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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/5535.txt b/5535.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..553c381 --- /dev/null +++ b/5535.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2969 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook A Thorny Path, by Georg Ebers, v6 +#96 in our series by Georg Ebers + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**EBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These EBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers***** + + +Title: A Thorny Path, Volume 6. + +Author: Georg Ebers + +Release Date: April, 2004 [EBook #5535] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on July 19, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + + + + + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A THRONY PATH, BY EBERS, V6 *** + + + +This eBook was produced by David Widger <widger@cecomet.net> + + + + + +A THORNY PATH + +By Georg Ebers + +Volume 6. + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +The philosopher announced the visitor to Caesar, and as some little time +elapsed before Melissa came in, Caracalla forgot his theatrical +assumption, and sat with a drooping head; for, in consequence, no doubt, +of the sunshine which beat on the top of his head, the pain had suddenly +become almost unendurably violent. + +Without vouchsafing a glance at Melissa, he swallowed one of the +alleviating pills left him by Galenus, and hid his face in his hands. +The girl came forward, fearless of the lion, for Philostratos had assured +her that he was tamed, and most animals were willing to let her touch +them. Nor was she afraid of Caesar himself, for she saw that he was in +pain, and the alarm with which she had crossed the threshold gave way to +pity. Philostratus kept at her side, and anxiously watched Caracalla. + +The courage the simple girl showed in the presence of the ferocious +brute, and the not less terrible man, struck him favorably, and his hopes +rose as a sunbeam fell on her shining hair, which the lady Berenike had +arranged with her own hand, twining it with strands of white Bombyx. She +must appear, even to this ruthless profligate, as the very type of pure +and innocent grace. + +Her long robe and peplos, of the finest white wool, also gave her an air +of distinction which suited the circumstances. It was a costly garment, +which Berenike had had made for Korinna, and she had chosen it from among +many instead of the plainer robe in which old Dido had dressed her young +mistress. With admirable taste the matron had aimed at giving Melissa a +simple, dignified aspect, unadorned and almost priestess-like in its +severity. Nothing should suggest the desire to attract, and everything +must exclude the idea of a petitioner of the poorer and commoner sort. + +Philostratus saw that her appearance had been judiciously cared for; but +Caesar's long silence, of which he knew the reason, began to cause him +some uneasiness: for, though pain sometimes softened the despot's mood, +it more often prompted him to revenge himself, as it were, for his own +sufferings, by brutal attacks on the comfort and happiness of others. +And, at last, even Melissa seemed to be losing the presence of mind he +had admired, for he saw her bosom heave faster and higher, her lips +quivered, and her large eyes sparkled through tears. + +Caesar's countenance presently cleared a little. He raised his head, and +as his eye met Melissa's she pronounced in a low, sweet voice the +pleasant Greek greeting, "Rejoice!" + +At this moment the philosopher was seized with a panic of anxiety; he +felt for the first time the weight of responsibility he had taken on +himself. Never had he thought her so lovely, so enchantingly bewitching +as now, when she looked up at Caracalla in sweet confusion and timidity, +but wholly possessed by her desire to win the favor of the man who, with +a word, could make her so happy or so wretched. If this slave of his +passions, whom a mere whim perhaps had moved to insist on the strictest +morality in his court, should take a fancy to this delightful young +creature, she was doomed to ruin. He turned pale, and his heart throbbed +painfully as he watched the development of the catastrophe for which he +had himself prepared the way. + +But, once more, the unexpected upset the philosopher's anticipations. +Caracalla gazed at the girl in amazement, utterly discomposed, as though +some miracle had happened, or a ghost had started from the ground before +him. Springing up, while he clutched the back of his chair, he +exclaimed: + +"What is this? Do my senses deceive me, or is it some base trickery? +No, no! My eyes and my memory are good. This girl--" + +"What ails thee, Caesar?" Philostratus broke in, with increasing anxiety. + +"Something--something which will silence your foolish doubts--" Caesar +panted out. "Patience--wait. Only a minute, and you shall see.--But, +first"--and he turned to Melissa--"what is your name, girl?" + +"Melissa," she replied, in a low and tremulous voice. + +"And your father's and your mother's?" + +"Heron is my father's name, and my mother--she is dead--was called +Olympias, the daughter of Philip." + +"And you are of Macedonian race?" + +"Yes, my lord. My father and mother both were of pure Macedonian +descent." + +The emperor glanced triumphantly at Philostratus, and briefly exclaiming, +"That will do, I think," he clapped his hands, and instantly his old +chamberlain, Adventus, hurried in from the adjoining room, followed by +the whole band of "Caesar's friends." Caracalla, however, only said to +them: + +"You can wait till I call you.--You, Adventus! I want the gem with the +marriage of Alexander." The freedman took the gem out of an ebony casket +standing on Caesar's writing-table, and Caracalla, holding the +philosopher by the arm, said, with excited emphasis: + +"That gem I inherited from my father, the divine Severus. It was +engraved before that child came into the world. Now you shall see it, +and if you then say that it is an illusion--But why should you doubt it? +Pythagoras and your hero Apollonius both knew whose body their souls had +inhabited in a former existence. Mine--though my mother has laughed at +my belief, and others have dared to do the same-mine, five hundred years +ago, dwelt in the greatest of heroes, Alexander the Macedonian--a right +royal tabernacle!" + +He snatched the gem from the chamberlain's hand, and while he devoured it +with his eyes, looking from time to time into Melissa's face, he eagerly +ran on: + +"It is she. None but a blind man, a fool, a malignant idiot, could doubt +it! Any who henceforth shall dare mock at my conviction that I was +brought into the world to fulfill the life-span of that great hero, will +learn to rue it! Here--it is but natural--here, in the city he founded +and which bears his name, I have found positive proof that the bond which +unites the son of Philip with the son of Severus is something more than a +mere fancy. This maiden--look at her closely--is the re-embodiment of +the soul of Roxana, as I am of that of her husband. Even you must see +now how naturally it came about that she should uplift her heart and +hands in prayer for me. Her soul, when it once dwelt in Roxana, was +fondly linked with that of the hero; and now, in the bosom of this simple +maiden, it is drawn to the unforgotten fellow-soul which has found its +home in my breast." + +He spoke with enthusiastic and firm conviction of the truth of his +strange imagining, as though he were delivering a revelation from the +gods. He bade Philostratus approach and compare the features of Roxana, +as carved in the onyx, with those of the young supplicant. + +The fair Persian stood facing Alexander; they were clasping each other's +hands in pledge of marriage, and a winged Hymen fluttered above their +heads with his flaming torch. + +Philostratus was, in fact, startled as he looked at the gem, and +expressed his surprise in the liveliest terms, for the features of Roxana +as carved in the cameo, no larger than a man's palm, were, line for line, +those of the daughter of Heron. And this sport of chance could not but +be amazing to any one who did not know--as neither of the three who were +examining the gem knew--that it was a work of Heron's youth, and that he +had given Roxana the features of his bride Olympias, whose living image +her daughter Melissa had grown to be. + +"And how long have you had this work of art?" asked Philostratus. + +"I inherited it, as I tell you, from my father," replied Caracalla. +"Severus sometimes wore it.--But wait. After the battle of Issos, in his +triumph over Pescennius Niger--I can see him now--he wore it on his +shoulder, and that was--" + +"Two-and-twenty years ago," the philosopher put in; and Caracalla, +turning to Melissa, asked her: + +"How old are you, child?" + +"Eighteen, my lord." And the reply delighted Caesar; he laughed aloud, +and looked triumphantly at Philostratus. + +The philosopher willingly admitted that there was something strange in +the incident, and he congratulated Caesar on having met with such strong +confirmation of his inward conviction. The soul of Alexander might now +do great things through him. + +During this conversation the alarm which had come over Melissa at +Caesar's silence had entirely disappeared. The despot whose suffering +had appealed to her sympathetic soul, now struck her as singular rather +than terrible. The idea that she, the humble artist's daughter, could +harbor the soul of a Persian princess, amused her; and when the lion +lifted his head and lashed the floor with his tail at her approach, she +felt that she had won his approbation. Moved by a sudden impulse, she +laid her hand on his head and boldly stroked it. The light, warm touch +soothed the fettered prince of the desert, and, rubbing his brow against +Melissa's round arm, he muttered a low, contented growl. + +At this Caesar was enchanted; it was to him a further proof of his +strange fancy. The "Sword of Persia" was rarely so friendly to any one; +and Theocritus owed much of the favor shown him by Caracalla to the fact +that at their first meeting the lion had been on particularly good terms +with him. Still, the brute had never shown so much liking for any +stranger as for this young girl, and never responded with such eager +swinging of his tail excepting to Caesar's own endearments. It must be +instinct which had revealed to the beast the old and singular bond which +linked his master and this new acquaintance. Caracalla, who, in all that +happened to him, traced the hand of a superior power, pointed this out to +Philostratus, and asked him whether, perhaps, the attack of pain he had +just suffered might not have yielded so quickly to the presence of the +revived Roxana rather than to Galen's pills. + +Philostratus thought it wise not to dispute this assumption, and soon +diverted the conversation to the subject of Melissa's imprisoned +relations. He quietly represented to Caracalla that his noblest task +must be to satisfy the spirit of her who had been so dear to the hero +whose life he was to fulfill; and Caesar, who was delighted that the +philosopher should recognize as a fact the illusion which flattered him, +at once agreed. He questioned Melissa about her brother Alexander with a +gentleness of which few would have thought him capable; and the sound of +her voice, as she answered him modestly but frankly and with sisterly +affection, pleased him so well that he allowed her to speak