bring
+rest to others, but only new troubles to you. Ah!" The prophetess
+suddenly started in violent surprise, and her hand made ever faster
+markings on the sand.
+
+"What is it that ails you, Alaga?" asked the priest.
+
+The woman had looked up with wild inquiring eyes. Her gaze was neither
+for the priest nor for the chief, but shot past them to the further
+door. Looking round the Greek was aware that two new figures had entered
+the room. They were the ruddy barbarian whom he had marked in the
+street, together with the youth who bore his harp.
+
+"It is a marvel upon marvels that two such should enter my chamber on
+the same day," cried the priestess. "Have I not said that you were the
+greatest that ever came, and yet behold here is already one who is
+greater. For he and his son--even this youth whom I see before me--will
+also be in the minds of all men when lands beyond the Pillars of
+Hercules shall have taken the place of Phœnicia and of Greece. Hail to
+you, stranger, hail! Pass on to your work for it awaits you, and it is
+great beyond words of mine." Rising from her stool the woman dropped her
+pencil upon the sand and passed swiftly from the room.
+
+"It is over," said the priest. "Never have I heard her speak such
+words."
+
+The Greek chief looked with interest at the barbarian. "You speak
+Greek?" he asked.
+
+"Indifferently well," said the other. "Yet I should understand it seeing
+that I spent a long year at Ziklag in the land of the Philistines."
+
+"It would seem," said the Greek, "that the gods have chosen us both to
+play a part in the world."
+
+"Stranger," the barbarian answered, "there is but one God."
+
+"Say you so? Well, it is a matter to be argued at some better time. But
+I would fain have your name and style and what is it you purpose to do,
+so that we may perchance hear of each other in the years to come. For my
+part I am Odysseus, known also as Ulysses, the King of Ithaca, with the
+good Laertes as my father and young Telemachus as my son. For my work,
+it is the taking of Troy."
+
+"And my work," said the barbarian, "is the building of Jebus, which now
+we call Jerusalem. Our ways lie separate, but it may come back to your
+memory that you have crossed the path of David, second King of the
+Hebrews, together with his young son Solomon, who may follow him upon
+the throne of Israel."
+
+So he turned and went forth into the darkened streets where his spearmen
+were awaiting him, while the Greek passed down to his boat that he might
+see what was still to be done ere he could set forth upon his voyage.
+
+
+
+
+XIII
+
+THE CENTURION
+
+
+[_Being the fragment of a letter from Sulpicius Balbus, Legate of the
+Tenth Legion, to his uncle, Lucius Piso, in his villa near Baiae, dated
+The Kalends of the month of Augustus in the year 824 of Rome._]
+
+I promised you, my dear uncle, that I would tell you anything of
+interest concerning the siege of Jerusalem; but, indeed, these people
+whom we imagined to be unwarlike have kept us so busy that there has
+been little time for letter-writing. We came to Judæa thinking that a
+mere blowing of trumpets and a shout would finish the affair, and
+picturing a splendid triumph in the _via sacra_ to follow, with all the
+girls in Rome throwing flowers and kisses to us. Well, we may get our
+triumph, and possibly the kisses also, but I can assure you that not
+even you who have seen such hard service on the Rhine can ever have
+experienced a more severe campaign than this has been. We have now won
+the town, and to-day their temple is burning, and the smoke sets me
+coughing as I sit writing in my tent. But it has been a terrible
+business, and I am sure none of us wish to see Judæa again.
+
+In fighting the Gauls, or the Germans, you are against brave men,
+animated by the love of their country. This passion acts more, however,
+upon some than others, so that the whole army is not equally inflamed by
+it. These Jews, however, besides their love of country, which is very
+strong, have a desperate religious fervour, which gives them a fury in
+battle such as none of us have ever seen. They throw themselves with a
+shriek of joy upon our swords and lances, as if death were all that they
+desired.
+
+If one gets past your guard may Jove protect you, for their knives are
+deadly, and if it comes to a hand-to-hand grapple they are as dangerous
+as wild beasts, who would claw out your eyes or your throat. You know
+that our fellows of the Tenth Legion have been, ever since Cæsar's time,
+as rough soldiers as any with the Eagles, but I can assure you that I
+have seen them positively cowed by the fury of these fanatics. As a
+matter of fact we have had least to bear, for it has been our task from
+the beginning to guard the base of the peninsula upon which this
+extraordinary town is built. It has steep precipices upon all the other
+sides, so that it is only on this one northern base that fugitives could
+escape or a rescue come. Meanwhile, the fifth, fifteenth, and the
+twelfth or Syrian legions have done the work, together with the
+auxiliaries. Poor devils! we have often pitied them, and there have been
+times when it was difficult to say whether we were attacking the town or
+the town was attacking us. They broke down our tortoises with their
+stones, burned our turrets with their fire, and dashed right through our
+whole camp to destroy the supplies in the rear. If any man says a Jew is
+not a good soldier, you may be sure that he has never been in Judæa.
+
+However, all this has nothing to do with what I took up my stylus to
+tell you. No doubt it is the common gossip of the forum and of the baths
+how our army, excellently handled by the princely Titus, carried one
+line of wall after the other until we had only the temple before us.
+This, however, is--or was, for I see it burning even as I write--a very
+strong fortress. Romans have no idea of the magnificence of this place.
+The temple of which I speak is a far finer building than any we have in
+Rome, and so is the Palace, built by Herod or Agrippa, I really forget
+which. This temple is two hundred paces each way, with stones so fitted
+that the blade of a knife will not go between, and the soldiers say
+there is gold enough within to fill the pockets of the whole army. This
+idea puts some fury into the attack, as you can believe, but with these
+flames I fear a great deal of the plunder will be lost.
+
+There was a great fight at the temple, and it was rumoured that it would
+be carried by storm to-night, so I went out on to the rising ground
+whence one sees the city best. I wonder, uncle, if in your many
+campaigns you have ever smelt the smell of a large beleaguered town. The
+wind was south to-night, and this terrible smell of death came straight
+to our nostrils. There were half a million people there, and every form
+of disease, starvation, decomposition, filth and horror, all pent in
+within a narrow compass. You know how the lion sheds smell behind the
+Circus Maximus, acid and foul. It is like that, but there is a low,
+deadly, subtle odour which lies beneath it and makes your very heart
+sink within you. Such was the smell which came up from the city
+to-night.
+
+As I stood in the darkness, wrapped in my scarlet chlamys--for the
+evenings here are chill--I was suddenly aware that I was not alone. A
+tall, silent figure was near me, looking down at the town even as I was.
+I could see in the moonlight that he was clad as an officer, and as I
+approached him I recognized that it was Longinus, third tribune of my
+own legion, and a soldier of great age and experience. He is a strange,
+silent man, who is respected by all, but understood by none, for he
+keeps his own council and thinks rather than talks. As I approached him
+the first flames burst from the temple, a high column of fire, which
+cast a glow upon our faces and gleamed upon our armour. In this red
+light I saw that the gaunt face of my companion was set like iron.
+
+"At last!" said he. "At last!"
+
+He was speaking to himself rather than to me, for he started and seemed
+confused when I asked him what he meant.
+
+"I have long thought that evil would come to the place," said he. "Now
+I see that it has come, and so I said 'At last!'"
+
+"For that matter," I answered, "we have all seen that evil would come to
+the place, since it has again and again defied the authority of the
+Cæsars."
+
+He looked keenly at me with a question in his eyes. Then he said:
+
+"I have heard, sir, that you are one who has a full sympathy in the
+matter of the gods, believing that every man should worship according to
+his own conscience and belief."
+
+I answered that I was a Stoic of the school of Seneca, who held that
+this world is a small matter and that we should care little for its
+fortunes, but develop within ourselves a contempt for all but the
+highest.
+
+He smiled in grim fashion at this.
+
+"I have heard," said he, "that Seneca died the richest man in all Nero's
+Empire, so he made the best of this world in spite of his philosophy."
+
+"What are your own beliefs?" I asked. "Are you, perhaps, one who has
+fathomed the mysteries of Isis, or been admitted to the Society of
+Mythra?"
+
+"Have you ever heard," he asked, "of the Christians?"
+
+"Yes," said I. "There were some slaves and wandering men in Rome who
+called themselves such. They worshipped, so far as I could gather, some
+man who died over here in Judæa. He was put to death, I believe, in the
+time of Tiberius."
+
+"That is so," he answered. "It was at the time when Pilate was
+procurator--Pontius Pilate, the brother of old Lucius Pilate, who had
+Egypt in the time of Augustus. Pilate was of two minds in the matter,
+but the mob was as wild and savage as these very men that we have been
+contending with. Pilate tried to put them off with a criminal, hoping
+that so long as they had blood they would be satisfied. But they chose
+the other, and he was not strong enough to withstand them. Ah! it was a
+pity--a sad pity!"
+
+"You seem to know a good deal about it," said I.
+
+"I was there," said the man simply, and became silent, while we both
+looked down at the huge column of flame from the burning temple. As it
+flared up we could see the white tents of the army and all the country
+round. There was a low hill just outside the city, and my companion
+pointed to it.
+
+"That was where it happened," said he. "I forget the name of the place,
+but in those days--it was more than thirty years ago--they put their
+criminals to death there. But He was no criminal. It is always His eyes
+that I think of--the look in His eyes."
+
+"What about the eyes, then?"
+
+"They have haunted me ever since. I see them now. All the sorrow of
+earth seemed mirrored in them. Sad, sad, and yet such a deep, tender
+pity! One would have said that it was He who needed pity had you seen
+His poor battered, disfigured face. But He had no thought for
+Himself--it was the great world pity that looked out of His gentle eyes.
+There was a noble maniple of the legion there, and not a man among them
+who did not wish to charge the howling crowd who were dragging such a
+man to His death."
+
+"What were you doing there?"
+
+"I was Junior Centurion, with the gold vine-rod fresh on my shoulders. I
+was on duty on the hill, and never had a job that I liked less. But
+discipline has to be observed, and Pilate had given the order. But I
+thought at the time--and I was not the only one--that this man's name
+and work would not be forgotten, and that there would be a curse on the
+place that had done such a deed. There was an old woman there, His
+mother, with her grey hair down her back. I remember how she shrieked
+when one of our fellows with his lance put Him out of his pain. And a
+few others, women and men, poor and ragged, stood by Him. But, you see,
+it has turned out as I thought. Even in Rome, as you have observed, His
+followers have appeared."
+
+"I rather fancy," said I, "that I am speaking to one of them."
+
+"At least, I have not forgotten," said he. "I have been in the wars ever
+since with little time for study. But my pension is overdue, and when I
+have changed the sagum for the toga, and the tent for some little farm
+up Como way, then I shall look more deeply into these things, if,
+perchance, I can find some one to instruct me."
+
+And so I left him. I only tell you all this because I remember that you
+took an interest in the man, Paulus, who was put to death for preaching
+this religion. You told me that it had reached Cæsar's palace, and I can
+tell you now that it has reached Cæsar's soldiers as well. But apart
+from this matter I wish to tell you some of the adventures which we have
+had recently in raiding for food among the hills, which stretch as far
+south as the river Jordan. The other day ...
+
+[_Here the fragment is ended._]
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note:
+
+    Dialect spellings remain as printed. Minor typographical errors have
+    been corrected without note, whilst significant amendments have been
+    listed below:
+
+      p. 79, 'cacophanies' amended to _cacophonies_;
+      p. 102, 'Pantelic' amended to _Pentelic_;
+      p. 113, 'Septimus' amended to _Septimius_;
+      p. 144, 'Sava' amended to _Saba_;
+      p. 206, 'wagons' amended to _waggons_.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Last of the Legions and Other
+Tales of Long Ago, by Arthur Conan Doyle
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Last of the Legions and Other Tales of
+Long Ago, by Arthur Conan Doyle
+
+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 Last of the Legions and Other Tales of Long Ago
+
+Author: Arthur Conan Doyle
+
+Release Date: July 31, 2008 [EBook #26153]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LAST OF THE LEGIONS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Chris Curnow, Joseph Cooper, Stephen Blundell
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+    THE LAST OF THE LEGIONS
+ _and Other Tales of Long Ago_
+
+        A. CONAN DOYLE
+
+
+
+
+                By SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
+
+
+_Novels and Stories_
+
+    DANGER! _And Other Stories_
+    THE DOINGS OF RAFFLES HAW
+    HIS LAST BOW
+      _Some Later Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes_
+    THE BLACK DOCTOR
+      _And Other Tales of Terror and Mystery_
+    THE MAN FROM ARCHANGEL
+      _And Other Tales of Adventure_
+    THE CROXLEY MASTER
+      _And Other Tales of the Ring and Camp_
+    THE GREAT KEINPLATZ EXPERIMENT
+      _And Other Tales of Twilight and the Unseen_
+    THE LAST OF THE LEGIONS
+      _And Other Tales of Long Ago_
+    THE DEALINGS OF CAPTAIN SHARKEY
+      _And Other Tales of Pirates_
+
+_On the Life Hereafter_
+
+    THE NEW REVELATION
+    THE VITAL MESSAGE
+    THE COMING OF THE FAIRIES
+    THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
+    THE WANDERINGS OF A SPIRITUALIST
+    OUR AMERICAN ADVENTURE
+
+_A History of the Great War_
+
+    THE BRITISH CAMPAIGN IN FRANCE AND FLANDERS--Six Vols.
+
+_Poems_
+
+    THE GUARDS CAME THROUGH
+
+
+                        NEW YORK
+                 GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY
+
+
+
+
+           THE LAST
+        OF THE LEGIONS
+ _and Other Tales of Long Ago_
+
+
+              BY
+        A. CONAN DOYLE
+
+
+           NEW YORK
+    GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY
+
+
+
+
+ COPYRIGHT, 1905, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911,
+       1913, 1914, 1918, 1919, 1922
+            BY A. CONAN DOYLE
+
+             COPYRIGHT, 1910,
+        BY CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
+
+             COPYRIGHT, 1911,
+   BY ASSOCIATED SUNDAY MAGAZINES, INC.
+
+             COPYRIGHT, 1908,
+          BY THE MCCLURE COMPANY
+
+          COPYRIGHT, 1900, 1902,
+       BY THE S. S. MCCLURE COMPANY
+
+
+                 [Device]
+
+ THE LAST OF THE LEGIONS AND OTHER TALES
+               OF LONG AGO
+
+                ----Q----
+
+ PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note:
+
+    Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. Dialect
+    spellings remain as printed. The oe ligature is represented by [oe].
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+                                   PAGE
+
+    I THE LAST OF THE LEGIONS         9
+
+   II THE LAST GALLEY                22
+
+  III THROUGH THE VEIL               37
+
+   IV THE COMING OF THE HUNS         47
+
+    V THE CONTEST                    68
+
+   VI THE FIRST CARGO                83
+
+  VII AN ICONOCLAST                  98
+
+ VIII GIANT MAXIMIN                 112
+
+   IX THE RED STAR                  141
+
+    X THE SILVER MIRROR             158
+
+   XI THE HOME-COMING               177
+
+  XII A POINT OF CONTACT            202
+
+ XIII THE CENTURION                 215
+
+
+
+
+THE LAST OF THE LEGIONS
+
+
+
+
+    THE LAST OF THE LEGIONS
+ _and Other Tales of Long Ago_
+
+
+
+
+I
+
+THE LAST OF THE LEGIONS
+
+
+Pontus, the Roman viceroy, sat in the atrium of his palatial villa by
+the Thames, and he looked with perplexity at the scroll of papyrus which
+he had just unrolled. Before him stood the messenger who had brought it,
+a swarthy little Italian, whose black eyes were glazed with want of
+sleep, and his olive features darker still from dust and sweat. The
+viceroy was looking fixedly at him, yet he saw him not, so full was his
+mind of this sudden and most unexpected order. To him it seemed as if
+the solid earth had given way beneath his feet. His life and the work of
+his life had come to irremediable ruin.
+
+"Very good," he said at last in a hard dry voice, "you can go."
+
+The man saluted and staggered out of the hall. A yellow-haired British
+major-domo came forward for orders.
+
+"Is the General there?"
+
+"He is waiting, your excellency."
+
+"Then show him in, and leave us together."
+
+A few minutes later Licinius Crassus, the head of the British military
+establishment, had joined his chief. He was a large, bearded man in a
+white civilian toga, hemmed with the Patrician purple. His rough, bold
+features, burned and seamed and lined with the long African wars, were
+shadowed with anxiety as he looked with questioning eyes at the drawn,
+haggard face of the viceroy.
+
+"I fear, your excellency, that you have had bad news from Rome."
+
+"The worst, Crassus. It is all over with Britain. It is a question
+whether even Gaul will be held."
+
+"Saint Albus save us! Are the orders precise?"
+
+"Here they are, with the Emperor's own seal."
+
+"But why? I had heard a rumour, but it had seemed too incredible."
+
+"So had I only last week, and had the fellow scourged for having spread
+it. But here it is as clear as words can make it: 'Bring every man of
+the Legions by forced marches to the help of the Empire. Leave not a
+cohort in Britain.' These are my orders."
+
+"But the cause?"
+
+"They will let the limbs wither so that the heart be stronger. The old
+German hive is about to swarm once more. There are fresh crowds of
+Barbarians from Dacia and Scythia. Every sword is needed to hold the
+Alpine passes. They cannot let three legions lie idle in Britain."
+
+The soldier shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"When the legions go no Roman would feel that his life was safe here.
+For all that we have done, it is none the less the truth that it is no
+country of ours, and that we hold it as we won it by the sword."
+
+"Yes, every man, woman, and child of Latin blood must come with us to
+Gaul. The galleys are already waiting at Portus Dubris. Get the orders
+out, Crassus, at once. As the Valerian legion falls back from the Wall
+of Hadrian it can take the northern colonists with it. The Jovians can
+bring in the people from the west, and the Batavians can escort the
+easterns if they will muster at Camboricum. You will see to it." He sank
+his face for a moment in his hands. "It is a fearsome thing," said he,
+"to tear up the roots of so goodly a tree."
+
+"To make more space for such a crop of weeds," said the soldier
+bitterly. "My God, what will be the end of these poor Britons! From
+ocean to ocean there is not a tribe which will not be at the throat of
+its neighbour when the last Roman Lictor has turned his back. With these
+hot-headed Silures it is hard enough now to keep the swords in their
+sheaths."
+
+"The kennel might fight as they choose among themselves until the best
+hound won," said the Roman Governor. "At least the victor would keep the
+arts and the religion which we have brought them, and Britain would be
+one land. No, it is the bear from the north and the wolves from oversea,
+the painted savage from beyond the walls and the Saxon pirate from over
+the water, who will succeed to our rule. Where we saved, they will
+slay; where we built, they will burn; where we planted, they will
+ravage. But the die is cast, Crassus. You will carry out the orders."
+
+"I will send out the messengers within an hour. This very morning there
+has come news that the Barbarians are through the old gap in the wall,
+and their outriders as far south as Vinovia."
+
+The Governor shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"These things concern us no longer," said he. Then a bitter smile broke
+upon his aquiline clean-shaven face. "Whom think you that I see in
+audience this morning?"
+
+"Nay, I know not."
+
+"Caradoc and Regnus, and Celticus the Icenian, who, like so many of the
+richer Britons, have been educated at Rome, and who would lay before me
+their plans as to the ruling of this country."
+
+"And what is their plan?"
+
+"That they themselves should do it."
+
+The Roman soldier laughed. "Well, they will have their will," said he,
+as he saluted and turned upon his heel. "Farewell, your excellency.
+There are hard days coming for you and for me."
+
+An hour later the British deputation was ushered into the presence of
+the Governor. They were good, steadfast men, men who with a whole heart,
+and at some risk to themselves, had taken up their country's cause, so
+far as they could see it. At the same time they well knew that under the
+mild and beneficent rule of Rome it was only when they passed from words
+to deeds that their backs or their necks would be in danger. They stood
+now, earnest and a little abashed, before the throne of the viceroy.
+Celticus was a swarthy, black-bearded little Iberian. Caradoc and Regnus
+were tall middle-aged men of the fair flaxen British type. All three
+were dressed in the draped yellow toga after the Latin fashion, instead
+of in the bracæ and tunic which distinguished their more insular
+fellow-countrymen.
+
+"Well?" asked the Governor.
+
+"We are here," said Celticus boldly, "as the spokesmen of a great number
+of our fellow-countrymen, for the purpose of sending our petition
+through you to the Emperor and to the Roman Senate, that we may urge
+upon them the policy of allowing us to govern this country after our
+own ancient fashion." He paused, as if awaiting some outburst as an
+answer to his own temerity; but the Governor merely nodded his head as a
+sign that he should proceed. "We had laws of our own before ever Cæsar
+set foot in Britain, which have served their purpose since first our
+forefathers came from the land of Ham. We are not a child among the
+nations, but our history goes back in our own traditions further even
+than that of Rome, and we are galled by this yoke which you have laid
+upon us."
+
+"Are not our laws just?" asked the Governor.
+
+"The code of Cæsar is just, but it is always the code of Cæsar. Our own
+laws were made for our own uses and our own circumstances, and we would
+fain have them again."
+
+"You speak Roman as if you had been bred in the Forum; you wear a Roman
+toga; your hair is filleted in Roman fashion--are not these the gifts of
+Rome?"
+
+"We would take all the learning and all the arts that Rome or Greece
+could give, but we would still be Britain, and ruled by Britons."
+
+The viceroy smiled. "By the rood of Saint Helena," said he, "had you
+spoken thus to some of my heathen ancestors, there would have been an
+end to your politics. That you have dared to stand before my face and
+say as much is a proof for ever of the gentleness of our rule. But I
+would reason with you for a moment upon this your request. You know well
+that this land has never been one kingdom, but was always under many
+chiefs and many tribes, who have made war upon each other. Would you in
+very truth have it so again?"
+
+"Those were in the evil pagan days, the days of the Druid and the
+oak-grove, your excellency. But now we are held together by a gospel of
+peace."
+
+The viceroy shook his head. "If all the world were of the same way of
+thinking, then it would be easier," said he. "It may be that this
+blessed doctrine of peace will be little help to you when you are face
+to face with strong men who still worship the god of war. What would you
+do against the Picts of the north?"
+
+"Your excellency knows that many of the bravest legionaries are of
+British blood. These are our defence."
+
+"But discipline, man, the power to command, the knowledge of war, the
+strength to act--it is in these things that you would fail. Too long
+have you leaned upon the crutch."
+
+"The times may be hard, but when we have gone through them, Britain will
+be herself again."
+
+"Nay, she will be under a different and a harsher master," said the
+Roman. "Already the pirates swarm upon the eastern coast. Were it not
+for our Roman Count of the Saxon shore they would land to-morrow. I see
+the day when Britain may, indeed, be one; but that will be because you
+and your fellows are either dead or are driven into the mountains of the
+west. All goes into the melting pot, and if a better Albion should come
+forth from it, it will be after ages of strife, and neither you nor your
+people will have part or lot in it."
+
+Regnus, the tall young Celt, smiled. "With the help of God and our own
+right arms we should hope for a better end," said he. "Give us but the
+chance, and we will bear the brunt."
+
+"You are as men that are lost," said the viceroy sadly. "I see this
+broad land, with its gardens and orchards, its fair villas and its
+walled towns, its bridges and its roads, all the work of Rome. Surely it
+will pass even as a dream, and these three hundred years of settled
+order will leave no trace behind. For learn that it will indeed be as
+you wish, and that this very day the orders have come to me that the
+legions are to go."
+
+The three Britons looked at each other in amazement. Their first impulse
+was towards a wild exultation, but reflection and doubt followed close
+upon its heels.
+
+"This is indeed wondrous news," said Celticus. "This is a day of days to
+the motherland. When do the legions go, your excellency, and what troops
+will remain behind for our protection?"
+
+"The legions go at once," said the viceroy. "You will doubtless rejoice
+to hear that within a month there will be no Roman soldier in the
+island, nor, indeed, a Roman of any sort, age, or sex, if I can take
+them with me."
+
+The faces of the Britons were shadowed, and Caradoc, a grave and
+thoughtful man, spoke for the first time.
+
+"But this is over sudden, your excellency," said he. "There is much
+truth in what you have said about the pirates. From my villa near the
+fort of Anderida I saw eighty of their galleys only last week, and I
+know well that they would be on us like ravens on a dying ox. For many
+years to come it would not be possible for us to hold them off."
+
+The viceroy shrugged his shoulders. "It is your affair now," said he.
+"Rome must look to herself."
+
+The last traces of joy had passed from the faces of the Britons.
+Suddenly the future had started up clearly before them, and they quailed
+at the prospect.
+
+"There is a rumour in the market-place," said Celticus, "that the
+northern Barbarians are through the gap in the wall. Who is to stop
+their progress?"
+
+"You and your fellows," said the Roman.
+
+Clearer still grew the future, and there was terror in the eyes of the
+spokesmen as they faced it.
+
+"But, your excellency, if the legions should go at once, we should have
+the wild Scots at York, and the Northmen in the Thames within the month.
+We can build ourselves up under your shield, and in a few years it would
+be easier for us; but not now, your excellency, not now."
+
+"Tut, man; for years you have been clamouring in our ears and raising
+the people. Now you have got what you asked. What more would you have?
+Within the month you will be as free as were your ancestors before Cæsar
+set foot upon your shore."
+
+"For God's sake, your excellency, put our words out of your head. The
+matter had not been well considered. We will send to Rome. We will ride
+post-haste ourselves. We will fall at the Emperor's feet. We will kneel
+before the Senate and beg that the legions remain."
+
+The Roman proconsul rose from his chair and motioned that the audience
+was at an end.
+
+"You will do what you please," said he. "I and my men are for Italy."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+And even as he said, so was it, for before the spring had ripened into
+summer, the troops were clanking down the via Aurelia on their way to
+the Ligurian passes, whilst every road in Gaul was dotted with the carts
+and the waggons which bore the Brito-Roman refugees on their weary
+journey to their distant country. But ere another summer had passed
+Celticus was dead, for he was flayed alive by the pirates and his skin
+nailed upon the door of a church near Caistor. Regnus, too, was dead,
+for he was tied to a tree and shot with arrows when the painted men came
+to the sacking of Isca. Caradoc only was alive, but he was a slave to
+Elda the red Caledonian and his wife was mistress to Mordred the wild
+chief of the western Cymri. From the ruined wall in the north to Vectis
+in the south blood and ruin and ashes covered the fair land of Britain.
+And after many days it came out fairer than ever, but, even as the Roman
+had said, neither the Britons nor any men of their blood came into the
+heritage of that which had been their own.
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+THE LAST GALLEY
+
+
+    "Mutato nomine, de te, Britannia, fabula narratur."
+
+It was a spring morning, one hundred and forty-six years before the
+coming of Christ. The North African coast, with its broad hem of golden
+sand, its green belt of feathery palm trees, and its background of
+barren, red-scarped hills, shimmered like a dream country in the opal
+light. Save for a narrow edge of snow-white surf, the Mediterranean lay
+blue and serene as far as the eye could reach. In all its vast expanse
+there was no break but for a single galley, which was slowly making its
+way from the direction of Sicily and heading for the distant harbour of
+Carthage.
+
+Seen from afar it was a stately and beautiful vessel, deep red in
+colour, double-banked with scarlet oars, its broad, flapping sail
+stained with Tyrian purple, its bulwarks gleaming with brass work. A
+brazen, three-pronged ram projected in front, and a high golden figure
+of Baal, the God of the Ph[oe]nicians, children of Canaan, shone upon
+the after-deck. From the single high mast above the huge sail streamed
+the tiger-striped flag of Carthage. So, like some stately scarlet bird,
+with golden beak and wings of purple, she swam upon the face of the
+waters--a thing of might and of beauty as seen from the distant shore.
+
+But approach and look at her now! What are these dark streaks which foul
+her white decks and dapple her brazen shields? Why do the long red oars
+move out of time, irregular, convulsive? Why are some missing from the
+staring portholes, some snapped with jagged, yellow edges, some trailing
+inert against the sides? Why are two prongs of the brazen ram twisted
+and broken? See, even the high image of Baal is battered and disfigured!
+By every sign this ship has passed through some grievous trial, some day
+of terror, which has left its heavy marks upon her.
+
+And now stand upon the deck itself, and see more closely the men who man
+her! There are two decks forward and aft, while in the open waist are
+the double banks of seats, above and below, where the rowers, two to an
+oar, tug and bend at their endless task. Down the centre is a narrow
+platform, along which pace a line of warders, lash in hand, who cut
+cruelly at the slave who pauses, be it only for an instant, to sweep the
+sweat from his dripping brow. But these slaves--look at them! Some are
+captured Romans, some Sicilians, many black Libyans, but all are in the
+last exhaustion, their weary eyelids drooped over their eyes, their lips
+thick with black crusts, and pink with bloody froth, their arms and
+backs moving mechanically to the hoarse chant of the overseer. Their
+bodies of all tints from ivory to jet, are stripped to the waist, and
+every glistening back shows the angry stripes of the warders. But it is
+not from these that the blood comes which reddens the seats and tints
+the salt water washing beneath their manacled feet. Great gaping wounds,
+the marks of sword slash and spear stab, show crimson upon their naked
+chests and shoulders, while many lie huddled and senseless athwart the
+benches, careless for ever of the whips which still hiss above them. Now
+we can understand those empty portholes and those trailing oars.
+
+Nor were the crew in better case than their slaves. The decks were
+littered with wounded and dying men. It was but a remnant who still
+remained upon their feet. The most lay exhausted upon the fore-deck,
+while a few of the more zealous were mending their shattered armour,
+restringing their bows, or cleaning the deck from the marks of combat.
+Upon a raised platform at the base of the mast stood the sailing-master
+who conned the ship, his eyes fixed upon the distant point of Megara
+which screened the eastern side of the Bay of Carthage. On the
+after-deck were gathered a number of officers, silent and brooding,
+glancing from time to time at two of their own class who stood apart
+deep in conversation. The one, tall, dark, and wiry, with pure, Semitic
+features, and the limbs of a giant, was Magro, the famous Carthaginian
+captain, whose name was still a terror on every shore, from Gaul to the
+Euxine. The other, a white-bearded, swarthy man, with indomitable
+courage and energy stamped upon every eager line of his keen, aquiline
+face, was Gisco the politician, a man of the highest Punic blood, a
+Suffete of the purple robe, and the leader of that party in the state
+which had watched and striven amid the selfishness and slothfulness of
+his fellow-countrymen to rouse the public spirit and waken the public
+conscience to the ever-increasing danger from Rome. As they talked, the
+two men glanced continually, with earnest anxious faces, towards the
+northern skyline.
+
+"It is certain," said the older man, with gloom in his voice and
+bearing, "none have escaped save ourselves."
+
+"I did not leave the press of the battle whilst I saw one ship which I
+could succour," Magro answered. "As it was, we came away, as you saw,
+like a wolf which has a hound hanging on to either haunch. The Roman
+dogs can show the wolf-bites which prove it. Had any other galley won
+clear, they would surely be with us by now, since they have no place of
+safety save Carthage."
+
+The younger warrior glanced keenly ahead to the distant point which
+marked his native city. Already the low, leafy hill could be seen,
+dotted with the white villas of the wealthy Ph[oe]nician merchants.
+Above them, a gleaming dot against the pale blue morning sky, shone the
+brazen roof of the citadel of Byrsa, which capped the sloping town.
+
+"Already they can see us from the watch-towers," he remarked. "Even from
+afar they may know the galley of Black Magro. But which of all of them
+will guess that we alone remain of all that goodly fleet which sailed
+out with blare of trumpet and roll of drum but one short month ago?"
+
+The patrician smiled bitterly. "If it were not for our great ancestors
+and for our beloved country, the Queen of the Waters," said he, "I could
+find it in my heart to be glad at this destruction which has come upon
+this vain and feeble generation. You have spent your life upon the seas,
+Magro. You do not know how it has been with us on the land. But I have
+seen this canker grow upon us which now leads us to our death. I and
+others have gone down into the market-place to plead with the people,
+and been pelted with mud for our pains. Many a time have I pointed to
+Rome, and said, 'Behold these people, who bear arms themselves, each man
+for his own duty and pride. How can you who hide behind mercenaries hope
+to stand against them?'--a hundred times I have said it."
+
+"And had they no answer?" asked the Rover.
+
+"Rome was far off and they could not see it, so to them it was nothing,"
+the old man answered. "Some thought of trade, and some of votes, and
+some of profits from the State, but none would see that the State
+itself, the mother of all things, was sinking to her end. So might the
+bees debate who should have wax or honey when the torch was blazing
+which would bring to ashes the hive and all therein. 'Are we not rulers
+of the sea?' 'Was not Hannibal a great man?' Such were their cries,
+living ever in the past and blind to the future. Before that sun sets
+there will be tearing of hair and rending of garments; but what will
+that now avail us?"
+
+"It is some sad comfort," said Magro, "to know that what Rome holds she
+cannot keep."
+
+"Why say you that? When we go down, she is supreme in all the world."
+
+"For a time, and only for a time," Magro answered gravely. "Yet you will
+smile, perchance, when I tell you how it is that I know it. There was a
+wise woman who lived in that part of the Tin Islands which juts forth
+into the sea, and from her lips I have heard many things, but not one
+which has not come aright. Of the fall of our own country, and even of
+this battle, from which we now return, she told me clearly. There is
+much strange lore amongst these savage peoples in the west of the land
+of Tin."
+
+"What said she of Rome?"
+
+"That she also would fall, even as we, weakened by her riches and her
+factions."
+
+Gisco rubbed his hands. "That at least makes our own fall less bitter,"
+said he. "But since we have fallen, and Rome will fall, who in turn may
+hope to be Queen of the Waters?"
+
+"That also I asked her," said Magro, "and gave her my Tyrian belt with
+the golden buckle as a guerdon for her answer. But, indeed, it was too
+high payment for the tale she told, which must be false if all else she
+said was true. She would have it that in coming days it was her own
+land, this fog-girt isle where painted savages can scarce row a wicker
+coracle from point to point, which shall at last take the trident which
+Carthage and Rome have dropped."
+
+The smile which flickered upon the old Patrician's keen features died
+away suddenly, and his fingers closed upon his companion's wrist. The
+other had set rigid, his head advanced, his hawk eyes upon the northern
+skyline. Its straight, blue horizon was broken by two low black dots.
+
+"Galleys!" whispered Gisco.
+
+The whole crew had seen them. They clustered along the starboard
+bulwarks, pointing and chattering. For a moment the gloom of defeat was
+lifted, and a buzz of joy ran from group to group at the thought that
+they were not alone--that some one had escaped the great carnage as well
+as themselves.
+
+"By the spirit of Baal," said Black Magro, "I could not have believed
+that any could have fought clear from such a welter. Could it be young
+Hamilcar in the _Africa_, or is it Beneva in the Blue Syrian ship? We
+three with others may form a squadron and make head against them yet. If
+we hold our course, they will join us ere we round the harbour mole."
+
+Slowly the injured galley toiled on her way, and more swiftly the two
+new-comers swept down from the north. Only a few miles off lay the green
+point and the white houses which flanked the great African city.
+Already, upon the headland, could be seen a dark group of waiting
+townsmen. Gisco and Magro were still watching with puckered gaze the
+approaching galleys, when the brown Libyan boatswain, with flashing
+teeth and gleaming eyes, rushed upon the poop, his long thin arm
+stabbing to the north.
+
+"Romans!" he cried. "Romans!"
+
+A hush had fallen over the great vessel. Only the wash of the water and
+the measured rattle and beat of the oars broke in upon the silence.
+
+"By the horns of God's altar, I believe the fellow is right!" cried old
+Gisco. "See how they swoop upon us like falcons. They are full-manned
+and full-oared."
+
+"Plain wood, unpainted," said Magro. "See how it gleams yellow where the
+sun strikes it."
+
+"And yonder thing beneath the mast. Is it not the cursed bridge they use
+for boarding?"
+
+"So they grudge us even one," said Magro with a bitter laugh. "Not even
+one galley shall return to the old sea-mother. Well, for my part, I
+would as soon have it so. I am of a mind to stop the oars and await
+them."
+
+"It is a man's thought," answered old Gisco; "but the city will need us
+in the days to come. What shall it profit us to make the Roman victory
+complete? Nay, Magro, let the slaves row as they never rowed before, not
+for our own safety, but for the profit of the State."
+
+So the great red ship laboured and lurched onwards, like a weary panting
+stag which seeks shelter from his pursuers, while ever swifter and ever
+nearer sped the two lean fierce galleys from the north. Already the
+morning sun shone upon the lines of low Roman helmets above the
+bulwarks, and glistened on the silver wave where each sharp prow shot
+through the still blue water. Every moment the ships drew nearer, and
+the long thin scream of the Roman trumpets grew louder upon the ear.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Upon the high bluff of Megara there stood a great concourse of the
+people of Carthage who had hurried forth from the city upon the news
+that the galleys were in sight. They stood now, rich and poor, effete
+and plebeian, white Ph[oe]nician and dark Kabyle, gazing with breathless
+interest at the spectacle before them. Some hundreds of feet beneath
+them the Punic galley had drawn so close that with their naked eyes
+they could see those stains of battle which told their dismal tale. The
+Romans, too, were heading in such a way that it was before their very
+faces that their ship was about to be cut off; and yet of all this
+multitude not one could raise a hand in its defence. Some wept in
+impotent grief, some cursed with flashing eyes and knotted fists, some
+on their knees held up appealing hands to Baal; but neither prayer,
+tears, nor curses could undo the past nor mend the present. That broken,
+crawling galley meant that their fleet was gone. Those two fierce
+darting ships meant that the hands of Rome were already at their throat.
+Behind them would come others and others, the innumerable trained hosts
+of the great Republic, long mistress of the land, now dominant also upon
+the waters. In a month, two months, three at the most, their armies
+would be there, and what could all the untrained multitudes of Carthage
+do to stop them?
+
+"Nay!" cried one, more hopeful than the rest, "at least we are brave men
+with arms in our hands."
+
+"Fool!" said another, "is it not such talk which has brought us to our
+ruin? What is the brave man untrained to the brave man trained? When
+you stand before the sweep and rush of a Roman legion you may learn the
+difference."
+
+"Then let us train!"
+
+"Too late! A full year is needful to turn a man to a soldier. Where will
+you--where will your city be within the year? Nay, there is but one
+chance for us. If we give up our commerce and our colonies, if we strip
+ourselves of all that made us great, then perchance the Roman conqueror
+may hold his hand."
+
+And already the last sea-fight of Carthage was coming swiftly to an end
+before them. Under their very eyes the two Roman galleys had shot in,
+one on either side of the vessel of Black Magro. They had grappled with
+him, and he, desperate in his despair, had cast the crooked flukes of
+his anchors over their gunwales, and bound them to him in an iron grip,
+whilst with hammer and crowbar he burst great holes in his own
+sheathing. The last Punic galley should never be rowed into Ostia, a
+sight for the holiday-makers of Rome. She would lie in her own waters.
+And the fierce, dark soul of her rover captain glowed as he thought
+that not alone should she sink into the depths of the mother sea.
+
+Too late did the Romans understand the man with whom they had to deal.
+Their boarders who had flooded the Punic decks felt the planking sink
+and sway beneath them. They rushed to gain their own vessels; but they,
+too, were being drawn downwards, held in the dying grip of the great red
+galley. Over they went and ever over. Now the deck of Magro's ship is
+flush with the water, and the Romans', drawn towards it by the iron
+bonds which hold them, are tilted downwards, one bulwark upon the waves,
+one reared high in the air. Madly they strain to cast off the death-grip
+of the galley. She is under the surface now, and ever swifter, with the
+greater weight, the Roman ships heel after her. There is a rending
+crash. The wooden side is torn out of one, and mutilated, dismembered,
+she rights herself, and lies a helpless thing upon the water. But a last
+yellow gleam in the blue water shows where her consort has been dragged
+to her end in the iron death-grapple of her foeman. The tiger-striped
+flag of Carthage has sunk beneath the swirling surface, never more to
+be seen upon the face of the sea.
+
+For in that year a great cloud hung for seventeen days over the African
+coast, a deep black cloud which was the dark shroud of the burning city.
+And when the seventeen days were over, Roman ploughs were driven from
+end to end of the charred ashes, and salt was scattered there as a sign
+that Carthage should be no more. And far off a huddle of naked, starving
+folk stood upon the distant mountains, and looked down upon the desolate
+plain which had once been the fairest and richest upon earth. And they
+understood too late that it is the law of heaven that the world is given
+to the hardy and to the self-denying, whilst he who would escape the
+duties of manhood will soon be stripped of the pride, the wealth, and
+the power, which are the prizes which manhood brings.
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+THROUGH THE VEIL
+
+
+He was a great shock-headed, freckle-faced Borderer, the lineal
+descendant of a cattle-thieving clan in Liddesdale. In spite of his
+ancestry he was as solid and sober a citizen as one would wish to see, a
+town councillor of Melrose, an elder of the Church, and the chairman of
+the local branch of the Young Men's Christian Association. Brown was his
+name--and you saw it printed up as "Brown and Handiside" over the great
+grocery stores in the High Street. His wife, Maggie Brown, was an
+Armstrong before her marriage, and came from an old farming stock in the
+wilds of Teviothead. She was small, swarthy, and dark-eyed, with a
+strangely nervous temperament for a Scotch woman. No greater contrast
+could be found than the big tawny man and the dark little woman, but
+both were of the soil as far back as any memory could extend.
+
+One day--it was the first anniversary of their wedding--they had driven
+over together to see the excavations of the Roman Fort at Newstead. It
+was not a particularly picturesque spot. From the northern bank of the
+Tweed, just where the river forms a loop, there extends a gentle slope
+of arable land. Across it run the trenches of the excavators, with here
+and there an exposure of old stonework to show the foundations of the
+ancient walls. It had been a huge place, for the camp was fifty acres in
+extent, and the fort fifteen. However, it was all made easy for them
+since Mr. Brown knew the farmer to whom the land belonged. Under his
+guidance they spent a long summer evening inspecting the trenches, the
+pits, the ramparts, and all the strange variety of objects which were
+waiting to be transported to the Edinburgh Museum of Antiquities. The
+buckle of a woman's belt had been dug up that very day, and the farmer
+was discoursing upon it when his eyes fell upon Mrs. Brown's face.
+
+"Your good leddy's tired," said he. "Maybe you'd best rest a wee before
+we gang further."
+
+Brown looked at his wife. She was certainly very pale, and her dark eyes
+were bright and wild.
+
+"What is it, Maggie? I've wearied you. I'm thinkin' it's time we went
+back."
+
+"No, no, John, let us go on. It's wonderful! It's like a dreamland
+place. It all seems so close and so near to me. How long were the Romans
+here, Mr. Cunningham?"
+
+"A fair time, mam. If you saw the kitchen midden-pits you would guess it
+took a long time to fill them."
+
+"And why did they leave?"
+
+"Well, mam, by all accounts they left because they had to. The folk
+round could thole them no longer, so they just up and burned the fort
+aboot their lugs. You can see the fire marks on the stanes."
+
+The woman gave a quick little shudder. "A wild night--a fearsome night,"
+said she. "The sky must have been red that night--and these grey stones,
+they may have been red also."
+
+"Aye, I think they were red," said her husband. "It's a queer thing,
+Maggie, and it may be your words that have done it; but I seem to see
+that business aboot as clear as ever I saw anything in my life. The
+light shone on the water."
+
+"Aye, the light shone on the water. And the smoke gripped you by the
+throat. And all the savages were yelling."
+
+The old farmer began to laugh. "The leddy will be writin' a story aboot
+the old fort," said he. "I've shown many a one ower it, but I never
+heard it put so clear afore. Some folk have the gift."
+
+They had strolled along the edge of the foss, and a pit yawned upon the
+right of them.
+
+"That pit was fourteen foot deep," said the farmer. "What d'ye think we
+dug oot from the bottom o't? Weel, it was just the skeleton of a man wi'
+a spear by his side. I'm thinkin' he was grippin' it when he died. Now,
+how cam' a man wi' a spear doon a hole fourteen foot deep. He wasna'
+buried there, for they aye burned their dead. What make ye o' that,
+mam?"
+
+"He sprang doon to get clear of the savages," said the woman.
+
+"Weel, it's likely enough, and a' the professors from Edinburgh couldna'
+gie a better reason. I wish you were aye here, mam, to answer a' oor
+deeficulties sae readily. Now, here's the altar that we foond last week.
+There's an inscreeption. They tell me it's Latin, and it means that the
+men o' this fort give thanks to God for their safety."
+
+They examined the old worn stone. There was a large deeply-cut "VV" upon
+the top of it.
+
+"What does 'VV' stand for?" asked Brown.
+
+"Naebody kens," the guide answered.
+
+"_Valeria Victrix_," said the lady softly. Her face was paler than ever,
+her eyes far away, as one who peers down the dim aisles of overarching
+centuries.
+
+"What's that?" asked her husband sharply.
+
+She started as one who wakes from sleep. "What were we talking about?"
+she asked.
+
+"About this 'VV' upon the stone."
+
+"No doubt it was just the name of the Legion which put the altar up."
+
+"Aye, but you gave some special name."
+
+"Did I? How absurd! How should I ken what the name was?"
+
+"You said something--'_Victrix_,' I think."
+
+"I suppose I was guessing. It gives me the queerest feeling, this place,
+as if I were not myself, but some one else."
+
+"Aye, it's an uncanny place," said her husband, looking round with an
+expression almost of fear in his bold grey eyes. "I feel it mysel'. I
+think we'll just be wishin' you good evenin', Mr. Cunningham, and get
+back to Melrose before the dark sets in."
+
+Neither of them could shake off the strange impression which had been
+left upon them by their visit to the excavations. It was as if some
+miasma had risen from those damp trenches and passed into their blood.
+All the evening they were silent and thoughtful, but such remarks as
+they did make showed that the same subject was in the mind of each.
+Brown had a restless night, in which he dreamed a strange connected
+dream, so vivid that he woke sweating and shivering like a frightened
+horse. He tried to convey it all to his wife as they sat together at
+breakfast in the morning.
+
+"It was the clearest thing, Maggie," said he. "Nothing that has ever
+come to me in my waking life has been more clear than that. I feel as if
+these hands were sticky with blood."
+
+"Tell me of it--tell me slow," said she.
+
+"When it began, I was oot on a braeside. I was laying flat on the
+ground. It was rough, and there were clumps of heather. All round me was
+just darkness, but I could hear the rustle and the breathin' of men.
+There seemed a great multitude on every side of me, but I could see no
+one. There was a low chink of steel sometimes, and then a number of
+voices would whisper 'Hush!' I had a ragged club in my hand, and it had
+spikes o' iron near the end of it. My heart was beatin' quickly, and I
+felt that a moment of great danger and excitement was at hand. Once I
+dropped my club, and again from all round me the voices in the darkness
+cried, 'Hush!' I put oot my hand, and it touched the foot of another man
+lying in front of me. There was some one at my very elbow on either
+side. But they said nothin'.
+
+"Then we all began to move. The whole braeside seemed to be crawlin'
+downwards. There was a river at the bottom and a high-arched wooden
+bridge. Beyond the bridge were many lights--torches on a wall. The
+creepin' men all flowed towards the bridge. There had been no sound of
+any kind, just a velvet stillness. And then there was a cry in the
+darkness, the cry of a man who had been stabbed suddenly to the hairt.
+That one cry swelled out for a moment, and then the roar of a thoosand
+furious voices. I was runnin'. Every one was runnin'. A bright red
+light shone out, and the river was a scarlet streak. I could see my
+companions now. They were more like devils than men, wild figures clad
+in skins, with their hair and beards streamin'. They were all mad with
+rage, jumpin' as they ran, their mouths open, their arms wavin', the red
+light beatin' on their faces. I ran, too, and yelled out curses like the
+rest. Then I heard a great cracklin' of wood, and I knew that the
+palisades were doon. There was a loud whistlin' in my ears, and I was
+aware that arrows were flyin' past me. I got to the bottom of a dyke,
+and I saw a hand stretched doon from above. I took it, and was dragged
+to the top. We looked doon, and there were silver men beneath us holdin'
+up their spears. Some of our folk sprang on to the spears. Then we
+others followed, and we killed the soldiers before they could draw the
+spears oot again. They shouted loud in some foreign tongue, but no mercy
+was shown them. We went ower them like a wave, and trampled them doon
+into the mud, for they were few, and there was no end to our numbers.
+
+"I found myself among buildings, and one of them was on fire. I saw the
+flames spoutin' through the roof. I ran on, and then I was alone among
+the buildings. Some one ran across in front o' me. It was a woman. I
+caught her by the arm, and I took her chin and turned her face so as the
+light of the fire would strike it. Whom think you that it was, Maggie?"
+
+His wife moistened her dry lips. "It was I," she said.
+
+He looked at her in surprise. "That's a good guess," said he. "Yes, it
+was just you. Not merely like you, you understand. It was you--you
+yourself. I saw the same soul in your frightened eyes. You looked white
+and bonnie and wonderful in the firelight. I had just one thought in my
+head--to get you awa' with me; to keep you all to mysel' in my own home
+somewhere beyond the hills. You clawed at my face with your nails. I
+heaved you over my shoulder, and I tried to find a way oot of the light
+of the burning hoose and back into the darkness.
+
+"Then came the thing that I mind best of all. You're ill, Maggie. Shall
+I stop? My God! you have the very look on your face that you had last
+night in my dream. You screamed. He came runnin' in the firelight. His
+head was bare; his hair was black and curled; he had a naked sword in
+his hand, short and broad, little more than a dagger. He stabbed at me,
+but he tripped and fell. I held you with one hand, and with the
+other----"
+
+His wife had sprung to her feet with writhing features.
+
+"Marcus!" she cried. "My beautiful Marcus! Oh, you brute! you brute! you
+brute!" There was a clatter of tea-cups as she fell forward senseless
+upon the table.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+They never talk about that strange isolated incident in their married
+life. For an instant the curtain of the past had swung aside, and some
+strange glimpse of a forgotten life had come to them. But it closed
+down, never to open again. They live their narrow round--he in his shop,
+she in her household--and yet new and wider horizons have vaguely formed
+themselves around them since that summer evening by the crumbling Roman
+fort.
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+THE COMING OF THE HUNS
+
+
+In the middle of the fourth century the state of the Christian religion
+was a scandal and a disgrace. Patient, humble, and long-suffering in
+adversity, it had become positive, aggressive, and unreasonable with
+success. Paganism was not yet dead, but it was rapidly sinking, finding
+its most faithful supporters among the conservative aristocrats of the
+best families on the one hand, and among those benighted villagers on
+the other who gave their name to the expiring creed. Between these two
+extremes the great majority of reasonable men had turned from the
+conception of many gods to that of one, and had rejected for ever the
+beliefs of their forefathers. But with the vices of polytheism, they had
+also abandoned its virtues, among which toleration and religious good
+humour had been conspicuous. The strenuous earnestness of the Christians
+had compelled them to examine and define every point of their own
+theology; but as they had no central authority by which such definitions
+could be checked, it was not long before a hundred heresies had put
+forward their rival views, while the same earnestness of conviction led
+the stronger bands of schismatics to endeavour, for conscience sake, to
+force their views upon the weaker, and thus to cover the Eastern world
+with confusion and strife.
+
+Alexandria, Antioch, and Constantinople were centres of theological
+warfare. The whole north of Africa, too, was rent by the strife of the
+Donatists, who upheld their particular schism by iron flails and the
+war-cry of "Praise to the Lord!" But minor local controversies sank to
+nothing when compared with the huge argument of the Catholic and the
+Arian, which rent every village in twain, and divided every household
+from the cottage to the palace. The rival doctrines of the Homoousian
+and of the Homoiousian, containing metaphysical differences so
+attenuated that they could hardly be stated, turned bishop against
+bishop and congregation against congregation. The ink of the theologians
+and the blood of the fanatics were spilled in floods on either side,
+and gentle followers of Christ were horrified to find that their faith
+was responsible for such a state of riot and bloodshed as had never yet
+disgraced the religious history of the world. Many of the more earnest
+among them, shocked and scandalised, slipped away to the Libyan Desert,
+or to the solitude of Pontus, there to await in self-denial and prayer
+that second coming which was supposed to be at hand. Even in the deserts
+they could not escape the echo of the distant strife, and the hermits
+themselves scowled fiercely from their dens at passing travellers who
+might be contaminated by the doctrines of Athanasius or of Arius.
+
+Such a hermit was Simon Melas, of whom I write. A Trinitarian and a
+Catholic, he was shocked by the excesses of the persecution of the
+Arians, which could be only matched by the similar outrages with which
+these same Arians in the day of their power avenged their treatment on
+their brother Christians. Weary of the whole strife, and convinced that
+the end of the world was indeed at hand, he left his home in
+Constantinople and travelled as far as the Gothic settlements in Dacia,
+beyond the Danube, in search of some spot where he might be free from
+the never-ending disputes. Still journeying to the north and east, he
+crossed the river which we now call the Dniester, and there, finding a
+rocky hill rising from an immense plain, he formed a cell near its
+summit, and settled himself down to end his life in self-denial and
+meditation. There were fish in the stream, the country teemed with game,
+and there was an abundance of wild fruits, so that his spiritual
+exercises were not unduly interrupted by the search of sustenance for
+his mortal frame.
+
+In this distant retreat he expected to find absolute solitude, but the
+hope was in vain. Within a week of his arrival, in an hour of worldly
+curiosity, he explored the edges of the high rocky hill upon which he
+lived. Making his way up to a cleft, which was hung with olives and
+myrtles, he came upon a cave in the opening of which sat an aged man,
+white-bearded, white-haired, and infirm--a hermit like himself. So long
+had this stranger been alone that he had almost forgotten the use of his
+tongue; but at last, words coming more freely, he was able to convey the
+information that his name was Paul of Nicopolis, that he was a Greek
+citizen, and that he also had come out into the desert for the saving of
+his soul, and to escape from the contamination of heresy.
+
+"Little I thought, brother Simon," said he, "that I should ever find any
+one else who had come so far upon the same holy errand. In all these
+years, and they are so many that I have lost count of them, I have never
+seen a man, save indeed one or two wandering shepherds far out upon
+yonder plain."
+
+From where they sat, the huge steppe, covered with waving grass and
+gleaming with a vivid green in the sun, stretched away as level and as
+unbroken as the sea, to the eastern horizon. Simon Melas stared across
+it with curiosity.
+
+"Tell me, brother Paul," said he, "you who have lived here so long--what
+lies at the further side of that plain?"
+
+The old man shook his head. "There is no further side to the plain,"
+said he. "It is the earth's boundary, and stretches away to eternity.
+For all these years I have sat beside it, but never once have I seen
+anything come across it. It is manifest that if there had been a
+further side there would certainly at some time have come some traveller
+from that direction. Over the great river yonder is the Roman post of
+Tyras; but that is a long day's journey from here, and they have never
+disturbed my meditations."
+
+"On what do you meditate, brother Paul?"
+
+"At first I meditated on many sacred mysteries; but now, for twenty
+years, I have brooded continually on the nature of the Logos. What is
+your view upon that vital matter, brother Simon?"
+
+"Surely," said the younger man, "there can be no question as to that.
+The Logos is assuredly but a name used by St. John to signify the
+Deity."
+
+The old hermit gave a hoarse cry of fury, and his brown, withered face
+was convulsed with anger. Seizing the huge cudgel which he kept to beat
+off the wolves, he shook it murderously at his companion.
+
+"Out with you! Out of my cell!" he cried. "Have I lived here so long to
+have it polluted by a vile Trinitarian--a follower of the rascal
+Athanasius? Wretched idolater, learn once for all, that the Logos is in
+truth an emanation from the Deity, and in no sense equal or co-eternal
+with Him! Out with you, I say, or I will dash out your brains with my
+staff!"
+
+It was useless to reason with the furious Arian, and Simon withdrew in
+sadness and wonder, that at this extreme verge of the known earth the
+spirit of religious strife should still break upon the peaceful solitude
+of the wilderness. With hanging head and heavy heart he made his way
+down the valley, and climbed up once more to his own cell, which lay at
+the crown of the hill, with the intention of never again exchanging
+visits with his Arian neighbour.
+
+Here, for a year, dwelt Simon Melas, leading a life of solitude and
+prayer. There was no reason why any one should ever come to this
+outermost point of human habitation. Once a young Roman officer--Caius
+Crassus--rode out a day's journey from Tyras, and climbed the hill to
+have speech with the anchorite. He was of an equestrian family, and
+still held his belief in the old dispensation. He looked with interest
+and surprise, but also with some disgust, at the ascetic arrangements
+of that humble abode.
+
+"Whom do you please by living in such a fashion?" he asked.
+
+"We show that our spirit is superior to our flesh," Simon answered. "If
+we fare badly in this world, we believe that we shall reap an advantage
+in the world to come."
+
+The centurion shrugged his shoulders. "There are philosophers among our
+people, Stoics and others, who have the same idea. When I was in the
+Herulian Cohort of the Fourth Legion we were quartered in Rome itself,
+and I saw much of the Christians, but I could never learn anything from
+them which I had not heard from my own father, whom you, in your
+arrogance, would call a Pagan. It is true that we talk of numerous gods;
+but for many years we have not taken them very seriously. Our thoughts
+upon virtue and duty and a noble life are the same as your own."
+
+Simon Melas shook his head.
+
+"If you have not the holy books," said he, "then what guide have you to
+direct your steps?"
+
+"If you will read our philosophers, and above all the divine Plato, you
+will find that there are other guides who may take you to the same end.
+Have you by chance read the book which was written by our Emperor Marcus
+Aurelius? Do you not discover there every virtue which man could have,
+although he knew nothing of your creed? Have you considered, also, the
+words and actions of our late Emperor Julian, with whom I served my
+first campaign when he went out against the Persians? Where could you
+find a more perfect man than he?"
+
+"Such talk is unprofitable, and I will have no more of it," said Simon
+sternly. "Take heed while there is time, and embrace the true faith; for
+the end of the world is at hand, and when it comes there will be no
+mercy for those who have shut their eyes to the light." So saying, he
+turned back once more to his praying-stool and to his crucifix, while
+the young Roman walked in deep thought down the hill, and mounting his
+horse, rode off to his distant post. Simon watched him until his brazen
+helmet was but a bead of light on the western edge of the great plain;
+for this was the first human face that he had seen in all this long
+year, and there were times when his heart yearned for the voices and the
+faces of his kind.
+
+So another year passed, and save for the change of weather and the slow
+change of the seasons, one day was as another. Every morning when Simon
+opened his eyes, he saw the same grey line ripening into red in the
+furthest east, until the bright rim pushed itself above that far-off
+horizon across which no living creature had ever been known to come.
+Slowly the sun swept across the huge arch of the heavens, and as the
+shadows shifted from the black rocks which jutted upward from above his
+cell, so did the hermit regulate his terms of prayer and meditation.
+There was nothing on earth to draw his eye, or to distract his mind, for
+the grassy plain below was as void from month to month as the heaven
+above. So the long hours passed, until the red rim slipped down on the
+further side, and the day ended in the same pearl-grey shimmer with
+which it had begun. Once two ravens circled for some days round the
+lonely hill, and once a white fish-eagle came from the Dniester and
+screamed above the hermit's head. Sometimes red dots were seen on the
+green plain where the antelopes grazed, and often a wolf howled in the
+darkness from the base of the rocks. Such was the uneventful life of
+Simon Melas the anchorite, until there came the day of wrath.
+
+It was in the late spring of the year 375 that Simon came out from his
+cell, his gourd in his hand, to draw water from the spring. Darkness had
+closed in, the sun had set, but one last glimmer of rosy light rested
+upon a rocky peak, which jutted forth from the hill, on the further side
+from the hermit's dwelling. As Simon came forth from under his ledge,
+the gourd dropped from his hand, and he stood gazing in amazement.
+
+On the opposite peak a man was standing, his outline black in the fading
+light. He was a strange, almost a deformed figure, short-statured,
+round-backed, with a large head, no neck, and a long rod jutting out
+from between his shoulders. He stood with his face advanced, and his
+body bent, peering very intently over the plain to the westward. In a
+moment he was gone, and the lonely black peak showed up hard and naked
+against the faint eastern glimmer. Then the night closed down, and all
+was black once more.
+
+Simon Melas stood long in bewilderment, wondering who this stranger
+could be. He had heard, as had every Christian, of those evil spirits
+which were wont to haunt the hermits in the Thebaid and on the skirts of
+the Ethiopian waste. The strange shape of this solitary creature, its
+dark outline and prowling, intent attitude, suggestive rather of a
+fierce, rapacious beast than of a man, all helped him to believe that he
+had at last encountered one of those wanderers from the pit, of whose
+existence, in those days of robust faith, he had no more doubt than of
+his own. Much of the night he spent in prayer, his eyes glancing
+continually at the low arch of his cell door, with its curtain of deep
+purple wrought with stars. At any instant some crouching monster, some
+horned abomination, might peer in upon him, and he clung with frenzied
+appeal to his crucifix, as his human weakness quailed at the thought.
+But at last his fatigue overcame his fears, and falling upon his couch
+of dried grass, he slept until the bright daylight brought him to his
+senses.
+
+It was later than was his wont, and the sun was far above the horizon.
+As he came forth from his cell, he looked across at the peak of rock,
+but it stood there bare and silent. Already it seemed to him that that
+strange dark figure which had startled him so was some dream, some
+vision of the twilight. His gourd lay where it had fallen, and he picked
+it up with the intention of going to the spring. But suddenly he was
+aware of something new. The whole air was throbbing with sound. From all
+sides it came, rumbling, indefinite, an inarticulate mutter, low, but
+thick and strong, rising, falling, reverberating among the rocks, dying
+away into vague whispers, but always there. He looked round at the blue,
+cloudless sky in bewilderment. Then he scrambled up the rocky pinnacle
+above him, and sheltering himself in its shadow, he stared out over the
+plain. In his wildest dream he had never imagined such a sight.
+
+The whole vast expanse was covered with horsemen, hundreds and thousands
+and tens of thousands, all riding slowly and in silence, out of the
+unknown east. It was the multitudinous beat of their horses' hoofs
+which caused that low throbbing in his ears. Some were so close to him
+as he looked down upon them that he could see clearly their thin, wiry
+horses, and the strange humped figures of their swarthy riders, sitting
+forward on the withers, shapeless bundles, their short legs hanging
+stirrupless, their bodies balanced as firmly as though they were part of
+the beast. In those nearest he could see the bow and the quiver, the
+long spear and the short sword, with the coiled lasso behind the rider,
+which told that this was no helpless horde of wanderers, but a
+formidable army upon the march. His eyes passed on from them and swept
+further and further, but still to the very horizon, which quivered with
+movement, there was no end to this monstrous cavalry. Already the
+vanguard was far past the island of rock upon which he dwelt, and he
+could now understand that in front of this vanguard were single scouts
+who guided the course of the army, and that it was one of these whom he
+had seen the evening before.
+
+All day, held spell-bound by this wonderful sight, the hermit crouched
+in the shadow of the rocks, and all day the sea of horsemen rolled
+onward over the plain beneath. Simon had seen the swarming quays of
+Alexandria, he had watched the mob which blocked the hippodrome of
+Constantinople, yet never had he imagined such a multitude as now
+defiled beneath his eyes, coming from that eastern skyline which had
+been the end of his world. Sometimes the dense streams of horsemen were
+broken by droves of brood-mares and foals, driven along by mounted
+guards; sometimes there were herds of cattle; sometimes there were lines
+of waggons with skin canopies above them; but then once more, after
+every break, came the horsemen, the horsemen, the hundreds and the
+thousands and the tens of thousands, slowly, ceaselessly, silently
+drifting from the east to the west. The long day passed, the light
+waned, and the shadows fell, but still the great broad stream was
+flowing by.
+
+But the night brought a new and even stranger sight. Simon had marked
+bundles of faggots upon the backs of many of the led horses, and now he
+saw their use. All over the great plain, red pin-points gleamed through
+the darkness, which grew and brightened into flickering columns of
+flame. So far as he could see both to east and west the fires extended,
+until they were but points of light in the furthest distance. White
+stars shone in the vast heavens above, red ones in the great plain
+below. And from every side rose the low, confused murmur of voices, with
+the lowing of oxen and the neighing of horses.
+
+Simon had been a soldier and a man of affairs before ever he forsook the
+world, and the meaning of all that he had seen was clear to him. History
+told him how the Roman world had ever been assailed by fresh swarms of
+Barbarians, coming from the outer darkness, and that the eastern Empire
+had already, in its fifty years of existence since Constantine had moved
+the capital of the world to the shores of the Bosphorus, been tormented
+in the same way. Gepidæ and Heruli, Ostrogoths and Sarmatians, he was
+familiar with them all. What the advanced sentinel of Europe had seen
+from this lonely outlying hill, was a fresh swarm breaking in upon the
+Empire, distinguished only from the others by its enormous, incredible
+size and by the strange aspect of the warriors who composed it. He alone
+of all civilised men knew of the approach of this dreadful shadow,
+sweeping like a heavy storm cloud from the unknown depths of the east.
+He thought of the little Roman posts along the Dniester, of the ruined
+Dacian wall of Trajan behind them, and then of the scattered,
+defenceless villages which lay with no thought of danger over all the
+open country which stretched down to the Danube. Could he but give them
+the alarm! Was it not, perhaps, for that very end that God had guided
+him to the wilderness?
+
+Then suddenly he remembered his Arian neighbour, who dwelt in the cave
+beneath him. Once or twice during the last year he had caught a glimpse
+of his tall, bent figure hobbling round to examine the traps which he
+laid for quails and partridges. On one occasion they had met at the
+brook; but the old theologian waved him away as if he were a leper. What
+did he think now of this strange happening? Surely their differences
+might be forgotten at such a moment. He stole down the side of the hill,
+and made his way to his fellow-hermit's cave.
+
+But there was a terrible silence as he approached it. His heart sank at
+that deadly stillness in the little valley. No glimmer of light came
+from the cleft in the rocks. He entered and called, but no answer came
+back. Then, with flint, steel, and the dry grass which he used for
+tinder, he struck a spark, and blew it into a blaze. The old hermit, his
+white hair dabbled with crimson, lay sprawling across the floor. The
+broken crucifix, with which his head had been beaten in, lay in
+splinters across him. Simon had dropped on his knees beside him,
+straightening his contorted limbs, and muttering the office for the
+dead, when the thud of a horse's hoofs was heard ascending the little
+valley which led to the hermit's cell. The dry grass had burned down,
+and Simon crouched trembling in the darkness, pattering prayers to the
+Virgin that his strength might be upheld.
+
+It may have been that the new-comer had seen the gleam of the light, or
+it may have been that he had heard from his comrades of the old man whom
+they had murdered, and that his curiosity had led him to the spot. He
+stopped his horse outside the cave, and Simon, lurking in the shadows
+within, had a fair view of him in the moonlight. He slipped from his
+saddle, fastened the bridle to a root, and then stood peering through
+the opening of the cell. He was a very short, thick man, with a dark
+face, which was gashed with three cuts upon either side. His small eyes
+were sunk deep in his head, showing like black holes in the heavy, flat,
+hairless face. His legs were short and very bandy, so that he waddled
+uncouthly as he walked.
+
+Simon crouched in the darkest angle, and he gripped in his hand that
+same knotted cudgel which the dead theologian had once raised against
+him. As that hideous stooping head advanced into the darkness of the
+cell, he brought the staff down upon it with all the strength of his
+right arm, and then, as the stricken savage fell forward upon his face,
+he struck madly again and again, until the shapeless figure lay limp and
+still. One roof covered the first slain of Europe and of Asia.
+
+Simon's veins were throbbing and quivering with the unwonted joy of
+action. All the energy stored up in those years of repose came in a
+flood at this moment of need. Standing in the darkness of the cell, he
+saw, as in a map of fire, the outlines of the great Barbaric host, the
+line of the river, the position of the settlements, the means by which
+they might be warned. Silently he waited in the shadow until the moon
+had sunk. Then he flung himself upon the dead man's horse, guided it
+down the gorge, and set forth at a gallop across the plain.
+
+There were fires on every side of him, but he kept clear of the rings of
+light. Round each he could see, as he passed, the circle of sleeping
+warriors, with the long lines of picketed horses. Mile after mile and
+league after league stretched that huge encampment. And then, at last,
+he had reached the open plain which led to the river, and the fires of
+the invaders were but a dull smoulder against the black eastern sky.
+Ever faster and faster he sped across the steppe, like a single
+fluttered leaf which whirls before the storm. Even as the dawn whitened
+the sky behind him, it gleamed also upon the broad river in front, and
+he flogged his weary horse through the shallows, until he plunged into
+its full yellow tide.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+So it was that, as the young Roman centurion--Caius Crassus--made his
+morning round in the fort of Tyras he saw a single horseman, who rode
+towards him from the river. Weary and spent, drenched with water and
+caked with dirt and sweat, both horse and man were at the last stage of
+their endurance. With amazement the Roman watched their progress, and
+recognised in the ragged, swaying figure, with flying hair and staring
+eyes, the hermit of the eastern desert. He ran to meet him, and caught
+him in his arms as he reeled from the saddle.
+
+"What is it, then?" he asked. "What is your news?"
+
+But the hermit could only point at the rising sun. "To arms!" he
+croaked. "To arms! The day of wrath is come!" And as he looked, the
+Roman saw--far across the river--a great dark shadow, which moved slowly
+over the distant plain.
+
+
+
+
+V
+
+THE CONTEST
+
+
+In the year of our Lord 66, the Emperor Nero, being at that time in the
+twenty-ninth year of his life and the thirteenth of his reign, set sail
+for Greece with the strangest company and the most singular design that
+any monarch has ever entertained. With ten galleys he went forth from
+Puteoli, carrying with him great stores of painted scenery and
+theatrical properties, together with a number of knights and senators,
+whom he feared to leave behind him at Rome, and who were all marked for
+death in the course of his wanderings. In his train he took Natus, his
+singing coach; Cluvius, a man with a monstrous voice, who should bawl
+out his titles; and a thousand trained youths who had learned to applaud
+in unison whenever their master sang or played in public. So deftly had
+they been taught that each had his own rôle to play. Some did no more
+than give forth a low deep hum of speechless appreciation. Some clapped
+with enthusiasm. Some, rising from approbation into absolute frenzy,
+shrieked, stamped, and beat sticks upon the benches. Some--and they were
+the most effective--had learned from an Alexandrian a long droning
+musical note which they all uttered together, so that it boomed over the
+assembly. With the aid of these mercenary admirers, Nero had every hope,
+in spite of his indifferent voice and clumsy execution, to return to
+Rome, bearing with him the chaplets for song offered for free
+competition by the Greek cities. As his great gilded galley with two
+tiers of oars passed down the Mediterranean, the Emperor sat in his
+cabin all day, his teacher by his side, rehearsing from morning to night
+those compositions which he had selected, whilst every few hours a
+Nubian slave massaged the Imperial throat with oil and balsam, that it
+might be ready for the great ordeal which lay before it in the land of
+poetry and song. His food, his drink, and his exercise were prescribed
+for him as for an athlete who trains for a contest, and the twanging of
+his lyre, with the strident notes of his voice, resounded continually
+from the Imperial quarters.
+
+Now it chanced that there lived in those days a Grecian goatherd named
+Policles, who tended and partly owned a great flock which grazed upon
+the long flanks of the hills near Her[oe]a, which is five miles north of
+the river Alpheus, and no great distance from the famous Olympia. This
+person was noted over all the country-side as a man of strange gifts and
+singular character. He was a poet who had twice been crowned for his
+verses, and he was a musician to whom the use and sound of an instrument
+were so natural that one would more easily meet him without his staff
+than his harp. Even in his lonely vigils on the winter hills he would
+bear it always slung over his shoulder, and would pass the long hours by
+its aid, so that it had come to be part of his very self. He was
+beautiful also, swarthy and eager, with a head like Adonis, and in
+strength there was no one who could compete with him. But all was ruined
+by his disposition, which was so masterful that he would brook no
+opposition nor contradiction. For this reason he was continually at
+enmity with all his neighbours, and in his fits of temper he would
+spend months at a time in his stone hut among the mountains, hearing
+nothing from the world, and living only for his music and his goats.
+
+One spring morning, in the year of 67, Policles, with the aid of his boy
+Dorus, had driven his goats over to a new pasturage which overlooked
+from afar the town of Olympia. Gazing down upon it from the mountain,
+the shepherd was surprised to see that a portion of the famous
+amphitheatre had been roofed in, as though some performance was being
+enacted. Living far from the world and from all news, Policles could not
+imagine what was afoot, for he was well aware that the Grecian games
+were not due for two years to come. Surely some poetic or musical
+contest must be proceeding of which he had heard nothing. If so, there
+would perhaps be some chance of his gaining the votes of the judges; and
+in any case he loved to hear the compositions and admire the execution
+of the great minstrels who assembled on such an occasion. Calling to
+Dorus, therefore, he left the goats to his charge, and strode swiftly
+away, his harp upon his back, to see what was going forward in the
+town.
+
+When Policles came into the suburbs, he found them deserted; but he was
+still more surprised when he reached the main street to see no single
+human being in the place. He hastened his steps, therefore, and as he
+approached the theatre he was conscious of a low sustained hum which
+announced the concourse of a huge assembly. Never in all his dreams had
+he imagined any musical competition upon so vast a scale as this. There
+were some soldiers clustering outside the door; but Policles pushed his
+way swiftly through them, and found himself upon the outskirts of the
+multitude who filled the great space formed by roofing over a portion of
+the national stadium. Looking around him, Policles saw a great number of
+his neighbours, whom he knew by sight, tightly packed upon the benches,
+all with their eyes fixed upon the stage. He also observed that there
+were soldiers round the walls, and that a considerable part of the hall
+was filled by a body of youths of foreign aspect, with white gowns and
+long hair. All this he perceived; but what it meant he could not
+imagine. He bent over to a neighbour to ask him, but a soldier prodded
+him at once with the butt end of his spear, and commanded him fiercely
+to hold his peace. The man whom he had addressed, thinking that Policles
+had demanded a seat, pressed closer to his neighbour, and so the
+shepherd found himself sitting at the end of the bench which was nearest
+to the door. Thence he concentrated himself upon the stage, on which
+Metas, a well-known minstrel from Corinth and an old friend of Policles,
+was singing and playing without much encouragement from the audience. To
+Policles it seemed that Metas was having less than his due, so he
+applauded loudly, but he was surprised to observe that the soldiers
+frowned at him, and that all his neighbours regarded him with some
+surprise. Being a man of strong and obstinate character, he was the more
+inclined to persevere in his clapping when he perceived that the general
+sentiment was against him.
+
+But what followed filled the shepherd poet with absolute amazement. When
+Metas of Corinth had made his bow and withdrawn to half-hearted and
+perfunctory applause, there appeared upon the stage, amid the wildest
+enthusiasm upon the part of the audience, a most extraordinary figure.
+He was a short fat man, neither old nor young, with a bull neck and a
+round, heavy face, which hung in creases in front like the dewlap of an
+ox. He was absurdly clad in a short blue tunic, braced at the waist with
+a golden belt. His neck and part of his chest were exposed, and his
+short, fat legs were bare from the buskins below to the middle of his
+thighs, which was as far as his tunic extended. In his hair were two
+golden wings, and the same upon his heels, after the fashion of the god
+Mercury. Behind him walked a negro bearing a harp, and beside him a
+richly dressed officer who bore rolls of music. This strange creature
+took the harp from the hands of the attendant, and advanced to the front
+of the stage, whence he bowed and smiled to the cheering audience. "This
+is some foppish singer from Athens," thought Policles to himself, but at
+the same time he understood that only a great master of song could
+receive such a reception from a Greek audience. This was evidently some
+wonderful performer whose reputation had preceded him. Policles settled
+down, therefore, and prepared to give his soul up to the music.
+
+The blue-clad player struck several chords upon his lyre, and then
+burst suddenly out into the "Ode of Niobe." Policles sat straight up on
+his bench and gazed at the stage in amazement. The tune demanded a rapid
+transition from a low note to a high, and had been purposely chosen for
+this reason. The low note was a grunting, a rumble, the deep discordant
+growling of an ill-conditioned dog. Then suddenly the singer threw up
+his face, straightened his tubby figure, rose upon his tiptoes, and with
+wagging head and scarlet cheeks emitted such a howl as the same dog
+might have given had his growl been checked by a kick from his master.
+All the while the lyre twanged and thrummed, sometimes in front of and
+sometimes behind the voice of the singer. But what amazed Policles most
+of all was the effect of this performance upon the audience. Every Greek
+was a trained critic, and as unsparing in his hisses as he was lavish in
+his applause. Many a singer far better than this absurd fop had been
+driven amid execration and abuse from the platform. But now, as the man
+stopped and wiped the abundant sweat from his fat face, the whole
+assembly burst into a delirium of appreciation. The shepherd held his
+hands to his bursting head, and felt that his reason must be leaving
+him. It was surely a dreadful musical nightmare, and he would wake soon
+and laugh at the remembrance. But no; the figures were real, the faces
+were those of his neighbours, the cheers which resounded in his ears
+were indeed from an audience which filled the theatre of Olympia. The
+whole chorus was in full blast, the hummers humming, the shouters
+bellowing, the tappers hard at work upon the benches, while every now
+and then came a musical cyclone of "Incomparable! Divine!" from the
+trained phalanx who intoned their applause, their united voices sweeping
+over the tumult as the drone of the wind dominates the roar of the sea.
+It was madness--insufferable madness! If this were allowed to pass,
+there was an end of all musical justice in Greece. Policles' conscience
+would not permit him to be still. Standing upon his bench with waving
+hands and up-raised voice, he protested with all the strength of his
+lungs against the mad judgment of the audience.
+
+At first, amid the tumult, his action was hardly noticed. His voice was
+drowned in the universal roar which broke out afresh at each bow and
+smirk from the fatuous musician. But gradually the folk round Policles
+ceased clapping, and stared at him in astonishment. The silence grew in
+ever widening circles, until the whole great assembly sat mute, staring
+at this wild and magnificent creature who was storming at them from his
+perch near the door.
+
+"Fools!" he cried. "What are you clapping at? What are you cheering? Is
+this what you call music? Is this cat-calling to earn an Olympian prize?
+The fellow has not a note in his voice. You are either deaf or mad, and
+I for one cry shame upon you for your folly."
+
+Soldiers ran to pull him down, and the whole audience was in confusion,
+some of the bolder cheering the sentiments of the shepherd, and others
+crying that he should be cast out of the building. Meanwhile the
+successful singer, having handed his lyre to his negro attendant, was
+enquiring from those around him on the stage as to the cause of the
+uproar. Finally a herald with an enormously powerful voice stepped
+forward to the front, and proclaimed that if the foolish person at the
+back of the hall, who appeared to differ from the opinion of the rest
+of the audience, would come forward upon the platform, he might, if he
+dared, exhibit his own powers, and see if he could outdo the admirable
+and wonderful exhibition which they had just had the privilege of
+hearing.
+
+Policles sprang readily to his feet at the challenge, and the great
+company making way for him to pass, he found himself a minute later
+standing in his unkempt garb, with his frayed and weather-beaten harp in
+his hand, before the expectant crowd. He stood for a moment tightening a
+string here and slackening another there until his chords rang true.
+Then, amid a murmur of laughter and jeers from the Roman benches
+immediately before him, he began to sing.
+
+He had prepared no composition, but he had trained himself to improvise,
+singing out of his heart for the joy of the music. He told of the land
+of Elis, beloved of Jupiter, in which they were gathered that day, of
+the great bare mountain slopes, of the swift shadows of the clouds, of
+the winding blue river, of the keen air of the uplands, of the chill of
+the evenings, and the beauties of earth and sky. It was all simple and
+childlike, but it went to the hearts of the Olympians, for it spoke of
+the land which they knew and loved. Yet when he at last dropped his
+hand, few of them dared to applaud, and their feeble voices were drowned
+by a storm of hisses and groans from his opponents. He shrank back in
+horror from so unusual a reception, and in an instant his blue-clad
+rival was in his place. If he had sung badly before, his performance now
+was inconceivable. His screams, his grunts, his discords, and harsh
+jarring cacophonies were an outrage to the very name of music. And yet
+every time that he paused for breath or to wipe his streaming forehead a
+fresh thunder of applause came rolling back from the audience. Policles
+sank his face in his hands and prayed that he might not be insane. Then,
+when the dreadful performance ceased, and the uproar of admiration
+showed that the crown was certainly awarded to this impostor, a horror
+of the audience, a hatred of this race of fools, and a craving for the
+peace and silence of the pastures mastered every feeling in his mind. He
+dashed through the mass of people waiting at the wings, and emerged in
+the open air. His old rival and friend Metas of Corinth was waiting
+there with an anxious face.