without +interruption longer than was his wont. Finally, he promised her that he +would question the painter, and, if possible, be gracious to him. + +He again clapped his hands, and ordered a freedman named Epagathos, who +was one of his favorite body-servants, to send immediately for Alexander +from the prison. + +As before, when Adventus had been summoned, a crowd followed Epagathos, +and, as Caesar did not dismiss them, Melissa was about to withdraw; the +despot, however, desired her to wait. + +Blushing, and confused with shyness, she remained standing by Caesar's +seat; and though she only ventured to raise her eyes now and then for a +stolen look, she felt herself the object of a hundred curious, defiant, +bold, or contemptuous glances. + +How gladly would she have escaped, or have sunk into the earth! But +there she had to stand, her teeth set, while her lips trembled, to check +the tears which would rise. + +Caesar, meanwhile, took no further notice of her. He was longing to +relate at full length, to his friends and companions, the wonderful and +important thing that had happened; but he would not approach the subject +while they took their places in his presence. Foremost of them, with +Theocritus, came the high-priest of Serapis, and Caracalla immediately +desired them to introduce the newly appointed head-guardian of the peace. +But the election was not yet final. The choice lay, Theocritus +explained, between two equally good men. One, Aristides, was a Greek of +high repute, and the other was only an Egyptian, but so distinguished for +zealous severity that, for his part, he should vote for him. + +At this the high-priest broke in, saying that the man favored by +Theocritus did in fact possess the qualities for which he was commended, +but in such a measure that he was utterly hated by the Greek population; +and in Alexandria more could be achieved by justice and mercy than by +defiant severity. + +But at this the favorite laughed, and said that he was convinced of the +contrary. A populace which could dare to mock at the divine Caesar, the +guest of their city, with such gross audacity, must be made to smart +under the power of Rome and its ruler. The deposed magistrate had lost +his place for the absurd measures he had proposed, and Aristides was in +danger of following in his footsteps. + +"By no means," the high-priest said, with calm dignity. "The Greek, whom +I would propose, is a worthy and determined man. Now, Zminis the +Egyptian, the right hand of the man who has been turned out, is, it must +be said, a wretch without ruth or conscience." + +But here the discussion was interrupted. Melissa, whose ears had tingled +as she listened, had started with horror as she heard that Zminis, the in +former, was to be appointed to the command of the whole watch of the +city. If this should happen, her brothers and father were certainly +lost. This must be prevented. As the high-priest ceased speaking, she +laid her hand on Caesar's, and, when he looked up at her in surprise, she +whispered to him, so low and so quickly that hardly any one observed it +"Not Zminis; he is our mortal enemy!" + +Caracalla scarcely glanced at the face of the daring girl, but he saw how +pale she had turned. The delicate color in her cheeks, and the dimple he +had seen while she stroked the lion had struck him as particularly +fascinating. This had helped to make her so like the Roxana on the gem, +and the change in her roused his pity. She must smile again; and so, +accustomed as he was to visit his annoyance on others, he angrily +exclaimed to his "Friends": + +"Can I be everywhere at once? Can not the simplest matter be settled +without me? It was the praetorian prefect's business to report to me +concerning the two candidates, if you could not agree; but I have not +seen him since last evening. The man who has to be sought when I need +him neglects his duty! Macrinus usually knows his. Does any one know +what has detained him?" + +The question was asked in an angry, nay, in an ominous tone, but the +praetorian prefect was a powerful personage, whose importance made him +almost invulnerable. Yet the praetor Lucius Priscillianus was ready with +an answer. He was the most malicious and ill-natured scandal-monger at +court; and he hated the prefect, for he himself had coveted the post, +which was the highest in the state next to Caesar's. He had always some +slaves set to spy upon Macrinus, and he now said, with a contemptuous +shrug: + +"It is a marvel to me that so zealous a man--though he is already +beginning to break down under his heavy duties--should be so late. +However, he here spends his evenings and nights in special occupations, +which must of course be far from beneficial to the health and peace of +mind which his office demands." + +"What can those be?" asked Caracalla; but the praetor added without a +pause: + +"Merciful gods! Who would not crave to glance into the future?" + +"And it is that which makes him late?" said Caesar, with more curiosity +than anger. + +"Hardly by broad daylight," replied Priscillianus. "The spirits he would +fain evoke shun the light of day, it is said. But he may be weary with +late watching and painful agitations." + +"Then he calls up spirits at night?" + +"Undoubtedly, great Caesar. But, in this capital of philosophy, spirits +are illogical it would seem. How can Macrinus interpret the prophecy +that he, who is already on the highest step attainable to us lower +mortals, shall rise yet higher?" + +"We will ask him," said Caesar, indifferently. "But you--guard your +tongue. It has already cost some men their heads, whom I would gladly +see yet among the living. Wishes can not be punished. Who does not wish +to stand on the step next above his own? You, my friend, would like that +of Macrinus.--But deeds! You know me! I am safe from them, so long as +each of you so sincerely grudges his neighbor every promotion. You, my +Lucius, have again proved how keen your sight is, and, if it were not too +great an honor for this refractory city to have a Roman in the toga +praetexta at the head of its administration, I should like to make you +the guardian of the peace here. You see me," he went on, "in an elated +mood to-day.--Cilo, you know this gem which came tome from my father. +Look at it, and at this maiden.--Come nearer, priest of the divine +Alexander; and you too consider the marvel, Theocritus, Antigonus, Dio, +Pandion, Paulinus. Compare the face of the female figure with this girl +by my side. The master carved this Roxana long before she was born. +You are surprised? As Alexander's soul dwells in me, so she is Roxana, +restored to life. It has been proved by irrefragable evidence in the +presence of Philostratus." + +The priest of Alexander here exclaimed, in a tone of firm conviction: + +"A marvel indeed! We bow down to the noble vessel of the soul of +Alexander. I, the priest of that hero, attest that great Caesar has +found that in which Roxana's soul now exists." And as he spoke he +pressed his hand to his heart, bowing low before Caesar; the rest +imitated his example. Even Julius Paulinus, the satirist, followed the +Roman priest's lead; but he whispered in the ear of Cassius Dio +"Alexander's soul was inquisitive, and wanted to see how it could live in +the body which, of all mortal tenements on earth, least resembles his +own." + +A mocking word was on the ex-consul's lips as to the amiable frame of +mind which had so suddenly come over Caesar; but he preferred to watch +and listen, as Caracalla beckoned Theocritus to him and begged him to +give up the appointment of Zminis, though, as a rule, he indulged the +favorite's every whim. He could not bear, he said, to intrust the +defense of his own person and of the city of Alexander to an Egyptian, +so long as a Greek could be found capable of the duty. He proposed +presently to have the two candidates brought before him, and to decide +between them in the presence of the prefect of the praetorians. Then, +turning to those of his captains who stood around him, he said: + +"Greet my soldiers from me. I could not show myself to them yesterday. +I saw just now, with deep regret, how the rain has drenched them in this +luxurious city. I will no longer endure it. The praetorians and the +Macedonian legion shall be housed in quarters of which they will tell +wonders for a long time to come. I would rather see them sleeping in +white wool and eating off silver than these vile traders. Tell them +that." + +He was here interrupted, for Epagathos announced a deputation from the +Museum, and, at the same time, the painter Alexander, who had been +brought from prison. At this Caracalla exclaimed with disgust: + +"Spare me the hair-splitting logicians!--Do you, Philostratus, receive +them in my name. If they make any impudent demands, you may tell them my +opinion of them and their Museum. Go, but come back quickly. Bring in +the painter. I will speak with him alone.--You, my friends, withdraw +with our idiologos, the priest of Alexander, who is well known here, and +visit the city. I shall not require you at present." + +The whole troop hastened to obey. Caracalla now turned to Melissa once +more, and his eye brightened as he again discerned the dimple in her +cheeks, which had recovered their roses. Her imploring eyes met his, +and the happy expectation of seeing her brother lent them a light which +brought joy to the friendless sovereign. During his last speech he had +looked at her from time to time; but in the presence of so many strangers +she had avoided meeting his gaze. Now she thought that she might freely +show him that his favor was a happiness to her. Her soul, as Roxana, +must of course feel drawn to his; in that he firmly believed. Her prayer +and sacrifice for him sufficiently proved it--as he told himself once +more. + +When Alexander was brought in, it did not anger him to see that the +brother, who held out his arms to Melissa in his habitual eager way, had +to be reminded by her of the imperial presence. Every homage was due to +this fair being, and he was, besides, much struck by Alexander's splendid +appearance. It was long since any youthful figure had so vividly +reminded him of the marble statues of the great Athenian masters. +Melissa's brother stood before him, the very embodiment of the ideal +of Greek strength and manly beauty. His mantle had been taken from him +in prison, and he wore only the short chiton, which also left bare his +powerful but softly modeled arms. He had been allowed no time to arrange +and anoint his hair, and the light-brown curls were tossed in disorderly +abundance about his shapely head. This favorite of the gods appeared in +Caesar's eyes as an Olympic victor, who had come to claim the wreath with +all the traces of the struggle upon him. + +No sign of fear, either of Caesar or his lion, marred this impression. +His bow, as he approached the potentate, was neither abject nor awkward, +and Caesar felt bitter wrath at the thought that this splendid youth, of +all men, should have selected him as the butt of his irony. He would +have regarded it as a peculiar gift of fortune if this man--such a +brother of such a sister--could but love him, and, with the eye of an +artist, discern in the despot the great qualities which, in spite of his +many crimes, he believed he could detect in himself. And he hoped, with +an admixture of anxiety such as he had never known before, that the +painter's demeanor would be such as should allow him to show mercy. + +When Alexander besought him with a trustful mien to consider his youth, +and the Alexandrian manners which he had inherited both from his parents +and his grandparents, if indeed his tongue had wagged too boldly in +speaking of the all-powerful Caesar, and to remember the fable of the +lion and the mouse, the scowl he had put on to impress the youth with his +awfulness and power vanished from Caesar's brow. The idea that this +great artist, whose sharp eye could so surely distinguish the hideous +from the beautiful, should regard him as ill-favored, was odious to him. +He had listened to him in silence; but suddenly he inquired of Alexander +whether it was indeed he, whom he had never injured, who had written the +horrible epigram nailed with the rope to the door of the Serapeum and +when the painter emphatically denied it, Caesar breathed as though a +burden had fallen from his soul. He nevertheless insisted on hearing +from the youth's own lips what it was that he had actually dared to say. +After some hesitation, during which Melissa besought Caesar in vain to +spare her and her brother this confession, Alexander exclaimed: + +"Then the hunted creature must walk into the net, and, unless your +clemency interferes, on to death! What I said referred partly to the +wonderful strength that you, my lord, have so often displayed in the +field and in the circus; and also to another thing, which I myself now +truly repent of having alluded to. It is said that my lord killed his +brother." + +"That--ah! that was it!" said Caesar, and his face, involuntarily this +time, grew dark. + +"Yes, my lord," Alexander went on, breathing hard. "To deny it would be +to add a second crime to the former one, and I am one of those who would +rather jump into cold water both feet at once, when it has to be done. +All the world knows what your strength is; and I said that it was greater +than that of Father Zeus; for that he had cast his son Hephaestos only on +the earth, and your strong fist had cast your brother through the earth +into the depths of Hades. That was all. I have not added nor concealed +anything." + +Melissa had listened in terror to this bold confession. Papinian, the +brave praetorian prefect, one of the most learned lawyers of his time, +had incurred Caracalla's fury by refusing to say that the murder of Geta +was not without excuse; and his noble answer, that it was easier to +commit fratricide than to defend it, cost him his life. + +So long as Caesar had been kind to her, Melissa had felt repelled by him; +but now, when he was angry, she was once more attracted to him. + +As the wounds of a murdered man are said to bleed afresh when the +murderer approaches, Caracalla's irritable soul was wont to break out in +a frenzy of rage when any one was so rash as to allude to this, his +foulest crime. This reference to his brother's death had as usual +stirred his wrath, but he controlled it; for as a torrent of rain +extinguishes the fire which a lightning-flash has kindled, the homage to +his strength, in Alexander's satire, had modified his indignation. The +irony which made the artist's contemptuous words truly witty, would not +have escaped Caracalla's notice if they had applied to any one else; but +he either did not feel it, or would not remark it, for the sake of +leaving Melissa in the belief that his physical strength was really +wonderful. Besides, he thus could indulge his wish to avoid pronouncing +sentence of death on this youth; he only measured him with a severe eye, +and said in threatening tones, to repay mockery in kind and to remind the +criminal of the fate imperial clemency should spare him: + +"I might be tempted to try my strength on you, but that it is worse to +try a fall with a vaporing wag, the sport of the winds, than with the son +of Caesar. And if I do not condescend to the struggle, it is because you +are too light for such an arm as this." And as he spoke he boastfully +grasped the muscles which constant practice had made thick and firm. +"But my hand reaches far. Every man-at-arms is one of its fingers, and +there are thousands of them. You have made acquaintance already, I +fancy, with those which clutched you." + +"Not so," replied Alexander, with a faint smile, as he bowed humbly. +"I should not dare resist your great strength, but the watch-dogs of the +law tried in vain to track me. I gave myself up." + +"Of your own accord?" + +"To procure my father's release, as he had been put in prison." + +"Most magnanimous!" said Caesar, ironically. "Such a deed sounds well, +but is apt to cost a man his life. You seem to have overlooked that. +"No, great Caesar; I expected to die." + +"Then you are a philosopher, a contemner of life." + +"Neither. I value life above all else; for, if it is taken from me, +there is an end of enjoying its best gifts." + +"Best gifts!" echoed Caesar. "I should like to know which you honor with +the epithet." + +"Love and art." + +"Indeed?" said Caracalla, with a swift glance at Melissa. Then, in an +altered voice, he added, "And revenge?" + +"That," said the artist, boldly, "is a pleasure I have not yet tasted. +No one ever did me a real injury till the villain Zminis robbed my +guiltless father of his liberty; and he is not worthy to do such +mischief, as a finger of your imperial hand." + +At this, Caesar looked at him suspiciously, and said in stern tones: + +"But you have now the opportunity of trying the fine flavor of vengeance. +If I were timid--since the Egyptian acted only as my instrument--I should +have cause to protect myself against you." + +"By no means," said the painter, with an engaging smile, "it lies in your +power to do me the greatest benefit. Do it, Caesar! It would be a +joy to me to show that, though I have been reckless beyond measure, I am +nevertheless a grateful man." + +"Grateful?" repeated Caracalla, with a cruel laugh. Then he rose +slowly, and looked keenly at Alexander, exclaiming: + +"I should almost like to try you." + +"And I will answer for it that you will never regret it!" Melissa put in. +"Greatly as he has erred, he is worthy of your clemency." + +"Is he?" said Caesar, looking down at her kindly. "What Roxana's soul +affirms by those rosy lips I can not but believe." + +Then again he paused, studying Alexander with a searching eye, and added: + +"You think me strong; but you will change that opinion--which I value-- +if I forgive you like a poor-spirited girl. You are in my power. You +risked your life. If I give it you, I must have a gift in return, that +I may not be cheated." + +"Set my father free, and he will do whatever you may require of him," +Melissa broke out. But Caracalla stopped her, saying: "No one makes +conditions with Caesar. Stand back, girl." + +Melissa hung her head and obeyed; but she stood watching the eager +discussion between these two dissimilar men, at first with anxiety and +then with surprise. + +Alexander seemed to resist Caesar's demands; but presently the despot +must have proposed something which pleased the artist, for Melissa heard +the low, musical laugh which had often cheered her in moments of sadness. +Then the conversation was more serious, and Caracalla said, so loud that +Melissa could hear him: + +"Do not forget to whom you speak. If my word is not enough, you can go +back to prison." Then again she trembled for her brother; but some soft +word of his mollified the fury of the terrible man, who was never the +same for two minutes together. The lion, too, which lay unchained by his +master's seat, gave her a fright now and then; for if Caesar raised his +voice in anger, he growled and stood up. + +How fearful were this beast and his lord! Rather would she spend her +whole life on a ship's deck, tossed to and fro by the surges, than share +this man's fate. And yet there was in him something which attracted her; +nay, and it nettled her that he should forget her presence. + +At last Alexander humbly asked Caracalla whether he might not tell +Melissa to what he had pledged his word. + +"That shall be my business," replied Caesar. "You think that a mere girl +is a better witness than none at all. Perhaps you are right. Then let +it be understood: whatever you may have to report to me, my wrath shall +not turn against you. This fellow--why should you not be told, child?-- +is going into the town to collect all the jests and witty epigrams which +have been uttered in my honor." + +"Alexander!" cried Melissa, clasping her hands and turning pale with +horror. But Caracalla laughed to himself, and went on cheerfully: + +"Yes, it is dangerous work, no doubt; and for that reason I pledged my +word as Caesar not to require him to pay for the sins of others. On the +contrary, he is free, if the posy he culls for me is sufficient." + +"Ay," said Alexander, on whom his sister's white face and warning looks +were having effect. "But you made me another promise on which I lay +great stress. You will not compel me to tell you, nor try to discover +through any other man, who may have spoken or written any particular +satire." + +"Enough!" said Caracalla, impatiently; but Alexander was not to be +checked. He went on vehemently: "I have not forgotten that you said +conditions were not to be made with Caesar; but, in spite of my +impotence, I maintain the right of returning to my prison and there +awaiting my doom, unless you once more assure me, in this girl's +presence, that you will neither inquire as to the names of the authors of +any gibes I may happen to have heard, nor compel me by any means whatever +to give up the names of the writers of epigrams. Why should I not +satisfy your curiosity and your relish of a sharp jest? But rather than +do the smallest thing which might savor of treachery--ten times rather +the axe or the gallows!" + +And Caracalla replied with a dark frown, loudly and briefly: + +"I promise." + +"And if your rage is too much for you?" wailed Melissa, raising her hands +in entreaty; but the despot replied, sternly: + +"There is no passion which can betray Caesar into perjury." + +At this moment Philostratus came in again, with Epagathos, who announced +the praetorian prefect. Melissa, encouraged by the presence of her kind +protector, went on: + +But, great Caesar, you will release my father and my other brother?" + +"Perhaps," replied Caracalla. "First we will see how this one carries +out his task." + +"You will be satisfied, my lord," said the young man, looking quite happy +again, for he was delighted at the prospect of saying audacious things to +the face of the tyrant whom all were bent on flattering, and holding up +the mirror to him without, as he firmly believed, bringing any danger on +himself or others. + +He bowed to go. Melissa did the same, saying, as airily as though she +were free to come and go here: + +"Accept my thanks, great Caesar. Oh, how fervently will I pray for you +all my life, if only you show mercy to my father and brothers!" + +"That means that you are leaving me?" asked Caracalla. + +"How can it be otherwise?" said Melissa, timidly. "I am but a girl, +and the men whom you expect--" + +"But when they are gone?" Caesar insisted. + +"Even then you can not want me," she murmured. + +"You mean," said Caracalla, bitterly, "that you are afraid to come back. +You mean that you would rather keep out of the way of the man you prayed +for, so long as he is well. And if the pain which first aroused your +sympathy attacks him again, even then will you leave the irascible +sovereign to himself or the care of the gods?" + +"Not so, not so," said Melissa, humbly, looking into his eyes with an +expression that pierced him to the heart, so that he added, with gentle +entreaty: + +"Then show that you are she whom I believe you to be. I do not compel +you. Go whither you will, stay away even if I send for you; but"--and +here his brow clouded again--"why should I try to be merciful to her from +whom I looked for sympathy and kindliness, when she flees from me like +the rest?" + +"O my lord!" Melissa sighed distressfully. "Go!" Caesar went on. "I do +not need you." + +"No, no," the girl cried, in great trouble. "Call me, and I will come. +Only shelter me from the others, and from their looks of scorn; only-- +O immortal gods!