+
+"Quick, Policles, quick!" he cried. "My pony is tethered behind yonder
+grove. A grey he is, with red trappings. Get you gone as hard as hoof
+will bear you, for if you are taken you will have no easy death."
+
+"No easy death! What mean you, Metas? Who is the fellow?"
+
+"Great Jupiter! did you not know? Where have you lived? It is Nero the
+Emperor! Never would he pardon what you have said about his voice.
+Quick, man, quick, or the guards will be at your heels!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+An hour later the shepherd was well on his way to his mountain home, and
+about the same time the Emperor, having received the Chaplet of Olympia
+for the incomparable excellence of his performance, was making enquiries
+with a frowning brow as to who the insolent person might be who had
+dared to utter such contemptuous criticisms.
+
+"Bring him to me here this instant," said he, "and let Marcus with his
+knife and branding-iron be in attendance."
+
+"If it please you, great Cæsar," said Arsenius Platus, the officer of
+attendance, "the man cannot be found, and there are some very strange
+rumours flying about."
+
+"Rumours!" cried the angry Nero. "What do you mean, Arsenius? I tell you
+that the fellow was an ignorant upstart with the bearing of a boor and
+the voice of a peacock. I tell you also that there are a good many who
+are as guilty as he among the people, for I heard them with my own ears
+raise cheers for him when he had sung his ridiculous ode. I have half a
+mind to burn their town about their ears so that they may remember my
+visit."
+
+"It is not to be wondered at if he won their votes, Cæsar," said the
+soldier, "for from what I hear it would have been no disgrace had you,
+even you, been conquered in this contest."
+
+"I conquered! You are mad, Arsenius. What do you mean?"
+
+"None know him, great Cæsar! He came from the mountains, and he
+disappeared into the mountains. You marked the wildness and strange
+beauty of his face. It is whispered that for once the great god Pan has
+condescended to measure himself against a mortal."
+
+The cloud cleared from Nero's brow. "Of course, Arsenius! You are right!
+No man would have dared to brave me so. What a story for Rome! Let the
+messenger leave this very night, Arsenius, to tell them how their
+Emperor has upheld their honour in Olympia this day."
+
+
+
+
+VI
+
+THE FIRST CARGO
+
+
+    "Ex ovo omnia"
+
+When you left Britain with your legion, my dear Crassus, I promised that
+I would write to you from time to time when a messenger chanced to be
+going to Rome, and keep you informed as to anything of interest which
+might occur in this country. Personally, I am very glad that I remained
+behind when the troops and so many of our citizens left, for though the
+living is rough and the climate is infernal, still by dint of the three
+voyages which I have made for amber to the Baltic, and the excellent
+prices which I obtained for it here, I shall soon be in a position to
+retire, and to spend my old age under my own fig tree, or even perhaps
+to buy a small villa at Baiae or Posuoli, where I could get a good
+sun-bath after the continued fogs of this accursed island. I picture
+myself on a little farm, and I read the Georgics as a preparation; but
+when I hear the rain falling and the wind howling, Italy seems very far
+away.
+
+In my previous letter I let you know how things were going in this
+country. The poor folk, who had given up all soldiering during the
+centuries that we guarded them, are now perfectly helpless before these
+Picts and Scots, tattooed Barbarians from the north, who overrun the
+whole country and do exactly what they please. So long as they kept to
+the north, the people in the south, who are the most numerous, and also
+the most civilised of the Britons, took no heed of them; but now the
+rascals have come as far as London, and the lazy folk in these parts
+have had to wake up. Vortigern, the king, is useless for anything but
+drink or women, so he sent across to the Baltic to get over some of the
+North Germans, in the hope that they would come and help him. It is bad
+enough to have a bear in your house, but it does not seem to me to mend
+matters if you call in a pack of ferocious wolves as well. However,
+nothing better could be devised, so an invitation was sent and very
+promptly accepted. And it is here that your humble friend appears upon
+the scene. In the course of my amber trading I had learned the Saxon
+speech, and so I was sent down in all haste to the Kentish shore that I
+might be there when our new allies came. I arrived there on the very day
+when their first vessel appeared, and it is of my adventures that I wish
+to tell you. It is perfectly clear to me that the landing of these
+warlike Germans in England will prove to be an event of historical
+importance, and so your inquisitive mind will not feel wearied if I
+treat the matter in some detail.
+
+It was, then, upon the day of Mercury, immediately following the Feast
+of Our Blessed Lord's Ascension, that I found myself upon the south bank
+of the river Thames, at the point where it opens into a wide estuary.
+There is an island there named Thanet, which was the spot chosen for the
+landfall of our visitors. Sure enough, I had no sooner ridden up than
+there was a great red ship, the first as it seems of three, coming in
+under full sail. The white horse, which is the ensign of these rovers,
+was hanging from her topmast, and she appeared to be crowded with men.
+The sun was shining brightly, and the great scarlet ship, with
+snow-white sails and a line of gleaming shields slung over her side,
+made as fair a picture on that blue expanse as one would wish to see.
+
+I pushed off at once in a boat, because it had been arranged that none
+of the Saxons should land until the king had come down to speak with
+their leaders. Presently I was under the ship, which had a gilded dragon
+in the bows, and a tier of oars along either side. As I looked up, there
+was a row of helmeted heads looking down at me, and among them I saw, to
+my great surprise and pleasure, that of Eric the Swart, with whom I do
+business at Venta every year. He greeted me heartily when I reached the
+deck, and became at once my guide, friend, and counsellor. This helped
+me greatly with these Barbarians, for it is their nature that they are
+very cold and aloof unless one of their own number can vouch for you,
+after which they are very hearty and hospitable. Try as they will, they
+find it hard, however, to avoid a certain suggestion of condescension,
+and in the baser sort, of contempt, when they are dealing with a
+foreigner.
+
+It was a great stroke of luck meeting Eric, for he was able to give me
+some idea of how things stood before I was shown into the presence of
+Kenna, the leader of this particular ship. The crew, as I learned from
+him, was entirely made up of three tribes or families--those of Kenna,
+of Lanc, and of Hasta. Each of these tribes gets its name by putting the
+letters "ing" after the name of the chief, so that the people on board
+would describe themselves as Kennings, Lancings, and Hastings. I
+observed in the Baltic that the villages were named after the family who
+lived in them, each keeping to itself, so that I have no doubt that if
+these fellows get a footing on shore, we shall see settlements with
+names like these rising up among the British towns.
+
+The greater part of the men were sturdy fellows with red, yellow, or
+brown hair, mostly the latter. To my surprise, I saw several women among
+them. Eric, in answer to my question, explained that they always take
+their women with them so far as they can, and that instead of finding
+them an encumbrance as our Roman dames would be, they look upon them as
+helpmates and advisers. Of course, I remembered afterwards that our
+excellent and accurate Tacitus has remarked upon this characteristic of
+the Germans. All laws in the tribes are decided by votes, and a vote
+has not yet been given to the women, but many are in favour of it, and
+it is thought that woman and man may soon have the same power in the
+State, though many of the women themselves are opposed to such an
+innovation. I observed to Eric that it was fortunate there were several
+women on board, as they could keep each other company; but he answered
+that the wives of chiefs had no desire to know the wives of the inferior
+officers, and that both of them combined against the more common women,
+so that any companionship was out of the question. He pointed as he
+spoke to Editha, the wife of Kenna, a red-faced, elderly woman, who
+walked among the others, her chin in the air, taking no more notice than
+if they did not exist.
+
+Whilst I was talking to my friend Eric, a sudden altercation broke out
+upon the deck, and a great number of the men paused in their work, and
+flocked towards the spot with faces which showed that they were deeply
+interested in the matter. Eric and I pushed our way among the others,
+for I was very anxious to see as much as I could of the ways and
+manners of these Barbarians. A quarrel had broken out about a child, a
+little blue-eyed fellow with curly yellow hair, who appeared to be
+greatly amused by the hubbub of which he was the cause. On one side of
+him stood a white-bearded old man, of very majestic aspect, who
+signified by his gestures that he claimed the lad for himself, while on
+the other was a thin, earnest, anxious person, who strongly objected to
+the boy being taken from him. Eric whispered in my ear that the old man
+was the tribal high priest, who was the official sacrificer to their
+great god Woden, whilst the other was a man who took somewhat different
+views, not upon Woden, but upon the means by which he should be
+worshipped. The majority of the crew were on the side of the old priest;
+but a certain number, who liked greater liberty of worship, and to
+invent their own prayers instead of always repeating the official ones,
+followed the lead of the younger man. The difference was too deep and
+too old to be healed among the grown men, but each had a great desire to
+impress his view upon the children. This was the reason why these two
+were now so furious with each other, and the argument between them ran
+so high that several of their followers on either side had drawn the
+short saxes, or knives from which their name of Saxon is derived, when a
+burly, red-headed man pushed his way through the throng, and in a voice
+of thunder brought the controversy to an end.
+
+"You priests, who argue about the things which no man can know, are more
+trouble aboard this ship than all the dangers of the sea," he cried.
+"Can you not be content with worshipping Woden, over which we are all
+agreed, and not make so much of those small points upon which we may
+differ. If there is all this fuss about the teaching of the children,
+then I shall forbid either of you to teach them, and they must be
+content with as much as they can learn from their mothers."
+
+The two angry teachers walked away with discontented faces; and
+Kenna--for it was he who spoke--ordered that a whistle should be
+sounded, and that the crew should assemble. I was pleased with the free
+bearing of these people, for though this was their greatest chief, they
+showed none of the exaggerated respect which soldiers of a legion might
+show to the Prætor, but met him on a respectful equality, which showed
+how highly they rated their own manhood.
+
+From our Roman standard, his remarks to his men would seem very wanting
+in eloquence, for there were no graces nor metaphors to be found in
+them, and yet they were short, strong and to the point. At any rate it
+was very clear that they were to the minds of his hearers. He began by
+reminding them that they had left their own country because the land was
+all taken up, and that there was no use returning there, since there was
+no place where they could dwell as free and independent men. This island
+of Britain was but sparsely inhabited, and there was a chance that every
+one of them would be able to found a home of his own.
+
+"You, Whitta," he said, addressing some of them by name, "you will found
+a Whitting hame, and you, Bucka, we shall see you in a Bucking hame,
+where your children and your children's children will bless you for the
+broad acres which your valour will have gained for them." There was no
+word of glory or of honour in his speech, but he said that he was aware
+that they would do their duty, on which they all struck their swords
+upon their shields so that the Britons on the beach could hear the
+clang. Then, his eyes falling upon me, he asked me whether I was the
+messenger from Vortigern, and on my answering, he bid me follow him into
+his cabin, where Lanc and Hasta, the other chiefs, were waiting for a
+council.
+
+Picture me, then, my dear Crassus, in a very low-roofed cabin, with
+these three huge Barbarians seated round me. Each was clad in some sort
+of saffron tunic, with a chain-mail shirt over it, and a helmet with the
+horns of oxen on the sides, laid upon the table before him. Like most of
+the Saxon chiefs, their beards were shaved, but they wore their hair
+long and their huge light-coloured moustaches drooped down on to their
+shoulders. They are gentle, slow, and somewhat heavy in their bearing,
+but I can well fancy that their fury is the more terrible when it does
+arise.
+
+Their minds seem to be of a very practical and positive nature, for they
+at once began to ask me a series of question upon the numbers of the
+Britons, the resources of the kingdom, the conditions of its trade, and
+other such subjects. They then set to work arguing over the information
+which I had given, and became so absorbed in their own contention that I
+believe there were times when they forgot my presence. Everything, after
+due discussion, was decided between them by the vote, the one who found
+himself in the minority always submitting, though sometimes with a very
+bad grace. Indeed, on one occasion Lanc, who usually differed from the
+others, threatened to refer the matter to the general vote of the whole
+crew. There was a constant conflict in the point of view; for whereas
+Kenna and Hasta were anxious to extend the Saxon power, and to make it
+greater in the eyes of the world, Lanc was of opinion that they should
+give less thought to conquest and more to the comfort and advancement of
+their followers. At the same time it seemed to me that really Lanc was
+the most combative of the three; so much so that, even in time of peace,
+he could not forego this contest with his own brethren. Neither of the
+others seemed very fond of him, for they were each, as was easy to see,
+proud of their chieftainship, and anxious to use their authority,
+referring continually to those noble ancestors from whom it was
+derived; while Lanc though he was equally well born, took the view of
+the common men upon every occasion, claiming that the interests of the
+many were superior to the privileges of the few. In a word, Crassus, if
+you could imagine a free-booting Gracchus on one side, and two piratical
+Patricians upon the other, you would understand the effect which my
+companions produced upon me.
+
+There was one peculiarity which I observed in their conversation which
+soothed me very much. I am fond of these Britons, among whom I have
+spent so much of my life, and I wish them well. It was very pleasing,
+therefore, to notice that these men insisted upon it in their
+conversation that the whole object of their visit was the good of the
+Islanders. Any prospect of advantage to themselves was pushed into the
+background. I was not clear that these professions could be made to
+agree with the speech in which Kenna had promised a hundred hides of
+land to every man on the ship; but on my making this remark, the three
+chiefs seemed very surprised and hurt by my suspicions, and explained
+very plausibly that, as the Britons needed them as a guard, they could
+not aid them better than by settling on the soil, and so being
+continually at hand in order to help them. In time, they said, they
+hoped to raise and train the natives to such a point that they would be
+able to look after themselves. Lanc spoke with some degree of eloquence
+upon the nobleness of the mission which they had undertaken, and the
+others clattered their cups of mead (a jar of that unpleasant drink was
+on the table) in token of their agreement.
+
+I observed also how much interested, and how very earnest and intolerant
+these Barbarians were in the matter of religion. Of Christianity they
+knew nothing, so that although they were aware that the Britons were
+Christians, they had not a notion of what their creed really was. Yet
+without examination they started by taking it for granted that their own
+worship of Woden was absolutely right, and that therefore this other
+creed must be absolutely wrong. "This vile religion," "This sad
+superstition," and "This grievous error" were among the phrases which
+they used towards it. Instead of expressing pity for any one who had
+been misinformed upon so serious a question, their feelings were those
+of anger, and they declared most earnestly that they would spare no
+pains to set the matter right, fingering the hilts of their long
+broadswords as they did so.
+
+Well, my dear Crassus, you will have had enough of me and of my Saxons.
+I have given you a short sketch of these people and their ways. Since I
+began this letter, I have visited the two other ships which have come
+in, and as I find the same characteristics among the people on board
+them, I cannot doubt that they lie deeply in the race. For the rest,
+they are brave, hardy, and very pertinacious in all that they undertake;
+whereas the Britons, though a great deal more spirited, have not the
+same steadiness of purpose, their quicker imaginations suggesting always
+some other course, and their more fiery passions being succeeded by
+reaction. When I looked from the deck of the first Saxon ship, and saw
+the swaying excited multitude of Britons on the beach, contrasting them
+with the intent, silent men who stood beside me, it seemed to me more
+than ever dangerous to call in such allies. So strongly did I feel it
+that I turned to Kenna, who was also looking towards the beach.
+
+"You will own this island before you have finished," said I.
+
+His eyes sparkled as he gazed. "Perhaps," he cried; and then suddenly
+correcting himself and thinking that he had said too much, he added--
+
+"A temporary occupation--nothing more."
+
+
+
+
+VII
+
+AN ICONOCLAST
+
+
+It was daybreak of a March morning in the year of Christ 92. Outside the
+long Semita Alta was already thronged with people, with buyers and
+sellers, callers and strollers, for the Romans were so early-rising a
+people that many a Patrician preferred to see his clients at six in the
+morning. Such was the good republican tradition, still upheld by the
+more conservative; but with more modern habits of luxury, a night of
+pleasure and banqueting was no uncommon thing. Thus one, who had learned
+the new and yet adhered to the old, might find his hours overlap, and
+without so much as a pretence of sleep come straight from his night of
+debauch into his day of business, turning with heavy wits and an aching
+head to that round of formal duties which consumed the life of a Roman
+gentleman.
+
+So it was with Emilius Flaccus that March morning. He and his fellow
+senator, Caius Balbus, had passed the night in one of those gloomy
+drinking bouts to which the Emperor Domitian summoned his chosen friends
+at the high palace on the Palatine. Now, having reached the portals of
+the house of Flaccus, they stood together under the pomegranate-fringed
+portico which fronted the peristyle and, confident in each other's tried
+discretion, made up by the freedom of their criticism for the long
+self-suppression of that melancholy feast.
+
+"If he would but feed his guests," said Balbus, a little red-faced,
+choleric nobleman with yellow-shot angry eyes. "What had we? Upon my
+life, I have forgotten. Plovers' eggs, a mess of fish, some bird or
+other, and then his eternal apples."
+
+"Of which," said Flaccus, "he ate only the apples. Do him the justice to
+confess that he takes even less than he gives. At least they cannot say
+of him as of Vitellius, that his teeth beggared the empire."
+
+"No, nor his thirst either, great as it is. That fiery Sabine wine of
+his could be had for a few sesterces the amphora. It is the common drink
+of the carters at every wine-house on the country roads. I longed for a
+glass of my own rich Falernian or the mellow Coan that was bottled in
+the year that Titus took Jerusalem. Is it even now too late? Could we
+not wash this rasping stuff from our palates?"
+
+"Nay, better come in with me now and take a bitter draught ere you go
+upon your way. My Greek physician Stephanos has a rare prescription for
+a morning head. What! Your clients await you? Well, I will see you later
+at the Senate house."
+
+The Patrician had entered his atrium, bright with rare flowers, and
+melodious with strange singing birds. At the jaws of the hall, true to
+his morning duties, stood Lebs, the little Nubian slave, with snow-white
+tunic and turban, a salver of glasses in one hand, whilst in the other
+he held a flask of thin lemon-tinted liquid. The master of the house
+filled up a bitter aromatic bumper, and was about to drink it off when
+his hand was arrested by a sudden perception that something was much
+amiss in his household. It was to be read all around him--in the
+frightened eyes of the black boy, in the agitated face of the keeper of
+the atrium, in the gloom and silence of the little knot of ordinarii,
+the procurator or major-domo at their head, who had assembled to greet
+their master. Stephanos the physician, Cleios the Alexandrine reader,
+Promus the steward each turned his head away to avoid his master's
+questioning gaze.
+
+"What in the name of Pluto is the matter with you all?" cried the amazed
+senator, whose night of potations had left him in no mood for patience.
+"Why do you stand moping there? Stephanos, Vacculus, is anything amiss?
+Here, Promus, you are the head of my household. What is it, then? Why do
+you turn your eyes away from me?"
+
+The burly steward, whose fat face was haggard and mottled with anxiety,
+laid his hand upon the sleeve of the domestic beside him.
+
+"Sergius is responsible for the atrium, my lord. It is for him to tell
+you the terrible thing that has befallen in your absence."
+
+"Nay, it was Datus who did it. Bring him in, and let him explain it
+himself," said Sergius in a sulky voice.
+
+The patience of the Patrician was at an end. "Speak this instant, you
+rascal!" he shouted angrily. "Another minute, and I will have you
+dragged to the ergastulum, where, with your feet in the stocks and the
+gyves round your wrists, you may learn quicker obedience. Speak, I say,
+and without delay."
+
+"It is the Venus," the man stammered; "the Greek Venus of Praxiteles."
+
+The senator gave a cry of apprehension and rushed to the corner of the
+atrium, where a little shrine, curtained off by silken drapery, held the
+precious statue, the greatest art treasure of his collection--perhaps of
+the whole world. He tore the hangings aside and stood in speechless
+anger before the outraged goddess. The red, perfumed lamp which always
+burned before her had been spilled and broken; her altar fire had been
+quenched, her chaplet had been dashed aside. But worst of
+all--insufferable sacrilege!--her own beautiful nude body of glistening
+Pentelic marble, as white and fair as when the inspired Greek had hewed
+it out five hundred years before, had been most brutally mishandled.
+Three fingers of the gracious outstretched hand had been struck off, and
+lay upon the pedestal beside her. Above her delicate breast a dark mark
+showed, where a blow had disfigured the marble. Emilius Flaccus, the
+most delicate and judicious connoisseur in Rome, stood gasping and
+croaking, his hand to his throat, as he gazed at his disfigured
+masterpiece. Then he turned upon his slaves, his fury in his convulsed
+face; but, to his amazement, they were not looking at him, but had all
+turned in attitudes of deep respect towards the opening of the
+peristyle. As he faced round and saw who had just entered his house, his
+own rage fell away from him in an instant, and his manner became as
+humble as that of his servants.
+
+The new-comer was a man forty-three years of age, clean shaven, with a
+massive head, large engorged eyes, a small clear-cut nose, and the full
+bull neck which was the especial mark of his breed. He had entered
+through the peristyle with a swaggering, rolling gait, as one who walks
+upon his own ground, and now he stood, his hands upon his hips, looking
+round him at the bowing slaves, and finally at their master, with a
+half-humorous expression upon his flushed and brutal face.
+
+"Why, Emilius," said he, "I had understood that your household was the
+best-ordered in Rome. What is amiss with you this morning?"
+
+"Nothing could be amiss with us now that Cæsar has deigned to come under
+my roof," said the courtier. "This is indeed a most glad surprise which
+you have prepared for me."
+
+"It was an afterthought," said Domitian. "When you and the others had
+left me, I was in no mood for sleep, and so it came into my mind that I
+would have a breath of morning air by coming down to you, and seeing
+this Grecian Venus of yours, about which you discoursed so eloquently
+between the cups. But, indeed, by your appearance and that of your
+servants, I should judge that my visit was an ill-timed one."
+
+"Nay, dear master; say not so. But, indeed, it is truth that I was in
+trouble at the moment of your welcome entrance, and this trouble was, as
+the Fates have willed it, brought forth by that very statue in which you
+have been graciously pleased to show your interest. There it stands, and
+you can see for yourself how rudely it has been mishandled."
+
+"By Pluto and all the nether gods, if it were mine some of you should
+feed the lampreys," said the Emperor, looking round with his fierce
+eyes at the shrinking slaves. "You were always overmerciful, Emilius. It
+is the common talk that your catenæ are rusted for want of use. But
+surely this is beyond all bounds. Let me see how you handle the matter.
+Whom do you hold responsible?"
+
+"The slave Sergius is responsible, since it is his place to tend the
+atrium," said Flaccus. "Stand forward, Sergius. What have you to say?"
+
+The trembling slave advanced to his master. "If it please you, sir, the
+mischief has been done by Datus the Christian."
+
+"Datus! Who is he?"
+
+"The matulator, the scavenger, my lord. I did not know that he belonged
+to these horrible people, or I should not have admitted him. He came
+with his broom to brush out the litter of the birds. His eyes fell upon
+the Venus, and in an instant he had rushed upon her and struck her two
+blows with his wooden besom. Then we fell upon him and dragged him away.
+But alas! alas! it was too late, for already the wretch had dashed off
+the fingers of the goddess."
+
+The Emperor smiled grimly, while the Patrician's thin face grew pale
+with anger.
+
+"Where is the fellow?" he asked.
+
+"In the ergastulum, your honour, with the furca on his neck."
+
+"Bring him hither and summon the household."
+
+A few minutes later the whole back of the atrium was thronged by the
+motley crowd who ministered to the household needs of a great Roman
+nobleman. There was the arcarius, or account keeper, with his stylum
+behind his ear; the sleek prægustator, who sampled all foods, so as to
+stand between his master and poison, and beside him his predecessor, now
+a half-witted idiot through the interception twenty years before of a
+datura draught from Canidia; the cellar-man, summoned from amongst his
+amphoræ; the cook, with his basting-ladle in his hand; the pompous
+nomenclator, who ushered the guests; the cubicularius, who saw to their
+accommodation; the silentiarius, who kept order in the house; the
+structor, who set forth the tables; the carptor, who carved the food;
+the cinerarius, who lit the fires--these and many more, half-curious,
+half-terrified, came to the judging of Datus. Behind them a chattering,
+giggling swarm of Lalages, Marias, Cerusas, and Amaryllides, from the
+laundries and the spinning-rooms, stood upon their tiptoes, and extended
+their pretty wondering faces over the shoulders of the men. Through this
+crowd came two stout varlets leading the culprit between them. He was a
+small, dark, rough-headed man, with an unkempt beard and wild eyes which
+shone brightly with strong inward emotion. His hands were bound behind
+him, and over his neck was the heavy wooden collar or furca which was
+placed upon refractory slaves. A smear of blood across his cheek showed
+that he had not come uninjured from the preceding scuffle.
+
+"Are you Datus the scavenger?" asked the Patrician.
+
+The man drew himself up proudly. "Yes," said he, "I am Datus."
+
+"Did you do this injury to my statue?"
+
+"Yes, I did."
+
+There was an uncompromising boldness in the man's reply which compelled
+respect. The wrath of his master became tinged with interest.
+
+"Why did you do this?" he asked.
+
+"Because it was my duty."
+
+"Why, then, was it your duty to destroy your master's property?"
+
+"Because I am a Christian." His eyes blazed suddenly out of his dark
+face. "Because there is no God but the one eternal, and all else are
+sticks and stones. What has this naked harlot to do with Him to whom the
+great firmament is but a garment and the earth a footstool? It was in
+His service that I have broken your statue."
+
+Domitian looked with a smile at the Patrician. "You will make nothing of
+him," said he. "They speak even so when they stand before the lions in
+the arena. As to argument, not all the philosophers of Rome can break
+them down. Before my very face they refuse to sacrifice in my honour.
+Never were such impossible people to deal with. I should take a short
+way with him if I were you."
+
+"What would Cæsar advise?"
+
+"There are the games this afternoon. I am showing the new
+hunting-leopard which King Juba has sent from Numidia. This slave may
+give us some sport when he finds the hungry beast sniffing at his
+heels."
+
+The Patrician considered for a moment. He had always been a father to
+his servants. It was hateful to him to think of any injury befalling
+them. Perhaps even now, if this strange fanatic would show his sorrow
+for what he had done, it might be possible to spare him. At least it was
+worth trying.
+
+"Your offence deserves death," he said. "What reasons can you give why
+it should not befall you, since you have injured this statue, which is
+worth your own price a hundred times over?"
+
+The slave looked steadfastly at his master. "I do not fear death," he
+said. "My sister Candida died in the arena, and I am ready to do the
+same. It is true that I have injured your statue, but I am able to find
+you something of far greater value in exchange. I will give you the
+truth and the gospel in exchange for your broken idol."
+
+The Emperor laughed. "You will do nothing with him, Emilius," he said.
+"I know his breed of old. He is ready to die; he says so himself. Why
+save him, then?"
+
+But the Patrician still hesitated. He would make a last effort.
+
+"Throw off his bonds," he said to the guards. "Now take the furca off
+his neck. So! Now, Datus, I have released you to show you that I trust
+you. I have no wish to do you any hurt if you will but acknowledge your
+error, and so set a better example to my household here assembled."
+
+"How, then, shall I acknowledge my error?" the slave asked.
+
+"Bow your head before the goddess, and entreat her forgiveness for the
+violence you have done her. Then perhaps you may gain my pardon as
+well."
+
+"Put me, then, before her," said the Christian.
+
+Emilius Flaccus looked triumphantly at Domitian. By kindness and tact he
+was effecting that which the Emperor had failed to do by violence. Datus
+walked in front of the mutilated Venus. Then with a sudden spring he
+tore the baton out of the hand of one of his guardians, leaped upon the
+pedestal, and showered his blows upon the lovely marble woman. With a
+crack and a dull thud her right arm dropped to the ground. Another
+fierce blow and the left had followed. Flaccus danced and screamed with
+horror, while his servants dragged the raving iconoclast from his
+impassive victim. Domitian's brutal laughter echoed through the hall.
+
+"Well, friend, what think you now?" he cried. "Are you wiser than your
+Emperor? Can you indeed tame your Christian with kindness?"
+
+Emilius Flaccus wiped the sweat from his brow. "He is yours, great
+Cæsar. Do with him as you will."
+
+"Let him be at the gladiators' entrance of the circus an hour before the
+games begin," said the Emperor. "Now, Emilius, the night has been a
+merry one. My Ligurian galley waits by the river quay. Come, cool your
+head with a spin to Ostia ere the business of State calls you to the
+Senate."
+
+
+
+
+VIII
+
+GIANT MAXIMIN
+
+
+I: THE COMING OF GIANT MAXIMIN
+
+Many are the strange vicissitudes of history. Greatness has often sunk
+to the dust, and has tempered itself to its new surrounding. Smallness
+has risen aloft, has flourished for a time, and then has sunk once more.
+Rich monarchs have become poor monks, brave conquerors have lost their
+manhood, eunuchs and women have overthrown armies and kingdoms. Surely
+there is no situation which the mind of man could invent which has not
+taken shape and been played out upon the world stage. But of all the
+strange careers and of all the wondrous happenings, stranger than
+Charles in his monastery, or Justin on his throne, there stands the case
+of Giant Maximin, what he attained, and how he attained it. Let me tell
+the sober facts of history, tinged only by that colouring to which the
+more austere historians could not condescend. It is a record as well as
+a story.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In the heart of Thrace some ten miles north of the Rhodope mountains,
+there is a valley which is named Harpessus, after the stream which runs
+down it. Through this valley lies the main road from the east to the
+west, and along the road, returning from an expedition against the
+Alani, there marched, upon the fifth day of the month of June in the
+year 210, a small but compact Roman army. It consisted of three
+legions--the Jovian, the Cappadocian, and the men of Hercules. Ten turmæ
+of Gallic cavalry led the van, whilst the rear was covered by a regiment
+of Batavian Horse Guards, the immediate attendants of the Emperor
+Septimius Severus, who had conducted the campaign in person. The
+peasants who lined the low hills which fringed the valley looked with
+indifference upon the long files of dusty, heavily-burdened infantry,
+but they broke into murmurs of delight at the gold-faced cuirasses and
+high brazen horse-hair helmets of the guardsmen, applauding their
+stalwart figures, their martial bearing, and the stately black chargers
+which they rode. A soldier might know that it was the little weary men
+with their short swords, their heavy pikes over their shoulders, and
+their square shields slung upon their backs, who were the real terror of
+the enemies of the Empire, but to the eyes of the wondering Thracians it
+was this troop of glittering Apollos who bore Rome's victory upon their
+banners, and upheld the throne of the purple-togaed prince who rode
+before them.
+
+Among the scattered groups of peasants who looked on from a respectful
+distance at this military pageant, there were two men who attracted much
+attention from those who stood immediately around them. The one was
+commonplace enough--a little grey-headed man, with uncouth dress and a
+frame which was bent and warped by a long life of arduous toil,
+goat-driving and wood-chopping, among the mountains. It was the
+appearance of his youthful companion which had drawn the amazed
+observation of the bystanders. In stature he was such a giant as is seen
+but once or twice in each generation of mankind. Eight feet and two
+inches was his measure from his sandalled sole to the topmost curls of
+his tangled hair. Yet for all his mighty stature there was nothing heavy
+or clumsy in the man. His huge shoulders bore no redundant flesh, and
+his figure was straight and hard and supple as a young pine tree. A
+frayed suit of brown leather clung close to his giant body, and a cloak
+of undressed sheep-skin was slung from his shoulder. His bold blue eyes,
+shock of yellow hair and fair skin showed that he was of Gothic or
+northern blood, and the amazed expression upon his broad frank face as
+he stared at the passing troops told of a simple and uneventful life in
+some back valley of the Macedonian mountains.
+
+"I fear your mother was right when she advised that we keep you at
+home," said the old man anxiously. "Tree-cutting and wood-carrying will
+seem but dull work after such a sight as this."
+
+"When I see mother next it will be to put a golden torque round her
+neck," said the young giant. "And you, daddy; I will fill your leather
+pouch with gold pieces before I have done."
+
+The old man looked at his son with startled eyes. "You would not leave
+us, Theckla! What could we do without you?"
+
+"My place is down among yonder men," said the young man. "I was not born
+to drive goats and carry logs, but to sell this manhood of mine in the
+best market. There is my market in the Emperor's own Guard. Say nothing,
+daddy, for my mind is set, and if you weep now it will be to laugh
+hereafter. I will to great Rome with the soldiers."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The daily march of the heavily laden Roman legionary was fixed at twenty
+miles; but on this afternoon, though only half the distance had been
+accomplished, the silver trumpets blared out their welcome news that a
+camp was to be formed. As the men broke their ranks, the reason of their
+light march was announced by the decurions. It was the birthday of Geta,
+the younger son of the Emperor, and in his honour there would be games
+and a double ration of wine. But the iron discipline of the Roman army
+required that under all circumstances certain duties should be
+performed, and foremost among them that the camp should be made secure.
+Laying down their arms in the order of their ranks, the soldiers seized
+their spades and axes, and worked rapidly and joyously until sloping
+vallum and gaping fossa girdled them round, and gave them safe refuge
+against a night attack. Then in noisy, laughing, gesticulating crowds
+they gathered in their thousands round the grassy arena where the sports
+were to be held. A long green hill-side sloped down to a level plain,
+and on this gentle incline the army lay watching the strife of the
+chosen athletes who contended before them. They stretched themselves in
+the glare of the sunshine, their heavy tunics thrown off, and their
+naked limbs sprawling, wine-cups and baskets of fruit and cakes circling
+amongst them, enjoying rest and peace as only those can to whom it comes
+so rarely.
+
+The five-mile race was over, and had been won as usual by Decurion
+Brennus, the crack long-distance champion of the Herculians. Amid the
+yells of the Jovians, Capellus of the corps had carried off both the
+long and the high jump. Big Brebix the Gaul had out-thrown the long
+guardsman Serenus with the fifty pound stone. Now, as the sun sank
+towards the western ridge, and turned the Harpessus to a riband of
+gold, they had come to the final of the wrestling, where the pliant
+Greek, whose name is lost in the nickname of "Python," was tried out
+against the bull-necked Lictor of the military police, a hairy Hercules,
+whose heavy hand had in the way of duty oppressed many of the
+spectators.
+
+As the two men, stripped save for their loincloths, approached the
+wrestling-ring, cheers and counter-cheers burst from their adherents,
+some favouring the Lictor for his Roman blood, some the Greek from their
+own private grudge. And then, of a sudden, the cheering died, heads were
+turned towards the slope away from the arena, men stood up and peered
+and pointed, until finally, in a strange hush, the whole great assembly
+had forgotten the athletes, and were watching a single man walking
+swiftly towards them down the green curve of the hill. This huge
+solitary figure, with the oaken club in his hand, the shaggy fleece
+flapping from his great shoulders, and the setting sun gleaming upon a
+halo of golden hair, might have been the tutelary god of the fierce and
+barren mountains from which he had issued. Even the Emperor rose from
+his chair and gazed with open-eyed amazement at the extraordinary being
+who approached them.
+
+The man, whom we already know as Theckla the Thracian, paid no heed to
+the attention which he had aroused, but strode onwards, stepping as
+lightly as a deer, until he reached the fringe of the soldiers. Amid
+their open ranks he picked his way, sprang over the ropes which guarded
+the arena, and advanced towards the Emperor, until a spear at his breast
+warned him that he must go no nearer. Then he sunk upon his right knee
+and called out some words in the Gothic speech.
+
+"Great Jupiter! Whoever saw such a body of a man!" cried the Emperor.
+"What says he? What is amiss with the fellow? Whence comes he, and what
+is his name?"
+
+An interpreter translated the Barbarian's answer. "He says, great Cæsar,
+that he is of good blood, and sprung by a Gothic father from a woman of
+the Alani. He says that his name is Theckla, and that he would fain
+carry a sword in Cæsar's service."
+
+The Emperor smiled. "Some post could surely be found for such a man,
+were it but as janitor at the Palatine Palace," said he to one of the
+Prefects. "I would fain see him walk even as he is through the forum. He
+would turn the heads of half the women in Rome. Talk to him, Crassus.
+You know his speech."
+
+The Roman officer turned to the giant. "Cæsar says that you are to come
+with him, and he will make you the servant at his door."
+
+The Barbarian rose, and his fair cheeks flushed with resentment.
+
+"I will serve Cæsar as a soldier," said he, "but I will be house-servant
+to no man--not even to him. If Cæsar would see what manner of man I am,
+let him put one of his guardsmen up against me."
+
+"By the shade of Milo this is a bold fellow!" cried the Emperor. "How
+say you, Crassus? Shall he make good his words?"
+
+"By your leave, Cæsar," said the blunt soldier, "good swordsmen are too
+rare in these days that we should let them slay each other for sport.
+Perhaps if the Barbarian would wrestle a fall----"
+
+"Excellent!" cried the Emperor. "Here is the Python, and here Varus the
+Lictor, each stripped for the bout. Have a look at them, Barbarian, and
+see which you would choose. What does he say? He would take them both?
+Nay then he is either the king of wrestlers or the king of boasters, and
+we shall soon see which. Let him have his way, and he has himself to
+thank if he comes out with a broken neck."
+
+There was some laughter when the peasant tossed his sheep-skin mantle to
+the ground and, without troubling to remove his leathern tunic, advanced
+towards the two wrestlers; but it became uproarious when with a quick
+spring he seized the Greek under one arm and the Roman under the other,
+holding them as in a vice. Then with a terrific effort he tore them both
+from the ground, carried them writhing and kicking round the arena, and
+finally walking up to the Emperor's throne, threw his two athletes down
+in front of him. Then, bowing to Cæsar, the huge Barbarian withdrew, and
+laid his great bulk down among the ranks of the applauding soldiers,
+whence he watched with stolid unconcern the conclusion of the sports.
+
+It was still daylight, when the last event had been decided, and the
+soldiers returned to the camp. The Emperor Severus had ordered his
+horse, and in the company of Crassus, his favourite prefect, rode down
+the winding pathway which skirts the Harpessus, chatting over the future
+dispersal of the army. They had ridden for some miles when Severus,
+glancing behind him, was surprised to see a huge figure which trotted
+lightly along at the very heels of his horse.
+
+"Surely this is Mercury as well as Hercules that we have found among the
+Thracian mountains," said he with a smile. "Let us see how soon our
+Syrian horses can out-distance him."
+
+The two Romans broke into a gallop, and did not draw rein until a good
+mile had been covered at the full pace of their splendid chargers. Then
+they turned and looked back; but there, some distance off, still running
+with a lightness and a spring which spoke of iron muscles and
+inexhaustible endurance, came the great Barbarian. The Roman Emperor
+waited until the athlete had come up to them.
+
+"Why do you follow me?" he asked.
+
+"It is my hope, Cæsar, that I may always follow you." His flushed face
+as he spoke was almost level with that of the mounted Roman.
+
+"By the god of war, I do not know where in all the world I could find
+such a servant!" cried the Emperor. "You shall be my own body-guard,
+the one nearest to me of all."
+
+The giant fell upon his knee. "My life and strength are yours," he said.
+"I ask no more than to spend them for Cæsar."
+
+Crassus had interpreted this short dialogue. He now turned to the
+Emperor.
+
+"If he is indeed to be always at your call, Cæsar, it would be well to
+give the poor Barbarian some name which your lips can frame. Theckla is
+as uncouth and craggy a word as one of his native rocks."
+
+The Emperor pondered for a moment. "If I am to have the naming of him,"
+said he, "then surely I shall call him Maximus, for there is not such a
+giant upon earth."
+
+"Hark you," said the Prefect. "The Emperor has deigned to give you a
+Roman name, since you have come into his service. Henceforth you are no
+longer Theckla, but you are Maximus. Can you say it after me?"
+
+"Maximin," repeated the Barbarian, trying to catch the Roman word.
+
+The Emperor laughed at the mincing accent. "Yes, yes, Maximin let it be.
+To all the world you are Maximin, the body-guard of Severus. When we
+have reached Rome, we will soon see that your dress shall correspond
+with your office. Meanwhile march with the guard until you have my
+further orders."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+So it came about that as the Roman army resumed its march next day, and
+left behind it the fair valley of the Harpessus, a huge recruit, clad in
+brown leather, with a rude sheep-skin floating from his shoulders,
+marched beside the Imperial troop. But far away in the wooden farmhouse
+of a distant Macedonian valley two old country folk wept salt tears, and
+prayed to the gods for the safety of their boy who had turned his face
+to Rome.
+
+
+II: THE RISE OF GIANT MAXIMIN
+
+Exactly twenty-five years had passed since the day that Theckla the huge
+Thracian peasant had turned into Maximin the Roman guardsman. They had
+not been good years for Rome. Gone for ever were the great Imperial days
+of the Hadrians and the Trajans. Gone also the golden age of the two
+Antonines, when the highest were for once the most worthy and most
+wise. It had been an epoch of weak and cruel men. Severus, the swarthy
+African, a stark grim man had died in far away York, after fighting all
+the winter with the Caledonian Highlanders--a race who have ever since
+worn the martial garb of the Romans. His son, known only by his
+slighting nickname of Caracalla, had reigned during six years of insane
+lust and cruelty, before the knife of an angry soldier avenged the
+dignity of the Roman name. The nonentity Macrinus had filled the
+dangerous throne for a single year before he also met a bloody end, and
+made room for the most grotesque of all monarchs, the unspeakable
+Heliogabalus with his foul mind and his painted face. He in turn was cut
+to pieces by the soldiers; and Severus Alexander, a gentle youth, scarce
+seventeen years of age, had been thrust into his place. For thirteen
+years now he had ruled, striving with some success to put some virtue
+and stability into the rotting Empire, but raising many fierce enemies
+as he did so--enemies whom he had not the strength nor the wit to hold
+in check.
+
+And Giant Maximin--what of him? He had carried his eight feet of manhood
+through the lowlands of Scotland and the passes of the Grampians. He
+had seen Severus pass away, and had soldiered with his son. He had
+fought in Armenia, in Dacia, and in Germany. They had made him a
+centurion upon the field when with his hands he plucked out one by one
+the stockades of a northern village, and so cleared a path for the
+stormers. His strength had been the jest and the admiration of the
+soldiers. Legends about him had spread through the army, and were the
+common gossip round the camp fires--of his duel with the German axe-man
+on the Island of the Rhine, and of the blow with his fist that broke the
+leg of a Scythian's horse. Gradually he had won his way upwards, until
+now, after quarter of a century's service, he was tribune of the fourth
+legion and superintendent of recruits for the whole army. The young
+soldier who had come under the glare of Maximin's eyes, or had been
+lifted up with one huge hand while he was cuffed by the other, had his
+first lesson from him in the discipline of the service.
+
+It was nightfall in the camp of the fourth legion upon the Gallic shore
+of the Rhine. Across the moonlit water, amid the thick forests which
+stretched away to the dim horizon, lay the wild untamed German tribes.
+Down on the river bank the light gleamed upon the helmets of the Roman
+sentinels who kept guard along the river. Far away a red point rose and
+fell in the darkness--a watch-fire of the enemy upon the further shore.
+
+Outside his tent, beside some smouldering logs, Giant Maximin was
+seated, a dozen of his officers around him. He had changed much since
+the day when we first met him in the Valley of the Harpessus. His huge
+frame was as erect as ever, and there was no sign of diminution of his
+strength. But he had aged none the less. The yellow tangle of hair was
+gone, worn down by the ever-pressing helmet. The fresh young face was
+drawn and hardened, with austere lines wrought by trouble and privation.
+The nose was more hawk-like, the eyes more cunning, the expression more
+cynical and more sinister. In his youth, a child would have run to his
+arms. Now it would shrink screaming from his gaze. That was what
+twenty-five years with the eagles had done for Theckla the Thracian
+peasant.
+
+He was listening now--for he was a man of few words--to the chatter of
+his centurions. One of them, Balbus the Sicilian, had been to the main
+camp at Mainz, only four miles away, and had seen the Emperor Alexander
+arrive that very day from Rome. The rest were eager at the news, for it
+was a time of unrest, and the rumour of great changes was in the air.
+
+"How many had he with him?" asked Labienus, a black-browed veteran from
+the south of Gaul. "I'll wager a month's pay that he was not so trustful
+as to come alone among his faithful legions."
+
+"He had no great force," replied Balbus. "Ten or twelve cohorts of the
+Prætorians and a handful of horse."
+
+"Then indeed his head is in the lion's mouth," cried Sulpicius, a
+hot-headed youth from the African Pentapolis. "How was he received?"
+
+"Coldly enough. There was scarce a shout as he came down the line."
+
+"They are ripe for mischief," said Labienus. "And who can wonder, when
+it is we soldiers who uphold the Empire upon our spears, while the lazy
+citizens at Rome reap all of our sowing. Why cannot a soldier have what
+the soldier gains? So long as they throw us our denarius a day, they
+think that they have done with us."
+
+"Aye," croaked a grumbling old greybeard. "Our limbs, our blood, our
+lives--what do they care so long as the Barbarians are held off, and
+they are left in peace to their feastings and their circus? Free bread,
+free wine, free games--everything for the loafer at Rome. For us the
+frontier guard and a soldier's fare."
+
+Maximin gave a deep laugh. "Old Plancus talks like that," said he; "but
+we know that for all the world he would not change his steel plate for a
+citizen's gown. You've earned the kennel, old hound, if you wish it. Go
+and gnaw your bone and growl in peace."
+
+"Nay, I am too old for change. I will follow the eagle till I die. And
+yet I had rather die in serving a soldier master than a long-gowned
+Syrian who comes of a stock where the women are men and the men are
+women."
+
+There was a laugh from the circle of soldiers, for sedition and mutiny
+were rife in the camp, and even the old centurion's outbreak could not
+draw a protest. Maximin raised his great mastiff head and looked at
+Balbus.
+
+"Was any name in the mouths of the soldiers?" he asked in a meaning
+voice.
+
+There was a hush for the answer. The sigh of the wind among the pines
+and the low lapping of the river swelled out louder in the silence.
+Balbus looked hard at his commander.
+
+"Two names were whispered from rank to rank," said he. "One was Ascenius
+Pollio, the General. The other was----"
+
+The fiery Sulpicius sprang to his feet waving a glowing brand above his
+head.
+
+"Maximinus!" he yelled. "Imperator Maximinus Augustus!"
+
+Who could tell how it came about? No one had thought of it an hour
+before. And now it sprang in an instant to full accomplishment. The
+shout of the frenzied young African had scarcely rung through the
+darkness when from the tents, from the watch-fires, from the sentries,
+the answer came pealing back: "Ave Maximinus! Ave Maximinus Augustus!"
+From all sides men came rushing, half-clad, wild-eyed, their eyes
+staring, their mouths agape, flaming wisps of straw or flaring torches
+above their heads. The giant was caught up by scores of hands, and sat
+enthroned upon the bull-necks of the legionaries. "To the camp!" they
+yelled. "To the camp! Hail! Hail to the soldier Cæsar!"
+
+That same night Severus Alexander, the young Syrian Emperor, walked
+outside his Prætorian camp, accompanied by his friend Licinius Probus,
+the Captain of the Guard. They were talking gravely of the gloomy faces
+and seditious bearing of the soldiers. A great foreboding of evil
+weighed heavily upon the Emperor's heart, and it was reflected upon the
+stern bearded face of his companion.
+
+"I like it not," said he. "It is my counsel, Cæsar, that with the first
+light of morning we make our way south once more."
+
+"But surely," the Emperor answered, "I could not for shame turn my back
+upon the danger. What have they against me? How have I harmed them that
+they should forget their vows and rise upon me?"
+
+"They are like children who ask always for something new. You heard the
+murmur as you rode along the ranks. Nay, Cæsar, fly to-morrow, and your
+Prætorians will see that you are not pursued. There may be some loyal
+cohorts among the legions, and if we join forces----"
+
+A distant shout broke in upon their conversation--a low continued roar,
+like the swelling tumult of a sweeping wave. Far down the road upon
+which they stood there twinkled many moving lights, tossing and sinking
+as they rapidly advanced, whilst the hoarse tumultuous bellowing broke
+into articulate words, the same tremendous words, a thousand-fold
+repeated. Licinius seized the Emperor by the wrist and dragged him under
+the cover of some bushes.
+
+"Be still, Cæsar! For your life be still!" he whispered. "One word and
+we are lost!"
+
+Crouching in the darkness, they saw that wild procession pass, the
+rushing, screaming figures, the tossing arms, the bearded, distorted
+faces, now scarlet and now grey, as the brandished torches waxed or
+waned. They heard the rush of many feet, the clamour of hoarse voices,
+the clang of metal upon metal. And then suddenly, above them all, they
+saw a vision of a monstrous man, a huge bowed back, a savage face, grim
+hawk eyes, that looked out over the swaying shields. It was seen for an
+instant in a smoke-fringed circle of fire, and then it had swept on into
+the night.
+
+"Who is he?" stammered the Emperor, clutching at his guardsman's sleeve.
+"They call him Cæsar."
+
+"It is surely Maximin the Thracian peasant." In the darkness the
+Prætorian officer looked with strange eyes at his master.
+
+"It is all over, Cæsar. Let us fly together to your tent."
+
+But even as they went a second shout had broken forth tenfold louder
+than the first. If the one had been the roar of the oncoming wave, the
+other was the full turmoil of the tempest. Twenty thousand voices from
+the camp had broken into one wild shout which echoed through the night,
+until the distant Germans round their watch-fires listened in wonder and
+alarm.
+
+"Ave!" cried the voices. "Ave Maximinus Augustus!"
+
+High upon their bucklers stood the giant, and looked round him at the
+great floor of up-turned faces below. His own savage soul was stirred by
+the clamour, but only his gleaming eyes spoke of the fire within. He
+waved his hand to the shouting soldiers as the huntsman waves to the
+leaping pack. They passed him up a coronet of oak leaves, and clashed
+their swords in homage as he placed it on his head. And then there came
+a swirl in the crowd before him, a little space was cleared, and there
+knelt an officer in the Prætorian garb, blood upon his face, blood upon
+his bared forearm, blood upon his naked sword. Licinius too had gone
+with the tide.
+
+"Hail, Cæsar, hail!" he cried, as he bowed his head before the giant. "I
+come from Alexander. He will trouble you no more."
+
+
+III: THE FALL OF GIANT MAXIMIN
+
+For three years the soldier Emperor had been upon the throne. His palace
+had been his tent, and his people had been the legionaries. With them he
+was supreme; away from them he was nothing. He had gone with them from
+one frontier to the other. He had fought against Dacians, Sarmatians,
+and once again against the Germans. But Rome knew nothing of him, and
+all her turbulence rose against a master who cared so little for her or
+her opinion that he never deigned to set foot within her walls. There
+were cabals and conspiracies against the absent Cæsar. Then his heavy
+hand fell upon them, and they were cuffed, even as the young soldiers
+had been who passed under his discipline. He knew nothing, and cared as
+much for consuls, senates, and civil laws. His own will and the power of
+the sword were the only forces which he could understand. Of commerce
+and the arts he was as ignorant as when he left his Thracian home. The
+whole vast Empire was to him a huge machine for producing the money by
+which the legions were to be rewarded. Should he fail to get that money,
+his fellow soldiers would bear him a grudge. To watch their interests
+they had raised him upon their shields that night. If city funds had to
+be plundered or temples desecrated, still the money must be got. Such
+was the point of view of Giant Maximin.
+
+But there came resistance, and all the fierce energy of the man, all the
+hardness which had given him the leadership of hard men, sprang forth to
+quell it. From his youth he had lived amidst slaughter. Life and death
+were cheap things to him. He struck savagely at all who stood up to
+him, and when they hit back, he struck more savagely still. His giant
+shadow lay black across the Empire from Britain to Syria. A strange
+subtle vindictiveness became also apparent in him. Omnipotence ripened
+every fault and swelled it into crime. In the old days he had been
+rebuked for his roughness. Now a sullen, dangerous anger rose against
+those who had rebuked him. He sat by the hour with his craggy chin
+between his hands, and his elbows resting on his knees, while he
+recalled all the misadventures, all the vexations of his early youth,
+when Roman wits had shot their little satires upon his bulk and his
+ignorance. He could not write, but his son Verus placed the names upon
+his tablets, and they were sent to the Governor of Rome. Men who had
+long forgotten their offence were called suddenly to make most bloody
+reparation.
+
+A rebellion broke out in Africa, but was quelled by his lieutenant. But
+the mere rumour of it set Rome in a turmoil. The Senate found something
+of its ancient spirit. So did the Italian people. They would not be for
+ever bullied by the legions. As Maximin approached from the frontier,
+with the sack of rebellious Rome in his mind, he was faced with every
+sign of a national resistance. The country-side was deserted, the farms
+abandoned, the fields cleared of crops and cattle. Before him lay the
+walled town of Aquileia. He flung himself fiercely upon it, but was met
+by as fierce a resistance. The walls could not be forced, and yet there
+was no food in the country round for his legions. The men were starving
+and dissatisfied. What did it matter to them who was Emperor? Maximin
+was no better than themselves. Why should they call down the curse of
+the whole Empire upon their heads by upholding him? He saw their sullen
+faces and their averted eyes, and he knew that the end had come.
+
+That night he sat with his son Verus in his tent, and he spoke softly
+and gently as the youth had never heard him speak before. He had spoken
+thus in old days with Paullina, the boy's mother; but she had been dead
+these many years, and all that was soft and gentle in the big man had
+passed away with her. Now her spirit seemed very near him, and his own
+was tempered by its presence.
+
+"I would have you go back to the Thracian mountains," he said. "I have
+tried both, boy, and I can tell you that there is no pleasure which
+power can bring which can equal the breath of the wind and the smell of
+the kine upon a summer morning. Against you they have no quarrel. Why
+should they mishandle you? Keep far from Rome and the Romans. Old
+Eudoxus has money, and to spare. He awaits you with two horses outside
+the camp. Make for the valley of the Harpessus, lad. It was thence that
+your father came, and there you will find his kin. Buy and stock a
+homestead, and keep yourself far from the paths of greatness and of
+danger. God keep you, Verus, and send you safe to Thrace."
+
+When his son had kissed his hand and had left him, the Emperor drew his
+robe around him and sat long in thought. In his slow brain he revolved
+the past--his early peaceful days, his years with Severus, his memories
+of Britain, his long campaigns, his strivings and battlings, all leading
+to that mad night by the Rhine. His fellow soldiers had loved him then.
+And now he had read death in their eyes. How had he failed them? Others
+he might have wronged, but they at least had no complaint against him.
+If he had his time again, he would think less of them and more of his
+people, he would try to win love instead of fear, he would live for
+peace and not for war. If he had his time again! But there were
+shuffling steps, furtive whispers, and the low rattle of arms outside
+his tent. A bearded face looked in at him, a swarthy African face that
+he knew well. He laughed, and baring his arm, he took his sword from the
+table beside him.
+
+"It is you, Sulpicius," said he. "You have not come to cry 'Ave
+Imperator Maximin!' as once by the camp fire. You are tired of me, and
+by the gods I am tired of you, and glad to be at the end of it. Come and
+have done with it, for I am minded to see how many of you I can take
+with me when I go."
+
+They clustered at the door of the tent, peeping over each other's
+shoulders, and none wishing to be the first to close with that laughing,
+mocking giant. But something was pushed forward upon a spear point, and
+as he saw it, Maximin groaned and his sword sank to the earth.
+
+"You might have spared the boy," he sobbed. "He would not have hurt
+you. Have done with it then, for I will gladly follow him."
+
+So they closed upon him and cut and stabbed and thrust, until his knees
+gave way beneath him and he dropped upon the floor.
+
+"The tyrant is dead!" they cried. "The tyrant is dead," and from all the
+camp beneath them and from the walls of the beleaguered city the joyous
+cry came echoing back, "He is dead, Maximin is dead!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I sit in my study, and upon the table before me lies a denarius of
+Maximin, as fresh as when the triumvir of the Temple of Juno Moneta sent
+it from the mint. Around it are recorded his resounding
+titles--Imperator Maximinus, Pontifex Maximus, Tribunitia potestate, and
+the rest. In the centre is the impress of a great craggy head, a massive
+jaw, a rude fighting face, a contracted forehead. For all the pompous
+roll of titles it is a peasant's face, and I see him not as the Emperor
+of Rome, but as the great Thracian boor who strode down the hill-side on
+that far-distant summer day when first the eagles beckoned him to Rome.
+
+
+
+
+IX
+
+THE RED STAR
+
+
+The house of Theodosius, the famous eastern merchant, was in the best
+part of Constantinople at the Sea Point which is near the church of
+Saint Demetrius. Here he would entertain in so princely a fashion that
+even the Emperor Maurice had been known to come privately from the
+neighbouring Bucoleon palace in order to join in the revelry. On the
+night in question, however, which was the fourth of November in the year
+of our Lord 630, his numerous guests had retired early, and there
+remained only two intimates, both of them successful merchants like
+himself, who sat with him over their wine on the marble verandah of his
+house, whence on the one side they could see the lights of the shipping
+in the Sea of Marmora, and on the other the beacons which marked out the
+course of the Bosphorus. Immediately at their feet lay a narrow strait
+of water, with the low, dark loom of the Asiatic hills beyond. A thin
+haze hid the heavens, but away to the south a single great red star
+burned sullenly in the darkness.
+
+The night was cool, the light was soothing, and the three men talked
+freely, letting their minds drift back into the earlier days when they
+had staked their capital, and often their lives, on the ventures which
+had built up their present fortunes. The host spoke of his long journeys
+in North Africa, the land of the Moors; how he had travelled, keeping
+the blue sea ever upon his right, until he had passed the ruins of
+Carthage, and so on and ever on until a great tidal ocean beat upon a
+yellow strand before him, while on the right he could see the high rock
+across the waves which marked the Pillars of Hercules. His talk was of
+dark-skinned bearded men, of lions, and of monstrous serpents. Then
+Demetrius, the Cilician, an austere man of sixty, told how he also had
+built up his mighty wealth. He spoke of a journey over the Danube and
+through the country of the fierce Huns, until he and his friends had
+found themselves in the mighty forest of Germany, on the shores of the
+great river which is called the Elbe. His stories were of huge men,
+sluggish of mind, but murderous in their cups, of sudden midnight broils
+and nocturnal flights, of villages buried in dense woods, of bloody
+heathen sacrifices, and of the bears and wolves who haunted the forest
+paths. So the two elder men capped each other's stories and awoke each
+other's memories, while Manuel Ducas, the young merchant of gold and
+ostrich feathers, whose name was already known all over the Levant, sat
+in silence and listened to their talk. At last, however, they called
+upon him also for an anecdote, and leaning his cheek upon his elbow,
+with his eyes fixed upon the great red star which burned in the south,
+the younger man began to speak.
+
+"It is the sight of that star which brings a story into my mind," said
+he. "I do not know its name. Old Lascaris the astronomer would tell me
+if I asked, but I have no desire to know. Yet at this time of the year I
+always look out for it, and I never fail to see it burning in the same
+place. But it seems to me that it is redder and larger than it was.
+
+"It was some ten years ago that I made an expedition into Abyssinia,
+where I traded to such good effect that I set forth on my return with
+more than a hundred camel-loads of skins, ivory, gold, spices, and other
+African produce. I brought them to the sea-coast at Arsinoe, and carried
+them up the Arabian Gulf in five of the small boats of the country.
+Finally, I landed near Saba, which is a starting-point for caravans,
+and, having assembled my camels and hired a guard of forty men from the
+wandering Arabs, I set forth for Macoraba. From this point, which is the
+sacred city of the idolaters of those parts, one can always join the
+large caravans which go north twice a year to Jerusalem and the
+sea-coast of Syria.
+
+"Our route was a long and weary one. On our left hand was the Arabian
+Gulf, lying like a pool of molten metal under the glare of day, but
+changing to blood-red as the sun sank each evening behind the distant
+African coast. On our right was a monstrous desert which extends, so far
+as I know, across the whole of Arabia and away to the distant kingdom of
+the Persians. For many days we saw no sign of life save our own long,
+straggling line of laden camels with their tattered, swarthy guardians.
+In these deserts the soft sand deadens the footfall of the animals, so
+that their silent progress day after day through a scene which never
+changes, and which is itself noiseless, becomes at last like a strange
+dream. Often as I rode behind my caravan, and gazed at the grotesque
+figures which bore my wares in front of me, I found it hard to believe
+that it was indeed reality, and that it was I, I, Manuel Ducas, who
+lived near the Theodosian Gate of Constantinople, and shouted for the
+Green at the hippodrome every Sunday afternoon, who was there in so
+strange a land and with such singular comrades.
+
+"Now and then, far out at sea, we caught sight of the white triangular
+sails of the boats which these people use, but as they are all pirates,
+we were very glad to be safely upon shore. Once or twice, too, by the
+water's edge we saw dwarfish creatures--one could scarcely say if they
+were men or monkeys--who burrow for homes among the seaweed, drink the
+pools of brackish water, and eat what they can catch. These are the
+fish-eaters, the Ichthyophagi, of whom old Herodotus talks--surely the
+lowest of all the human race. Our Arabs shrank from them with horror,
+for it is well known that, should you die in the desert, these little
+people will settle on you like carrion crows, and leave not a bone
+unpicked. They gibbered and croaked and waved their skinny arms at us as
+we passed, knowing well that they could swim far out to sea if we
+attempted to pursue them; for it is said that even the sharks turn with
+disgust from their foul bodies.
+
+"We had travelled in this way for ten days, camping every evening at the
+vile wells which offered a small quantity of abominable water. It was
+our habit to rise very early and to travel very late, but to halt during
+the intolerable heat of the afternoon, when, for want of trees, we would
+crouch in the shadow of a sandhill, or, if that were wanting, behind our
+own camels and merchandise, in order to escape from the insufferable
+glare of the sun. On the seventh day we were near the point where one
+leaves the coast in order to strike inland to Macoraba. We had concluded
+our midday halt, and were just starting once more, the sun still being
+so hot that we could hardly bear it, when, looking up, I saw a
+remarkable sight. Standing on a hillock to our right there was a man
+about forty feet high, holding in his hand a spear which was the size
+of the mast of a large ship. You look surprised, my friends, and you can
+therefore imagine my feelings when I saw such a sight. But my reason
+soon told me that the object in front of me was really a wandering Arab,
+whose form had been enormously magnified by the strange distorting
+effects which the hot air of the desert is able to cause.
+
+"However, the actual apparition caused more alarm to my companions than
+the imagined one had to me, for with a howl of dismay they shrank
+together into a frightened group, all pointing and gesticulating as they
+gazed at the distant figure. I then observed that the man was not alone,
+but that from all the sandhills a line of turbaned heads was gazing down
+upon us. The chief of the escort came running to me, and informed me of
+the cause of their terror, which was that they recognised, by some
+peculiarity in their headgear, that these men belonged to the tribe of
+the Dilwas, the most ferocious and unscrupulous of the Bedouin, who had
+evidently laid an ambuscade for us at this point with the intention of
+seizing our caravan. When I thought of all my efforts in Abyssinia, of
+the length of my journey and of the dangers and fatigues which I had
+endured, I could not bear to think of this total disaster coming upon me
+at the last instant and robbing me not only of my profits, but also of
+my original outlay. It was evident, however, that the robbers were too
+numerous for us to attempt to defend ourselves, and that we should be
+very fortunate if we escaped with our lives. Sitting upon a packet,
+therefore, I commended my soul to our blessed Saint Helena, while I
+watched with despairing eyes the stealthy and menacing approach of the
+Arab robbers.
+
+"It may have been our own good fortune, or it may have been the handsome
+offering of beeswax candles--four to the pound--which I had mentally
+vowed to the Blessed Helena, but at that instant I heard a great outcry
+of joy from among my own followers. Standing up on the packet that I
+might have a better view, I was overjoyed to see a long caravan--five
+hundred camels at least--with a numerous armed guard, coming along the
+route from Macoraba. It is, I need not tell you, the custom of all
+caravans to combine their forces against the robbers of the desert, and
+with the aid of these new-comers we had become the stronger party. The
+marauders recognised it at once, for they vanished as if their native
+sands had swallowed them. Running up to the summit of a sandhill, I was
+just able to catch a glimpse of a dust-cloud whirling away across the
+yellow plain, with the long necks of their camels, the flutter of their
+loose garments, and the gleam of their spears breaking out from the
+heart of it. So vanished the marauders.
+
+"Presently I found, however, that I had only exchanged one danger for
+another. At first I had hoped that this new caravan might belong to some
+Roman citizen, or at least to some Syrian Christian, but I found that it
+was entirely Arab. The trading Arabs who are settled in the numerous
+towns of Arabia are, of course, very much more peaceable than the
+Bedouin of the wilderness, those sons of Ishmael of whom we read in Holy
+Writ. But the Arab blood is covetous and lawless, so that when I saw
+several hundred of them formed in a semi-circle round our camels,
+looking with greedy eyes at my boxes of precious metals and my packets
+of ostrich feathers, I feared the worst.
+
+"The leader of the new caravan was a man of dignified bearing and
+remarkable appearance. His age I would judge to be about forty. He had
+aquiline features, a noble black beard, and eyes so luminous, so
+searching, and so intense that I cannot remember in all my wanderings to
+have seen any which could be compared with them. To my thanks and
+salutations he returned a formal bow, and stood stroking his beard and
+looking in silence at the wealth which had suddenly fallen into his
+power. A murmur from his followers showed the eagerness with which they
+awaited the order to fall upon the plunder, and a young ruffian, who
+seemed to be on intimate terms with the leader, came to his elbow and
+put the desires of his companions into words.
+
+"'Surely, oh Reverend One,' said he, 'these people and their treasure
+have been delivered into our hands. When we return with it to the holy
+place, who of all the Koraish will fail to see the finger of God which
+has led us?'
+
+"But the leader shook his head. 'Nay, Ali, it may not be,' he answered.
+'This man is, as I judge, a citizen of Rome, and we may not treat him as
+though he were an idolater.'
+
+"'But he is an unbeliever,' cried the youth, fingering a great knife
+which hung in his belt. 'Were I to be the judge, he would lose not only
+his merchandise, but his life also, if he did not accept the faith.'
+
+"The older man smiled and shook his head. 'Nay, Ali; you are too
+hot-headed,' said he, 'seeing that there are not as yet three hundred
+faithful in the world, our hands would indeed be full if we were to take
+the lives and property of all who are not with us. Forget not, dear lad,
+that charity and honesty are the very nose-ring and halter of the true
+faith.'
+
+"'Among the faithful,' said the ferocious youth.
+
+"'Nay, towards every one. It is the law of Allah. And yet'--here his
+countenance darkened, and his eyes shone with a most sinister
+light--'the day may soon come when the hour of grace is past, and woe,
+then, to those who have not hearkened! Then shall the sword of Allah be
+drawn, and it shall not be sheathed until the harvest is reaped. First
+it shall strike the idolaters on the day when my own people and kinsmen,
+the unbelieving Koraish, shall be scattered, and the three hundred and
+sixty idols of the Caaba thrust out upon the dung-heaps of the town.
+Then shall the Caaba be the home and temple of one God only who brooks
+no rival on earth or in heaven.'
+
+"The man's followers had gathered round him, their spears in their
+hands, their ardent eyes fixed upon his face, and their dark features
+convulsed with such fanatic enthusiasm as showed the hold which he had
+upon their love and respect.
+
+"'We shall be patient,' said he; 'but some time next year, the year
+after, the day may come when the great angel Gabriel shall bear me the
+message that the time of words has gone by, and that the hour of the
+sword has come. We are few and weak, but if it is His will, who can
+stand against us? Are you of Jewish faith, stranger?' he asked.
+
+"I answered that I was not.
+
+"'The better for you,' he answered, with the same furious anger in his
+swarthy face. 'First shall the idolaters fall, and then the Jews, in
+that they have not known those very prophets whom they had themselves
+foretold. Then last will come the turn of the Christians, who follow
+indeed a true Prophet, greater than Moses or Abraham, but who have
+sinned in that they have confounded a creature with the Creator. To each
+in turn--idolater, Jew, and Christian--the day of reckoning will come.'
+
+"The ragamuffins behind him all shook their spears as he spoke. There
+was no doubt about their earnestness, but when I looked at their
+tattered dresses and simple arms, I could not help smiling to think of
+their ambitious threats, and to picture what their fate would be upon
+the day of battle before the battle-axes of our Imperial Guards, or the
+spears of the heavy cavalry of the Armenian Themes. However, I need not
+say that I was discreet enough to keep my thoughts to myself, as I had
+no desire to be the first martyr in this fresh attack upon our blessed
+faith.
+
+"It was now evening, and it was decided that the two caravans should
+camp together--an arrangement which was the more welcome as we were by
+no means sure that we had seen the last of the marauders. I had invited
+the leader of the Arabs to have supper with me, and after a long
+exercise of prayer with his followers, he came to join me, but my
+attempt at hospitality was thrown away, for he would not touch the
+excellent wine which I had unpacked for him, nor would he eat any of my
+dainties, contenting himself with stale bread, dried dates, and water.
+After this meal we sat alone by the smouldering fire, the magnificent
+arch of the heavens above us of that deep, rich blue with those
+gleaming, clear-cut stars which can only be seen in that dry desert air.
+Our camp lay before us, and no sound reached our ears save the dull
+murmur of the voices of our companions and the occasional shrill cry of
+a jackal among the sandhills around us. Face to face I sat with this
+strange man, the glow of the fire beating upon his eager and imperious
+features and reflecting from his passionate eyes. It was the strangest
+vigil, and one which will never pass from my recollection. I have spoken
+with many wise and famous men upon my travels, but never with one who
+left the impression of this one.
+
+"And yet much of his talk was unintelligible to me, though, as you are
+aware, I speak Arabian like an Arab. It rose and fell in the strangest
+way. Sometimes it was the babble of a child, sometimes the incoherent
+raving of a fanatic, sometimes the lofty dreams of a prophet and
+philosopher. There were times when his stories of demons, of miracles,
+of dreams, and of omens, were such as an old woman might tell to please
+the children of an evening. There were others when, as he talked with
+shining face of his converse with angels, of the intentions of the
+Creator, and the end of the universe, I felt as if I were in the company
+of some one more than mortal, some one who was indeed the direct
+messenger of the Most High.
+
+"There were good reasons why he should treat me with such confidence. He
+saw in me a messenger to Constantinople and to the Roman Empire. Even as
+Saint Paul had brought Christianity to Europe, so he hoped that I might
+carry his doctrines to my native city. Alas! be the doctrines what they
+may, I fear that I am not the stuff of which Pauls are made. Yet he
+strove with all his heart during that long Arabian night to bring me
+over to his belief. He had with him a holy book, written, as he said,
+from the dictation of an angel, which he carried in tablets of bone in
+the nose-bag of a camel. Some chapters of this he read me; but, though
+the precepts were usually good, the language seemed wild and fanciful.
+There were times when I could scarce keep my countenance as I listened
+to him. He planned out his future movements, and indeed, as he spoke, it
+was hard to remember that he was only the wandering leader of an Arab
+caravan, and not one of the great ones of the earth.
+
+"'When God has given me sufficient power, which will be within a few
+years,' said he, 'I will unite all Arabia under my banner. Then I will
+spread my doctrine over Syria and Egypt. When this has been done, I will
+turn to Persia, and give them the choice of the true faith or the sword.
+Having taken Persia, it will be easy then to overrun Asia Minor, and so
+to make our way to Constantinople.'
+
+"I bit my lip to keep from laughing. 'And how long will it be before
+your victorious troops have reached the Bosphorus?' I asked.
+
+"'Such things are in the hands of God, whose servants we are,' said he.
+'It may be that I shall myself have passed away before these things are
+accomplished, but before the days of our children are completed, all
+that I have now told you will come to pass. Look at that star,' he
+added, pointing to a beautiful clear planet above our heads. 'That is
+the symbol of Christ. See how serene and peaceful it shines, like His
+own teaching and the memory of His life. Now,' he added, turning his
+outstretched hand to a dusky red star upon the horizon--the very one on
+which we are gazing now--'that is my star, which tells of wrath, of war,
+of a scourge upon sinners. And yet both are indeed stars, and each does
+as Allah may ordain.'
+
+"Well, that was the experience which was called to my mind by the sight
+of this star to-night. Red and angry, it still broods over the south,
+even as I saw it that night in the desert. Somewhere down yonder that
+man is working and striving. He may be stabbed by some brother fanatic
+or slain in a tribal skirmish. If so, that is the end. But if he lives,
+there was that in his eyes and in his presence which tells me that
+Mahomet the son of Abdallah--for that was his name--will testify in some
+noteworthy fashion to the faith that is in him."
+
+
+
+
+X
+
+THE SILVER MIRROR
+
+
+_Jan. 3._--This affair of White and Wotherspoon's accounts proves to be
+a gigantic task. There are twenty thick ledgers to be examined and
+checked. Who would be a junior partner? However, it is the first big bit
+of business which has been left entirely in my hands. I must justify it.
+But it has to be finished so that the lawyers may have the result in
+time for the trial. Johnson said this morning that I should have to get
+the last figure out before the twentieth of the month. Good Lord! Well,
+have at it, and if human brain and nerve can stand the strain, I'll win
+out at the other side. It means office-work from ten to five, and then a
+second sitting from about eight to one in the morning. There's drama in
+an accountant's life. When I find myself in the still early hours, while
+all the world sleeps, hunting through column after column for those
+missing figures which will turn a respected alderman into a felon, I
+understand that it is not such a prosaic profession after all.
+
+On Monday I came on the first trace of defalcation. No heavy game hunter
+ever got a finer thrill when first he caught sight of the trail of his
+quarry. But I look at the twenty ledgers and think of the jungle through
+which I have to follow him before I get my kill. Hard work--but rare
+sport, too, in a way! I saw the fat fellow once at a City dinner, his
+red face glowing above a white napkin. He looked at the little pale man
+at the end of the table. He would have been pale too if he could have
+seen the task that would be mine.
+
+_Jan. 6._--What perfect nonsense it is for doctors to prescribe rest
+when rest is out of the question! Asses! They might as well shout to a
+man who has a pack of wolves at his heels that what he wants is absolute
+quiet. My figures must be out by a certain date; unless they are so, I
+shall lose the chance of my lifetime, so how on earth am I to rest? I'll
+take a week or so after the trial.
+
+Perhaps I was myself a fool to go to the doctor at all. But I get
+nervous and highly-strung when I sit alone at my work at night. It's
+not a pain--only a sort of fullness of the head with an occasional mist
+over the eyes. I thought perhaps some bromide, or chloral, or something
+of the kind might do me good. But stop work? It's absurd to ask such a
+thing. It's like a long distance race. You feel queer at first and your
+heart thumps and your lungs pant, but if you have only the pluck to keep
+on, you get your second wind. I'll stick to my work and wait for my
+second wind. If it never comes--all the same, I'll stick to my work. Two
+ledgers are done, and I am well on in the third. The rascal has covered
+his tracks well, but I pick them up for all that.
+
+_Jan. 9._--I had not meant to go to the doctor again. And yet I have had
+to. "Straining my nerves, risking a complete breakdown, even endangering
+my sanity." That's a nice sentence to have fired off at one. Well, I'll
+stand the strain and I'll take the risk, and so long as I can sit in my
+chair and move a pen I'll follow the old sinner's slot.
+
+By the way, I may as well set down here the queer experience which drove
+me this second time to the doctor. I'll keep an exact record of my
+symptoms and sensations, because they are interesting in themselves--"a
+curious psycho-physiological study," says the doctor--and also because I
+am perfectly certain that when I am through with them they will all seem
+blurred and unreal, like some queer dream betwixt sleeping and waking.
+So now, while they are fresh, I will just make a note of them, if only
+as a change of thought after the endless figures.
+
+There's an old silver-framed mirror in my room. It was given me by a
+friend who had a taste for antiquities, and he, as I happen to know,
+picked it up at a sale and had no notion where it came from. It's a
+large thing--three feet across and two feet high--and it leans at the
+back of a side-table on my left as I write. The frame is flat, about
+three inches across, and very old; far too old for hall-marks or other
+methods of determining its age. The glass part projects, with a bevelled
+edge, and has the magnificent reflecting power which is only, as it
+seems to me, to be found in very old mirrors. There's a feeling of
+perspective when you look into it such as no modern glass can ever give.
+
+The mirror is so situated that as I sit at the table I can usually see
+nothing in it but the reflection of the red window curtains. But a queer
+thing happened last night. I had been working for some hours, very much
+against the grain, with continual bouts of that mistiness of which I had
+complained. Again and again I had to stop and clear my eyes. Well, on
+one of these occasions I chanced to look at the mirror. It had the
+oddest appearance. The red curtains which should have been reflected in
+it were no longer there, but the glass seemed to be clouded and steamy,
+not on the surface, which glittered like steel, but deep down in the
+very grain of it. This opacity, when I stared hard at it, appeared to
+slowly rotate this way and that, until it was a thick white cloud
+swirling in heavy wreaths. So real and solid was it, and so reasonable
+was I, that I remember turning, with the idea that the curtains were on
+fire. But everything was deadly still in the room--no sound save the
+ticking of the clock, no movement save the slow gyration of that strange
+woolly cloud deep in the heart of the old mirror.
+
+Then, as I looked, the mist, or smoke, or cloud, or whatever one may
+call it, seemed to coalesce and solidify at two points quite close
+together, and I was aware, with a thrill of interest rather than of
+fear, that these were two eyes looking out into the room. A vague
+outline of a head I could see--a woman's by the hair, but this was very
+shadowy. Only the eyes were quite distinct; such eyes--dark, luminous,
+filled with some passionate emotion, fury or horror, I could not say
+which. Never have I seen eyes which were so full of intense, vivid life.
+They were not fixed upon me, but stared out into the room. Then as I sat
+erect, passed my hand over my brow, and made a strong conscious effort
+to pull myself together, the dim head faded in the general opacity, the
+mirror slowly cleared, and there were the red curtains once again.
+
+A sceptic would say, no doubt, that I had dropped asleep over my
+figures, and that my experience was a dream. As a matter of fact, I was
+never more vividly awake in my life. I was able to argue about it even
+as I looked at it, and to tell myself that it was a subjective
+impression--a chimera of the nerves--begotten by worry and insomnia. But
+why this particular shape? And who is the woman, and what is the
+dreadful emotion which I read in those wonderful brown eyes? They come
+between me and my work. For the first time I have done less than the
+daily tally which I had marked out. Perhaps that is why I have had no
+abnormal sensations to-night. To-morrow I must wake up, come what may.
+
+_Jan. 11._--All well, and good progress with my work. I wind the net,
+coil after coil, round that bulky body. But the last smile may remain
+with him if my own nerves break over it. The mirror would seem to be a
+sort of barometer which marks my brain pressure. Each night I have
+observed that it had clouded before I reached the end of my task.
+
+Dr. Sinclair (who is, it seems, a bit of a psychologist) was so
+interested in my account that he came round this evening to have a look
+at the mirror. I had observed that something was scribbled in crabbed
+old characters upon the metal work at the back. He examined this with a
+lens, but could make nothing of it. "Sanc. X. Pal." was his final
+reading of it, but that did not bring us any further. He advised me to
+put it away into another room, but, after all, whatever I may see in it
+is, by his own account, only a symptom. It is in the cause that the
+danger lies. The twenty ledgers--not the silver mirror--should be packed
+away if I could only do it. I'm at the eighth now, so I progress.
+
+_Jan. 13._--Perhaps it would have been wiser after all if I had packed
+away the mirror. I had an extraordinary experience with it last night.
+And yet I find it so interesting, so fascinating, that even now I will
+keep it in its place. What on earth is the meaning of it all?
+
+I suppose it was about one in the morning, and I was closing my books
+preparatory to staggering off to bed, when I saw her there in front of
+me. The stage of mistiness and development must have passed unobserved,
+and there she was in all her beauty and passion and distress, as
+clear-cut as if she were really in the flesh before me. The figure was
+small, but very distinct--so much so that every feature, and every
+detail of dress, are stamped in my memory. She is seated on the extreme
+left of the mirror. A sort of shadowy figure crouches down beside her--I
+can dimly discern that it is a man--and then behind them is cloud, in
+which I see figures--figures which move. It is not a mere picture upon
+which I look. It is a scene in life, an actual episode. She crouches and
+quivers. The man beside her cowers down. The vague figures make abrupt
+movements and gestures. All my fears were swallowed up in my interest.
+It was maddening to see so much and not to see more.