--If you need me, I will serve you, and willingly, with +all my heart. But if you really care for me, if you desire my presence, +why let me suffer the worst?" Here a sudden flood of tears choked her +utterance. A smile of triumph passed over Caesar's features, and drawing +Melissa's hands away from her tearful face, he said, kindly: + +"Alexander's soul pines for Roxana's; that is what makes your presence so +dear to me. Never shall you have cause to rue coming at my call. I +swear it by the manes of my divine father--you, Philostratus, are +witness." + +The philosopher, who thought he knew Caracalla, gave a sigh of relief; +and Alexander gladly reflected that the danger he had feared for his +sister was averted. This craze about Roxana, of which Caracalla had just +now spoken to him as a certain fact, he regarded as a monstrous illusion +of this strange man's, which would, however, be a better safeguard for +Melissa than pledges and oaths. + +He clasped her hand, and said with cheerful confidence: "Only send for +her when you are ill, my lord, as long as you remain here. I know from +your own lips that there is no passion which can betray Caesar into +perjury. Will you permit her to come with me for the present?" + +"No," said Caracalla, sharply, and he bade him go about the business he +had in hand. Then, turning to Philostratus, he begged him to conduct +Melissa to Euryale, the high-priest's noble wife, for she had been a kind +and never-forgotten friend of his mother's. + +The philosopher gladly escorted the young girl to the matron, who had +long been anxiously awaiting her return. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +The statue of Serapis, a figure of colossal size, carved by the master- +hand of Bryaxis, out of ivory overlaid with gold, sat enthroned in the +inner chamber of the great Temple of Serapis, with the kalathos crowning +his bearded face, and the three-headed Cerberus at his feet, gazing down +in supreme silence on the scene around. He did not lack for pious +votaries and enthusiastic admirers, for, so long as Caesar was his guest, +the curtain was withdrawn which usually hid his majestic form from their +eyes. But his most devoted worshipers thought that the god's noble, +benevolent, grave countenance had a wrathful look; for, though nothing +had been altered in this, the finest pillared hall in the world; though +the beautiful pictures in relief on the walls and ceiling, the statues +and altars of marble, bronze, and precious metals between the columns, +and the costly mosaic-work of many colors which decked the floor in +regular patterns, were the same as of yore, this splendid pavement was +trodden to-day by thousands of feet which had no concern with the service +of the god. + +Before Caesar's visit, solemn silence had ever reigned in this worthy +home of the deity, fragrant with the scarcely visible fumes of kyphi; and +the worshipers gathered without a sound round the foot of his statue, and +before the numerous altars and the smaller images of the divinities +allied to him or the votive tablets recording the gifts and services +instituted in honor of Serapis by pious kings or citizens. On feast- +days, and during daily worship, the chant of priestly choirs might be +heard, or the murmur of prayer; and the eye might watch the stolists who +crowned the statues with flowers and ribbons, as required by the ritual, +or the processions of priests in their various rank. Carrying sacred +relics and figures of the gods on trays or boats, with emblematic +standards, scepters, and cymbals, they moved about the sacred precinct in +prescribed order, and most of them fulfilled their duties with devotion +and edification. + +But Caesar's presence seemed to have banished these solemn feelings. +From morning till night the great temple swarmed with visitors, but their +appearance and demeanor were more befitting the market-place or public +bath than the sanctuary. It was now no more than the anteroom to +Caesar's audience-chamber, and thronged with Roman senators, legates, +tribunes, and other men of rank, and the clients and "friends" of Caesar, +mingled with soldiers of inferior grades, scribes, freedmen, and slaves, +who had followed in Caracalla's train. There were, too, many +Alexandrians who expected to gain some benefit, promotion, or distinction +through the emperor's favorites. Most of these kept close to his friends +and intimates, to make what profit they could out of them. Some were +corn and wine dealers, or armorers, who wished to obtain contracts for +supplying the army; others were usurers, who had money to lend on the +costly objects which warriors often acquired as booty; and here, as +everywhere, bedizened and painted women were crowding round the free- +handed strangers. There were Magians, astrologers, and magicians by the +dozen, who considered this sacred spot the most suitable place in which +to offer their services to the Romans, always inquisitive for signs and +charms. They knew how highly Egyptian magic was esteemed throughout the +empire; though their arts were in fact prohibited, each outdid the other +in urgency, and not less in a style of dress which should excite +curiosity and expectancy. + +Serapion held aloof. Excepting that he wore a beard and robe, his +appearance even had nothing in common with them; and his talar was not +like theirs, embroidered with hieroglyphics, tongues, and flames, but of +plain white stuff, which gave him the aspect of a learned and priestly +sage. + +As Alexander, on his way through the temple to fulfill Caesar's +commission, went past the Magian, Castor, his supple accomplice, stole up +behind a statue, and, when the artist disappeared in the crowd, whispered +to his master: + +"The rascally painter is at liberty!" + +"Till further notice!" was the reply, and Serapion was about to give his +satellite some instructions, when a hand was laid on his shoulder, and +Zminis said in a low voice: + +"I am glad to have found you here. Accusations are multiplying against +you, my friend; and though I have kept my eyes shut till now, that cannot +last much longer." + +"Let us hope you are mistaken," replied the Magian, firmly. And then he +went on in a hurried whisper: "I know what your ambition is, and my +support may be of use to you. But we must not be seen together. We will +meet again in the instrument-room, to the left of the first stairs up to +the observatory. You will find me there." + +"At once, then," said the other. "I am to be in Caesar's presence in a +quarter of an hour." + +The Magian, as being one of the most skillful makers of astronomical +instruments, and attached to the sanctuary, had a key of the room he had +designated. Zminis found him there, and their business was quickly +settled. They knew each other well, and each knew things of the other +which inspired them with mutual fear. However, as time pressed, they set +aside all useless antagonisms, to unite against the common foe. + +The Magian knew already that Zminis had been named to Caesar as a +possible successor to the chief of the night-watch, and that he had a +powerful rival. By the help of the Syrian, whose ventriloquism was so +perfect that he never failed to produce the illusion that his feigned +voice proceeded from any desired person or thing, Serapion had enmeshed +the praetorian prefect, the greatest magnate in the empire next to Caesar +himself, and in the course of the past night had gained a firm hold over +him. + +Macrinus, a man of humble birth, who owed his promotion to Severus, the +father of Caracalla, had, the day before, been praying in the Pantheon to +the statue of his deceased patron. A voice had proceeded from the image, +telling him that the divine Severus needed him for a great work. A pious +seer was charged to tell him more exactly what this was; and he would +meet him if he went at about sunset to the shrine of Isis, and called +three times on the name of Severus before the altar of the goddess. + +The Syrian ventriloquist had, by Serapion's orders, hidden behind a +pillar and spoken to the prefect from the statue; and Macrinus had, of +course, obeyed his instructions. He had met the Magian in the Temple of +Isis, and what he had seen, heard, and felt during the night had so +deeply affected him that he had promised to revisit Serapion the next +evening. What means he had used to enslave so powerful a man the Magian +did not tell his ally; but he declared that Macrinus was as wax in his +hands, and he came to an agreement with the Egyptian that if he, +Serapion, should bring about the promotion for which Zminis sighed, +Zminis, on his part, should give him a free hand, and commend his arts to +Caesar. + +It needed but a few minutes to conclude this compact; but then the Magian +proceeded to insist that Alexander's father and brother should be made +away with. + +"Impossible," replied Zminis. "I should be only too glad to wring the +necks of the whole brood; but, as it is, I am represented to Caesar as +too stern and ruthless. And a pretty little slut, old Heron's daughter, +has entangled him in her toils." + +"No," said Serapion, positively. "I have seen the girl, and she is as +innocent as a child. But I know the force of contrast: when depravity +meets purity--" + +"Come, no philosophizing!" interrupted the other. "We have better +things to attend to, and one or the other may turn to your advantage." + +And he told him that Caesar, whose whim it was to spare Alexander's life, +regarded Melissa as an incarnation of Roxana. + +"That is worth considering," said the Magian, stroking his beard +meditatively; then he suddenly exclaimed: + +"By the law, as you know, all the relatives of a state criminal are sent +to the quarries or the mines. Dispatch Heron and his philosopher son +forthwith. Whither?