+
+But I can at least describe the woman to the smallest point. She is very
+beautiful and quite young--not more than five-and-twenty, I should
+judge. Her hair is of a very rich brown, with a warm chestnut shade
+fining into gold at the edges. A little flat-pointed cap comes to an
+angle in front and is made of lace edged with pearls. The forehead is
+high, too high perhaps for perfect beauty; but one would not have it
+otherwise, as it gives a touch of power and strength to what would
+otherwise be a softly feminine face. The brows are most delicately
+curved over heavy eyelids, and then come those wonderful eyes--so large,
+so dark, so full of overmastering emotion, of rage and horror,
+contending with a pride of self-control which holds her from sheer
+frenzy! The cheeks are pale, the lips white with agony, the chin and
+throat most exquisitely rounded. The figure sits and leans forward in
+the chair, straining and rigid, cataleptic with horror. The dress is
+black velvet, a jewel gleams like a flame in the breast, and a golden
+crucifix smoulders in the shadow of a fold. This is the lady whose image
+still lives in the old silver mirror. What dire deed could it be which
+has left its impress there, so that now, in another age, if the spirit
+of a man be but worn down to it, he may be conscious of its presence?
+
+One other detail: On the left side of the skirt of the black dress was,
+as I thought at first, a shapeless bunch of white ribbon. Then, as I
+looked more intently or as the vision defined itself more clearly, I
+perceived what it was. It was the hand of a man, clenched and knotted in
+agony, which held on with a convulsive grasp to the fold of the dress.
+The rest of the crouching figure was a mere vague outline, but that
+strenuous hand shone clear on the dark background, with a sinister
+suggestion of tragedy in its frantic clutch. The man is
+frightened--horribly frightened. That I can clearly discern. What has
+terrified him so? Why does he grip the woman's dress? The answer lies
+amongst those moving figures in the background. They have brought
+danger both to him and to her. The interest of the thing fascinated me.
+I thought no more of its relation to my own nerves. I stared and stared
+as if in a theatre. But I could get no further. The mist thinned. There
+were tumultuous movements in which all the figures were vaguely
+concerned. Then the mirror was clear once more.
+
+The doctor says I must drop work for a day, and I can afford to do so,
+for I have made good progress lately. It is quite evident that the
+visions depend entirely upon my own nervous state, for I sat in front of
+the mirror for an hour to-night, with no result whatever. My soothing
+day has chased them away. I wonder whether I shall ever penetrate what
+they all mean? I examined the mirror this evening under a good light,
+and besides the mysterious inscription "Sanc. X. Pal.," I was able to
+discern some signs of heraldic marks, very faintly visible upon the
+silver. They must be very ancient, as they are almost obliterated. So
+far as I could make out, they were three spear-heads, two above and one
+below. I will show them to the doctor when he calls to-morrow.
+
+_Jan. 14._--Feel perfectly well again, and I intend that nothing else
+shall stop me until my task is finished. The doctor was shown the marks
+on the mirror and agreed that they were armorial bearings. He is deeply
+interested in all that I have told him, and cross-questioned me closely
+on the details. It amuses me to notice how he is torn in two by
+conflicting desires--the one that his patient should lose his symptoms,
+the other that the medium--for so he regards me--should solve this
+mystery of the past. He advised continued rest, but did not oppose me
+too violently when I declared that such a thing was out of the question
+until the ten remaining ledgers have been checked.
+
+_Jan. 17._--For three nights I have had no experiences--my day of rest
+has borne fruit. Only a quarter of my task is left, but I must make a
+forced march, for the lawyers are clamouring for their material. I will
+give them enough and to spare. I have him fast on a hundred counts. When
+they realise what a slippery, cunning rascal he is, I should gain some
+credit from the case. False trading accounts, false balance-sheets,
+dividends drawn from capital, losses written down as profits,
+suppression of working expenses, manipulation of petty cash--it is a
+fine record!
+
+_Jan. 18._--Headaches, nervous twitches, mistiness, fullness of the
+temples--all the premonitions of trouble, and the trouble came sure
+enough. And yet my real sorrow is not so much that the vision should
+come as that it should cease before all is revealed.
+
+But I saw more to-night. The crouching man was as visible as the lady
+whose gown he clutched. He is a little swarthy fellow, with a black
+pointed beard. He has a loose gown of damask trimmed with fur. The
+prevailing tints of his dress are red. What a fright the fellow is in,
+to be sure! He cowers and shivers and glares back over his shoulder.
+There is a small knife in his other hand, but he is far too tremulous
+and cowed to use it. Dimly now I begin to see the figures in the
+background. Fierce faces, bearded and dark, shape themselves out of the
+mist. There is one terrible creature, a skeleton of a man, with hollow
+cheeks and eyes sunk in his head. He also has a knife in his hand. On
+the right of the woman stands a tall man, very young, with flaxen hair,
+his face sullen and dour. The beautiful woman looks up at him in
+appeal. So does the man on the ground. This youth seems to be the
+arbiter of their fate. The crouching man draws closer and hides himself
+in the woman's skirts. The tall youth bends and tries to drag her away
+from him. So much I saw last night before the mirror cleared. Shall I
+never know what it leads to and whence it comes? It is not a mere
+imagination, of that I am very sure. Somewhere, some time, this scene
+has been acted, and this old mirror has reflected it. But when--where?
+
+_Jan. 20._--My work draws to a close, and it is time. I feel a tenseness
+within my brain, a sense of intolerable strain, which warns me that
+something must give. I have worked myself to the limit. But to-night
+should be the last night. With a supreme effort I should finish the
+final ledger and complete the case before I rise from my chair. I will
+do it. I will.
+
+_Feb. 7._--I did. My God, what an experience! I hardly know if I am
+strong enough yet to set it down.
+
+Let me explain in the first instance that I am writing this in Dr.
+Sinclair's private hospital some three weeks after the last entry in my
+diary. On the night of January 20 my nervous system finally gave way,
+and I remembered nothing afterwards until I found myself three days ago
+in this home of rest. And I can rest with a good conscience. My work was
+done before I went under. My figures are in the solicitors' hands. The
+hunt is over.
+
+And now I must describe that last night. I had sworn to finish my work,
+and so intently did I stick to it, though my head was bursting, that I
+would never look up until the last column had been added. And yet it was
+fine self-restraint, for all the time I knew that wonderful things were
+happening in the mirror. Every nerve in my body told me so. If I looked
+up there was an end of my work. So I did not look up till all was
+finished. Then, when at last with throbbing temples I threw down my pen
+and raised my eyes, what a sight was there!
+
+The mirror in its silver frame was like a stage, brilliantly lit, in
+which a drama was in progress. There was no mist now. The oppression of
+my nerves had wrought this amazing clarity. Every feature, every
+movement, was as clear-cut as in life. To think that I, a tired
+accountant, the most prosaic of mankind, with the account-books of a
+swindling bankrupt before me, should be chosen of all the human race to
+look upon such a scene!
+
+It was the same scene and the same figures, but the drama had advanced a
+stage. The tall young man was holding the woman in his arms. She
+strained away from him and looked up at him with loathing in her face.
+They had torn the crouching man away from his hold upon the skirt of her
+dress. A dozen of them were round him--savage men, bearded men. They
+hacked at him with knives. All seemed to strike him together. Their arms
+rose and fell. The blood did not flow from him--it squirted. His red
+dress was dabbled in it. He threw himself this way and that, purple upon
+crimson, like an over-ripe plum. Still they hacked, and still the jets
+shot from him. It was horrible--horrible! They dragged him kicking to
+the door. The woman looked over her shoulder at him and her mouth gaped.
+I heard nothing, but I knew that she was screaming. And then, whether it
+was this nerve-racking vision before me, or whether, my task finished,
+all the overwork of the past weeks came in one crushing weight upon me,
+the room danced round me, the floor seemed to sink away beneath my feet,
+and I remembered no more. In the early morning my landlady found me
+stretched senseless before the silver mirror, but I knew nothing myself
+until three days ago I awoke in the deep peace of the doctor's nursing
+home.
+
+_Feb. 9._--Only to-day have I told Dr. Sinclair my full experience. He
+had not allowed me to speak of such matters before. He listened with an
+absorbed interest. "You don't identify this with any well-known scene in
+history?" he asked, with suspicion in his eyes. I assured him that I
+knew nothing of history. "Have you no idea whence that mirror came and
+to whom it once belonged?" he continued. "Have you?" I asked, for he
+spoke with meaning. "It's incredible," said he, "and yet how else can
+one explain it? The scenes which you described before suggested it, but
+now it has gone beyond all range of coincidence. I will bring you some
+notes in the evening."
+
+_Later._--He has just left me. Let me set down his words as closely as I
+can recall them. He began by laying several musty volumes upon my bed.
+
+"These you can consult at your leisure," said he. "I have some notes
+here which you can confirm. There is not a doubt that what you have seen
+is the murder of Rizzio by the Scottish nobles in the presence of Mary,
+which occurred in March, 1566. Your description of the woman is
+accurate. The high forehead and heavy eyelids combined with great beauty
+could hardly apply to two women. The tall young man was her husband,
+Darnley. Rizzio, says the chronicle, 'was dressed in a loose
+dressing-gown of furred damask, with hose of russet velvet.' With one
+hand he clutched Mary's gown, with the other he held a dagger. Your
+fierce, hollow-eyed man was Ruthven, who was new-risen from a bed of
+sickness. Every detail is exact."
+
+"But why to me?" I asked, in bewilderment. "Why of all the human race to
+me?"
+
+"Because you were in the fit mental state to receive the impression.
+Because you chanced to own the mirror which gave the impression."
+
+"The mirror! You think, then, that it was Mary's mirror--that it stood
+in the room where the deed was done?"
+
+"I am convinced that it was Mary's mirror. She had been Queen of France.
+Her personal property would be stamped with the Royal arms. What you
+took to be three spear-heads were really the lilies of France."
+
+"And the inscription?"
+
+"'Sanc. X. Pal.' You can expand it into Sanctæ Crucis Palatium. Some one
+has made a note upon the mirror as to whence it came. It was the Palace
+of the Holy Cross."
+
+"Holyrood!" I cried.
+
+"Exactly. Your mirror came from Holyrood. You have had one very singular
+experience, and have escaped. I trust that you will never put yourself
+into the way of having such another."
+
+
+
+
+XI
+
+THE HOME-COMING
+
+
+In the spring of the year 528, a small brig used to run as a passenger
+boat between Chalcedon on the Asiatic shore and Constantinople. On the
+morning in question, which was that of the feast of Saint George, the
+vessel was crowded with excursionists who were bound for the great city
+in order to take part in the religious and festive celebrations which
+marked the festival of the Megalo-martyr, one of the most choice
+occasions in the whole vast hagiology of the Eastern Church. The day was
+fine and the breeze light, so that the passengers in their holiday mood
+were able to enjoy without a qualm the many objects of interest which
+marked the approach to the greatest and most beautiful capital in the
+world.
+
+On the right, as they sped up the narrow strait, there stretched the
+Asiatic shore, sprinkled with white villages and with numerous villas
+peeping out from the woods which adorned it. In front of them, the
+Prince's Islands, rising as green as emeralds out of the deep sapphire
+blue of the Sea of Marmora, obscured for the moment the view of the
+capital. As the brig rounded these, the great city burst suddenly upon
+their sight, and a murmur of admiration and wonder rose from the crowded
+deck. Tier above tier it rose, white and glittering, a hundred brazen
+roofs and gilded statues gleaming in the sun, with high over all the
+magnificent shining cupola of Saint Sophia. Seen against a cloudless
+sky, it was the city of a dream--too delicate, too airily lovely for
+earth.
+
+In the prow of the small vessel were two travellers of singular
+appearance. The one was a very beautiful boy, ten or twelve years of
+age, swarthy, clear-cut, with dark, curling hair and vivacious black
+eyes, full of intelligence and of the joy of living. The other was an
+elderly man, gaunt-faced and grey-bearded, whose stern features were lit
+up by a smile as he observed the excitement and interest with which his
+young companion viewed the beautiful distant city and the many vessels
+which thronged the narrow strait.
+
+"See! see!" cried the lad. "Look at the great red ships which sail out
+from yonder harbour. Surely, your holiness, they are the greatest of all
+ships in the world."
+
+The old man, who was the abbot of the monastery of Saint Nicephorus in
+Antioch, laid his hand upon the boy's shoulder.
+
+"Be wary, Leon, and speak less loudly, for until we have seen your
+mother we should keep ourselves secret. As to the red galleys they are
+indeed as large as any, for they are the Imperial ships of war, which
+come forth from the harbour of Theodosius. Round yonder green point is
+the Golden Horn, where the merchant ships are moored. But now, Leon, if
+you follow the line of buildings past the great church, you will see a
+long row of pillars fronting the sea. It marks the Palace of the
+Cæsars."
+
+The boy looked at it with fixed attention. "And my mother is there," he
+whispered.
+
+"Yes, Leon, your mother the Empress Theodora and her husband the great
+Justinian dwell in yonder palace."
+
+The boy looked wistfully up into the old man's face.
+
+"Are you sure, Father Luke, that my mother will indeed be glad to see
+me?"
+
+The abbot turned away his face to avoid those questioning eyes.
+
+"We cannot tell, Leon. We can only try. If it should prove that there is
+no place for you, then there is always a welcome among the brethren of
+Saint Nicephorus."
+
+"Why did you not tell my mother that we were coming, Father Luke? Why
+did you not wait until you had her command?"
+
+"At a distance, Leon, it would be easy to refuse you. An Imperial
+messenger would have stopped us. But when she sees you, Leon--your eyes,
+so like her own, your face, which carries memories of one whom she
+loved--then, if there be a woman's heart within her bosom, she will take
+you into it. They say that the Emperor can refuse her nothing. They have
+no child of their own. There is a great future before you, Leon. When it
+comes, do not forget the poor brethren of Saint Nicephorus, who took you
+in when you had no friend in the world."
+
+The old abbot spoke cheerily, but it was easy to see from his anxious
+countenance that the nearer he came to the capital the more doubtful
+did his errand appear. What had seemed easy and natural from the quiet
+cloisters of Antioch became dubious and dark now that the golden domes
+of Constantinople glittered so close at hand. Ten years before, a
+wretched woman, whose very name was an offence throughout the eastern
+world, where she was as infamous for her dishonour as famous for her
+beauty, had come to the monastery gate, and had persuaded the monks to
+take charge of her infant son, the child of her shame. There he had been
+ever since. But she, Theodora, the harlot, returning to the capital, had
+by the strangest turn of fortune's wheel caught the fancy and finally
+the enduring love of Justinian the heir to the throne. Then on the death
+of his uncle Justin, the young man had become the greatest monarch upon
+the earth, and raised Theodora to be not only his wife and Empress, but
+to be absolute ruler with powers equal to and independent of his own.
+And she, the polluted one, had risen to the dignity, had cut herself
+sternly away from all that related to her past life, and had shown signs
+already of being a great Queen, stronger and wiser than her husband,
+but fierce, vindictive, and unbending, a firm support to her friends,
+but a terror to her foes. This was the woman to whom the Abbot Luke of
+Antioch was bringing Leon, her forgotten son. If ever her mind strayed
+back to the days when, abandoned by her lover Ecebolus, the Governor of
+the African Pentapolis, she had made her way on foot through Asia Minor,
+and left her infant with the monks, it was only to persuade herself that
+the brethren cloistered far from the world would never identify Theodora
+the Empress with Theodora the dissolute wanderer, and that the fruits of
+her sin would be for ever concealed from her Imperial husband.
+
+The little brig had now rounded the point of the Acropolis, and the long
+blue stretch of the Golden Horn lay before it. The high wall of
+Theodosius lined the whole harbour, but a narrow verge of land had been
+left between it and the water's edge to serve as a quay. The vessel ran
+alongside near the Neorion Gate, and the passengers, after a short
+scrutiny from the group of helmeted guards who lounged beside it, were
+allowed to pass through into the great city.
+
+The abbot, who had made several visits to Constantinople upon the
+business of his monastery, walked with the assured step of one who knows
+his ground; while the boy, alarmed and yet pleased by the rush of
+people, the roar and clatter of passing chariots, and the vista of
+magnificent buildings, held tightly to the loose gown of his guide,
+while staring eagerly about him in every direction. Passing through the
+steep and narrow streets which led up from the water, they emerged into
+the open space which surrounds the magnificent pile of Saint Sophia, the
+great church begun by Constantine, hallowed by Saint Chrysostom, and now
+the seat of the Patriarch, and the very centre of the Eastern Church.
+Only with many crossings and genuflections did the pious abbot succeed
+in passing the revered shrine of his religion, and hurried on to his
+difficult task.
+
+Having passed Saint Sophia, the two travellers crossed the marble-paved
+Augusteum, and saw upon their right the gilded gates of the hippodrome
+through which a vast crowd of people was pressing, for though the
+morning had been devoted to the religious ceremony, the afternoon was
+given over to secular festivities. So great was the rush of the
+populace that the two strangers had some difficulty in disengaging
+themselves from the stream and reaching the huge arch of black marble
+which formed the outer gate of the palace. Within they were fiercely
+ordered to halt by a gold-crested and magnificent sentinel who laid his
+shining spear across their breasts until his superior officer should
+give them permission to pass. The abbot had been warned, however, that
+all obstacles would give way if he mentioned the name of Basil the
+eunuch, who acted as chamberlain of the palace and also as
+Parakimomen--a high office which meant that he slept at the door of the
+Imperial bed-chamber. The charm worked wonderfully, for at the mention
+of that potent name the Protosphathaire, or Head of the Palace Guards,
+who chanced to be upon the spot, immediately detached one of his
+soldiers with instructions to convoy the two strangers into the presence
+of the chamberlain.
+
+Passing in succession a middle guard and an inner guard, the travellers
+came at last into the palace proper, and followed their majestic guide
+from chamber to chamber, each more wonderful than the last. Marbles and
+gold, velvet and silver, glittering mosaics, wonderful carvings, ivory
+screens, curtains of Armenian tissue and of Indian silk, damask from
+Arabia, and amber from the Baltic--all these things merged themselves in
+the minds of the two simple provincials, until their eyes ached and
+their senses reeled before the blaze and the glory of this, the most
+magnificent of the dwellings of man. Finally, a pair of curtains,
+crusted with, gold, were parted, and their guide handed them over to a
+negro eunuch who stood within. A heavy, fat, brown-skinned man, with a
+large, flabby, hairless face, was pacing up and down the small
+apartment, and he turned upon them as they entered with an abominable
+and threatening smile. His loose lips and pendulous cheeks were those of
+a gross old woman, but above them there shone a pair of dark malignant
+eyes, full of fierce intensity of observation and judgment.
+
+"You have entered the palace by using my name," he said. "It is one of
+my boasts that any of the populace can approach me in this way. But it
+is not fortunate for those who take advantage of it without due cause."
+Again he smiled a smile which made the frightened boy cling tightly to
+the loose serge skirts of the abbot.
+
+But the ecclesiastic was a man of courage. Undaunted by the sinister
+appearance of the great chamberlain, or by the threat which lay in his
+words, he laid his hand upon his young companion's shoulder and faced
+the eunuch with a confident smile.
+
+"I have no doubt, your excellency," said he, "that the importance of my
+mission has given me the right to enter the palace. The only thing which
+troubles me is whether it may not be so important as to forbid me from
+broaching it to you, or indeed, to anybody save the Empress Theodora,
+since it is she only whom it concerns."
+
+The eunuch's thick eyebrows bunched together over his vicious eyes.
+
+"You must make good those words," he said. "If my gracious master--the
+ever-glorious Emperor Justinian--does not disdain to take me into his
+most intimate confidence in all things, it would be strange if there
+were any subject within your knowledge which I might not hear. You are,
+as I gather from your garb and bearing, the abbot of some Asiatic
+monastery?"
+
+"You are right, your excellency, I am the Abbot of the Monastery of St.
+Nicephorus in Antioch. But I repeat that I am assured that what I have
+to say is for the ear of the Empress Theodora only."
+
+The eunuch was evidently puzzled, and his curiosity aroused by the old
+man's persistence. He came nearer, his heavy face thrust forward, his
+flabby brown hands, like two sponges, resting upon the table of yellow
+jasper before him.
+
+"Old man," said he, "there is no secret which concerns the Empress which
+may not be told to me. But if you refuse to speak, it is certain that
+you will never see her. Why should I admit you, unless I know your
+errand? How should I know that you are not a Manichean heretic with a
+poniard in your bosom, longing for the blood of the mother of the
+Church?"
+
+The abbot hesitated no longer. "If there be a mistake in the matter,
+then on your head be it," said he. "Know then that this lad Leon is the
+son of Theodora the Empress, left by her in our monastery within a month
+of his birth ten years ago. This papyrus which I hand you will show you
+that what I say is beyond all question or doubt."
+
+The eunuch Basil took the paper, but his eyes were fixed upon the boy,
+and his features showed a mixture of amazement at the news that he had
+received, and of cunning speculation as to how he could turn it to
+profit.
+
+"Indeed, he is the very image of the Empress," he muttered; and then,
+with sudden suspicion, "Is it not the chance of this likeness which has
+put the scheme into your head, old man?"
+
+"There is but one way to answer that," said the abbot. "It is to ask the
+Empress herself whether what I say is not true, and to give her the glad
+tidings that her boy is alive and well."
+
+The tone of confidence, together with the testimony of the papyrus, and
+the boy's beautiful face, removed the last shadow of doubt from the
+eunuch's mind. Here was a great fact; but what use could be made of it?
+Above all, what advantage could he draw from it? He stood with his fat
+chin in his hand, turning it over in his cunning brain.
+
+"Old man," said he at last, "to how many have you told this secret?"
+
+"To no one in the whole world," the other answered. "There is Deacon
+Bardas at the monastery and myself. No one else knows anything."
+
+"You are sure of this?"
+
+"Absolutely certain."
+
+The eunuch had made up his mind. If he alone of all men in the palace
+knew of this event, he would have a powerful hold over his masterful
+mistress. He was certain that Justinian the Emperor knew nothing of
+this. It would be a shock to him. It might even alienate his affections
+from his wife. She might care to take precautions to prevent him from
+knowing. And if he, Basil the eunuch, was her confederate in those
+precautions, then how very close it must draw him to her. All this
+flashed through his mind as he stood, the papyrus in his hand, looking
+at the old man and the boy.
+
+"Stay here," said he. "I will be with you again." With a swift rustle of
+his silken robes he swept from the chamber.
+
+A few minutes had elapsed when a curtain at the end of the room was
+pushed aside, and the eunuch, reappearing, held it back, doubling his
+unwieldy body into a profound obeisance as he did so. Through the gap
+came a small alert woman, clad in golden tissue, with a loose outer
+mantle and shoes of the Imperial purple. That colour alone showed that
+she could be none other than the Empress; but the dignity of her
+carriage, the fierce authority of her magnificent dark eyes, and the
+perfect beauty of her haughty face, all proclaimed that it could only be
+that of Theodora who, in spite of her lowly origin, was the most
+majestic as well as the most maturely lovely of all the women in her
+kingdom. Gone now were the buffoon tricks which the daughter of Acacius
+the bearward had learned in the amphitheatre; gone too was the light
+charm of the wanton, and what was left was the worthy mate of a great
+king, the measured dignity of one who was every inch an empress.
+
+Disregarding the two men, Theodora walked up to the boy, placed her two
+white hands upon his shoulders, and looked with a long questioning gaze,
+a gaze which began with hard suspicion and ended with tender
+recognition, into those large lustrous eyes which were the very
+reflection of her own. At first the sensitive lad was chilled by the
+cold intent question of the look; but as it softened, his own spirit
+responded, until suddenly, with a cry of "Mother! Mother!" he cast
+himself into her arms, his hands locked round her neck, his face buried
+in her bosom. Carried away by the sudden natural outburst of emotion,
+her own arms tightened round the lad's figure, and she strained him for
+an instant to her heart. Then, the strength of the Empress gaining
+instant command over the temporary weakness of the mother, she pushed
+him back from her, and waved that they should leave her to herself. The
+slaves in attendance hurried the two visitors from the room. Basil the
+eunuch lingered, looking down at his mistress, who had thrown herself
+upon a damask couch, her lips white and her bosom heaving with the
+tumult of her emotion. She glanced up and met the chancellor's crafty
+gaze, her woman's instinct reading the threat that lurked within it.
+
+"I am in your power," she said. "The Emperor must never know of this."
+
+"I am your slave," said the eunuch, with his ambiguous smile. "I am an
+instrument in your hand. If it is your will that the Emperor should
+know nothing, then who is to tell him?"
+
+"But the monk, the boy. What are we to do?"
+
+"There is only one way for safety," said the eunuch.
+
+She looked at him with horrified eyes. His spongy hands were pointing
+down to the floor. There was an underground world to this beautiful
+palace, a shadow that was ever close to the light, a region of dimly-lit
+passages, of shadowed corners, of noiseless, tongueless slaves, of
+sudden sharp screams in the darkness. To this the eunuch was pointing.
+
+A terrible struggle rent her breast. The beautiful boy was hers, flesh
+of her flesh, bone of her bone. She knew it beyond all question or
+doubt. It was her one child, and her whole heart went out to him. But
+Justinian! She knew the Emperor's strange limitations. Her career in the
+past was forgotten. He had swept it all aside by special Imperial decree
+published throughout the Empire, as if she were new-born through the
+power of his will, and her association with his person. But they were
+childless, and this sight of one which was not his own would cut him to
+the quick. He could dismiss her infamous past from his mind, but if it
+took the concrete shape of this beautiful child, then how could he wave
+it aside as if it had never been? All her instincts and her intimate
+knowledge of the man told her that even her charm and her influence
+might fail under such circumstances to save her from ruin. Her divorce
+would be as easy to him as her elevation had been. She was balanced upon
+a giddy pinnacle, the highest in the world, and yet the higher the
+deeper the fall. Everything that earth could give was now at her feet.
+Was she to risk the losing of it all--for what? For a weakness which was
+unworthy of an Empress, for a foolish new-born spasm of love, for that
+which had no existence within her in the morning? How could she be so
+foolish as to risk losing such a substance for such a shadow?
+
+"Leave it to me," said the brown watchful face above her.
+
+"Must it be--death?"
+
+"There is no real safety outside. But if your heart is too merciful,
+then by the loss of sight and speech----"
+
+She saw in her mind the white-hot iron approaching those glorious eyes,
+and she shuddered at the thought.
+
+"No, no! Better death than that!"
+
+"Let it be death then. You are wise, great Empress, for there only is
+real safety and assurance of silence."
+
+"And the monk?"
+
+"Him also."
+
+"But the Holy Synod! He is a tonsured priest. What would the Patriarch
+do?"
+
+"Silence his babbling tongue. Then let them do what they will. How are
+we of the palace to know that this conspirator, taken with a dagger in
+his sleeve, is really what he says?"
+
+Again she shuddered and shrank down among the cushions.
+
+"Speak not of it, think not of it," said the eunuch. "Say only that you
+leave it in my hands. Nay, then, if you cannot say it, do but nod your
+head, and I take it as your signal."
+
+In that instant there flashed before Theodora's mind a vision of all her
+enemies, of all those who envied her rise, of all whose hatred and
+contempt would rise into a clamour of delight could they see the
+daughter of the bearward hurled down again into that abyss from which
+she had been dragged. Her face hardened, her lips tightened, her little
+hands clenched in the agony of her thought.
+
+"Do it!" she said.
+
+In an instant, with a terrible smile, the messenger of death hurried
+from the room. She groaned aloud, and buried herself yet deeper amid the
+silken cushions, clutching them frantically with convulsed and twitching
+hands.
+
+The eunuch wasted no time, for this deed, once done, he became--save for
+that insignificant monk in Asia Minor, whose fate would soon be
+sealed--the only sharer of Theodora's secret, and therefore the only
+person who could curb and bend that imperious nature. Hurrying into the
+chamber where the visitors were waiting, he gave a sinister signal, only
+too well known in those iron days. In an instant the black mutes in
+attendance seized the old man and the boy, pushing them swiftly down a
+passage and into a meaner portion of the palace, where the heavy smell
+of luscious cooking proclaimed the neighbourhood of the kitchens. A side
+corridor led to a heavily-barred iron door, and this in turn opened upon
+a steep flight of stone steps, feebly illuminated by the glimmer of
+wall lamps. At the head and foot stood a mute sentinel like an ebony
+statue, and below, along the dusky and forbidding passages from which
+the cells opened, a succession of niches in the wall were occupied by a
+similar guardian. The unfortunate visitors were dragged brutally down a
+number of stone-flagged and dismal corridors until they descended
+another long stair which led so deeply into the earth that the damp
+feeling in the heavy air and the drip of water all round showed that
+they had come down to the level of the sea. Groans and cries, like those
+of sick animals, from the various grated doors which they passed showed
+how many there were who spent their whole lives in this humid and
+poisonous atmosphere.
+
+At the end of this lowest passage was a door which opened into a single
+large vaulted room. It was devoid of furniture, but in the centre was a
+large and heavy wooden board clamped with iron. This lay upon a rude
+stone parapet, engraved with inscriptions beyond the wit of the eastern
+scholars, for this old well dated from a time before the Greeks founded
+Byzantium, when men of Chaldea and Ph[oe]nicia built with huge
+unmortared blocks, far below the level of the town of Constantine. The
+door was closed, and the eunuch beckoned to the slaves that they should
+remove the slab which covered the well of death. The frightened boy
+screamed and clung to the abbot, who, ashy-pale and trembling, was
+pleading hard to melt the heart of the ferocious eunuch.
+
+"Surely, surely, you would not slay the innocent boy!" he cried. "What
+has he done? Was it his fault that he came here? I alone--I and Deacon
+Bardas--are to blame. Punish us, if some one must indeed be punished. We
+are old. It is to-day or to-morrow with us. But he is so young and so
+beautiful, with all his life before him. Oh, sir! oh, your excellency,
+you would not have the heart to hurt him!"
+
+He threw himself down and clutched at the eunuch's knees, while the boy
+sobbed piteously and cast horror-stricken eyes at the black slaves who
+were tearing the wooden slab from the ancient parapet beneath. The only
+answer which the chamberlain gave to the frantic pleadings of the abbot
+was to take a stone which lay on the coping of the well and toss it in.
+It could be heard clattering against the old, damp, mildewed walls,
+until it fell with a hollow boom into some far distant subterranean
+pool. Then he again motioned with his hands, and the black slaves threw
+themselves upon the boy and dragged him away from his guardian. So
+shrill was his clamour that no one heard the approach of the Empress.
+With a swift rush she had entered the room, and her arms were round her
+son.
+
+"It shall not be! It cannot be!" she cried. "No, no, my darling! my
+darling! they shall do you no hurt. I was mad to think of it--mad and
+wicked to dream of it. Oh, my sweet boy! to think that your mother might
+have had your blood upon her head!"
+
+The eunuch's brows were gathered together at this failure of his plans,
+at this fresh example of feminine caprice.
+
+"Why kill them, great lady, if it pains your gracious heart?" said he.
+"With a knife and a branding-iron they can be disarmed for ever."
+
+She paid no attention to his words. "Kiss me, Leon!" she cried. "Just
+once let me feel my own child's soft lips rest upon mine. Now again! No,
+no more, or I shall weaken for what I have still to say and still to
+do. Old man, you are very near a natural grave, and I cannot think from
+your venerable aspect that words of falsehood would come readily to your
+lips. You have indeed kept my secret all these years, have you not?"
+
+"I have in very truth, great Empress. I swear to you by Saint
+Nicephorus, patron of our house, that save old Deacon Bardas, there is
+none who knows."
+
+"Then let your lips still be sealed. If you have kept faith in the past,
+I see no reason why you should be a babbler in the future. And you,
+Leon"--she bent her wonderful eyes with a strange mixture of sternness
+and of love upon the boy, "can I trust you? Will you keep a secret which
+could never help you, but would be the ruin and downfall of your
+mother?"
+
+"Oh, mother, I would not hurt you! I swear that I will be silent."
+
+"Then I trust you both. Such provision will be made for your monastery
+and for your own personal comforts as will make you bless the day you
+came to my palace. Now you may go. I wish never to see you again. If I
+did, you might find me in a softer mood, or in a harder, and the one
+would lead to my undoing, the other to yours. But if by whisper or
+rumour I have reason to think that you have failed me, then you and your
+monks and your monastery will have such an end as will be a lesson for
+ever to those who would break faith with their Empress."
+
+"I will never speak," said the old abbot; "neither will Deacon Bardas;
+neither will Leon. For all three I can answer. But there are
+others--these slaves, the chancellor. We may be punished for another's
+fault."
+
+"Not so," said the Empress, and her eyes were like flints. "These slaves
+are voiceless; nor have they any means to tell those secrets which they
+know. As to you, Basil----" She raised her white hand with the same
+deadly gesture which he had himself used so short a time before. The
+black slaves were on him like hounds on a stag.
+
+"Oh, my gracious mistress, dear lady, what is this? What is this? You
+cannot mean it!" he screamed, in his high, cracked voice. "Oh, what have
+I done? Why should I die?"
+
+"You have turned me against my own. You have goaded me to slay my own
+son. You have intended to use my secret against me. I read it in your
+eyes from the first. Cruel, murderous villain, taste the fate which you
+have yourself given to so many others. This is your doom. I have
+spoken."
+
+The old man and the boy hurried in horror from the vault. As they
+glanced back they saw the erect, inflexible, shimmering, gold-clad
+figure of the Empress. Beyond they had a glimpse of the green-scummed
+lining of the well, and of the great red open mouth of the eunuch, as he
+screamed and prayed while every tug of the straining slaves brought him
+one step nearer to the brink. With their hands over their ears they
+rushed away, but even so they heard that last woman-like shriek, and
+then the heavy plunge far down in the dark abysses of the earth.
+
+
+
+
+XII
+
+A POINT OF CONTACT
+
+
+A curious train of thought is started when one reflects upon those great
+figures who have trod the stage of this earth, and actually played their
+parts in the same act, without ever coming face to face, or even knowing
+of each other's existence. Baber, the Great Mogul, was, for example,
+overrunning India at the very moment when Hernando Cortez was
+overrunning Mexico, and yet the two could never have heard of each
+other. Or, to take a more supreme example, what could the Emperor
+Augustus Cæsar know of a certain Carpenter's shop wherein there worked a
+dreamy-eyed boy who was destined to change the whole face of the world?
+It may be, however, that sometimes these great contemporary forces did
+approach, touch, and separate--each unaware of the true meaning of the
+other. So it was in the instance which is now narrated.
+
+It was evening in the port of Tyre, some eleven hundred years before
+the coming of Christ. The city held, at that time, about a quarter of a
+million of inhabitants, the majority of whom dwelt upon the mainland,
+where the buildings of the wealthy merchants, each in its own tree-girt
+garden, extended for seven miles along the coast. The great island,
+however, from which the town got its name, lay out some distance from
+the shore, and contained within its narrow borders the more famous of
+the temples and public buildings. Of these temples the chief was that of
+Melmoth, which covered with its long colonnades the greater part of that
+side of the island which looked down upon the Sidonian port, so called
+because only twenty miles away the older city of Sidon maintained a
+constant stream of traffic with its rising offshoot.
+
+Inns were not yet in vogue, but the poorer traveller found his quarters
+with hospitable citizens, while men of distinction were frequently
+housed in the annex of the temples, where the servants of the priests
+attended to their wants. On that particular evening there stood in the
+portico of the temple of Melmoth two remarkable figures who were the
+centre of observation for a considerable fringe of Ph[oe]nician idlers.
+One of these men was clearly by his face and demeanour a great
+chieftain. His strongly-marked features were those of a man who had led
+an adventurous life, and were suggestive of every virile quality from
+brave resolve to desperate execution. His broad, high brow and
+contemplative eyes showed that he was a man of wisdom as well as of
+valour. He was clad, as became a Greek nobleman of the period, with a
+pure white linen tunic, a gold-studded belt supporting a short sword,
+and a purple cloak. The lower legs were bare, and the feet covered by
+sandals of red leather, while a cap of white cloth was pushed back upon
+his brown curls, for the heat of the day was past and the evening breeze
+most welcome.
+
+His companion was a short, thick-set man, bull-necked and swarthy, clad
+in some dusky cloth which gave him a sombre appearance relieved only by
+the vivid scarlet of his woollen cap. His manner towards his comrade was
+one of deference, and yet there was in it also something of that
+freshness and frankness which go with common dangers and a common
+interest.
+
+"Be not impatient, sire," he was saying. "Give me two days, or three at
+the most, and we shall make as brave a show at the muster as any. But,
+indeed, they would smile if they saw us crawl up to Tenedos with ten
+missing oars and the mainsail blown into rags."
+
+The other frowned and stamped his foot with anger.
+
+"We should have been there now had it not been for this cursed
+mischance," said he. "Aeolus played us a pretty trick when he sent such
+a blast out of a cloudless sky."
+
+"Well, sire, two of the Cretan galleys foundered, and Trophimes, the
+pilot, swears that one of the Argos ships was in trouble. Pray Zeus that
+it was not the galley of Menelaus. We shall not be the last at the
+muster."
+
+"It is well that Troy stands a good ten miles from the sea, for if they
+came out at us with a fleet they might have us at a disadvantage. We had
+no choice but to come here and refit, yet I shall have no happy hour
+until I see the white foam from the lash of our oars once more. Go,
+Seleucas, and speed them all you may."
+
+The officer bowed and departed, while the chieftain stood with his eyes
+fixed upon his great dismantled galley over which the riggers and
+carpenters were swarming. Further out in the roadstead lay eleven other
+smaller galleys, waiting until their wounded flagship should be ready
+for them. The sun, as it shone upon them, gleamed upon hundreds of
+bronze helmets and breastplates, telling of the warlike nature of the
+errand upon which they were engaged. Save for them the port was filled
+with bustling merchant ships taking in cargoes or disgorging them upon
+the quays. At the very feet of the Greek chieftain three broad barges
+were moored, and gangs of labourers with wooden shovels were heaving out
+the mussels brought from Dor, destined to supply the famous Tyrian
+dye-works which adorn the most noble of all garments. Beside them was a
+tin ship from Britain, and the square boxes of that precious metal, so
+needful for the making of bronze, were being passed from hand to hand to
+the waiting waggons. The Greek found himself smiling at the uncouth
+wonder of a Cornishman who had come with his tin, and who was now lost
+in amazement as he stared at the long colonnades of the Temple of
+Melmoth and the high front of the Shrine of Ashtaroth behind it. Even
+as he gazed some of his ship-mates passed their hands through his arms
+and led him along the quay to a wine-shop, as being a building much more
+within his comprehension. The Greek, still smiling, was turning on his
+heels to return to the Temple, when one of the clean-shaven priests of
+Baal came towards him.
+
+"It is rumoured, sire," said he, "that you are on a very distant and
+dangerous venture. Indeed, it is well known from the talk of your
+soldiers what it is that you have on hand."
+
+"It is true," said the Greek, "that we have a hard task before us. But
+it would have been harder to bide at home and to feel that the honour of
+a leader of the Argives had been soiled by this dog from Asia."
+
+"I hear that all Greece has taken up the quarrel."
+
+"Yes, there is not a chief from Thessaly to the Malea who has not called
+out his men, and there were twelve hundred galleys in the harbour of
+Aulis."
+
+"It is a great host," said the priest. "But have ye any seers or
+prophets among ye who can tell what will come to pass?"
+
+"Yes, we had one such, Calchas his name. He has said that for nine years
+we shall strive, and only on the tenth will the victory come."
+
+"That is but cold comfort," said the priest. "It is, indeed, a great
+prize which can be worth ten years of a man's life."
+
+"I would give," the Greek answered, "not ten years but all my life if I
+could but lay proud Ilium in ashes and carry back Helen to her palace on
+the hill of Argos."
+
+"I pray Baal, whose priest I am, that you may have good fortune," said
+the Ph[oe]nician. "I have heard that these Trojans are stout soldiers,
+and that Hector, the son of Priam, is a mighty leader."
+
+The Greek smiled proudly.
+
+"They must be stout and well-fed also," said he, "if they can stand the
+brunt against the long-haired Argives with such captains as Agamemnon,
+the son of Atreus from golden Mycenæ, or Achilles, son of Peleus, with
+his myrmidons. But these things are on the knees of the Fates. In the
+meantime, my friend, I would fain know who these strange people are who
+come down the street, for their chieftain has the air of one who is made
+for great deeds."
+
+A tall man clad in a long white robe, with a golden fillet running
+through his flowing auburn hair, was striding down the street with the
+free elastic gait of one who has lived an active life in the open. His
+face was ruddy and noble, with a short, crisp beard covering a strong,
+square jaw. In his clear blue eyes as he looked at the evening sky and
+the busy waters beneath him there was something of the exaltation of the
+poet, while a youth walking beside him and carrying a harp hinted at the
+graces of music. On the other side of him, however, a second squire bore
+a brazen shield and a heavy spear, so that his master might never be
+caught unawares by his enemies. In his train there came a tumultuous
+rabble of dark hawk-like men, armed to the teeth, and peering about with
+covetous eyes at the signs of wealth which lay in profusion around them.
+They were swarthy as Arabs, and yet they were better clad and better
+armed than the wild children of the desert.
+
+"They are but barbarians," said the priest. "He is a small king from the
+mountain parts opposite Philistia, and he comes here because he is
+building up the town of Jebus, which he means to be his chief city. It
+is only here that he can find the wood, and stone, and craftsmanship
+that he desires. The youth with the harp is his son. But I pray you,
+chief, if you would know what is before you at Troy, to come now into
+the outer hall of the Temple with me, for we have there a famous seer,
+the prophetess Alaga who is also the priestess of Ashtaroth. It may be
+that she can do for you what she has done for many others, and send you
+forth from Tyre in your hollow ships with a better heart than you came."
+
+To the Greeks, who by oracles, omens, and auguries were for ever prying
+into the future, such a suggestion was always welcome. The Greek
+followed the priest to the inner sanctuary, where sat the famous
+Pythoness--a tall, fair woman of middle age, who sat at a stone table
+upon which was an abacus or tray filled with sand. She held a style of
+chalcedony, and with this she traced strange lines and curves upon the
+smooth surface, her chin leaning upon her other hand and her eyes cast
+down. As the chief and the priest approached her she did not look up,
+but she quickened the movements of her pencil, so that curve followed
+curve in quick succession. Then, still with downcast eyes, she spoke in
+a strange, high, sighing voice like wind amid the trees.
+
+"Who, then, is this who comes to Alaga of Tyre, the handmaiden of great
+Ashtaroth? Behold I see an island to the west, and an old man who is the
+father, and the great chief, and his wife, and his son who now waits him
+at home, being too young for the wars. Is this not true?"
+
+"Yes, maiden, you have said truth," the Greek answered.
+
+"I have had many great ones before me, but none greater than you, for
+three thousand years from now people will still talk of your bravery and
+of your wisdom. They will remember also the faithful wife at home, and
+the name of the old man, your father, and of the boy your son--all will
+be remembered when the very stones of noble Sidon and royal Tyre are no
+more."
+
+"Nay, say not so, Alaga!" cried the priest.
+
+"I speak not what I desire but what it is given to me to say. For ten
+years you will strive, and then you will win, and victory will bring
+rest to others, but only new troubles to you. Ah!" The prophetess
+suddenly started in violent surprise, and her hand made ever faster
+markings on the sand.
+
+"What is it that ails you, Alaga?" asked the priest.
+
+The woman had looked up with wild inquiring eyes. Her gaze was neither
+for the priest nor for the chief, but shot past them to the further
+door. Looking round the Greek was aware that two new figures had entered
+the room. They were the ruddy barbarian whom he had marked in the
+street, together with the youth who bore his harp.
+
+"It is a marvel upon marvels that two such should enter my chamber on
+the same day," cried the priestess. "Have I not said that you were the
+greatest that ever came, and yet behold here is already one who is
+greater. For he and his son--even this youth whom I see before me--will
+also be in the minds of all men when lands beyond the Pillars of
+Hercules shall have taken the place of Ph[oe]nicia and of Greece. Hail
+to you, stranger, hail! Pass on to your work for it awaits you, and it
+is great beyond words of mine." Rising from her stool the woman dropped
+her pencil upon the sand and passed swiftly from the room.
+
+"It is over," said the priest. "Never have I heard her speak such
+words."
+
+The Greek chief looked with interest at the barbarian. "You speak
+Greek?" he asked.
+
+"Indifferently well," said the other. "Yet I should understand it seeing
+that I spent a long year at Ziklag in the land of the Philistines."
+
+"It would seem," said the Greek, "that the gods have chosen us both to
+play a part in the world."
+
+"Stranger," the barbarian answered, "there is but one God."
+
+"Say you so? Well, it is a matter to be argued at some better time. But
+I would fain have your name and style and what is it you purpose to do,
+so that we may perchance hear of each other in the years to come. For my
+part I am Odysseus, known also as Ulysses, the King of Ithaca, with the
+good Laertes as my father and young Telemachus as my son. For my work,
+it is the taking of Troy."
+
+"And my work," said the barbarian, "is the building of Jebus, which now
+we call Jerusalem. Our ways lie separate, but it may come back to your
+memory that you have crossed the path of David, second King of the
+Hebrews, together with his young son Solomon, who may follow him upon
+the throne of Israel."
+
+So he turned and went forth into the darkened streets where his spearmen
+were awaiting him, while the Greek passed down to his boat that he might
+see what was still to be done ere he could set forth upon his voyage.
+
+
+
+
+XIII
+
+THE CENTURION
+
+
+[_Being the fragment of a letter from Sulpicius Balbus, Legate of the
+Tenth Legion, to his uncle, Lucius Piso, in his villa near Baiae, dated
+The Kalends of the month of Augustus in the year 824 of Rome._]
+
+I promised you, my dear uncle, that I would tell you anything of
+interest concerning the siege of Jerusalem; but, indeed, these people
+whom we imagined to be unwarlike have kept us so busy that there has
+been little time for letter-writing. We came to Judæa thinking that a
+mere blowing of trumpets and a shout would finish the affair, and
+picturing a splendid triumph in the _via sacra_ to follow, with all the
+girls in Rome throwing flowers and kisses to us. Well, we may get our
+triumph, and possibly the kisses also, but I can assure you that not
+even you who have seen such hard service on the Rhine can ever have
+experienced a more severe campaign than this has been. We have now won
+the town, and to-day their temple is burning, and the smoke sets me
+coughing as I sit writing in my tent. But it has been a terrible
+business, and I am sure none of us wish to see Judæa again.
+
+In fighting the Gauls, or the Germans, you are against brave men,
+animated by the love of their country. This passion acts more, however,
+upon some than others, so that the whole army is not equally inflamed by
+it. These Jews, however, besides their love of country, which is very
+strong, have a desperate religious fervour, which gives them a fury in
+battle such as none of us have ever seen. They throw themselves with a
+shriek of joy upon our swords and lances, as if death were all that they
+desired.
+
+If one gets past your guard may Jove protect you, for their knives are
+deadly, and if it comes to a hand-to-hand grapple they are as dangerous
+as wild beasts, who would claw out your eyes or your throat. You know
+that our fellows of the Tenth Legion have been, ever since Cæsar's time,
+as rough soldiers as any with the Eagles, but I can assure you that I
+have seen them positively cowed by the fury of these fanatics. As a
+matter of fact we have had least to bear, for it has been our task from
+the beginning to guard the base of the peninsula upon which this
+extraordinary town is built. It has steep precipices upon all the other
+sides, so that it is only on this one northern base that fugitives could
+escape or a rescue come. Meanwhile, the fifth, fifteenth, and the
+twelfth or Syrian legions have done the work, together with the
+auxiliaries. Poor devils! we have often pitied them, and there have been
+times when it was difficult to say whether we were attacking the town or
+the town was attacking us. They broke down our tortoises with their
+stones, burned our turrets with their fire, and dashed right through our
+whole camp to destroy the supplies in the rear. If any man says a Jew is
+not a good soldier, you may be sure that he has never been in Judæa.
+
+However, all this has nothing to do with what I took up my stylus to
+tell you. No doubt it is the common gossip of the forum and of the baths
+how our army, excellently handled by the princely Titus, carried one
+line of wall after the other until we had only the temple before us.
+This, however, is--or was, for I see it burning even as I write--a very
+strong fortress. Romans have no idea of the magnificence of this place.
+The temple of which I speak is a far finer building than any we have in
+Rome, and so is the Palace, built by Herod or Agrippa, I really forget
+which. This temple is two hundred paces each way, with stones so fitted
+that the blade of a knife will not go between, and the soldiers say
+there is gold enough within to fill the pockets of the whole army. This
+idea puts some fury into the attack, as you can believe, but with these
+flames I fear a great deal of the plunder will be lost.
+
+There was a great fight at the temple, and it was rumoured that it would
+be carried by storm to-night, so I went out on to the rising ground
+whence one sees the city best. I wonder, uncle, if in your many
+campaigns you have ever smelt the smell of a large beleaguered town. The
+wind was south to-night, and this terrible smell of death came straight
+to our nostrils. There were half a million people there, and every form
+of disease, starvation, decomposition, filth and horror, all pent in
+within a narrow compass. You know how the lion sheds smell behind the
+Circus Maximus, acid and foul. It is like that, but there is a low,
+deadly, subtle odour which lies beneath it and makes your very heart
+sink within you. Such was the smell which came up from the city
+to-night.
+
+As I stood in the darkness, wrapped in my scarlet chlamys--for the
+evenings here are chill--I was suddenly aware that I was not alone. A
+tall, silent figure was near me, looking down at the town even as I was.
+I could see in the moonlight that he was clad as an officer, and as I
+approached him I recognized that it was Longinus, third tribune of my
+own legion, and a soldier of great age and experience. He is a strange,
+silent man, who is respected by all, but understood by none, for he
+keeps his own council and thinks rather than talks. As I approached him
+the first flames burst from the temple, a high column of fire, which
+cast a glow upon our faces and gleamed upon our armour. In this red
+light I saw that the gaunt face of my companion was set like iron.
+
+"At last!" said he. "At last!"
+
+He was speaking to himself rather than to me, for he started and seemed
+confused when I asked him what he meant.
+
+"I have long thought that evil would come to the place," said he. "Now
+I see that it has come, and so I said 'At last!'"
+
+"For that matter," I answered, "we have all seen that evil would come to
+the place, since it has again and again defied the authority of the
+Cæsars."
+
+He looked keenly at me with a question in his eyes. Then he said:
+
+"I have heard, sir, that you are one who has a full sympathy in the
+matter of the gods, believing that every man should worship according to
+his own conscience and belief."
+
+I answered that I was a Stoic of the school of Seneca, who held that
+this world is a small matter and that we should care little for its
+fortunes, but develop within ourselves a contempt for all but the
+highest.
+
+He smiled in grim fashion at this.
+
+"I have heard," said he, "that Seneca died the richest man in all Nero's
+Empire, so he made the best of this world in spite of his philosophy."
+
+"What are your own beliefs?" I asked. "Are you, perhaps, one who has
+fathomed the mysteries of Isis, or been admitted to the Society of
+Mythra?"
+
+"Have you ever heard," he asked, "of the Christians?"
+
+"Yes," said I. "There were some slaves and wandering men in Rome who
+called themselves such. They worshipped, so far as I could gather, some
+man who died over here in Judæa. He was put to death, I believe, in the
+time of Tiberius."
+
+"That is so," he answered. "It was at the time when Pilate was
+procurator--Pontius Pilate, the brother of old Lucius Pilate, who had
+Egypt in the time of Augustus. Pilate was of two minds in the matter,
+but the mob was as wild and savage as these very men that we have been
+contending with. Pilate tried to put them off with a criminal, hoping
+that so long as they had blood they would be satisfied. But they chose
+the other, and he was not strong enough to withstand them. Ah! it was a
+pity--a sad pity!"
+
+"You seem to know a good deal about it," said I.
+
+"I was there," said the man simply, and became silent, while we both
+looked down at the huge column of flame from the burning temple. As it
+flared up we could see the white tents of the army and all the country
+round. There was a low hill just outside the city, and my companion
+pointed to it.
+
+"That was where it happened," said he. "I forget the name of the place,
+but in those days--it was more than thirty years ago--they put their
+criminals to death there. But He was no criminal. It is always His eyes
+that I think of--the look in His eyes."
+
+"What about the eyes, then?"
+
+"They have haunted me ever since. I see them now. All the sorrow of
+earth seemed mirrored in them. Sad, sad, and yet such a deep, tender
+pity! One would have said that it was He who needed pity had you seen
+His poor battered, disfigured face. But He had no thought for
+Himself--it was the great world pity that looked out of His gentle eyes.
+There was a noble maniple of the legion there, and not a man among them
+who did not wish to charge the howling crowd who were dragging such a
+man to His death."
+
+"What were you doing there?"
+
+"I was Junior Centurion, with the gold vine-rod fresh on my shoulders. I
+was on duty on the hill, and never had a job that I liked less. But
+discipline has to be observed, and Pilate had given the order. But I
+thought at the time--and I was not the only one--that this man's name
+and work would not be forgotten, and that there would be a curse on the
+place that had done such a deed. There was an old woman there, His
+mother, with her grey hair down her back. I remember how she shrieked
+when one of our fellows with his lance put Him out of his pain. And a
+few others, women and men, poor and ragged, stood by Him. But, you see,
+it has turned out as I thought. Even in Rome, as you have observed, His
+followers have appeared."
+
+"I rather fancy," said I, "that I am speaking to one of them."
+
+"At least, I have not forgotten," said he. "I have been in the wars ever
+since with little time for study. But my pension is overdue, and when I
+have changed the sagum for the toga, and the tent for some little farm
+up Como way, then I shall look more deeply into these things, if,
+perchance, I can find some one to instruct me."
+
+And so I left him. I only tell you all this because I remember that you
+took an interest in the man, Paulus, who was put to death for preaching
+this religion. You told me that it had reached Cæsar's palace, and I can
+tell you now that it has reached Cæsar's soldiers as well. But apart
+from this matter I wish to tell you some of the adventures which we have
+had recently in raiding for food among the hills, which stretch as far
+south as the river Jordan. The other day ...
+
+[_Here the fragment is ended._]
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note (Significant Amendments):
+
+    p. 79, 'cacophanies' amended to _cacophonies_;
+    p. 102, 'Pantelic' amended to _Pentelic_;
+    p. 113, 'Septimus' amended to _Septimius_;
+    p. 144, 'Sava' amended to _Saba_;
+    p. 206, 'wagons' amended to _waggons_.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Last of the Legions and Other
+Tales of Long Ago, by Arthur Conan Doyle
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+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Last of the Legions and Other Tales of Long Ago, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
+    </title>
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Last of the Legions and Other Tales of
+Long Ago, by Arthur Conan Doyle
+
+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 Last of the Legions and Other Tales of Long Ago
+
+Author: Arthur Conan Doyle
+
+Release Date: July 31, 2008 [EBook #26153]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LAST OF THE LEGIONS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Chris Curnow, Joseph Cooper, Stephen Blundell
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img src="images/001.jpg" width="413" height="550" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<hr />
+
+<h1>THE LAST OF THE LEGIONS<br />
+<i><small>and Other Tales of Long Ago</small></i></h1>
+
+<h2>A. CONAN DOYLE</h2>
+
+<hr />
+
+<div class="bk2"><div class="bk1"><p class="center"><big>By SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE</big></p></div>
+
+<p class="p2"><i>Novels and Stories</i></p>
+
+<p class="p1">DANGER! <i>And Other Stories</i></p>
+
+<p class="p1">THE DOINGS OF RAFFLES HAW</p>
+
+<p class="p1">HIS LAST BOW<br />
+<i>Some Later Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes</i></p>
+
+<p class="p1">THE BLACK DOCTOR<br />
+<i>And Other Tales of Terror and Mystery</i></p>
+
+<p class="p1">THE MAN FROM ARCHANGEL<br />
+<i>And Other Tales of Adventure</i></p>
+
+<p class="p1">THE CROXLEY MASTER<br />
+<i>And Other Tales of the Ring and Camp</i></p>
+
+<p class="p1">THE GREAT KEINPLATZ EXPERIMENT<br />
+<i>And Other Tales of Twilight and the Unseen</i></p>
+
+<p class="p1">THE LAST OF THE LEGIONS<br />
+<i>And Other Tales of Long Ago</i></p>
+
+<p class="p1">THE DEALINGS OF CAPTAIN SHARKEY<br />
+<i>And Other Tales of Pirates</i></p>
+
+<p class="p2"><i>On the Life Hereafter</i></p>
+
+<p class="p1">THE NEW REVELATION</p>
+
+<p class="p1">THE VITAL MESSAGE</p>
+
+<p class="p1">THE COMING OF THE FAIRIES</p>
+
+<p class="p1">THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY</p>
+
+<p class="p1">THE WANDERINGS OF A SPIRITUALIST</p>
+
+<p class="p1">OUR AMERICAN ADVENTURE</p>
+
+<p class="p2"><i>A History of the Great War</i></p>
+
+<p class="p1">THE BRITISH CAMPAIGN IN FRANCE
+AND FLANDERS&mdash;Six Vols.</p>
+
+<p class="p2"><i>Poems</i></p>
+
+<p class="p1">THE GUARDS CAME THROUGH</p>
+
+<div class="bk1"><p class="center"><big>NEW YORK<br />
+GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY</big></p></div></div>
+
+<hr />
+
+<h1>THE LAST<br />
+OF THE LEGIONS<br />
+<small><i>and Other Tales of Long Ago</i></small></h1>
+
+<h2 class="hd1"><small>BY</small><br />
+A. CONAN DOYLE</h2>
+
+<div class="center"><big>NEW <img src="images/002.png" width="50" height="51" alt="" title="" /> YORK<br />
+GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY</big></div>
+
+<hr />
+
+<div class="bk5">
+<p>Copyright, 1905, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911,<br />
+1913, 1914, 1918, 1919, 1922<br />
+By A. Conan Doyle</p>
+
+<p>Copyright, 1910,<br />
+By Charles Scribner's Sons</p>
+
+<p>Copyright, 1911,<br />
+By Associated Sunday Magazines, Inc.</p>
+
+<p>Copyright, 1908,<br />
+By The McClure Company</p>
+
+<p>Copyright, 1900, 1902,<br />
+By The S. S. McClure Company</p></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 50px;">
+<img src="images/003.png" width="50" height="41" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<div class="bk4">THE LAST OF THE LEGIONS AND OTHER TALES<br />
+OF LONG AGO<br />
+&mdash;&mdash;Q&mdash;&mdash;<br />
+PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA</div>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[v]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+<div class="center">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="">
+<tr><td class="td2" colspan="3"><small>PAGE</small></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td2">I</td><td class="td1">The Last of the Legions</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_9">9</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td2">II</td><td class="td1">The Last Galley</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_22">22</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td2">III</td><td class="td1">Through the Veil</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_37">37</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td2">IV</td><td class="td1">The Coming of the Huns</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_47">47</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td2">V</td><td class="td1">The Contest</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_68">68</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td2">VI</td><td class="td1">The First Cargo</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_83">83</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td2">VII</td><td class="td1">An Iconoclast</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_98">98</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td2">VIII</td><td class="td1">Giant Maximin</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_112">112</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td2">IX</td><td class="td1">The Red Star</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_141">141</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td2">X</td><td class="td1">The Silver Mirror</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_158">158</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td2">XI</td><td class="td1">The Home-Coming</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_177">177</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td2">XII</td><td class="td1">A Point of Contact</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_202">202</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="td2">XIII</td><td class="td1">The Centurion</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_215">215</a></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<hr />
+
+<h1>THE LAST OF THE LEGIONS</h1>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span></p>
+
+<h1>THE LAST OF THE LEGIONS<br />
+<small><i>and Other Tales of Long Ago</i></small></h1>
+
+<h2 class="p2">I<br />
+THE LAST OF THE LEGIONS</h2>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Pontus</span>, the Roman viceroy, sat in the atrium
+of his palatial villa by the Thames, and he looked
+with perplexity at the scroll of papyrus which
+he had just unrolled. Before him stood the
+messenger who had brought it, a swarthy little
+Italian, whose black eyes were glazed with
+want of sleep, and his olive features darker still
+from dust and sweat. The viceroy was looking
+fixedly at him, yet he saw him not, so full
+was his mind of this sudden and most unexpected
+order. To him it seemed as if the solid
+earth had given way beneath his feet. His life
+and the work of his life had come to irremediable
+ruin.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Very good," he said at last in a hard dry
+voice, "you can go."</p>
+
+<p>The man saluted and staggered out of the
+hall. A yellow-haired British major-domo
+came forward for orders.</p>
+
+<p>"Is the General there?"</p>
+
+<p>"He is waiting, your excellency."</p>
+
+<p>"Then show him in, and leave us together."</p>
+
+<p>A few minutes later Licinius Crassus, the
+head of the British military establishment, had
+joined his chief. He was a large, bearded man
+in a white civilian toga, hemmed with the Patrician
+purple. His rough, bold features,
+burned and seamed and lined with the long
+African wars, were shadowed with anxiety as
+he looked with questioning eyes at the drawn,
+haggard face of the viceroy.</p>
+
+<p>"I fear, your excellency, that you have had
+bad news from Rome."</p>
+
+<p>"The worst, Crassus. It is all over with
+Britain. It is a question whether even Gaul
+will be held."</p>
+
+<p>"Saint Albus save us! Are the orders precise?"</p>
+
+<p>"Here they are, with the Emperor's own
+seal."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"But why? I had heard a rumour, but it
+had seemed too incredible."</p>
+
+<p>"So had I only last week, and had the fellow
+scourged for having spread it. But here it is
+as clear as words can make it: 'Bring every
+man of the Legions by forced marches to the
+help of the Empire. Leave not a cohort in
+Britain.' These are my orders."</p>
+
+<p>"But the cause?"</p>
+
+<p>"They will let the limbs wither so that the
+heart be stronger. The old German hive is
+about to swarm once more. There are fresh
+crowds of Barbarians from Dacia and Scythia.
+Every sword is needed to hold the Alpine
+passes. They cannot let three legions lie idle
+in Britain."</p>
+
+<p>The soldier shrugged his shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>"When the legions go no Roman would feel
+that his life was safe here. For all that we
+have done, it is none the less the truth that it is
+no country of ours, and that we hold it as we
+won it by the sword."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, every man, woman, and child of Latin
+blood must come with us to Gaul. The galleys
+are already waiting at Portus Dubris. Get the
+orders out, Crassus, at once. As the Valerian<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span>
+legion falls back from the Wall of Hadrian it
+can take the northern colonists with it. The
+Jovians can bring in the people from the west,
+and the Batavians can escort the easterns if
+they will muster at Camboricum. You will see
+to it." He sank his face for a moment in his
+hands. "It is a fearsome thing," said he, "to
+tear up the roots of so goodly a tree."</p>
+
+<p>"To make more space for such a crop of
+weeds," said the soldier bitterly. "My God,
+what will be the end of these poor Britons!
+From ocean to ocean there is not a tribe which
+will not be at the throat of its neighbour when
+the last Roman Lictor has turned his back.
+With these hot-headed Silures it is hard
+enough now to keep the swords in their
+sheaths."</p>
+
+<p>"The kennel might fight as they choose
+among themselves until the best hound won,"
+said the Roman Governor. "At least the victor
+would keep the arts and the religion which
+we have brought them, and Britain would be
+one land. No, it is the bear from the north
+and the wolves from oversea, the painted savage
+from beyond the walls and the Saxon pirate
+from over the water, who will succeed to our<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span>
+rule. Where we saved, they will slay; where
+we built, they will burn; where we planted, they
+will ravage. But the die is cast, Crassus. You
+will carry out the orders."</p>
+
+<p>"I will send out the messengers within an
+hour. This very morning there has come news
+that the Barbarians are through the old gap in
+the wall, and their outriders as far south as
+Vinovia."</p>
+
+<p>The Governor shrugged his shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>"These things concern us no longer," said
+he. Then a bitter smile broke upon his aquiline
+clean-shaven face. "Whom think you that
+I see in audience this morning?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nay, I know not."</p>
+
+<p>"Caradoc and Regnus, and Celticus the Icenian,
+who, like so many of the richer Britons,
+have been educated at Rome, and who would
+lay before me their plans as to the ruling of
+this country."</p>
+
+<p>"And what is their plan?"</p>
+
+<p>"That they themselves should do it."</p>
+
+<p>The Roman soldier laughed. "Well, they
+will have their will," said he, as he saluted and
+turned upon his heel. "Farewell, your excellency.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span>
+There are hard days coming for you
+and for me."</p>
+
+<p>An hour later the British deputation was
+ushered into the presence of the Governor.
+They were good, steadfast men, men who with
+a whole heart, and at some risk to themselves,
+had taken up their country's cause, so far as
+they could see it. At the same time they well
+knew that under the mild and beneficent rule
+of Rome it was only when they passed from
+words to deeds that their backs or their necks
+would be in danger. They stood now, earnest
+and a little abashed, before the throne of the
+viceroy. Celticus was a swarthy, black-bearded
+little Iberian. Caradoc and Regnus were tall
+middle-aged men of the fair flaxen British
+type. All three were dressed in the draped
+yellow toga after the Latin fashion, instead of
+in the brac&aelig; and tunic which distinguished
+their more insular fellow-countrymen.</p>
+
+<p>"Well?" asked the Governor.</p>
+
+<p>"We are here," said Celticus boldly, "as the
+spokesmen of a great number of our fellow-countrymen,
+for the purpose of sending our
+petition through you to the Emperor and to the
+Roman Senate, that we may urge upon them<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span>
+the policy of allowing us to govern this country
+after our own ancient fashion." He
+paused, as if awaiting some outburst as an answer
+to his own temerity; but the Governor
+merely nodded his head as a sign that he should
+proceed. "We had laws of our own before ever
+C&aelig;sar set foot in Britain, which have served
+their purpose since first our forefathers came
+from the land of Ham. We are not a child
+among the nations, but our history goes back
+in our own traditions further even than that of
+Rome, and we are galled by this yoke which
+you have laid upon us."</p>
+
+<p>"Are not our laws just?" asked the Governor.</p>
+
+<p>"The code of C&aelig;sar is just, but it is always
+the code of C&aelig;sar. Our own laws were made
+for our own uses and our own circumstances,
+and we would fain have them again."</p>
+
+<p>"You speak Roman as if you had been bred
+in the Forum; you wear a Roman toga; your
+hair is filleted in Roman fashion&mdash;are not these
+the gifts of Rome?"</p>
+
+<p>"We would take all the learning and all the
+arts that Rome or Greece could give, but we
+would still be Britain, and ruled by Britons."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The viceroy smiled. "By the rood of Saint
+Helena," said he, "had you spoken thus to some
+of my heathen ancestors, there would have
+been an end to your politics. That you have
+dared to stand before my face and say as much
+is a proof for ever of the gentleness of our
+rule. But I would reason with you for a moment
+upon this your request. You know well
+that this land has never been one kingdom, but
+was always under many chiefs and many tribes,
+who have made war upon each other. Would
+you in very truth have it so again?"</p>
+
+<p>"Those were in the evil pagan days, the days
+of the Druid and the oak-grove, your excellency.
+But now we are held together by a gospel
+of peace."</p>
+
+<p>The viceroy shook his head. "If all the
+world were of the same way of thinking, then
+it would be easier," said he. "It may be that
+this blessed doctrine of peace will be little help
+to you when you are face to face with strong
+men who still worship the god of war. What
+would you do against the Picts of the north?"</p>
+
+<p>"Your excellency knows that many of the
+bravest legionaries are of British blood. These
+are our defence."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"But discipline, man, the power to command,
+the knowledge of war, the strength to act&mdash;it is
+in these things that you would fail. Too long
+have you leaned upon the crutch."</p>
+
+<p>"The times may be hard, but when we have
+gone through them, Britain will be herself
+again."</p>
+
+<p>"Nay, she will be under a different and a
+harsher master," said the Roman. "Already
+the pirates swarm upon the eastern coast.
+Were it not for our Roman Count of the Saxon
+shore they would land to-morrow. I see the
+day when Britain may, indeed, be one; but that
+will be because you and your fellows are either
+dead or are driven into the mountains of the
+west. All goes into the melting pot, and if a
+better Albion should come forth from it, it will
+be after ages of strife, and neither you nor
+your people will have part or lot in it."</p>
+
+<p>Regnus, the tall young Celt, smiled. "With
+the help of God and our own right arms we
+should hope for a better end," said he. "Give
+us but the chance, and we will bear the brunt."</p>
+
+<p>"You are as men that are lost," said the
+viceroy sadly. "I see this broad land, with its
+gardens and orchards, its fair villas and its<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span>
+walled towns, its bridges and its roads, all the
+work of Rome. Surely it will pass even as a
+dream, and these three hundred years of settled
+order will leave no trace behind. For learn
+that it will indeed be as you wish, and that this
+very day the orders have come to me that the
+legions are to go."</p>
+
+<p>The three Britons looked at each other in
+amazement. Their first impulse was towards a
+wild exultation, but reflection and doubt followed
+close upon its heels.</p>
+
+<p>"This is indeed wondrous news," said Celticus.
+"This is a day of days to the motherland.
+When do the legions go, your excellency, and
+what troops will remain behind for our protection?"</p>
+
+<p>"The legions go at once," said the viceroy.
+"You will doubtless rejoice to hear that within
+a month there will be no Roman soldier in the
+island, nor, indeed, a Roman of any sort, age,
+or sex, if I can take them with me."</p>
+
+<p>The faces of the Britons were shadowed, and
+Caradoc, a grave and thoughtful man, spoke
+for the first time.</p>
+
+<p>"But this is over sudden, your excellency,"
+said he. "There is much truth in what you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span>
+have said about the pirates. From my villa
+near the fort of Anderida I saw eighty of their
+galleys only last week, and I know well that
+they would be on us like ravens on a dying ox.
+For many years to come it would not be possible
+for us to hold them off."</p>
+
+<p>The viceroy shrugged his shoulders. "It is
+your affair now," said he. "Rome must look to
+herself."</p>
+
+<p>The last traces of joy had passed from the
+faces of the Britons. Suddenly the future had
+started up clearly before them, and they quailed
+at the prospect.</p>
+
+<p>"There is a rumour in the market-place,"
+said Celticus, "that the northern Barbarians
+are through the gap in the wall. Who is to
+stop their progress?"</p>
+
+<p>"You and your fellows," said the Roman.</p>
+
+<p>Clearer still grew the future, and there was
+terror in the eyes of the spokesmen as they
+faced it.</p>
+
+<p>"But, your excellency, if the legions should
+go at once, we should have the wild Scots at
+York, and the Northmen in the Thames within
+the month. We can build ourselves up under
+your shield, and in a few years it would be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span>
+easier for us; but not now, your excellency, not
+now."</p>
+
+<p>"Tut, man; for years you have been clamouring
+in our ears and raising the people. Now
+you have got what you asked. What more
+would you have? Within the month you will
+be as free as were your ancestors before C&aelig;sar
+set foot upon your shore."</p>
+
+<p>"For God's sake, your excellency, put our
+words out of your head. The matter had not
+been well considered. We will send to Rome.
+We will ride post-haste ourselves. We will fall
+at the Emperor's feet. We will kneel before
+the Senate and beg that the legions remain."</p>
+
+<p>The Roman proconsul rose from his chair
+and motioned that the audience was at an end.</p>
+
+<p>"You will do what you please," said he. "I
+and my men are for Italy."</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<p>And even as he said, so was it, for before the
+spring had ripened into summer, the troops
+were clanking down the via Aurelia on their
+way to the Ligurian passes, whilst every road
+in Gaul was dotted with the carts and the waggons
+which bore the Brito-Roman refugees on
+their weary journey to their distant country.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span>
+But ere another summer had passed Celticus
+was dead, for he was flayed alive by the pirates
+and his skin nailed upon the door of a church
+near Caistor. Regnus, too, was dead, for he
+was tied to a tree and shot with arrows when
+the painted men came to the sacking of Isca.
+Caradoc only was alive, but he was a slave to
+Elda the red Caledonian and his wife was mistress
+to Mordred the wild chief of the western
+Cymri. From the ruined wall in the north to
+Vectis in the south blood and ruin and ashes
+covered the fair land of Britain. And after
+many days it came out fairer than ever, but,
+even as the Roman had said, neither the Britons
+nor any men of their blood came into the
+heritage of that which had been their own.</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span></p>
+<h2>II<br />
+THE LAST GALLEY</h2>
+
+<div class="bk4">"Mutato nomine, de te, Britannia, fabula narratur."</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">It</span> was a spring morning, one hundred and
+forty-six years before the coming of Christ.
+The North African coast, with its broad hem
+of golden sand, its green belt of feathery palm
+trees, and its background of barren, red-scarped
+hills, shimmered like a dream country
+in the opal light. Save for a narrow edge of
+snow-white surf, the Mediterranean lay blue
+and serene as far as the eye could reach. In
+all its vast expanse there was no break but for
+a single galley, which was slowly making its
+way from the direction of Sicily and heading
+for the distant harbour of Carthage.</p>
+
+<p>Seen from afar it was a stately and beautiful
+vessel, deep red in colour, double-banked with
+scarlet oars, its broad, flapping sail stained
+with Tyrian purple, its bulwarks gleaming with
+brass work. A brazen, three-pronged ram<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span>
+projected in front, and a high golden figure of
+Baal, the God of the Ph&#339;nicians, children of
+Canaan, shone upon the after-deck. From the
+single high mast above the huge sail streamed
+the tiger-striped flag of Carthage. So, like
+some stately scarlet bird, with golden beak and
+wings of purple, she swam upon the face of
+the waters&mdash;a thing of might and of beauty as
+seen from the distant shore.</p>
+
+<p>But approach and look at her now! What
+are these dark streaks which foul her white
+decks and dapple her brazen shields? Why
+do the long red oars move out of time, irregular,
+convulsive? Why are some missing from
+the staring portholes, some snapped with
+jagged, yellow edges, some trailing inert
+against the sides? Why are two prongs of the
+brazen ram twisted and broken? See, even the
+high image of Baal is battered and disfigured!
+By every sign this ship has passed through
+some grievous trial, some day of terror, which
+has left its heavy marks upon her.</p>
+
+<p>And now stand upon the deck itself, and see
+more closely the men who man her! There
+are two decks forward and aft, while in the
+open waist are the double banks of seats, above<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span>
+and below, where the rowers, two to an oar,
+tug and bend at their endless task. Down the
+centre is a narrow platform, along which pace
+a line of warders, lash in hand, who cut cruelly
+at the slave who pauses, be it only for an instant,
+to sweep the sweat from his dripping
+brow. But these slaves&mdash;look at them!
+Some are captured Romans, some Sicilians,
+many black Libyans, but all are in the last exhaustion,
+their weary eyelids drooped over their
+eyes, their lips thick with black crusts, and pink
+with bloody froth, their arms and backs moving
+mechanically to the hoarse chant of the
+overseer. Their bodies of all tints from ivory
+to jet, are stripped to the waist, and every glistening
+back shows the angry stripes of the
+warders. But it is not from these that the
+blood comes which reddens the seats and tints
+the salt water washing beneath their manacled
+feet. Great gaping wounds, the marks of
+sword slash and spear stab, show crimson upon
+their naked chests and shoulders, while many
+lie huddled and senseless athwart the benches,
+careless for ever of the whips which still hiss
+above them. Now we can understand those
+empty portholes and those trailing oars.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Nor were the crew in better case than their
+slaves. The decks were littered with wounded
+and dying men. It was but a remnant who still
+remained upon their feet. The most lay exhausted
+upon the fore-deck, while a few of the
+more zealous were mending their shattered
+armour, restringing their bows, or cleaning the
+deck from the marks of combat. Upon a raised
+platform at the base of the mast stood the
+sailing-master who conned the ship, his eyes
+fixed upon the distant point of Megara which
+screened the eastern side of the Bay of Carthage.
+On the after-deck were gathered a number
+of officers, silent and brooding, glancing
+from time to time at two of their own class
+who stood apart deep in conversation. The
+one, tall, dark, and wiry, with pure, Semitic
+features, and the limbs of a giant, was Magro,
+the famous Carthaginian captain, whose name
+was still a terror on every shore, from Gaul to
+the Euxine. The other, a white-bearded,
+swarthy man, with indomitable courage and
+energy stamped upon every eager line of his
+keen, aquiline face, was Gisco the politician, a
+man of the highest Punic blood, a Suffete of
+the purple robe, and the leader of that party in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span>
+the state which had watched and striven amid
+the selfishness and slothfulness of his fellow-countrymen
+to rouse the public spirit and
+waken the public conscience to the ever-increasing
+danger from Rome. As they talked,
+the two men glanced continually, with earnest
+anxious faces, towards the northern skyline.</p>
+
+<p>"It is certain," said the older man, with
+gloom in his voice and bearing, "none have escaped
+save ourselves."</p>
+
+<p>"I did not leave the press of the battle whilst
+I saw one ship which I could succour," Magro
+answered. "As it was, we came away, as you
+saw, like a wolf which has a hound hanging on
+to either haunch. The Roman dogs can show
+the wolf-bites which prove it. Had any other
+galley won clear, they would surely be with us
+by now, since they have no place of safety save
+Carthage."</p>
+
+<p>The younger warrior glanced keenly ahead
+to the distant point which marked his native
+city. Already the low, leafy hill could be seen,
+dotted with the white villas of the wealthy
+Ph&#339;nician merchants. Above them, a gleaming
+dot against the pale blue morning sky,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span>
+shone the brazen roof of the citadel of Byrsa,
+which capped the sloping town.</p>
+
+<p>"Already they can see us from the watch-towers,"
+he remarked. "Even from afar they
+may know the galley of Black Magro. But
+which of all of them will guess that we alone
+remain of all that goodly fleet which sailed out
+with blare of trumpet and roll of drum but one
+short month ago?"</p>
+
+<p>The patrician smiled bitterly. "If it were
+not for our great ancestors and for our beloved
+country, the Queen of the Waters," said he, "I
+could find it in my heart to be glad at this destruction
+which has come upon this vain and
+feeble generation. You have spent your life
+upon the seas, Magro. You do not know how
+it has been with us on the land. But I have seen
+this canker grow upon us which now leads us
+to our death. I and others have gone down
+into the market-place to plead with the people,
+and been pelted with mud for our pains. Many
+a time have I pointed to Rome, and said, 'Behold
+these people, who bear arms themselves,
+each man for his own duty and pride. How
+can you who hide behind mercenaries hope to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span>
+stand against them?'&mdash;a hundred times I have
+said it."</p>
+
+<p>"And had they no answer?" asked the
+Rover.</p>
+
+<p>"Rome was far off and they could not see it,
+so to them it was nothing," the old man answered.
+"Some thought of trade, and some of
+votes, and some of profits from the State, but
+none would see that the State itself, the mother
+of all things, was sinking to her end. So might
+the bees debate who should have wax or honey
+when the torch was blazing which would bring
+to ashes the hive and all therein. 'Are we not
+rulers of the sea?' 'Was not Hannibal a great
+man?' Such were their cries, living ever in the
+past and blind to the future. Before that sun
+sets there will be tearing of hair and rending
+of garments; but what will that now avail us?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is some sad comfort," said Magro, "to
+know that what Rome holds she cannot keep."</p>
+
+<p>"Why say you that? When we go down, she
+is supreme in all the world."</p>
+
+<p>"For a time, and only for a time," Magro
+answered gravely. "Yet you will smile, perchance,
+when I tell you how it is that I know it.
+There was a wise woman who lived in that part<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span>
+of the Tin Islands which juts forth into the
+sea, and from her lips I have heard many
+things, but not one which has not come aright.
+Of the fall of our own country, and even of
+this battle, from which we now return, she told
+me clearly. There is much strange lore
+amongst these savage peoples in the west of
+the land of Tin."</p>
+
+<p>"What said she of Rome?"</p>
+
+<p>"That she also would fall, even as we, weakened
+by her riches and her factions."</p>
+
+<p>Gisco rubbed his hands. "That at least
+makes our own fall less bitter," said he. "But
+since we have fallen, and Rome will fall, who
+in turn may hope to be Queen of the Waters?"</p>
+
+<p>"That also I asked her," said Magro, "and
+gave her my Tyrian belt with the golden buckle
+as a guerdon for her answer. But, indeed, it
+was too high payment for the tale she told,
+which must be false if all else she said was true.
+She would have it that in coming days it was
+her own land, this fog-girt isle where painted
+savages can scarce row a wicker coracle from
+point to point, which shall at last take the trident
+which Carthage and Rome have dropped."</p>
+
+<p>The smile which flickered upon the old Patrician's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span>
+keen features died away suddenly, and
+his fingers closed upon his companion's wrist.
+The other had set rigid, his head advanced, his
+hawk eyes upon the northern skyline. Its
+straight, blue horizon was broken by two low
+black dots.</p>
+
+<p>"Galleys!" whispered Gisco.</p>
+
+<p>The whole crew had seen them. They clustered
+along the starboard bulwarks, pointing
+and chattering. For a moment the gloom of
+defeat was lifted, and a buzz of joy ran from
+group to group at the thought that they were
+not alone&mdash;that some one had escaped the great
+carnage as well as themselves.</p>
+
+<p>"By the spirit of Baal," said Black Magro,
+"I could not have believed that any could have
+fought clear from such a welter. Could it be
+young Hamilcar in the <i>Africa</i>, or is it Beneva
+in the Blue Syrian ship? We three with
+others may form a squadron and make head
+against them yet. If we hold our course, they
+will join us ere we round the harbour mole."</p>
+
+<p>Slowly the injured galley toiled on her way,
+and more swiftly the two new-comers swept
+down from the north. Only a few miles off lay
+the green point and the white houses which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span>
+flanked the great African city. Already, upon
+the headland, could be seen a dark group of
+waiting townsmen. Gisco and Magro were
+still watching with puckered gaze the approaching
+galleys, when the brown Libyan boatswain,
+with flashing teeth and gleaming eyes, rushed
+upon the poop, his long thin arm stabbing to the
+north.</p>
+
+<p>"Romans!" he cried. "Romans!"</p>
+
+<p>A hush had fallen over the great vessel. Only
+the wash of the water and the measured rattle
+and beat of the oars broke in upon the silence.</p>
+
+<p>"By the horns of God's altar, I believe the
+fellow is right!" cried old Gisco. "See how
+they swoop upon us like falcons. They are full-manned
+and full-oared."</p>
+
+<p>"Plain wood, unpainted," said Magro. "See
+how it gleams yellow where the sun strikes it."</p>
+
+<p>"And yonder thing beneath the mast. Is it
+not the cursed bridge they use for boarding?"</p>
+
+<p>"So they grudge us even one," said Magro
+with a bitter laugh. "Not even one galley shall
+return to the old sea-mother. Well, for my
+part, I would as soon have it so. I am of a
+mind to stop the oars and await them."</p>
+
+<p>"It is a man's thought," answered old Gisco;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span>
+"but the city will need us in the days to come.
+What shall it profit us to make the Roman victory
+complete? Nay, Magro, let the slaves row
+as they never rowed before, not for our own
+safety, but for the profit of the State."</p>
+
+<p>So the great red ship laboured and lurched
+onwards, like a weary panting stag which seeks
+shelter from his pursuers, while ever swifter
+and ever nearer sped the two lean fierce galleys
+from the north. Already the morning sun
+shone upon the lines of low Roman helmets
+above the bulwarks, and glistened on the silver
+wave where each sharp prow shot through
+the still blue water. Every moment the ships
+drew nearer, and the long thin scream of the
+Roman trumpets grew louder upon the ear.</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<p>Upon the high bluff of Megara there stood a
+great concourse of the people of Carthage who
+had hurried forth from the city upon the news
+that the galleys were in sight. They stood now,
+rich and poor, effete and plebeian, white Ph&#339;nician
+and dark Kabyle, gazing with breathless
+interest at the spectacle before them. Some
+hundreds of feet beneath them the Punic galley
+had drawn so close that with their naked eyes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span>
+they could see those stains of battle which told
+their dismal tale. The Romans, too, were heading
+in such a way that it was before their very
+faces that their ship was about to be cut off;
+and yet of all this multitude not one could raise
+a hand in its defence. Some wept in impotent
+grief, some cursed with flashing eyes and
+knotted fists, some on their knees held up appealing
+hands to Baal; but neither prayer,
+tears, nor curses could undo the past nor mend
+the present. That broken, crawling galley
+meant that their fleet was gone. Those two
+fierce darting ships meant that the hands of
+Rome were already at their throat. Behind
+them would come others and others, the innumerable
+trained hosts of the great Republic, long
+mistress of the land, now dominant also upon
+the waters. In a month, two months, three at
+the most, their armies would be there, and what
+could all the untrained multitudes of Carthage
+do to stop them?</p>
+
+<p>"Nay!" cried one, more hopeful than the
+rest, "at least we are brave men with arms in
+our hands."</p>
+
+<p>"Fool!" said another, "is it not such talk
+which has brought us to our ruin? What is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span>
+the brave man untrained to the brave man
+trained? When you stand before the sweep
+and rush of a Roman legion you may learn the
+difference."</p>
+
+<p>"Then let us train!"</p>
+
+<p>"Too late! A full year is needful to turn a
+man to a soldier. Where will you&mdash;where will
+your city be within the year? Nay, there is
+but one chance for us. If we give up our commerce
+and our colonies, if we strip ourselves of
+all that made us great, then perchance the
+Roman conqueror may hold his hand."</p>
+
+<p>And already the last sea-fight of Carthage
+was coming swiftly to an end before them.
+Under their very eyes the two Roman galleys
+had shot in, one on either side of the vessel of
+Black Magro. They had grappled with him,
+and he, desperate in his despair, had cast the
+crooked flukes of his anchors over their gunwales,
+and bound them to him in an iron grip,
+whilst with hammer and crowbar he burst
+great holes in his own sheathing. The last
+Punic galley should never be rowed into Ostia,
+a sight for the holiday-makers of Rome. She
+would lie in her own waters. And the fierce,
+dark soul of her rover captain glowed as he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span>
+thought that not alone should she sink into the
+depths of the mother sea.</p>
+
+<p>Too late did the Romans understand the man
+with whom they had to deal. Their boarders
+who had flooded the Punic decks felt the planking
+sink and sway beneath them. They rushed
+to gain their own vessels; but they, too, were
+being drawn downwards, held in the dying grip
+of the great red galley. Over they went and
+ever over. Now the deck of Magro's ship is
+flush with the water, and the Romans', drawn
+towards it by the iron bonds which hold them,
+are tilted downwards, one bulwark upon the
+waves, one reared high in the air. Madly they
+strain to cast off the death-grip of the galley.
+She is under the surface now, and ever swifter,
+with the greater weight, the Roman ships heel
+after her. There is a rending crash. The
+wooden side is torn out of one, and mutilated,
+dismembered, she rights herself, and lies a
+helpless thing upon the water. But a last yellow
+gleam in the blue water shows where her
+consort has been dragged to her end in the iron
+death-grapple of her foeman. The tiger-striped
+flag of Carthage has sunk beneath the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span>
+swirling surface, never more to be seen upon
+the face of the sea.</p>
+
+<p>For in that year a great cloud hung for
+seventeen days over the African coast, a deep
+black cloud which was the dark shroud of the
+burning city. And when the seventeen days
+were over, Roman ploughs were driven from
+end to end of the charred ashes, and salt was
+scattered there as a sign that Carthage should
+be no more. And far off a huddle of naked,
+starving folk stood upon the distant mountains,
+and looked down upon the desolate plain which
+had once been the fairest and richest upon
+earth. And they understood too late that it is
+the law of heaven that the world is given to the
+hardy and to the self-denying, whilst he who
+would escape the duties of manhood will soon
+be stripped of the pride, the wealth, and the
+power, which are the prizes which manhood
+brings.</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span></p>
+<h2>III<br />
+THROUGH THE VEIL</h2>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">He</span> was a great shock-headed, freckle-faced
+Borderer, the lineal descendant of a cattle-thieving
+clan in Liddesdale. In spite of his ancestry
+he was as solid and sober a citizen as one
+would wish to see, a town councillor of Melrose,
+an elder of the Church, and the chairman
+of the local branch of the Young Men's Christian
+Association. Brown was his name&mdash;and
+you saw it printed up as "Brown and Handiside"
+over the great grocery stores in the High
+Street. His wife, Maggie Brown, was an
+Armstrong before her marriage, and came
+from an old farming stock in the wilds of
+Teviothead. She was small, swarthy, and
+dark-eyed, with a strangely nervous temperament
+for a Scotch woman. No greater contrast
+could be found than the big tawny man
+and the dark little woman, but both were of the
+soil as far back as any memory could extend.</p>
+
+<p>One day&mdash;it was the first anniversary of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span>
+their wedding&mdash;they had driven over together
+to see the excavations of the Roman Fort at
+Newstead. It was not a particularly picturesque
+spot. From the northern bank of the
+Tweed, just where the river forms a loop, there
+extends a gentle slope of arable land. Across
+it run the trenches of the excavators, with here
+and there an exposure of old stonework to show
+the foundations of the ancient walls. It had
+been a huge place, for the camp was fifty acres
+in extent, and the fort fifteen. However, it
+was all made easy for them since Mr. Brown
+knew the farmer to whom the land belonged.
+Under his guidance they spent a long summer
+evening inspecting the trenches, the pits, the
+ramparts, and all the strange variety of objects
+which were waiting to be transported to the
+Edinburgh Museum of Antiquities. The buckle
+of a woman's belt had been dug up that very
+day, and the farmer was discoursing upon it
+when his eyes fell upon Mrs. Brown's face.</p>
+
+<p>"Your good leddy's tired," said he. "Maybe
+you'd best rest a wee before we gang further."</p>
+
+<p>Brown looked at his wife. She was certainly
+very pale, and her dark eyes were bright and
+wild.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"What is it, Maggie? I've wearied you.
+I'm thinkin' it's time we went back."</p>
+
+<p>"No, no, John, let us go on. It's wonderful!
+It's like a dreamland place. It all seems
+so close and so near to me. How long were the
+Romans here, Mr. Cunningham?"</p>
+
+<p>"A fair time, mam. If you saw the kitchen
+midden-pits you would guess it took a long time
+to fill them."</p>
+
+<p>"And why did they leave?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, mam, by all accounts they left because
+they had to. The folk round could thole them
+no longer, so they just up and burned the fort
+aboot their lugs. You can see the fire marks on
+the stanes."</p>
+
+<p>The woman gave a quick little shudder. "A
+wild night&mdash;a fearsome night," said she. "The
+sky must have been red that night&mdash;and these
+grey stones, they may have been red also."</p>
+
+<p>"Aye, I think they were red," said her husband.
+"It's a queer thing, Maggie, and it may
+be your words that have done it; but I seem to
+see that business aboot as clear as ever I saw
+anything in my life. The light shone on the
+water."</p>
+
+<p>"Aye, the light shone on the water. And the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span>
+smoke gripped you by the throat. And all the
+savages were yelling."</p>
+
+<p>The old farmer began to laugh. "The leddy
+will be writin' a story aboot the old fort," said
+he. "I've shown many a one ower it, but I
+never heard it put so clear afore. Some folk
+have the gift."</p>
+
+<p>They had strolled along the edge of the foss,
+and a pit yawned upon the right of them.</p>
+
+<p>"That pit was fourteen foot deep," said the
+farmer. "What d'ye think we dug oot from
+the bottom o't? Weel, it was just the skeleton
+of a man wi' a spear by his side. I'm thinkin'
+he was grippin' it when he died. Now, how
+cam' a man wi' a spear doon a hole fourteen
+foot deep. He wasna' buried there, for they
+aye burned their dead. What make ye o' that,
+mam?"</p>
+
+<p>"He sprang doon to get clear of the savages,"
+said the woman.</p>
+
+<p>"Weel, it's likely enough, and a' the professors
+from Edinburgh couldna' gie a better
+reason. I wish you were aye here, mam, to answer
+a' oor deeficulties sae readily. Now,
+here's the altar that we foond last week.
+There's an inscreeption. They tell me it's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span>
+Latin, and it means that the men o' this fort
+give thanks to God for their safety."</p>
+
+<p>They examined the old worn stone. There
+was a large deeply-cut "VV" upon the top of it.</p>
+
+<p>"What does 'VV' stand for?" asked Brown.</p>
+
+<p>"Naebody kens," the guide answered.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Valeria Victrix</i>," said the lady softly. Her
+face was paler than ever, her eyes far away, as
+one who peers down the dim aisles of overarching
+centuries.</p>
+
+<p>"What's that?" asked her husband sharply.</p>
+
+<p>She started as one who wakes from sleep.
+"What were we talking about?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>"About this 'VV' upon the stone."</p>
+
+<p>"No doubt it was just the name of the Legion
+which put the altar up."</p>
+
+<p>"Aye, but you gave some special name."</p>
+
+<p>"Did I? How absurd! How should I ken
+what the name was?"</p>
+
+<p>"You said something&mdash;'<i>Victrix</i>,' I think."</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose I was guessing. It gives me the
+queerest feeling, this place, as if I were not
+myself, but some one else."</p>
+
+<p>"Aye, it's an uncanny place," said her husband,
+looking round with an expression almost
+of fear in his bold grey eyes. "I feel it mysel'.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span>
+I think we'll just be wishin' you good evenin',
+Mr. Cunningham, and get back to Melrose before
+the dark sets in."</p>
+
+<p>Neither of them could shake off the strange
+impression which had been left upon them by
+their visit to the excavations. It was as if some
+miasma had risen from those damp trenches
+and passed into their blood. All the evening
+they were silent and thoughtful, but such remarks
+as they did make showed that the same
+subject was in the mind of each. Brown had
+a restless night, in which he dreamed a strange
+connected dream, so vivid that he woke sweating
+and shivering like a frightened horse. He
+tried to convey it all to his wife as they sat together
+at breakfast in the morning.</p>
+
+<p>"It was the clearest thing, Maggie," said he.
+"Nothing that has ever come to me in my
+waking life has been more clear than that. I
+feel as if these hands were sticky with blood."</p>
+
+<p>"Tell me of it&mdash;tell me slow," said she.</p>
+
+<p>"When it began, I was oot on a braeside. I
+was laying flat on the ground. It was rough,
+and there were clumps of heather. All round
+me was just darkness, but I could hear the
+rustle and the breathin' of men. There seemed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span>
+a great multitude on every side of me, but I
+could see no one. There was a low chink of
+steel sometimes, and then a number of voices
+would whisper 'Hush!' I had a ragged club in
+my hand, and it had spikes o' iron near the end
+of it. My heart was beatin' quickly, and I felt
+that a moment of great danger and excitement
+was at hand. Once I dropped my club, and
+again from all round me the voices in the darkness
+cried, 'Hush!' I put oot my hand, and
+it touched the foot of another man lying in
+front of me. There was some one at my very
+elbow on either side. But they said nothin'.</p>
+
+<p>"Then we all began to move. The whole
+braeside seemed to be crawlin' downwards.
+There was a river at the bottom and a high-arched
+wooden bridge. Beyond the bridge
+were many lights&mdash;torches on a wall. The
+creepin' men all flowed towards the bridge.
+There had been no sound of any kind, just a
+velvet stillness. And then there was a cry in
+the darkness, the cry of a man who had been
+stabbed suddenly to the hairt. That one cry
+swelled out for a moment, and then the roar of
+a thoosand furious voices. I was runnin'.
+Every one was runnin'. A bright red light<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span>
+shone out, and the river was a scarlet streak.
+I could see my companions now. They were
+more like devils than men, wild figures clad in
+skins, with their hair and beards streamin'.
+They were all mad with rage, jumpin' as they
+ran, their mouths open, their arms wavin', the
+red light beatin' on their faces. I ran, too, and
+yelled out curses like the rest. Then I heard a
+great cracklin' of wood, and I knew that the
+palisades were doon. There was a loud
+whistlin' in my ears, and I was aware that arrows
+were flyin' past me. I got to the bottom
+of a dyke, and I saw a hand stretched doon
+from above. I took it, and was dragged to the
+top. We looked doon, and there were silver
+men beneath us holdin' up their spears. Some
+of our folk sprang on to the spears. Then we
+others followed, and we killed the soldiers before
+they could draw the spears oot again.
+They shouted loud in some foreign tongue, but
+no mercy was shown them. We went ower
+them like a wave, and trampled them doon into
+the mud, for they were few, and there was no
+end to our numbers.</p>
+
+<p>"I found myself among buildings, and one of
+them was on fire. I saw the flames spoutin'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span>
+through the roof. I ran on, and then I was
+alone among the buildings. Some one ran
+across in front o' me. It was a woman. I
+caught her by the arm, and I took her chin and
+turned her face so as the light of the fire would
+strike it. Whom think you that it was,
+Maggie?"</p>
+
+<p>His wife moistened her dry lips. "It was I,"
+she said.</p>
+
+<p>He looked at her in surprise. "That's a
+good guess," said he. "Yes, it was just you.
+Not merely like you, you understand. It was
+you&mdash;you yourself. I saw the same soul in
+your frightened eyes. You looked white and
+bonnie and wonderful in the firelight. I had
+just one thought in my head&mdash;to get you awa'
+with me; to keep you all to mysel' in my own
+home somewhere beyond the hills. You clawed
+at my face with your nails. I heaved you over
+my shoulder, and I tried to find a way oot of
+the light of the burning hoose and back into the
+darkness.</p>
+
+<p>"Then came the thing that I mind best of
+all. You're ill, Maggie. Shall I stop? My
+God! you have the very look on your face that
+you had last night in my dream. You<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span>
+screamed. He came runnin' in the firelight.
+His head was bare; his hair was black and
+curled; he had a naked sword in his hand, short
+and broad, little more than a dagger. He
+stabbed at me, but he tripped and fell. I held
+you with one hand, and with the other&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>His wife had sprung to her feet with writhing
+features.</p>
+
+<p>"Marcus!" she cried. "My beautiful Marcus!
+Oh, you brute! you brute! you brute!"
+There was a clatter of tea-cups as she fell forward
+senseless upon the table.</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<p>They never talk about that strange isolated
+incident in their married life. For an instant
+the curtain of the past had swung aside, and
+some strange glimpse of a forgotten life had
+come to them. But it closed down, never to
+open again. They live their narrow round&mdash;he
+in his shop, she in her household&mdash;and yet
+new and wider horizons have vaguely formed
+themselves around them since that summer evening
+by the crumbling Roman fort.</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span></p>
+<h2>IV<br />
+THE COMING OF THE HUNS</h2>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">In</span> the middle of the fourth century the state
+of the Christian religion was a scandal and a
+disgrace. Patient, humble, and long-suffering
+in adversity, it had become positive, aggressive,
+and unreasonable with success. Paganism
+was not yet dead, but it was rapidly sinking,
+finding its most faithful supporters
+among the conservative aristocrats of the best
+families on the one hand, and among those benighted
+villagers on the other who gave their
+name to the expiring creed. Between these two
+extremes the great majority of reasonable men
+had turned from the conception of many gods
+to that of one, and had rejected for ever the
+beliefs of their forefathers. But with the vices
+of polytheism, they had also abandoned its virtues,
+among which toleration and religious
+good humour had been conspicuous. The
+strenuous earnestness of the Christians had
+compelled them to examine and define every<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span>
+point of their own theology; but as they had
+no central authority by which such definitions
+could be checked, it was not long before a hundred
+heresies had put forward their rival
+views, while the same earnestness of conviction
+led the stronger bands of schismatics to
+endeavour, for conscience sake, to force their
+views upon the weaker, and thus to cover the
+Eastern world with confusion and strife.</p>
+
+<p>Alexandria, Antioch, and Constantinople
+were centres of theological warfare. The
+whole north of Africa, too, was rent by the
+strife of the Donatists, who upheld their particular
+schism by iron flails and the war-cry of
+"Praise to the Lord!" But minor local controversies
+sank to nothing when compared with
+the huge argument of the Catholic and the
+Arian, which rent every village in twain, and
+divided every household from the cottage to
+the palace. The rival doctrines of the Homoousian
+and of the Homoiousian, containing
+metaphysical differences so attenuated that
+they could hardly be stated, turned bishop
+against bishop and congregation against congregation.
+The ink of the theologians and the
+blood of the fanatics were spilled in floods on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span>
+either side, and gentle followers of Christ were
+horrified to find that their faith was responsible
+for such a state of riot and bloodshed as had
+never yet disgraced the religious history of the
+world. Many of the more earnest among
+them, shocked and scandalised, slipped away
+to the Libyan Desert, or to the solitude of
+Pontus, there to await in self-denial and prayer
+that second coming which was supposed to be
+at hand. Even in the deserts they could not
+escape the echo of the distant strife, and the
+hermits themselves scowled fiercely from their
+dens at passing travellers who might be contaminated
+by the doctrines of Athanasius or of
+Arius.</p>
+
+<p>Such a hermit was Simon Melas, of whom I
+write. A Trinitarian and a Catholic, he was
+shocked by the excesses of the persecution of
+the Arians, which could be only matched by
+the similar outrages with which these same
+Arians in the day of their power avenged their
+treatment on their brother Christians. Weary
+of the whole strife, and convinced that the end
+of the world was indeed at hand, he left his
+home in Constantinople and travelled as far as
+the Gothic settlements in Dacia, beyond the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span>
+Danube, in search of some spot where he might
+be free from the never-ending disputes. Still
+journeying to the north and east, he crossed
+the river which we now call the Dniester, and
+there, finding a rocky hill rising from an immense
+plain, he formed a cell near its summit,
+and settled himself down to end his life in self-denial
+and meditation. There were fish in the
+stream, the country teemed with game, and
+there was an abundance of wild fruits, so that
+his spiritual exercises were not unduly interrupted
+by the search of sustenance for his mortal
+frame.</p>
+
+<p>In this distant retreat he expected to find
+absolute solitude, but the hope was in vain.
+Within a week of his arrival, in an hour of
+worldly curiosity, he explored the edges of the
+high rocky hill upon which he lived. Making
+his way up to a cleft, which was hung with
+olives and myrtles, he came upon a cave in the
+opening of which sat an aged man, white-bearded,
+white-haired, and infirm&mdash;a hermit
+like himself. So long had this stranger been
+alone that he had almost forgotten the use of
+his tongue; but at last, words coming more
+freely, he was able to convey the information<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span>
+that his name was Paul of Nicopolis, that he
+was a Greek citizen, and that he also had come
+out into the desert for the saving of his soul,
+and to escape from the contamination of
+heresy.</p>
+
+<p>"Little I thought, brother Simon," said he,
+"that I should ever find any one else who had
+come so far upon the same holy errand. In all
+these years, and they are so many that I have
+lost count of them, I have never seen a man,
+save indeed one or two wandering shepherds
+far out upon yonder plain."</p>
+
+<p>From where they sat, the huge steppe,
+covered with waving grass and gleaming with
+a vivid green in the sun, stretched away as
+level and as unbroken as the sea, to the eastern
+horizon. Simon Melas stared across it with
+curiosity.</p>
+
+<p>"Tell me, brother Paul," said he, "you who
+have lived here so long&mdash;what lies at the further
+side of that plain?"</p>
+
+<p>The old man shook his head. "There is no
+further side to the plain," said he. "It is the
+earth's boundary, and stretches away to eternity.
+For all these years I have sat beside it,
+but never once have I seen anything come<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span>
+across it. It is manifest that if there had been
+a further side there would certainly at some
+time have come some traveller from that direction.
+Over the great river yonder is the
+Roman post of Tyras; but that is a long day's
+journey from here, and they have never disturbed
+my meditations."</p>
+
+<p>"On what do you meditate, brother Paul?"</p>
+
+<p>"At first I meditated on many sacred mysteries;
+but now, for twenty years, I have
+brooded continually on the nature of the Logos.
+What is your view upon that vital matter,
+brother Simon?"</p>
+
+<p>"Surely," said the younger man, "there can
+be no question as to that. The Logos is assuredly
+but a name used by St. John to signify
+the Deity."</p>
+
+<p>The old hermit gave a hoarse cry of fury,
+and his brown, withered face was convulsed
+with anger. Seizing the huge cudgel which he
+kept to beat off the wolves, he shook it murderously
+at his companion.</p>
+
+<p>"Out with you! Out of my cell!" he cried.
+"Have I lived here so long to have it polluted
+by a vile Trinitarian&mdash;a follower of the rascal
+Athanasius? Wretched idolater, learn once<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span>
+for all, that the Logos is in truth an emanation
+from the Deity, and in no sense equal or co-eternal
+with Him! Out with you, I say, or I
+will dash out your brains with my staff!"</p>
+
+<p>It was useless to reason with the furious
+Arian, and Simon withdrew in sadness and
+wonder, that at this extreme verge of the
+known earth the spirit of religious strife should
+still break upon the peaceful solitude of the wilderness.
+With hanging head and heavy heart
+he made his way down the valley, and climbed
+up once more to his own cell, which lay at the
+crown of the hill, with the intention of never
+again exchanging visits with his Arian neighbour.</p>
+
+<p>Here, for a year, dwelt Simon Melas, leading
+a life of solitude and prayer. There was no
+reason why any one should ever come to this
+outermost point of human habitation. Once a
+young Roman officer&mdash;Caius Crassus&mdash;rode
+out a day's journey from Tyras, and climbed
+the hill to have speech with the anchorite. He
+was of an equestrian family, and still held his
+belief in the old dispensation. He looked with
+interest and surprise, but also with some disgust,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span>
+at the ascetic arrangements of that
+humble abode.</p>
+
+<p>"Whom do you please by living in such a
+fashion?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"We show that our spirit is superior to our
+flesh," Simon answered. "If we fare badly
+in this world, we believe that we shall reap an
+advantage in the world to come."</p>
+
+<p>The centurion shrugged his shoulders.
+"There are philosophers among our people,
+Stoics and others, who have the same idea.
+When I was in the Herulian Cohort of the
+Fourth Legion we were quartered in Rome itself,
+and I saw much of the Christians, but I
+could never learn anything from them which I
+had not heard from my own father, whom you,
+in your arrogance, would call a Pagan. It is
+true that we talk of numerous gods; but for
+many years we have not taken them very seriously.
+Our thoughts upon virtue and duty and
+a noble life are the same as your own."</p>
+
+<p>Simon Melas shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>"If you have not the holy books," said he,
+"then what guide have you to direct your
+steps?"</p>
+
+<p>"If you will read our philosophers, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span>
+above all the divine Plato, you will find that
+there are other guides who may take you to the
+same end. Have you by chance read the book
+which was written by our Emperor Marcus
+Aurelius? Do you not discover there every
+virtue which man could have, although he knew
+nothing of your creed? Have you considered,
+also, the words and actions of our late Emperor
+Julian, with whom I served my first campaign
+when he went out against the Persians?
+Where could you find a more perfect man than
+he?"</p>
+
+<p>"Such talk is unprofitable, and I will have
+no more of it," said Simon sternly. "Take
+heed while there is time, and embrace the true
+faith; for the end of the world is at hand, and
+when it comes there will be no mercy for
+those who have shut their eyes to the light."
+So saying, he turned back once more to his
+praying-stool and to his crucifix, while the
+young Roman walked in deep thought down
+the hill, and mounting his horse, rode off to his
+distant post. Simon watched him until his
+brazen helmet was but a bead of light on the
+western edge of the great plain; for this was
+the first human face that he had seen in all this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span>
+long year, and there were times when his heart
+yearned for the voices and the faces of his
+kind.</p>
+
+<p>So another year passed, and save for the
+change of weather and the slow change of the
+seasons, one day was as another. Every morning
+when Simon opened his eyes, he saw the
+same grey line ripening into red in the furthest
+east, until the bright rim pushed itself above
+that far-off horizon across which no living
+creature had ever been known to come. Slowly
+the sun swept across the huge arch of the
+heavens, and as the shadows shifted from the
+black rocks which jutted upward from above
+his cell, so did the hermit regulate his terms of
+prayer and meditation. There was nothing on
+earth to draw his eye, or to distract his mind,
+for the grassy plain below was as void from
+month to month as the heaven above. So the
+long hours passed, until the red rim slipped
+down on the further side, and the day ended in
+the same pearl-grey shimmer with which it had
+begun. Once two ravens circled for some days
+round the lonely hill, and once a white fish-eagle
+came from the Dniester and screamed
+above the hermit's head. Sometimes red dots<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span>
+were seen on the green plain where the antelopes
+grazed, and often a wolf howled in the
+darkness from the base of the rocks. Such
+was the uneventful life of Simon Melas the
+anchorite, until there came the day of wrath.</p>
+
+<p>It was in the late spring of the year 375 that
+Simon came out from his cell, his gourd in his
+hand, to draw water from the spring. Darkness
+had closed in, the sun had set, but one last
+glimmer of rosy light rested upon a rocky
+peak, which jutted forth from the hill, on the
+further side from the hermit's dwelling. As
+Simon came forth from under his ledge, the
+gourd dropped from his hand, and he stood
+gazing in amazement.</p>
+
+<p>On the opposite peak a man was standing, his
+outline black in the fading light. He was a
+strange, almost a deformed figure, short-statured,
+round-backed, with a large head, no
+neck, and a long rod jutting out from between
+his shoulders. He stood with his face advanced,
+and his body bent, peering very intently
+over the plain to the westward. In a moment
+he was gone, and the lonely black peak showed
+up hard and naked against the faint eastern<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span>
+glimmer. Then the night closed down, and
+all was black once more.</p>
+
+<p>Simon Melas stood long in bewilderment,
+wondering who this stranger could be. He
+had heard, as had every Christian, of those evil
+spirits which were wont to haunt the hermits
+in the Thebaid and on the skirts of the Ethiopian
+waste. The strange shape of this solitary
+creature, its dark outline and prowling,
+intent attitude, suggestive rather of a fierce,
+rapacious beast than of a man, all helped him
+to believe that he had at last encountered one
+of those wanderers from the pit, of whose
+existence, in those days of robust faith, he had
+no more doubt than of his own. Much of the
+night he spent in prayer, his eyes glancing continually
+at the low arch of his cell door, with
+its curtain of deep purple wrought with stars.
+At any instant some crouching monster, some
+horned abomination, might peer in upon him,
+and he clung with frenzied appeal to his crucifix,
+as his human weakness quailed at the
+thought. But at last his fatigue overcame his
+fears, and falling upon his couch of dried grass,
+he slept until the bright daylight brought him
+to his senses.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>It was later than was his wont, and the sun
+was far above the horizon. As he came forth
+from his cell, he looked across at the peak of
+rock, but it stood there bare and silent. Already
+it seemed to him that that strange dark
+figure which had startled him so was some
+dream, some vision of the twilight. His gourd
+lay where it had fallen, and he picked it up with
+the intention of going to the spring. But suddenly
+he was aware of something new. The
+whole air was throbbing with sound. From
+all sides it came, rumbling, indefinite, an inarticulate
+mutter, low, but thick and strong,
+rising, falling, reverberating among the rocks,
+dying away into vague whispers, but always
+there. He looked round at the blue, cloudless
+sky in bewilderment. Then he scrambled up
+the rocky pinnacle above him, and sheltering
+himself in its shadow, he stared out over the
+plain. In his wildest dream he had never imagined
+such a sight.</p>
+
+<p>The whole vast expanse was covered with
+horsemen, hundreds and thousands and tens
+of thousands, all riding slowly and in silence,
+out of the unknown east. It was the multitudinous
+beat of their horses' hoofs which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span>
+caused that low throbbing in his ears. Some
+were so close to him as he looked down upon
+them that he could see clearly their thin, wiry
+horses, and the strange humped figures of their
+swarthy riders, sitting forward on the withers,
+shapeless bundles, their short legs hanging
+stirrupless, their bodies balanced as firmly as
+though they were part of the beast. In those
+nearest he could see the bow and the quiver,
+the long spear and the short sword, with the
+coiled lasso behind the rider, which told that
+this was no helpless horde of wanderers, but
+a formidable army upon the march. His eyes
+passed on from them and swept further and
+further, but still to the very horizon, which
+quivered with movement, there was no end to
+this monstrous cavalry. Already the vanguard
+was far past the island of rock upon which he
+dwelt, and he could now understand that in
+front of this vanguard were single scouts who
+guided the course of the army, and that it was
+one of these whom he had seen the evening
+before.</p>
+
+<p>All day, held spell-bound by this wonderful
+sight, the hermit crouched in the shadow of
+the rocks, and all day the sea of horsemen rolled<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span>
+onward over the plain beneath. Simon had seen
+the swarming quays of Alexandria, he had
+watched the mob which blocked the hippodrome
+of Constantinople, yet never had he imagined
+such a multitude as now defiled beneath his
+eyes, coming from that eastern skyline which
+had been the end of his world. Sometimes the
+dense streams of horsemen were broken by
+droves of brood-mares and foals, driven along
+by mounted guards; sometimes there were
+herds of cattle; sometimes there were lines of
+waggons with skin canopies above them; but
+then once more, after every break, came the
+horsemen, the horsemen, the hundreds and the
+thousands and the tens of thousands, slowly,
+ceaselessly, silently drifting from the east to
+the west. The long day passed, the light
+waned, and the shadows fell, but still the great
+broad stream was flowing by.</p>
+
+<p>But the night brought a new and even
+stranger sight. Simon had marked bundles of
+faggots upon the backs of many of the led
+horses, and now he saw their use. All over the
+great plain, red pin-points gleamed through the
+darkness, which grew and brightened into
+flickering columns of flame. So far as he could<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span>
+see both to east and west the fires extended,
+until they were but points of light in the
+furthest distance. White stars shone in the
+vast heavens above, red ones in the great
+plain below. And from every side rose the
+low, confused murmur of voices, with the lowing
+of oxen and the neighing of horses.</p>
+
+<p>Simon had been a soldier and a man of affairs
+before ever he forsook the world, and
+the meaning of all that he had seen was clear
+to him. History told him how the Roman
+world had ever been assailed by fresh swarms
+of Barbarians, coming from the outer darkness,
+and that the eastern Empire had already,
+in its fifty years of existence since Constantine
+had moved the capital of the world to the
+shores of the Bosphorus, been tormented in the
+same way. Gepid&aelig; and Heruli, Ostrogoths
+and Sarmatians, he was familiar with them all.
+What the advanced sentinel of Europe had
+seen from this lonely outlying hill, was a fresh
+swarm breaking in upon the Empire, distinguished
+only from the others by its enormous,
+incredible size and by the strange aspect of the
+warriors who composed it. He alone of all
+civilised men knew of the approach of this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span>
+dreadful shadow, sweeping like a heavy storm
+cloud from the unknown depths of the east. He
+thought of the little Roman posts along the
+Dniester, of the ruined Dacian wall of Trajan
+behind them, and then of the scattered, defenceless
+villages which lay with no thought of
+danger over all the open country which
+stretched down to the Danube. Could he but
+give them the alarm! Was it not, perhaps, for
+that very end that God had guided him to the
+wilderness?</p>
+
+<p>Then suddenly he remembered his Arian
+neighbour, who dwelt in the cave beneath him.
+Once or twice during the last year he had
+caught a glimpse of his tall, bent figure
+hobbling round to examine the traps which he
+laid for quails and partridges. On one occasion
+they had met at the brook; but the old theologian
+waved him away as if he were a leper.
+What did he think now of this strange happening?
+Surely their differences might be forgotten at
+such a moment. He stole down the
+side of the hill, and made his way to his fellow-hermit's
+cave.</p>
+
+<p>But there was a terrible silence as he approached
+it. His heart sank at that deadly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span>
+stillness in the little valley. No glimmer of
+light came from the cleft in the rocks. He
+entered and called, but no answer came back.
+Then, with flint, steel, and the dry grass which
+he used for tinder, he struck a spark, and blew
+it into a blaze. The old hermit, his white hair
+dabbled with crimson, lay sprawling across the
+floor. The broken crucifix, with which his
+head had been beaten in, lay in splinters across
+him. Simon had dropped on his knees beside
+him, straightening his contorted limbs, and
+muttering the office for the dead, when the thud
+of a horse's hoofs was heard ascending the little
+valley which led to the hermit's cell. The dry
+grass had burned down, and Simon crouched
+trembling in the darkness, pattering prayers
+to the Virgin that his strength might be upheld.</p>
+
+<p>It may have been that the new-comer had
+seen the gleam of the light, or it may have been
+that he had heard from his comrades of the old
+man whom they had murdered, and that his
+curiosity had led him to the spot. He stopped
+his horse outside the cave, and Simon, lurking
+in the shadows within, had a fair view of him
+in the moonlight. He slipped from his saddle,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span>
+fastened the bridle to a root, and then stood
+peering through the opening of the cell. He
+was a very short, thick man, with a dark face,
+which was gashed with three cuts upon either
+side. His small eyes were sunk deep in his
+head, showing like black holes in the heavy,
+flat, hairless face. His legs were short and
+very bandy, so that he waddled uncouthly as
+he walked.</p>
+
+<p>Simon crouched in the darkest angle, and he
+gripped in his hand that same knotted cudgel
+which the dead theologian had once raised
+against him. As that hideous stooping head
+advanced into the darkness of the cell, he
+brought the staff down upon it with all the
+strength of his right arm, and then, as the
+stricken savage fell forward upon his face, he
+struck madly again and again, until the shapeless
+figure lay limp and still. One roof covered
+the first slain of Europe and of Asia.</p>
+
+<p>Simon's veins were throbbing and quivering
+with the unwonted joy of action. All the
+energy stored up in those years of repose came
+in a flood at this moment of need. Standing in
+the darkness of the cell, he saw, as in a map of
+fire, the outlines of the great Barbaric host,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span>
+the line of the river, the position of the settlements,
+the means by which they might be
+warned. Silently he waited in the shadow until
+the moon had sunk. Then he flung himself
+upon the dead man's horse, guided it down the
+gorge, and set forth at a gallop across the
+plain.</p>
+
+<p>There were fires on every side of him, but he
+kept clear of the rings of light. Round each
+he could see, as he passed, the circle of sleeping
+warriors, with the long lines of picketed
+horses. Mile after mile and league after league
+stretched that huge encampment. And then,
+at last, he had reached the open plain which led
+to the river, and the fires of the invaders were
+but a dull smoulder against the black eastern
+sky. Ever faster and faster he sped across the
+steppe, like a single fluttered leaf which whirls
+before the storm. Even as the dawn whitened
+the sky behind him, it gleamed also upon the
+broad river in front, and he flogged his weary
+horse through the shallows, until he plunged
+into its full yellow tide.</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<p>So it was that, as the young Roman centurion&mdash;Caius
+Crassus&mdash;made his morning<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span>
+round in the fort of Tyras he saw a single
+horseman, who rode towards him from the
+river. Weary and spent, drenched with water
+and caked with dirt and sweat, both horse and
+man were at the last stage of their endurance.
+With amazement the Roman watched their
+progress, and recognised in the ragged, swaying
+figure, with flying hair and staring eyes,
+the hermit of the eastern desert. He ran to
+meet him, and caught him in his arms as he
+reeled from the saddle.</p>
+
+<p>"What is it, then?" he asked. "What is
+your news?"</p>
+
+<p>But the hermit could only point at the rising
+sun. "To arms!" he croaked. "To arms!
+The day of wrath is come!" And as he looked,
+the Roman saw&mdash;far across the river&mdash;a great
+dark shadow, which moved slowly over the distant
+plain.</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span></p>
+<h2>V<br />
+THE CONTEST</h2>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">In</span> the year of our Lord 66, the Emperor
+Nero, being at that time in the twenty-ninth
+year of his life and the thirteenth of his reign,
+set sail for Greece with the strangest company
+and the most singular design that any monarch
+has ever entertained. With ten galleys he went
+forth from Puteoli, carrying with him great
+stores of painted scenery and theatrical properties,
+together with a number of knights and
+senators, whom he feared to leave behind him
+at Rome, and who were all marked for death
+in the course of his wanderings. In his train
+he took Natus, his singing coach; Cluvius, a
+man with a monstrous voice, who should bawl
+out his titles; and a thousand trained youths
+who had learned to applaud in unison whenever
+their master sang or played in public. So
+deftly had they been taught that each had his
+own r&ocirc;le to play. Some did no more than
+give forth a low deep hum of speechless appreciation.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span>
+Some clapped with enthusiasm.
+Some, rising from approbation into absolute
+frenzy, shrieked, stamped, and beat sticks upon
+the benches. Some&mdash;and they were the most
+effective&mdash;had learned from an Alexandrian
+a long droning musical note which they all uttered
+together, so that it boomed over the assembly.
+With the aid of these mercenary
+admirers, Nero had every hope, in spite of his
+indifferent voice and clumsy execution, to return
+to Rome, bearing with him the chaplets
+for song offered for free competition by the
+Greek cities. As his great gilded galley with
+two tiers of oars passed down the Mediterranean,
+the Emperor sat in his cabin all day,
+his teacher by his side, rehearsing from morning
+to night those compositions which he had
+selected, whilst every few hours a Nubian
+slave massaged the Imperial throat with oil
+and balsam, that it might be ready for the great
+ordeal which lay before it in the land of poetry
+and song. His food, his drink, and his exercise
+were prescribed for him as for an athlete
+who trains for a contest, and the twanging of
+his lyre, with the strident notes of his voice,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span>
+resounded continually from the Imperial quarters.</p>
+
+<p>Now it chanced that there lived in those days
+a Grecian goatherd named Policles, who tended
+and partly owned a great flock which grazed
+upon the long flanks of the hills near Her&#339;a,
+which is five miles north of the river Alpheus,
+and no great distance from the famous Olympia.
+This person was noted over all the
+country-side as a man of strange gifts and
+singular character. He was a poet who had
+twice been crowned for his verses, and he was
+a musician to whom the use and sound of an instrument
+were so natural that one would more
+easily meet him without his staff than his harp.
+Even in his lonely vigils on the winter hills he
+would bear it always slung over his shoulder,
+and would pass the long hours by its aid, so
+that it had come to be part of his very self. He
+was beautiful also, swarthy and eager, with a
+head like Adonis, and in strength there was no
+one who could compete with him. But all was
+ruined by his disposition, which was so masterful
+that he would brook no opposition nor
+contradiction. For this reason he was continually
+at enmity with all his neighbours, and in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span>
+his fits of temper he would spend months at a
+time in his stone hut among the mountains,
+hearing nothing from the world, and living only
+for his music and his goats.</p>
+
+<p>One spring morning, in the year of 67,
+Policles, with the aid of his boy Dorus, had
+driven his goats over to a new pasturage which
+overlooked from afar the town of Olympia.
+Gazing down upon it from the mountain, the
+shepherd was surprised to see that a portion
+of the famous amphitheatre had been roofed
+in, as though some performance was being enacted.
+Living far from the world and from
+all news, Policles could not imagine what was
+afoot, for he was well aware that the Grecian
+games were not due for two years to come.
+Surely some poetic or musical contest must
+be proceeding of which he had heard nothing.
+If so, there would perhaps be some chance of his
+gaining the votes of the judges; and in any case
+he loved to hear the compositions and admire
+the execution of the great minstrels who assembled
+on such an occasion. Calling to Dorus,
+therefore, he left the goats to his charge, and
+strode swiftly away, his harp upon his back, to
+see what was going forward in the town.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>When Policles came into the suburbs, he
+found them deserted; but he was still more surprised
+when he reached the main street to see
+no single human being in the place. He hastened
+his steps, therefore, and as he approached
+the theatre he was conscious of a low sustained
+hum which announced the concourse of a huge
+assembly. Never in all his dreams had he
+imagined any musical competition upon so vast
+a scale as this. There were some soldiers clustering
+outside the door; but Policles pushed his
+way swiftly through them, and found himself
+upon the outskirts of the multitude who filled
+the great space formed by roofing over a portion
+of the national stadium. Looking around
+him, Policles saw a great number of his neighbours,
+whom he knew by sight, tightly packed
+upon the benches, all with their eyes fixed upon
+the stage. He also observed that there were
+soldiers round the walls, and that a considerable
+part of the hall was filled by a body of
+youths of foreign aspect, with white gowns
+and long hair. All this he perceived; but what
+it meant he could not imagine. He bent over
+to a neighbour to ask him, but a soldier prodded
+him at once with the butt end of his spear, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span>
+commanded him fiercely to hold his peace. The
+man whom he had addressed, thinking that
+Policles had demanded a seat, pressed closer to
+his neighbour, and so the shepherd found himself
+sitting at the end of the bench which was
+nearest to the door. Thence he concentrated
+himself upon the stage, on which Metas, a well-known
+minstrel from Corinth and an old friend
+of Policles, was singing and playing without
+much encouragement from the audience. To
+Policles it seemed that Metas was having less
+than his due, so he applauded loudly, but he was
+surprised to observe that the soldiers frowned
+at him, and that all his neighbours regarded
+him with some surprise. Being a man of
+strong and obstinate character, he was the
+more inclined to persevere in his clapping
+when he perceived that the general sentiment
+was against him.</p>
+
+<p>But what followed filled the shepherd poet
+with absolute amazement. When Metas of
+Corinth had made his bow and withdrawn to
+half-hearted and perfunctory applause, there
+appeared upon the stage, amid the wildest enthusiasm
+upon the part of the audience, a most
+extraordinary figure. He was a short fat man,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span>
+neither old nor young, with a bull neck and a
+round, heavy face, which hung in creases in
+front like the dewlap of an ox. He was absurdly
+clad in a short blue tunic, braced at the
+waist with a golden belt. His neck and part of
+his chest were exposed, and his short, fat legs
+were bare from the buskins below to the middle
+of his thighs, which was as far as his tunic extended.
+In his hair were two golden wings,
+and the same upon his heels, after the fashion
+of the god Mercury. Behind him walked a
+negro bearing a harp, and beside him a richly
+dressed officer who bore rolls of music. This
+strange creature took the harp from the hands
+of the attendant, and advanced to the front of
+the stage, whence he bowed and smiled to the
+cheering audience. "This is some foppish
+singer from Athens," thought Policles to himself,
+but at the same time he understood that
+only a great master of song could receive such
+a reception from a Greek audience. This was
+evidently some wonderful performer whose
+reputation had preceded him. Policles settled
+down, therefore, and prepared to give his soul
+up to the music.</p>
+
+<p>The blue-clad player struck several chords<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span>
+upon his lyre, and then burst suddenly out into
+the "Ode of Niobe." Policles sat straight up
+on his bench and gazed at the stage in amazement.
+The tune demanded a rapid transition
+from a low note to a high, and had been purposely
+chosen for this reason. The low note
+was a grunting, a rumble, the deep discordant
+growling of an ill-conditioned dog. Then suddenly
+the singer threw up his face, straightened
+his tubby figure, rose upon his tiptoes,
+and with wagging head and scarlet cheeks
+emitted such a howl as the same dog might
+have given had his growl been checked by a
+kick from his master. All the while the lyre
+twanged and thrummed, sometimes in front of
+and sometimes behind the voice of the singer.
+But what amazed Policles most of all was the
+effect of this performance upon the audience.
+Every Greek was a trained critic, and as unsparing
+in his hisses as he was lavish in his
+applause. Many a singer far better than this
+absurd fop had been driven amid execration
+and abuse from the platform. But now, as the
+man stopped and wiped the abundant sweat
+from his fat face, the whole assembly burst
+into a delirium of appreciation. The shepherd<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span>
+held his hands to his bursting head, and felt
+that his reason must be leaving him. It was
+surely a dreadful musical nightmare, and he
+would wake soon and laugh at the remembrance.
+But no; the figures were real, the faces were
+those of his neighbours, the cheers which resounded
+in his ears were indeed from an audience
+which filled the theatre of Olympia. The
+whole chorus was in full blast, the hummers
+humming, the shouters bellowing, the tappers
+hard at work upon the benches, while every
+now and then came a musical cyclone of "Incomparable!
+Divine!" from the trained phalanx
+who intoned their applause, their united
+voices sweeping over the tumult as the drone
+of the wind dominates the roar of the sea. It
+was madness&mdash;insufferable madness! If this
+were allowed to pass, there was an end of all
+musical justice in Greece. Policles' conscience
+would not permit him to be still. Standing
+upon his bench with waving hands and up-raised
+voice, he protested with all the strength
+of his lungs against the mad judgment of the
+audience.</p>
+
+<p>At first, amid the tumult, his action was
+hardly noticed. His voice was drowned in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span>
+the universal roar which broke out afresh at
+each bow and smirk from the fatuous musician.
+But gradually the folk round Policles ceased
+clapping, and stared at him in astonishment.
+The silence grew in ever widening circles, until
+the whole great assembly sat mute, staring at
+this wild and magnificent creature who was
+storming at them from his perch near the door.</p>
+
+<p>"Fools!" he cried. "What are you clapping
+at? What are you cheering? Is this what you
+call music? Is this cat-calling to earn an
+Olympian prize? The fellow has not a note in
+his voice. You are either deaf or mad, and I
+for one cry shame upon you for your folly."</p>
+
+<p>Soldiers ran to pull him down, and the whole
+audience was in confusion, some of the bolder
+cheering the sentiments of the shepherd, and
+others crying that he should be cast out of the
+building. Meanwhile the successful singer,
+having handed his lyre to his negro attendant,
+was enquiring from those around him on the
+stage as to the cause of the uproar. Finally a
+herald with an enormously powerful voice
+stepped forward to the front, and proclaimed
+that if the foolish person at the back of the hall,
+who appeared to differ from the opinion of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span>
+rest of the audience, would come forward upon
+the platform, he might, if he dared, exhibit
+his own powers, and see if he could outdo the
+admirable and wonderful exhibition which they
+had just had the privilege of hearing.</p>
+
+<p>Policles sprang readily to his feet at the
+challenge, and the great company making way
+for him to pass, he found himself a minute later
+standing in his unkempt garb, with his frayed
+and weather-beaten harp in his hand, before the
+expectant crowd. He stood for a moment
+tightening a string here and slackening another
+there until his chords rang true. Then, amid a
+murmur of laughter and jeers from the Roman
+benches immediately before him, he began to
+sing.</p>
+
+<p>He had prepared no composition, but he had
+trained himself to improvise, singing out of
+his heart for the joy of the music. He told of
+the land of Elis, beloved of Jupiter, in which
+they were gathered that day, of the great bare
+mountain slopes, of the swift shadows of the
+clouds, of the winding blue river, of the keen
+air of the uplands, of the chill of the evenings,
+and the beauties of earth and sky. It was all
+simple and childlike, but it went to the hearts<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span>
+of the Olympians, for it spoke of the land which
+they knew and loved. Yet when he at last
+dropped his hand, few of them dared to applaud,
+and their feeble voices were drowned by a storm
+of hisses and groans from his opponents. He
+shrank back in horror from so unusual a reception,
+and in an instant his blue-clad rival was in
+his place. If he had sung badly before, his
+performance now was inconceivable. His
+screams, his grunts, his discords, and harsh
+jarring cacophonies were an outrage to the
+very name of music. And yet every time that
+he paused for breath or to wipe his streaming
+forehead a fresh thunder of applause came rolling
+back from the audience. Policles sank his
+face in his hands and prayed that he might not
+be insane. Then, when the dreadful performance
+ceased, and the uproar of admiration
+showed that the crown was certainly awarded
+to this impostor, a horror of the audience, a
+hatred of this race of fools, and a craving for
+the peace and silence of the pastures mastered
+every feeling in his mind. He dashed through
+the mass of people waiting at the wings, and
+emerged in the open air. His old rival and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span>
+friend Metas of Corinth was waiting there with
+an anxious face.</p>
+
+<p>"Quick, Policles, quick!" he cried. "My
+pony is tethered behind yonder grove. A grey
+he is, with red trappings. Get you gone as
+hard as hoof will bear you, for if you are taken
+you will have no easy death."</p>
+
+<p>"No easy death! What mean you, Metas?
+Who is the fellow?"</p>
+
+<p>"Great Jupiter! did you not know? Where
+have you lived? It is Nero the Emperor!
+Never would he pardon what you have said
+about his voice. Quick, man, quick, or the
+guards will be at your heels!"</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<p>An hour later the shepherd was well on his
+way to his mountain home, and about the same
+time the Emperor, having received the Chaplet
+of Olympia for the incomparable excellence
+of his performance, was making enquiries with
+a frowning brow as to who the insolent person
+might be who had dared to utter such contemptuous
+criticisms.</p>
+
+<p>"Bring him to me here this instant," said he,
+"and let Marcus with his knife and branding-iron
+be in attendance."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"If it please you, great C&aelig;sar," said Arsenius
+Platus, the officer of attendance, "the
+man cannot be found, and there are some very
+strange rumours flying about."</p>
+
+<p>"Rumours!" cried the angry Nero. "What
+do you mean, Arsenius? I tell you that the
+fellow was an ignorant upstart with the bearing
+of a boor and the voice of a peacock. I tell
+you also that there are a good many who are
+as guilty as he among the people, for I heard
+them with my own ears raise cheers for him
+when he had sung his ridiculous ode. I have
+half a mind to burn their town about their ears
+so that they may remember my visit."</p>
+
+<p>"It is not to be wondered at if he won their
+votes, C&aelig;sar," said the soldier, "for from what
+I hear it would have been no disgrace had you,
+even you, been conquered in this contest."</p>
+
+<p>"I conquered! You are mad, Arsenius.
+What do you mean?"</p>
+
+<p>"None know him, great C&aelig;sar! He came
+from the mountains, and he disappeared into
+the mountains. You marked the wildness and
+strange beauty of his face. It is whispered
+that for once the great god Pan has condescended
+to measure himself against a mortal."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The cloud cleared from Nero's brow. "Of
+course, Arsenius! You are right! No man
+would have dared to brave me so. What a story
+for Rome! Let the messenger leave this
+very night, Arsenius, to tell them how their
+Emperor has upheld their honour in Olympia
+this day."</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span></p>
+<h2>VI<br />
+THE FIRST CARGO</h2>
+
+<div class="bk4">"Ex ovo omnia"</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">When</span> you left Britain with your legion, my
+dear Crassus, I promised that I would write
+to you from time to time when a messenger
+chanced to be going to Rome, and keep you informed
+as to anything of interest which might
+occur in this country. Personally, I am very
+glad that I remained behind when the troops
+and so many of our citizens left, for though the
+living is rough and the climate is infernal, still
+by dint of the three voyages which I have made
+for amber to the Baltic, and the excellent prices
+which I obtained for it here, I shall soon be in
+a position to retire, and to spend my old age
+under my own fig tree, or even perhaps to buy
+a small villa at Baiae or Posuoli, where I could
+get a good sun-bath after the continued fogs
+of this accursed island. I picture myself on a
+little farm, and I read the Georgics as a preparation;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span>
+but when I hear the rain falling and
+the wind howling, Italy seems very far away.</p>
+
+<p>In my previous letter I let you know how
+things were going in this country. The poor
+folk, who had given up all soldiering during the
+centuries that we guarded them, are now perfectly
+helpless before these Picts and Scots,
+tattooed Barbarians from the north, who overrun
+the whole country and do exactly what they
+please. So long as they kept to the north, the
+people in the south, who are the most numerous,
+and also the most civilised of the Britons,
+took no heed of them; but now the rascals have
+come as far as London, and the lazy folk in
+these parts have had to wake up. Vortigern,
+the king, is useless for anything but drink or
+women, so he sent across to the Baltic to get
+over some of the North Germans, in the hope
+that they would come and help him. It is bad
+enough to have a bear in your house, but it
+does not seem to me to mend matters if you
+call in a pack of ferocious wolves as well.
+However, nothing better could be devised, so
+an invitation was sent and very promptly accepted.
+And it is here that your humble friend
+appears upon the scene. In the course of my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span>
+amber trading I had learned the Saxon speech,
+and so I was sent down in all haste to the Kentish
+shore that I might be there when our new
+allies came. I arrived there on the very day
+when their first vessel appeared, and it is of my
+adventures that I wish to tell you. It is perfectly
+clear to me that the landing of these warlike
+Germans in England will prove to be an
+event of historical importance, and so your inquisitive
+mind will not feel wearied if I treat
+the matter in some detail.</p>
+
+<p>It was, then, upon the day of Mercury, immediately
+following the Feast of Our Blessed
+Lord's Ascension, that I found myself upon
+the south bank of the river Thames, at the point
+where it opens into a wide estuary. There is
+an island there named Thanet, which was the
+spot chosen for the landfall of our visitors.
+Sure enough, I had no sooner ridden up than
+there was a great red ship, the first as it seems
+of three, coming in under full sail. The white
+horse, which is the ensign of these rovers, was
+hanging from her topmast, and she appeared
+to be crowded with men. The sun was shining
+brightly, and the great scarlet ship, with snow-white
+sails and a line of gleaming shields slung<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span>
+over her side, made as fair a picture on that
+blue expanse as one would wish to see.</p>
+
+<p>I pushed off at once in a boat, because it had
+been arranged that none of the Saxons should
+land until the king had come down to speak
+with their leaders. Presently I was under the
+ship, which had a gilded dragon in the bows,
+and a tier of oars along either side. As I
+looked up, there was a row of helmeted heads
+looking down at me, and among them I saw, to
+my great surprise and pleasure, that of Eric the
+Swart, with whom I do business at Venta every
+year. He greeted me heartily when I reached
+the deck, and became at once my guide, friend,
+and counsellor. This helped me greatly with
+these Barbarians, for it is their nature that
+they are very cold and aloof unless one of their
+own number can vouch for you, after which
+they are very hearty and hospitable. Try as
+they will, they find it hard, however, to avoid a
+certain suggestion of condescension, and in the
+baser sort, of contempt, when they are dealing
+with a foreigner.</p>
+
+<p>It was a great stroke of luck meeting Eric,
+for he was able to give me some idea of how
+things stood before I was shown into the presence<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span>
+of Kenna, the leader of this particular
+ship. The crew, as I learned from him, was
+entirely made up of three tribes or families&mdash;those
+of Kenna, of Lanc, and of Hasta. Each
+of these tribes gets its name by putting the letters
+"ing" after the name of the chief, so that
+the people on board would describe themselves
+as Kennings, Lancings, and Hastings. I observed
+in the Baltic that the villages were
+named after the family who lived in them, each
+keeping to itself, so that I have no doubt that
+if these fellows get a footing on shore, we shall
+see settlements with names like these rising up
+among the British towns.</p>
+
+<p>The greater part of the men were sturdy
+fellows with red, yellow, or brown hair, mostly
+the latter. To my surprise, I saw several
+women among them. Eric, in answer to my
+question, explained that they always take their
+women with them so far as they can, and that
+instead of finding them an encumbrance as our
+Roman dames would be, they look upon them
+as helpmates and advisers. Of course, I remembered
+afterwards that our excellent and
+accurate Tacitus has remarked upon this characteristic
+of the Germans. All laws in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span>
+tribes are decided by votes, and a vote has not
+yet been given to the women, but many are in
+favour of it, and it is thought that woman and
+man may soon have the same power in the
+State, though many of the women themselves
+are opposed to such an innovation. I observed
+to Eric that it was fortunate there were several
+women on board, as they could keep each
+other company; but he answered that the wives
+of chiefs had no desire to know the wives of
+the inferior officers, and that both of them
+combined against the more common women, so
+that any companionship was out of the question.
+He pointed as he spoke to Editha, the
+wife of Kenna, a red-faced, elderly woman,
+who walked among the others, her chin in the
+air, taking no more notice than if they did not
+exist.</p>
+
+<p>Whilst I was talking to my friend Eric, a
+sudden altercation broke out upon the deck, and
+a great number of the men paused in their
+work, and flocked towards the spot with faces
+which showed that they were deeply interested
+in the matter. Eric and I pushed our way
+among the others, for I was very anxious to
+see as much as I could of the ways and manners<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span>
+of these Barbarians. A quarrel had
+broken out about a child, a little blue-eyed fellow
+with curly yellow hair, who appeared to be
+greatly amused by the hubbub of which he was
+the cause. On one side of him stood a white-bearded
+old man, of very majestic aspect, who
+signified by his gestures that he claimed the lad
+for himself, while on the other was a thin,
+earnest, anxious person, who strongly objected
+to the boy being taken from him. Eric whispered
+in my ear that the old man was the tribal
+high priest, who was the official sacrificer to
+their great god Woden, whilst the other was
+a man who took somewhat different views, not
+upon Woden, but upon the means by which he
+should be worshipped. The majority of the
+crew were on the side of the old priest; but
+a certain number, who liked greater liberty of
+worship, and to invent their own prayers instead
+of always repeating the official ones,
+followed the lead of the younger man. The difference
+was too deep and too old to be healed
+among the grown men, but each had a great
+desire to impress his view upon the children.
+This was the reason why these two were now
+so furious with each other, and the argument<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span>
+between them ran so high that several of their
+followers on either side had drawn the short
+saxes, or knives from which their name of
+Saxon is derived, when a burly, red-headed
+man pushed his way through the throng, and
+in a voice of thunder brought the controversy
+to an end.</p>
+
+<p>"You priests, who argue about the things
+which no man can know, are more trouble
+aboard this ship than all the dangers of the
+sea," he cried. "Can you not be content with
+worshipping Woden, over which we are all
+agreed, and not make so much of those small
+points upon which we may differ. If there is
+all this fuss about the teaching of the children,
+then I shall forbid either of you to teach them,
+and they must be content with as much as they
+can learn from their mothers."</p>
+
+<p>The two angry teachers walked away with
+discontented faces; and Kenna&mdash;for it was he
+who spoke&mdash;ordered that a whistle should be
+sounded, and that the crew should assemble. I
+was pleased with the free bearing of these
+people, for though this was their greatest chief,
+they showed none of the exaggerated respect
+which soldiers of a legion might show to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span>
+Pr&aelig;tor, but met him on a respectful equality,
+which showed how highly they rated their own
+manhood.</p>
+
+<p>From our Roman standard, his remarks to
+his men would seem very wanting in eloquence,
+for there were no graces nor metaphors to be
+found in them, and yet they were short, strong
+and to the point. At any rate it was very
+clear that they were to the minds of his hearers.
+He began by reminding them that they had left
+their own country because the land was all
+taken up, and that there was no use returning
+there, since there was no place where they could
+dwell as free and independent men. This island
+of Britain was but sparsely inhabited, and there
+was a chance that every one of them would be
+able to found a home of his own.</p>
+
+<p>"You, Whitta," he said, addressing some of
+them by name, "you will found a Whitting
+hame, and you, Bucka, we shall see you in a
+Bucking hame, where your children and your
+children's children will bless you for the broad
+acres which your valour will have gained for
+them." There was no word of glory or of
+honour in his speech, but he said that he was
+aware that they would do their duty, on which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span>
+they all struck their swords upon their shields
+so that the Britons on the beach could hear the
+clang. Then, his eyes falling upon me, he
+asked me whether I was the messenger from
+Vortigern, and on my answering, he bid me
+follow him into his cabin, where Lanc and
+Hasta, the other chiefs, were waiting for a
+council.</p>
+
+<p>Picture me, then, my dear Crassus, in a very
+low-roofed cabin, with these three huge Barbarians
+seated round me. Each was clad in
+some sort of saffron tunic, with a chain-mail
+shirt over it, and a helmet with the horns of
+oxen on the sides, laid upon the table before
+him. Like most of the Saxon chiefs, their
+beards were shaved, but they wore their hair
+long and their huge light-coloured moustaches
+drooped down on to their shoulders. They are
+gentle, slow, and somewhat heavy in their
+bearing, but I can well fancy that their fury is
+the more terrible when it does arise.</p>
+
+<p>Their minds seem to be of a very practical
+and positive nature, for they at once began to
+ask me a series of question upon the numbers
+of the Britons, the resources of the kingdom,
+the conditions of its trade, and other such subjects.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span>
+They then set to work arguing over the
+information which I had given, and became so
+absorbed in their own contention that I believe
+there were times when they forgot my presence.
+Everything, after due discussion, was
+decided between them by the vote, the one who
+found himself in the minority always submitting,
+though sometimes with a very bad grace.
+Indeed, on one occasion Lanc, who usually differed
+from the others, threatened to refer the
+matter to the general vote of the whole crew.
+There was a constant conflict in the point of
+view; for whereas Kenna and Hasta were anxious
+to extend the Saxon power, and to make
+it greater in the eyes of the world, Lanc was
+of opinion that they should give less thought
+to conquest and more to the comfort and advancement
+of their followers. At the same
+time it seemed to me that really Lanc was the
+most combative of the three; so much so that,
+even in time of peace, he could not forego this
+contest with his own brethren. Neither of
+the others seemed very fond of him, for they
+were each, as was easy to see, proud of their
+chieftainship, and anxious to use their authority,
+referring continually to those noble ancestors<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span>
+from whom it was derived; while Lanc
+though he was equally well born, took the view
+of the common men upon every occasion, claiming
+that the interests of the many were superior
+to the privileges of the few. In a word,
+Crassus, if you could imagine a free-booting
+Gracchus on one side, and two piratical Patricians
+upon the other, you would understand
+the effect which my companions produced upon
+me.</p>
+
+<p>There was one peculiarity which I observed
+in their conversation which soothed me very
+much. I am fond of these Britons, among
+whom I have spent so much of my life, and I
+wish them well. It was very pleasing, therefore,
+to notice that these men insisted upon it
+in their conversation that the whole object of
+their visit was the good of the Islanders. Any
+prospect of advantage to themselves was
+pushed into the background. I was not clear
+that these professions could be made to agree
+with the speech in which Kenna had promised
+a hundred hides of land to every man on the
+ship; but on my making this remark, the three
+chiefs seemed very surprised and hurt by my
+suspicions, and explained very plausibly that,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span>
+as the Britons needed them as a guard, they
+could not aid them better than by settling on
+the soil, and so being continually at hand in
+order to help them. In time, they said, they
+hoped to raise and train the natives to such a
+point that they would be able to look after
+themselves. Lanc spoke with some degree of
+eloquence upon the nobleness of the mission
+which they had undertaken, and the others clattered
+their cups of mead (a jar of that unpleasant
+drink was on the table) in token of their
+agreement.</p>
+
+<p>I observed also how much interested, and
+how very earnest and intolerant these Barbarians
+were in the matter of religion. Of
+Christianity they knew nothing, so that although
+they were aware that the Britons were
+Christians, they had not a notion of what
+their creed really was. Yet without examination
+they started by taking it for granted that
+their own worship of Woden was absolutely
+right, and that therefore this other creed must
+be absolutely wrong. "This vile religion,"
+"This sad superstition," and "This grievous
+error" were among the phrases which they
+used towards it. Instead of expressing pity<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span>
+for any one who had been misinformed upon so
+serious a question, their feelings were those of
+anger, and they declared most earnestly that
+they would spare no pains to set the matter
+right, fingering the hilts of their long broadswords
+as they did so.</p>
+
+<p>Well, my dear Crassus, you will have had
+enough of me and of my Saxons. I have given
+you a short sketch of these people and their
+ways. Since I began this letter, I have visited
+the two other ships which have come in, and as
+I find the same characteristics among the people
+on board them, I cannot doubt that they lie
+deeply in the race. For the rest, they are
+brave, hardy, and very pertinacious in all that
+they undertake; whereas the Britons, though a
+great deal more spirited, have not the same
+steadiness of purpose, their quicker imaginations
+suggesting always some other course, and
+their more fiery passions being succeeded by reaction.
+When I looked from the deck of the
+first Saxon ship, and saw the swaying excited
+multitude of Britons on the beach, contrasting
+them with the intent, silent men who stood beside
+me, it seemed to me more than ever dangerous
+to call in such allies. So strongly did I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span>
+feel it that I turned to Kenna, who was also
+looking towards the beach.</p>
+
+<p>"You will own this island before you have
+finished," said I.</p>
+
+<p>His eyes sparkled as he gazed. "Perhaps,"
+he cried; and then suddenly correcting himself
+and thinking that he had said too much, he
+added&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"A temporary occupation&mdash;nothing more."</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span></p>
+<h2>VII<br />
+AN ICONOCLAST</h2>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">It</span> was daybreak of a March morning in the
+year of Christ 92. Outside the long Semita
+Alta was already thronged with people, with
+buyers and sellers, callers and strollers, for the
+Romans were so early-rising a people that
+many a Patrician preferred to see his clients
+at six in the morning. Such was the good republican
+tradition, still upheld by the more conservative;
+but with more modern habits of
+luxury, a night of pleasure and banqueting was
+no uncommon thing. Thus one, who had
+learned the new and yet adhered to the old,
+might find his hours overlap, and without so
+much as a pretence of sleep come straight from
+his night of debauch into his day of business,
+turning with heavy wits and an aching head
+to that round of formal duties which consumed
+the life of a Roman gentleman.</p>
+
+<p>So it was with Emilius Flaccus that March
+morning. He and his fellow senator, Caius<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span>
+Balbus, had passed the night in one of those
+gloomy drinking bouts to which the Emperor
+Domitian summoned his chosen friends at the
+high palace on the Palatine. Now, having
+reached the portals of the house of Flaccus,
+they stood together under the pomegranate-fringed
+portico which fronted the peristyle
+and, confident in each other's tried discretion,
+made up by the freedom of their criticism for
+the long self-suppression of that melancholy
+feast.</p>
+
+<p>"If he would but feed his guests," said Balbus,
+a little red-faced, choleric nobleman with
+yellow-shot angry eyes. "What had we?
+Upon my life, I have forgotten. Plovers' eggs,
+a mess of fish, some bird or other, and then his
+eternal apples."</p>
+
+<p>"Of which," said Flaccus, "he ate only the
+apples. Do him the justice to confess that he
+takes even less than he gives. At least they
+cannot say of him as of Vitellius, that his teeth
+beggared the empire."</p>
+
+<p>"No, nor his thirst either, great as it is.
+That fiery Sabine wine of his could be had for
+a few sesterces the amphora. It is the common
+drink of the carters at every wine-house<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span>
+on the country roads. I longed for a glass of
+my own rich Falernian or the mellow Coan
+that was bottled in the year that Titus took
+Jerusalem. Is it even now too late? Could
+we not wash this rasping stuff from our
+palates?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nay, better come in with me now and take
+a bitter draught ere you go upon your way.
+My Greek physician Stephanos has a rare prescription
+for a morning head. What! Your
+clients await you? Well, I will see you later
+at the Senate house."</p>
+
+<p>The Patrician had entered his atrium, bright
+with rare flowers, and melodious with strange
+singing birds. At the jaws of the hall, true to
+his morning duties, stood Lebs, the little
+Nubian slave, with snow-white tunic and turban,
+a salver of glasses in one hand, whilst in
+the other he held a flask of thin lemon-tinted
+liquid. The master of the house filled up a bitter
+aromatic bumper, and was about to drink
+it off when his hand was arrested by a sudden
+perception that something was much amiss in
+his household. It was to be read all around
+him&mdash;in the frightened eyes of the black boy,
+in the agitated face of the keeper of the atrium,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span>
+in the gloom and silence of the little knot of
+ordinarii, the procurator or major-domo at
+their head, who had assembled to greet their
+master. Stephanos the physician, Cleios the
+Alexandrine reader, Promus the steward each
+turned his head away to avoid his master's
+questioning gaze.</p>
+
+<p>"What in the name of Pluto is the matter
+with you all?" cried the amazed senator, whose
+night of potations had left him in no mood for
+patience. "Why do you stand moping there?
+Stephanos, Vacculus, is anything amiss?
+Here, Promus, you are the head of my household.
+What is it, then? Why do you turn
+your eyes away from me?"</p>
+
+<p>The burly steward, whose fat face was haggard
+and mottled with anxiety, laid his hand
+upon the sleeve of the domestic beside him.</p>
+
+<p>"Sergius is responsible for the atrium, my
+lord. It is for him to tell you the terrible
+thing that has befallen in your absence."</p>
+
+<p>"Nay, it was Datus who did it. Bring him
+in, and let him explain it himself," said Sergius
+in a sulky voice.</p>
+
+<p>The patience of the Patrician was at an end.
+"Speak this instant, you rascal!" he shouted<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span>
+angrily. "Another minute, and I will have you
+dragged to the ergastulum, where, with your
+feet in the stocks and the gyves round your
+wrists, you may learn quicker obedience.
+Speak, I say, and without delay."</p>
+
+<p>"It is the Venus," the man stammered;
+"the Greek Venus of Praxiteles."</p>
+
+<p>The senator gave a cry of apprehension and
+rushed to the corner of the atrium, where a
+little shrine, curtained off by silken drapery,
+held the precious statue, the greatest art treasure
+of his collection&mdash;perhaps of the whole
+world. He tore the hangings aside and stood
+in speechless anger before the outraged goddess.
+The red, perfumed lamp which always
+burned before her had been spilled and broken;
+her altar fire had been quenched, her chaplet
+had been dashed aside. But worst of all&mdash;insufferable
+sacrilege!&mdash;her own beautiful nude
+body of glistening Pentelic marble, as white
+and fair as when the inspired Greek had hewed
+it out five hundred years before, had been most
+brutally mishandled. Three fingers of the
+gracious outstretched hand had been struck off,
+and lay upon the pedestal beside her. Above
+her delicate breast a dark mark showed, where<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span>
+a blow had disfigured the marble. Emilius
+Flaccus, the most delicate and judicious connoisseur
+in Rome, stood gasping and croaking,
+his hand to his throat, as he gazed at his disfigured
+masterpiece. Then he turned upon his
+slaves, his fury in his convulsed face; but, to
+his amazement, they were not looking at him,
+but had all turned in attitudes of deep respect
+towards the opening of the peristyle. As he
+faced round and saw who had just entered his
+house, his own rage fell away from him in an
+instant, and his manner became as humble as
+that of his servants.</p>
+
+<p>The new-comer was a man forty-three years
+of age, clean shaven, with a massive head,
+large engorged eyes, a small clear-cut nose, and
+the full bull neck which was the especial mark
+of his breed. He had entered through the peristyle
+with a swaggering, rolling gait, as one
+who walks upon his own ground, and now he
+stood, his hands upon his hips, looking round
+him at the bowing slaves, and finally at their
+master, with a half-humorous expression upon
+his flushed and brutal face.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, Emilius," said he, "I had understood
+that your household was the best-ordered in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span>
+Rome. What is amiss with you this morning?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing could be amiss with us now that
+C&aelig;sar has deigned to come under my roof,"
+said the courtier. "This is indeed a most glad
+surprise which you have prepared for me."</p>
+
+<p>"It was an afterthought," said Domitian.
+"When you and the others had left me, I was
+in no mood for sleep, and so it came into my
+mind that I would have a breath of morning
+air by coming down to you, and seeing this
+Grecian Venus of yours, about which you discoursed
+so eloquently between the cups. But,
+indeed, by your appearance and that of your
+servants, I should judge that my visit was an
+ill-timed one."</p>
+
+<p>"Nay, dear master; say not so. But, indeed,
+it is truth that I was in trouble at the moment
+of your welcome entrance, and this trouble
+was, as the Fates have willed it, brought forth
+by that very statue in which you have been
+graciously pleased to show your interest.
+There it stands, and you can see for yourself
+how rudely it has been mishandled."</p>
+
+<p>"By Pluto and all the nether gods, if it were
+mine some of you should feed the lampreys,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span>
+said the Emperor, looking round with his
+fierce eyes at the shrinking slaves. "You were
+always overmerciful, Emilius. It is the common
+talk that your caten&aelig; are rusted for want
+of use. But surely this is beyond all bounds.
+Let me see how you handle the matter. Whom
+do you hold responsible?"</p>
+
+<p>"The slave Sergius is responsible, since it is
+his place to tend the atrium," said Flaccus.
+"Stand forward, Sergius. What have you to
+say?"</p>
+
+<p>The trembling slave advanced to his master.
+"If it please you, sir, the mischief has been
+done by Datus the Christian."</p>
+
+<p>"Datus! Who is he?"</p>
+
+<p>"The matulator, the scavenger, my lord. I
+did not know that he belonged to these horrible
+people, or I should not have admitted him. He
+came with his broom to brush out the litter of
+the birds. His eyes fell upon the Venus, and in
+an instant he had rushed upon her and struck
+her two blows with his wooden besom. Then
+we fell upon him and dragged him away. But
+alas! alas! it was too late, for already the
+wretch had dashed off the fingers of the goddess."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The Emperor smiled grimly, while the Patrician's
+thin face grew pale with anger.</p>
+
+<p>"Where is the fellow?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"In the ergastulum, your honour, with the
+furca on his neck."</p>
+
+<p>"Bring him hither and summon the household."</p>
+
+<p>A few minutes later the whole back of the
+atrium was thronged by the motley crowd who
+ministered to the household needs of a great
+Roman nobleman. There was the arcarius, or
+account keeper, with his stylum behind his ear;
+the sleek pr&aelig;gustator, who sampled all foods,
+so as to stand between his master and poison,
+and beside him his predecessor, now a half-witted
+idiot through the interception twenty
+years before of a datura draught from Canidia;
+the cellar-man, summoned from amongst his
+amphor&aelig;; the cook, with his basting-ladle in
+his hand; the pompous nomenclator, who
+ushered the guests; the cubicularius, who saw
+to their accommodation; the silentiarius, who
+kept order in the house; the structor, who set
+forth the tables; the carptor, who carved the
+food; the cinerarius, who lit the fires&mdash;these
+and many more, half-curious, half-terrified,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span>
+came to the judging of Datus. Behind them a
+chattering, giggling swarm of Lalages,
+Marias, Cerusas, and Amaryllides, from the
+laundries and the spinning-rooms, stood upon
+their tiptoes, and extended their pretty wondering
+faces over the shoulders of the men.
+Through this crowd came two stout varlets
+leading the culprit between them. He was a
+small, dark, rough-headed man, with an unkempt
+beard and wild eyes which shone brightly
+with strong inward emotion. His hands were
+bound behind him, and over his neck was the
+heavy wooden collar or furca which was placed
+upon refractory slaves. A smear of blood
+across his cheek showed that he had not come
+uninjured from the preceding scuffle.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you Datus the scavenger?" asked the
+Patrician.</p>
+
+<p>The man drew himself up proudly. "Yes,"
+said he, "I am Datus."</p>
+
+<p>"Did you do this injury to my statue?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I did."</p>
+
+<p>There was an uncompromising boldness in
+the man's reply which compelled respect. The
+wrath of his master became tinged with interest.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Why did you do this?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Because it was my duty."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, then, was it your duty to destroy
+your master's property?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because I am a Christian." His eyes
+blazed suddenly out of his dark face. "Because
+there is no God but the one eternal, and all else
+are sticks and stones. What has this naked
+harlot to do with Him to whom the great
+firmament is but a garment and the earth a
+footstool? It was in His service that I have
+broken your statue."</p>
+
+<p>Domitian looked with a smile at the Patrician.
+"You will make nothing of him," said he.
+"They speak even so when they stand before
+the lions in the arena. As to argument, not all
+the philosophers of Rome can break them down.
+Before my very face they refuse to sacrifice in
+my honour. Never were such impossible
+people to deal with. I should take a short
+way with him if I were you."</p>
+
+<p>"What would C&aelig;sar advise?"</p>
+
+<p>"There are the games this afternoon. I am
+showing the new hunting-leopard which King
+Juba has sent from Numidia. This slave may<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span>
+give us some sport when he finds the hungry
+beast sniffing at his heels."</p>
+
+<p>The Patrician considered for a moment. He
+had always been a father to his servants. It
+was hateful to him to think of any injury befalling
+them. Perhaps even now, if this strange
+fanatic would show his sorrow for what he had
+done, it might be possible to spare him. At
+least it was worth trying.</p>
+
+<p>"Your offence deserves death," he said.
+"What reasons can you give why it should not
+befall you, since you have injured this statue,
+which is worth your own price a hundred times
+over?"</p>
+
+<p>The slave looked steadfastly at his master.
+"I do not fear death," he said. "My sister
+Candida died in the arena, and I am ready to
+do the same. It is true that I have injured
+your statue, but I am able to find you something
+of far greater value in exchange. I will give
+you the truth and the gospel in exchange for
+your broken idol."</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor laughed. "You will do nothing
+with him, Emilius," he said. "I know his
+breed of old. He is ready to die; he says so
+himself. Why save him, then?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>But the Patrician still hesitated. He would
+make a last effort.</p>
+
+<p>"Throw off his bonds," he said to the guards.
+"Now take the furca off his neck. So! Now,
+Datus, I have released you to show you that I
+trust you. I have no wish to do you any hurt if
+you will but acknowledge your error, and so
+set a better example to my household here assembled."</p>
+
+<p>"How, then, shall I acknowledge my error?"
+the slave asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Bow your head before the goddess, and
+entreat her forgiveness for the violence you
+have done her. Then perhaps you may gain
+my pardon as well."</p>
+
+<p>"Put me, then, before her," said the Christian.</p>
+
+<p>Emilius Flaccus looked triumphantly at
+Domitian. By kindness and tact he was effecting
+that which the Emperor had failed to do by
+violence. Datus walked in front of the mutilated
+Venus. Then with a sudden spring he
+tore the baton out of the hand of one of his
+guardians, leaped upon the pedestal, and showered
+his blows upon the lovely marble woman.