--that is your concern; only, for the next few days +they must be out of reach." + +"Good!" said the Egyptian, and an odious smile overspread his thin brown +face. "They may go as galley-slaves and row themselves to the Sardinian +mines. A good idea!" + +"I have even better ideas than that to serve a friend," replied Serapion. +"Only get the philosopher out of the way. If Caesar lends an ear to his +ready tongue, I shall never see you guardian of the peace. The painter +is less dangerous." + +"He shall share their fate," cried the spy, and he licked his thick lips +as if tasting some dainty morsel. He waved an adieu to the Magian, and +hastened back to the great hall. There he strictly instructed one of his +subordinates to take care that the gem-cutter and his son Philip found +places on board a galley bound for Sardinia. + +At the great door he again met Serapion, with the Syrian at his heels, +and the Magian said: + +"My friend here has just seen a clay figure, molded by some practiced +hand. It represents Caesar as a defiant warrior, but in the shape of a +deformed dwarf. It is hideously like him; you can see it at the Elephant +tavern." + +The Egyptian pressed his hand, with an eager "That will serve," and +hastily went out. + +Two hours slipped by, and Zminis was still waiting in Caesar's anteroom. +The Greek, Aristides, shared his fate, the captain hitherto of the armed +guard; while Zminis had been the head of the spies, intrusted with +communicating written reports to the chief of the night-watch. The +Greek's noble, soldierly figure looked strikingly fine by the slovenly, +lank frame of the tall Egyptian. They both knew that within an hour or +so one would be supreme over the other; but of this they thought it best +to say nothing. Zminis, as was his custom when he wished to assume an +appearance of respect which he did not feel, was alternately abject and +pressingly confidential; while Aristides calmly accepted his hypocritical +servility, and answered it with dignified condescension. Nor had they +any lack of subjects, for their interests were the same, and they both +had the satisfaction of reflecting what injury must ensue to public +safety through their long and useless detention here. + +But when two full hours had elapsed without their being bidden to +Caesar's presence, or taken any notice of by their supporters, Zminis +grew wroth, and the Greek frowned in displeasure. Meanwhile the anteroom +was every moment more crowded, and neither chose to give vent to his +anger. Still, when the door to the inner chambers was opened for a +moment, and loud laughter and the ring of wine-cups fell on their ears, +Aristides shrugged his shoulders, and the Egyptian's eyes showed an +ominous white ring glaring out of his brown face. + +Caracalla had meanwhile received the praetorian prefect; he had forgiven +him his long delay, when Macrinus, of his own accord, had told him of the +wonderful things Serapion had made known to him. The prefect's son, too, +had been invited to the banquet of Seleukus; and when Caracalla heard +from him and others of the splendor of the feast, he had begun to feel +hungry. Even with regard to food, Caesar acted only on the impulse of +the moment; and though, in the field, he would, to please his soldiers, +be content with a morsel of bread and a little porridge, at home he +highly appreciated the pleasures of the table. Whenever he gave the +word, an abundant meal must at once be ready. It was all the same to him +what was kept waiting or postponed, so long as something to his taste was +set before him. Macrinus, indeed, humbly reminded him that the guardians +of the peace were awaiting him; but he only waved his hand with contempt, +and proceeded to the dining-room, which was soon filled with a +large number of guests. Within a few minutes the first dish was set +before his couch, and, as plenty of good stories were told, and an +admirable band of flute-playing and singing girls filled up the pauses +in the conversation, he enjoyed his meal. In spite, too, of the warning +which Galenus had impressed on his Roman physician, he drank freely of +the fine wine which had been brought out for him from the airy lofts of +the Serapeum, and those about him were surprised at their master's +unwonted good spirits. + +He was especially gracious to the high-priest, whom he bade to a place by +his side; and he even accepted his arm as a support, when, the meal being +over, they returned to the tablinum. + +'There he flung himself on a couch, with a burning head, and began +feeding the lion, without paying any heed to his company. It was a +pleasure to him to see the huge brute rend a young lamb. When the +remains of this introductory morsel had been removed and the pavement +washed, he gave the "Sword of Persia" pieces of raw flesh, teasing the +beast by snatching the daintiest bits out of his mouth, and then offering +them to him again, till the satiated brute stretched himself yawning at +his feet. During this entertainment, he had a letter read to him from +the senate, and dictated a reply to a secretary. His eyes twinkled with +a tipsy leer in his flushed face, and yet he was perfectly competent; +and his instructions to the senate, though imperious indeed, were neither +more nor less rational than in his soberest moods. + +Then, after washing his hands in a golden basin, he acted on Macrinus's +suggestion, and the two candidates who had so long been waiting were at +last admitted. The prefect of the praetorians had, by the Magian's +desire, recommended the Egyptian; but Caesar wished to see for himself, +and then to decide. Both the applicants had received hints from their +supporters: the Egyptian, to moderate his rigor; the Greek, to express +himself in the severest terms. And this was made easy for him, for the +annoyance which had been pent up during his three hours' waiting was +sufficient to lend his handsome face a stern look. Zminis strove to +appear mild by assuming servile humility; but this so ill became his +cunning features that Caracalla saw with secret satisfaction that he +could accede to Melissa's wishes, and confirm the choice of the high- +priest, in whose god he had placed his hopes. + +Still, his own safety was more precious to him than the wishes of any +living mortal; so he began by pouring out, on both, the vials of his +wrath at the bad management of the town. Their blundering tools had not +even succeeded in capturing the most guileless of men, the painter +Alexander. The report that the men-at-arms had seized him had been a +fabrication to deceive, for the artist had given himself up. Nor had he +as yet heard of any other traitor whom they had succeeded in laying hands +on, though the town was flooded with insolent epigrams directed against +the imperial person. And, as he spoke, he glared with fury at the two +candidates before him. + +The Greek bowed his head in silence, as if conscious of his short- +comings; the Egyptian's eyes flashed, and, with an amazingly low bend of +his supple spine, he announced that, more than three hours since, he had +discovered a most abominable caricature in clay, representing Caesar as +a soldier in a horrible pygmy form. + +"And the perpetrator," snarled Caracalla, listening with a scowl for the +reply. + +Zminis explained that great Caesar himself had commanded his attendance +just as he hoped to find the traces of the criminal, and that, while he +was waiting, more than three precious hours had been lost. At this +Caracalla broke out in a fury: + +"Catch the villain! And let me see his insolent rubbish. Where are your +eyes? You bungling louts ought to protect me against the foul brood that +peoples this city, and their venomous jests. Past grievances are +forgotten. Set the painter's father and brother at liberty. They have +had a warning. Now I want something new. Something new, I say; and, +above all, let me see the ringleaders in chains; the man who nailed up +the rope, and the caricaturists. We must have them, to serve as an +example to the others." + +Aristides thought that the moment had now come for displaying his +severity, and he respectfully but decidedly represented to Caesar that he +would advise that the gem-cutter and his son should be kept in custody. +They were well-known persons, and too great clemency would only aggravate +the virulence of audacious tongues. The painter was free, and if his +relatives were also let out of prison, there was nothing to prevent their +going off to the other end of the world. Alexandria was a seaport, and +a ship would carry off the criminals before a man could turn round. + +At this the emperor wrathfully asked him whether his opinion had been +invited; and the cunning Egyptian said to himself that Caracalla was +anxious to spare the father and his sons for the daughter's sake. And +yet Caesar would surely wish to keep them in safety, to have some hold +over the girl; so he lied with a bold face, affirming that, in obedience +to the law of the land, he had removed Heron and Philip, at any rate for +the moment, beyond the reach of Caesar's mercy. They had in the course +of the night been placed on board a galley and were now on the way to +Sardinia. But a swift vessel should presently be sent to overtake it and +bring them back. + +And the informer was right, for Caesar's countenance brightened. He did, +indeed, blame the Egyptian's overhasty action; but he gave no orders for +following up the galley. + +Then, after reflecting for a short time, he said: + +"I do not find in either of you what I require; but at a pinch we are +fain to eat moldy bread, so I must need choose between you two. The one +who first brings me that clay figure, and the man who modeled it, in +chains and bonds, shall be appointed chief of the night-watch." + +Meanwhile Alexander had entered the room. As soon as Caracalla saw him, +he beckoned to him, and the artist informed him that he had made good use +of his time and had much to communicate. Then he humbly inquired as to +the clay figure of which Caesar was speaking, and Caracalla referred him +to Zminis. The Egyptian repeated what the Magian had told him. + +Alexander listened calmly; but when Zminis ceased speaking, the artist +took a deep breath, drew himself up, and pointing a contemptuous finger +at the spy, as if his presence poisoned the air, he said: "It is that +fellow's fault, great Caesar, if the citizens of my native town dare +commit such crimes. He torments and persecutes them in your name. How +many a felony has been committed here, merely to scoff at him and his +creatures, and to keep them on the alert! We are a light-headed race. +Like children, we love to do the forbidden thing, so long as it is no +stain on our honor. But that wretch treats all laughter and the most +innocent fun as a crime, or so interprets it that it seems so. From this +malignant delight in the woes of others, and in the hope of rising higher +in office, that wicked man has brought misery on hundreds. It has all +been done in thy great name, O Caesar! No man has raised you up more +foes than this wretch, who undermines your security instead of protecting +it." + +Here Zminis, whose swarthy face had become of ashy paleness, broke out in +a hoarse tone: "I will teach you, and the whole rabble of traitors at +your back--" + +But Caesar wrathfully commanded him to be silent, and Alexander quietly +went on: "You can threaten, and you will array all your slanderous arts +against us, I know you. But here sits a sovereign who protects the +innocent--and I and mine are innocent. He will set his heel on your head +when he knows you--the curse of this city--for the adder that you are! +He is deceiving you now in small things, great Caesar, and later he will +deceive you in greater ones. Listen now how he has lied to you. He says +he discovered a caricature of your illustrious person in the guise of a +soldier. Why, then, did he not bring it away from the place where it +could only excite disaffection, and might even mislead those who should +see it into the belief that your noble person was that of a dwarf? The +answer is self-evident. He left it to betray others into further +mockery, to bring them to ruin." + +Caesar had listened with approval, and now sternly asked the Egyptian: + +"Did you see the image?" + +"In the Elephant tavern!" yelled the man. + +But Alexander shook his head doubtfully, and begged permission to ask the +Egyptian a question. This was granted, and the artist inquired whether +the soldier stood alone. + +"So far as I remember, yes," replied Zminis, almost beside himself. + +"Then your memory is as false as your soul!" Alexander shouted in his +face, "for there was another figure by the soldier's side. The clay, +still wet, clung to the same board as the figure of the soldier, modeled +by the same hand. No, no, my crafty fellow, you will not catch the +workman; for, being warned, he is already on the high-seas." + +"It is false!" shrieked Zminis. + +"That remains to be proved," said Alexander, scornfully.