+With a crack and a dull thud her right arm<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span>
+dropped to the ground. Another fierce blow
+and the left had followed. Flaccus danced
+and screamed with horror, while his servants
+dragged the raving iconoclast from his impassive
+victim. Domitian's brutal laughter
+echoed through the hall.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, friend, what think you now?" he
+cried. "Are you wiser than your Emperor?
+Can you indeed tame your Christian with
+kindness?"</p>
+
+<p>Emilius Flaccus wiped the sweat from his
+brow. "He is yours, great C&aelig;sar. Do with
+him as you will."</p>
+
+<p>"Let him be at the gladiators' entrance of
+the circus an hour before the games begin,"
+said the Emperor. "Now, Emilius, the night
+has been a merry one. My Ligurian galley
+waits by the river quay. Come, cool your head
+with a spin to Ostia ere the business of State
+calls you to the Senate."</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span></p>
+<h2>VIII<br />
+GIANT MAXIMIN</h2>
+
+<h3>I: THE COMING OF GIANT MAXIMIN</h3>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Many</span> are the strange vicissitudes of history.
+Greatness has often sunk to the dust, and has
+tempered itself to its new surrounding. Smallness
+has risen aloft, has flourished for a time,
+and then has sunk once more. Rich monarchs
+have become poor monks, brave conquerors
+have lost their manhood, eunuchs and women
+have overthrown armies and kingdoms.
+Surely there is no situation which the mind
+of man could invent which has not taken shape
+and been played out upon the world stage.
+But of all the strange careers and of all the
+wondrous happenings, stranger than Charles
+in his monastery, or Justin on his throne, there
+stands the case of Giant Maximin, what he attained,
+and how he attained it. Let me tell the
+sober facts of history, tinged only by that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span>
+colouring to which the more austere historians
+could not condescend. It is a record as well as
+a story.</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<p>In the heart of Thrace some ten miles north
+of the Rhodope mountains, there is a valley
+which is named Harpessus, after the stream
+which runs down it. Through this valley lies
+the main road from the east to the west, and
+along the road, returning from an expedition
+against the Alani, there marched, upon the
+fifth day of the month of June in the year 210,
+a small but compact Roman army. It consisted
+of three legions&mdash;the Jovian, the Cappadocian,
+and the men of Hercules. Ten turm&aelig; of Gallic
+cavalry led the van, whilst the rear was covered
+by a regiment of Batavian Horse Guards, the
+immediate attendants of the Emperor Septimius
+Severus, who had conducted the campaign
+in person. The peasants who lined the low hills
+which fringed the valley looked with indifference
+upon the long files of dusty, heavily-burdened
+infantry, but they broke into murmurs
+of delight at the gold-faced cuirasses and
+high brazen horse-hair helmets of the guardsmen,
+applauding their stalwart figures, their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span>
+martial bearing, and the stately black chargers
+which they rode. A soldier might know that
+it was the little weary men with their short
+swords, their heavy pikes over their shoulders,
+and their square shields slung upon their backs,
+who were the real terror of the enemies of the
+Empire, but to the eyes of the wondering
+Thracians it was this troop of glittering
+Apollos who bore Rome's victory upon their
+banners, and upheld the throne of the purple-togaed
+prince who rode before them.</p>
+
+<p>Among the scattered groups of peasants who
+looked on from a respectful distance at this
+military pageant, there were two men who attracted
+much attention from those who stood
+immediately around them. The one was commonplace
+enough&mdash;a little grey-headed man,
+with uncouth dress and a frame which was bent
+and warped by a long life of arduous toil, goat-driving
+and wood-chopping, among the mountains.
+It was the appearance of his youthful
+companion which had drawn the amazed observation
+of the bystanders. In stature he was
+such a giant as is seen but once or twice in each
+generation of mankind. Eight feet and two
+inches was his measure from his sandalled sole<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span>
+to the topmost curls of his tangled hair. Yet
+for all his mighty stature there was nothing
+heavy or clumsy in the man. His huge shoulders
+bore no redundant flesh, and his figure
+was straight and hard and supple as a young
+pine tree. A frayed suit of brown leather
+clung close to his giant body, and a cloak of
+undressed sheep-skin was slung from his shoulder.
+His bold blue eyes, shock of yellow hair
+and fair skin showed that he was of Gothic
+or northern blood, and the amazed expression
+upon his broad frank face as he stared at the
+passing troops told of a simple and uneventful
+life in some back valley of the Macedonian
+mountains.</p>
+
+<p>"I fear your mother was right when she advised
+that we keep you at home," said the old
+man anxiously. "Tree-cutting and wood-carrying
+will seem but dull work after such a
+sight as this."</p>
+
+<p>"When I see mother next it will be to put a
+golden torque round her neck," said the young
+giant. "And you, daddy; I will fill your leather
+pouch with gold pieces before I have done."</p>
+
+<p>The old man looked at his son with startled<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span>
+eyes. "You would not leave us, Theckla!
+What could we do without you?"</p>
+
+<p>"My place is down among yonder men,"
+said the young man. "I was not born to drive
+goats and carry logs, but to sell this manhood
+of mine in the best market. There is my
+market in the Emperor's own Guard. Say
+nothing, daddy, for my mind is set, and if you
+weep now it will be to laugh hereafter. I will
+to great Rome with the soldiers."</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<p>The daily march of the heavily laden Roman
+legionary was fixed at twenty miles; but on this
+afternoon, though only half the distance had
+been accomplished, the silver trumpets blared
+out their welcome news that a camp was to be
+formed. As the men broke their ranks, the
+reason of their light march was announced by
+the decurions. It was the birthday of Geta, the
+younger son of the Emperor, and in his honour
+there would be games and a double ration of
+wine. But the iron discipline of the Roman
+army required that under all circumstances certain
+duties should be performed, and foremost
+among them that the camp should be made secure.
+Laying down their arms in the order of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span>
+their ranks, the soldiers seized their spades and
+axes, and worked rapidly and joyously until
+sloping vallum and gaping fossa girdled them
+round, and gave them safe refuge against a
+night attack. Then in noisy, laughing, gesticulating
+crowds they gathered in their thousands
+round the grassy arena where the sports were
+to be held. A long green hill-side sloped down
+to a level plain, and on this gentle incline the
+army lay watching the strife of the chosen
+athletes who contended before them. They
+stretched themselves in the glare of the sunshine,
+their heavy tunics thrown off, and their
+naked limbs sprawling, wine-cups and baskets
+of fruit and cakes circling amongst them, enjoying
+rest and peace as only those can to whom
+it comes so rarely.</p>
+
+<p>The five-mile race was over, and had been
+won as usual by Decurion Brennus, the crack
+long-distance champion of the Herculians.
+Amid the yells of the Jovians, Capellus of the
+corps had carried off both the long and the
+high jump. Big Brebix the Gaul had out-thrown
+the long guardsman Serenus with the
+fifty pound stone. Now, as the sun sank towards
+the western ridge, and turned the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span>
+Harpessus to a riband of gold, they had come
+to the final of the wrestling, where the pliant
+Greek, whose name is lost in the nickname of
+"Python," was tried out against the bull-necked
+Lictor of the military police, a hairy
+Hercules, whose heavy hand had in the way of
+duty oppressed many of the spectators.</p>
+
+<p>As the two men, stripped save for their loincloths,
+approached the wrestling-ring, cheers
+and counter-cheers burst from their adherents,
+some favouring the Lictor for his Roman
+blood, some the Greek from their own private
+grudge. And then, of a sudden, the cheering
+died, heads were turned towards the slope away
+from the arena, men stood up and peered and
+pointed, until finally, in a strange hush, the
+whole great assembly had forgotten the
+athletes, and were watching a single man walking
+swiftly towards them down the green curve
+of the hill. This huge solitary figure, with the
+oaken club in his hand, the shaggy fleece flapping
+from his great shoulders, and the setting
+sun gleaming upon a halo of golden hair, might
+have been the tutelary god of the fierce and
+barren mountains from which he had issued.
+Even the Emperor rose from his chair and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span>
+gazed with open-eyed amazement at the extraordinary
+being who approached them.</p>
+
+<p>The man, whom we already know as Theckla
+the Thracian, paid no heed to the attention
+which he had aroused, but strode onwards,
+stepping as lightly as a deer, until he reached
+the fringe of the soldiers. Amid their open
+ranks he picked his way, sprang over the ropes
+which guarded the arena, and advanced towards
+the Emperor, until a spear at his breast
+warned him that he must go no nearer. Then
+he sunk upon his right knee and called out some
+words in the Gothic speech.</p>
+
+<p>"Great Jupiter! Whoever saw such a body
+of a man!" cried the Emperor. "What says
+he? What is amiss with the fellow? Whence
+comes he, and what is his name?"</p>
+
+<p>An interpreter translated the Barbarian's
+answer. "He says, great C&aelig;sar, that he is of
+good blood, and sprung by a Gothic father
+from a woman of the Alani. He says that his
+name is Theckla, and that he would fain carry
+a sword in C&aelig;sar's service."</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor smiled. "Some post could
+surely be found for such a man, were it but as
+janitor at the Palatine Palace," said he to one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span>
+of the Prefects. "I would fain see him walk
+even as he is through the forum. He would
+turn the heads of half the women in Rome.
+Talk to him, Crassus. You know his speech."</p>
+
+<p>The Roman officer turned to the giant.
+"C&aelig;sar says that you are to come with him, and
+he will make you the servant at his door."</p>
+
+<p>The Barbarian rose, and his fair cheeks
+flushed with resentment.</p>
+
+<p>"I will serve C&aelig;sar as a soldier," said he,
+"but I will be house-servant to no man&mdash;not
+even to him. If C&aelig;sar would see what manner
+of man I am, let him put one of his guardsmen
+up against me."</p>
+
+<p>"By the shade of Milo this is a bold fellow!"
+cried the Emperor. "How say you, Crassus?
+Shall he make good his words?"</p>
+
+<p>"By your leave, C&aelig;sar," said the blunt soldier,
+"good swordsmen are too rare in these
+days that we should let them slay each other
+for sport. Perhaps if the Barbarian would
+wrestle a fall&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Excellent!" cried the Emperor. "Here is
+the Python, and here Varus the Lictor, each
+stripped for the bout. Have a look at them,
+Barbarian, and see which you would choose.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span>
+What does he say? He would take them both?
+Nay then he is either the king of wrestlers or
+the king of boasters, and we shall soon see
+which. Let him have his way, and he has himself
+to thank if he comes out with a broken
+neck."</p>
+
+<p>There was some laughter when the peasant
+tossed his sheep-skin mantle to the ground and,
+without troubling to remove his leathern tunic,
+advanced towards the two wrestlers; but it
+became uproarious when with a quick spring he
+seized the Greek under one arm and the Roman
+under the other, holding them as in a vice.
+Then with a terrific effort he tore them both
+from the ground, carried them writhing and
+kicking round the arena, and finally walking up
+to the Emperor's throne, threw his two athletes
+down in front of him. Then, bowing to
+C&aelig;sar, the huge Barbarian withdrew, and laid
+his great bulk down among the ranks of the
+applauding soldiers, whence he watched with
+stolid unconcern the conclusion of the sports.</p>
+
+<p>It was still daylight, when the last event had
+been decided, and the soldiers returned to the
+camp. The Emperor Severus had ordered his
+horse, and in the company of Crassus, his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span>
+favourite prefect, rode down the winding pathway
+which skirts the Harpessus, chatting over
+the future dispersal of the army. They had
+ridden for some miles when Severus, glancing
+behind him, was surprised to see a huge figure
+which trotted lightly along at the very heels of
+his horse.</p>
+
+<p>"Surely this is Mercury as well as Hercules
+that we have found among the Thracian mountains,"
+said he with a smile. "Let us see how
+soon our Syrian horses can out-distance him."</p>
+
+<p>The two Romans broke into a gallop, and did
+not draw rein until a good mile had been covered
+at the full pace of their splendid chargers.
+Then they turned and looked back; but there,
+some distance off, still running with a lightness
+and a spring which spoke of iron muscles and
+inexhaustible endurance, came the great Barbarian.
+The Roman Emperor waited until the
+athlete had come up to them.</p>
+
+<p>"Why do you follow me?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"It is my hope, C&aelig;sar, that I may always
+follow you." His flushed face as he spoke was
+almost level with that of the mounted Roman.</p>
+
+<p>"By the god of war, I do not know where in
+all the world I could find such a servant!" cried<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span>
+the Emperor. "You shall be my own body-guard,
+the one nearest to me of all."</p>
+
+<p>The giant fell upon his knee. "My life and
+strength are yours," he said. "I ask no more
+than to spend them for C&aelig;sar."</p>
+
+<p>Crassus had interpreted this short dialogue.
+He now turned to the Emperor.</p>
+
+<p>"If he is indeed to be always at your call,
+C&aelig;sar, it would be well to give the poor Barbarian
+some name which your lips can frame.
+Theckla is as uncouth and craggy a word as
+one of his native rocks."</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor pondered for a moment. "If I
+am to have the naming of him," said he, "then
+surely I shall call him Maximus, for there is
+not such a giant upon earth."</p>
+
+<p>"Hark you," said the Prefect. "The Emperor
+has deigned to give you a Roman name,
+since you have come into his service. Henceforth
+you are no longer Theckla, but you are
+Maximus. Can you say it after me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Maximin," repeated the Barbarian, trying
+to catch the Roman word.</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor laughed at the mincing accent.
+"Yes, yes, Maximin let it be. To all the world
+you are Maximin, the body-guard of Severus.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span>
+When we have reached Rome, we will soon see
+that your dress shall correspond with your
+office. Meanwhile march with the guard until
+you have my further orders."</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<p>So it came about that as the Roman army
+resumed its march next day, and left behind it
+the fair valley of the Harpessus, a huge recruit,
+clad in brown leather, with a rude sheep-skin
+floating from his shoulders, marched beside the
+Imperial troop. But far away in the wooden
+farmhouse of a distant Macedonian valley two
+old country folk wept salt tears, and prayed to
+the gods for the safety of their boy who had
+turned his face to Rome.</p>
+
+<h3>II: THE RISE OF GIANT MAXIMIN</h3>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Exactly</span> twenty-five years had passed since
+the day that Theckla the huge Thracian peasant
+had turned into Maximin the Roman
+guardsman. They had not been good years for
+Rome. Gone for ever were the great Imperial
+days of the Hadrians and the Trajans. Gone
+also the golden age of the two Antonines, when
+the highest were for once the most worthy and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span>
+most wise. It had been an epoch of weak and
+cruel men. Severus, the swarthy African, a
+stark grim man had died in far away York,
+after fighting all the winter with the Caledonian
+Highlanders&mdash;a race who have ever
+since worn the martial garb of the Romans.
+His son, known only by his slighting nickname
+of Caracalla, had reigned during six years of
+insane lust and cruelty, before the knife of an
+angry soldier avenged the dignity of the Roman
+name. The nonentity Macrinus had filled the
+dangerous throne for a single year before he
+also met a bloody end, and made room for the
+most grotesque of all monarchs, the unspeakable
+Heliogabalus with his foul mind and his
+painted face. He in turn was cut to pieces
+by the soldiers; and Severus Alexander, a
+gentle youth, scarce seventeen years of age,
+had been thrust into his place. For thirteen
+years now he had ruled, striving with some
+success to put some virtue and stability into
+the rotting Empire, but raising many fierce
+enemies as he did so&mdash;enemies whom he had
+not the strength nor the wit to hold in check.</p>
+
+<p>And Giant Maximin&mdash;what of him? He
+had carried his eight feet of manhood through<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span>
+the lowlands of Scotland and the passes of the
+Grampians. He had seen Severus pass away,
+and had soldiered with his son. He had fought
+in Armenia, in Dacia, and in Germany. They
+had made him a centurion upon the field when
+with his hands he plucked out one by one the
+stockades of a northern village, and so cleared
+a path for the stormers. His strength had
+been the jest and the admiration of the soldiers.
+Legends about him had spread through the
+army, and were the common gossip round the
+camp fires&mdash;of his duel with the German axe-man
+on the Island of the Rhine, and of the
+blow with his fist that broke the leg of a
+Scythian's horse. Gradually he had won his
+way upwards, until now, after quarter of a century's
+service, he was tribune of the fourth
+legion and superintendent of recruits for the
+whole army. The young soldier who had come
+under the glare of Maximin's eyes, or had been
+lifted up with one huge hand while he was
+cuffed by the other, had his first lesson from
+him in the discipline of the service.</p>
+
+<p>It was nightfall in the camp of the fourth
+legion upon the Gallic shore of the Rhine.
+Across the moonlit water, amid the thick forests<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span>
+which stretched away to the dim horizon,
+lay the wild untamed German tribes. Down
+on the river bank the light gleamed upon the
+helmets of the Roman sentinels who kept guard
+along the river. Far away a red point rose and
+fell in the darkness&mdash;a watch-fire of the enemy
+upon the further shore.</p>
+
+<p>Outside his tent, beside some smouldering
+logs, Giant Maximin was seated, a dozen of his
+officers around him. He had changed much
+since the day when we first met him in the Valley
+of the Harpessus. His huge frame was as
+erect as ever, and there was no sign of diminution
+of his strength. But he had aged none the
+less. The yellow tangle of hair was gone, worn
+down by the ever-pressing helmet. The fresh
+young face was drawn and hardened, with austere
+lines wrought by trouble and privation.
+The nose was more hawk-like, the eyes more
+cunning, the expression more cynical and more
+sinister. In his youth, a child would have run
+to his arms. Now it would shrink screaming
+from his gaze. That was what twenty-five
+years with the eagles had done for Theckla the
+Thracian peasant.</p>
+
+<p>He was listening now&mdash;for he was a man of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span>
+few words&mdash;to the chatter of his centurions.
+One of them, Balbus the Sicilian, had been to
+the main camp at Mainz, only four miles away,
+and had seen the Emperor Alexander arrive
+that very day from Rome. The rest were eager
+at the news, for it was a time of unrest, and the
+rumour of great changes was in the air.</p>
+
+<p>"How many had he with him?" asked Labienus,
+a black-browed veteran from the south
+of Gaul. "I'll wager a month's pay that he
+was not so trustful as to come alone among his
+faithful legions."</p>
+
+<p>"He had no great force," replied Balbus.
+"Ten or twelve cohorts of the Pr&aelig;torians and
+a handful of horse."</p>
+
+<p>"Then indeed his head is in the lion's
+mouth," cried Sulpicius, a hot-headed youth
+from the African Pentapolis. "How was he
+received?"</p>
+
+<p>"Coldly enough. There was scarce a shout
+as he came down the line."</p>
+
+<p>"They are ripe for mischief," said Labienus.
+"And who can wonder, when it is we soldiers
+who uphold the Empire upon our spears, while
+the lazy citizens at Rome reap all of our sowing.
+Why cannot a soldier have what the soldier<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span>
+gains? So long as they throw us our
+denarius a day, they think that they have done
+with us."</p>
+
+<p>"Aye," croaked a grumbling old greybeard.
+"Our limbs, our blood, our lives&mdash;what do they
+care so long as the Barbarians are held off, and
+they are left in peace to their feastings and
+their circus? Free bread, free wine, free
+games&mdash;everything for the loafer at Rome.
+For us the frontier guard and a soldier's fare."</p>
+
+<p>Maximin gave a deep laugh. "Old Plancus
+talks like that," said he; "but we know that for
+all the world he would not change his steel
+plate for a citizen's gown. You've earned the
+kennel, old hound, if you wish it. Go and gnaw
+your bone and growl in peace."</p>
+
+<p>"Nay, I am too old for change. I will follow
+the eagle till I die. And yet I had rather die
+in serving a soldier master than a long-gowned
+Syrian who comes of a stock where the women
+are men and the men are women."</p>
+
+<p>There was a laugh from the circle of soldiers,
+for sedition and mutiny were rife in the
+camp, and even the old centurion's outbreak
+could not draw a protest. Maximin raised his
+great mastiff head and looked at Balbus.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Was any name in the mouths of the soldiers?"
+he asked in a meaning voice.</p>
+
+<p>There was a hush for the answer. The sigh
+of the wind among the pines and the low lapping
+of the river swelled out louder in the
+silence. Balbus looked hard at his commander.</p>
+
+<p>"Two names were whispered from rank to
+rank," said he. "One was Ascenius Pollio, the
+General. The other was&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>The fiery Sulpicius sprang to his feet waving
+a glowing brand above his head.</p>
+
+<p>"Maximinus!" he yelled. "Imperator Maximinus
+Augustus!"</p>
+
+<p>Who could tell how it came about? No one
+had thought of it an hour before. And now it
+sprang in an instant to full accomplishment.
+The shout of the frenzied young African had
+scarcely rung through the darkness when from
+the tents, from the watch-fires, from the sentries,
+the answer came pealing back: "Ave
+Maximinus! Ave Maximinus Augustus!"
+From all sides men came rushing, half-clad,
+wild-eyed, their eyes staring, their mouths
+agape, flaming wisps of straw or flaring
+torches above their heads. The giant was
+caught up by scores of hands, and sat enthroned<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span>
+upon the bull-necks of the legionaries.
+"To the camp!" they yelled. "To the camp!
+Hail! Hail to the soldier C&aelig;sar!"</p>
+
+<p>That same night Severus Alexander, the
+young Syrian Emperor, walked outside his
+Pr&aelig;torian camp, accompanied by his friend
+Licinius Probus, the Captain of the Guard.
+They were talking gravely of the gloomy faces
+and seditious bearing of the soldiers. A great
+foreboding of evil weighed heavily upon the
+Emperor's heart, and it was reflected upon the
+stern bearded face of his companion.</p>
+
+<p>"I like it not," said he. "It is my counsel,
+C&aelig;sar, that with the first light of morning we
+make our way south once more."</p>
+
+<p>"But surely," the Emperor answered, "I
+could not for shame turn my back upon the
+danger. What have they against me? How
+have I harmed them that they should forget
+their vows and rise upon me?"</p>
+
+<p>"They are like children who ask always for
+something new. You heard the murmur as
+you rode along the ranks. Nay, C&aelig;sar, fly
+to-morrow, and your Pr&aelig;torians will see that
+you are not pursued. There may be some loyal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span>
+cohorts among the legions, and if we join
+forces&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>A distant shout broke in upon their conversation&mdash;a
+low continued roar, like the swelling
+tumult of a sweeping wave. Far down the
+road upon which they stood there twinkled
+many moving lights, tossing and sinking as
+they rapidly advanced, whilst the hoarse tumultuous
+bellowing broke into articulate words,
+the same tremendous words, a thousand-fold
+repeated. Licinius seized the Emperor by the
+wrist and dragged him under the cover of some
+bushes.</p>
+
+<p>"Be still, C&aelig;sar! For your life be still!"
+he whispered. "One word and we are lost!"</p>
+
+<p>Crouching in the darkness, they saw that
+wild procession pass, the rushing, screaming
+figures, the tossing arms, the bearded, distorted
+faces, now scarlet and now grey, as the
+brandished torches waxed or waned. They
+heard the rush of many feet, the clamour of
+hoarse voices, the clang of metal upon metal.
+And then suddenly, above them all, they saw
+a vision of a monstrous man, a huge bowed
+back, a savage face, grim hawk eyes, that
+looked out over the swaying shields. It was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span>
+seen for an instant in a smoke-fringed circle
+of fire, and then it had swept on into the night.</p>
+
+<p>"Who is he?" stammered the Emperor,
+clutching at his guardsman's sleeve. "They
+call him C&aelig;sar."</p>
+
+<p>"It is surely Maximin the Thracian peasant."
+In the darkness the Pr&aelig;torian officer
+looked with strange eyes at his master.</p>
+
+<p>"It is all over, C&aelig;sar. Let us fly together
+to your tent."</p>
+
+<p>But even as they went a second shout had
+broken forth tenfold louder than the first. If
+the one had been the roar of the oncoming
+wave, the other was the full turmoil of the
+tempest. Twenty thousand voices from the
+camp had broken into one wild shout which
+echoed through the night, until the distant Germans
+round their watch-fires listened in wonder
+and alarm.</p>
+
+<p>"Ave!" cried the voices. "Ave Maximinus
+Augustus!"</p>
+
+<p>High upon their bucklers stood the giant,
+and looked round him at the great floor of up-turned
+faces below. His own savage soul was
+stirred by the clamour, but only his gleaming
+eyes spoke of the fire within. He waved his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span>
+hand to the shouting soldiers as the huntsman
+waves to the leaping pack. They passed him
+up a coronet of oak leaves, and clashed their
+swords in homage as he placed it on his head.
+And then there came a swirl in the crowd before
+him, a little space was cleared, and there
+knelt an officer in the Pr&aelig;torian garb, blood
+upon his face, blood upon his bared forearm,
+blood upon his naked sword. Licinius too had
+gone with the tide.</p>
+
+<p>"Hail, C&aelig;sar, hail!" he cried, as he bowed
+his head before the giant. "I come from
+Alexander. He will trouble you no more."</p>
+
+<h3>III: THE FALL OF GIANT MAXIMIN</h3>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">For</span> three years the soldier Emperor had been
+upon the throne. His palace had been his tent,
+and his people had been the legionaries. With
+them he was supreme; away from them he was
+nothing. He had gone with them from one
+frontier to the other. He had fought against
+Dacians, Sarmatians, and once again against
+the Germans. But Rome knew nothing of him,
+and all her turbulence rose against a master
+who cared so little for her or her opinion that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span>
+he never deigned to set foot within her walls.
+There were cabals and conspiracies against the
+absent C&aelig;sar. Then his heavy hand fell upon
+them, and they were cuffed, even as the young
+soldiers had been who passed under his discipline.
+He knew nothing, and cared as much for
+consuls, senates, and civil laws. His own will
+and the power of the sword were the only
+forces which he could understand. Of commerce
+and the arts he was as ignorant as when
+he left his Thracian home. The whole vast
+Empire was to him a huge machine for producing
+the money by which the legions were to
+be rewarded. Should he fail to get that
+money, his fellow soldiers would bear him a
+grudge. To watch their interests they had
+raised him upon their shields that night. If
+city funds had to be plundered or temples desecrated,
+still the money must be got. Such was
+the point of view of Giant Maximin.</p>
+
+<p>But there came resistance, and all the fierce
+energy of the man, all the hardness which had
+given him the leadership of hard men, sprang
+forth to quell it. From his youth he had lived
+amidst slaughter. Life and death were cheap
+things to him. He struck savagely at all who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span>
+stood up to him, and when they hit back, he
+struck more savagely still. His giant shadow
+lay black across the Empire from Britain to
+Syria. A strange subtle vindictiveness became
+also apparent in him. Omnipotence ripened
+every fault and swelled it into crime. In the
+old days he had been rebuked for his roughness.
+Now a sullen, dangerous anger rose
+against those who had rebuked him. He sat
+by the hour with his craggy chin between his
+hands, and his elbows resting on his knees,
+while he recalled all the misadventures, all the
+vexations of his early youth, when Roman wits
+had shot their little satires upon his bulk and
+his ignorance. He could not write, but his son
+Verus placed the names upon his tablets, and
+they were sent to the Governor of Rome. Men
+who had long forgotten their offence were
+called suddenly to make most bloody reparation.</p>
+
+<p>A rebellion broke out in Africa, but was
+quelled by his lieutenant. But the mere
+rumour of it set Rome in a turmoil. The Senate
+found something of its ancient spirit. So
+did the Italian people. They would not be for
+ever bullied by the legions. As Maximin approached<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span>
+from the frontier, with the sack of
+rebellious Rome in his mind, he was faced with
+every sign of a national resistance. The
+country-side was deserted, the farms abandoned,
+the fields cleared of crops and cattle.
+Before him lay the walled town of Aquileia.
+He flung himself fiercely upon it, but was met
+by as fierce a resistance. The walls could not
+be forced, and yet there was no food in the
+country round for his legions. The men were
+starving and dissatisfied. What did it matter
+to them who was Emperor? Maximin was no
+better than themselves. Why should they call
+down the curse of the whole Empire upon their
+heads by upholding him? He saw their sullen
+faces and their averted eyes, and he knew that
+the end had come.</p>
+
+<p>That night he sat with his son Verus in his
+tent, and he spoke softly and gently as the youth
+had never heard him speak before. He had
+spoken thus in old days with Paullina, the
+boy's mother; but she had been dead these
+many years, and all that was soft and gentle in
+the big man had passed away with her. Now
+her spirit seemed very near him, and his own
+was tempered by its presence.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I would have you go back to the Thracian
+mountains," he said. "I have tried both, boy,
+and I can tell you that there is no pleasure
+which power can bring which can equal the
+breath of the wind and the smell of the kine
+upon a summer morning. Against you they
+have no quarrel. Why should they mishandle
+you? Keep far from Rome and the Romans.
+Old Eudoxus has money, and to spare. He
+awaits you with two horses outside the camp.
+Make for the valley of the Harpessus, lad. It
+was thence that your father came, and there
+you will find his kin. Buy and stock a homestead,
+and keep yourself far from the paths of
+greatness and of danger. God keep you, Verus,
+and send you safe to Thrace."</p>
+
+<p>When his son had kissed his hand and had
+left him, the Emperor drew his robe around
+him and sat long in thought. In his slow brain
+he revolved the past&mdash;his early peaceful days,
+his years with Severus, his memories of Britain,
+his long campaigns, his strivings and
+battlings, all leading to that mad night by the
+Rhine. His fellow soldiers had loved him then.
+And now he had read death in their eyes. How
+had he failed them? Others he might have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span>
+wronged, but they at least had no complaint
+against him. If he had his time again, he
+would think less of them and more of his
+people, he would try to win love instead of
+fear, he would live for peace and not for war.
+If he had his time again! But there were
+shuffling steps, furtive whispers, and the low
+rattle of arms outside his tent. A bearded face
+looked in at him, a swarthy African face that
+he knew well. He laughed, and baring his arm,
+he took his sword from the table beside him.</p>
+
+<p>"It is you, Sulpicius," said he. "You have
+not come to cry 'Ave Imperator Maximin!' as
+once by the camp fire. You are tired of me,
+and by the gods I am tired of you, and glad to
+be at the end of it. Come and have done with
+it, for I am minded to see how many of you I
+can take with me when I go."</p>
+
+<p>They clustered at the door of the tent, peeping
+over each other's shoulders, and none wishing
+to be the first to close with that laughing,
+mocking giant. But something was pushed
+forward upon a spear point, and as he saw it,
+Maximin groaned and his sword sank to the
+earth.</p>
+
+<p>"You might have spared the boy," he sobbed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span>
+"He would not have hurt you. Have done
+with it then, for I will gladly follow him."</p>
+
+<p>So they closed upon him and cut and stabbed
+and thrust, until his knees gave way beneath
+him and he dropped upon the floor.</p>
+
+<p>"The tyrant is dead!" they cried. "The
+tyrant is dead," and from all the camp beneath
+them and from the walls of the beleaguered city
+the joyous cry came echoing back, "He is dead,
+Maximin is dead!"</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<p>I sit in my study, and upon the table before
+me lies a denarius of Maximin, as fresh as
+when the triumvir of the Temple of Juno Moneta
+sent it from the mint. Around it are
+recorded his resounding titles&mdash;Imperator
+Maximinus, Pontifex Maximus, Tribunitia
+potestate, and the rest. In the centre is the impress
+of a great craggy head, a massive jaw,
+a rude fighting face, a contracted forehead.
+For all the pompous roll of titles it is a peasant's
+face, and I see him not as the Emperor
+of Rome, but as the great Thracian boor who
+strode down the hill-side on that far-distant
+summer day when first the eagles beckoned
+him to Rome.</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span></p>
+<h2>IX<br />
+THE RED STAR</h2>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> house of Theodosius, the famous eastern
+merchant, was in the best part of Constantinople
+at the Sea Point which is near the church
+of Saint Demetrius. Here he would entertain
+in so princely a fashion that even the Emperor
+Maurice had been known to come privately
+from the neighbouring Bucoleon palace in
+order to join in the revelry. On the night in
+question, however, which was the fourth of
+November in the year of our Lord 630, his
+numerous guests had retired early, and there
+remained only two intimates, both of them successful
+merchants like himself, who sat with
+him over their wine on the marble verandah
+of his house, whence on the one side they could
+see the lights of the shipping in the Sea of
+Marmora, and on the other the beacons which
+marked out the course of the Bosphorus. Immediately
+at their feet lay a narrow strait of
+water, with the low, dark loom of the Asiatic<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span>
+hills beyond. A thin haze hid the heavens, but
+away to the south a single great red star
+burned sullenly in the darkness.</p>
+
+<p>The night was cool, the light was soothing,
+and the three men talked freely, letting their
+minds drift back into the earlier days when
+they had staked their capital, and often their
+lives, on the ventures which had built up their
+present fortunes. The host spoke of his long
+journeys in North Africa, the land of the
+Moors; how he had travelled, keeping the blue
+sea ever upon his right, until he had passed the
+ruins of Carthage, and so on and ever on until
+a great tidal ocean beat upon a yellow strand
+before him, while on the right he could see the
+high rock across the waves which marked the
+Pillars of Hercules. His talk was of dark-skinned
+bearded men, of lions, and of monstrous
+serpents. Then Demetrius, the Cilician,
+an austere man of sixty, told how he also had
+built up his mighty wealth. He spoke of a
+journey over the Danube and through the
+country of the fierce Huns, until he and his
+friends had found themselves in the mighty
+forest of Germany, on the shores of the great
+river which is called the Elbe. His stories<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span>
+were of huge men, sluggish of mind, but murderous
+in their cups, of sudden midnight broils
+and nocturnal flights, of villages buried in
+dense woods, of bloody heathen sacrifices, and
+of the bears and wolves who haunted the forest
+paths. So the two elder men capped each
+other's stories and awoke each other's memories,
+while Manuel Ducas, the young merchant
+of gold and ostrich feathers, whose
+name was already known all over the Levant,
+sat in silence and listened to their talk. At
+last, however, they called upon him also for an
+anecdote, and leaning his cheek upon his elbow,
+with his eyes fixed upon the great red star
+which burned in the south, the younger man
+began to speak.</p>
+
+<p>"It is the sight of that star which brings a
+story into my mind," said he. "I do not know
+its name. Old Lascaris the astronomer would
+tell me if I asked, but I have no desire to know.
+Yet at this time of the year I always look out
+for it, and I never fail to see it burning in the
+same place. But it seems to me that it is redder
+and larger than it was.</p>
+
+<p>"It was some ten years ago that I made an
+expedition into Abyssinia, where I traded to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span>
+such good effect that I set forth on my return
+with more than a hundred camel-loads of skins,
+ivory, gold, spices, and other African produce.
+I brought them to the sea-coast at Arsinoe, and
+carried them up the Arabian Gulf in five of the
+small boats of the country. Finally, I landed
+near Saba, which is a starting-point for caravans,
+and, having assembled my camels and
+hired a guard of forty men from the wandering
+Arabs, I set forth for Macoraba. From
+this point, which is the sacred city of the idolaters
+of those parts, one can always join the
+large caravans which go north twice a year to
+Jerusalem and the sea-coast of Syria.</p>
+
+<p>"Our route was a long and weary one. On
+our left hand was the Arabian Gulf, lying like
+a pool of molten metal under the glare of day,
+but changing to blood-red as the sun sank each
+evening behind the distant African coast. On
+our right was a monstrous desert which extends,
+so far as I know, across the whole of
+Arabia and away to the distant kingdom of the
+Persians. For many days we saw no sign
+of life save our own long, straggling line
+of laden camels with their tattered, swarthy
+guardians. In these deserts the soft sand<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span>
+deadens the footfall of the animals, so that
+their silent progress day after day through a
+scene which never changes, and which is itself
+noiseless, becomes at last like a strange dream.
+Often as I rode behind my caravan, and gazed
+at the grotesque figures which bore my wares
+in front of me, I found it hard to believe that
+it was indeed reality, and that it was I, I,
+Manuel Ducas, who lived near the Theodosian
+Gate of Constantinople, and shouted for the
+Green at the hippodrome every Sunday afternoon,
+who was there in so strange a land and
+with such singular comrades.</p>
+
+<p>"Now and then, far out at sea, we caught
+sight of the white triangular sails of the boats
+which these people use, but as they are all
+pirates, we were very glad to be safely upon
+shore. Once or twice, too, by the water's edge
+we saw dwarfish creatures&mdash;one could scarcely
+say if they were men or monkeys&mdash;who burrow
+for homes among the seaweed, drink the
+pools of brackish water, and eat what they can
+catch. These are the fish-eaters, the Ichthyophagi,
+of whom old Herodotus talks&mdash;surely
+the lowest of all the human race. Our Arabs
+shrank from them with horror, for it is well<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span>
+known that, should you die in the desert, these
+little people will settle on you like carrion crows,
+and leave not a bone unpicked. They gibbered
+and croaked and waved their skinny arms at us
+as we passed, knowing well that they could
+swim far out to sea if we attempted to pursue
+them; for it is said that even the sharks turn
+with disgust from their foul bodies.</p>
+
+<p>"We had travelled in this way for ten days,
+camping every evening at the vile wells which
+offered a small quantity of abominable water.
+It was our habit to rise very early and to travel
+very late, but to halt during the intolerable
+heat of the afternoon, when, for want of trees,
+we would crouch in the shadow of a sandhill,
+or, if that were wanting, behind our own
+camels and merchandise, in order to escape
+from the insufferable glare of the sun. On the
+seventh day we were near the point where one
+leaves the coast in order to strike inland to
+Macoraba. We had concluded our midday
+halt, and were just starting once more, the sun
+still being so hot that we could hardly bear it,
+when, looking up, I saw a remarkable sight.
+Standing on a hillock to our right there was a
+man about forty feet high, holding in his hand<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span>
+a spear which was the size of the mast of a
+large ship. You look surprised, my friends,
+and you can therefore imagine my feelings
+when I saw such a sight. But my reason soon
+told me that the object in front of me was
+really a wandering Arab, whose form had
+been enormously magnified by the strange distorting
+effects which the hot air of the desert
+is able to cause.</p>
+
+<p>"However, the actual apparition caused more
+alarm to my companions than the imagined one
+had to me, for with a howl of dismay they
+shrank together into a frightened group, all
+pointing and gesticulating as they gazed at the
+distant figure. I then observed that the man
+was not alone, but that from all the sandhills
+a line of turbaned heads was gazing down upon
+us. The chief of the escort came running to
+me, and informed me of the cause of their terror,
+which was that they recognised, by some
+peculiarity in their headgear, that these men
+belonged to the tribe of the Dilwas, the most
+ferocious and unscrupulous of the Bedouin,
+who had evidently laid an ambuscade for us at
+this point with the intention of seizing our caravan.
+When I thought of all my efforts in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span>
+Abyssinia, of the length of my journey and of
+the dangers and fatigues which I had endured,
+I could not bear to think of this total disaster
+coming upon me at the last instant and robbing
+me not only of my profits, but also of my
+original outlay. It was evident, however, that
+the robbers were too numerous for us to attempt
+to defend ourselves, and that we should
+be very fortunate if we escaped with our lives.
+Sitting upon a packet, therefore, I commended
+my soul to our blessed Saint Helena, while I
+watched with despairing eyes the stealthy and
+menacing approach of the Arab robbers.</p>
+
+<p>"It may have been our own good fortune, or
+it may have been the handsome offering of
+beeswax candles&mdash;four to the pound&mdash;which I
+had mentally vowed to the Blessed Helena,
+but at that instant I heard a great outcry of
+joy from among my own followers. Standing
+up on the packet that I might have a better
+view, I was overjoyed to see a long caravan&mdash;five
+hundred camels at least&mdash;with a numerous
+armed guard, coming along the route from
+Macoraba. It is, I need not tell you, the custom
+of all caravans to combine their forces
+against the robbers of the desert, and with the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span>
+aid of these new-comers we had become the
+stronger party. The marauders recognised it
+at once, for they vanished as if their native
+sands had swallowed them. Running up to the
+summit of a sandhill, I was just able to catch
+a glimpse of a dust-cloud whirling away across
+the yellow plain, with the long necks of their
+camels, the flutter of their loose garments, and
+the gleam of their spears breaking out from the
+heart of it. So vanished the marauders.</p>
+
+<p>"Presently I found, however, that I had only
+exchanged one danger for another. At first I
+had hoped that this new caravan might belong
+to some Roman citizen, or at least to some
+Syrian Christian, but I found that it was entirely
+Arab. The trading Arabs who are
+settled in the numerous towns of Arabia are,
+of course, very much more peaceable than the
+Bedouin of the wilderness, those sons of
+Ishmael of whom we read in Holy Writ. But
+the Arab blood is covetous and lawless, so that
+when I saw several hundred of them formed in
+a semi-circle round our camels, looking with
+greedy eyes at my boxes of precious metals and
+my packets of ostrich feathers, I feared the
+worst.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"The leader of the new caravan was a man
+of dignified bearing and remarkable appearance.
+His age I would judge to be about
+forty. He had aquiline features, a noble black
+beard, and eyes so luminous, so searching, and
+so intense that I cannot remember in all my
+wanderings to have seen any which could be
+compared with them. To my thanks and salutations
+he returned a formal bow, and stood
+stroking his beard and looking in silence at the
+wealth which had suddenly fallen into his
+power. A murmur from his followers showed
+the eagerness with which they awaited the
+order to fall upon the plunder, and a young ruffian,
+who seemed to be on intimate terms with
+the leader, came to his elbow and put the desires
+of his companions into words.</p>
+
+<p>"'Surely, oh Reverend One,' said he, 'these
+people and their treasure have been delivered
+into our hands. When we return with it to the
+holy place, who of all the Koraish will fail to
+see the finger of God which has led us?'</p>
+
+<p>"But the leader shook his head. 'Nay, Ali,
+it may not be,' he answered. 'This man is, as I
+judge, a citizen of Rome, and we may not treat
+him as though he were an idolater.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"'But he is an unbeliever,' cried the youth,
+fingering a great knife which hung in his belt.
+'Were I to be the judge, he would lose not only
+his merchandise, but his life also, if he did not
+accept the faith.'</p>
+
+<p>"The older man smiled and shook his head.
+'Nay, Ali; you are too hot-headed,' said he,
+'seeing that there are not as yet three hundred
+faithful in the world, our hands would indeed
+be full if we were to take the lives and property
+of all who are not with us. Forget not,
+dear lad, that charity and honesty are the very
+nose-ring and halter of the true faith.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Among the faithful,' said the ferocious
+youth.</p>
+
+<p>"'Nay, towards every one. It is the law of
+Allah. And yet'&mdash;here his countenance darkened,
+and his eyes shone with a most sinister
+light&mdash;'the day may soon come when the hour
+of grace is past, and woe, then, to those who
+have not hearkened! Then shall the sword of
+Allah be drawn, and it shall not be sheathed
+until the harvest is reaped. First it shall strike
+the idolaters on the day when my own people
+and kinsmen, the unbelieving Koraish, shall
+be scattered, and the three hundred and sixty<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span>
+idols of the Caaba thrust out upon the dung-heaps
+of the town. Then shall the Caaba be
+the home and temple of one God only who
+brooks no rival on earth or in heaven.'</p>
+
+<p>"The man's followers had gathered round
+him, their spears in their hands, their ardent
+eyes fixed upon his face, and their dark features
+convulsed with such fanatic enthusiasm
+as showed the hold which he had upon their
+love and respect.</p>
+
+<p>"'We shall be patient,' said he; 'but some
+time next year, the year after, the day may
+come when the great angel Gabriel shall bear
+me the message that the time of words has
+gone by, and that the hour of the sword has
+come. We are few and weak, but if it is His
+will, who can stand against us? Are you of
+Jewish faith, stranger?' he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"I answered that I was not.</p>
+
+<p>"'The better for you,' he answered, with the
+same furious anger in his swarthy face. 'First
+shall the idolaters fall, and then the Jews, in
+that they have not known those very prophets
+whom they had themselves foretold. Then last
+will come the turn of the Christians, who follow
+indeed a true Prophet, greater than Moses<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span>
+or Abraham, but who have sinned in that they
+have confounded a creature with the Creator.
+To each in turn&mdash;idolater, Jew, and Christian&mdash;the
+day of reckoning will come.'</p>
+
+<p>"The ragamuffins behind him all shook their
+spears as he spoke. There was no doubt about
+their earnestness, but when I looked at their
+tattered dresses and simple arms, I could not
+help smiling to think of their ambitious threats,
+and to picture what their fate would be upon
+the day of battle before the battle-axes of our
+Imperial Guards, or the spears of the heavy
+cavalry of the Armenian Themes. However,
+I need not say that I was discreet enough to
+keep my thoughts to myself, as I had no desire
+to be the first martyr in this fresh attack upon
+our blessed faith.</p>
+
+<p>"It was now evening, and it was decided that
+the two caravans should camp together&mdash;an
+arrangement which was the more welcome as
+we were by no means sure that we had seen
+the last of the marauders. I had invited the
+leader of the Arabs to have supper with me,
+and after a long exercise of prayer with his followers,
+he came to join me, but my attempt at
+hospitality was thrown away, for he would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span>
+not touch the excellent wine which I had unpacked
+for him, nor would he eat any of my
+dainties, contenting himself with stale bread,
+dried dates, and water. After this meal we sat
+alone by the smouldering fire, the magnificent
+arch of the heavens above us of that deep, rich
+blue with those gleaming, clear-cut stars which
+can only be seen in that dry desert air. Our
+camp lay before us, and no sound reached our
+ears save the dull murmur of the voices of
+our companions and the occasional shrill cry of
+a jackal among the sandhills around us. Face
+to face I sat with this strange man, the glow
+of the fire beating upon his eager and imperious
+features and reflecting from his passionate
+eyes. It was the strangest vigil, and one
+which will never pass from my recollection.
+I have spoken with many wise and famous
+men upon my travels, but never with one who
+left the impression of this one.</p>
+
+<p>"And yet much of his talk was unintelligible
+to me, though, as you are aware, I speak
+Arabian like an Arab. It rose and fell in the
+strangest way. Sometimes it was the babble
+of a child, sometimes the incoherent raving of
+a fanatic, sometimes the lofty dreams of a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span>
+prophet and philosopher. There were times
+when his stories of demons, of miracles, of
+dreams, and of omens, were such as an old
+woman might tell to please the children of an
+evening. There were others when, as he talked
+with shining face of his converse with angels,
+of the intentions of the Creator, and the end
+of the universe, I felt as if I were in the company
+of some one more than mortal, some one
+who was indeed the direct messenger of the
+Most High.</p>
+
+<p>"There were good reasons why he should
+treat me with such confidence. He saw in me a
+messenger to Constantinople and to the Roman
+Empire. Even as Saint Paul had brought
+Christianity to Europe, so he hoped that I
+might carry his doctrines to my native city.
+Alas! be the doctrines what they may, I fear
+that I am not the stuff of which Pauls are
+made. Yet he strove with all his heart during
+that long Arabian night to bring me over to his
+belief. He had with him a holy book, written,
+as he said, from the dictation of an angel,
+which he carried in tablets of bone in the nose-bag
+of a camel. Some chapters of this he read
+me; but, though the precepts were usually good,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span>
+the language seemed wild and fanciful. There
+were times when I could scarce keep my countenance
+as I listened to him. He planned out
+his future movements, and indeed, as he spoke,
+it was hard to remember that he was only the
+wandering leader of an Arab caravan, and not
+one of the great ones of the earth.</p>
+
+<p>"'When God has given me sufficient power,
+which will be within a few years,' said he, 'I
+will unite all Arabia under my banner. Then
+I will spread my doctrine over Syria and Egypt.
+When this has been done, I will turn to Persia,
+and give them the choice of the true faith or
+the sword. Having taken Persia, it will be
+easy then to overrun Asia Minor, and so to
+make our way to Constantinople.'</p>
+
+<p>"I bit my lip to keep from laughing. 'And
+how long will it be before your victorious
+troops have reached the Bosphorus?' I asked.</p>
+
+<p>"'Such things are in the hands of God,
+whose servants we are,' said he. 'It may be
+that I shall myself have passed away before
+these things are accomplished, but before the
+days of our children are completed, all that I
+have now told you will come to pass. Look at
+that star,' he added, pointing to a beautiful<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span>
+clear planet above our heads. 'That is the symbol
+of Christ. See how serene and peaceful it
+shines, like His own teaching and the memory
+of His life. Now,' he added, turning his outstretched
+hand to a dusky red star upon the
+horizon&mdash;the very one on which we are gazing
+now&mdash;'that is my star, which tells of wrath,
+of war, of a scourge upon sinners. And yet
+both are indeed stars, and each does as Allah
+may ordain.'</p>
+
+<p>"Well, that was the experience which was
+called to my mind by the sight of this star to-night.
+Red and angry, it still broods over the
+south, even as I saw it that night in the desert.
+Somewhere down yonder that man is working
+and striving. He may be stabbed by some
+brother fanatic or slain in a tribal skirmish.
+If so, that is the end. But if he lives, there
+was that in his eyes and in his presence which
+tells me that Mahomet the son of Abdallah&mdash;for
+that was his name&mdash;will testify in some
+noteworthy fashion to the faith that is in him."</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span></p>
+<h2>X<br />
+THE SILVER MIRROR</h2>
+
+<p><i><span class="smcap">Jan</span>. 3.</i>&mdash;This affair of White and Wotherspoon's
+accounts proves to be a gigantic task.
+There are twenty thick ledgers to be examined
+and checked. Who would be a junior partner?
+However, it is the first big bit of business
+which has been left entirely in my hands. I
+must justify it. But it has to be finished so
+that the lawyers may have the result in time for
+the trial. Johnson said this morning that I
+should have to get the last figure out before
+the twentieth of the month. Good Lord! Well,
+have at it, and if human brain and nerve can
+stand the strain, I'll win out at the other side.
+It means office-work from ten to five, and then
+a second sitting from about eight to one in the
+morning. There's drama in an accountant's
+life. When I find myself in the still early
+hours, while all the world sleeps, hunting
+through column after column for those missing
+figures which will turn a respected alderman<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span>
+into a felon, I understand that it is not
+such a prosaic profession after all.</p>
+
+<p>On Monday I came on the first trace of defalcation.
+No heavy game hunter ever got a
+finer thrill when first he caught sight of the
+trail of his quarry. But I look at the twenty
+ledgers and think of the jungle through which
+I have to follow him before I get my kill.
+Hard work&mdash;but rare sport, too, in a way! I
+saw the fat fellow once at a City dinner, his
+red face glowing above a white napkin. He
+looked at the little pale man at the end of the
+table. He would have been pale too if he could
+have seen the task that would be mine.</p>
+
+<p><i>Jan. 6.</i>&mdash;What perfect nonsense it is for
+doctors to prescribe rest when rest is out of the
+question! Asses! They might as well shout
+to a man who has a pack of wolves at his heels
+that what he wants is absolute quiet. My figures
+must be out by a certain date; unless they
+are so, I shall lose the chance of my lifetime, so
+how on earth am I to rest? I'll take a week or
+so after the trial.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps I was myself a fool to go to the
+doctor at all. But I get nervous and highly-strung
+when I sit alone at my work at night.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span>
+It's not a pain&mdash;only a sort of fullness of the
+head with an occasional mist over the eyes. I
+thought perhaps some bromide, or chloral, or
+something of the kind might do me good. But
+stop work? It's absurd to ask such a thing.
+It's like a long distance race. You feel queer
+at first and your heart thumps and your lungs
+pant, but if you have only the pluck to keep
+on, you get your second wind. I'll stick to my
+work and wait for my second wind. If it never
+comes&mdash;all the same, I'll stick to my work.
+Two ledgers are done, and I am well on in the
+third. The rascal has covered his tracks well,
+but I pick them up for all that.</p>
+
+<p><i>Jan. 9.</i>&mdash;I had not meant to go to the doctor
+again. And yet I have had to. "Straining my
+nerves, risking a complete breakdown, even endangering
+my sanity." That's a nice sentence
+to have fired off at one. Well, I'll stand the
+strain and I'll take the risk, and so long as I
+can sit in my chair and move a pen I'll follow
+the old sinner's slot.</p>
+
+<p>By the way, I may as well set down here the
+queer experience which drove me this second
+time to the doctor. I'll keep an exact record
+of my symptoms and sensations, because they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span>
+are interesting in themselves&mdash;"a curious
+psycho-physiological study," says the doctor&mdash;and
+also because I am perfectly certain that
+when I am through with them they will all seem
+blurred and unreal, like some queer dream betwixt
+sleeping and waking. So now, while they
+are fresh, I will just make a note of them, if
+only as a change of thought after the endless
+figures.</p>
+
+<p>There's an old silver-framed mirror in my
+room. It was given me by a friend who had a
+taste for antiquities, and he, as I happen to
+know, picked it up at a sale and had no notion
+where it came from. It's a large thing&mdash;three
+feet across and two feet high&mdash;and it leans at
+the back of a side-table on my left as I write.
+The frame is flat, about three inches across,
+and very old; far too old for hall-marks or
+other methods of determining its age. The
+glass part projects, with a bevelled edge, and
+has the magnificent reflecting power which is
+only, as it seems to me, to be found in very old
+mirrors. There's a feeling of perspective when
+you look into it such as no modern glass can
+ever give.</p>
+
+<p>The mirror is so situated that as I sit at the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span>
+table I can usually see nothing in it but the reflection
+of the red window curtains. But a
+queer thing happened last night. I had been
+working for some hours, very much against
+the grain, with continual bouts of that mistiness
+of which I had complained. Again and
+again I had to stop and clear my eyes. Well,
+on one of these occasions I chanced to look at
+the mirror. It had the oddest appearance. The
+red curtains which should have been reflected
+in it were no longer there, but the glass seemed
+to be clouded and steamy, not on the surface,
+which glittered like steel, but deep down in the
+very grain of it. This opacity, when I stared
+hard at it, appeared to slowly rotate this way
+and that, until it was a thick white cloud swirling
+in heavy wreaths. So real and solid was it,
+and so reasonable was I, that I remember turning,
+with the idea that the curtains were on fire.
+But everything was deadly still in the room&mdash;no
+sound save the ticking of the clock, no movement
+save the slow gyration of that strange
+woolly cloud deep in the heart of the old mirror.</p>
+
+<p>Then, as I looked, the mist, or smoke, or
+cloud, or whatever one may call it, seemed to
+coalesce and solidify at two points quite close<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span>
+together, and I was aware, with a thrill of interest
+rather than of fear, that these were two
+eyes looking out into the room. A vague outline
+of a head I could see&mdash;a woman's by the
+hair, but this was very shadowy. Only the
+eyes were quite distinct; such eyes&mdash;dark,
+luminous, filled with some passionate emotion,
+fury or horror, I could not say which. Never
+have I seen eyes which were so full of intense,
+vivid life. They were not fixed upon me, but
+stared out into the room. Then as I sat erect,
+passed my hand over my brow, and made a
+strong conscious effort to pull myself together,
+the dim head faded in the general opacity, the
+mirror slowly cleared, and there were the red
+curtains once again.</p>
+
+<p>A sceptic would say, no doubt, that I had
+dropped asleep over my figures, and that my
+experience was a dream. As a matter of fact, I
+was never more vividly awake in my life. I
+was able to argue about it even as I looked at
+it, and to tell myself that it was a subjective
+impression&mdash;a chimera of the nerves&mdash;begotten
+by worry and insomnia. But why this particular
+shape? And who is the woman, and
+what is the dreadful emotion which I read in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span>
+those wonderful brown eyes? They come between
+me and my work. For the first time I
+have done less than the daily tally which I had
+marked out. Perhaps that is why I have had
+no abnormal sensations to-night. To-morrow
+I must wake up, come what may.</p>
+
+<p><i>Jan. 11.</i>&mdash;All well, and good progress with
+my work. I wind the net, coil after coil, round
+that bulky body. But the last smile may remain
+with him if my own nerves break over it.
+The mirror would seem to be a sort of barometer
+which marks my brain pressure. Each
+night I have observed that it had clouded before
+I reached the end of my task.</p>
+
+<p>Dr. Sinclair (who is, it seems, a bit of a psychologist)
+was so interested in my account
+that he came round this evening to have a look
+at the mirror. I had observed that something
+was scribbled in crabbed old characters upon
+the metal work at the back. He examined this
+with a lens, but could make nothing of it.
+"Sanc. X. Pal." was his final reading of it, but
+that did not bring us any further. He advised
+me to put it away into another room, but,
+after all, whatever I may see in it is, by his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span>
+own account, only a symptom. It is in the
+cause that the danger lies. The twenty ledgers&mdash;not
+the silver mirror&mdash;should be packed
+away if I could only do it. I'm at the eighth
+now, so I progress.</p>
+
+<p><i>Jan. 13.</i>&mdash;Perhaps it would have been wiser
+after all if I had packed away the mirror. I
+had an extraordinary experience with it last
+night. And yet I find it so interesting, so fascinating,
+that even now I will keep it in its
+place. What on earth is the meaning of it all?</p>
+
+<p>I suppose it was about one in the morning,
+and I was closing my books preparatory to
+staggering off to bed, when I saw her there
+in front of me. The stage of mistiness and development
+must have passed unobserved, and
+there she was in all her beauty and passion and
+distress, as clear-cut as if she were really in the
+flesh before me. The figure was small, but
+very distinct&mdash;so much so that every feature,
+and every detail of dress, are stamped in my
+memory. She is seated on the extreme left of
+the mirror. A sort of shadowy figure crouches
+down beside her&mdash;I can dimly discern that it is
+a man&mdash;and then behind them is cloud, in which
+I see figures&mdash;figures which move. It is not a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span>
+mere picture upon which I look. It is a scene
+in life, an actual episode. She crouches and
+quivers. The man beside her cowers down.
+The vague figures make abrupt movements and
+gestures. All my fears were swallowed up in
+my interest. It was maddening to see so much
+and not to see more.</p>
+
+<p>But I can at least describe the woman to the
+smallest point. She is very beautiful and quite
+young&mdash;not more than five-and-twenty, I
+should judge. Her hair is of a very rich
+brown, with a warm chestnut shade fining into
+gold at the edges. A little flat-pointed cap
+comes to an angle in front and is made of lace
+edged with pearls. The forehead is high, too
+high perhaps for perfect beauty; but one would
+not have it otherwise, as it gives a touch of
+power and strength to what would otherwise
+be a softly feminine face. The brows are most
+delicately curved over heavy eyelids, and then
+come those wonderful eyes&mdash;so large, so dark,
+so full of overmastering emotion, of rage and
+horror, contending with a pride of self-control
+which holds her from sheer frenzy! The
+cheeks are pale, the lips white with agony, the
+chin and throat most exquisitely rounded. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span>
+figure sits and leans forward in the chair,
+straining and rigid, cataleptic with horror.
+The dress is black velvet, a jewel gleams like a
+flame in the breast, and a golden crucifix
+smoulders in the shadow of a fold. This is the
+lady whose image still lives in the old silver
+mirror. What dire deed could it be which has
+left its impress there, so that now, in another
+age, if the spirit of a man be but worn down
+to it, he may be conscious of its presence?</p>
+
+<p>One other detail: On the left side of the
+skirt of the black dress was, as I thought at
+first, a shapeless bunch of white ribbon. Then,
+as I looked more intently or as the vision defined
+itself more clearly, I perceived what it
+was. It was the hand of a man, clenched and
+knotted in agony, which held on with a convulsive
+grasp to the fold of the dress. The rest
+of the crouching figure was a mere vague outline,
+but that strenuous hand shone clear on
+the dark background, with a sinister suggestion
+of tragedy in its frantic clutch. The man
+is frightened&mdash;horribly frightened. That I
+can clearly discern. What has terrified him
+so? Why does he grip the woman's dress?
+The answer lies amongst those moving figures<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span>
+in the background. They have brought danger
+both to him and to her. The interest of
+the thing fascinated me. I thought no more
+of its relation to my own nerves. I stared and
+stared as if in a theatre. But I could get no
+further. The mist thinned. There were tumultuous
+movements in which all the figures
+were vaguely concerned. Then the mirror was
+clear once more.</p>
+
+<p>The doctor says I must drop work for a day,
+and I can afford to do so, for I have made good
+progress lately. It is quite evident that the
+visions depend entirely upon my own nervous
+state, for I sat in front of the mirror for an
+hour to-night, with no result whatever. My
+soothing day has chased them away. I wonder
+whether I shall ever penetrate what they
+all mean? I examined the mirror this evening
+under a good light, and besides the mysterious
+inscription "Sanc. X. Pal.," I was able to discern
+some signs of heraldic marks, very faintly
+visible upon the silver. They must be very
+ancient, as they are almost obliterated. So
+far as I could make out, they were three spear-heads,
+two above and one below. I will show
+them to the doctor when he calls to-morrow.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span></p>
+
+<p><i>Jan. 14.</i>&mdash;Feel perfectly well again, and I intend
+that nothing else shall stop me until my
+task is finished. The doctor was shown the
+marks on the mirror and agreed that they were
+armorial bearings. He is deeply interested in
+all that I have told him, and cross-questioned
+me closely on the details. It amuses me to notice
+how he is torn in two by conflicting desires&mdash;the
+one that his patient should lose his symptoms,
+the other that the medium&mdash;for so he regards
+me&mdash;should solve this mystery of the
+past. He advised continued rest, but did not
+oppose me too violently when I declared that
+such a thing was out of the question until the
+ten remaining ledgers have been checked.</p>
+
+<p><i>Jan. 17.</i>&mdash;For three nights I have had no
+experiences&mdash;my day of rest has borne fruit.
+Only a quarter of my task is left, but I must
+make a forced march, for the lawyers are
+clamouring for their material. I will give them
+enough and to spare. I have him fast on a
+hundred counts. When they realise what a
+slippery, cunning rascal he is, I should gain
+some credit from the case. False trading accounts,
+false balance-sheets, dividends drawn
+from capital, losses written down as profits,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span>
+suppression of working expenses, manipulation
+of petty cash&mdash;it is a fine record!</p>
+
+<p><i>Jan. 18.</i>&mdash;Headaches, nervous twitches,
+mistiness, fullness of the temples&mdash;all the premonitions
+of trouble, and the trouble came
+sure enough. And yet my real sorrow is not so
+much that the vision should come as that it
+should cease before all is revealed.</p>
+
+<p>But I saw more to-night. The crouching
+man was as visible as the lady whose gown he
+clutched. He is a little swarthy fellow, with a
+black pointed beard. He has a loose gown of
+damask trimmed with fur. The prevailing
+tints of his dress are red. What a fright the
+fellow is in, to be sure! He cowers and shivers
+and glares back over his shoulder. There is a
+small knife in his other hand, but he is far too
+tremulous and cowed to use it. Dimly now I
+begin to see the figures in the background.
+Fierce faces, bearded and dark, shape themselves
+out of the mist. There is one terrible
+creature, a skeleton of a man, with hollow
+cheeks and eyes sunk in his head. He also has
+a knife in his hand. On the right of the woman
+stands a tall man, very young, with flaxen hair,
+his face sullen and dour. The beautiful woman<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span>
+looks up at him in appeal. So does the man on
+the ground. This youth seems to be the arbiter
+of their fate. The crouching man draws
+closer and hides himself in the woman's skirts.
+The tall youth bends and tries to drag her away
+from him. So much I saw last night before
+the mirror cleared. Shall I never know what
+it leads to and whence it comes? It is not
+a mere imagination, of that I am very sure.
+Somewhere, some time, this scene has been
+acted, and this old mirror has reflected it. But
+when&mdash;where?</p>
+
+<p><i>Jan. 20.</i>&mdash;My work draws to a close, and it
+is time. I feel a tenseness within my brain,
+a sense of intolerable strain, which warns me
+that something must give. I have worked myself
+to the limit. But to-night should be the
+last night. With a supreme effort I should finish
+the final ledger and complete the case before
+I rise from my chair. I will do it. I will.</p>
+
+<p><i>Feb. 7.</i>&mdash;I did. My God, what an experience!
+I hardly know if I am strong enough yet
+to set it down.</p>
+
+<p>Let me explain in the first instance that I
+am writing this in Dr. Sinclair's private hospital
+some three weeks after the last entry in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span>
+my diary. On the night of January 20 my
+nervous system finally gave way, and I remembered
+nothing afterwards until I found myself
+three days ago in this home of rest. And I
+can rest with a good conscience. My work was
+done before I went under. My figures are in
+the solicitors' hands. The hunt is over.</p>
+
+<p>And now I must describe that last night. I
+had sworn to finish my work, and so intently
+did I stick to it, though my head was bursting,
+that I would never look up until the last column
+had been added. And yet it was fine self-restraint,
+for all the time I knew that wonderful
+things were happening in the mirror.
+Every nerve in my body told me so. If I looked
+up there was an end of my work. So I did
+not look up till all was finished. Then, when at
+last with throbbing temples I threw down my
+pen and raised my eyes, what a sight was
+there!</p>
+
+<p>The mirror in its silver frame was like a
+stage, brilliantly lit, in which a drama was in
+progress. There was no mist now. The oppression
+of my nerves had wrought this amazing
+clarity. Every feature, every movement,
+was as clear-cut as in life. To think that I, a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span>
+tired accountant, the most prosaic of mankind,
+with the account-books of a swindling bankrupt
+before me, should be chosen of all the human
+race to look upon such a scene!</p>
+
+<p>It was the same scene and the same figures,
+but the drama had advanced a stage. The tall
+young man was holding the woman in his arms.
+She strained away from him and looked up at
+him with loathing in her face. They had torn
+the crouching man away from his hold upon
+the skirt of her dress. A dozen of them were
+round him&mdash;savage men, bearded men. They
+hacked at him with knives. All seemed to
+strike him together. Their arms rose and fell.
+The blood did not flow from him&mdash;it squirted.
+His red dress was dabbled in it. He threw
+himself this way and that, purple upon crimson,
+like an over-ripe plum. Still they hacked,
+and still the jets shot from him. It was horrible&mdash;horrible!
+They dragged him kicking
+to the door. The woman looked over her shoulder
+at him and her mouth gaped. I heard
+nothing, but I knew that she was screaming.
+And then, whether it was this nerve-racking
+vision before me, or whether, my task finished,
+all the overwork of the past weeks came in one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span>
+crushing weight upon me, the room danced
+round me, the floor seemed to sink away beneath
+my feet, and I remembered no more. In
+the early morning my landlady found me
+stretched senseless before the silver mirror, but
+I knew nothing myself until three days ago I
+awoke in the deep peace of the doctor's nursing
+home.</p>
+
+<p><i>Feb. 9.</i>&mdash;Only to-day have I told Dr. Sinclair
+my full experience. He had not allowed me
+to speak of such matters before. He listened
+with an absorbed interest. "You don't identify
+this with any well-known scene in history?"
+he asked, with suspicion in his eyes. I assured
+him that I knew nothing of history. "Have
+you no idea whence that mirror came and to
+whom it once belonged?" he continued. "Have
+you?" I asked, for he spoke with meaning.
+"It's incredible," said he, "and yet how else
+can one explain it? The scenes which you described
+before suggested it, but now it has gone
+beyond all range of coincidence. I will bring
+you some notes in the evening."</p>
+
+<p><i>Later.</i>&mdash;He has just left me. Let me set
+down his words as closely as I can recall them.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span>
+He began by laying several musty volumes
+upon my bed.</p>
+
+<p>"These you can consult at your leisure," said
+he. "I have some notes here which you can
+confirm. There is not a doubt that what you
+have seen is the murder of Rizzio by the Scottish
+nobles in the presence of Mary, which occurred
+in March, 1566. Your description of
+the woman is accurate. The high forehead
+and heavy eyelids combined with great beauty
+could hardly apply to two women. The tall
+young man was her husband, Darnley. Rizzio,
+says the chronicle, 'was dressed in a loose
+dressing-gown of furred damask, with hose of
+russet velvet.' With one hand he clutched
+Mary's gown, with the other he held a dagger.
+Your fierce, hollow-eyed man was Ruthven, who
+was new-risen from a bed of sickness. Every
+detail is exact."</p>
+
+<p>"But why to me?" I asked, in bewilderment.
+"Why of all the human race to me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because you were in the fit mental state to
+receive the impression. Because you chanced
+to own the mirror which gave the impression."</p>
+
+<p>"The mirror! You think, then, that it was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span>
+Mary's mirror&mdash;that it stood in the room
+where the deed was done?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am convinced that it was Mary's mirror.
+She had been Queen of France. Her personal
+property would be stamped with the Royal
+arms. What you took to be three spear-heads
+were really the lilies of France."</p>
+
+<p>"And the inscription?"</p>
+
+<p>"'Sanc. X. Pal.' You can expand it into
+Sanct&aelig; Crucis Palatium. Some one has made
+a note upon the mirror as to whence it came. It
+was the Palace of the Holy Cross."</p>
+
+<p>"Holyrood!" I cried.</p>
+
+<p>"Exactly. Your mirror came from Holyrood.
+You have had one very singular experience,
+and have escaped. I trust that you will
+never put yourself into the way of having such
+another."</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span></p>
+<h2>XI<br />
+THE HOME-COMING</h2>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">In</span> the spring of the year 528, a small brig
+used to run as a passenger boat between Chalcedon
+on the Asiatic shore and Constantinople.
+On the morning in question, which was that of
+the feast of Saint George, the vessel was
+crowded with excursionists who were bound
+for the great city in order to take part in the
+religious and festive celebrations which marked
+the festival of the Megalo-martyr, one of the
+most choice occasions in the whole vast
+hagiology of the Eastern Church. The day
+was fine and the breeze light, so that the
+passengers in their holiday mood were able to
+enjoy without a qualm the many objects of interest
+which marked the approach to the greatest
+and most beautiful capital in the world.</p>
+
+<p>On the right, as they sped up the narrow
+strait, there stretched the Asiatic shore,
+sprinkled with white villages and with numerous
+villas peeping out from the woods which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span>
+adorned it. In front of them, the Prince's
+Islands, rising as green as emeralds out of the
+deep sapphire blue of the Sea of Marmora, obscured
+for the moment the view of the capital.
+As the brig rounded these, the great city burst
+suddenly upon their sight, and a murmur of
+admiration and wonder rose from the crowded
+deck. Tier above tier it rose, white and glittering,
+a hundred brazen roofs and gilded
+statues gleaming in the sun, with high over all
+the magnificent shining cupola of Saint Sophia.
+Seen against a cloudless sky, it was the city of
+a dream&mdash;too delicate, too airily lovely for
+earth.</p>
+
+<p>In the prow of the small vessel were two
+travellers of singular appearance. The one
+was a very beautiful boy, ten or twelve years
+of age, swarthy, clear-cut, with dark, curling
+hair and vivacious black eyes, full of intelligence
+and of the joy of living. The other was
+an elderly man, gaunt-faced and grey-bearded,
+whose stern features were lit up by a smile as
+he observed the excitement and interest with
+which his young companion viewed the beautiful
+distant city and the many vessels which
+thronged the narrow strait.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"See! see!" cried the lad. "Look at the great
+red ships which sail out from yonder harbour.
+Surely, your holiness, they are the greatest of
+all ships in the world."</p>
+
+<p>The old man, who was the abbot of the monastery
+of Saint Nicephorus in Antioch, laid
+his hand upon the boy's shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>"Be wary, Leon, and speak less loudly, for
+until we have seen your mother we should keep
+ourselves secret. As to the red galleys they are
+indeed as large as any, for they are the Imperial
+ships of war, which come forth from the
+harbour of Theodosius. Round yonder green
+point is the Golden Horn, where the merchant
+ships are moored. But now, Leon, if you follow
+the line of buildings past the great church,
+you will see a long row of pillars fronting the
+sea. It marks the Palace of the C&aelig;sars."</p>
+
+<p>The boy looked at it with fixed attention.
+"And my mother is there," he whispered.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, Leon, your mother the Empress Theodora
+and her husband the great Justinian dwell
+in yonder palace."</p>
+
+<p>The boy looked wistfully up into the old
+man's face.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Are you sure, Father Luke, that my mother
+will indeed be glad to see me?"</p>
+
+<p>The abbot turned away his face to avoid
+those questioning eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"We cannot tell, Leon. We can only try.
+If it should prove that there is no place for
+you, then there is always a welcome among the
+brethren of Saint Nicephorus."</p>
+
+<p>"Why did you not tell my mother that we
+were coming, Father Luke? Why did you not
+wait until you had her command?"</p>
+
+<p>"At a distance, Leon, it would be easy to
+refuse you. An Imperial messenger would
+have stopped us. But when she sees you, Leon&mdash;your
+eyes, so like her own, your face, which
+carries memories of one whom she loved&mdash;then,
+if there be a woman's heart within her
+bosom, she will take you into it. They say
+that the Emperor can refuse her nothing. They
+have no child of their own. There is a great
+future before you, Leon. When it comes, do
+not forget the poor brethren of Saint Nicephorus,
+who took you in when you had no
+friend in the world."</p>
+
+<p>The old abbot spoke cheerily, but it was easy
+to see from his anxious countenance that the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span>
+nearer he came to the capital the more doubtful
+did his errand appear. What had seemed
+easy and natural from the quiet cloisters of
+Antioch became dubious and dark now that the
+golden domes of Constantinople glittered so
+close at hand. Ten years before, a wretched
+woman, whose very name was an offence
+throughout the eastern world, where she was as
+infamous for her dishonour as famous for her
+beauty, had come to the monastery gate, and
+had persuaded the monks to take charge of her
+infant son, the child of her shame. There he
+had been ever since. But she, Theodora, the
+harlot, returning to the capital, had by the
+strangest turn of fortune's wheel caught the
+fancy and finally the enduring love of Justinian
+the heir to the throne. Then on the
+death of his uncle Justin, the young man had
+become the greatest monarch upon the earth,
+and raised Theodora to be not only his wife and
+Empress, but to be absolute ruler with powers
+equal to and independent of his own. And she,
+the polluted one, had risen to the dignity, had
+cut herself sternly away from all that related
+to her past life, and had shown signs already
+of being a great Queen, stronger and wiser<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span>
+than her husband, but fierce, vindictive, and
+unbending, a firm support to her friends, but a
+terror to her foes. This was the woman to
+whom the Abbot Luke of Antioch was bringing
+Leon, her forgotten son. If ever her mind
+strayed back to the days when, abandoned by
+her lover Ecebolus, the Governor of the
+African Pentapolis, she had made her way on
+foot through Asia Minor, and left her infant
+with the monks, it was only to persuade herself
+that the brethren cloistered far from the world
+would never identify Theodora the Empress
+with Theodora the dissolute wanderer, and that
+the fruits of her sin would be for ever concealed
+from her Imperial husband.</p>
+
+<p>The little brig had now rounded the point of
+the Acropolis, and the long blue stretch of the
+Golden Horn lay before it. The high wall of
+Theodosius lined the whole harbour, but a narrow
+verge of land had been left between it and
+the water's edge to serve as a quay. The vessel
+ran alongside near the Neorion Gate, and
+the passengers, after a short scrutiny from the
+group of helmeted guards who lounged beside
+it, were allowed to pass through into the great
+city.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The abbot, who had made several visits to
+Constantinople upon the business of his monastery,
+walked with the assured step of one who
+knows his ground; while the boy, alarmed and
+yet pleased by the rush of people, the roar and
+clatter of passing chariots, and the vista of
+magnificent buildings, held tightly to the loose
+gown of his guide, while staring eagerly about
+him in every direction. Passing through the
+steep and narrow streets which led up from the
+water, they emerged into the open space which
+surrounds the magnificent pile of Saint Sophia,
+the great church begun by Constantine, hallowed
+by Saint Chrysostom, and now the seat
+of the Patriarch, and the very centre of the
+Eastern Church. Only with many crossings
+and genuflections did the pious abbot succeed
+in passing the revered shrine of his religion,
+and hurried on to his difficult task.</p>
+
+<p>Having passed Saint Sophia, the two travellers
+crossed the marble-paved Augusteum,
+and saw upon their right the gilded gates of
+the hippodrome through which a vast crowd of
+people was pressing, for though the morning
+had been devoted to the religious ceremony, the
+afternoon was given over to secular festivities.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span>
+So great was the rush of the populace that the
+two strangers had some difficulty in disengaging
+themselves from the stream and reaching
+the huge arch of black marble which formed
+the outer gate of the palace. Within they
+were fiercely ordered to halt by a gold-crested
+and magnificent sentinel who laid his shining
+spear across their breasts until his superior
+officer should give them permission to pass.
+The abbot had been warned, however, that all
+obstacles would give way if he mentioned the
+name of Basil the eunuch, who acted as chamberlain
+of the palace and also as Parakimomen&mdash;a
+high office which meant that he slept at the
+door of the Imperial bed-chamber. The charm
+worked wonderfully, for at the mention of that
+potent name the Protosphathaire, or Head of
+the Palace Guards, who chanced to be upon
+the spot, immediately detached one of his soldiers
+with instructions to convoy the two
+strangers into the presence of the chamberlain.</p>
+
+<p>Passing in succession a middle guard and an
+inner guard, the travellers came at last into the
+palace proper, and followed their majestic guide
+from chamber to chamber, each more wonderful<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span>
+than the last. Marbles and gold, velvet and
+silver, glittering mosaics, wonderful carvings,
+ivory screens, curtains of Armenian tissue and
+of Indian silk, damask from Arabia, and amber
+from the Baltic&mdash;all these things merged themselves
+in the minds of the two simple provincials,
+until their eyes ached and their senses
+reeled before the blaze and the glory of this, the
+most magnificent of the dwellings of man.
+Finally, a pair of curtains, crusted with, gold,
+were parted, and their guide handed them over
+to a negro eunuch who stood within. A heavy,
+fat, brown-skinned man, with a large, flabby,
+hairless face, was pacing up and down the
+small apartment, and he turned upon them as
+they entered with an abominable and threatening
+smile. His loose lips and pendulous cheeks
+were those of a gross old woman, but above
+them there shone a pair of dark malignant eyes,
+full of fierce intensity of observation and judgment.</p>
+
+<p>"You have entered the palace by using my
+name," he said. "It is one of my boasts that
+any of the populace can approach me in this
+way. But it is not fortunate for those who
+take advantage of it without due cause."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span>
+Again he smiled a smile which made the frightened
+boy cling tightly to the loose serge skirts
+of the abbot.</p>
+
+<p>But the ecclesiastic was a man of courage.
+Undaunted by the sinister appearance of the
+great chamberlain, or by the threat which lay
+in his words, he laid his hand upon his young
+companion's shoulder and faced the eunuch
+with a confident smile.</p>
+
+<p>"I have no doubt, your excellency," said he,
+"that the importance of my mission has given
+me the right to enter the palace. The only
+thing which troubles me is whether it may not
+be so important as to forbid me from broaching
+it to you, or indeed, to anybody save the Empress
+Theodora, since it is she only whom it
+concerns."</p>
+
+<p>The eunuch's thick eyebrows bunched together
+over his vicious eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"You must make good those words," he said.
+"If my gracious master&mdash;the ever-glorious
+Emperor Justinian&mdash;does not disdain to take
+me into his most intimate confidence in all
+things, it would be strange if there were any
+subject within your knowledge which I might
+not hear. You are, as I gather from your garb<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span>
+and bearing, the abbot of some Asiatic monastery?"</p>
+
+<p>"You are right, your excellency, I am the
+Abbot of the Monastery of St. Nicephorus in
+Antioch. But I repeat that I am assured that
+what I have to say is for the ear of the Empress
+Theodora only."</p>
+
+<p>The eunuch was evidently puzzled, and his
+curiosity aroused by the old man's persistence.
+He came nearer, his heavy face thrust forward,
+his flabby brown hands, like two sponges,
+resting upon the table of yellow jasper before
+him.</p>
+
+<p>"Old man," said he, "there is no secret which
+concerns the Empress which may not be told to
+me. But if you refuse to speak, it is certain
+that you will never see her. Why should I admit
+you, unless I know your errand? How
+should I know that you are not a Manichean
+heretic with a poniard in your bosom, longing
+for the blood of the mother of the Church?"</p>
+
+<p>The abbot hesitated no longer. "If there be
+a mistake in the matter, then on your head be
+it," said he. "Know then that this lad Leon
+is the son of Theodora the Empress, left by her
+in our monastery within a month of his birth<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span>
+ten years ago. This papyrus which I hand you
+will show you that what I say is beyond all
+question or doubt."</p>
+
+<p>The eunuch Basil took the paper, but his eyes
+were fixed upon the boy, and his features
+showed a mixture of amazement at the news
+that he had received, and of cunning speculation
+as to how he could turn it to profit.</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed, he is the very image of the Empress,"
+he muttered; and then, with sudden suspicion,
+"Is it not the chance of this likeness
+which has put the scheme into your head, old
+man?"</p>
+
+<p>"There is but one way to answer that," said
+the abbot. "It is to ask the Empress herself
+whether what I say is not true, and to give her
+the glad tidings that her boy is alive and well."</p>
+
+<p>The tone of confidence, together with the
+testimony of the papyrus, and the boy's beautiful
+face, removed the last shadow of doubt
+from the eunuch's mind. Here was a great
+fact; but what use could be made of it? Above
+all, what advantage could he draw from it?
+He stood with his fat chin in his hand, turning
+it over in his cunning brain.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Old man," said he at last, "to how many
+have you told this secret?"</p>
+
+<p>"To no one in the whole world," the other
+answered. "There is Deacon Bardas at the
+monastery and myself. No one else knows anything."</p>
+
+<p>"You are sure of this?"</p>
+
+<p>"Absolutely certain."</p>
+
+<p>The eunuch had made up his mind. If he
+alone of all men in the palace knew of this
+event, he would have a powerful hold over his
+masterful mistress. He was certain that Justinian
+the Emperor knew nothing of this. It
+would be a shock to him. It might even alienate
+his affections from his wife. She might care
+to take precautions to prevent him from knowing.
+And if he, Basil the eunuch, was her confederate
+in those precautions, then how very
+close it must draw him to her. All this flashed
+through his mind as he stood, the papyrus in
+his hand, looking at the old man and the boy.</p>
+
+<p>"Stay here," said he. "I will be with you
+again." With a swift rustle of his silken robes
+he swept from the chamber.</p>
+
+<p>A few minutes had elapsed when a curtain
+at the end of the room was pushed aside, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span>
+the eunuch, reappearing, held it back, doubling
+his unwieldy body into a profound obeisance as
+he did so. Through the gap came a small alert
+woman, clad in golden tissue, with a loose outer
+mantle and shoes of the Imperial purple. That
+colour alone showed that she could be none
+other than the Empress; but the dignity of her
+carriage, the fierce authority of her magnificent
+dark eyes, and the perfect beauty of her
+haughty face, all proclaimed that it could only
+be that of Theodora who, in spite of her lowly
+origin, was the most majestic as well as the
+most maturely lovely of all the women in her
+kingdom. Gone now were the buffoon tricks
+which the daughter of Acacius the bearward
+had learned in the amphitheatre; gone too was
+the light charm of the wanton, and what was
+left was the worthy mate of a great king, the
+measured dignity of one who was every inch
+an empress.</p>
+
+<p>Disregarding the two men, Theodora walked
+up to the boy, placed her two white hands upon
+his shoulders, and looked with a long questioning
+gaze, a gaze which began with hard
+suspicion and ended with tender recognition,
+into those large lustrous eyes which were the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span>
+very reflection of her own. At first the sensitive
+lad was chilled by the cold intent question
+of the look; but as it softened, his own spirit
+responded, until suddenly, with a cry of
+"Mother! Mother!" he cast himself into her
+arms, his hands locked round her neck, his face
+buried in her bosom. Carried away by the sudden
+natural outburst of emotion, her own arms
+tightened round the lad's figure, and she
+strained him for an instant to her heart. Then,
+the strength of the Empress gaining instant
+command over the temporary weakness of the
+mother, she pushed him back from her, and
+waved that they should leave her to herself.
+The slaves in attendance hurried the two
+visitors from the room. Basil the eunuch lingered,
+looking down at his mistress, who had
+thrown herself upon a damask couch, her lips
+white and her bosom heaving with the tumult
+of her emotion. She glanced up and met the
+chancellor's crafty gaze, her woman's instinct
+reading the threat that lurked within it.</p>
+
+<p>"I am in your power," she said. "The Emperor
+must never know of this."</p>
+
+<p>"I am your slave," said the eunuch, with his
+ambiguous smile. "I am an instrument in your<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span>
+hand. If it is your will that the Emperor
+should know nothing, then who is to tell him?"</p>
+
+<p>"But the monk, the boy. What are we to
+do?"</p>
+
+<p>"There is only one way for safety," said the
+eunuch.</p>
+
+<p>She looked at him with horrified eyes. His
+spongy hands were pointing down to the floor.
+There was an underground world to this beautiful
+palace, a shadow that was ever close to
+the light, a region of dimly-lit passages, of
+shadowed corners, of noiseless, tongueless
+slaves, of sudden sharp screams in the darkness.
+To this the eunuch was pointing.</p>
+
+<p>A terrible struggle rent her breast. The
+beautiful boy was hers, flesh of her flesh,
+bone of her bone. She knew it beyond all question
+or doubt. It was her one child, and her
+whole heart went out to him. But Justinian!
+She knew the Emperor's strange limitations.
+Her career in the past was forgotten. He had
+swept it all aside by special Imperial decree
+published throughout the Empire, as if she
+were new-born through the power of his will,
+and her association with his person. But they
+were childless, and this sight of one which was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span>
+not his own would cut him to the quick. He
+could dismiss her infamous past from his mind,
+but if it took the concrete shape of this beautiful
+child, then how could he wave it aside as if
+it had never been? All her instincts and her
+intimate knowledge of the man told her that
+even her charm and her influence might fail
+under such circumstances to save her from
+ruin. Her divorce would be as easy to him as
+her elevation had been. She was balanced upon
+a giddy pinnacle, the highest in the world, and
+yet the higher the deeper the fall. Everything
+that earth could give was now at her feet. Was
+she to risk the losing of it all&mdash;for what? For
+a weakness which was unworthy of an Empress,
+for a foolish new-born spasm of love,
+for that which had no existence within her in
+the morning? How could she be so foolish as
+to risk losing such a substance for such a
+shadow?</p>
+
+<p>"Leave it to me," said the brown watchful
+face above her.</p>
+
+<p>"Must it be&mdash;death?"</p>
+
+<p>"There is no real safety outside. But if your
+heart is too merciful, then by the loss of sight
+and speech&mdash;&mdash;"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>She saw in her mind the white-hot iron approaching
+those glorious eyes, and she shuddered
+at the thought.</p>
+
+<p>"No, no! Better death than that!"</p>
+
+<p>"Let it be death then. You are wise, great
+Empress, for there only is real safety and assurance
+of silence."</p>
+
+<p>"And the monk?"</p>
+
+<p>"Him also."</p>
+
+<p>"But the Holy Synod! He is a tonsured
+priest. What would the Patriarch do?"</p>
+
+<p>"Silence his babbling tongue. Then let them
+do what they will. How are we of the palace
+to know that this conspirator, taken with a dagger
+in his sleeve, is really what he says?"</p>
+
+<p>Again she shuddered and shrank down
+among the cushions.</p>
+
+<p>"Speak not of it, think not of it," said the
+eunuch. "Say only that you leave it in my
+hands. Nay, then, if you cannot say it, do but
+nod your head, and I take it as your signal."</p>
+
+<p>In that instant there flashed before Theodora's
+mind a vision of all her enemies, of all
+those who envied her rise, of all whose hatred
+and contempt would rise into a clamour of delight
+could they see the daughter of the bearward<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span>
+hurled down again into that abyss from
+which she had been dragged. Her face hardened,
+her lips tightened, her little hands
+clenched in the agony of her thought.</p>
+
+<p>"Do it!" she said.</p>
+
+<p>In an instant, with a terrible smile, the
+messenger of death hurried from the room.
+She groaned aloud, and buried herself yet
+deeper amid the silken cushions, clutching them
+frantically with convulsed and twitching hands.</p>
+
+<p>The eunuch wasted no time, for this deed,
+once done, he became&mdash;save for that insignificant
+monk in Asia Minor, whose fate would
+soon be sealed&mdash;the only sharer of Theodora's
+secret, and therefore the only person who could
+curb and bend that imperious nature. Hurrying
+into the chamber where the visitors were
+waiting, he gave a sinister signal, only too well
+known in those iron days. In an instant the
+black mutes in attendance seized the old man
+and the boy, pushing them swiftly down a
+passage and into a meaner portion of the palace,
+where the heavy smell of luscious cooking
+proclaimed the neighbourhood of the kitchens.
+A side corridor led to a heavily-barred iron
+door, and this in turn opened upon a steep flight<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span>
+of stone steps, feebly illuminated by the glimmer
+of wall lamps. At the head and foot stood
+a mute sentinel like an ebony statue, and below,
+along the dusky and forbidding passages
+from which the cells opened, a succession of
+niches in the wall were occupied by a similar
+guardian. The unfortunate visitors were
+dragged brutally down a number of stone-flagged
+and dismal corridors until they descended
+another long stair which led so deeply
+into the earth that the damp feeling in the
+heavy air and the drip of water all round
+showed that they had come down to the level of
+the sea. Groans and cries, like those of sick
+animals, from the various grated doors which
+they passed showed how many there were who
+spent their whole lives in this humid and poisonous
+atmosphere.</p>
+
+<p>At the end of this lowest passage was a door
+which opened into a single large vaulted room.
+It was devoid of furniture, but in the centre
+was a large and heavy wooden board clamped
+with iron. This lay upon a rude stone parapet,
+engraved with inscriptions beyond the wit of
+the eastern scholars, for this old well dated
+from a time before the Greeks founded Byzantium,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span>
+when men of Chaldea and Ph&#339;nicia built
+with huge unmortared blocks, far below the
+level of the town of Constantine. The door
+was closed, and the eunuch beckoned to the
+slaves that they should remove the slab which
+covered the well of death. The frightened boy
+screamed and clung to the abbot, who, ashy-pale
+and trembling, was pleading hard to melt
+the heart of the ferocious eunuch.</p>
+
+<p>"Surely, surely, you would not slay the innocent
+boy!" he cried. "What has he done?
+Was it his fault that he came here? I alone&mdash;I
+and Deacon Bardas&mdash;are to blame. Punish
+us, if some one must indeed be punished.
+We are old. It is to-day or to-morrow with us.
+But he is so young and so beautiful, with all his
+life before him. Oh, sir! oh, your excellency,
+you would not have the heart to hurt him!"</p>
+
+<p>He threw himself down and clutched at the
+eunuch's knees, while the boy sobbed piteously
+and cast horror-stricken eyes at the black slaves
+who were tearing the wooden slab from the ancient
+parapet beneath. The only answer which
+the chamberlain gave to the frantic pleadings
+of the abbot was to take a stone which lay on
+the coping of the well and toss it in. It could<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span>
+be heard clattering against the old, damp, mildewed
+walls, until it fell with a hollow boom
+into some far distant subterranean pool. Then
+he again motioned with his hands, and the black
+slaves threw themselves upon the boy and
+dragged him away from his guardian. So
+shrill was his clamour that no one heard the approach
+of the Empress. With a swift rush she
+had entered the room, and her arms were round
+her son.</p>
+
+<p>"It shall not be! It cannot be!" she cried.
+"No, no, my darling! my darling! they shall do
+you no hurt. I was mad to think of it&mdash;mad
+and wicked to dream of it. Oh, my sweet boy!
+to think that your mother might have had your
+blood upon her head!"</p>
+
+<p>The eunuch's brows were gathered together
+at this failure of his plans, at this fresh example
+of feminine caprice.</p>
+
+<p>"Why kill them, great lady, if it pains your
+gracious heart?" said he. "With a knife and
+a branding-iron they can be disarmed for ever."</p>
+
+<p>She paid no attention to his words. "Kiss
+me, Leon!" she cried. "Just once let me feel
+my own child's soft lips rest upon mine. Now
+again! No, no more, or I shall weaken for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span>
+what I have still to say and still to do. Old
+man, you are very near a natural grave, and I
+cannot think from your venerable aspect that
+words of falsehood would come readily to your
+lips. You have indeed kept my secret all these
+years, have you not?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have in very truth, great Empress. I
+swear to you by Saint Nicephorus, patron of
+our house, that save old Deacon Bardas, there
+is none who knows."</p>
+
+<p>"Then let your lips still be sealed. If you
+have kept faith in the past, I see no reason why
+you should be a babbler in the future. And
+you, Leon"&mdash;she bent her wonderful eyes with
+a strange mixture of sternness and of love upon
+the boy, "can I trust you? Will you keep a
+secret which could never help you, but would
+be the ruin and downfall of your mother?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, mother, I would not hurt you! I swear
+that I will be silent."</p>
+
+<p>"Then I trust you both. Such provision will
+be made for your monastery and for your own
+personal comforts as will make you bless the
+day you came to my palace. Now you may go.
+I wish never to see you again. If I did, you
+might find me in a softer mood, or in a harder,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span>
+and the one would lead to my undoing, the other
+to yours. But if by whisper or rumour I have
+reason to think that you have failed me, then
+you and your monks and your monastery will
+have such an end as will be a lesson for ever to
+those who would break faith with their Empress."</p>
+
+<p>"I will never speak," said the old abbot;
+"neither will Deacon Bardas; neither will Leon.
+For all three I can answer. But there are
+others&mdash;these slaves, the chancellor. We may
+be punished for another's fault."</p>
+
+<p>"Not so," said the Empress, and her eyes
+were like flints. "These slaves are voiceless;
+nor have they any means to tell those secrets
+which they know. As to you, Basil&mdash;&mdash;" She
+raised her white hand with the same deadly
+gesture which he had himself used so short a
+time before. The black slaves were on him
+like hounds on a stag.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, my gracious mistress, dear lady, what
+is this? What is this? You cannot mean it!"
+he screamed, in his high, cracked voice. "Oh,
+what have I done? Why should I die?"</p>
+
+<p>"You have turned me against my own. You
+have goaded me to slay my own son. You have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span>
+intended to use my secret against me. I read
+it in your eyes from the first. Cruel, murderous
+villain, taste the fate which you have yourself
+given to so many others. This is your
+doom. I have spoken."</p>
+
+<p>The old man and the boy hurried in horror
+from the vault. As they glanced back they saw
+the erect, inflexible, shimmering, gold-clad figure
+of the Empress. Beyond they had a
+glimpse of the green-scummed lining of the
+well, and of the great red open mouth of the
+eunuch, as he screamed and prayed while every
+tug of the straining slaves brought him one
+step nearer to the brink. With their hands
+over their ears they rushed away, but even so
+they heard that last woman-like shriek, and
+then the heavy plunge far down in the dark
+abysses of the earth.</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span></p>
+<h2>XII<br />
+A POINT OF CONTACT</h2>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A curious</span> train of thought is started when
+one reflects upon those great figures who have
+trod the stage of this earth, and actually played
+their parts in the same act, without ever coming
+face to face, or even knowing of each
+other's existence. Baber, the Great Mogul,
+was, for example, overrunning India at the
+very moment when Hernando Cortez was overrunning
+Mexico, and yet the two could never
+have heard of each other. Or, to take a more
+supreme example, what could the Emperor
+Augustus C&aelig;sar know of a certain Carpenter's
+shop wherein there worked a dreamy-eyed boy
+who was destined to change the whole face of
+the world? It may be, however, that sometimes
+these great contemporary forces did approach,
+touch, and separate&mdash;each unaware of the true
+meaning of the other. So it was in the instance
+which is now narrated.</p>
+
+<p>It was evening in the port of Tyre, some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span>
+eleven hundred years before the coming of
+Christ. The city held, at that time, about a
+quarter of a million of inhabitants, the majority
+of whom dwelt upon the mainland, where
+the buildings of the wealthy merchants, each in
+its own tree-girt garden, extended for seven
+miles along the coast. The great island, however,
+from which the town got its name, lay
+out some distance from the shore, and contained
+within its narrow borders the more
+famous of the temples and public buildings.
+Of these temples the chief was that of Melmoth,
+which covered with its long colonnades
+the greater part of that side of the island which
+looked down upon the Sidonian port, so called
+because only twenty miles away the older city
+of Sidon maintained a constant stream of traffic
+with its rising offshoot.</p>
+
+<p>Inns were not yet in vogue, but the poorer
+traveller found his quarters with hospitable
+citizens, while men of distinction were frequently
+housed in the annex of the temples,
+where the servants of the priests attended to
+their wants. On that particular evening there
+stood in the portico of the temple of Melmoth
+two remarkable figures who were the centre<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span>
+of observation for a considerable fringe
+of Ph&#339;nician idlers. One of these men was
+clearly by his face and demeanour a great
+chieftain. His strongly-marked features were
+those of a man who had led an adventurous life,
+and were suggestive of every virile quality from
+brave resolve to desperate execution. His broad,
+high brow and contemplative eyes showed that
+he was a man of wisdom as well as of valour.
+He was clad, as became a Greek nobleman
+of the period, with a pure white linen tunic,
+a gold-studded belt supporting a short sword,
+and a purple cloak. The lower legs were bare,
+and the feet covered by sandals of red leather,
+while a cap of white cloth was pushed back
+upon his brown curls, for the heat of the day
+was past and the evening breeze most welcome.</p>
+
+<p>His companion was a short, thick-set man,
+bull-necked and swarthy, clad in some dusky
+cloth which gave him a sombre appearance relieved
+only by the vivid scarlet of his woollen
+cap. His manner towards his comrade was
+one of deference, and yet there was in it also
+something of that freshness and frankness
+which go with common dangers and a common
+interest.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Be not impatient, sire," he was saying.
+"Give me two days, or three at the most, and
+we shall make as brave a show at the muster as
+any. But, indeed, they would smile if they
+saw us crawl up to Tenedos with ten missing
+oars and the mainsail blown into rags."</p>
+
+<p>The other frowned and stamped his foot
+with anger.</p>
+
+<p>"We should have been there now had it not
+been for this cursed mischance," said he.
+"Aeolus played us a pretty trick when he sent
+such a blast out of a cloudless sky."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, sire, two of the Cretan galleys
+foundered, and Trophimes, the pilot, swears
+that one of the Argos ships was in trouble.
+Pray Zeus that it was not the galley of Menelaus.
+We shall not be the last at the muster."</p>
+
+<p>"It is well that Troy stands a good ten miles
+from the sea, for if they came out at us with
+a fleet they might have us at a disadvantage.
+We had no choice but to come here and refit,
+yet I shall have no happy hour until I see the
+white foam from the lash of our oars once
+more. Go, Seleucas, and speed them all you
+may."</p>
+
+<p>The officer bowed and departed, while the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span>
+chieftain stood with his eyes fixed upon his
+great dismantled galley over which the riggers
+and carpenters were swarming. Further out
+in the roadstead lay eleven other smaller galleys,
+waiting until their wounded flagship
+should be ready for them. The sun, as it shone
+upon them, gleamed upon hundreds of bronze
+helmets and breastplates, telling of the warlike
+nature of the errand upon which they were
+engaged. Save for them the port was filled
+with bustling merchant ships taking in cargoes
+or disgorging them upon the quays. At the
+very feet of the Greek chieftain three broad
+barges were moored, and gangs of labourers
+with wooden shovels were heaving out the
+mussels brought from Dor, destined to supply
+the famous Tyrian dye-works which adorn the
+most noble of all garments. Beside them was
+a tin ship from Britain, and the square boxes
+of that precious metal, so needful for the making
+of bronze, were being passed from hand to
+hand to the waiting waggons. The Greek found
+himself smiling at the uncouth wonder of a
+Cornishman who had come with his tin, and
+who was now lost in amazement as he stared at
+the long colonnades of the Temple of Melmoth<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span>
+and the high front of the Shrine of Ashtaroth
+behind it. Even as he gazed some of his ship-mates
+passed their hands through his arms and
+led him along the quay to a wine-shop, as being
+a building much more within his comprehension.
+The Greek, still smiling, was turning
+on his heels to return to the Temple, when one
+of the clean-shaven priests of Baal came towards
+him.</p>
+
+<p>"It is rumoured, sire," said he, "that you
+are on a very distant and dangerous venture.
+Indeed, it is well known from the talk of your
+soldiers what it is that you have on hand."</p>
+
+<p>"It is true," said the Greek, "that we have a
+hard task before us. But it would have been
+harder to bide at home and to feel that the
+honour of a leader of the Argives had been
+soiled by this dog from Asia."</p>
+
+<p>"I hear that all Greece has taken up the
+quarrel."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, there is not a chief from Thessaly to
+the Malea who has not called out his men, and
+there were twelve hundred galleys in the harbour
+of Aulis."</p>
+
+<p>"It is a great host," said the priest. "But<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span>
+have ye any seers or prophets among ye who
+can tell what will come to pass?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, we had one such, Calchas his name.
+He has said that for nine years we shall strive,
+and only on the tenth will the victory come."</p>
+
+<p>"That is but cold comfort," said the priest.
+"It is, indeed, a great prize which can be worth
+ten years of a man's life."</p>
+
+<p>"I would give," the Greek answered, "not
+ten years but all my life if I could but lay proud
+Ilium in ashes and carry back Helen to her
+palace on the hill of Argos."</p>
+
+<p>"I pray Baal, whose priest I am, that you
+may have good fortune," said the Ph&#339;nician.
+"I have heard that these Trojans are stout soldiers,
+and that Hector, the son of Priam, is a
+mighty leader."</p>
+
+<p>The Greek smiled proudly.</p>
+
+<p>"They must be stout and well-fed also," said
+he, "if they can stand the brunt against the
+long-haired Argives with such captains as Agamemnon,
+the son of Atreus from golden
+Mycen&aelig;, or Achilles, son of Peleus, with his
+myrmidons. But these things are on the knees
+of the Fates. In the meantime, my friend, I
+would fain know who these strange people are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span>
+who come down the street, for their chieftain
+has the air of one who is made for great deeds."</p>
+
+<p>A tall man clad in a long white robe, with a
+golden fillet running through his flowing
+auburn hair, was striding down the street with
+the free elastic gait of one who has lived an
+active life in the open. His face was ruddy and
+noble, with a short, crisp beard covering a
+strong, square jaw. In his clear blue eyes as
+he looked at the evening sky and the busy
+waters beneath him there was something of
+the exaltation of the poet, while a youth walking
+beside him and carrying a harp hinted at
+the graces of music. On the other side of him,
+however, a second squire bore a brazen shield
+and a heavy spear, so that his master might
+never be caught unawares by his enemies. In
+his train there came a tumultuous rabble of
+dark hawk-like men, armed to the teeth, and
+peering about with covetous eyes at the signs
+of wealth which lay in profusion around them.
+They were swarthy as Arabs, and yet they
+were better clad and better armed than the
+wild children of the desert.</p>
+
+<p>"They are but barbarians," said the priest.
+"He is a small king from the mountain parts<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span>
+opposite Philistia, and he comes here because
+he is building up the town of Jebus, which he
+means to be his chief city. It is only here that
+he can find the wood, and stone, and craftsmanship
+that he desires. The youth with the
+harp is his son. But I pray you, chief, if you
+would know what is before you at Troy, to
+come now into the outer hall of the Temple with
+me, for we have there a famous seer, the
+prophetess Alaga who is also the priestess of
+Ashtaroth. It may be that she can do for you
+what she has done for many others, and send
+you forth from Tyre in your hollow ships with
+a better heart than you came."</p>
+
+<p>To the Greeks, who by oracles, omens, and
+auguries were for ever prying into the future,
+such a suggestion was always welcome. The
+Greek followed the priest to the inner sanctuary,
+where sat the famous Pythoness&mdash;a tall,
+fair woman of middle age, who sat at a stone
+table upon which was an abacus or tray filled
+with sand. She held a style of chalcedony, and
+with this she traced strange lines and curves
+upon the smooth surface, her chin leaning upon
+her other hand and her eyes cast down. As the
+chief and the priest approached her she did<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span>
+not look up, but she quickened the movements
+of her pencil, so that curve followed curve in
+quick succession. Then, still with downcast
+eyes, she spoke in a strange, high, sighing voice
+like wind amid the trees.</p>
+
+<p>"Who, then, is this who comes to Alaga of
+Tyre, the handmaiden of great Ashtaroth?
+Behold I see an island to the west, and an old
+man who is the father, and the great chief, and
+his wife, and his son who now waits him at
+home, being too young for the wars. Is this
+not true?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, maiden, you have said truth," the
+Greek answered.</p>
+
+<p>"I have had many great ones before me, but
+none greater than you, for three thousand
+years from now people will still talk of your
+bravery and of your wisdom. They will remember
+also the faithful wife at home, and the
+name of the old man, your father, and of the
+boy your son&mdash;all will be remembered when
+the very stones of noble Sidon and royal Tyre
+are no more."</p>
+
+<p>"Nay, say not so, Alaga!" cried the priest.</p>
+
+<p>"I speak not what I desire but what it is
+given to me to say. For ten years you will<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span>
+strive, and then you will win, and victory will
+bring rest to others, but only new troubles to
+you. Ah!" The prophetess suddenly started
+in violent surprise, and her hand made ever
+faster markings on the sand.</p>
+
+<p>"What is it that ails you, Alaga?" asked the
+priest.</p>
+
+<p>The woman had looked up with wild inquiring
+eyes. Her gaze was neither for the priest
+nor for the chief, but shot past them to the further
+door. Looking round the Greek was
+aware that two new figures had entered the
+room. They were the ruddy barbarian whom
+he had marked in the street, together with the
+youth who bore his harp.</p>
+
+<p>"It is a marvel upon marvels that two such
+should enter my chamber on the same day,"
+cried the priestess. "Have I not said that you
+were the greatest that ever came, and yet behold
+here is already one who is greater. For
+he and his son&mdash;even this youth whom I see
+before me&mdash;will also be in the minds of all men
+when lands beyond the Pillars of Hercules shall
+have taken the place of Ph&#339;nicia and of
+Greece. Hail to you, stranger, hail! Pass on
+to your work for it awaits you, and it is great<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span>
+beyond words of mine." Rising from her stool
+the woman dropped her pencil upon the sand
+and passed swiftly from the room.</p>
+
+<p>"It is over," said the priest. "Never have I
+heard her speak such words."</p>
+
+<p>The Greek chief looked with interest at the
+barbarian. "You speak Greek?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Indifferently well," said the other. "Yet I
+should understand it seeing that I spent a long
+year at Ziklag in the land of the Philistines."</p>
+
+<p>"It would seem," said the Greek, "that the
+gods have chosen us both to play a part in the
+world."</p>
+
+<p>"Stranger," the barbarian answered, "there
+is but one God."</p>
+
+<p>"Say you so? Well, it is a matter to be
+argued at some better time. But I would fain
+have your name and style and what is it you
+purpose to do, so that we may perchance hear
+of each other in the years to come. For my
+part I am Odysseus, known also as Ulysses, the
+King of Ithaca, with the good Laertes as my
+father and young Telemachus as my son. For
+my work, it is the taking of Troy."</p>
+
+<p>"And my work," said the barbarian, "is the
+building of Jebus, which now we call Jerusalem.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span>
+Our ways lie separate, but it may come
+back to your memory that you have crossed the
+path of David, second King of the Hebrews,
+together with his young son Solomon, who may
+follow him upon the throne of Israel."</p>
+
+<p>So he turned and went forth into the darkened
+streets where his spearmen were awaiting
+him, while the Greek passed down to his boat
+that he might see what was still to be done ere
+he could set forth upon his voyage.</p>
+
+<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span></p>
+<h2>XIII<br />
+THE CENTURION</h2>
+
+<p>[<i>Being the fragment of a letter from Sulpicius
+Balbus, Legate of the Tenth Legion, to
+his uncle, Lucius Piso, in his villa near Baiae,
+dated The Kalends of the month of Augustus
+in the year 824 of Rome.</i>]</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">I promised</span> you, my dear uncle, that I would
+tell you anything of interest concerning the
+siege of Jerusalem; but, indeed, these people
+whom we imagined to be unwarlike have kept
+us so busy that there has been little time for
+letter-writing. We came to Jud&aelig;a thinking
+that a mere blowing of trumpets and a shout
+would finish the affair, and picturing a splendid
+triumph in the <i>via sacra</i> to follow, with all
+the girls in Rome throwing flowers and kisses
+to us. Well, we may get our triumph, and possibly
+the kisses also, but I can assure you that
+not even you who have seen such hard service
+on the Rhine can ever have experienced a more
+severe campaign than this has been. We have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span>
+now won the town, and to-day their temple is
+burning, and the smoke sets me coughing as I
+sit writing in my tent. But it has been a terrible
+business, and I am sure none of us wish
+to see Jud&aelig;a again.</p>
+
+<p>In fighting the Gauls, or the Germans, you
+are against brave men, animated by the love of
+their country. This passion acts more, however,
+upon some than others, so that the whole
+army is not equally inflamed by it. These Jews,
+however, besides their love of country, which
+is very strong, have a desperate religious fervour,
+which gives them a fury in battle such as
+none of us have ever seen. They throw themselves
+with a shriek of joy upon our swords
+and lances, as if death were all that they desired.</p>
+
+<p>If one gets past your guard may Jove protect
+you, for their knives are deadly, and if it comes
+to a hand-to-hand grapple they are as dangerous
+as wild beasts, who would claw out your
+eyes or your throat. You know that our fellows
+of the Tenth Legion have been, ever since
+C&aelig;sar's time, as rough soldiers as any with the
+Eagles, but I can assure you that I have seen
+them positively cowed by the fury of these<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span>
+fanatics. As a matter of fact we have had
+least to bear, for it has been our task from the
+beginning to guard the base of the peninsula
+upon which this extraordinary town is built.
+It has steep precipices upon all the other sides,
+so that it is only on this one northern base that
+fugitives could escape or a rescue come. Meanwhile,
+the fifth, fifteenth, and the twelfth or
+Syrian legions have done the work, together
+with the auxiliaries. Poor devils! we have
+often pitied them, and there have been times
+when it was difficult to say whether we were
+attacking the town or the town was attacking
+us. They broke down our tortoises with their
+stones, burned our turrets with their fire, and
+dashed right through our whole camp to destroy
+the supplies in the rear. If any man says
+a Jew is not a good soldier, you may be sure
+that he has never been in Jud&aelig;a.</p>
+
+<p>However, all this has nothing to do with
+what I took up my stylus to tell you. No doubt
+it is the common gossip of the forum and of
+the baths how our army, excellently handled
+by the princely Titus, carried one line of wall
+after the other until we had only the temple
+before us. This, however, is&mdash;or was, for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span>
+I see it burning even as I write&mdash;a very strong
+fortress. Romans have no idea of the magnificence
+of this place. The temple of which
+I speak is a far finer building than any we have
+in Rome, and so is the Palace, built by Herod
+or Agrippa, I really forget which. This temple
+is two hundred paces each way, with stones so
+fitted that the blade of a knife will not go between,
+and the soldiers say there is gold enough
+within to fill the pockets of the whole army.
+This idea puts some fury into the attack, as you
+can believe, but with these flames I fear a great
+deal of the plunder will be lost.</p>
+
+<p>There was a great fight at the temple, and it
+was rumoured that it would be carried by storm
+to-night, so I went out on to the rising ground
+whence one sees the city best. I wonder, uncle,
+if in your many campaigns you have ever smelt
+the smell of a large beleaguered town. The
+wind was south to-night, and this terrible smell
+of death came straight to our nostrils. There
+were half a million people there, and every
+form of disease, starvation, decomposition,
+filth and horror, all pent in within a narrow
+compass. You know how the lion sheds smell
+behind the Circus Maximus, acid and foul. It<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span>
+is like that, but there is a low, deadly, subtle
+odour which lies beneath it and makes your
+very heart sink within you. Such was the smell
+which came up from the city to-night.</p>
+
+<p>As I stood in the darkness, wrapped in my
+scarlet chlamys&mdash;for the evenings here are chill&mdash;I
+was suddenly aware that I was not alone.
+A tall, silent figure was near me, looking down
+at the town even as I was. I could see in the
+moonlight that he was clad as an officer, and
+as I approached him I recognized that it was
+Longinus, third tribune of my own legion, and
+a soldier of great age and experience. He is
+a strange, silent man, who is respected by all,
+but understood by none, for he keeps his own
+council and thinks rather than talks. As I
+approached him the first flames burst from the
+temple, a high column of fire, which cast a glow
+upon our faces and gleamed upon our armour.
+In this red light I saw that the gaunt face of
+my companion was set like iron.</p>
+
+<p>"At last!" said he. "At last!"</p>
+
+<p>He was speaking to himself rather than to
+me, for he started and seemed confused when
+I asked him what he meant.</p>
+
+<p>"I have long thought that evil would come<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span>
+to the place," said he. "Now I see that it has
+come, and so I said 'At last!'"</p>
+
+<p>"For that matter," I answered, "we have all
+seen that evil would come to the place, since
+it has again and again defied the authority of
+the C&aelig;sars."</p>
+
+<p>He looked keenly at me with a question in
+his eyes. Then he said:</p>
+
+<p>"I have heard, sir, that you are one who has
+a full sympathy in the matter of the gods, believing
+that every man should worship according
+to his own conscience and belief."</p>
+
+<p>I answered that I was a Stoic of the school
+of Seneca, who held that this world is a small
+matter and that we should care little for its
+fortunes, but develop within ourselves a contempt
+for all but the highest.</p>
+
+<p>He smiled in grim fashion at this.</p>
+
+<p>"I have heard," said he, "that Seneca died
+the richest man in all Nero's Empire, so he
+made the best of this world in spite of his
+philosophy."</p>
+
+<p>"What are your own beliefs?" I asked. "Are
+you, perhaps, one who has fathomed the mysteries
+of Isis, or been admitted to the Society of
+Mythra?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Have you ever heard," he asked, "of the
+Christians?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said I. "There were some slaves and
+wandering men in Rome who called themselves
+such. They worshipped, so far as I could
+gather, some man who died over here in Jud&aelig;a.
+He was put to death, I believe, in the time of
+Tiberius."</p>
+
+<p>"That is so," he answered. "It was at the
+time when Pilate was procurator&mdash;Pontius
+Pilate, the brother of old Lucius Pilate, who
+had Egypt in the time of Augustus. Pilate
+was of two minds in the matter, but the mob
+was as wild and savage as these very men that
+we have been contending with. Pilate tried to
+put them off with a criminal, hoping that so
+long as they had blood they would be satisfied.
+But they chose the other, and he was not strong
+enough to withstand them. Ah! it was a pity&mdash;a
+sad pity!"</p>
+
+<p>"You seem to know a good deal about it,"
+said I.</p>
+
+<p>"I was there," said the man simply, and became
+silent, while we both looked down at the
+huge column of flame from the burning temple.
+As it flared up we could see the white tents of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span>
+the army and all the country round. There
+was a low hill just outside the city, and my
+companion pointed to it.</p>
+
+<p>"That was where it happened," said he. "I
+forget the name of the place, but in those days&mdash;it
+was more than thirty years ago&mdash;they put
+their criminals to death there. But He was no
+criminal. It is always His eyes that I think
+of&mdash;the look in His eyes."</p>
+
+<p>"What about the eyes, then?"</p>
+
+<p>"They have haunted me ever since. I see
+them now. All the sorrow of earth seemed mirrored
+in them. Sad, sad, and yet such a deep,
+tender pity! One would have said that it was
+He who needed pity had you seen His poor
+battered, disfigured face. But He had no
+thought for Himself&mdash;it was the great world
+pity that looked out of His gentle eyes. There
+was a noble maniple of the legion there, and not
+a man among them who did not wish to charge
+the howling crowd who were dragging such a
+man to His death."</p>
+
+<p>"What were you doing there?"</p>
+
+<p>"I was Junior Centurion, with the gold vine-rod
+fresh on my shoulders. I was on duty on
+the hill, and never had a job that I liked less.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span>
+But discipline has to be observed, and Pilate
+had given the order. But I thought at the time&mdash;and
+I was not the only one&mdash;that this man's
+name and work would not be forgotten, and
+that there would be a curse on the place that
+had done such a deed. There was an old
+woman there, His mother, with her grey hair
+down her back. I remember how she shrieked
+when one of our fellows with his lance put
+Him out of his pain. And a few others, women
+and men, poor and ragged, stood by Him. But,
+you see, it has turned out as I thought. Even
+in Rome, as you have observed, His followers
+have appeared."</p>
+
+<p>"I rather fancy," said I, "that I am speaking
+to one of them."</p>
+
+<p>"At least, I have not forgotten," said he.
+"I have been in the wars ever since with little
+time for study. But my pension is overdue,
+and when I have changed the sagum for the
+toga, and the tent for some little farm up Como
+way, then I shall look more deeply into these
+things, if, perchance, I can find some one to instruct
+me."</p>
+
+<p>And so I left him. I only tell you all this
+because I remember that you took an interest<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span>
+in the man, Paulus, who was put to death for
+preaching this religion. You told me that it
+had reached C&aelig;sar's palace, and I can tell you
+now that it has reached C&aelig;sar's soldiers as
+well. But apart from this matter I wish to
+tell you some of the adventures which we have
+had recently in raiding for food among the
+hills, which stretch as far south as the river
+Jordan. The other day ...</p>
+
+<p>[<i>Here the fragment is ended.</i>]</p>
+
+<div class="p2"><p class="center">THE END</p></div>
+
+<div class="trn"><p><b>Transcriber's Note:</b>
+Dialect spellings remain as printed. Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note, whilst significant amendments have been listed below:</p>
+
+<ul><li>p. <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, 'cacophanies' amended to <i>cacophonies</i>;</li>
+<li>p. <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, 'Pantelic' amended to <i>Pentelic</i>;</li>
+<li>p. <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, 'Septimus' amended to <i>Septimius</i>;</li>
+<li>p. <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, 'Sava' amended to <i>Saba</i>;</li>
+<li>p. <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, 'wagons' amended to <i>waggons</i>.</li></ul></div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Last of the Legions and Other
+Tales of Long Ago, by Arthur Conan Doyle
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@@ -0,0 +1,4796 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Last of the Legions and Other Tales of
+Long Ago, by Arthur Conan Doyle
+
+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 Last of the Legions and Other Tales of Long Ago
+
+Author: Arthur Conan Doyle
+
+Release Date: July 31, 2008 [EBook #26153]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LAST OF THE LEGIONS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Chris Curnow, Joseph Cooper, Stephen Blundell
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+    THE LAST OF THE LEGIONS
+ _and Other Tales of Long Ago_
+
+        A. CONAN DOYLE
+
+
+
+
+                By SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
+
+
+_Novels and Stories_
+
+    DANGER! _And Other Stories_
+    THE DOINGS OF RAFFLES HAW
+    HIS LAST BOW
+      _Some Later Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes_
+    THE BLACK DOCTOR
+      _And Other Tales of Terror and Mystery_
+    THE MAN FROM ARCHANGEL
+      _And Other Tales of Adventure_
+    THE CROXLEY MASTER
+      _And Other Tales of the Ring and Camp_
+    THE GREAT KEINPLATZ EXPERIMENT
+      _And Other Tales of Twilight and the Unseen_
+    THE LAST OF THE LEGIONS
+      _And Other Tales of Long Ago_
+    THE DEALINGS OF CAPTAIN SHARKEY
+      _And Other Tales of Pirates_
+
+_On the Life Hereafter_
+
+    THE NEW REVELATION
+    THE VITAL MESSAGE
+    THE COMING OF THE FAIRIES
+    THE CASE FOR SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY
+    THE WANDERINGS OF A SPIRITUALIST
+    OUR AMERICAN ADVENTURE
+
+_A History of the Great War_
+
+    THE BRITISH CAMPAIGN IN FRANCE AND FLANDERS--Six Vols.
+
+_Poems_
+
+    THE GUARDS CAME THROUGH
+
+
+                        NEW YORK
+                 GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY
+
+
+
+
+           THE LAST
+        OF THE LEGIONS
+ _and Other Tales of Long Ago_
+
+
+              BY
+        A. CONAN DOYLE
+
+
+           NEW YORK
+    GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY
+
+
+
+
+ COPYRIGHT, 1905, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911,
+       1913, 1914, 1918, 1919, 1922
+            BY A. CONAN DOYLE
+
+             COPYRIGHT, 1910,
+        BY CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
+
+             COPYRIGHT, 1911,
+   BY ASSOCIATED SUNDAY MAGAZINES, INC.
+
+             COPYRIGHT, 1908,
+          BY THE MCCLURE COMPANY
+
+          COPYRIGHT, 1900, 1902,
+       BY THE S. S. MCCLURE COMPANY
+
+
+                 [Device]
+
+ THE LAST OF THE LEGIONS AND OTHER TALES
+               OF LONG AGO
+
+                ----Q----
+
+ PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note:
+
+    Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. Dialect
+    spellings remain as printed. The oe ligature is represented by [oe].
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+                                   PAGE
+
+    I THE LAST OF THE LEGIONS         9
+
+   II THE LAST GALLEY                22
+
+  III THROUGH THE VEIL               37
+
+   IV THE COMING OF THE HUNS         47
+
+    V THE CONTEST                    68
+
+   VI THE FIRST CARGO                83
+
+  VII AN ICONOCLAST                  98
+
+ VIII GIANT MAXIMIN                 112
+
+   IX THE RED STAR                  141
+
+    X THE SILVER MIRROR             158
+
+   XI THE HOME-COMING               177
+
+  XII A POINT OF CONTACT            202
+
+ XIII THE CENTURION                 215
+
+
+
+
+THE LAST OF THE LEGIONS
+
+
+
+
+    THE LAST OF THE LEGIONS
+ _and Other Tales of Long Ago_
+
+
+
+
+I
+
+THE LAST OF THE LEGIONS
+
+
+Pontus, the Roman viceroy, sat in the atrium of his palatial villa by
+the Thames, and he looked with perplexity at the scroll of papyrus which
+he had just unrolled. Before him stood the messenger who had brought it,
+a swarthy little Italian, whose black eyes were glazed with want of
+sleep, and his olive features darker still from dust and sweat. The
+viceroy was looking fixedly at him, yet he saw him not, so full was his
+mind of this sudden and most unexpected order. To him it seemed as if
+the solid earth had given way beneath his feet. His life and the work of
+his life had come to irremediable ruin.
+
+"Very good," he said at last in a hard dry voice, "you can go."
+
+The man saluted and staggered out of the hall. A yellow-haired British
+major-domo came forward for orders.
+
+"Is the General there?"
+
+"He is waiting, your excellency."
+
+"Then show him in, and leave us together."
+
+A few minutes later Licinius Crassus, the head of the British military
+establishment, had joined his chief. He was a large, bearded man in a
+white civilian toga, hemmed with the Patrician purple. His rough, bold
+features, burned and seamed and lined with the long African wars, were
+shadowed with anxiety as he looked with questioning eyes at the drawn,
+haggard face of the viceroy.
+
+"I fear, your excellency, that you have had bad news from Rome."
+
+"The worst, Crassus. It is all over with Britain. It is a question
+whether even Gaul will be held."
+
+"Saint Albus save us! Are the orders precise?"
+
+"Here they are, with the Emperor's own seal."
+
+"But why? I had heard a rumour, but it had seemed too incredible."
+
+"So had I only last week, and had the fellow scourged for having spread
+it. But here it is as clear as words can make it: 'Bring every man of
+the Legions by forced marches to the help of the Empire. Leave not a
+cohort in Britain.' These are my orders."
+
+"But the cause?"
+
+"They will let the limbs wither so that the heart be stronger. The old
+German hive is about to swarm once more. There are fresh crowds of
+Barbarians from Dacia and Scythia. Every sword is needed to hold the
+Alpine passes. They cannot let three legions lie idle in Britain."
+
+The soldier shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"When the legions go no Roman would feel that his life was safe here.
+For all that we have done, it is none the less the truth that it is no
+country of ours, and that we hold it as we won it by the sword."
+
+"Yes, every man, woman, and child of Latin blood must come with us to
+Gaul. The galleys are already waiting at Portus Dubris. Get the orders
+out, Crassus, at once. As the Valerian legion falls back from the Wall
+of Hadrian it can take the northern colonists with it. The Jovians can
+bring in the people from the west, and the Batavians can escort the
+easterns if they will muster at Camboricum. You will see to it." He sank
+his face for a moment in his hands. "It is a fearsome thing," said he,
+"to tear up the roots of so goodly a tree."
+
+"To make more space for such a crop of weeds," said the soldier
+bitterly. "My God, what will be the end of these poor Britons! From
+ocean to ocean there is not a tribe which will not be at the throat of
+its neighbour when the last Roman Lictor has turned his back. With these
+hot-headed Silures it is hard enough now to keep the swords in their
+sheaths."
+
+"The kennel might fight as they choose among themselves until the best
+hound won," said the Roman Governor. "At least the victor would keep the
+arts and the religion which we have brought them, and Britain would be
+one land. No, it is the bear from the north and the wolves from oversea,
+the painted savage from beyond the walls and the Saxon pirate from over
+the water, who will succeed to our rule. Where we saved, they will
+slay; where we built, they will burn; where we planted, they will
+ravage. But the die is cast, Crassus. You will carry out the orders."
+
+"I will send out the messengers within an hour. This very morning there
+has come news that the Barbarians are through the old gap in the wall,
+and their outriders as far south as Vinovia."
+
+The Governor shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"These things concern us no longer," said he. Then a bitter smile broke
+upon his aquiline clean-shaven face. "Whom think you that I see in
+audience this morning?"
+
+"Nay, I know not."
+
+"Caradoc and Regnus, and Celticus the Icenian, who, like so many of the
+richer Britons, have been educated at Rome, and who would lay before me
+their plans as to the ruling of this country."
+
+"And what is their plan?"
+
+"That they themselves should do it."
+
+The Roman soldier laughed. "Well, they will have their will," said he,
+as he saluted and turned upon his heel. "Farewell, your excellency.
+There are hard days coming for you and for me."
+
+An hour later the British deputation was ushered into the presence of
+the Governor. They were good, steadfast men, men who with a whole heart,
+and at some risk to themselves, had taken up their country's cause, so
+far as they could see it. At the same time they well knew that under the
+mild and beneficent rule of Rome it was only when they passed from words
+to deeds that their backs or their necks would be in danger. They stood
+now, earnest and a little abashed, before the throne of the viceroy.
+Celticus was a swarthy, black-bearded little Iberian. Caradoc and Regnus
+were tall middle-aged men of the fair flaxen British type. All three
+were dressed in the draped yellow toga after the Latin fashion, instead
+of in the bracae and tunic which distinguished their more insular
+fellow-countrymen.
+
+"Well?" asked the Governor.
+
+"We are here," said Celticus boldly, "as the spokesmen of a great number
+of our fellow-countrymen, for the purpose of sending our petition
+through you to the Emperor and to the Roman Senate, that we may urge
+upon them the policy of allowing us to govern this country after our
+own ancient fashion." He paused, as if awaiting some outburst as an
+answer to his own temerity; but the Governor merely nodded his head as a
+sign that he should proceed. "We had laws of our own before ever Caesar
+set foot in Britain, which have served their purpose since first our
+forefathers came from the land of Ham. We are not a child among the
+nations, but our history goes back in our own traditions further even
+than that of Rome, and we are galled by this yoke which you have laid
+upon us."
+
+"Are not our laws just?" asked the Governor.
+
+"The code of Caesar is just, but it is always the code of Caesar. Our own
+laws were made for our own uses and our own circumstances, and we would
+fain have them again."
+
+"You speak Roman as if you had been bred in the Forum; you wear a Roman
+toga; your hair is filleted in Roman fashion--are not these the gifts of
+Rome?"
+
+"We would take all the learning and all the arts that Rome or Greece
+could give, but we would still be Britain, and ruled by Britons."
+
+The viceroy smiled. "By the rood of Saint Helena," said he, "had you
+spoken thus to some of my heathen ancestors, there would have been an
+end to your politics. That you have dared to stand before my face and
+say as much is a proof for ever of the gentleness of our rule. But I
+would reason with you for a moment upon this your request. You know well
+that this land has never been one kingdom, but was always under many
+chiefs and many tribes, who have made war upon each other. Would you in
+very truth have it so again?"
+
+"Those were in the evil pagan days, the days of the Druid and the
+oak-grove, your excellency. But now we are held together by a gospel of
+peace."
+
+The viceroy shook his head. "If all the world were of the same way of
+thinking, then it would be easier," said he. "It may be that this
+blessed doctrine of peace will be little help to you when you are face
+to face with strong men who still worship the god of war. What would you
+do against the Picts of the north?"
+
+"Your excellency knows that many of the bravest legionaries are of
+British blood. These are our defence."
+
+"But discipline, man, the power to command, the knowledge of war, the
+strength to act--it is in these things that you would fail. Too long
+have you leaned upon the crutch."
+
+"The times may be hard, but when we have gone through them, Britain will
+be herself again."
+
+"Nay, she will be under a different and a harsher master," said the
+Roman. "Already the pirates swarm upon the eastern coast. Were it not
+for our Roman Count of the Saxon shore they would land to-morrow. I see
+the day when Britain may, indeed, be one; but that will be because you
+and your fellows are either dead or are driven into the mountains of the
+west. All goes into the melting pot, and if a better Albion should come
+forth from it, it will be after ages of strife, and neither you nor your
+people will have part or lot in it."
+
+Regnus, the tall young Celt, smiled. "With the help of God and our own
+right arms we should hope for a better end," said he. "Give us but the
+chance, and we will bear the brunt."
+
+"You are as men that are lost," said the viceroy sadly. "I see this
+broad land, with its gardens and orchards, its fair villas and its
+walled towns, its bridges and its roads, all the work of Rome. Surely it
+will pass even as a dream, and these three hundred years of settled
+order will leave no trace behind. For learn that it will indeed be as
+you wish, and that this very day the orders have come to me that the
+legions are to go."
+
+The three Britons looked at each other in amazement. Their first impulse
+was towards a wild exultation, but reflection and doubt followed close
+upon its heels.
+
+"This is indeed wondrous news," said Celticus. "This is a day of days to
+the motherland. When do the legions go, your excellency, and what troops
+will remain behind for our protection?"
+
+"The legions go at once," said the viceroy. "You will doubtless rejoice
+to hear that within a month there will be no Roman soldier in the
+island, nor, indeed, a Roman of any sort, age, or sex, if I can take
+them with me."
+
+The faces of the Britons were shadowed, and Caradoc, a grave and
+thoughtful man, spoke for the first time.
+
+"But this is over sudden, your excellency," said he. "There is much
+truth in what you have said about the pirates. From my villa near the
+fort of Anderida I saw eighty of their galleys only last week, and I
+know well that they would be on us like ravens on a dying ox. For many
+years to come it would not be possible for us to hold them off."
+
+The viceroy shrugged his shoulders. "It is your affair now," said he.
+"Rome must look to herself."
+
+The last traces of joy had passed from the faces of the Britons.
+Suddenly the future had started up clearly before them, and they quailed
+at the prospect.
+
+"There is a rumour in the market-place," said Celticus, "that the
+northern Barbarians are through the gap in the wall. Who is to stop
+their progress?"
+
+"You and your fellows," said the Roman.
+
+Clearer still grew the future, and there was terror in the eyes of the
+spokesmen as they faced it.
+
+"But, your excellency, if the legions should go at once, we should have
+the wild Scots at York, and the Northmen in the Thames within the month.
+We can build ourselves up under your shield, and in a few years it would
+be easier for us; but not now, your excellency, not now."
+
+"Tut, man; for years you have been clamouring in our ears and raising
+the people. Now you have got what you asked. What more would you have?
+Within the month you will be as free as were your ancestors before Caesar
+set foot upon your shore."
+
+"For God's sake, your excellency, put our words out of your head. The
+matter had not been well considered. We will send to Rome. We will ride
+post-haste ourselves. We will fall at the Emperor's feet. We will kneel
+before the Senate and beg that the legions remain."
+
+The Roman proconsul rose from his chair and motioned that the audience
+was at an end.
+
+"You will do what you please," said he. "I and my men are for Italy."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+And even as he said, so was it, for before the spring had ripened into
+summer, the troops were clanking down the via Aurelia on their way to
+the Ligurian passes, whilst every road in Gaul was dotted with the carts
+and the waggons which bore the Brito-Roman refugees on their weary
+journey to their distant country. But ere another summer had passed
+Celticus was dead, for he was flayed alive by the pirates and his skin
+nailed upon the door of a church near Caistor. Regnus, too, was dead,
+for he was tied to a tree and shot with arrows when the painted men came
+to the sacking of Isca. Caradoc only was alive, but he was a slave to
+Elda the red Caledonian and his wife was mistress to Mordred the wild
+chief of the western Cymri. From the ruined wall in the north to Vectis
+in the south blood and ruin and ashes covered the fair land of Britain.
+And after many days it came out fairer than ever, but, even as the Roman
+had said, neither the Britons nor any men of their blood came into the
+heritage of that which had been their own.
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+THE LAST GALLEY
+
+
+    "Mutato nomine, de te, Britannia, fabula narratur."
+
+It was a spring morning, one hundred and forty-six years before the
+coming of Christ. The North African coast, with its broad hem of golden
+sand, its green belt of feathery palm trees, and its background of
+barren, red-scarped hills, shimmered like a dream country in the opal
+light. Save for a narrow edge of snow-white surf, the Mediterranean lay
+blue and serene as far as the eye could reach. In all its vast expanse
+there was no break but for a single galley, which was slowly making its
+way from the direction of Sicily and heading for the distant harbour of
+Carthage.
+
+Seen from afar it was a stately and beautiful vessel, deep red in
+colour, double-banked with scarlet oars, its broad, flapping sail
+stained with Tyrian purple, its bulwarks gleaming with brass work. A
+brazen, three-pronged ram projected in front, and a high golden figure
+of Baal, the God of the Ph[oe]nicians, children of Canaan, shone upon
+the after-deck. From the single high mast above the huge sail streamed
+the tiger-striped flag of Carthage. So, like some stately scarlet bird,
+with golden beak and wings of purple, she swam upon the face of the
+waters--a thing of might and of beauty as seen from the distant shore.
+
+But approach and look at her now! What are these dark streaks which foul
+her white decks and dapple her brazen shields? Why do the long red oars
+move out of time, irregular, convulsive? Why are some missing from the
+staring portholes, some snapped with jagged, yellow edges, some trailing
+inert against the sides? Why are two prongs of the brazen ram twisted
+and broken? See, even the high image of Baal is battered and disfigured!
+By every sign this ship has passed through some grievous trial, some day
+of terror, which has left its heavy marks upon her.
+
+And now stand upon the deck itself, and see more closely the men who man
+her! There are two decks forward and aft, while in the open waist are
+the double banks of seats, above and below, where the rowers, two to an
+oar, tug and bend at their endless task. Down the centre is a narrow
+platform, along which pace a line of warders, lash in hand, who cut
+cruelly at the slave who pauses, be it only for an instant, to sweep the
+sweat from his dripping brow. But these slaves--look at them! Some are
+captured Romans, some Sicilians, many black Libyans, but all are in the
+last exhaustion, their weary eyelids drooped over their eyes, their lips
+thick with black crusts, and pink with bloody froth, their arms and
+backs moving mechanically to the hoarse chant of the overseer. Their
+bodies of all tints from ivory to jet, are stripped to the waist, and
+every glistening back shows the angry stripes of the warders. But it is
+not from these that the blood comes which reddens the seats and tints
+the salt water washing beneath their manacled feet. Great gaping wounds,
+the marks of sword slash and spear stab, show crimson upon their naked
+chests and shoulders, while many lie huddled and senseless athwart the
+benches, careless for ever of the whips which still hiss above them. Now
+we can understand those empty portholes and those trailing oars.
+
+Nor were the crew in better case than their slaves. The decks were
+littered with wounded and dying men. It was but a remnant who still
+remained upon their feet. The most lay exhausted upon the fore-deck,
+while a few of the more zealous were mending their shattered armour,
+restringing their bows, or cleaning the deck from the marks of combat.
+Upon a raised platform at the base of the mast stood the sailing-master
+who conned the ship, his eyes fixed upon the distant point of Megara
+which screened the eastern side of the Bay of Carthage. On the
+after-deck were gathered a number of officers, silent and brooding,
+glancing from time to time at two of their own class who stood apart
+deep in conversation. The one, tall, dark, and wiry, with pure, Semitic
+features, and the limbs of a giant, was Magro, the famous Carthaginian
+captain, whose name was still a terror on every shore, from Gaul to the
+Euxine. The other, a white-bearded, swarthy man, with indomitable
+courage and energy stamped upon every eager line of his keen, aquiline
+face, was Gisco the politician, a man of the highest Punic blood, a
+Suffete of the purple robe, and the leader of that party in the state
+which had watched and striven amid the selfishness and slothfulness of
+his fellow-countrymen to rouse the public spirit and waken the public
+conscience to the ever-increasing danger from Rome. As they talked, the
+two men glanced continually, with earnest anxious faces, towards the
+northern skyline.
+
+"It is certain," said the older man, with gloom in his voice and
+bearing, "none have escaped save ourselves."
+
+"I did not leave the press of the battle whilst I saw one ship which I
+could succour," Magro answered. "As it was, we came away, as you saw,
+like a wolf which has a hound hanging on to either haunch. The Roman
+dogs can show the wolf-bites which prove it. Had any other galley won
+clear, they would surely be with us by now, since they have no place of
+safety save Carthage."
+
+The younger warrior glanced keenly ahead to the distant point which
+marked his native city. Already the low, leafy hill could be seen,
+dotted with the white villas of the wealthy Ph[oe]nician merchants.
+Above them, a gleaming dot against the pale blue morning sky, shone the
+brazen roof of the citadel of Byrsa, which capped the sloping town.
+
+"Already they can see us from the watch-towers," he remarked. "Even from
+afar they may know the galley of Black Magro. But which of all of them
+will guess that we alone remain of all that goodly fleet which sailed
+out with blare of trumpet and roll of drum but one short month ago?"
+
+The patrician smiled bitterly. "If it were not for our great ancestors
+and for our beloved country, the Queen of the Waters," said he, "I could
+find it in my heart to be glad at this destruction which has come upon
+this vain and feeble generation. You have spent your life upon the seas,
+Magro. You do not know how it has been with us on the land. But I have
+seen this canker grow upon us which now leads us to our death. I and
+others have gone down into the market-place to plead with the people,
+and been pelted with mud for our pains. Many a time have I pointed to
+Rome, and said, 'Behold these people, who bear arms themselves, each man
+for his own duty and pride. How can you who hide behind mercenaries hope
+to stand against them?'--a hundred times I have said it."
+
+"And had they no answer?" asked the Rover.
+
+"Rome was far off and they could not see it, so to them it was nothing,"
+the old man answered. "Some thought of trade, and some of votes, and
+some of profits from the State, but none would see that the State
+itself, the mother of all things, was sinking to her end. So might the
+bees debate who should have wax or honey when the torch was blazing
+which would bring to ashes the hive and all therein. 'Are we not rulers
+of the sea?' 'Was not Hannibal a great man?' Such were their cries,
+living ever in the past and blind to the future. Before that sun sets
+there will be tearing of hair and rending of garments; but what will
+that now avail us?"
+
+"It is some sad comfort," said Magro, "to know that what Rome holds she
+cannot keep."
+
+"Why say you that? When we go down, she is supreme in all the world."
+
+"For a time, and only for a time," Magro answered gravely. "Yet you will
+smile, perchance, when I tell you how it is that I know it. There was a
+wise woman who lived in that part of the Tin Islands which juts forth
+into the sea, and from her lips I have heard many things, but not one
+which has not come aright. Of the fall of our own country, and even of
+this battle, from which we now return, she told me clearly. There is
+much strange lore amongst these savage peoples in the west of the land
+of Tin."
+
+"What said she of Rome?"
+
+"That she also would fall, even as we, weakened by her riches and her
+factions."
+
+Gisco rubbed his hands. "That at least makes our own fall less bitter,"
+said he. "But since we have fallen, and Rome will fall, who in turn may
+hope to be Queen of the Waters?"
+
+"That also I asked her," said Magro, "and gave her my Tyrian belt with
+the golden buckle as a guerdon for her answer. But, indeed, it was too
+high payment for the tale she told, which must be false if all else she
+said was true. She would have it that in coming days it was her own
+land, this fog-girt isle where painted savages can scarce row a wicker
+coracle from point to point, which shall at last take the trident which
+Carthage and Rome have dropped."
+
+The smile which flickered upon the old Patrician's keen features died
+away suddenly, and his fingers closed upon his companion's wrist. The
+other had set rigid, his head advanced, his hawk eyes upon the northern
+skyline. Its straight, blue horizon was broken by two low black dots.
+
+"Galleys!" whispered Gisco.
+
+The whole crew had seen them. They clustered along the starboard
+bulwarks, pointing and chattering. For a moment the gloom of defeat was
+lifted, and a buzz of joy ran from group to group at the thought that
+they were not alone--that some one had escaped the great carnage as well
+as themselves.
+
+"By the spirit of Baal," said Black Magro, "I could not have believed
+that any could have fought clear from such a welter. Could it be young
+Hamilcar in the _Africa_, or is it Beneva in the Blue Syrian ship? We
+three with others may form a squadron and make head against them yet. If
+we hold our course, they will join us ere we round the harbour mole."
+
+Slowly the injured galley toiled on her way, and more swiftly the two
+new-comers swept down from the north. Only a few miles off lay the green
+point and the white houses which flanked the great African city.
+Already, upon the headland, could be seen a dark group of waiting
+townsmen. Gisco and Magro were still watching with puckered gaze the
+approaching galleys, when the brown Libyan boatswain, with flashing
+teeth and gleaming eyes, rushed upon the poop, his long thin arm
+stabbing to the north.
+
+"Romans!" he cried. "Romans!"
+
+A hush had fallen over the great vessel. Only the wash of the water and
+the measured rattle and beat of the oars broke in upon the silence.
+
+"By the horns of God's altar, I believe the fellow is right!" cried old
+Gisco. "See how they swoop upon us like falcons. They are full-manned
+and full-oared."
+
+"Plain wood, unpainted," said Magro. "See how it gleams yellow where the
+sun strikes it."
+
+"And yonder thing beneath the mast. Is it not the cursed bridge they use
+for boarding?"
+
+"So they grudge us even one," said Magro with a bitter laugh. "Not even
+one galley shall return to the old sea-mother. Well, for my part, I
+would as soon have it so. I am of a mind to stop the oars and await
+them."
+
+"It is a man's thought," answered old Gisco; "but the city will need us
+in the days to come. What shall it profit us to make the Roman victory
+complete? Nay, Magro, let the slaves row as they never rowed before, not
+for our own safety, but for the profit of the State."
+
+So the great red ship laboured and lurched onwards, like a weary panting
+stag which seeks shelter from his pursuers, while ever swifter and ever
+nearer sped the two lean fierce galleys from the north. Already the
+morning sun shone upon the lines of low Roman helmets above the
+bulwarks, and glistened on the silver wave where each sharp prow shot
+through the still blue water. Every moment the ships drew nearer, and
+the long thin scream of the Roman trumpets grew louder upon the ear.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Upon the high bluff of Megara there stood a great concourse of the
+people of Carthage who had hurried forth from the city upon the news
+that the galleys were in sight. They stood now, rich and poor, effete
+and plebeian, white Ph[oe]nician and dark Kabyle, gazing with breathless
+interest at the spectacle before them. Some hundreds of feet beneath
+them the Punic galley had drawn so close that with their naked eyes
+they could see those stains of battle which told their dismal tale. The
+Romans, too, were heading in such a way that it was before their very
+faces that their ship was about to be cut off; and yet of all this
+multitude not one could raise a hand in its defence. Some wept in
+impotent grief, some cursed with flashing eyes and knotted fists, some
+on their knees held up appealing hands to Baal; but neither prayer,
+tears, nor curses could undo the past nor mend the present. That broken,
+crawling galley meant that their fleet was gone. Those two fierce
+darting ships meant that the hands of Rome were already at their throat.
+Behind them would come others and others, the innumerable trained hosts
+of the great Republic, long mistress of the land, now dominant also upon
+the waters. In a month, two months, three at the most, their armies
+would be there, and what could all the untrained multitudes of Carthage
+do to stop them?
+
+"Nay!" cried one, more hopeful than the rest, "at least we are brave men
+with arms in our hands."
+
+"Fool!" said another, "is it not such talk which has brought us to our
+ruin? What is the brave man untrained to the brave man trained? When
+you stand before the sweep and rush of a Roman legion you may learn the
+difference."
+
+"Then let us train!"
+
+"Too late! A full year is needful to turn a man to a soldier. Where will
+you--where will your city be within the year? Nay, there is but one
+chance for us. If we give up our commerce and our colonies, if we strip
+ourselves of all that made us great, then perchance the Roman conqueror
+may hold his hand."
+
+And already the last sea-fight of Carthage was coming swiftly to an end
+before them. Under their very eyes the two Roman galleys had shot in,
+one on either side of the vessel of Black Magro. They had grappled with
+him, and he, desperate in his despair, had cast the crooked flukes of
+his anchors over their gunwales, and bound them to him in an iron grip,
+whilst with hammer and crowbar he burst great holes in his own
+sheathing. The last Punic galley should never be rowed into Ostia, a
+sight for the holiday-makers of Rome. She would lie in her own waters.
+And the fierce, dark soul of her rover captain glowed as he thought
+that not alone should she sink into the depths of the mother sea.
+
+Too late did the Romans understand the man with whom they had to deal.
+Their boarders who had flooded the Punic decks felt the planking sink
+and sway beneath them. They rushed to gain their own vessels; but they,
+too, were being drawn downwards, held in the dying grip of the great red
+galley. Over they went and ever over. Now the deck of Magro's ship is
+flush with the water, and the Romans', drawn towards it by the iron
+bonds which hold them, are tilted downwards, one bulwark upon the waves,
+one reared high in the air. Madly they strain to cast off the death-grip
+of the galley. She is under the surface now, and ever swifter, with the
+greater weight, the Roman ships heel after her. There is a rending
+crash. The wooden side is torn out of one, and mutilated, dismembered,
+she rights herself, and lies a helpless thing upon the water. But a last
+yellow gleam in the blue water shows where her consort has been dragged
+to her end in the iron death-grapple of her foeman. The tiger-striped
+flag of Carthage has sunk beneath the swirling surface, never more to
+be seen upon the face of the sea.
+
+For in that year a great cloud hung for seventeen days over the African
+coast, a deep black cloud which was the dark shroud of the burning city.
+And when the seventeen days were over, Roman ploughs were driven from
+end to end of the charred ashes, and salt was scattered there as a sign
+that Carthage should be no more. And far off a huddle of naked, starving
+folk stood upon the distant mountains, and looked down upon the desolate
+plain which had once been the fairest and richest upon earth. And they
+understood too late that it is the law of heaven that the world is given
+to the hardy and to the self-denying, whilst he who would escape the
+duties of manhood will soon be stripped of the pride, the wealth, and
+the power, which are the prizes which manhood brings.
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+THROUGH THE VEIL
+
+
+He was a great shock-headed, freckle-faced Borderer, the lineal
+descendant of a cattle-thieving clan in Liddesdale. In spite of his
+ancestry he was as solid and sober a citizen as one would wish to see, a
+town councillor of Melrose, an elder of the Church, and the chairman of
+the local branch of the Young Men's Christian Association. Brown was his
+name--and you saw it printed up as "Brown and Handiside" over the great
+grocery stores in the High Street. His wife, Maggie Brown, was an
+Armstrong before her marriage, and came from an old farming stock in the
+wilds of Teviothead. She was small, swarthy, and dark-eyed, with a
+strangely nervous temperament for a Scotch woman. No greater contrast
+could be found than the big tawny man and the dark little woman, but
+both were of the soil as far back as any memory could extend.
+
+One day--it was the first anniversary of their wedding--they had driven
+over together to see the excavations of the Roman Fort at Newstead. It
+was not a particularly picturesque spot. From the northern bank of the
+Tweed, just where the river forms a loop, there extends a gentle slope
+of arable land. Across it run the trenches of the excavators, with here
+and there an exposure of old stonework to show the foundations of the
+ancient walls. It had been a huge place, for the camp was fifty acres in
+extent, and the fort fifteen. However, it was all made easy for them
+since Mr. Brown knew the farmer to whom the land belonged. Under his
+guidance they spent a long summer evening inspecting the trenches, the
+pits, the ramparts, and all the strange variety of objects which were
+waiting to be transported to the Edinburgh Museum of Antiquities. The
+buckle of a woman's belt had been dug up that very day, and the farmer
+was discoursing upon it when his eyes fell upon Mrs. Brown's face.
+
+"Your good leddy's tired," said he. "Maybe you'd best rest a wee before
+we gang further."
+
+Brown looked at his wife. She was certainly very pale, and her dark eyes
+were bright and wild.
+
+"What is it, Maggie? I've wearied you. I'm thinkin' it's time we went
+back."
+
+"No, no, John, let us go on. It's wonderful! It's like a dreamland
+place. It all seems so close and so near to me. How long were the Romans
+here, Mr. Cunningham?"
+
+"A fair time, mam. If you saw the kitchen midden-pits you would guess it
+took a long time to fill them."
+
+"And why did they leave?"
+
+"Well, mam, by all accounts they left because they had to. The folk
+round could thole them no longer, so they just up and burned the fort
+aboot their lugs. You can see the fire marks on the stanes."
+
+The woman gave a quick little shudder. "A wild night--a fearsome night,"
+said she. "The sky must have been red that night--and these grey stones,
+they may have been red also."
+
+"Aye, I think they were red," said her husband. "It's a queer thing,
+Maggie, and it may be your words that have done it; but I seem to see
+that business aboot as clear as ever I saw anything in my life. The
+light shone on the water."
+
+"Aye, the light shone on the water. And the smoke gripped you by the
+throat. And all the savages were yelling."
+
+The old farmer began to laugh. "The leddy will be writin' a story aboot
+the old fort," said he. "I've shown many a one ower it, but I never
+heard it put so clear afore. Some folk have the gift."
+
+They had strolled along the edge of the foss, and a pit yawned upon the
+right of them.
+
+"That pit was fourteen foot deep," said the farmer. "What d'ye think we
+dug oot from the bottom o't? Weel, it was just the skeleton of a man wi'
+a spear by his side. I'm thinkin' he was grippin' it when he died. Now,
+how cam' a man wi' a spear doon a hole fourteen foot deep. He wasna'
+buried there, for they aye burned their dead. What make ye o' that,
+mam?"
+
+"He sprang doon to get clear of the savages," said the woman.
+
+"Weel, it's likely enough, and a' the professors from Edinburgh couldna'
+gie a better reason. I wish you were aye here, mam, to answer a' oor
+deeficulties sae readily. Now, here's the altar that we foond last week.
+There's an inscreeption. They tell me it's Latin, and it means that the
+men o' this fort give thanks to God for their safety."
+
+They examined the old worn stone. There was a large deeply-cut "VV" upon
+the top of it.
+
+"What does 'VV' stand for?" asked Brown.
+
+"Naebody kens," the guide answered.
+
+"_Valeria Victrix_," said the lady softly. Her face was paler than ever,
+her eyes far away, as one who peers down the dim aisles of overarching
+centuries.
+
+"What's that?" asked her husband sharply.
+
+She started as one who wakes from sleep. "What were we talking about?"
+she asked.
+
+"About this 'VV' upon the stone."
+
+"No doubt it was just the name of the Legion which put the altar up."
+
+"Aye, but you gave some special name."
+
+"Did I? How absurd! How should I ken what the name was?"
+
+"You said something--'_Victrix_,' I think."
+
+"I suppose I was guessing. It gives me the queerest feeling, this place,
+as if I were not myself, but some one else."
+
+"Aye, it's an uncanny place," said her husband, looking round with an
+expression almost of fear in his bold grey eyes. "I feel it mysel'. I
+think we'll just be wishin' you good evenin', Mr. Cunningham, and get
+back to Melrose before the dark sets in."
+
+Neither of them could shake off the strange impression which had been
+left upon them by their visit to the excavations. It was as if some
+miasma had risen from those damp trenches and passed into their blood.
+All the evening they were silent and thoughtful, but such remarks as
+they did make showed that the same subject was in the mind of each.
+Brown had a restless night, in which he dreamed a strange connected
+dream, so vivid that he woke sweating and shivering like a frightened
+horse. He tried to convey it all to his wife as they sat together at
+breakfast in the morning.
+
+"It was the clearest thing, Maggie," said he. "Nothing that has ever
+come to me in my waking life has been more clear than that. I feel as if
+these hands were sticky with blood."
+
+"Tell me of it--tell me slow," said she.
+
+"When it began, I was oot on a braeside. I was laying flat on the
+ground. It was rough, and there were clumps of heather. All round me was
+just darkness, but I could hear the rustle and the breathin' of men.
+There seemed a great multitude on every side of me, but I could see no
+one. There was a low chink of steel sometimes, and then a number of
+voices would whisper 'Hush!' I had a ragged club in my hand, and it had
+spikes o' iron near the end of it. My heart was beatin' quickly, and I
+felt that a moment of great danger and excitement was at hand. Once I
+dropped my club, and again from all round me the voices in the darkness
+cried, 'Hush!' I put oot my hand, and it touched the foot of another man
+lying in front of me. There was some one at my very elbow on either
+side. But they said nothin'.
+
+"Then we all began to move. The whole braeside seemed to be crawlin'
+downwards. There was a river at the bottom and a high-arched wooden
+bridge. Beyond the bridge were many lights--torches on a wall. The
+creepin' men all flowed towards the bridge. There had been no sound of
+any kind, just a velvet stillness. And then there was a cry in the
+darkness, the cry of a man who had been stabbed suddenly to the hairt.
+That one cry swelled out for a moment, and then the roar of a thoosand
+furious voices. I was runnin'. Every one was runnin'. A bright red
+light shone out, and the river was a scarlet streak. I could see my
+companions now. They were more like devils than men, wild figures clad
+in skins, with their hair and beards streamin'. They were all mad with
+rage, jumpin' as they ran, their mouths open, their arms wavin', the red
+light beatin' on their faces. I ran, too, and yelled out curses like the
+rest. Then I heard a great cracklin' of wood, and I knew that the
+palisades were doon. There was a loud whistlin' in my ears, and I was
+aware that arrows were flyin' past me. I got to the bottom of a dyke,
+and I saw a hand stretched doon from above. I took it, and was dragged
+to the top. We looked doon, and there were silver men beneath us holdin'
+up their spears. Some of our folk sprang on to the spears. Then we
+others followed, and we killed the soldiers before they could draw the
+spears oot again. They shouted loud in some foreign tongue, but no mercy
+was shown them. We went ower them like a wave, and trampled them doon
+into the mud, for they were few, and there was no end to our numbers.
+
+"I found myself among buildings, and one of them was on fire. I saw the
+flames spoutin' through the roof. I ran on, and then I was alone among
+the buildings. Some one ran across in front o' me. It was a woman. I
+caught her by the arm, and I took her chin and turned her face so as the
+light of the fire would strike it. Whom think you that it was, Maggie?"
+
+His wife moistened her dry lips. "It was I," she said.
+
+He looked at her in surprise. "That's a good guess," said he. "Yes, it
+was just you. Not merely like you, you understand. It was you--you
+yourself. I saw the same soul in your frightened eyes. You looked white
+and bonnie and wonderful in the firelight. I had just one thought in my
+head--to get you awa' with me; to keep you all to mysel' in my own home
+somewhere beyond the hills. You clawed at my face with your nails. I
+heaved you over my shoulder, and I tried to find a way oot of the light
+of the burning hoose and back into the darkness.
+
+"Then came the thing that I mind best of all. You're ill, Maggie. Shall
+I stop? My God! you have the very look on your face that you had last
+night in my dream. You screamed. He came runnin' in the firelight. His
+head was bare; his hair was black and curled; he had a naked sword in
+his hand, short and broad, little more than a dagger. He stabbed at me,
+but he tripped and fell. I held you with one hand, and with the
+other----"
+
+His wife had sprung to her feet with writhing features.
+
+"Marcus!" she cried. "My beautiful Marcus! Oh, you brute! you brute! you
+brute!" There was a clatter of tea-cups as she fell forward senseless
+upon the table.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+They never talk about that strange isolated incident in their married
+life. For an instant the curtain of the past had swung aside, and some
+strange glimpse of a forgotten life had come to them. But it closed
+down, never to open again. They live their narrow round--he in his shop,
+she in her household--and yet new and wider horizons have vaguely formed
+themselves around them since that summer evening by the crumbling Roman
+fort.
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+THE COMING OF THE HUNS
+
+
+In the middle of the fourth century the state of the Christian religion
+was a scandal and a disgrace. Patient, humble, and long-suffering in
+adversity, it had become positive, aggressive, and unreasonable with
+success. Paganism was not yet dead, but it was rapidly sinking, finding
+its most faithful supporters among the conservative aristocrats of the
+best families on the one hand, and among those benighted villagers on
+the other who gave their name to the expiring creed. Between these two
+extremes the great majority of reasonable men had turned from the
+conception of many gods to that of one, and had rejected for ever the
+beliefs of their forefathers. But with the vices of polytheism, they had
+also abandoned its virtues, among which toleration and religious good
+humour had been conspicuous. The strenuous earnestness of the Christians
+had compelled them to examine and define every point of their own
+theology; but as they had no central authority by which such definitions
+could be checked, it was not long before a hundred heresies had put
+forward their rival views, while the same earnestness of conviction led
+the stronger bands of schismatics to endeavour, for conscience sake, to
+force their views upon the weaker, and thus to cover the Eastern world
+with confusion and strife.
+
+Alexandria, Antioch, and Constantinople were centres of theological
+warfare. The whole north of Africa, too, was rent by the strife of the
+Donatists, who upheld their particular schism by iron flails and the
+war-cry of "Praise to the Lord!" But minor local controversies sank to
+nothing when compared with the huge argument of the Catholic and the
+Arian, which rent every village in twain, and divided every household
+from the cottage to the palace. The rival doctrines of the Homoousian
+and of the Homoiousian, containing metaphysical differences so
+attenuated that they could hardly be stated, turned bishop against
+bishop and congregation against congregation. The ink of the theologians
+and the blood of the fanatics were spilled in floods on either side,
+and gentle followers of Christ were horrified to find that their faith
+was responsible for such a state of riot and bloodshed as had never yet
+disgraced the religious history of the world. Many of the more earnest
+among them, shocked and scandalised, slipped away to the Libyan Desert,
+or to the solitude of Pontus, there to await in self-denial and prayer
+that second coming which was supposed to be at hand. Even in the deserts
+they could not escape the echo of the distant strife, and the hermits
+themselves scowled fiercely from their dens at passing travellers who
+might be contaminated by the doctrines of Athanasius or of Arius.
+
+Such a hermit was Simon Melas, of whom I write. A Trinitarian and a
+Catholic, he was shocked by the excesses of the persecution of the
+Arians, which could be only matched by the similar outrages with which
+these same Arians in the day of their power avenged their treatment on
+their brother Christians. Weary of the whole strife, and convinced that
+the end of the world was indeed at hand, he left his home in
+Constantinople and travelled as far as the Gothic settlements in Dacia,
+beyond the Danube, in search of some spot where he might be free from
+the never-ending disputes. Still journeying to the north and east, he
+crossed the river which we now call the Dniester, and there, finding a
+rocky hill rising from an immense plain, he formed a cell near its
+summit, and settled himself down to end his life in self-denial and
+meditation. There were fish in the stream, the country teemed with game,
+and there was an abundance of wild fruits, so that his spiritual
+exercises were not unduly interrupted by the search of sustenance for
+his mortal frame.
+
+In this distant retreat he expected to find absolute solitude, but the
+hope was in vain. Within a week of his arrival, in an hour of worldly
+curiosity, he explored the edges of the high rocky hill upon which he
+lived. Making his way up to a cleft, which was hung with olives and
+myrtles, he came upon a cave in the opening of which sat an aged man,
+white-bearded, white-haired, and infirm--a hermit like himself. So long
+had this stranger been alone that he had almost forgotten the use of his
+tongue; but at last, words coming more freely, he was able to convey the
+information that his name was Paul of Nicopolis, that he was a Greek
+citizen, and that he also had come out into the desert for the saving of
+his soul, and to escape from the contamination of heresy.
+
+"Little I thought, brother Simon," said he, "that I should ever find any
+one else who had come so far upon the same holy errand. In all these
+years, and they are so many that I have lost count of them, I have never
+seen a man, save indeed one or two wandering shepherds far out upon
+yonder plain."
+
+From where they sat, the huge steppe, covered with waving grass and
+gleaming with a vivid green in the sun, stretched away as level and as
+unbroken as the sea, to the eastern horizon. Simon Melas stared across
+it with curiosity.