--"Allow me now, +great Caesar, to show you the figures. They have been brought by my +orders, and are in the anteroom-carefully covered up, of course, for the +fewer the persons who see them the better." + +Caracalla nodded his consent, and Alexander hurried away; the despot +heaping abuse on Zminis, and demanding why he had not at once had the +images removed. The Egyptian now confessed that he had only heard of the +caricature from a friend, and declared that if he had seen it he should +have destroyed it on the spot. Macrinus here tried to excuse the spy, by +remarking that this zealous official had only tried to set his services +in a favorable light. The falsehood could not be approved, but was +excusable. But he had scarcely finished speaking, when his opponent, the +praetor, Lucius Priscillianus, observed, with a gravity he but rarely +displayed: + +"I should have thought that it was the first duty of the man who ought to +be Caesar's mainstay and representative here, to let his sovereign hear +nothing but the undistorted truth. Nothing, it seems to me, can be less +excusable than a lie told to divine Caesar's face!" + +A few courtiers, who were out of the prefect's favor, as well as the +high-priest of Serapis, agreed with the speaker. Caracalla, however, +paid no heed to them, but sat with his eyes fixed on the door, deeply +wounded in his vanity by the mere existence of such a caricature. + +He had not long to wait. But when the wrapper was taken off the clay +figures, he uttered a low snarl, and his flushed face turned pale. +Sounds of indignation broke from the bystanders; the blood rose to his +cheeks again, and, shaking his fist, he muttered unintelligible threats, +while his eyes wandered again and again to the caricatures. They +attracted his attention more than all else, and as in an April day the +sky is alternately dark and bright, so red and white alternated in his +face. Then, while Alexander replied to a few questions, and assured him +that the host of the "Elephant" had been very angry, and had gladly +handed them over to him to be destroyed, Caracalla seemed to become +accustomed to them, for he gazed at them more calmly, and tried to affect +indifference. He inquired of Philostratus, as though he wished to be +informed, whether he did not think that the artist who had modeled these +figures must be a very clever follow; and when the philosopher assented +conditionally, he declared that he saw some resemblance to himself--in +the features of the apple-dealer. And then he pointed to his own +straight legs, only slightly disfigured by an injury to the ankle, to +show how shamefully unfair it was to compare them with the lower limbs of +a misshapen dwarf. Finally, the figure of the apple-dealer--a hideous +pygmy form, with the head of an old man, like enough to his own--roused +his curiosity. What was the point of this image? What peculiarity was +it intended to satirize? The basket which hung about the neck of the +figure was full of fruit, and the object he held in his hand might be an +apple, or might be anything else. + +With eager and constrained cheerfulness, he inquired the opinion of his +"friends," treating as sheer flattery a suggestion from his favorite, +Theocritus, that this was not an apple-dealer, but a human figure, who, +though but a dwarf in comparison with the gods, nevertheless endowed the +world with the gifts of the immortals. + +Alexander and Philostratus could offer no explanation; but when the +proconsul, Julius Paulinus, observed that the figure was offering the +apples for money, as Caesar offered the Roman citizenship to the +provincials, he knew for what, Caracalla nodded agreement. + +He then provisionally appointed Aristides to the coveted office. The +Egyptian should be informed as to his fate. When the prefect was about +to remove the figures, Caesar hastily forbade it, and ordered the +bystanders to withdraw. Alexander alone was commanded to remain. As +soon as they were together, Caesar sprang up and vehemently demanded to +know what news he had brought. But the young man hesitated to begin his +report. Caracalla, of his own accord, pledged his word once more to keep +his oath, and then Alexander assured him that he knew no more than Caesar +who were the authors of the epigrams which he had picked up here and +there; and, though the satire they contained was venomous in some cases, +still he, the sovereign of the world, stood so high that he could laugh +them to scorn, as Socrates had laughed when Aristophanes placed him on +the stage. + +Caesar declared that he scorned these flies, but that their buzzing +annoyed him. + +Alexander rejoiced at this, and only expressed his regret that most of +the epigrams he had collected turned on the death of Caesar's brother +Geta. He knew now that it was rash to condemn a deed which-- + +Here Caesar interrupted him, for he could not long remain quiet, saying +sternly: + +"The deed was needful, not for me, but for the empire, which is dearer to +me than father, mother, or a hundred brothers, and a thousand times +dearer than men's opinions. Let me hear in what form the witty natives +of this city express their disapproval." + +This sounded so dignified and gracious that Alexander ventured to repeat +a distich which he had heard at the public baths, whither he had first +directed his steps. It did not, however, refer to the murder of Geta, +but to the mantle-like garment to which Caesar owed the nickname of +Caracalla. It ran thus: + + "Why should my lord Caracalla affect a garment so ample? + 'Tis that the deeds are many of evil he needs to conceal." + +At this Caesar laughed, saying: "Who is there that has nothing to +conceal? The lines are not amiss. Hand me your tablets; if the others +are no worse--" + +"But they are," Alexander exclaimed, anxiously, and I only regret that I +should be the instrument of your tormenting yourself--" + +"Tormenting?" echoed Caesar, disdainfully. "The verses amuse me, and I +find them most edifying. That is all. Hand me the tablets." + +The command was so positive, that Alexander drew out the little diptych, +with the remark that painters wrote badly, and that what he had noted +down was only intended to aid his memory. The idea that Caesar should +hear a few home-truths through him had struck him as pleasant, but now +the greatness of the risk was clear to him. He glanced at the scrawled +characters, and it occurred to him that he had intended to change the +word dwarf in one line to Caesar, and to keep the third and most +trenchant epigram from the emperor. The fourth and last was very +innocent, and he had meant to read it last, to mollify him. So he did +not wish to show the tablets. But, as he was about to take them back, +Caracalla snatched them from his hand and read with some difficulty: + + "Fraternal love was once esteemed + A virtue even in the great, + + And Philadelphos then was deemed + A name to grace a potentate. + But now the dwarf upon the throne, + By murder of his mother's son, + As Misadelphos must be known." + +"Indeed!" murmured Caesar, with a pale face, and then he went on in a +low, sullen tone: "Always the same story--my brother, and my small +stature. In this town they follow the example of the barbarians, it +would seem, who choose the tallest and broadest of their race to be king. +If the third epigram has nothing else in it, the shallow wit of your +fellow-citizens is simply tedious.--Now, what have we next? Trochaics! +Hardly anything new, I fear!--There is the water-jar. I will drink; fill +the cup." But Alexander did not immediately obey the command so hastily +given; assuring Caesar that he could not possibly read the writing, he +was about to take up the tablets. But Caesar laid his hand on them, and +said, imperiously: "Drink! Give me the cup." + +He fixed his eyes on the wax, and with difficulty deciphered the clumsy +scrawl in which Alexander had noted down the following lines, which he +had heard at the "Elephant" + + "Since on earth our days are numbered, + Ask me not what deeds of horror + Stain the hands of fell Tarautas. + Ask me of his noble actions, + And with one short word I answer, + 'None!'-replying to your question + With no waste of precious hours." + +Alexander meanwhile had done Caracalla's bidding, and when he had +replaced the jar on its stand and returned to Caesar, he was horrified; +for the emperor's head and arms were shaking and struggling to and fro, +and at his feet lay the two halves of the wax tablets which he had torn +apart when the convulsion came on. He foamed at the mouth, with low +moans, and, before Alexander could prevent him, racked with pain and +seeking for some support, he had set his teeth in the arm of the seat off +which he was slipping. Greatly shocked, and full of sincere pity, +Alexander tried to raise him; but the lion, who perhaps suspected the +artist of having been the cause of this sudden attack, rose on his feet +with a roar, and the young man would have had no chance of his life if +the beast had not happily been chained down after his meal. With much +presence of mind, Alexander sprang behind the chair and dragged it, with +the unconscious man who served him as a shield, away from the angry +brute. + +Galen had urged Caesar to avoid excess in wine and violent emotions, and +the wisdom of the warning was sufficiently proved by the attack which had +seized him with such fearful violence, just when Caracalla had neglected +it in both particulars. Alexander had to exert all the strength of his +muscles, practised in the wrestling-school, to hold the sufferer on his +seat, for his strength, which was not small, was doubled by the demons of +epilepsy. In an instant the whole Court had rushed to the spot on +hearing the lion's roar of rage, which grew louder and louder, and could +be heard at no small distance, and then Alexander's shout for help. But +the private physician and Epagathos, the chamberlain, would allow no one +to enter the room; only old Adventus, who was half blind, was permitted +to assist them in succoring the sufferer. He had been raised by +Caracalla from the humble office of letter-carrier to the highest +dignities and the office of his private chamberlain; but the leech +availed himself by preference of the assistance of this experienced +and quiet man, and between them they soon brought Caesar to his senses. +Caesar then lay pale and exhausted on a couch which had hastily been +arranged, his eyes fixed on vacancy, scarcely able to move a finger. +Alexander held his trembling hand, and when the physician, a stout man of +middle age, took the artist's place and bade him retire, Caracalla, in a +low voice, desired him to remain. + +As soon as Caesar's suspended faculties were fully awake again, he turned +to the cause of his attack. With a look of pain and entreaty he desired +Alexander to give him the tablets once more; but the artist assured him-- +and Caracalla seemed not sorry to believe--that he had crushed the wax in +his convulsion. The sick man himself no doubt felt that such food was +too strong for him. After he had remained staring at nothing in silence +for some time, he began again to speak of the gibes of the Alexandrians. +Surrounded as he was by servile favorites, whose superior he was in gifts +and intellect, what had here come under his notice seemed to interest him +above measure. + +He desired to know where and from whom the painter had got these +epigrams. But again Alexander declared that he did not know the names of +the authors; that he had found one at the public baths, the second in a +tavern, and the third at a hairdresser's shop. Caesar looked sadly at +the youth's abundant brown curls which had been freshly oiled, and said: +"Hair is like the other good gifts of life. It remains fine only with +the healthy. You, happy rascal, hardly know what sickness means!" Then +again he sat staring in silence, till he suddenly started up and asked +Alexander, as Philostratus had yesterday asked Melissa: + +"Do you and your sister belong to the Christians?" + +When he vehemently denied it, Caracalla went on: "And yet these epigrams +show plainly enough how the Alexandrians feel toward me. Melissa, too, +is a daughter of this town, and when I remember that she could bring +herself to pray for me, then--My nurse, who was the best of women, was a +Christian. I learned from her the doctrine of loving our enemies and +praying for those who despitefully treat us. I always regarded it as +impossible; but now--your sister--What I was saying just now about the +hair and good health reminds me of another speech of the Crucified one +which my nurse often repeated--how long ago!--'To him that hath shall be +given, and from him that hath not shall be taken even that which he +hath.' How cruel and yet how wise, how terribly striking and true! A +healthy man! What more can he want, and what abundant gifts that best of +all gifts will gain for him! If he is visited by infirmity--only look at +me!--how much misery I have suffered from this curse, terrible enough in +itself, and tainting everything with the bitterness of wormwood!" + +He laughed softly but scornfully, and continued: "But I! I am the +sovereign of the universe. I have so much--oh yes, so much!--and for +that reason more shall be given to me, and my wildest wishes shall be +satisfied!" + +"Yes, my liege!" interrupted Alexander, eagerly. "After pain comes +pleasure! + + 'Live, love, drink, and rejoice, + And wreath thyself with me!' + +sings Sappho, and it is not a bad plan to follow Anakreon's advice, even +at the present day. Think of the short suffering which now and then +embitters for you the sweet cup of life, as being the ring of Polykrates, +with which you appease the envy of the gods who have given you so much. +In your place, eternal gods! how I would enjoy the happy hours of health, +and show the immortals and mortals alike how much true and real pleasure +power and riches can procure!" + +The emperor's weary eyes brightened, and with the cry-- + +"So will I! I am still young, and I have the power!" he started +suddenly to his feet. But he sank back again directly on the couch, +shaking his head as if to say, "There, you see what a state I am +in!" The fate of this unhappy man touched Alexander's heart even more +deeply than before. + +His youthful mind, which easily received fresh impressions, forgot the +deeds of blood and shame which stained the soul of this pitiable wretch. +His artistic mind was accustomed to apprehend what he saw with his whole +soul and without secondary considerations, as if it stood there to be +painted; and the man that lay before him was to him at that moment only a +victim whom a cruel fate had defrauded of the greatest pleasures in life. +He also remembered how shamelessly he and others had mocked at Caesar. +Perhaps Caracalla had really spilled most of the blood to serve the +welfare and unity of the empire. + +He, Alexander, was not his judge. + +If Glaukias had seen the object of his derision lying thus, it certainly +would never have occurred to him to represent him as a pygmy monster. +No, no! Alexander's artistic eye knew the difference well between the +beautiful and the ugly--and the exhausted man lying on the divan, was no +hideous dwarf. A dreamy languor spread over his nobly chiselled features +An expression of pain but rarely passed over them, and Caesar's whole +appearance reminded the painter of the fine Ephesian gladiator hallistos +as he lay on the sand, severely wounded after his last fight, awaiting +the death-stroke. He would have liked to hasten home and fetch his +materials to paint the likeness of the misjudged man, and to show it to +the scoffers. + +He stood silent, absorbed in studying the quiet face so finely formed by +Nature and so pathetic to look at. No thoroughly depraved miscreant +could look like that. Yet it was like a peaceful sea: when the hurricane +should break loose, what a boiling whirl of gray, hissing, tossing, +foaming waves would disfigure the peaceful, smooth, glittering surface! + +And suddenly the emperor's features began to show signs of animation. +His eye, but now so dull, shone more brightly, and he cried out, as if +the long silence had scarcely broken the thread of his ideas, but in a +still husky voice: + +"I should like to get up and go with you, but I am still too weak. Do +you go now, my friend, and bring me back fresh news." + +Alexander then begged him to consider how dangerous every excitement +would be for him; yet Caracalla exclaimed, eagerly: + +"It will strengthen me and dome good! Everything that surrounds me is so +hollow, so insipid, so contemptible--what I hear is so small. A strong, +highly spiced word, even if it is sharp, refreshes me--When you have +finished a picture, do you like to hear nothing but how well your friends +can flatter?" + +The artist thought he understood Caesar. True to his nature, always +hoping for the best, he thought that, as the severe judgment of the +envious had often done him (Alexander) good, so the sharp satire of the +Alexandrians would lead Caracalla to introspection and greater +moderation; he only resolved to tell the sufferer nothing further that +was merely insulting. + +When he bade him farewell, Caracalla glanced up at him with such a look +of pain that the artist longed to give him his hand, and speak to him +with real affection. The tormenting headache which followed each +convulsion had again come on, and Caesar submitted without resistance to +what the physician prescribed. + +Alexander asked old Adventus at the door if he did not think that the +terrible attack had been brought on by annoyance at the Alexandrians' +satire, and if it would not be advisable in the future not to allow such +things to reach the emperor's ear; but the man, looking at him in +surprise with his half-blind eyes, replied with a brutal want of sympathy +that disgusted the youth: "Drinking brought on the attack. What makes +him ill are stronger things than words. If you yourself, young man, do +not suffer for Alexandrian wit, it will certainly not hurt Caesar!" + +Alexander turned his back indignantly on the chamberlain, and he became +so absorbed in wondering how it was possible that the emperor, who was +cultivated and appreciated what was beautiful, could have dragged out of +the dust and kept near him two such miserable 'creatures as Theocritus +and this old man, that Philostratus, who met him in the next room, had +almost to shout at him. + +Philostratus informed him that Melissa was staying with the chief +priest's wife; but just as he was about to inquire curiously what had +passed between the audacious painter and Caesar--for even Philostratus +was a courtier--he was called away to Caracalla. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +In one of the few rooms of his vast palace which the chief priest had +reserved for the accommodation of the members of his own household, the +youth was received by Melissa, Timotheus's wife Euryale, and the lady +Berenike. + +This lady was pleased to see the artist again to whom she was indebted +for the portrait of her daughter. She had it now in her possession once +more, for Philostratus had had it taken back to her house while the +emperor was at his meal. + +She rested on a sofa, quite worn out. She had passed through hours of +torment; for her concern about Melissa, who had become very dear to her, +had given her much more anxiety than even the loss of her beloved +picture. Besides, the young girl was to her for the moment the +representative of her sex, and the danger of seeing this pure, sweet +creature exposed to the will of a licentious tyrant drove her out of her +senses, and her lively fancy had resulted in violent outbreaks of +indignation. She now proposed all sorts of schemes, of which Euryale, +the more prudent but not less warm-hearted wife of the chief priest, +demonstrated the impossibility. + +Like Berenike, a tender-hearted woman, whose smooth, brown hair had +already begun to turn gray, she had also lost her only child. But years +had passed since then, and she had accustomed herself to seek comfort in +the care of the sick and wretched. She was regarded all over the city as +the providence of all in need, whatever their condition and faith. Where +charity was to be bestowed on a large scale--if hospitals or almshouses +were to be erected or endowed--she was appealed to first, and if she +promised her quiet but valuable assistance, the result was at once +secured. For, besides her own and her husband's great riches, this lady +of high position, who was honored by all, had the purses of all the +heathens and Christians in the city at her disposal; both alike +considered that she belonged to them; and the latter, although she only +held with them in secret, had the better right. + +At home, the society of distinguished men afforded her the greatest +pleasure. Her husband allowed her complete freedom; although he, as the +chief Greek priest of the city, would have preferred that she should not +also have had among her most constant visitors so many learned +Christians. But the god whom he served united in his own person most +of the others; and the mysteries which he superintended taught that even +Serapis was only a symbolical embodiment of the universal soul, +fulfilling its eternal existence by perpetually re-creating itself under +constant and immutable laws. A portion of that soul, which dwelt in all +created things, had its abode in each human being, to return to the +divine source after death. Timotheus firmly clung to this pantheist +creed; still, he held the honorable post of head of the Museum--in the +place of the Roman priest of Alexander, a man of less learning--and was +familiar not only with the tenets of his heathen predecessors, but with +the sacred scriptures of the Jews and Christians; and in the ethics of +these last he found much which met his views. + +He, who, at the Museum, was counted among the skeptics, liked biblical +sentences, such as "All is vanity," and "We know but in part." The +command to love your neighbor, to seek peace, to thirst after truth, the +injunction to judge the tree by its fruit, and to fear more for the soul +than the body, were quite to his mind. + +He was so rich that the gifts of the visitors to the temple, which his +predecessors had insisted on, were of no importance to him. Thus he +mingled a great deal that was Christian with the faith of which he was +chief minister and guardian. Only the conviction with which men like +Clemens and Origen, who were friends of his wife, declared that the +doctrine to which they adhered was the only right one--was, in fact, the +truth itself--seemed to the skeptic "foolishness." + +His wife's friends had converted his brother Zeno to Christianity; but he +had no need to fear lest Euryale should