+
+"Tell me, brother Paul," said he, "you who have lived here so long--what
+lies at the further side of that plain?"
+
+The old man shook his head. "There is no further side to the plain,"
+said he. "It is the earth's boundary, and stretches away to eternity.
+For all these years I have sat beside it, but never once have I seen
+anything come across it. It is manifest that if there had been a
+further side there would certainly at some time have come some traveller
+from that direction. Over the great river yonder is the Roman post of
+Tyras; but that is a long day's journey from here, and they have never
+disturbed my meditations."
+
+"On what do you meditate, brother Paul?"
+
+"At first I meditated on many sacred mysteries; but now, for twenty
+years, I have brooded continually on the nature of the Logos. What is
+your view upon that vital matter, brother Simon?"
+
+"Surely," said the younger man, "there can be no question as to that.
+The Logos is assuredly but a name used by St. John to signify the
+Deity."
+
+The old hermit gave a hoarse cry of fury, and his brown, withered face
+was convulsed with anger. Seizing the huge cudgel which he kept to beat
+off the wolves, he shook it murderously at his companion.
+
+"Out with you! Out of my cell!" he cried. "Have I lived here so long to
+have it polluted by a vile Trinitarian--a follower of the rascal
+Athanasius? Wretched idolater, learn once for all, that the Logos is in
+truth an emanation from the Deity, and in no sense equal or co-eternal
+with Him! Out with you, I say, or I will dash out your brains with my
+staff!"
+
+It was useless to reason with the furious Arian, and Simon withdrew in
+sadness and wonder, that at this extreme verge of the known earth the
+spirit of religious strife should still break upon the peaceful solitude
+of the wilderness. With hanging head and heavy heart he made his way
+down the valley, and climbed up once more to his own cell, which lay at
+the crown of the hill, with the intention of never again exchanging
+visits with his Arian neighbour.
+
+Here, for a year, dwelt Simon Melas, leading a life of solitude and
+prayer. There was no reason why any one should ever come to this
+outermost point of human habitation. Once a young Roman officer--Caius
+Crassus--rode out a day's journey from Tyras, and climbed the hill to
+have speech with the anchorite. He was of an equestrian family, and
+still held his belief in the old dispensation. He looked with interest
+and surprise, but also with some disgust, at the ascetic arrangements
+of that humble abode.
+
+"Whom do you please by living in such a fashion?" he asked.
+
+"We show that our spirit is superior to our flesh," Simon answered. "If
+we fare badly in this world, we believe that we shall reap an advantage
+in the world to come."
+
+The centurion shrugged his shoulders. "There are philosophers among our
+people, Stoics and others, who have the same idea. When I was in the
+Herulian Cohort of the Fourth Legion we were quartered in Rome itself,
+and I saw much of the Christians, but I could never learn anything from
+them which I had not heard from my own father, whom you, in your
+arrogance, would call a Pagan. It is true that we talk of numerous gods;
+but for many years we have not taken them very seriously. Our thoughts
+upon virtue and duty and a noble life are the same as your own."
+
+Simon Melas shook his head.
+
+"If you have not the holy books," said he, "then what guide have you to
+direct your steps?"
+
+"If you will read our philosophers, and above all the divine Plato, you
+will find that there are other guides who may take you to the same end.
+Have you by chance read the book which was written by our Emperor Marcus
+Aurelius? Do you not discover there every virtue which man could have,
+although he knew nothing of your creed? Have you considered, also, the
+words and actions of our late Emperor Julian, with whom I served my
+first campaign when he went out against the Persians? Where could you
+find a more perfect man than he?"
+
+"Such talk is unprofitable, and I will have no more of it," said Simon
+sternly. "Take heed while there is time, and embrace the true faith; for
+the end of the world is at hand, and when it comes there will be no
+mercy for those who have shut their eyes to the light." So saying, he
+turned back once more to his praying-stool and to his crucifix, while
+the young Roman walked in deep thought down the hill, and mounting his
+horse, rode off to his distant post. Simon watched him until his brazen
+helmet was but a bead of light on the western edge of the great plain;
+for this was the first human face that he had seen in all this long
+year, and there were times when his heart yearned for the voices and the
+faces of his kind.
+
+So another year passed, and save for the change of weather and the slow
+change of the seasons, one day was as another. Every morning when Simon
+opened his eyes, he saw the same grey line ripening into red in the
+furthest east, until the bright rim pushed itself above that far-off
+horizon across which no living creature had ever been known to come.
+Slowly the sun swept across the huge arch of the heavens, and as the
+shadows shifted from the black rocks which jutted upward from above his
+cell, so did the hermit regulate his terms of prayer and meditation.
+There was nothing on earth to draw his eye, or to distract his mind, for
+the grassy plain below was as void from month to month as the heaven
+above. So the long hours passed, until the red rim slipped down on the
+further side, and the day ended in the same pearl-grey shimmer with
+which it had begun. Once two ravens circled for some days round the
+lonely hill, and once a white fish-eagle came from the Dniester and
+screamed above the hermit's head. Sometimes red dots were seen on the
+green plain where the antelopes grazed, and often a wolf howled in the
+darkness from the base of the rocks. Such was the uneventful life of
+Simon Melas the anchorite, until there came the day of wrath.
+
+It was in the late spring of the year 375 that Simon came out from his
+cell, his gourd in his hand, to draw water from the spring. Darkness had
+closed in, the sun had set, but one last glimmer of rosy light rested
+upon a rocky peak, which jutted forth from the hill, on the further side
+from the hermit's dwelling. As Simon came forth from under his ledge,
+the gourd dropped from his hand, and he stood gazing in amazement.
+
+On the opposite peak a man was standing, his outline black in the fading
+light. He was a strange, almost a deformed figure, short-statured,
+round-backed, with a large head, no neck, and a long rod jutting out
+from between his shoulders. He stood with his face advanced, and his
+body bent, peering very intently over the plain to the westward. In a
+moment he was gone, and the lonely black peak showed up hard and naked
+against the faint eastern glimmer. Then the night closed down, and all
+was black once more.
+
+Simon Melas stood long in bewilderment, wondering who this stranger
+could be. He had heard, as had every Christian, of those evil spirits
+which were wont to haunt the hermits in the Thebaid and on the skirts of
+the Ethiopian waste. The strange shape of this solitary creature, its
+dark outline and prowling, intent attitude, suggestive rather of a
+fierce, rapacious beast than of a man, all helped him to believe that he
+had at last encountered one of those wanderers from the pit, of whose
+existence, in those days of robust faith, he had no more doubt than of
+his own. Much of the night he spent in prayer, his eyes glancing
+continually at the low arch of his cell door, with its curtain of deep
+purple wrought with stars. At any instant some crouching monster, some
+horned abomination, might peer in upon him, and he clung with frenzied
+appeal to his crucifix, as his human weakness quailed at the thought.
+But at last his fatigue overcame his fears, and falling upon his couch
+of dried grass, he slept until the bright daylight brought him to his
+senses.
+
+It was later than was his wont, and the sun was far above the horizon.
+As he came forth from his cell, he looked across at the peak of rock,
+but it stood there bare and silent. Already it seemed to him that that
+strange dark figure which had startled him so was some dream, some
+vision of the twilight. His gourd lay where it had fallen, and he picked
+it up with the intention of going to the spring. But suddenly he was
+aware of something new. The whole air was throbbing with sound. From all
+sides it came, rumbling, indefinite, an inarticulate mutter, low, but
+thick and strong, rising, falling, reverberating among the rocks, dying
+away into vague whispers, but always there. He looked round at the blue,
+cloudless sky in bewilderment. Then he scrambled up the rocky pinnacle
+above him, and sheltering himself in its shadow, he stared out over the
+plain. In his wildest dream he had never imagined such a sight.
+
+The whole vast expanse was covered with horsemen, hundreds and thousands
+and tens of thousands, all riding slowly and in silence, out of the
+unknown east. It was the multitudinous beat of their horses' hoofs
+which caused that low throbbing in his ears. Some were so close to him
+as he looked down upon them that he could see clearly their thin, wiry
+horses, and the strange humped figures of their swarthy riders, sitting
+forward on the withers, shapeless bundles, their short legs hanging
+stirrupless, their bodies balanced as firmly as though they were part of
+the beast. In those nearest he could see the bow and the quiver, the
+long spear and the short sword, with the coiled lasso behind the rider,
+which told that this was no helpless horde of wanderers, but a
+formidable army upon the march. His eyes passed on from them and swept
+further and further, but still to the very horizon, which quivered with
+movement, there was no end to this monstrous cavalry. Already the
+vanguard was far past the island of rock upon which he dwelt, and he
+could now understand that in front of this vanguard were single scouts
+who guided the course of the army, and that it was one of these whom he
+had seen the evening before.
+
+All day, held spell-bound by this wonderful sight, the hermit crouched
+in the shadow of the rocks, and all day the sea of horsemen rolled
+onward over the plain beneath. Simon had seen the swarming quays of
+Alexandria, he had watched the mob which blocked the hippodrome of
+Constantinople, yet never had he imagined such a multitude as now
+defiled beneath his eyes, coming from that eastern skyline which had
+been the end of his world. Sometimes the dense streams of horsemen were
+broken by droves of brood-mares and foals, driven along by mounted
+guards; sometimes there were herds of cattle; sometimes there were lines
+of waggons with skin canopies above them; but then once more, after
+every break, came the horsemen, the horsemen, the hundreds and the
+thousands and the tens of thousands, slowly, ceaselessly, silently
+drifting from the east to the west. The long day passed, the light
+waned, and the shadows fell, but still the great broad stream was
+flowing by.
+
+But the night brought a new and even stranger sight. Simon had marked
+bundles of faggots upon the backs of many of the led horses, and now he
+saw their use. All over the great plain, red pin-points gleamed through
+the darkness, which grew and brightened into flickering columns of
+flame. So far as he could see both to east and west the fires extended,
+until they were but points of light in the furthest distance. White
+stars shone in the vast heavens above, red ones in the great plain
+below. And from every side rose the low, confused murmur of voices, with
+the lowing of oxen and the neighing of horses.
+
+Simon had been a soldier and a man of affairs before ever he forsook the
+world, and the meaning of all that he had seen was clear to him. History
+told him how the Roman world had ever been assailed by fresh swarms of
+Barbarians, coming from the outer darkness, and that the eastern Empire
+had already, in its fifty years of existence since Constantine had moved
+the capital of the world to the shores of the Bosphorus, been tormented
+in the same way. Gepidae and Heruli, Ostrogoths and Sarmatians, he was
+familiar with them all. What the advanced sentinel of Europe had seen
+from this lonely outlying hill, was a fresh swarm breaking in upon the
+Empire, distinguished only from the others by its enormous, incredible
+size and by the strange aspect of the warriors who composed it. He alone
+of all civilised men knew of the approach of this dreadful shadow,
+sweeping like a heavy storm cloud from the unknown depths of the east.
+He thought of the little Roman posts along the Dniester, of the ruined
+Dacian wall of Trajan behind them, and then of the scattered,
+defenceless villages which lay with no thought of danger over all the
+open country which stretched down to the Danube. Could he but give them
+the alarm! Was it not, perhaps, for that very end that God had guided
+him to the wilderness?
+
+Then suddenly he remembered his Arian neighbour, who dwelt in the cave
+beneath him. Once or twice during the last year he had caught a glimpse
+of his tall, bent figure hobbling round to examine the traps which he
+laid for quails and partridges. On one occasion they had met at the
+brook; but the old theologian waved him away as if he were a leper. What
+did he think now of this strange happening? Surely their differences
+might be forgotten at such a moment. He stole down the side of the hill,
+and made his way to his fellow-hermit's cave.
+
+But there was a terrible silence as he approached it. His heart sank at
+that deadly stillness in the little valley. No glimmer of light came
+from the cleft in the rocks. He entered and called, but no answer came
+back. Then, with flint, steel, and the dry grass which he used for
+tinder, he struck a spark, and blew it into a blaze. The old hermit, his
+white hair dabbled with crimson, lay sprawling across the floor. The
+broken crucifix, with which his head had been beaten in, lay in
+splinters across him. Simon had dropped on his knees beside him,
+straightening his contorted limbs, and muttering the office for the
+dead, when the thud of a horse's hoofs was heard ascending the little
+valley which led to the hermit's cell. The dry grass had burned down,
+and Simon crouched trembling in the darkness, pattering prayers to the
+Virgin that his strength might be upheld.
+
+It may have been that the new-comer had seen the gleam of the light, or
+it may have been that he had heard from his comrades of the old man whom
+they had murdered, and that his curiosity had led him to the spot. He
+stopped his horse outside the cave, and Simon, lurking in the shadows
+within, had a fair view of him in the moonlight. He slipped from his
+saddle, fastened the bridle to a root, and then stood peering through
+the opening of the cell. He was a very short, thick man, with a dark
+face, which was gashed with three cuts upon either side. His small eyes
+were sunk deep in his head, showing like black holes in the heavy, flat,
+hairless face. His legs were short and very bandy, so that he waddled
+uncouthly as he walked.
+
+Simon crouched in the darkest angle, and he gripped in his hand that
+same knotted cudgel which the dead theologian had once raised against
+him. As that hideous stooping head advanced into the darkness of the
+cell, he brought the staff down upon it with all the strength of his
+right arm, and then, as the stricken savage fell forward upon his face,
+he struck madly again and again, until the shapeless figure lay limp and
+still. One roof covered the first slain of Europe and of Asia.
+
+Simon's veins were throbbing and quivering with the unwonted joy of
+action. All the energy stored up in those years of repose came in a
+flood at this moment of need. Standing in the darkness of the cell, he
+saw, as in a map of fire, the outlines of the great Barbaric host, the
+line of the river, the position of the settlements, the means by which
+they might be warned. Silently he waited in the shadow until the moon
+had sunk. Then he flung himself upon the dead man's horse, guided it
+down the gorge, and set forth at a gallop across the plain.
+
+There were fires on every side of him, but he kept clear of the rings of
+light. Round each he could see, as he passed, the circle of sleeping
+warriors, with the long lines of picketed horses. Mile after mile and
+league after league stretched that huge encampment. And then, at last,
+he had reached the open plain which led to the river, and the fires of
+the invaders were but a dull smoulder against the black eastern sky.
+Ever faster and faster he sped across the steppe, like a single
+fluttered leaf which whirls before the storm. Even as the dawn whitened
+the sky behind him, it gleamed also upon the broad river in front, and
+he flogged his weary horse through the shallows, until he plunged into
+its full yellow tide.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+So it was that, as the young Roman centurion--Caius Crassus--made his
+morning round in the fort of Tyras he saw a single horseman, who rode
+towards him from the river. Weary and spent, drenched with water and
+caked with dirt and sweat, both horse and man were at the last stage of
+their endurance. With amazement the Roman watched their progress, and
+recognised in the ragged, swaying figure, with flying hair and staring
+eyes, the hermit of the eastern desert. He ran to meet him, and caught
+him in his arms as he reeled from the saddle.
+
+"What is it, then?" he asked. "What is your news?"
+
+But the hermit could only point at the rising sun. "To arms!" he
+croaked. "To arms! The day of wrath is come!" And as he looked, the
+Roman saw--far across the river--a great dark shadow, which moved slowly
+over the distant plain.
+
+
+
+
+V
+
+THE CONTEST
+
+
+In the year of our Lord 66, the Emperor Nero, being at that time in the
+twenty-ninth year of his life and the thirteenth of his reign, set sail
+for Greece with the strangest company and the most singular design that
+any monarch has ever entertained. With ten galleys he went forth from
+Puteoli, carrying with him great stores of painted scenery and
+theatrical properties, together with a number of knights and senators,
+whom he feared to leave behind him at Rome, and who were all marked for
+death in the course of his wanderings. In his train he took Natus, his
+singing coach; Cluvius, a man with a monstrous voice, who should bawl
+out his titles; and a thousand trained youths who had learned to applaud
+in unison whenever their master sang or played in public. So deftly had
+they been taught that each had his own role to play. Some did no more
+than give forth a low deep hum of speechless appreciation. Some clapped
+with enthusiasm. Some, rising from approbation into absolute frenzy,
+shrieked, stamped, and beat sticks upon the benches. Some--and they were
+the most effective--had learned from an Alexandrian a long droning
+musical note which they all uttered together, so that it boomed over the
+assembly. With the aid of these mercenary admirers, Nero had every hope,
+in spite of his indifferent voice and clumsy execution, to return to
+Rome, bearing with him the chaplets for song offered for free
+competition by the Greek cities. As his great gilded galley with two
+tiers of oars passed down the Mediterranean, the Emperor sat in his
+cabin all day, his teacher by his side, rehearsing from morning to night
+those compositions which he had selected, whilst every few hours a
+Nubian slave massaged the Imperial throat with oil and balsam, that it
+might be ready for the great ordeal which lay before it in the land of
+poetry and song. His food, his drink, and his exercise were prescribed
+for him as for an athlete who trains for a contest, and the twanging of
+his lyre, with the strident notes of his voice, resounded continually
+from the Imperial quarters.
+
+Now it chanced that there lived in those days a Grecian goatherd named
+Policles, who tended and partly owned a great flock which grazed upon
+the long flanks of the hills near Her[oe]a, which is five miles north of
+the river Alpheus, and no great distance from the famous Olympia. This
+person was noted over all the country-side as a man of strange gifts and
+singular character. He was a poet who had twice been crowned for his
+verses, and he was a musician to whom the use and sound of an instrument
+were so natural that one would more easily meet him without his staff
+than his harp. Even in his lonely vigils on the winter hills he would
+bear it always slung over his shoulder, and would pass the long hours by
+its aid, so that it had come to be part of his very self. He was
+beautiful also, swarthy and eager, with a head like Adonis, and in
+strength there was no one who could compete with him. But all was ruined
+by his disposition, which was so masterful that he would brook no
+opposition nor contradiction. For this reason he was continually at
+enmity with all his neighbours, and in his fits of temper he would
+spend months at a time in his stone hut among the mountains, hearing
+nothing from the world, and living only for his music and his goats.
+
+One spring morning, in the year of 67, Policles, with the aid of his boy
+Dorus, had driven his goats over to a new pasturage which overlooked
+from afar the town of Olympia. Gazing down upon it from the mountain,
+the shepherd was surprised to see that a portion of the famous
+amphitheatre had been roofed in, as though some performance was being
+enacted. Living far from the world and from all news, Policles could not
+imagine what was afoot, for he was well aware that the Grecian games
+were not due for two years to come. Surely some poetic or musical
+contest must be proceeding of which he had heard nothing. If so, there
+would perhaps be some chance of his gaining the votes of the judges; and
+in any case he loved to hear the compositions and admire the execution
+of the great minstrels who assembled on such an occasion. Calling to
+Dorus, therefore, he left the goats to his charge, and strode swiftly
+away, his harp upon his back, to see what was going forward in the
+town.
+
+When Policles came into the suburbs, he found them deserted; but he was
+still more surprised when he reached the main street to see no single
+human being in the place. He hastened his steps, therefore, and as he
+approached the theatre he was conscious of a low sustained hum which
+announced the concourse of a huge assembly. Never in all his dreams had
+he imagined any musical competition upon so vast a scale as this. There
+were some soldiers clustering outside the door; but Policles pushed his
+way swiftly through them, and found himself upon the outskirts of the
+multitude who filled the great space formed by roofing over a portion of
+the national stadium. Looking around him, Policles saw a great number of
+his neighbours, whom he knew by sight, tightly packed upon the benches,
+all with their eyes fixed upon the stage. He also observed that there
+were soldiers round the walls, and that a considerable part of the hall
+was filled by a body of youths of foreign aspect, with white gowns and
+long hair. All this he perceived; but what it meant he could not
+imagine. He bent over to a neighbour to ask him, but a soldier prodded
+him at once with the butt end of his spear, and commanded him fiercely
+to hold his peace. The man whom he had addressed, thinking that Policles
+had demanded a seat, pressed closer to his neighbour, and so the
+shepherd found himself sitting at the end of the bench which was nearest
+to the door. Thence he concentrated himself upon the stage, on which
+Metas, a well-known minstrel from Corinth and an old friend of Policles,
+was singing and playing without much encouragement from the audience. To
+Policles it seemed that Metas was having less than his due, so he
+applauded loudly, but he was surprised to observe that the soldiers
+frowned at him, and that all his neighbours regarded him with some
+surprise. Being a man of strong and obstinate character, he was the more
+inclined to persevere in his clapping when he perceived that the general
+sentiment was against him.
+
+But what followed filled the shepherd poet with absolute amazement. When
+Metas of Corinth had made his bow and withdrawn to half-hearted and
+perfunctory applause, there appeared upon the stage, amid the wildest
+enthusiasm upon the part of the audience, a most extraordinary figure.
+He was a short fat man, neither old nor young, with a bull neck and a
+round, heavy face, which hung in creases in front like the dewlap of an
+ox. He was absurdly clad in a short blue tunic, braced at the waist with
+a golden belt. His neck and part of his chest were exposed, and his
+short, fat legs were bare from the buskins below to the middle of his
+thighs, which was as far as his tunic extended. In his hair were two
+golden wings, and the same upon his heels, after the fashion of the god
+Mercury. Behind him walked a negro bearing a harp, and beside him a
+richly dressed officer who bore rolls of music. This strange creature
+took the harp from the hands of the attendant, and advanced to the front
+of the stage, whence he bowed and smiled to the cheering audience. "This
+is some foppish singer from Athens," thought Policles to himself, but at
+the same time he understood that only a great master of song could
+receive such a reception from a Greek audience. This was evidently some
+wonderful performer whose reputation had preceded him. Policles settled
+down, therefore, and prepared to give his soul up to the music.
+
+The blue-clad player struck several chords upon his lyre, and then
+burst suddenly out into the "Ode of Niobe." Policles sat straight up on
+his bench and gazed at the stage in amazement. The tune demanded a rapid
+transition from a low note to a high, and had been purposely chosen for
+this reason. The low note was a grunting, a rumble, the deep discordant
+growling of an ill-conditioned dog. Then suddenly the singer threw up
+his face, straightened his tubby figure, rose upon his tiptoes, and with
+wagging head and scarlet cheeks emitted such a howl as the same dog
+might have given had his growl been checked by a kick from his master.
+All the while the lyre twanged and thrummed, sometimes in front of and
+sometimes behind the voice of the singer. But what amazed Policles most
+of all was the effect of this performance upon the audience. Every Greek
+was a trained critic, and as unsparing in his hisses as he was lavish in
+his applause. Many a singer far better than this absurd fop had been
+driven amid execration and abuse from the platform. But now, as the man
+stopped and wiped the abundant sweat from his fat face, the whole
+assembly burst into a delirium of appreciation. The shepherd held his
+hands to his bursting head, and felt that his reason must be leaving
+him. It was surely a dreadful musical nightmare, and he would wake soon
+and laugh at the remembrance. But no; the figures were real, the faces
+were those of his neighbours, the cheers which resounded in his ears
+were indeed from an audience which filled the theatre of Olympia. The
+whole chorus was in full blast, the hummers humming, the shouters
+bellowing, the tappers hard at work upon the benches, while every now
+and then came a musical cyclone of "Incomparable! Divine!" from the
+trained phalanx who intoned their applause, their united voices sweeping
+over the tumult as the drone of the wind dominates the roar of the sea.
+It was madness--insufferable madness! If this were allowed to pass,
+there was an end of all musical justice in Greece. Policles' conscience
+would not permit him to be still. Standing upon his bench with waving
+hands and up-raised voice, he protested with all the strength of his
+lungs against the mad judgment of the audience.
+
+At first, amid the tumult, his action was hardly noticed. His voice was
+drowned in the universal roar which broke out afresh at each bow and
+smirk from the fatuous musician. But gradually the folk round Policles
+ceased clapping, and stared at him in astonishment. The silence grew in
+ever widening circles, until the whole great assembly sat mute, staring
+at this wild and magnificent creature who was storming at them from his
+perch near the door.
+
+"Fools!" he cried. "What are you clapping at? What are you cheering? Is
+this what you call music? Is this cat-calling to earn an Olympian prize?
+The fellow has not a note in his voice. You are either deaf or mad, and
+I for one cry shame upon you for your folly."
+
+Soldiers ran to pull him down, and the whole audience was in confusion,
+some of the bolder cheering the sentiments of the shepherd, and others
+crying that he should be cast out of the building. Meanwhile the
+successful singer, having handed his lyre to his negro attendant, was
+enquiring from those around him on the stage as to the cause of the
+uproar. Finally a herald with an enormously powerful voice stepped
+forward to the front, and proclaimed that if the foolish person at the
+back of the hall, who appeared to differ from the opinion of the rest
+of the audience, would come forward upon the platform, he might, if he
+dared, exhibit his own powers, and see if he could outdo the admirable
+and wonderful exhibition which they had just had the privilege of
+hearing.
+
+Policles sprang readily to his feet at the challenge, and the great
+company making way for him to pass, he found himself a minute later
+standing in his unkempt garb, with his frayed and weather-beaten harp in
+his hand, before the expectant crowd. He stood for a moment tightening a
+string here and slackening another there until his chords rang true.
+Then, amid a murmur of laughter and jeers from the Roman benches
+immediately before him, he began to sing.
+
+He had prepared no composition, but he had trained himself to improvise,
+singing out of his heart for the joy of the music. He told of the land
+of Elis, beloved of Jupiter, in which they were gathered that day, of
+the great bare mountain slopes, of the swift shadows of the clouds, of
+the winding blue river, of the keen air of the uplands, of the chill of
+the evenings, and the beauties of earth and sky. It was all simple and
+childlike, but it went to the hearts of the Olympians, for it spoke of
+the land which they knew and loved. Yet when he at last dropped his
+hand, few of them dared to applaud, and their feeble voices were drowned
+by a storm of hisses and groans from his opponents. He shrank back in
+horror from so unusual a reception, and in an instant his blue-clad
+rival was in his place. If he had sung badly before, his performance now
+was inconceivable. His screams, his grunts, his discords, and harsh
+jarring cacophonies were an outrage to the very name of music. And yet
+every time that he paused for breath or to wipe his streaming forehead a
+fresh thunder of applause came rolling back from the audience. Policles
+sank his face in his hands and prayed that he might not be insane. Then,
+when the dreadful performance ceased, and the uproar of admiration
+showed that the crown was certainly awarded to this impostor, a horror
+of the audience, a hatred of this race of fools, and a craving for the
+peace and silence of the pastures mastered every feeling in his mind. He
+dashed through the mass of people waiting at the wings, and emerged in
+the open air. His old rival and friend Metas of Corinth was waiting
+there with an anxious face.
+
+"Quick, Policles, quick!" he cried. "My pony is tethered behind yonder
+grove. A grey he is, with red trappings. Get you gone as hard as hoof
+will bear you, for if you are taken you will have no easy death."
+
+"No easy death! What mean you, Metas? Who is the fellow?"
+
+"Great Jupiter! did you not know? Where have you lived? It is Nero the
+Emperor! Never would he pardon what you have said about his voice.
+Quick, man, quick, or the guards will be at your heels!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+An hour later the shepherd was well on his way to his mountain home, and
+about the same time the Emperor, having received the Chaplet of Olympia
+for the incomparable excellence of his performance, was making enquiries
+with a frowning brow as to who the insolent person might be who had
+dared to utter such contemptuous criticisms.
+
+"Bring him to me here this instant," said he, "and let Marcus with his
+knife and branding-iron be in attendance."
+
+"If it please you, great Caesar," said Arsenius Platus, the officer of
+attendance, "the man cannot be found, and there are some very strange
+rumours flying about."
+
+"Rumours!" cried the angry Nero. "What do you mean, Arsenius? I tell you
+that the fellow was an ignorant upstart with the bearing of a boor and
+the voice of a peacock. I tell you also that there are a good many who
+are as guilty as he among the people, for I heard them with my own ears
+raise cheers for him when he had sung his ridiculous ode. I have half a
+mind to burn their town about their ears so that they may remember my
+visit."
+
+"It is not to be wondered at if he won their votes, Caesar," said the
+soldier, "for from what I hear it would have been no disgrace had you,
+even you, been conquered in this contest."
+
+"I conquered! You are mad, Arsenius. What do you mean?"
+
+"None know him, great Caesar! He came from the mountains, and he
+disappeared into the mountains. You marked the wildness and strange
+beauty of his face. It is whispered that for once the great god Pan has
+condescended to measure himself against a mortal."
+
+The cloud cleared from Nero's brow. "Of course, Arsenius! You are right!
+No man would have dared to brave me so. What a story for Rome! Let the
+messenger leave this very night, Arsenius, to tell them how their
+Emperor has upheld their honour in Olympia this day."
+
+
+
+
+VI
+
+THE FIRST CARGO
+
+
+    "Ex ovo omnia"
+
+When you left Britain with your legion, my dear Crassus, I promised that
+I would write to you from time to time when a messenger chanced to be
+going to Rome, and keep you informed as to anything of interest which
+might occur in this country. Personally, I am very glad that I remained
+behind when the troops and so many of our citizens left, for though the
+living is rough and the climate is infernal, still by dint of the three
+voyages which I have made for amber to the Baltic, and the excellent
+prices which I obtained for it here, I shall soon be in a position to
+retire, and to spend my old age under my own fig tree, or even perhaps
+to buy a small villa at Baiae or Posuoli, where I could get a good
+sun-bath after the continued fogs of this accursed island. I picture
+myself on a little farm, and I read the Georgics as a preparation; but
+when I hear the rain falling and the wind howling, Italy seems very far
+away.
+
+In my previous letter I let you know how things were going in this
+country. The poor folk, who had given up all soldiering during the
+centuries that we guarded them, are now perfectly helpless before these
+Picts and Scots, tattooed Barbarians from the north, who overrun the
+whole country and do exactly what they please. So long as they kept to
+the north, the people in the south, who are the most numerous, and also
+the most civilised of the Britons, took no heed of them; but now the
+rascals have come as far as London, and the lazy folk in these parts
+have had to wake up. Vortigern, the king, is useless for anything but
+drink or women, so he sent across to the Baltic to get over some of the
+North Germans, in the hope that they would come and help him. It is bad
+enough to have a bear in your house, but it does not seem to me to mend
+matters if you call in a pack of ferocious wolves as well. However,
+nothing better could be devised, so an invitation was sent and very
+promptly accepted. And it is here that your humble friend appears upon
+the scene. In the course of my amber trading I had learned the Saxon
+speech, and so I was sent down in all haste to the Kentish shore that I
+might be there when our new allies came. I arrived there on the very day
+when their first vessel appeared, and it is of my adventures that I wish
+to tell you. It is perfectly clear to me that the landing of these
+warlike Germans in England will prove to be an event of historical
+importance, and so your inquisitive mind will not feel wearied if I
+treat the matter in some detail.
+
+It was, then, upon the day of Mercury, immediately following the Feast
+of Our Blessed Lord's Ascension, that I found myself upon the south bank
+of the river Thames, at the point where it opens into a wide estuary.
+There is an island there named Thanet, which was the spot chosen for the
+landfall of our visitors. Sure enough, I had no sooner ridden up than
+there was a great red ship, the first as it seems of three, coming in
+under full sail. The white horse, which is the ensign of these rovers,
+was hanging from her topmast, and she appeared to be crowded with men.
+The sun was shining brightly, and the great scarlet ship, with
+snow-white sails and a line of gleaming shields slung over her side,
+made as fair a picture on that blue expanse as one would wish to see.
+
+I pushed off at once in a boat, because it had been arranged that none
+of the Saxons should land until the king had come down to speak with
+their leaders. Presently I was under the ship, which had a gilded dragon
+in the bows, and a tier of oars along either side. As I looked up, there
+was a row of helmeted heads looking down at me, and among them I saw, to
+my great surprise and pleasure, that of Eric the Swart, with whom I do
+business at Venta every year. He greeted me heartily when I reached the
+deck, and became at once my guide, friend, and counsellor. This helped
+me greatly with these Barbarians, for it is their nature that they are
+very cold and aloof unless one of their own number can vouch for you,
+after which they are very hearty and hospitable. Try as they will, they
+find it hard, however, to avoid a certain suggestion of condescension,
+and in the baser sort, of contempt, when they are dealing with a
+foreigner.
+
+It was a great stroke of luck meeting Eric, for he was able to give me
+some idea of how things stood before I was shown into the presence of
+Kenna, the leader of this particular ship. The crew, as I learned from
+him, was entirely made up of three tribes or families--those of Kenna,
+of Lanc, and of Hasta. Each of these tribes gets its name by putting the
+letters "ing" after the name of the chief, so that the people on board
+would describe themselves as Kennings, Lancings, and Hastings. I
+observed in the Baltic that the villages were named after the family who
+lived in them, each keeping to itself, so that I have no doubt that if
+these fellows get a footing on shore, we shall see settlements with
+names like these rising up among the British towns.
+
+The greater part of the men were sturdy fellows with red, yellow, or
+brown hair, mostly the latter. To my surprise, I saw several women among
+them. Eric, in answer to my question, explained that they always take
+their women with them so far as they can, and that instead of finding
+them an encumbrance as our Roman dames would be, they look upon them as
+helpmates and advisers. Of course, I remembered afterwards that our
+excellent and accurate Tacitus has remarked upon this characteristic of
+the Germans. All laws in the tribes are decided by votes, and a vote
+has not yet been given to the women, but many are in favour of it, and
+it is thought that woman and man may soon have the same power in the
+State, though many of the women themselves are opposed to such an
+innovation. I observed to Eric that it was fortunate there were several
+women on board, as they could keep each other company; but he answered
+that the wives of chiefs had no desire to know the wives of the inferior
+officers, and that both of them combined against the more common women,
+so that any companionship was out of the question. He pointed as he
+spoke to Editha, the wife of Kenna, a red-faced, elderly woman, who
+walked among the others, her chin in the air, taking no more notice than
+if they did not exist.
+
+Whilst I was talking to my friend Eric, a sudden altercation broke out
+upon the deck, and a great number of the men paused in their work, and
+flocked towards the spot with faces which showed that they were deeply
+interested in the matter. Eric and I pushed our way among the others,
+for I was very anxious to see as much as I could of the ways and
+manners of these Barbarians. A quarrel had broken out about a child, a
+little blue-eyed fellow with curly yellow hair, who appeared to be
+greatly amused by the hubbub of which he was the cause. On one side of
+him stood a white-bearded old man, of very majestic aspect, who
+signified by his gestures that he claimed the lad for himself, while on
+the other was a thin, earnest, anxious person, who strongly objected to
+the boy being taken from him. Eric whispered in my ear that the old man
+was the tribal high priest, who was the official sacrificer to their
+great god Woden, whilst the other was a man who took somewhat different
+views, not upon Woden, but upon the means by which he should be
+worshipped. The majority of the crew were on the side of the old priest;
+but a certain number, who liked greater liberty of worship, and to
+invent their own prayers instead of always repeating the official ones,
+followed the lead of the younger man. The difference was too deep and
+too old to be healed among the grown men, but each had a great desire to
+impress his view upon the children. This was the reason why these two
+were now so furious with each other, and the argument between them ran
+so high that several of their followers on either side had drawn the
+short saxes, or knives from which their name of Saxon is derived, when a
+burly, red-headed man pushed his way through the throng, and in a voice
+of thunder brought the controversy to an end.
+
+"You priests, who argue about the things which no man can know, are more
+trouble aboard this ship than all the dangers of the sea," he cried.
+"Can you not be content with worshipping Woden, over which we are all
+agreed, and not make so much of those small points upon which we may
+differ. If there is all this fuss about the teaching of the children,
+then I shall forbid either of you to teach them, and they must be
+content with as much as they can learn from their mothers."
+
+The two angry teachers walked away with discontented faces; and
+Kenna--for it was he who spoke--ordered that a whistle should be
+sounded, and that the crew should assemble. I was pleased with the free
+bearing of these people, for though this was their greatest chief, they
+showed none of the exaggerated respect which soldiers of a legion might
+show to the Praetor, but met him on a respectful equality, which showed
+how highly they rated their own manhood.
+
+From our Roman standard, his remarks to his men would seem very wanting
+in eloquence, for there were no graces nor metaphors to be found in
+them, and yet they were short, strong and to the point. At any rate it
+was very clear that they were to the minds of his hearers. He began by
+reminding them that they had left their own country because the land was
+all taken up, and that there was no use returning there, since there was
+no place where they could dwell as free and independent men. This island
+of Britain was but sparsely inhabited, and there was a chance that every
+one of them would be able to found a home of his own.
+
+"You, Whitta," he said, addressing some of them by name, "you will found
+a Whitting hame, and you, Bucka, we shall see you in a Bucking hame,
+where your children and your children's children will bless you for the
+broad acres which your valour will have gained for them." There was no
+word of glory or of honour in his speech, but he said that he was aware
+that they would do their duty, on which they all struck their swords
+upon their shields so that the Britons on the beach could hear the
+clang. Then, his eyes falling upon me, he asked me whether I was the
+messenger from Vortigern, and on my answering, he bid me follow him into
+his cabin, where Lanc and Hasta, the other chiefs, were waiting for a
+council.
+
+Picture me, then, my dear Crassus, in a very low-roofed cabin, with
+these three huge Barbarians seated round me. Each was clad in some sort
+of saffron tunic, with a chain-mail shirt over it, and a helmet with the
+horns of oxen on the sides, laid upon the table before him. Like most of
+the Saxon chiefs, their beards were shaved, but they wore their hair
+long and their huge light-coloured moustaches drooped down on to their
+shoulders. They are gentle, slow, and somewhat heavy in their bearing,
+but I can well fancy that their fury is the more terrible when it does
+arise.
+
+Their minds seem to be of a very practical and positive nature, for they
+at once began to ask me a series of question upon the numbers of the
+Britons, the resources of the kingdom, the conditions of its trade, and
+other such subjects. They then set to work arguing over the information
+which I had given, and became so absorbed in their own contention that I
+believe there were times when they forgot my presence. Everything, after
+due discussion, was decided between them by the vote, the one who found
+himself in the minority always submitting, though sometimes with a very
+bad grace. Indeed, on one occasion Lanc, who usually differed from the
+others, threatened to refer the matter to the general vote of the whole
+crew. There was a constant conflict in the point of view; for whereas
+Kenna and Hasta were anxious to extend the Saxon power, and to make it
+greater in the eyes of the world, Lanc was of opinion that they should
+give less thought to conquest and more to the comfort and advancement of
+their followers. At the same time it seemed to me that really Lanc was
+the most combative of the three; so much so that, even in time of peace,
+he could not forego this contest with his own brethren. Neither of the
+others seemed very fond of him, for they were each, as was easy to see,
+proud of their chieftainship, and anxious to use their authority,
+referring continually to those noble ancestors from whom it was
+derived; while Lanc though he was equally well born, took the view of
+the common men upon every occasion, claiming that the interests of the
+many were superior to the privileges of the few. In a word, Crassus, if
+you could imagine a free-booting Gracchus on one side, and two piratical
+Patricians upon the other, you would understand the effect which my
+companions produced upon me.
+
+There was one peculiarity which I observed in their conversation which
+soothed me very much. I am fond of these Britons, among whom I have
+spent so much of my life, and I wish them well. It was very pleasing,
+therefore, to notice that these men insisted upon it in their
+conversation that the whole object of their visit was the good of the
+Islanders. Any prospect of advantage to themselves was pushed into the
+background. I was not clear that these professions could be made to
+agree with the speech in which Kenna had promised a hundred hides of
+land to every man on the ship; but on my making this remark, the three
+chiefs seemed very surprised and hurt by my suspicions, and explained
+very plausibly that, as the Britons needed them as a guard, they could
+not aid them better than by settling on the soil, and so being
+continually at hand in order to help them. In time, they said, they
+hoped to raise and train the natives to such a point that they would be
+able to look after themselves. Lanc spoke with some degree of eloquence
+upon the nobleness of the mission which they had undertaken, and the
+others clattered their cups of mead (a jar of that unpleasant drink was
+on the table) in token of their agreement.
+
+I observed also how much interested, and how very earnest and intolerant
+these Barbarians were in the matter of religion. Of Christianity they
+knew nothing, so that although they were aware that the Britons were
+Christians, they had not a notion of what their creed really was. Yet
+without examination they started by taking it for granted that their own
+worship of Woden was absolutely right, and that therefore this other
+creed must be absolutely wrong. "This vile religion," "This sad
+superstition," and "This grievous error" were among the phrases which
+they used towards it. Instead of expressing pity for any one who had
+been misinformed upon so serious a question, their feelings were those
+of anger, and they declared most earnestly that they would spare no
+pains to set the matter right, fingering the hilts of their long
+broadswords as they did so.
+
+Well, my dear Crassus, you will have had enough of me and of my Saxons.
+I have given you a short sketch of these people and their ways. Since I
+began this letter, I have visited the two other ships which have come
+in, and as I find the same characteristics among the people on board
+them, I cannot doubt that they lie deeply in the race. For the rest,
+they are brave, hardy, and very pertinacious in all that they undertake;
+whereas the Britons, though a great deal more spirited, have not the
+same steadiness of purpose, their quicker imaginations suggesting always
+some other course, and their more fiery passions being succeeded by
+reaction. When I looked from the deck of the first Saxon ship, and saw
+the swaying excited multitude of Britons on the beach, contrasting them
+with the intent, silent men who stood beside me, it seemed to me more
+than ever dangerous to call in such allies. So strongly did I feel it
+that I turned to Kenna, who was also looking towards the beach.
+
+"You will own this island before you have finished," said I.
+
+His eyes sparkled as he gazed. "Perhaps," he cried; and then suddenly
+correcting himself and thinking that he had said too much, he added--
+
+"A temporary occupation--nothing more."
+
+
+
+
+VII
+
+AN ICONOCLAST
+
+
+It was daybreak of a March morning in the year of Christ 92. Outside the
+long Semita Alta was already thronged with people, with buyers and
+sellers, callers and strollers, for the Romans were so early-rising a
+people that many a Patrician preferred to see his clients at six in the
+morning. Such was the good republican tradition, still upheld by the
+more conservative; but with more modern habits of luxury, a night of
+pleasure and banqueting was no uncommon thing. Thus one, who had learned
+the new and yet adhered to the old, might find his hours overlap, and
+without so much as a pretence of sleep come straight from his night of
+debauch into his day of business, turning with heavy wits and an aching
+head to that round of formal duties which consumed the life of a Roman
+gentleman.
+
+So it was with Emilius Flaccus that March morning. He and his fellow
+senator, Caius Balbus, had passed the night in one of those gloomy
+drinking bouts to which the Emperor Domitian summoned his chosen friends
+at the high palace on the Palatine. Now, having reached the portals of
+the house of Flaccus, they stood together under the pomegranate-fringed
+portico which fronted the peristyle and, confident in each other's tried
+discretion, made up by the freedom of their criticism for the long
+self-suppression of that melancholy feast.
+
+"If he would but feed his guests," said Balbus, a little red-faced,
+choleric nobleman with yellow-shot angry eyes. "What had we? Upon my
+life, I have forgotten. Plovers' eggs, a mess of fish, some bird or
+other, and then his eternal apples."
+
+"Of which," said Flaccus, "he ate only the apples. Do him the justice to
+confess that he takes even less than he gives. At least they cannot say
+of him as of Vitellius, that his teeth beggared the empire."
+
+"No, nor his thirst either, great as it is. That fiery Sabine wine of
+his could be had for a few sesterces the amphora. It is the common drink
+of the carters at every wine-house on the country roads. I longed for a
+glass of my own rich Falernian or the mellow Coan that was bottled in
+the year that Titus took Jerusalem. Is it even now too late? Could we
+not wash this rasping stuff from our palates?"
+
+"Nay, better come in with me now and take a bitter draught ere you go
+upon your way. My Greek physician Stephanos has a rare prescription for
+a morning head. What! Your clients await you? Well, I will see you later
+at the Senate house."
+
+The Patrician had entered his atrium, bright with rare flowers, and
+melodious with strange singing birds. At the jaws of the hall, true to
+his morning duties, stood Lebs, the little Nubian slave, with snow-white
+tunic and turban, a salver of glasses in one hand, whilst in the other
+he held a flask of thin lemon-tinted liquid. The master of the house
+filled up a bitter aromatic bumper, and was about to drink it off when
+his hand was arrested by a sudden perception that something was much
+amiss in his household. It was to be read all around him--in the
+frightened eyes of the black boy, in the agitated face of the keeper of
+the atrium, in the gloom and silence of the little knot of ordinarii,
+the procurator or major-domo at their head, who had assembled to greet
+their master. Stephanos the physician, Cleios the Alexandrine reader,
+Promus the steward each turned his head away to avoid his master's
+questioning gaze.
+
+"What in the name of Pluto is the matter with you all?" cried the amazed
+senator, whose night of potations had left him in no mood for patience.
+"Why do you stand moping there? Stephanos, Vacculus, is anything amiss?
+Here, Promus, you are the head of my household. What is it, then? Why do
+you turn your eyes away from me?"
+
+The burly steward, whose fat face was haggard and mottled with anxiety,
+laid his hand upon the sleeve of the domestic beside him.
+
+"Sergius is responsible for the atrium, my lord. It is for him to tell
+you the terrible thing that has befallen in your absence."
+
+"Nay, it was Datus who did it. Bring him in, and let him explain it
+himself," said Sergius in a sulky voice.
+
+The patience of the Patrician was at an end. "Speak this instant, you
+rascal!" he shouted angrily. "Another minute, and I will have you
+dragged to the ergastulum, where, with your feet in the stocks and the
+gyves round your wrists, you may learn quicker obedience. Speak, I say,
+and without delay."
+
+"It is the Venus," the man stammered; "the Greek Venus of Praxiteles."
+
+The senator gave a cry of apprehension and rushed to the corner of the
+atrium, where a little shrine, curtained off by silken drapery, held the
+precious statue, the greatest art treasure of his collection--perhaps of
+the whole world. He tore the hangings aside and stood in speechless
+anger before the outraged goddess. The red, perfumed lamp which always
+burned before her had been spilled and broken; her altar fire had been
+quenched, her chaplet had been dashed aside. But worst of
+all--insufferable sacrilege!--her own beautiful nude body of glistening
+Pentelic marble, as white and fair as when the inspired Greek had hewed
+it out five hundred years before, had been most brutally mishandled.
+Three fingers of the gracious outstretched hand had been struck off, and
+lay upon the pedestal beside her. Above her delicate breast a dark mark
+showed, where a blow had disfigured the marble. Emilius Flaccus, the
+most delicate and judicious connoisseur in Rome, stood gasping and
+croaking, his hand to his throat, as he gazed at his disfigured
+masterpiece. Then he turned upon his slaves, his fury in his convulsed
+face; but, to his amazement, they were not looking at him, but had all
+turned in attitudes of deep respect towards the opening of the
+peristyle. As he faced round and saw who had just entered his house, his
+own rage fell away from him in an instant, and his manner became as
+humble as that of his servants.
+
+The new-comer was a man forty-three years of age, clean shaven, with a
+massive head, large engorged eyes, a small clear-cut nose, and the full
+bull neck which was the especial mark of his breed. He had entered
+through the peristyle with a swaggering, rolling gait, as one who walks
+upon his own ground, and now he stood, his hands upon his hips, looking
+round him at the bowing slaves, and finally at their master, with a
+half-humorous expression upon his flushed and brutal face.
+
+"Why, Emilius," said he, "I had understood that your household was the
+best-ordered in Rome. What is amiss with you this morning?"
+
+"Nothing could be amiss with us now that Caesar has deigned to come under
+my roof," said the courtier. "This is indeed a most glad surprise which
+you have prepared for me."
+
+"It was an afterthought," said Domitian. "When you and the others had
+left me, I was in no mood for sleep, and so it came into my mind that I
+would have a breath of morning air by coming down to you, and seeing
+this Grecian Venus of yours, about which you discoursed so eloquently
+between the cups. But, indeed, by your appearance and that of your
+servants, I should judge that my visit was an ill-timed one."
+
+"Nay, dear master; say not so. But, indeed, it is truth that I was in
+trouble at the moment of your welcome entrance, and this trouble was, as
+the Fates have willed it, brought forth by that very statue in which you
+have been graciously pleased to show your interest. There it stands, and
+you can see for yourself how rudely it has been mishandled."
+
+"By Pluto and all the nether gods, if it were mine some of you should
+feed the lampreys," said the Emperor, looking round with his fierce
+eyes at the shrinking slaves. "You were always overmerciful, Emilius. It
+is the common talk that your catenae are rusted for want of use. But
+surely this is beyond all bounds. Let me see how you handle the matter.
+Whom do you hold responsible?"
+
+"The slave Sergius is responsible, since it is his place to tend the
+atrium," said Flaccus. "Stand forward, Sergius. What have you to say?"
+
+The trembling slave advanced to his master. "If it please you, sir, the
+mischief has been done by Datus the Christian."
+
+"Datus! Who is he?"
+
+"The matulator, the scavenger, my lord. I did not know that he belonged
+to these horrible people, or I should not have admitted him. He came
+with his broom to brush out the litter of the birds. His eyes fell upon
+the Venus, and in an instant he had rushed upon her and struck her two
+blows with his wooden besom. Then we fell upon him and dragged him away.
+But alas! alas! it was too late, for already the wretch had dashed off
+the fingers of the goddess."
+
+The Emperor smiled grimly, while the Patrician's thin face grew pale
+with anger.
+
+"Where is the fellow?" he asked.
+
+"In the ergastulum, your honour, with the furca on his neck."
+
+"Bring him hither and summon the household."
+
+A few minutes later the whole back of the atrium was thronged by the
+motley crowd who ministered to the household needs of a great Roman
+nobleman. There was the arcarius, or account keeper, with his stylum
+behind his ear; the sleek praegustator, who sampled all foods, so as to
+stand between his master and poison, and beside him his predecessor, now
+a half-witted idiot through the interception twenty years before of a
+datura draught from Canidia; the cellar-man, summoned from amongst his
+amphorae; the cook, with his basting-ladle in his hand; the pompous
+nomenclator, who ushered the guests; the cubicularius, who saw to their
+accommodation; the silentiarius, who kept order in the house; the
+structor, who set forth the tables; the carptor, who carved the food;
+the cinerarius, who lit the fires--these and many more, half-curious,
+half-terrified, came to the judging of Datus. Behind them a chattering,
+giggling swarm of Lalages, Marias, Cerusas, and Amaryllides, from the
+laundries and the spinning-rooms, stood upon their tiptoes, and extended
+their pretty wondering faces over the shoulders of the men. Through this
+crowd came two stout varlets leading the culprit between them. He was a
+small, dark, rough-headed man, with an unkempt beard and wild eyes which
+shone brightly with strong inward emotion. His hands were bound behind
+him, and over his neck was the heavy wooden collar or furca which was
+placed upon refractory slaves. A smear of blood across his cheek showed
+that he had not come uninjured from the preceding scuffle.
+
+"Are you Datus the scavenger?" asked the Patrician.
+
+The man drew himself up proudly. "Yes," said he, "I am Datus."
+
+"Did you do this injury to my statue?"
+
+"Yes, I did."
+
+There was an uncompromising boldness in the man's reply which compelled
+respect. The wrath of his master became tinged with interest.
+
+"Why did you do this?" he asked.
+
+"Because it was my duty."
+
+"Why, then, was it your duty to destroy your master's property?"
+
+"Because I am a Christian." His eyes blazed suddenly out of his dark
+face. "Because there is no God but the one eternal, and all else are
+sticks and stones. What has this naked harlot to do with Him to whom the
+great firmament is but a garment and the earth a footstool? It was in
+His service that I have broken your statue."
+
+Domitian looked with a smile at the Patrician. "You will make nothing of
+him," said he. "They speak even so when they stand before the lions in
+the arena. As to argument, not all the philosophers of Rome can break
+them down. Before my very face they refuse to sacrifice in my honour.
+Never were such impossible people to deal with. I should take a short
+way with him if I were you."
+
+"What would Caesar advise?"
+
+"There are the games this afternoon. I am showing the new
+hunting-leopard which King Juba has sent from Numidia. This slave may
+give us some sport when he finds the hungry beast sniffing at his
+heels."
+
+The Patrician considered for a moment. He had always been a father to
+his servants. It was hateful to him to think of any injury befalling
+them. Perhaps even now, if this strange fanatic would show his sorrow
+for what he had done, it might be possible to spare him. At least it was
+worth trying.
+
+"Your offence deserves death," he said. "What reasons can you give why
+it should not befall you, since you have injured this statue, which is
+worth your own price a hundred times over?"
+
+The slave looked steadfastly at his master. "I do not fear death," he
+said. "My sister Candida died in the arena, and I am ready to do the
+same. It is true that I have injured your statue, but I am able to find
+you something of far greater value in exchange. I will give you the
+truth and the gospel in exchange for your broken idol."
+
+The Emperor laughed. "You will do nothing with him, Emilius," he said.
+"I know his breed of old. He is ready to die; he says so himself. Why
+save him, then?"
+
+But the Patrician still hesitated. He would make a last effort.
+
+"Throw off his bonds," he said to the guards. "Now take the furca off
+his neck. So! Now, Datus, I have released you to show you that I trust
+you. I have no wish to do you any hurt if you will but acknowledge your
+error, and so set a better example to my household here assembled."
+
+"How, then, shall I acknowledge my error?" the slave asked.
+
+"Bow your head before the goddess, and entreat her forgiveness for the
+violence you have done her. Then perhaps you may gain my pardon as
+well."
+
+"Put me, then, before her," said the Christian.
+
+Emilius Flaccus looked triumphantly at Domitian. By kindness and tact he
+was effecting that which the Emperor had failed to do by violence. Datus
+walked in front of the mutilated Venus. Then with a sudden spring he
+tore the baton out of the hand of one of his guardians, leaped upon the
+pedestal, and showered his blows upon the lovely marble woman. With a
+crack and a dull thud her right arm dropped to the ground. Another
+fierce blow and the left had followed. Flaccus danced and screamed with
+horror, while his servants dragged the raving iconoclast from his
+impassive victim. Domitian's brutal laughter echoed through the hall.
+
+"Well, friend, what think you now?" he cried. "Are you wiser than your
+Emperor? Can you indeed tame your Christian with kindness?"
+
+Emilius Flaccus wiped the sweat from his brow. "He is yours, great
+Caesar. Do with him as you will."
+
+"Let him be at the gladiators' entrance of the circus an hour before the
+games begin," said the Emperor. "Now, Emilius, the night has been a
+merry one. My Ligurian galley waits by the river quay. Come, cool your
+head with a spin to Ostia ere the business of State calls you to the
+Senate."
+
+
+
+
+VIII
+
+GIANT MAXIMIN
+
+
+I: THE COMING OF GIANT MAXIMIN
+
+Many are the strange vicissitudes of history. Greatness has often sunk
+to the dust, and has tempered itself to its new surrounding. Smallness
+has risen aloft, has flourished for a time, and then has sunk once more.
+Rich monarchs have become poor monks, brave conquerors have lost their
+manhood, eunuchs and women have overthrown armies and kingdoms. Surely
+there is no situation which the mind of man could invent which has not
+taken shape and been played out upon the world stage. But of all the
+strange careers and of all the wondrous happenings, stranger than
+Charles in his monastery, or Justin on his throne, there stands the case
+of Giant Maximin, what he attained, and how he attained it. Let me tell
+the sober facts of history, tinged only by that colouring to which the
+more austere historians could not condescend. It is a record as well as
+a story.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In the heart of Thrace some ten miles north of the Rhodope mountains,
+there is a valley which is named Harpessus, after the stream which runs
+down it. Through this valley lies the main road from the east to the
+west, and along the road, returning from an expedition against the
+Alani, there marched, upon the fifth day of the month of June in the
+year 210, a small but compact Roman army. It consisted of three
+legions--the Jovian, the Cappadocian, and the men of Hercules. Ten turmae
+of Gallic cavalry led the van, whilst the rear was covered by a regiment
+of Batavian Horse Guards, the immediate attendants of the Emperor
+Septimius Severus, who had conducted the campaign in person. The
+peasants who lined the low hills which fringed the valley looked with
+indifference upon the long files of dusty, heavily-burdened infantry,
+but they broke into murmurs of delight at the gold-faced cuirasses and
+high brazen horse-hair helmets of the guardsmen, applauding their
+stalwart figures, their martial bearing, and the stately black chargers
+which they rode. A soldier might know that it was the little weary men
+with their short swords, their heavy pikes over their shoulders, and
+their square shields slung upon their backs, who were the real terror of
+the enemies of the Empire, but to the eyes of the wondering Thracians it
+was this troop of glittering Apollos who bore Rome's victory upon their
+banners, and upheld the throne of the purple-togaed prince who rode
+before them.
+
+Among the scattered groups of peasants who looked on from a respectful
+distance at this military pageant, there were two men who attracted much
+attention from those who stood immediately around them. The one was
+commonplace enough--a little grey-headed man, with uncouth dress and a
+frame which was bent and warped by a long life of arduous toil,
+goat-driving and wood-chopping, among the mountains. It was the
+appearance of his youthful companion which had drawn the amazed
+observation of the bystanders. In stature he was such a giant as is seen
+but once or twice in each generation of mankind. Eight feet and two
+inches was his measure from his sandalled sole to the topmost curls of
+his tangled hair. Yet for all his mighty stature there was nothing heavy
+or clumsy in the man. His huge shoulders bore no redundant flesh, and
+his figure was straight and hard and supple as a young pine tree. A
+frayed suit of brown leather clung close to his giant body, and a cloak
+of undressed sheep-skin was slung from his shoulder. His bold blue eyes,
+shock of yellow hair and fair skin showed that he was of Gothic or
+northern blood, and the amazed expression upon his broad frank face as
+he stared at the passing troops told of a simple and uneventful life in
+some back valley of the Macedonian mountains.
+
+"I fear your mother was right when she advised that we keep you at
+home," said the old man anxiously. "Tree-cutting and wood-carrying will
+seem but dull work after such a sight as this."
+
+"When I see mother next it will be to put a golden torque round her
+neck," said the young giant. "And you, daddy; I will fill your leather
+pouch with gold pieces before I have done."
+
+The old man looked at his son with startled eyes. "You would not leave
+us, Theckla! What could we do without you?"
+
+"My place is down among yonder men," said the young man. "I was not born
+to drive goats and carry logs, but to sell this manhood of mine in the
+best market. There is my market in the Emperor's own Guard. Say nothing,
+daddy, for my mind is set, and if you weep now it will be to laugh
+hereafter. I will to great Rome with the soldiers."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The daily march of the heavily laden Roman legionary was fixed at twenty
+miles; but on this afternoon, though only half the distance had been
+accomplished, the silver trumpets blared out their welcome news that a
+camp was to be formed. As the men broke their ranks, the reason of their
+light march was announced by the decurions. It was the birthday of Geta,
+the younger son of the Emperor, and in his honour there would be games
+and a double ration of wine. But the iron discipline of the Roman army
+required that under all circumstances certain duties should be
+performed, and foremost among them that the camp should be made secure.
+Laying down their arms in the order of their ranks, the soldiers seized
+their spades and axes, and worked rapidly and joyously until sloping
+vallum and gaping fossa girdled them round, and gave them safe refuge
+against a night attack. Then in noisy, laughing, gesticulating crowds
+they gathered in their thousands round the grassy arena where the sports
+were to be held. A long green hill-side sloped down to a level plain,
+and on this gentle incline the army lay watching the strife of the
+chosen athletes who contended before them. They stretched themselves in
+the glare of the sunshine, their heavy tunics thrown off, and their
+naked limbs sprawling, wine-cups and baskets of fruit and cakes circling
+amongst them, enjoying rest and peace as only those can to whom it comes
+so rarely.
+
+The five-mile race was over, and had been won as usual by Decurion
+Brennus, the crack long-distance champion of the Herculians. Amid the
+yells of the Jovians, Capellus of the corps had carried off both the
+long and the high jump. Big Brebix the Gaul had out-thrown the long
+guardsman Serenus with the fifty pound stone. Now, as the sun sank
+towards the western ridge, and turned the Harpessus to a riband of
+gold, they had come to the final of the wrestling, where the pliant
+Greek, whose name is lost in the nickname of "Python," was tried out
+against the bull-necked Lictor of the military police, a hairy Hercules,
+whose heavy hand had in the way of duty oppressed many of the
+spectators.
+
+As the two men, stripped save for their loincloths, approached the
+wrestling-ring, cheers and counter-cheers burst from their adherents,
+some favouring the Lictor for his Roman blood, some the Greek from their
+own private grudge. And then, of a sudden, the cheering died, heads were
+turned towards the slope away from the arena, men stood up and peered
+and pointed, until finally, in a strange hush, the whole great assembly
+had forgotten the athletes, and were watching a single man walking
+swiftly towards them down the green curve of the hill. This huge
+solitary figure, with the oaken club in his hand, the shaggy fleece
+flapping from his great shoulders, and the setting sun gleaming upon a
+halo of golden hair, might have been the tutelary god of the fierce and
+barren mountains from which he had issued. Even the Emperor rose from
+his chair and gazed with open-eyed amazement at the extraordinary being
+who approached them.
+
+The man, whom we already know as Theckla the Thracian, paid no heed to
+the attention which he had aroused, but strode onwards, stepping as
+lightly as a deer, until he reached the fringe of the soldiers. Amid
+their open ranks he picked his way, sprang over the ropes which guarded
+the arena, and advanced towards the Emperor, until a spear at his breast
+warned him that he must go no nearer. Then he sunk upon his right knee
+and called out some words in the Gothic speech.
+
+"Great Jupiter! Whoever saw such a body of a man!" cried the Emperor.
+"What says he? What is amiss with the fellow? Whence comes he, and what
+is his name?"
+
+An interpreter translated the Barbarian's answer. "He says, great Caesar,
+that he is of good blood, and sprung by a Gothic father from a woman of
+the Alani. He says that his name is Theckla, and that he would fain
+carry a sword in Caesar's service."
+
+The Emperor smiled. "Some post could surely be found for such a man,
+were it but as janitor at the Palatine Palace," said he to one of the
+Prefects. "I would fain see him walk even as he is through the forum. He
+would turn the heads of half the women in Rome. Talk to him, Crassus.
+You know his speech."
+
+The Roman officer turned to the giant. "Caesar says that you are to come
+with him, and he will make you the servant at his door."
+
+The Barbarian rose, and his fair cheeks flushed with resentment.
+
+"I will serve Caesar as a soldier," said he, "but I will be house-servant
+to no man--not even to him. If Caesar would see what manner of man I am,
+let him put one of his guardsmen up against me."
+
+"By the shade of Milo this is a bold fellow!" cried the Emperor. "How
+say you, Crassus? Shall he make good his words?"
+
+"By your leave, Caesar," said the blunt soldier, "good swordsmen are too
+rare in these days that we should let them slay each other for sport.
+Perhaps if the Barbarian would wrestle a fall----"
+
+"Excellent!" cried the Emperor. "Here is the Python, and here Varus the
+Lictor, each stripped for the bout. Have a look at them, Barbarian, and
+see which you would choose. What does he say? He would take them both?
+Nay then he is either the king of wrestlers or the king of boasters, and
+we shall soon see which. Let him have his way, and he has himself to
+thank if he comes out with a broken neck."
+
+There was some laughter when the peasant tossed his sheep-skin mantle to
+the ground and, without troubling to remove his leathern tunic, advanced
+towards the two wrestlers; but it became uproarious when with a quick
+spring he seized the Greek under one arm and the Roman under the other,
+holding them as in a vice. Then with a terrific effort he tore them both
+from the ground, carried them writhing and kicking round the arena, and
+finally walking up to the Emperor's throne, threw his two athletes down
+in front of him. Then, bowing to Caesar, the huge Barbarian withdrew, and
+laid his great bulk down among the ranks of the applauding soldiers,
+whence he watched with stolid unconcern the conclusion of the sports.
+
+It was still daylight, when the last event had been decided, and the
+soldiers returned to the camp. The Emperor Severus had ordered his
+horse, and in the company of Crassus, his favourite prefect, rode down
+the winding pathway which skirts the Harpessus, chatting over the future
+dispersal of the army. They had ridden for some miles when Severus,
+glancing behind him, was surprised to see a huge figure which trotted
+lightly along at the very heels of his horse.
+
+"Surely this is Mercury as well as Hercules that we have found among the
+Thracian mountains," said he with a smile. "Let us see how soon our
+Syrian horses can out-distance him."
+
+The two Romans broke into a gallop, and did not draw rein until a good
+mile had been covered at the full pace of their splendid chargers. Then
+they turned and looked back; but there, some distance off, still running
+with a lightness and a spring which spoke of iron muscles and
+inexhaustible endurance, came the great Barbarian. The Roman Emperor
+waited until the athlete had come up to them.
+
+"Why do you follow me?" he asked.
+
+"It is my hope, Caesar, that I may always follow you." His flushed face
+as he spoke was almost level with that of the mounted Roman.
+
+"By the god of war, I do not know where in all the world I could find
+such a servant!" cried the Emperor. "You shall be my own body-guard,
+the one nearest to me of all."
+
+The giant fell upon his knee. "My life and strength are yours," he said.
+"I ask no more than to spend them for Caesar."
+
+Crassus had interpreted this short dialogue. He now turned to the
+Emperor.
+
+"If he is indeed to be always at your call, Caesar, it would be well to
+give the poor Barbarian some name which your lips can frame. Theckla is
+as uncouth and craggy a word as one of his native rocks."
+
+The Emperor pondered for a moment. "If I am to have the naming of him,"
+said he, "then surely I shall call him Maximus, for there is not such a
+giant upon earth."
+
+"Hark you," said the Prefect. "The Emperor has deigned to give you a
+Roman name, since you have come into his service. Henceforth you are no
+longer Theckla, but you are Maximus. Can you say it after me?"
+
+"Maximin," repeated the Barbarian, trying to catch the Roman word.
+
+The Emperor laughed at the mincing accent. "Yes, yes, Maximin let it be.
+To all the world you are Maximin, the body-guard of Severus. When we
+have reached Rome, we will soon see that your dress shall correspond
+with your office. Meanwhile march with the guard until you have my
+further orders."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+So it came about that as the Roman army resumed its march next day, and
+left behind it the fair valley of the Harpessus, a huge recruit, clad in
+brown leather, with a rude sheep-skin floating from his shoulders,
+marched beside the Imperial troop. But far away in the wooden farmhouse
+of a distant Macedonian valley two old country folk wept salt tears, and
+prayed to the gods for the safety of their boy who had turned his face
+to Rome.
+
+
+II: THE RISE OF GIANT MAXIMIN
+
+Exactly twenty-five years had passed since the day that Theckla the huge
+Thracian peasant had turned into Maximin the Roman guardsman. They had
+not been good years for Rome. Gone for ever were the great Imperial days
+of the Hadrians and the Trajans. Gone also the golden age of the two
+Antonines, when the highest were for once the most worthy and most
+wise. It had been an epoch of weak and cruel men. Severus, the swarthy
+African, a stark grim man had died in far away York, after fighting all
+the winter with the Caledonian Highlanders--a race who have ever since
+worn the martial garb of the Romans. His son, known only by his
+slighting nickname of Caracalla, had reigned during six years of insane
+lust and cruelty, before the knife of an angry soldier avenged the
+dignity of the Roman name. The nonentity Macrinus had filled the
+dangerous throne for a single year before he also met a bloody end, and
+made room for the most grotesque of all monarchs, the unspeakable
+Heliogabalus with his foul mind and his painted face. He in turn was cut
+to pieces by the soldiers; and Severus Alexander, a gentle youth, scarce
+seventeen years of age, had been thrust into his place. For thirteen
+years now he had ruled, striving with some success to put some virtue
+and stability into the rotting Empire, but raising many fierce enemies
+as he did so--enemies whom he had not the strength nor the wit to hold
+in check.
+
+And Giant Maximin--what of him? He had carried his eight feet of manhood
+through the lowlands of Scotland and the passes of the Grampians. He
+had seen Severus pass away, and had soldiered with his son. He had
+fought in Armenia, in Dacia, and in Germany. They had made him a
+centurion upon the field when with his hands he plucked out one by one
+the stockades of a northern village, and so cleared a path for the
+stormers. His strength had been the jest and the admiration of the
+soldiers. Legends about him had spread through the army, and were the
+common gossip round the camp fires--of his duel with the German axe-man
+on the Island of the Rhine, and of the blow with his fist that broke the
+leg of a Scythian's horse. Gradually he had won his way upwards, until
+now, after quarter of a century's service, he was tribune of the fourth
+legion and superintendent of recruits for the whole army. The young
+soldier who had come under the glare of Maximin's eyes, or had been
+lifted up with one huge hand while he was cuffed by the other, had his
+first lesson from him in the discipline of the service.
+
+It was nightfall in the camp of the fourth legion upon the Gallic shore
+of the Rhine. Across the moonlit water, amid the thick forests which
+stretched away to the dim horizon, lay the wild untamed German tribes.
+Down on the river bank the light gleamed upon the helmets of the Roman
+sentinels who kept guard along the river. Far away a red point rose and
+fell in the darkness--a watch-fire of the enemy upon the further shore.
+
+Outside his tent, beside some smouldering logs, Giant Maximin was
+seated, a dozen of his officers around him. He had changed much since
+the day when we first met him in the Valley of the Harpessus. His huge
+frame was as erect as ever, and there was no sign of diminution of his
+strength. But he had aged none the less. The yellow tangle of hair was
+gone, worn down by the ever-pressing helmet. The fresh young face was
+drawn and hardened, with austere lines wrought by trouble and privation.
+The nose was more hawk-like, the eyes more cunning, the expression more
+cynical and more sinister. In his youth, a child would have run to his
+arms. Now it would shrink screaming from his gaze. That was what
+twenty-five years with the eagles had done for Theckla the Thracian
+peasant.
+
+He was listening now--for he was a man of few words--to the chatter of
+his centurions. One of them, Balbus the Sicilian, had been to the main
+camp at Mainz, only four miles away, and had seen the Emperor Alexander
+arrive that very day from Rome. The rest were eager at the news, for it
+was a time of unrest, and the rumour of great changes was in the air.
+
+"How many had he with him?" asked Labienus, a black-browed veteran from
+the south of Gaul. "I'll wager a month's pay that he was not so trustful
+as to come alone among his faithful legions."
+
+"He had no great force," replied Balbus. "Ten or twelve cohorts of the
+Praetorians and a handful of horse."
+
+"Then indeed his head is in the lion's mouth," cried Sulpicius, a
+hot-headed youth from the African Pentapolis. "How was he received?"
+
+"Coldly enough. There was scarce a shout as he came down the line."
+
+"They are ripe for mischief," said Labienus. "And who can wonder, when
+it is we soldiers who uphold the Empire upon our spears, while the lazy
+citizens at Rome reap all of our sowing. Why cannot a soldier have what
+the soldier gains? So long as they throw us our denarius a day, they
+think that they have done with us."
+
+"Aye," croaked a grumbling old greybeard. "Our limbs, our blood, our
+lives--what do they care so long as the Barbarians are held off, and
+they are left in peace to their feastings and their circus? Free bread,
+free wine, free games--everything for the loafer at Rome. For us the
+frontier guard and a soldier's fare."
+
+Maximin gave a deep laugh. "Old Plancus talks like that," said he; "but
+we know that for all the world he would not change his steel plate for a
+citizen's gown. You've earned the kennel, old hound, if you wish it. Go
+and gnaw your bone and growl in peace."
+
+"Nay, I am too old for change. I will follow the eagle till I die. And
+yet I had rather die in serving a soldier master than a long-gowned
+Syrian who comes of a stock where the women are men and the men are
+women."
+
+There was a laugh from the circle of soldiers, for sedition and mutiny
+were rife in the camp, and even the old centurion's outbreak could not
+draw a protest. Maximin raised his great mastiff head and looked at
+Balbus.
+
+"Was any name in the mouths of the soldiers?" he asked in a meaning
+voice.
+
+There was a hush for the answer. The sigh of the wind among the pines
+and the low lapping of the river swelled out louder in the silence.
+Balbus looked hard at his commander.
+
+"Two names were whispered from rank to rank," said he. "One was Ascenius
+Pollio, the General. The other was----"
+
+The fiery Sulpicius sprang to his feet waving a glowing brand above his
+head.
+
+"Maximinus!" he yelled. "Imperator Maximinus Augustus!"
+
+Who could tell how it came about? No one had thought of it an hour
+before. And now it sprang in an instant to full accomplishment. The
+shout of the frenzied young African had scarcely rung through the
+darkness when from the tents, from the watch-fires, from the sentries,
+the answer came pealing back: "Ave Maximinus! Ave Maximinus Augustus!"
+From all sides men came rushing, half-clad, wild-eyed, their eyes
+staring, their mouths agape, flaming wisps of straw or flaring torches
+above their heads. The giant was caught up by scores of hands, and sat
+enthroned upon the bull-necks of the legionaries. "To the camp!" they
+yelled. "To the camp! Hail! Hail to the soldier Caesar!"
+
+That same night Severus Alexander, the young Syrian Emperor, walked
+outside his Praetorian camp, accompanied by his friend Licinius Probus,
+the Captain of the Guard. They were talking gravely of the gloomy faces
+and seditious bearing of the soldiers. A great foreboding of evil
+weighed heavily upon the Emperor's heart, and it was reflected upon the
+stern bearded face of his companion.
+
+"I like it not," said he. "It is my counsel, Caesar, that with the first
+light of morning we make our way south once more."
+
+"But surely," the Emperor answered, "I could not for shame turn my back
+upon the danger. What have they against me? How have I harmed them that
+they should forget their vows and rise upon me?"
+
+"They are like children who ask always for something new. You heard the
+murmur as you rode along the ranks. Nay, Caesar, fly to-morrow, and your
+Praetorians will see that you are not pursued. There may be some loyal
+cohorts among the legions, and if we join forces----"
+
+A distant shout broke in upon their conversation--a low continued roar,
+like the swelling tumult of a sweeping wave. Far down the road upon
+which they stood there twinkled many moving lights, tossing and sinking
+as they rapidly advanced, whilst the hoarse tumultuous bellowing broke
+into articulate words, the same tremendous words, a thousand-fold
+repeated. Licinius seized the Emperor by the wrist and dragged him under
+the cover of some bushes.
+
+"Be still, Caesar! For your life be still!" he whispered. "One word and
+we are lost!"
+
+Crouching in the darkness, they saw that wild procession pass, the
+rushing, screaming figures, the tossing arms, the bearded, distorted
+faces, now scarlet and now grey, as the brandished torches waxed or
+waned. They heard the rush of many feet, the clamour of hoarse voices,
+the clang of metal upon metal. And then suddenly, above them all, they
+saw a vision of a monstrous man, a huge bowed back, a savage face, grim
+hawk eyes, that looked out over the swaying shields. It was seen for an
+instant in a smoke-fringed circle of fire, and then it had swept on into
+the night.
+
+"Who is he?" stammered the Emperor, clutching at his guardsman's sleeve.
+"They call him Caesar."
+
+"It is surely Maximin the Thracian peasant." In the darkness the
+Praetorian officer looked with strange eyes at his master.
+
+"It is all over, Caesar. Let us fly together to your tent."
+
+But even as they went a second shout had broken forth tenfold louder
+than the first. If the one had been the roar of the oncoming wave, the
+other was the full turmoil of the tempest. Twenty thousand voices from
+the camp had broken into one wild shout which echoed through the night,
+until the distant Germans round their watch-fires listened in wonder and
+alarm.
+
+"Ave!" cried the voices. "Ave Maximinus Augustus!"
+
+High upon their bucklers stood the giant, and looked round him at the
+great floor of up-turned faces below. His own savage soul was stirred by
+the clamour, but only his gleaming eyes spoke of the fire within. He
+waved his hand to the shouting soldiers as the huntsman waves to the
+leaping pack. They passed him up a coronet of oak leaves, and clashed
+their swords in homage as he placed it on his head. And then there came
+a swirl in the crowd before him, a little space was cleared, and there
+knelt an officer in the Praetorian garb, blood upon his face, blood upon
+his bared forearm, blood upon his naked sword. Licinius too had gone
+with the tide.
+
+"Hail, Caesar, hail!" he cried, as he bowed his head before the giant. "I
+come from Alexander. He will trouble you no more."
+
+
+III: THE FALL OF GIANT MAXIMIN
+
+For three years the soldier Emperor had been upon the throne. His palace
+had been his tent, and his people had been the legionaries. With them he
+was supreme; away from them he was nothing. He had gone with them from
+one frontier to the other. He had fought against Dacians, Sarmatians,
+and once again against the Germans. But Rome knew nothing of him, and
+all her turbulence rose against a master who cared so little for her or
+her opinion that he never deigned to set foot within her walls. There
+were cabals and conspiracies against the absent Caesar. Then his heavy
+hand fell upon them, and they were cuffed, even as the young soldiers
+had been who passed under his discipline. He knew nothing, and cared as
+much for consuls, senates, and civil laws. His own will and the power of
+the sword were the only forces which he could understand. Of commerce
+and the arts he was as ignorant as when he left his Thracian home. The
+whole vast Empire was to him a huge machine for producing the money by
+which the legions were to be rewarded. Should he fail to get that money,
+his fellow soldiers would bear him a grudge. To watch their interests
+they had raised him upon their shields that night. If city funds had to
+be plundered or temples desecrated, still the money must be got. Such
+was the point of view of Giant Maximin.
+
+But there came resistance, and all the fierce energy of the man, all the
+hardness which had given him the leadership of hard men, sprang forth to
+quell it. From his youth he had lived amidst slaughter. Life and death
+were cheap things to him. He struck savagely at all who stood up to
+him, and when they hit back, he struck more savagely still. His giant
+shadow lay black across the Empire from Britain to Syria. A strange
+subtle vindictiveness became also apparent in him. Omnipotence ripened
+every fault and swelled it into crime. In the old days he had been
+rebuked for his roughness. Now a sullen, dangerous anger rose against
+those who had rebuked him. He sat by the hour with his craggy chin
+between his hands, and his elbows resting on his knees, while he
+recalled all the misadventures, all the vexations of his early youth,
+when Roman wits had shot their little satires upon his bulk and his
+ignorance. He could not write, but his son Verus placed the names upon
+his tablets, and they were sent to the Governor of Rome. Men who had
+long forgotten their offence were called suddenly to make most bloody
+reparation.
+
+A rebellion broke out in Africa, but was quelled by his lieutenant. But
+the mere rumour of it set Rome in a turmoil. The Senate found something
+of its ancient spirit. So did the Italian people. They would not be for
+ever bullied by the legions. As Maximin approached from the frontier,
+with the sack of rebellious Rome in his mind, he was faced with every
+sign of a national resistance. The country-side was deserted, the farms
+abandoned, the fields cleared of crops and cattle. Before him lay the
+walled town of Aquileia. He flung himself fiercely upon it, but was met
+by as fierce a resistance. The walls could not be forced, and yet there
+was no food in the country round for his legions. The men were starving
+and dissatisfied. What did it matter to them who was Emperor? Maximin
+was no better than themselves. Why should they call down the curse of
+the whole Empire upon their heads by upholding him? He saw their sullen
+faces and their averted eyes, and he knew that the end had come.
+
+That night he sat with his son Verus in his tent, and he spoke softly
+and gently as the youth had never heard him speak before. He had spoken
+thus in old days with Paullina, the boy's mother; but she had been dead
+these many years, and all that was soft and gentle in the big man had
+passed away with her. Now her spirit seemed very near him, and his own
+was tempered by its presence.
+
+"I would have you go back to the Thracian mountains," he said. "I have
+tried both, boy, and I can tell you that there is no pleasure which
+power can bring which can equal the breath of the wind and the smell of
+the kine upon a summer morning. Against you they have no quarrel. Why
+should they mishandle you? Keep far from Rome and the Romans. Old
+Eudoxus has money, and to spare. He awaits you with two horses outside
+the camp. Make for the valley of the Harpessus, lad. It was thence that
+your father came, and there you will find his kin. Buy and stock a
+homestead, and keep yourself far from the paths of greatness and of
+danger. God keep you, Verus, and send you safe to Thrace."
+
+When his son had kissed his hand and had left him, the Emperor drew his
+robe around him and sat long in thought. In his slow brain he revolved
+the past--his early peaceful days, his years with Severus, his memories
+of Britain, his long campaigns, his strivings and battlings, all leading
+to that mad night by the Rhine. His fellow soldiers had loved him then.
+And now he had read death in their eyes. How had he failed them? Others
+he might have wronged, but they at least had no complaint against him.
+If he had his time again, he would think less of them and more of his
+people, he would try to win love instead of fear, he would live for
+peace and not for war. If he had his time again! But there were
+shuffling steps, furtive whispers, and the low rattle of arms outside
+his tent. A bearded face looked in at him, a swarthy African face that
+he knew well. He laughed, and baring his arm, he took his sword from the
+table beside him.
+
+"It is you, Sulpicius," said he. "You have not come to cry 'Ave
+Imperator Maximin!' as once by the camp fire. You are tired of me, and
+by the gods I am tired of you, and glad to be at the end of it. Come and
+have done with it, for I am minded to see how many of you I can take
+with me when I go."
+
+They clustered at the door of the tent, peeping over each other's
+shoulders, and none wishing to be the first to close with that laughing,
+mocking giant. But something was pushed forward upon a spear point, and
+as he saw it, Maximin groaned and his sword sank to the earth.
+
+"You might have spared the boy," he sobbed. "He would not have hurt
+you. Have done with it then, for I will gladly follow him."
+
+So they closed upon him and cut and stabbed and thrust, until his knees
+gave way beneath him and he dropped upon the floor.
+
+"The tyrant is dead!" they cried. "The tyrant is dead," and from all the
+camp beneath them and from the walls of the beleaguered city the joyous
+cry came echoing back, "He is dead, Maximin is dead!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I sit in my study, and upon the table before me lies a denarius of
+Maximin, as fresh as when the triumvir of the Temple of Juno Moneta sent
+it from the mint. Around it are recorded his resounding
+titles--Imperator Maximinus, Pontifex Maximus, Tribunitia potestate, and
+the rest. In the centre is the impress of a great craggy head, a massive
+jaw, a rude fighting face, a contracted forehead. For all the pompous
+roll of titles it is a peasant's face, and I see him not as the Emperor
+of Rome, but as the great Thracian boor who strode down the hill-side on
+that far-distant summer day when first the eagles beckoned him to Rome.
+
+
+
+
+IX
+
+THE RED STAR
+
+
+The house of Theodosius, the famous eastern merchant, was in the best
+part of Constantinople at the Sea Point which is near the church of
+Saint Demetrius. Here he would entertain in so princely a fashion that
+even the Emperor Maurice had been known to come privately from the
+neighbouring Bucoleon palace in order to join in the revelry. On the
+night in question, however, which was the fourth of November in the year
+of our Lord 630, his numerous guests had retired early, and there
+remained only two intimates, both of them successful merchants like
+himself, who sat with him over their wine on the marble verandah of his
+house, whence on the one side they could see the lights of the shipping
+in the Sea of Marmora, and on the other the beacons which marked out the
+course of the Bosphorus. Immediately at their feet lay a narrow strait
+of water, with the low, dark loom of the Asiatic hills beyond. A thin
+haze hid the heavens, but away to the south a single great red star
+burned sullenly in the darkness.
+
+The night was cool, the light was soothing, and the three men talked
+freely, letting their minds drift back into the earlier days when they
+had staked their capital, and often their lives, on the ventures which
+had built up their present fortunes. The host spoke of his long journeys
+in North Africa, the land of the Moors; how he had travelled, keeping
+the blue sea ever upon his right, until he had passed the ruins of
+Carthage, and so on and ever on until a great tidal ocean beat upon a
+yellow strand before him, while on the right he could see the high rock
+across the waves which marked the Pillars of Hercules. His talk was of
+dark-skinned bearded men, of lions, and of monstrous serpents. Then
+Demetrius, the Cilician, an austere man of sixty, told how he also had
+built up his mighty wealth. He spoke of a journey over the Danube and
+through the country of the fierce Huns, until he and his friends had
+found themselves in the mighty forest of Germany, on the shores of the
+great river which is called the Elbe. His stories were of huge men,
+sluggish of mind, but murderous in their cups, of sudden midnight broils
+and nocturnal flights, of villages buried in dense woods, of bloody
+heathen sacrifices, and of the bears and wolves who haunted the forest
+paths. So the two elder men capped each other's stories and awoke each
+other's memories, while Manuel Ducas, the young merchant of gold and
+ostrich feathers, whose name was already known all over the Levant, sat
+in silence and listened to their talk. At last, however, they called
+upon him also for an anecdote, and leaning his cheek upon his elbow,
+with his eyes fixed upon the great red star which burned in the south,
+the younger man began to speak.
+
+"It is the sight of that star which brings a story into my mind," said
+he. "I do not know its name. Old Lascaris the astronomer would tell me
+if I asked, but I have no desire to know. Yet at this time of the year I
+always look out for it, and I never fail to see it burning in the same
+place. But it seems to me that it is redder and larger than it was.
+
+"It was some ten years ago that I made an expedition into Abyssinia,
+where I traded to such good effect that I set forth on my return with
+more than a hundred camel-loads of skins, ivory, gold, spices, and other
+African produce. I brought them to the sea-coast at Arsinoe, and carried
+them up the Arabian Gulf in five of the small boats of the country.
+Finally, I landed near Saba, which is a starting-point for caravans,
+and, having assembled my camels and hired a guard of forty men from the
+wandering Arabs, I set forth for Macoraba. From this point, which is the
+sacred city of the idolaters of those parts, one can always join the
+large caravans which go north twice a year to Jerusalem and the
+sea-coast of Syria.
+
+"Our route was a long and weary one. On our left hand was the Arabian
+Gulf, lying like a pool of molten metal under the glare of day, but
+changing to blood-red as the sun sank each evening behind the distant
+African coast. On our right was a monstrous desert which extends, so far
+as I know, across the whole of Arabia and away to the distant kingdom of
+the Persians. For many days we saw no sign of life save our own long,
+straggling line of laden camels with their tattered, swarthy guardians.
+In these deserts the soft sand deadens the footfall of the animals, so
+that their silent progress day after day through a scene which never
+changes, and which is itself noiseless, becomes at last like a strange
+dream. Often as I rode behind my caravan, and gazed at the grotesque
+figures which bore my wares in front of me, I found it hard to believe
+that it was indeed reality, and that it was I, I, Manuel Ducas, who
+lived near the Theodosian Gate of Constantinople, and shouted for the
+Green at the hippodrome every Sunday afternoon, who was there in so
+strange a land and with such singular comrades.
+
+"Now and then, far out at sea, we caught sight of the white triangular
+sails of the boats which these people use, but as they are all pirates,
+we were very glad to be safely upon shore. Once or twice, too, by the
+water's edge we saw dwarfish creatures--one could scarcely say if they
+were men or monkeys--who burrow for homes among the seaweed, drink the
+pools of brackish water, and eat what they can catch. These are the
+fish-eaters, the Ichthyophagi, of whom old Herodotus talks--surely the
+lowest of all the human race. Our Arabs shrank from them with horror,
+for it is well known that, should you die in the desert, these little
+people will settle on you like carrion crows, and leave not a bone
+unpicked. They gibbered and croaked and waved their skinny arms at us as
+we passed, knowing well that they could swim far out to sea if we
+attempted to pursue them; for it is said that even the sharks turn with
+disgust from their foul bodies.
+
+"We had travelled in this way for ten days, camping every evening at the
+vile wells which offered a small quantity of abominable water. It was
+our habit to rise very early and to travel very late, but to halt during
+the intolerable heat of the afternoon, when, for want of trees, we would
+crouch in the shadow of a sandhill, or, if that were wanting, behind our
+own camels and merchandise, in order to escape from the insufferable
+glare of the sun. On the seventh day we were near the point where one
+leaves the coast in order to strike inland to Macoraba. We had concluded
+our midday halt, and were just starting once more, the sun still being
+so hot that we could hardly bear it, when, looking up, I saw a
+remarkable sight. Standing on a hillock to our right there was a man
+about forty feet high, holding in his hand a spear which was the size
+of the mast of a large ship. You look surprised, my friends, and you can
+therefore imagine my feelings when I saw such a sight. But my reason
+soon told me that the object in front of me was really a wandering Arab,
+whose form had been enormously magnified by the strange distorting
+effects which the hot air of the desert is able to cause.
+
+"However, the actual apparition caused more alarm to my companions than
+the imagined one had to me, for with a howl of dismay they shrank
+together into a frightened group, all pointing and gesticulating as they
+gazed at the distant figure. I then observed that the man was not alone,
+but that from all the sandhills a line of turbaned heads was gazing down
+upon us. The chief of the escort came running to me, and informed me of
+the cause of their terror, which was that they recognised, by some
+peculiarity in their headgear, that these men belonged to the tribe of
+the Dilwas, the most ferocious and unscrupulous of the Bedouin, who had
+evidently laid an ambuscade for us at this point with the intention of
+seizing our caravan. When I thought of all my efforts in Abyssinia, of
+the length of my journey and of the dangers and fatigues which I had
+endured, I could not bear to think of this total disaster coming upon me
+at the last instant and robbing me not only of my profits, but also of
+my original outlay. It was evident, however, that the robbers were too
+numerous for us to attempt to defend ourselves, and that we should be
+very fortunate if we escaped with our lives. Sitting upon a packet,
+therefore, I commended my soul to our blessed Saint Helena, while I
+watched with despairing eyes the stealthy and menacing approach of the
+Arab robbers.
+
+"It may have been our own good fortune, or it may have been the handsome
+offering of beeswax candles--four to the pound--which I had mentally
+vowed to the Blessed Helena, but at that instant I heard a great outcry
+of joy from among my own followers. Standing up on the packet that I
+might have a better view, I was overjoyed to see a long caravan--five
+hundred camels at least--with a numerous armed guard, coming along the
+route from Macoraba. It is, I need not tell you, the custom of all
+caravans to combine their forces against the robbers of the desert, and
+with the aid of these new-comers we had become the stronger party. The
+marauders recognised it at once, for they vanished as if their native
+sands had swallowed them. Running up to the summit of a sandhill, I was
+just able to catch a glimpse of a dust-cloud whirling away across the
+yellow plain, with the long necks of their camels, the flutter of their
+loose garments, and the gleam of their spears breaking out from the
+heart of it. So vanished the marauders.
+
+"Presently I found, however, that I had only exchanged one danger for
+another. At first I had hoped that this new caravan might belong to some
+Roman citizen, or at least to some Syrian Christian, but I found that it
+was entirely Arab. The trading Arabs who are settled in the numerous
+towns of Arabia are, of course, very much more peaceable than the
+Bedouin of the wilderness, those sons of Ishmael of whom we read in Holy
+Writ. But the Arab blood is covetous and lawless, so that when I saw
+several hundred of them formed in a semi-circle round our camels,
+looking with greedy eyes at my boxes of precious metals and my packets
+of ostrich feathers, I feared the worst.
+
+"The leader of the new caravan was a man of dignified bearing and
+remarkable appearance. His age I would judge to be about forty. He had
+aquiline features, a noble black beard, and eyes so luminous, so
+searching, and so intense that I cannot remember in all my wanderings to
+have seen any which could be compared with them. To my thanks and
+salutations he returned a formal bow, and stood stroking his beard and
+looking in silence at the wealth which had suddenly fallen into his
+power. A murmur from his followers showed the eagerness with which they
+awaited the order to fall upon the plunder, and a young ruffian, who
+seemed to be on intimate terms with the leader, came to his elbow and
+put the desires of his companions into words.
+
+"'Surely, oh Reverend One,' said he, 'these people and their treasure
+have been delivered into our hands. When we return with it to the holy
+place, who of all the Koraish will fail to see the finger of God which
+has led us?'
+
+"But the leader shook his head. 'Nay, Ali, it may not be,' he answered.
+'This man is, as I judge, a citizen of Rome, and we may not treat him as
+though he were an idolater.'
+
+"'But he is an unbeliever,' cried the youth, fingering a great knife
+which hung in his belt. 'Were I to be the judge, he would lose not only
+his merchandise, but his life also, if he did not accept the faith.'
+
+"The older man smiled and shook his head. 'Nay, Ali; you are too
+hot-headed,' said he, 'seeing that there are not as yet three hundred
+faithful in the world, our hands would indeed be full if we were to take
+the lives and property of all who are not with us. Forget not, dear lad,
+that charity and honesty are the very nose-ring and halter of the true
+faith.'
+
+"'Among the faithful,' said the ferocious youth.
+
+"'Nay, towards every one. It is the law of Allah. And yet'--here his
+countenance darkened, and his eyes shone with a most sinister
+light--'the day may soon come when the hour of grace is past, and woe,
+then, to those who have not hearkened! Then shall the sword of Allah be
+drawn, and it shall not be sheathed until the harvest is reaped. First
+it shall strike the idolaters on the day when my own people and kinsmen,
+the unbelieving Koraish, shall be scattered, and the three hundred and
+sixty idols of the Caaba thrust out upon the dung-heaps of the town.
+Then shall the Caaba be the home and temple of one God only who brooks
+no rival on earth or in heaven.'
+
+"The man's followers had gathered round him, their spears in their
+hands, their ardent eyes fixed upon his face, and their dark features
+convulsed with such fanatic enthusiasm as showed the hold which he had
+upon their love and respect.
+
+"'We shall be patient,' said he; 'but some time next year, the year
+after, the day may come when the great angel Gabriel shall bear me the
+message that the time of words has gone by, and that the hour of the
+sword has come. We are few and weak, but if it is His will, who can
+stand against us? Are you of Jewish faith, stranger?' he asked.
+
+"I answered that I was not.
+
+"'The better for you,' he answered, with the same furious anger in his
+swarthy face. 'First shall the idolaters fall, and then the Jews, in
+that they have not known those very prophets whom they had themselves
+foretold. Then last will come the turn of the Christians, who follow
+indeed a true Prophet, greater than Moses or Abraham, but who have
+sinned in that they have confounded a creature with the Creator. To each
+in turn--idolater, Jew, and Christian--the day of reckoning will come.'
+
+"The ragamuffins behind him all shook their spears as he spoke. There
+was no doubt about their earnestness, but when I looked at their
+tattered dresses and simple arms, I could not help smiling to think of
+their ambitious threats, and to picture what their fate would be upon
+the day of battle before the battle-axes of our Imperial Guards, or the
+spears of the heavy cavalry of the Armenian Themes. However, I need not
+say that I was discreet enough to keep my thoughts to myself, as I had
+no desire to be the first martyr in this fresh attack upon our blessed
+faith.
+
+"It was now evening, and it was decided that the two caravans should
+camp together--an arrangement which was the more welcome as we were by
+no means sure that we had seen the last of the marauders. I had invited
+the leader of the Arabs to have supper with me, and after a long
+exercise of prayer with his followers, he came to join me, but my
+attempt at hospitality was thrown away, for he would not touch the
+excellent wine which I had unpacked for him, nor would he eat any of my
+dainties, contenting himself with stale bread, dried dates, and water.
+After this meal we sat alone by the smouldering fire, the magnificent
+arch of the heavens above us of that deep, rich blue with those
+gleaming, clear-cut stars which can only be seen in that dry desert air.
+Our camp lay before us, and no sound reached our ears save the dull
+murmur of the voices of our companions and the occasional shrill cry of
+a jackal among the sandhills around us. Face to face I sat with this
+strange man, the glow of the fire beating upon his eager and imperious
+features and reflecting from his passionate eyes. It was the strangest
+vigil, and one which will never pass from my recollection. I have spoken
+with many wise and famous men upon my travels, but never with one who
+left the impression of this one.
+
+"And yet much of his talk was unintelligible to me, though, as you are
+aware, I speak Arabian like an Arab. It rose and fell in the strangest
+way. Sometimes it was the babble of a child, sometimes the incoherent
+raving of a fanatic, sometimes the lofty dreams of a prophet and
+philosopher. There were times when his stories of demons, of miracles,
+of dreams, and of omens, were such as an old woman might tell to please
+the children of an evening. There were others when, as he talked with
+shining face of his converse with angels, of the intentions of the
+Creator, and the end of the universe, I felt as if I were in the company
+of some one more than mortal, some one who was indeed the direct
+messenger of the Most High.
+
+"There were good reasons why he should treat me with such confidence. He
+saw in me a messenger to Constantinople and to the Roman Empire. Even as
+Saint Paul had brought Christianity to Europe, so he hoped that I might
+carry his doctrines to my native city. Alas! be the doctrines what they
+may, I fear that I am not the stuff of which Pauls are made. Yet he
+strove with all his heart during that long Arabian night to bring me
+over to his belief. He had with him a holy book, written, as he said,
+from the dictation of an angel, which he carried in tablets of bone in
+the nose-bag of a camel. Some chapters of this he read me; but, though
+the precepts were usually good, the language seemed wild and fanciful.
+There were times when I could scarce keep my countenance as I listened
+to him. He planned out his future movements, and indeed, as he spoke, it
+was hard to remember that he was only the wandering leader of an Arab
+caravan, and not one of the great ones of the earth.
+
+"'When God has given me sufficient power, which will be within a few
+years,' said he, 'I will unite all Arabia under my banner. Then I will
+spread my doctrine over Syria and Egypt. When this has been done, I will
+turn to Persia, and give them the choice of the true faith or the sword.
+Having taken Persia, it will be easy then to overrun Asia Minor, and so
+to make our way to Constantinople.'
+
+"I bit my lip to keep from laughing. 'And how long will it be before
+your victorious troops have reached the Bosphorus?' I asked.
+
+"'Such things are in the hands of God, whose servants we are,' said he.
+'It may be that I shall myself have passed away before these things are
+accomplished, but before the days of our children are completed, all
+that I have now told you will come to pass. Look at that star,' he
+added, pointing to a beautiful clear planet above our heads. 'That is
+the symbol of Christ. See how serene and peaceful it shines, like His
+own teaching and the memory of His life. Now,' he added, turning his
+outstretched hand to a dusky red star upon the horizon--the very one on
+which we are gazing now--'that is my star, which tells of wrath, of war,
+of a scourge upon sinners. And yet both are indeed stars, and each does
+as Allah may ordain.'
+
+"Well, that was the experience which was called to my mind by the sight
+of this star to-night. Red and angry, it still broods over the south,
+even as I saw it that night in the desert. Somewhere down yonder that
+man is working and striving. He may be stabbed by some brother fanatic
+or slain in a tribal skirmish. If so, that is the end. But if he lives,
+there was that in his eyes and in his presence which tells me that
+Mahomet the son of Abdallah--for that was his name--will testify in some
+noteworthy fashion to the faith that is in him."
+
+
+
+
+X
+
+THE SILVER MIRROR
+
+
+_Jan. 3._--This affair of White and Wotherspoon's accounts proves to be
+a gigantic task. There are twenty thick ledgers to be examined and
+checked. Who would be a junior partner? However, it is the first big bit
+of business which has been left entirely in my hands. I must justify it.
+But it has to be finished so that the lawyers may have the result in
+time for the trial. Johnson said this morning that I should have to get
+the last figure out before the twentieth of the month. Good Lord! Well,
+have at it, and if human brain and nerve can stand the strain, I'll win
+out at the other side. It means office-work from ten to five, and then a
+second sitting from about eight to one in the morning. There's drama in
+an accountant's life. When I find myself in the still early hours, while
+all the world sleeps, hunting through column after column for those
+missing figures which will turn a respected alderman into a felon, I
+understand that it is not such a prosaic profession after all.
+
+On Monday I came on the first trace of defalcation. No heavy game hunter
+ever got a finer thrill when first he caught sight of the trail of his
+quarry. But I look at the twenty ledgers and think of the jungle through
+which I have to follow him before I get my kill. Hard work--but rare
+sport, too, in a way! I saw the fat fellow once at a City dinner, his
+red face glowing above a white napkin. He looked at the little pale man
+at the end of the table. He would have been pale too if he could have
+seen the task that would be mine.
+
+_Jan. 6._--What perfect nonsense it is for doctors to prescribe rest
+when rest is out of the question! Asses! They might as well shout to a
+man who has a pack of wolves at his heels that what he wants is absolute
+quiet. My figures must be out by a certain date; unless they are so, I
+shall lose the chance of my lifetime, so how on earth am I to rest? I'll
+take a week or so after the trial.
+
+Perhaps I was myself a fool to go to the doctor at all. But I get
+nervous and highly-strung when I sit alone at my work at night. It's
+not a pain--only a sort of fullness of the head with an occasional mist
+over the eyes. I thought perhaps some bromide, or chloral, or something
+of the kind might do me good. But stop work? It's absurd to ask such a
+thing. It's like a long distance race. You feel queer at first and your
+heart thumps and your lungs pant, but if you have only the pluck to keep
+on, you get your second wind. I'll stick to my work and wait for my
+second wind. If it never comes--all the same, I'll stick to my work. Two
+ledgers are done, and I am well on in the third. The rascal has covered
+his tracks well, but I pick them up for all that.
+
+_Jan. 9._--I had not meant to go to the doctor again. And yet I have had
+to. "Straining my nerves, risking a complete breakdown, even endangering
+my sanity." That's a nice sentence to have fired off at one. Well, I'll
+stand the strain and I'll take the risk, and so long as I can sit in my
+chair and move a pen I'll follow the old sinner's slot.
+
+By the way, I may as well set down here the queer experience which drove
+me this second time to the doctor. I'll keep an exact record of my
+symptoms and sensations, because they are interesting in themselves--"a
+curious psycho-physiological study," says the doctor--and also because I
+am perfectly certain that when I am through with them they will all seem
+blurred and unreal, like some queer dream betwixt sleeping and waking.
+So now, while they are fresh, I will just make a note of them, if only
+as a change of thought after the endless figures.
+
+There's an old silver-framed mirror in my room. It was given me by a
+friend who had a taste for antiquities, and he, as I happen to know,
+picked it up at a sale and had no notion where it came from. It's a
+large thing--three feet across and two feet high--and it leans at the
+back of a side-table on my left as I write. The frame is flat, about
+three inches across, and very old; far too old for hall-marks or other
+methods of determining its age. The glass part projects, with a bevelled
+edge, and has the magnificent reflecting power which is only, as it
+seems to me, to be found in very old mirrors. There's a feeling of
+perspective when you look into it such as no modern glass can ever give.
+
+The mirror is so situated that as I sit at the table I can usually see
+nothing in it but the reflection of the red window curtains. But a queer
+thing happened last night. I had been working for some hours, very much
+against the grain, with continual bouts of that mistiness of which I had
+complained. Again and again I had to stop and clear my eyes. Well, on
+one of these occasions I chanced to look at the mirror. It had the
+oddest appearance. The red curtains which should have been reflected in
+it were no longer there, but the glass seemed to be clouded and steamy,
+not on the surface, which glittered like steel, but deep down in the
+very grain of it. This opacity, when I stared hard at it, appeared to
+slowly rotate this way and that, until it was a thick white cloud
+swirling in heavy wreaths. So real and solid was it, and so reasonable
+was I, that I remember turning, with the idea that the curtains were on
+fire. But everything was deadly still in the room--no sound save the
+ticking of the clock, no movement save the slow gyration of that strange
+woolly cloud deep in the heart of the old mirror.
+
+Then, as I looked, the mist, or smoke, or cloud, or whatever one may
+call it, seemed to coalesce and solidify at two points quite close
+together, and I was aware, with a thrill of interest rather than of
+fear, that these were two eyes looking out into the room. A vague
+outline of a head I could see--a woman's by the hair, but this was very
+shadowy. Only the eyes were quite distinct; such eyes--dark, luminous,
+filled with some passionate emotion, fury or horror, I could not say
+which. Never have I seen eyes which were so full of intense, vivid life.
+They were not fixed upon me, but stared out into the room. Then as I sat
+erect, passed my hand over my brow, and made a strong conscious effort
+to pull myself together, the dim head faded in the general opacity, the
+mirror slowly cleared, and there were the red curtains once again.
+
+A sceptic would say, no doubt, that I had dropped asleep over my
+figures, and that my experience was a dream. As a matter of fact, I was
+never more vividly awake in my life. I was able to argue about it even
+as I looked at it, and to tell myself that it was a subjective
+impression--a chimera of the nerves--begotten by worry and insomnia. But
+why this particular shape? And who is the woman, and what is the
+dreadful emotion which I read in those wonderful brown eyes? They come
+between me and my work. For the first time I have done less than the
+daily tally which I had marked out. Perhaps that is why I have had no
+abnormal sensations to-night. To-morrow I must wake up, come what may.
+
+_Jan. 11._--All well, and good progress with my work. I wind the net,
+coil after coil, round that bulky body. But the last smile may remain
+with him if my own nerves break over it. The mirror would seem to be a
+sort of barometer which marks my brain pressure. Each night I have
+observed that it had clouded before I reached the end of my task.
+
+Dr. Sinclair (who is, it seems, a bit of a psychologist) was so
+interested in my account that he came round this evening to have a look
+at the mirror. I had observed that something was scribbled in crabbed
+old characters upon the metal work at the back. He examined this with a
+lens, but could make nothing of it. "Sanc. X. Pal." was his final
+reading of it, but that did not bring us any further. He advised me to
+put it away into another room, but, after all, whatever I may see in it
+is, by his own account, only a symptom. It is in the cause that the
+danger lies. The twenty ledgers--not the silver mirror--should be packed
+away if I could only do it. I'm at the eighth now, so I progress.
+
+_Jan. 13._--Perhaps it would have been wiser after all if I had packed
+away the mirror. I had an extraordinary experience with it last night.
+And yet I find it so interesting, so fascinating, that even now I will
+keep it in its place. What on earth is the meaning of it all?
+
+I suppose it was about one in the morning, and I was closing my books
+preparatory to staggering off to bed, when I saw her there in front of
+me. The stage of mistiness and development must have passed unobserved,
+and there she was in all her beauty and passion and distress, as
+clear-cut as if she were really in the flesh before me. The figure was
+small, but very distinct--so much so that every feature, and every
+detail of dress, are stamped in my memory. She is seated on the extreme
+left of the mirror. A sort of shadowy figure crouches down beside her--I
+can dimly discern that it is a man--and then behind them is cloud, in
+which I see figures--figures which move. It is not a mere picture upon
+which I look. It is a scene in life, an actual episode. She crouches and
+quivers. The man beside her cowers down. The vague figures make abrupt
+movements and gestures. All my fears were swallowed up in my interest.
+It was maddening to see so much and not to see more.
+
+But I can at least describe the woman to the smallest point. She is very
+beautiful and quite young--not more than five-and-twenty, I should
+judge. Her hair is of a very rich brown, with a warm chestnut shade
+fining into gold at the edges. A little flat-pointed cap comes to an
+angle in front and is made of lace edged with pearls. The forehead is
+high, too high perhaps for perfect beauty; but one would not have it
+otherwise, as it gives a touch of power and strength to what would
+otherwise be a softly feminine face. The brows are most delicately
+curved over heavy eyelids, and then come those wonderful eyes--so large,
+so dark, so full of overmastering emotion, of rage and horror,
+contending with a pride of self-control which holds her from sheer
+frenzy! The cheeks are pale, the lips white with agony, the chin and
+throat most exquisitely rounded. The figure sits and leans forward in
+the chair, straining and rigid, cataleptic with horror. The dress is
+black velvet, a jewel gleams like a flame in the breast, and a golden
+crucifix smoulders in the shadow of a fold. This is the lady whose image
+still lives in the old silver mirror. What dire deed could it be which
+has left its impress there, so that now, in another age, if the spirit
+of a man be but worn down to it, he may be conscious of its presence?
+
+One other detail: On the left side of the skirt of the black dress was,
+as I thought at first, a shapeless bunch of white ribbon. Then, as I
+looked more intently or as the vision defined itself more clearly, I
+perceived what it was. It was the hand of a man, clenched and knotted in
+agony, which held on with a convulsive grasp to the fold of the dress.
+The rest of the crouching figure was a mere vague outline, but that
+strenuous hand shone clear on the dark background, with a sinister
+suggestion of tragedy in its frantic clutch. The man is
+frightened--horribly frightened. That I can clearly discern. What has
+terrified him so? Why does he grip the woman's dress? The answer lies
+amongst those moving figures in the background. They have brought
+danger both to him and to her. The interest of the thing fascinated me.
+I thought no more of its relation to my own nerves. I stared and stared
+as if in a theatre. But I could get no further. The mist thinned. There
+were tumultuous movements in which all the figures were vaguely
+concerned. Then the mirror was clear once more.
+
+The doctor says I must drop work for a day, and I can afford to do so,
+for I have made good progress lately. It is quite evident that the
+visions depend entirely upon my own nervous state, for I sat in front of
+the mirror for an hour to-night, with no result whatever. My soothing
+day has chased them away. I wonder whether I shall ever penetrate what
+they all mean? I examined the mirror this evening under a good light,
+and besides the mysterious inscription "Sanc. X. Pal.," I was able to
+discern some signs of heraldic marks, very faintly visible upon the
+silver. They must be very ancient, as they are almost obliterated. So
+far as I could make out, they were three spear-heads, two above and one
+below. I will show them to the doctor when he calls to-morrow.
+
+_Jan. 14._--Feel perfectly well again, and I intend that nothing else
+shall stop me until my task is finished. The doctor was shown the marks
+on the mirror and agreed that they were armorial bearings. He is deeply
+interested in all that I have told him, and cross-questioned me closely
+on the details. It amuses me to notice how he is torn in two by
+conflicting desires--the one that his patient should lose his symptoms,
+the other that the medium--for so he regards me--should solve this
+mystery of the past. He advised continued rest, but did not oppose me
+too violently when I declared that such a thing was out of the question
+until the ten remaining ledgers have been checked.
+
+_Jan. 17._--For three nights I have had no experiences--my day of rest
+has borne fruit. Only a quarter of my task is left, but I must make a
+forced march, for the lawyers are clamouring for their material. I will
+give them enough and to spare. I have him fast on a hundred counts. When
+they realise what a slippery, cunning rascal he is, I should gain some
+credit from the case. False trading accounts, false balance-sheets,
+dividends drawn from capital, losses written down as profits,
+suppression of working expenses, manipulation of petty cash--it is a
+fine record!
+
+_Jan. 18._--Headaches, nervous twitches, mistiness, fullness of the
+temples--all the premonitions of trouble, and the trouble came sure
+enough. And yet my real sorrow is not so much that the vision should
+come as that it should cease before all is revealed.
+
+But I saw more to-night. The crouching man was as visible as the lady
+whose gown he clutched. He is a little swarthy fellow, with a black
+pointed beard. He has a loose gown of damask trimmed with fur. The
+prevailing tints of his dress are red. What a fright the fellow is in,
+to be sure! He cowers and shivers and glares back over his shoulder.
+There is a small knife in his other hand, but he is far too tremulous
+and cowed to use it. Dimly now I begin to see the figures in the
+background. Fierce faces, bearded and dark, shape themselves out of the
+mist. There is one terrible creature, a skeleton of a man, with hollow
+cheeks and eyes sunk in his head. He also has a knife in his hand. On
+the right of the woman stands a tall man, very young, with flaxen hair,
+his face sullen and dour. The beautiful woman looks up at him in
+appeal. So does the man on the ground. This youth seems to be the
+arbiter of their fate. The crouching man draws closer and hides himself
+in the woman's skirts. The tall youth bends and tries to drag her away
+from him. So much I saw last night before the mirror cleared. Shall I
+never know what it leads to and whence it comes? It is not a mere
+imagination, of that I am very sure. Somewhere, some time, this scene
+has been acted, and this old mirror has reflected it. But when--where?
+
+_Jan. 20._--My work draws to a close, and it is time. I feel a tenseness
+within my brain, a sense of intolerable strain, which warns me that
+something must give. I have worked myself to the limit. But to-night
+should be the last night. With a supreme effort I should finish the
+final ledger and complete the case before I rise from my chair. I will
+do it. I will.
+
+_Feb. 7._--I did. My God, what an experience! I hardly know if I am
+strong enough yet to set it down.
+
+Let me explain in the first instance that I am writing this in Dr.
+Sinclair's private hospital some three weeks after the last entry in my
+diary. On the night of January 20 my nervous system finally gave way,
+and I remembered nothing afterwards until I found myself three days ago
+in this home of rest. And I can rest with a good conscience. My work was
+done before I went under. My figures are in the solicitors' hands. The
+hunt is over.
+
+And now I must describe that last night. I had sworn to finish my work,
+and so intently did I stick to it, though my head was bursting, that I
+would never look up until the last column had been added. And yet it was
+fine self-restraint, for all the time I knew that wonderful things were
+happening in the mirror. Every nerve in my body told me so. If I looked
+up there was an end of my work. So I did not look up till all was
+finished. Then, when at last with throbbing temples I threw down my pen
+and raised my eyes, what a sight was there!
+
+The mirror in its silver frame was like a stage, brilliantly lit, in
+which a drama was in progress. There was no mist now. The oppression of
+my nerves had wrought this amazing clarity. Every feature, every
+movement, was as clear-cut as in life. To think that I, a tired
+accountant, the most prosaic of mankind, with the account-books of a
+swindling bankrupt before me, should be chosen of all the human race to
+look upon such a scene!
+
+It was the same scene and the same figures, but the drama had advanced a
+stage. The tall young man was holding the woman in his arms. She
+strained away from him and looked up at him with loathing in her face.
+They had torn the crouching man away from his hold upon the skirt of her
+dress. A dozen of them were round him--savage men, bearded men. They
+hacked at him with knives. All seemed to strike him together. Their arms
+rose and fell. The blood did not flow from him--it squirted. His red
+dress was dabbled in it. He threw himself this way and that, purple upon
+crimson, like an over-ripe plum. Still they hacked, and still the jets
+shot from him. It was horrible--horrible! They dragged him kicking to
+the door. The woman looked over her shoulder at him and her mouth gaped.
+I heard nothing, but I knew that she was screaming. And then, whether it
+was this nerve-racking vision before me, or whether, my task finished,
+all the overwork of the past weeks came in one crushing weight upon me,
+the room danced round me, the floor seemed to sink away beneath my feet,
+and I remembered no more. In the early morning my landlady found me
+stretched senseless before the silver mirror, but I knew nothing myself
+until three days ago I awoke in the deep peace of the doctor's nursing
+home.
+
+_Feb. 9._--Only to-day have I told Dr. Sinclair my full experience. He
+had not allowed me to speak of such matters before. He listened with an
+absorbed interest. "You don't identify this with any well-known scene in
+history?" he asked, with suspicion in his eyes. I assured him that I
+knew nothing of history. "Have you no idea whence that mirror came and
+to whom it once belonged?" he continued. "Have you?" I asked, for he
+spoke with meaning. "It's incredible," said he, "and yet how else can
+one explain it? The scenes which you described before suggested it, but
+now it has gone beyond all range of coincidence. I will bring you some
+notes in the evening."
+
+_Later._--He has just left me. Let me set down his words as closely as I
+can recall them. He began by laying several musty volumes upon my bed.
+
+"These you can consult at your leisure," said he. "I have some notes
+here which you can confirm. There is not a doubt that what you have seen
+is the murder of Rizzio by the Scottish nobles in the presence of Mary,
+which occurred in March, 1566. Your description of the woman is
+accurate. The high forehead and heavy eyelids combined with great beauty
+could hardly apply to two women. The tall young man was her husband,
+Darnley. Rizzio, says the chronicle, 'was dressed in a loose
+dressing-gown of furred damask, with hose of russet velvet.' With one
+hand he clutched Mary's gown, with the other he held a dagger. Your
+fierce, hollow-eyed man was Ruthven, who was new-risen from a bed of
+sickness. Every detail is exact."
+
+"But why to me?" I asked, in bewilderment. "Why of all the human race to
+me?"
+
+"Because you were in the fit mental state to receive the impression.
+Because you chanced to own the mirror which gave the impression."
+
+"The mirror! You think, then, that it was Mary's mirror--that it stood
+in the room where the deed was done?"
+
+"I am convinced that it was Mary's mirror. She had been Queen of France.
+Her personal property would be stamped with the Royal arms. What you
+took to be three spear-heads were really the lilies of France."
+
+"And the inscription?"
+
+"'Sanc. X. Pal.' You can expand it into Sanctae Crucis Palatium. Some one
+has made a note upon the mirror as to whence it came. It was the Palace
+of the Holy Cross."
+
+"Holyrood!" I cried.
+
+"Exactly. Your mirror came from Holyrood. You have had one very singular
+experience, and have escaped. I trust that you will never put yourself
+into the way of having such another."
+
+
+
+
+XI
+
+THE HOME-COMING
+
+
+In the spring of the year 528, a small brig used to run as a passenger
+boat between Chalcedon on the Asiatic shore and Constantinople. On the
+morning in question, which was that of the feast of Saint George, the
+vessel was crowded with excursionists who were bound for the great city
+in order to take part in the religious and festive celebrations which
+marked the festival of the Megalo-martyr, one of the most choice
+occasions in the whole vast hagiology of the Eastern Church. The day was
+fine and the breeze light, so that the passengers in their holiday mood
+were able to enjoy without a qualm the many objects of interest which
+marked the approach to the greatest and most beautiful capital in the
+world.
+
+On the right, as they sped up the narrow strait, there stretched the
+Asiatic shore, sprinkled with white villages and with numerous villas
+peeping out from the woods which adorned it. In front of them, the
+Prince's Islands, rising as green as emeralds out of the deep sapphire
+blue of the Sea of Marmora, obscured for the moment the view of the
+capital. As the brig rounded these, the great city burst suddenly upon
+their sight, and a murmur of admiration and wonder rose from the crowded
+deck. Tier above tier it rose, white and glittering, a hundred brazen
+roofs and gilded statues gleaming in the sun, with high over all the
+magnificent shining cupola of Saint Sophia. Seen against a cloudless
+sky, it was the city of a dream--too delicate, too airily lovely for
+earth.
+
+In the prow of the small vessel were two travellers of singular
+appearance. The one was a very beautiful boy, ten or twelve years of
+age, swarthy, clear-cut, with dark, curling hair and vivacious black
+eyes, full of intelligence and of the joy of living. The other was an
+elderly man, gaunt-faced and grey-bearded, whose stern features were lit
+up by a smile as he observed the excitement and interest with which his
+young companion viewed the beautiful distant city and the many vessels
+which thronged the narrow strait.
+
+"See! see!" cried the lad. "Look at the great red ships which sail out
+from yonder harbour. Surely, your holiness, they are the greatest of all
+ships in the world."
+
+The old man, who was the abbot of the monastery of Saint Nicephorus in
+Antioch, laid his hand upon the boy's shoulder.
+
+"Be wary, Leon, and speak less loudly, for until we have seen your
+mother we should keep ourselves secret. As to the red galleys they are
+indeed as large as any, for they are the Imperial ships of war, which
+come forth from the harbour of Theodosius. Round yonder green point is
+the Golden Horn, where the merchant ships are moored. But now, Leon, if
+you follow the line of buildings past the great church, you will see a
+long row of pillars fronting the sea. It marks the Palace of the
+Caesars."
+
+The boy looked at it with fixed attention. "And my mother is there," he
+whispered.
+
+"Yes, Leon, your mother the Empress Theodora and her husband the great
+Justinian dwell in yonder palace."
+
+The boy looked wistfully up into the old man's face.
+
+"Are you sure, Father Luke, that my mother will indeed be glad to see
+me?"
+
+The abbot turned away his face to avoid those questioning eyes.
+
+"We cannot tell, Leon. We can only try. If it should prove that there is
+no place for you, then there is always a welcome among the brethren of
+Saint Nicephorus."
+
+"Why did you not tell my mother that we were coming, Father Luke? Why
+did you not wait until you had her command?"
+
+"At a distance, Leon, it would be easy to refuse you. An Imperial
+messenger would have stopped us. But when she sees you, Leon--your eyes,
+so like her own, your face, which carries memories of one whom she
+loved--then, if there be a woman's heart within her bosom, she will take
+you into it. They say that the Emperor can refuse her nothing. They have
+no child of their own. There is a great future before you, Leon. When it
+comes, do not forget the poor brethren of Saint Nicephorus, who took you
+in when you had no friend in the world."
+
+The old abbot spoke cheerily, but it was easy to see from his anxious
+countenance that the nearer he came to the capital the more doubtful
+did his errand appear. What had seemed easy and natural from the quiet
+cloisters of Antioch became dubious and dark now that the golden domes
+of Constantinople glittered so close at hand. Ten years before, a
+wretched woman, whose very name was an offence throughout the eastern
+world, where she was as infamous for her dishonour as famous for her
+beauty, had come to the monastery gate, and had persuaded the monks to
+take charge of her infant son, the child of her shame. There he had been
+ever since. But she, Theodora, the harlot, returning to the capital, had
+by the strangest turn of fortune's wheel caught the fancy and finally
+the enduring love of Justinian the heir to the throne. Then on the death
+of his uncle Justin, the young man had become the greatest monarch upon
+the earth, and raised Theodora to be not only his wife and Empress, but
+to be absolute ruler with powers equal to and independent of his own.
+And she, the polluted one, had risen to the dignity, had cut herself
+sternly away from all that related to her past life, and had shown signs
+already of being a great Queen, stronger and wiser than her husband,
+but fierce, vindictive, and unbending, a firm support to her friends,
+but a terror to her foes. This was the woman to whom the Abbot Luke of
+Antioch was bringing Leon, her forgotten son. If ever her mind strayed
+back to the days when, abandoned by her lover Ecebolus, the Governor of
+the African Pentapolis, she had made her way on foot through Asia Minor,
+and left her infant with the monks, it was only to persuade herself that
+the brethren cloistered far from the world would never identify Theodora
+the Empress with Theodora the dissolute wanderer, and that the fruits of
+her sin would be for ever concealed from her Imperial husband.
+
+The little brig had now rounded the point of the Acropolis, and the long
+blue stretch of the Golden Horn lay before it. The high wall of
+Theodosius lined the whole harbour, but a narrow verge of land had been
+left between it and the water's edge to serve as a quay. The vessel ran
+alongside near the Neorion Gate, and the passengers, after a short
+scrutiny from the group of helmeted guards who lounged beside it, were
+allowed to pass through into the great city.
+
+The abbot, who had made several visits to Constantinople upon the
+business of his monastery, walked with the assured step of one who knows
+his ground; while the boy, alarmed and yet pleased by the rush of
+people, the roar and clatter of passing chariots, and the vista of
+magnificent buildings, held tightly to the loose gown of his guide,
+while staring eagerly about him in every direction. Passing through the
+steep and narrow streets which led up from the water, they emerged into
+the open space which surrounds the magnificent pile of Saint Sophia, the
+great church begun by Constantine, hallowed by Saint Chrysostom, and now
+the seat of the Patriarch, and the very centre of the Eastern Church.
+Only with many crossings and genuflections did the pious abbot succeed
+in passing the revered shrine of his religion, and hurried on to his
+difficult task.
+
+Having passed Saint Sophia, the two travellers crossed the marble-paved
+Augusteum, and saw upon their right the gilded gates of the hippodrome
+through which a vast crowd of people was pressing, for though the
+morning had been devoted to the religious ceremony, the afternoon was
+given over to secular festivities. So great was the rush of the
+populace that the two strangers had some difficulty in disengaging
+themselves from the stream and reaching the huge arch of black marble
+which formed the outer gate of the palace. Within they were fiercely
+ordered to halt by a gold-crested and magnificent sentinel who laid his
+shining spear across their breasts until his superior officer should
+give them permission to pass. The abbot had been warned, however, that
+all obstacles would give way if he mentioned the name of Basil the
+eunuch, who acted as chamberlain of the palace and also as
+Parakimomen--a high office which meant that he slept at the door of the
+Imperial bed-chamber. The charm worked wonderfully, for at the mention
+of that potent name the Protosphathaire, or Head of the Palace Guards,
+who chanced to be upon the spot, immediately detached one of his
+soldiers with instructions to convoy the two strangers into the presence
+of the chamberlain.
+
+Passing in succession a middle guard and an inner guard, the travellers
+came at last into the palace proper, and followed their majestic guide
+from chamber to chamber, each more wonderful than the last. Marbles and
+gold, velvet and silver, glittering mosaics, wonderful carvings, ivory
+screens, curtains of Armenian tissue and of Indian silk, damask from
+Arabia, and amber from the Baltic--all these things merged themselves in
+the minds of the two simple provincials, until their eyes ached and
+their senses reeled before the blaze and the glory of this, the most
+magnificent of the dwellings of man. Finally, a pair of curtains,
+crusted with, gold, were parted, and their guide handed them over to a
+negro eunuch who stood within. A heavy, fat, brown-skinned man, with a
+large, flabby, hairless face, was pacing up and down the small
+apartment, and he turned upon them as they entered with an abominable
+and threatening smile. His loose lips and pendulous cheeks were those of
+a gross old woman, but above them there shone a pair of dark malignant
+eyes, full of fierce intensity of observation and judgment.
+
+"You have entered the palace by using my name," he said. "It is one of
+my boasts that any of the populace can approach me in this way. But it
+is not fortunate for those who take advantage of it without due cause."
+Again he smiled a smile which made the frightened boy cling tightly to
+the loose serge skirts of the abbot.
+
+But the ecclesiastic was a man of courage. Undaunted by the sinister
+appearance of the great chamberlain, or by the threat which lay in his
+words, he laid his hand upon his young companion's shoulder and faced
+the eunuch with a confident smile.
+
+"I have no doubt, your excellency," said he, "that the importance of my
+mission has given me the right to enter the palace. The only thing which
+troubles me is whether it may not be so important as to forbid me from
+broaching it to you, or indeed, to anybody save the Empress Theodora,
+since it is she only whom it concerns."
+
+The eunuch's thick eyebrows bunched together over his vicious eyes.
+
+"You must make good those words," he said. "If my gracious master--the
+ever-glorious Emperor Justinian--does not disdain to take me into his
+most intimate confidence in all things, it would be strange if there
+were any subject within your knowledge which I might not hear. You are,
+as I gather from your garb and bearing, the abbot of some Asiatic
+monastery?"
+
+"You are right, your excellency, I am the Abbot of the Monastery of St.
+Nicephorus in Antioch. But I repeat that I am assured that what I have
+to say is for the ear of the Empress Theodora only."
+
+The eunuch was evidently puzzled, and his curiosity aroused by the old
+man's persistence. He came nearer, his heavy face thrust forward, his
+flabby brown hands, like two sponges, resting upon the table of yellow
+jasper before him.
+
+"Old man," said he, "there is no secret which concerns the Empress which
+may not be told to me. But if you refuse to speak, it is certain that
+you will never see her. Why should I admit you, unless I know your
+errand? How should I know that you are not a Manichean heretic with a
+poniard in your bosom, longing for the blood of the mother of the
+Church?"
+
+The abbot hesitated no longer. "If there be a mistake in the matter,
+then on your head be it," said he. "Know then that this lad Leon is the
+son of Theodora the Empress, left by her in our monastery within a month
+of his birth ten years ago. This papyrus which I hand you will show you
+that what I say is beyond all question or doubt."
+
+The eunuch Basil took the paper, but his eyes were fixed upon the boy,
+and his features showed a mixture of amazement at the news that he had
+received, and of cunning speculation as to how he could turn it to
+profit.
+
+"Indeed, he is the very image of the Empress," he muttered; and then,
+with sudden suspicion, "Is it not the chance of this likeness which has
+put the scheme into your head, old man?"
+
+"There is but one way to answer that," said the abbot. "It is to ask the
+Empress herself whether what I say is not true, and to give her the glad
+tidings that her boy is alive and well."
+
+The tone of confidence, together with the testimony of the papyrus, and
+the boy's beautiful face, removed the last shadow of doubt from the
+eunuch's mind. Here was a great fact; but what use could be made of it?
+Above all, what advantage could he draw from it? He stood with his fat
+chin in his hand, turning it over in his cunning brain.
+
+"Old man," said he at last, "to how many have you told this secret?"
+
+"To no one in the whole world," the other answered. "There is Deacon
+Bardas at the monastery and myself. No one else knows anything."
+
+"You are sure of this?"
+
+"Absolutely certain."
+
+The eunuch had made up his mind. If he alone of all men in the palace
+knew of this event, he would have a powerful hold over his masterful
+mistress. He was certain that Justinian the Emperor knew nothing of
+this. It would be a shock to him. It might even alienate his affections
+from his wife. She might care to take precautions to prevent him from
+knowing. And if he, Basil the eunuch, was her confederate in those
+precautions, then how very close it must draw him to her. All this
+flashed through his mind as he stood, the papyrus in his hand, looking
+at the old man and the boy.
+
+"Stay here," said he. "I will be with you again." With a swift rustle of
+his silken robes he swept from the chamber.
+
+A few minutes had elapsed when a curtain at the end of the room was
+pushed aside, and the eunuch, reappearing, held it back, doubling his
+unwieldy body into a profound obeisance as he did so. Through the gap
+came a small alert woman, clad in golden tissue, with a loose outer
+mantle and shoes of the Imperial purple. That colour alone showed that
+she could be none other than the Empress; but the dignity of her
+carriage, the fierce authority of her magnificent dark eyes, and the
+perfect beauty of her haughty face, all proclaimed that it could only be
+that of Theodora who, in spite of her lowly origin, was the most
+majestic as well as the most maturely lovely of all the women in her
+kingdom. Gone now were the buffoon tricks which the daughter of Acacius
+the bearward had learned in the amphitheatre; gone too was the light
+charm of the wanton, and what was left was the worthy mate of a great
+king, the measured dignity of one who was every inch an empress.
+
+Disregarding the two men, Theodora walked up to the boy, placed her two
+white hands upon his shoulders, and looked with a long questioning gaze,
+a gaze which began with hard suspicion and ended with tender
+recognition, into those large lustrous eyes which were the very
+reflection of her own. At first the sensitive lad was chilled by the
+cold intent question of the look; but as it softened, his own spirit
+responded, until suddenly, with a cry of "Mother! Mother!" he cast
+himself into her arms, his hands locked round her neck, his face buried
+in her bosom. Carried away by the sudden natural outburst of emotion,
+her own arms tightened round the lad's figure, and she strained him for
+an instant to her heart. Then, the strength of the Empress gaining
+instant command over the temporary weakness of the mother, she pushed
+him back from her, and waved that they should leave her to herself. The
+slaves in attendance hurried the two visitors from the room. Basil the
+eunuch lingered, looking down at his mistress, who had thrown herself
+upon a damask couch, her lips white and her bosom heaving with the
+tumult of her emotion. She glanced up and met the chancellor's crafty
+gaze, her woman's instinct reading the threat that lurked within it.
+
+"I am in your power," she said. "The Emperor must never know of this."
+
+"I am your slave," said the eunuch, with his ambiguous smile. "I am an
+instrument in your hand. If it is your will that the Emperor should
+know nothing, then who is to tell him?"
+
+"But the monk, the boy. What are we to do?"
+
+"There is only one way for safety," said the eunuch.
+
+She looked at him with horrified eyes. His spongy hands were pointing
+down to the floor. There was an underground world to this beautiful
+palace, a shadow that was ever close to the light, a region of dimly-lit
+passages, of shadowed corners, of noiseless, tongueless slaves, of
+sudden sharp screams in the darkness. To this the eunuch was pointing.
+
+A terrible struggle rent her breast. The beautiful boy was hers, flesh
+of her flesh, bone of her bone. She knew it beyond all question or
+doubt. It was her one child, and her whole heart went out to him. But
+Justinian! She knew the Emperor's strange limitations. Her career in the
+past was forgotten. He had swept it all aside by special Imperial decree
+published throughout the Empire, as if she were new-born through the
+power of his will, and her association with his person. But they were
+childless, and this sight of one which was not his own would cut him to
+the quick. He could dismiss her infamous past from his mind, but if it
+took the concrete shape of this beautiful child, then how could he wave
+it aside as if it had never been? All her instincts and her intimate
+knowledge of the man told her that even her charm and her influence
+might fail under such circumstances to save her from ruin. Her divorce
+would be as easy to him as her elevation had been. She was balanced upon
+a giddy pinnacle, the highest in the world, and yet the higher the
+deeper the fall. Everything that earth could give was now at her feet.
+Was she to risk the losing of it all--for what? For a weakness which was
+unworthy of an Empress, for a foolish new-born spasm of love, for that
+which had no existence within her in the morning? How could she be so
+foolish as to risk losing such a substance for such a shadow?
+
+"Leave it to me," said the brown watchful face above her.
+
+"Must it be--death?"
+
+"There is no real safety outside. But if your heart is too merciful,
+then by the loss of sight and speech----"
+
+She saw in her mind the white-hot iron approaching those glorious eyes,
+and she shuddered at the thought.
+
+"No, no! Better death than that!"
+
+"Let it be death then. You are wise, great Empress, for there only is
+real safety and assurance of silence."
+
+"And the monk?"
+
+"Him also."
+
+"But the Holy Synod! He is a tonsured priest. What would the Patriarch
+do?"
+
+"Silence his babbling tongue. Then let them do what they will. How are
+we of the palace to know that this conspirator, taken with a dagger in
+his sleeve, is really what he says?"
+
+Again she shuddered and shrank down among the cushions.
+
+"Speak not of it, think not of it," said the eunuch. "Say only that you
+leave it in my hands. Nay, then, if you cannot say it, do but nod your
+head, and I take it as your signal."
+
+In that instant there flashed before Theodora's mind a vision of all her
+enemies, of all those who envied her rise, of all whose hatred and
+contempt would rise into a clamour of delight could they see the
+daughter of the bearward hurled down again into that abyss from which
+she had been dragged. Her face hardened, her lips tightened, her little
+hands clenched in the agony of her thought.
+
+"Do it!" she said.
+
+In an instant, with a terrible smile, the messenger of death hurried
+from the room. She groaned aloud, and buried herself yet deeper amid the
+silken cushions, clutching them frantically with convulsed and twitching
+hands.
+
+The eunuch wasted no time, for this deed, once done, he became--save for
+that insignificant monk in Asia Minor, whose fate would soon be
+sealed--the only sharer of Theodora's secret, and therefore the only
+person who could curb and bend that imperious nature. Hurrying into the
+chamber where the visitors were waiting, he gave a sinister signal, only
+too well known in those iron days. In an instant the black mutes in
+attendance seized the old man and the boy, pushing them swiftly down a
+passage and into a meaner portion of the palace, where the heavy smell
+of luscious cooking proclaimed the neighbourhood of the kitchens. A side
+corridor led to a heavily-barred iron door, and this in turn opened upon
+a steep flight of stone steps, feebly illuminated by the glimmer of
+wall lamps. At the head and foot stood a mute sentinel like an ebony
+statue, and below, along the dusky and forbidding passages from which
+the cells opened, a succession of niches in the wall were occupied by a
+similar guardian. The unfortunate visitors were dragged brutally down a
+number of stone-flagged and dismal corridors until they descended
+another long stair which led so deeply into the earth that the damp
+feeling in the heavy air and the drip of water all round showed that
+they had come down to the level of the sea. Groans and cries, like those
+of sick animals, from the various grated doors which they passed showed
+how many there were who spent their whole lives in this humid and
+poisonous atmosphere.
+
+At the end of this lowest passage was a door which opened into a single
+large vaulted room. It was devoid of furniture, but in the centre was a
+large and heavy wooden board clamped with iron. This lay upon a rude
+stone parapet, engraved with inscriptions beyond the wit of the eastern
+scholars, for this old well dated from a time before the Greeks founded
+Byzantium, when men of Chaldea and Ph[oe]nicia built with huge
+unmortared blocks, far below the level of the town of Constantine. The
+door was closed, and the eunuch beckoned to the slaves that they should
+remove the slab which covered the well of death. The frightened boy
+screamed and clung to the abbot, who, ashy-pale and trembling, was
+pleading hard to melt the heart of the ferocious eunuch.
+
+"Surely, surely, you would not slay the innocent boy!" he cried. "What
+has he done? Was it his fault that he came here? I alone--I and Deacon
+Bardas--are to blame. Punish us, if some one must indeed be punished. We
+are old. It is to-day or to-morrow with us. But he is so young and so
+beautiful, with all his life before him. Oh, sir! oh, your excellency,
+you would not have the heart to hurt him!"
+
+He threw himself down and clutched at the eunuch's knees, while the boy
+sobbed piteously and cast horror-stricken eyes at the black slaves who
+were tearing the wooden slab from the ancient parapet beneath. The only
+answer which the chamberlain gave to the frantic pleadings of the abbot
+was to take a stone which lay on the coping of the well and toss it in.
+It could be heard clattering against the old, damp, mildewed walls,
+until it fell with a hollow boom into some far distant subterranean
+pool. Then he again motioned with his hands, and the black slaves threw
+themselves upon the boy and dragged him away from his guardian. So
+shrill was his clamour that no one heard the approach of the Empress.
+With a swift rush she had entered the room, and her arms were round her
+son.
+
+"It shall not be! It cannot be!" she cried. "No, no, my darling! my
+darling! they shall do you no hurt. I was mad to think of it--mad and
+wicked to dream of it. Oh, my sweet boy! to think that your mother might
+have had your blood upon her head!"
+
+The eunuch's brows were gathered together at this failure of his plans,
+at this fresh example of feminine caprice.
+
+"Why kill them, great lady, if it pains your gracious heart?" said he.
+"With a knife and a branding-iron they can be disarmed for ever."
+
+She paid no attention to his words. "Kiss me, Leon!" she cried. "Just
+once let me feel my own child's soft lips rest upon mine. Now again! No,
+no more, or I shall weaken for what I have still to say and still to
+do. Old man, you are very near a natural grave, and I cannot think from
+your venerable aspect that words of falsehood would come readily to your
+lips. You have indeed kept my secret all these years, have you not?"
+
+"I have in very truth, great Empress. I swear to you by Saint
+Nicephorus, patron of our house, that save old Deacon Bardas, there is
+none who knows."
+
+"Then let your lips still be sealed. If you have kept faith in the past,
+I see no reason why you should be a babbler in the future. And you,
+Leon"--she bent her wonderful eyes with a strange mixture of sternness
+and of love upon the boy, "can I trust you? Will you keep a secret which
+could never help you, but would be the ruin and downfall of your
+mother?"
+
+"Oh, mother, I would not hurt you! I swear that I will be silent."
+
+"Then I trust you both. Such provision will be made for your monastery
+and for your own personal comforts as will make you bless the day you
+came to my palace. Now you may go. I wish never to see you again. If I
+did, you might find me in a softer mood, or in a harder, and the one
+would lead to my undoing, the other to yours. But if by whisper or
+rumour I have reason to think that you have failed me, then you and your
+monks and your monastery will have such an end as will be a lesson for
+ever to those who would break faith with their Empress."
+
+"I will never speak," said the old abbot; "neither will Deacon Bardas;
+neither will Leon. For all three I can answer. But there are
+others--these slaves, the chancellor. We may be punished for another's
+fault."
+
+"Not so," said the Empress, and her eyes were like flints. "These slaves
+are voiceless; nor have they any means to tell those secrets which they
+know. As to you, Basil----" She raised her white hand with the same
+deadly gesture which he had himself used so short a time before. The
+black slaves were on him like hounds on a stag.
+
+"Oh, my gracious mistress, dear lady, what is this? What is this? You
+cannot mean it!" he screamed, in his high, cracked voice. "Oh, what have
+I done? Why should I die?"
+
+"You have turned me against my own. You have goaded me to slay my own
+son. You have intended to use my secret against me. I read it in your
+eyes from the first. Cruel, murderous villain, taste the fate which you
+have yourself given to so many others. This is your doom. I have
+spoken."
+
+The old man and the boy hurried in horror from the vault. As they
+glanced back they saw the erect, inflexible, shimmering, gold-clad
+figure of the Empress. Beyond they had a glimpse of the green-scummed
+lining of the well, and of the great red open mouth of the eunuch, as he
+screamed and prayed while every tug of the straining slaves brought him
+one step nearer to the brink. With their hands over their ears they
+rushed away, but even so they heard that last woman-like shriek, and
+then the heavy plunge far down in the dark abysses of the earth.
+
+
+
+
+XII
+
+A POINT OF CONTACT
+
+
+A curious train of thought is started when one reflects upon those great
+figures who have trod the stage of this earth, and actually played their
+parts in the same act, without ever coming face to face, or even knowing
+of each other's existence. Baber, the Great Mogul, was, for example,
+overrunning India at the very moment when Hernando Cortez was
+overrunning Mexico, and yet the two could never have heard of each
+other. Or, to take a more supreme example, what could the Emperor
+Augustus Caesar know of a certain Carpenter's shop wherein there worked a
+dreamy-eyed boy who was destined to change the whole face of the world?
+It may be, however, that sometimes these great contemporary forces did
+approach, touch, and separate--each unaware of the true meaning of the
+other. So it was in the instance which is now narrated.
+
+It was evening in the port of Tyre, some eleven hundred years before
+the coming of Christ. The city held, at that time, about a quarter of a
+million of inhabitants, the majority of whom dwelt upon the mainland,
+where the buildings of the wealthy merchants, each in its own tree-girt
+garden, extended for seven miles along the coast. The great island,
+however, from which the town got its name, lay out some distance from
+the shore, and contained within its narrow borders the more famous of
+the temples and public buildings. Of these temples the chief was that of
+Melmoth, which covered with its long colonnades the greater part of that
+side of the island which looked down upon the Sidonian port, so called
+because only twenty miles away the older city of Sidon maintained a
+constant stream of traffic with its rising offshoot.
+
+Inns were not yet in vogue, but the poorer traveller found his quarters
+with hospitable citizens, while men of distinction were frequently
+housed in the annex of the temples, where the servants of the priests
+attended to their wants. On that particular evening there stood in the
+portico of the temple of Melmoth two remarkable figures who were the
+centre of observation for a considerable fringe of Ph[oe]nician idlers.
+One of these men was clearly by his face and demeanour a great
+chieftain. His strongly-marked features were those of a man who had led
+an adventurous life, and were suggestive of every virile quality from
+brave resolve to desperate execution. His broad, high brow and
+contemplative eyes showed that he was a man of wisdom as well as of
+valour. He was clad, as became a Greek nobleman of the period, with a
+pure white linen tunic, a gold-studded belt supporting a short sword,
+and a purple cloak. The lower legs were bare, and the feet covered by
+sandals of red leather, while a cap of white cloth was pushed back upon
+his brown curls, for the heat of the day was past and the evening breeze
+most welcome.
+
+His companion was a short, thick-set man, bull-necked and swarthy, clad
+in some dusky cloth which gave him a sombre appearance relieved only by
+the vivid scarlet of his woollen cap. His manner towards his comrade was
+one of deference, and yet there was in it also something of that
+freshness and frankness which go with common dangers and a common
+interest.
+
+"Be not impatient, sire," he was saying. "Give me two days, or three at
+the most, and we shall make as brave a show at the muster as any. But,
+indeed, they would smile if they saw us crawl up to Tenedos with ten
+missing oars and the mainsail blown into rags."
+
+The other frowned and stamped his foot with anger.
+
+"We should have been there now had it not been for this cursed
+mischance," said he. "Aeolus played us a pretty trick when he sent such
+a blast out of a cloudless sky."
+
+"Well, sire, two of the Cretan galleys foundered, and Trophimes, the
+pilot, swears that one of the Argos ships was in trouble. Pray Zeus that
+it was not the galley of Menelaus. We shall not be the last at the
+muster."
+
+"It is well that Troy stands a good ten miles from the sea, for if they
+came out at us with a fleet they might have us at a disadvantage. We had
+no choice but to come here and refit, yet I shall have no happy hour
+until I see the white foam from the lash of our oars once more. Go,
+Seleucas, and speed them all you may."
+
+The officer bowed and departed, while the chieftain stood with his eyes
+fixed upon his great dismantled galley over which the riggers and
+carpenters were swarming. Further out in the roadstead lay eleven other
+smaller galleys, waiting until their wounded flagship should be ready
+for them. The sun, as it shone upon them, gleamed upon hundreds of
+bronze helmets and breastplates, telling of the warlike nature of the
+errand upon which they were engaged. Save for them the port was filled
+with bustling merchant ships taking in cargoes or disgorging them upon
+the quays. At the very feet of the Greek chieftain three broad barges
+were moored, and gangs of labourers with wooden shovels were heaving out
+the mussels brought from Dor, destined to supply the famous Tyrian
+dye-works which adorn the most noble of all garments. Beside them was a
+tin ship from Britain, and the square boxes of that precious metal, so
+needful for the making of bronze, were being passed from hand to hand to
+the waiting waggons. The Greek found himself smiling at the uncouth
+wonder of a Cornishman who had come with his tin, and who was now lost
+in amazement as he stared at the long colonnades of the Temple of
+Melmoth and the high front of the Shrine of Ashtaroth behind it. Even
+as he gazed some of his ship-mates passed their hands through his arms
+and led him along the quay to a wine-shop, as being a building much more
+within his comprehension. The Greek, still smiling, was turning on his
+heels to return to the Temple, when one of the clean-shaven priests of
+Baal came towards him.
+
+"It is rumoured, sire," said he, "that you are on a very distant and
+dangerous venture. Indeed, it is well known from the talk of your
+soldiers what it is that you have on hand."
+
+"It is true," said the Greek, "that we have a hard task before us. But
+it would have been harder to bide at home and to feel that the honour of
+a leader of the Argives had been soiled by this dog from Asia."
+
+"I hear that all Greece has taken up the quarrel."
+
+"Yes, there is not a chief from Thessaly to the Malea who has not called
+out his men, and there were twelve hundred galleys in the harbour of
+Aulis."
+
+"It is a great host," said the priest. "But have ye any seers or
+prophets among ye who can tell what will come to pass?"
+
+"Yes, we had one such, Calchas his name. He has said that for nine years
+we shall strive, and only on the tenth will the victory come."
+
+"That is but cold comfort," said the priest. "It is, indeed, a great
+prize which can be worth ten years of a man's life."
+
+"I would give," the Greek answered, "not ten years but all my life if I
+could but lay proud Ilium in ashes and carry back Helen to her palace on
+the hill of Argos."
+
+"I pray Baal, whose priest I am, that you may have good fortune," said
+the Ph[oe]nician. "I have heard that these Trojans are stout soldiers,
+and that Hector, the son of Priam, is a mighty leader."
+
+The Greek smiled proudly.
+
+"They must be stout and well-fed also," said he, "if they can stand the
+brunt against the long-haired Argives with such captains as Agamemnon,
+the son of Atreus from golden Mycenae, or Achilles, son of Peleus, with
+his myrmidons. But these things are on the knees of the Fates. In the
+meantime, my friend, I would fain know who these strange people are who
+come down the street, for their chieftain has the air of one who is made
+for great deeds."
+
+A tall man clad in a long white robe, with a golden fillet running
+through his flowing auburn hair, was striding down the street with the
+free elastic gait of one who has lived an active life in the open. His
+face was ruddy and noble, with a short, crisp beard covering a strong,
+square jaw. In his clear blue eyes as he looked at the evening sky and
+the busy waters beneath him there was something of the exaltation of the
+poet, while a youth walking beside him and carrying a harp hinted at the
+graces of music. On the other side of him, however, a second squire bore
+a brazen shield and a heavy spear, so that his master might never be
+caught unawares by his enemies. In his train there came a tumultuous
+rabble of dark hawk-like men, armed to the teeth, and peering about with
+covetous eyes at the signs of wealth which lay in profusion around them.
+They were swarthy as Arabs, and yet they were better clad and better
+armed than the wild children of the desert.
+
+"They are but barbarians," said the priest. "He is a small king from the
+mountain parts opposite Philistia, and he comes here because he is
+building up the town of Jebus, which he means to be his chief city. It
+is only here that he can find the wood, and stone, and craftsmanship
+that he desires. The youth with the harp is his son. But I pray you,
+chief, if you would know what is before you at Troy, to come now into
+the outer hall of the Temple with me, for we have there a famous seer,
+the prophetess Alaga who is also the priestess of Ashtaroth. It may be
+that she can do for you what she has done for many others, and send you
+forth from Tyre in your hollow ships with a better heart than you came."
+
+To the Greeks, who by oracles, omens, and auguries were for ever prying
+into the future, such a suggestion was always welcome. The Greek
+followed the priest to the inner sanctuary, where sat the famous
+Pythoness--a tall, fair woman of middle age, who sat at a stone table
+upon which was an abacus or tray filled with sand. She held a style of
+chalcedony, and with this she traced strange lines and curves upon the
+smooth surface, her chin leaning upon her other hand and her eyes cast
+down. As the chief and the priest approached her she did not look up,
+but she quickened the movements of her pencil, so that curve followed
+curve in quick succession. Then, still with downcast eyes, she spoke in
+a strange, high, sighing voice like wind amid the trees.
+
+"Who, then, is this who comes to Alaga of Tyre, the handmaiden of great
+Ashtaroth? Behold I see an island to the west, and an old man who is the
+father, and the great chief, and his wife, and his son who now waits him
+at home, being too young for the wars. Is this not true?"
+
+"Yes, maiden, you have said truth," the Greek answered.
+
+"I have had many great ones before me, but none greater than you, for
+three thousand years from now people will still talk of your bravery and
+of your wisdom. They will remember also the faithful wife at home, and
+the name of the old man, your father, and of the boy your son--all will
+be remembered when the very stones of noble Sidon and royal Tyre are no
+more."
+
+"Nay, say not so, Alaga!" cried the priest.
+
+"I speak not what I desire but what it is given to me to say. For ten
+years you will strive, and then you will win, and victory will bring
+rest to others, but only new troubles to you. Ah!" The prophetess
+suddenly started in violent surprise, and her hand made ever faster
+markings on the sand.
+
+"What is it that ails you, Alaga?" asked the priest.
+
+The woman had looked up with wild inquiring eyes. Her gaze was neither
+for the priest nor for the chief, but shot past them to the further
+door. Looking round the Greek was aware that two new figures had entered
+the room. They were the ruddy barbarian whom he had marked in the
+street, together with the youth who bore his harp.
+
+"It is a marvel upon marvels that two such should enter my chamber on
+the same day," cried the priestess. "Have I not said that you were the
+greatest that ever came, and yet behold here is already one who is
+greater. For he and his son--even this youth whom I see before me--will
+also be in the minds of all men when lands beyond the Pillars of
+Hercules shall have taken the place of Ph[oe]nicia and of Greece. Hail
+to you, stranger, hail! Pass on to your work for it awaits you, and it
+is great beyond words of mine." Rising from her stool the woman dropped
+her pencil upon the sand and passed swiftly from the room.
+
+"It is over," said the priest. "Never have I heard her speak such
+words."
+
+The Greek chief looked with interest at the barbarian. "You speak
+Greek?" he asked.
+
+"Indifferently well," said the other. "Yet I should understand it seeing
+that I spent a long year at Ziklag in the land of the Philistines."
+
+"It would seem," said the Greek, "that the gods have chosen us both to
+play a part in the world."
+
+"Stranger," the barbarian answered, "there is but one God."
+
+"Say you so? Well, it is a matter to be argued at some better time. But
+I would fain have your name and style and what is it you purpose to do,
+so that we may perchance hear of each other in the years to come. For my
+part I am Odysseus, known also as Ulysses, the King of Ithaca, with the
+good Laertes as my father and young Telemachus as my son. For my work,
+it is the taking of Troy."
+
+"And my work," said the barbarian, "is the building of Jebus, which now
+we call Jerusalem. Our ways lie separate, but it may come back to your
+memory that you have crossed the path of David, second King of the
+Hebrews, together with his young son Solomon, who may follow him upon
+the throne of Israel."
+
+So he turned and went forth into the darkened streets where his spearmen
+were awaiting him, while the Greek passed down to his boat that he might
+see what was still to be done ere he could set forth upon his voyage.
+
+
+
+
+XIII
+
+THE CENTURION
+
+
+[_Being the fragment of a letter from Sulpicius Balbus, Legate of the
+Tenth Legion, to his uncle, Lucius Piso, in his villa near Baiae, dated
+The Kalends of the month of Augustus in the year 824 of Rome._]
+
+I promised you, my dear uncle, that I would tell you anything of
+interest concerning the siege of Jerusalem; but, indeed, these people
+whom we imagined to be unwarlike have kept us so busy that there has
+been little time for letter-writing. We came to Judaea thinking that a
+mere blowing of trumpets and a shout would finish the affair, and
+picturing a splendid triumph in the _via sacra_ to follow, with all the
+girls in Rome throwing flowers and kisses to us. Well, we may get our
+triumph, and possibly the kisses also, but I can assure you that not
+even you who have seen such hard service on the Rhine can ever have
+experienced a more severe campaign than this has been. We have now won
+the town, and to-day their temple is burning, and the smoke sets me
+coughing as I sit writing in my tent. But it has been a terrible
+business, and I am sure none of us wish to see Judaea again.
+
+In fighting the Gauls, or the Germans, you are against brave men,
+animated by the love of their country. This passion acts more, however,
+upon some than others, so that the whole army is not equally inflamed by
+it. These Jews, however, besides their love of country, which is very
+strong, have a desperate religious fervour, which gives them a fury in
+battle such as none of us have ever seen. They throw themselves with a
+shriek of joy upon our swords and lances, as if death were all that they
+desired.
+
+If one gets past your guard may Jove protect you, for their knives are
+deadly, and if it comes to a hand-to-hand grapple they are as dangerous
+as wild beasts, who would claw out your eyes or your throat. You know
+that our fellows of the Tenth Legion have been, ever since Caesar's time,
+as rough soldiers as any with the Eagles, but I can assure you that I
+have seen them positively cowed by the fury of these fanatics. As a
+matter of fact we have had least to bear, for it has been our task from
+the beginning to guard the base of the peninsula upon which this
+extraordinary town is built. It has steep precipices upon all the other
+sides, so that it is only on this one northern base that fugitives could
+escape or a rescue come. Meanwhile, the fifth, fifteenth, and the
+twelfth or Syrian legions have done the work, together with the
+auxiliaries. Poor devils! we have often pitied them, and there have been
+times when it was difficult to say whether we were attacking the town or
+the town was attacking us. They broke down our tortoises with their
+stones, burned our turrets with their fire, and dashed right through our
+whole camp to destroy the supplies in the rear. If any man says a Jew is
+not a good soldier, you may be sure that he has never been in Judaea.
+
+However, all this has nothing to do with what I took up my stylus to
+tell you. No doubt it is the common gossip of the forum and of the baths
+how our army, excellently handled by the princely Titus, carried one
+line of wall after the other until we had only the temple before us.
+This, however, is--or was, for I see it burning even as I write--a very
+strong fortress. Romans have no idea of the magnificence of this place.
+The temple of which I speak is a far finer building than any we have in
+Rome, and so is the Palace, built by Herod or Agrippa, I really forget
+which. This temple is two hundred paces each way, with stones so fitted
+that the blade of a knife will not go between, and the soldiers say
+there is gold enough within to fill the pockets of the whole army. This
+idea puts some fury into the attack, as you can believe, but with these
+flames I fear a great deal of the plunder will be lost.
+
+There was a great fight at the temple, and it was rumoured that it would
+be carried by storm to-night, so I went out on to the rising ground
+whence one sees the city best. I wonder, uncle, if in your many
+campaigns you have ever smelt the smell of a large beleaguered town. The
+wind was south to-night, and this terrible smell of death came straight
+to our nostrils. There were half a million people there, and every form
+of disease, starvation, decomposition, filth and horror, all pent in
+within a narrow compass. You know how the lion sheds smell behind the
+Circus Maximus, acid and foul. It is like that, but there is a low,
+deadly, subtle odour which lies beneath it and makes your very heart
+sink within you. Such was the smell which came up from the city
+to-night.
+
+As I stood in the darkness, wrapped in my scarlet chlamys--for the
+evenings here are chill--I was suddenly aware that I was not alone. A
+tall, silent figure was near me, looking down at the town even as I was.
+I could see in the moonlight that he was clad as an officer, and as I
+approached him I recognized that it was Longinus, third tribune of my
+own legion, and a soldier of great age and experience. He is a strange,
+silent man, who is respected by all, but understood by none, for he
+keeps his own council and thinks rather than talks. As I approached him
+the first flames burst from the temple, a high column of fire, which
+cast a glow upon our faces and gleamed upon our armour. In this red
+light I saw that the gaunt face of my companion was set like iron.
+
+"At last!" said he. "At last!"
+
+He was speaking to himself rather than to me, for he started and seemed
+confused when I asked him what he meant.
+
+"I have long thought that evil would come to the place," said he. "Now
+I see that it has come, and so I said 'At last!'"
+
+"For that matter," I answered, "we have all seen that evil would come to
+the place, since it has again and again defied the authority of the
+Caesars."
+
+He looked keenly at me with a question in his eyes. Then he said:
+
+"I have heard, sir, that you are one who has a full sympathy in the
+matter of the gods, believing that every man should worship according to
+his own conscience and belief."
+
+I answered that I was a Stoic of the school of Seneca, who held that
+this world is a small matter and that we should care little for its
+fortunes, but develop within ourselves a contempt for all but the
+highest.
+
+He smiled in grim fashion at this.
+
+"I have heard," said he, "that Seneca died the richest man in all Nero's
+Empire, so he made the best of this world in spite of his philosophy."
+
+"What are your own beliefs?" I asked. "Are you, perhaps, one who has
+fathomed the mysteries of Isis, or been admitted to the Society of
+Mythra?"
+
+"Have you ever heard," he asked, "of the Christians?"
+
+"Yes," said I. "There were some slaves and wandering men in Rome who
+called themselves such. They worshipped, so far as I could gather, some
+man who died over here in Judaea. He was put to death, I believe, in the
+time of Tiberius."
+
+"That is so," he answered. "It was at the time when Pilate was
+procurator--Pontius Pilate, the brother of old Lucius Pilate, who had
+Egypt in the time of Augustus. Pilate was of two minds in the matter,
+but the mob was as wild and savage as these very men that we have been
+contending with. Pilate tried to put them off with a criminal, hoping
+that so long as they had blood they would be satisfied. But they chose
+the other, and he was not strong enough to withstand them. Ah! it was a
+pity--a sad pity!"
+
+"You seem to know a good deal about it," said I.
+
+"I was there," said the man simply, and became silent, while we both
+looked down at the huge column of flame from the burning temple. As it
+flared up we could see the white tents of the army and all the country
+round. There was a low hill just outside the city, and my companion
+pointed to it.
+
+"That was where it happened," said he. "I forget the name of the place,
+but in those days--it was more than thirty years ago--they put their
+criminals to death there. But He was no criminal. It is always His eyes
+that I think of--the look in His eyes."
+
+"What about the eyes, then?"
+
+"They have haunted me ever since. I see them now. All the sorrow of
+earth seemed mirrored in them. Sad, sad, and yet such a deep, tender
+pity! One would have said that it was He who needed pity had you seen
+His poor battered, disfigured face. But He had no thought for
+Himself--it was the great world pity that looked out of His gentle eyes.
+There was a noble maniple of the legion there, and not a man among them
+who did not wish to charge the howling crowd who were dragging such a
+man to His death."
+
+"What were you doing there?"
+
+"I was Junior Centurion, with the gold vine-rod fresh on my shoulders. I
+was on duty on the hill, and never had a job that I liked less. But
+discipline has to be observed, and Pilate had given the order. But I
+thought at the time--and I was not the only one--that this man's name
+and work would not be forgotten, and that there would be a curse on the
+place that had done such a deed. There was an old woman there, His
+mother, with her grey hair down her back. I remember how she shrieked
+when one of our fellows with his lance put Him out of his pain. And a
+few others, women and men, poor and ragged, stood by Him. But, you see,
+it has turned out as I thought. Even in Rome, as you have observed, His
+followers have appeared."
+
+"I rather fancy," said I, "that I am speaking to one of them."
+
+"At least, I have not forgotten," said he. "I have been in the wars ever
+since with little time for study. But my pension is overdue, and when I
+have changed the sagum for the toga, and the tent for some little farm
+up Como way, then I shall look more deeply into these things, if,
+perchance, I can find some one to instruct me."
+
+And so I left him. I only tell you all this because I remember that you
+took an interest in the man, Paulus, who was put to death for preaching
+this religion. You told me that it had reached Caesar's palace, and I can
+tell you now that it has reached Caesar's soldiers as well. But apart
+from this matter I wish to tell you some of the adventures which we have
+had recently in raiding for food among the hills, which stretch as far
+south as the river Jordan. The other day ...
+
+[_Here the fragment is ended._]
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note (Significant Amendments):
+
+    p. 79, 'cacophanies' amended to _cacophonies_;
+    p. 102, 'Pantelic' amended to _Pentelic_;
+    p. 113, 'Septimus' amended to _Septimius_;
+    p. 144, 'Sava' amended to _Saba_;
+    p. 206, 'wagons' amended to _waggons_.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Last of the Legions and Other
+Tales of Long Ago, by Arthur Conan Doyle
+
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