follow them. She loved him too +much, and was too quiet and sensible, to be baptized, and thus expose +him, the heathen high-priest, to the danger of being deprived of the +power which she knew to be necessary to his happiness. + +Every Alexandrian was free to belong to any other than the heathen +creeds, and no one had taken offence at his skeptical writings. When +Euryale acted like the best of the Christian women, he could not take it +amiss; and he would have scorned to blame her preference for the teaching +of the crucified God. + +As to Caesar's character he had not yet made up his mind. + +He had expected to find him a half-crazy villain, and his rage after he +had heard the epigram against himself, left with the rope, had +strengthened the chief priest's opinion. But since then he had heard of +much that was good in him; and Timotheus felt sure that his judgment was +unbiased by the high esteem Caesar showed to him, while he treated others +like slaves. His improved opinion had been raised by the intercourse he +had held with Caesar. The much-abused man had on these occasions shown +that he was not only well educated but also thoughtful; and yesterday +evening, before Caracalla had gone to rest exhausted, the high-priest, +with his wise experience, had received exactly the same impressions as +the easily influenced artist; for Caesar had bewailed his sad fate in +pathetic terms, and confessed himself indeed deeply guilty, but declared +that he had intended to act for the best, had sacrificed fortune, peace +of mind, and comfort to the welfare of the state. His keen eye had +marked the evils of the time, and he had acknowledged that his efforts +to extirpate the old maladies in order to make room for better things had +been a failure, and that, instead of earning thanks, he had drawn down on +himself the hatred of millions. + +It was for this reason that Timotheus, on rejoining his household, had +assured them that, as he thought over this interview, he expected +something good--yes, perhaps the best--from the young criminal in the +purple. + +But the lady Berenike had declared with scornful decision that Caracalla +had deceived her brother-in-law; and when Alexander likewise tried to say +a word for the sufferer, she got into a rage and accused him of foolish +credulity. + +Melissa, who had already spoken in favor of the emperor, agreed, in spite +of the matron, with her brother. Yes, Caracalla had sinned greatly, and +his conviction that Alexander's soul lived in him and Roxana's in her was +foolish enough; but the marvelous likeness to her of the portrait on the +gem would astonish any one. That good and noble impulses stirred his +soul she was certain. But Berenike only shrugged her shoulders +contemptuously; and when the chief priest remarked that yesterday evening +Caracalla had in fact not been in a position to attend a feast, and that +a portion, at least, of his other offenses might certainly be put down to +the charge of his severe suffering, the lady exclaimed: + +"And is it also his bodily condition that causes him to fill a house of +mourning with festive uproar? I am indifferent as to what makes him a +malefactor. For my part, I would sooner abandon this dear child to the +care of a criminal than to that of a madman." + +But the chief priest and the brother and sister both declared Caesar's +mind to be as sound and sharp as any one's; and Timotheus asked who, +at the present time, was without superstition, and the desire of +communicating with departed souls. Still the matron would not allow +herself to be persuaded, and after the chief priest had been called away +to the service of the god, Euryale reproved her sister-in-law for her too +great zeal. When the wisdom of hoary old age and impetuous youth agree +in one opinion, it is commonly the right one. + +"And I maintain," cried Berenike--and her large eyes flamed angrily--" +it is criminal to ignore my advice. Fate has robbed you as well as me of +a dear child. I will not also lose this one, who is as precious to me as +a daughter." + +Melissa bent over the lady's hands and kissed them gratefully, exclaiming +with tearful eyes, "But he has been very good to me, and has assured me-" + +"Assured!" repeated Berenike disdainfully. She then drew the young girl +impetuously toward her, kissed her on her forehead, placed her hands on +her head as if to protect her, and turned to the artist as she continued: + +"I stand by what I recommended before. This very night Melissa must get +far away from here. You, Alexander, must accompany her. My own ship, +the 'Berenike and Korinna'--Seleukus gave it to me and my daughter--is +ready to start. My sister lives in Carthage. Her husband, the first man +in the city, is my friend. You will find protection and shelter in their +house." + +"And how about our father and Philip?" interrupted Alexander. "If we +follow your advice, it is certain death to them!" + +The matron laughed scornfully. + +"And that is what you expect from this good, this great and noble +sovereign!" + +"He proves himself full of favors to his friends," answered Alexander, +"but woe betide those who offend him!" + +Berenike looked thoughtfully at the ground, and added, more quietly: + +"Then try first to release your people, and afterward embark on my +ship. It shall be ready for you. Melissa will use it, I know.--My veil, +child! The chariot waits for me at the Temple of Isis.--You will +accompany me there, Alexander, and we will drive to the harbor. There I +will introduce you to the captain. It will be wise. Your father and +brother are dearer to you than your sister; she is more important to me. +If only I could go away myself--away from here, from the desolate house, +and take her with me!" + +And she raised her arm, as if she would throw a stone into the distance. + +She impetuously embraced the young girl, took leave of her sister-in-law, +and left the room with Alexander. + +Directly Euryale was alone with Melissa, she comforted the girl in her +kind, composed manner; for the unhappy matron's gloomy presentiments had +filled Melissa with fresh anxieties. + +And what had she not gone through during the day! + +Soon after her perilous interview with Caracalla, Timotheus, with the +chief of the astrologers from the Serapeum, and the emperor's astronomer, +had come to her, to ask her on what day and at what hour she was born. +They also inquired concerning the birthdays of her parents, and other +events of her life. Timotheus had informed her that the emperor had +ordered them to cast her nativity. + +Soon after dinner she had gone, accompanied by the lady Berenike, who had +found her at the chief priest's house, to visit her lover in the sick- +rooms of the Serapeum. Thankful and happy, she had found him with fully +recovered consciousness, but the physician and the freedman Andreas, whom +she met at the door of the chamber, had impressed on her the importance +of avoiding all excitement. So it had not been possible for her to tell +him what had happened to her people, or of the perilous step she had +taken in order to save them. But Diodoros had talked of their wedding, +and Andreas could confirm the fact that Polybius wished to see it +celebrated as soon as possible. + +Several pleasant subjects were discussed; but between whiles Melissa had +to dissemble and give evasive answers to Diodoros's questions as to +whether she had already arranged with her brother and friends who should +be the youths and maidens to form the wedding procession, and sing the +hymeneal song. + +As the two whispered to one another and looked tenderly at each other-- +for Diodoros had insisted on her allowing him to kiss not only her hands +but also her sweet red lips--Berenike had pictured her dead daughter in +Melissa's place. What a couple they would have been! How proudly and +gladly she would have led them to the lovely villa at Kanopus, which her +husband and she had rebuilt and decorated with the idea that some day +Korinna, her husband, and--if the gods should grant it--their children, +might inhabit it! But even Melissa and Diodoros made a fine couple, and +she tried with all her heart not to grudge her all the happiness that she +had wished for her own child. + +When it was time to depart, she joined the hands of the betrothed pair, +and called down a blessing from the gods. + +Diodoros accepted this gratefully. + +He only knew that this majestic lady had made Melissa's acquaintance +through Alexander, and had won her affection, and he encouraged the +impression that this woman, whose Juno-like beauty haunted him, had +visited him on his bed of sickness in the place of his long-lost mother. + +Outside the sick-room Andreas again met Melissa, and, after she had told +him of her visit to the emperor, he impressed on her eagerly on no +account to obey the tyrant's call again. Then he had promised to hide +her securely, either on Zeno's estate or else in the house of another +friend, which was difficult of access. When Dame Berenike had again, +and with particular eagerness, suggested her ship, Andreas had exclaimed: + +"In the garden, on the ship, under the earth--only not back to Caesar!" + +The last question of the freedman's, as to whether she had meditated +further on his discourse, had reminded her of the sentence, "The fullness +of the time is come"; and afterward the thought occurred to her, again +and again, that in the course of the next few hours some decisive event +would happen to her, "fulfilling the time," as Andreas expressed it. + +When, therefore, somewhat later, she was alone with the chief priest's +wife, who had concluded her comforting, pious exhortations, Melissa asked +the lady Euryale whether she had ever heard the sentence, "When the +fullness of the time is come." + +At this the lady cried, gazing at the girl with surprised inquiry: + +"Are you, then, after all, connected with the Christians?" + +"Certainly not," answered the young girl, firmly. "I heard it +accidentally, and Andreas, Polybius's freedman, explained it to me." + +"A good interpreter," replied the elder lady. "I am only an ignorant +woman; yet, child, even I have experienced that a day, an hour, comes to +every man in the course of his life in which he afterward sees that the +time was fulfilled. As the drops become mingled with the stream, so at +that moment the things we have done and thought unite to carry us on a +new current, either to salvation or perdition. Any moment may bring the +crisis; for that reason the Christians are right when they call on one +another to watch. You also must keep your eyes open. When the time--who +knows how soon?--is fulfilled for you, it will determine the good or evil +of your whole life." + +"An inward voice tells me that also," answered Melissa, pressing her +hands on her panting bosom. "Just feel how my heart beats!" + +Euryale, smiling, complied with this wish, and as she did so she +shuddered. How pure and lovable was this young creature; and Melissa +looked to her like a lamb that stood ready to hasten trustfully to meet +the wolf! + +At last she led her guest into the room where supper was prepared. + +The master of the house would not be able to share it, and while the two +women sat opposite one another, saying little, and scarcely touching +either food or drink, Philostratus was announced. + +He came as messenger from Caracalla, who wished to speak to Melissa. + +"At this hour? Never, never! It is impossible!" exclaimed Euryale, who +was usually so calm; but Philostratus declared, nevertheless, that denial +was useless. The emperor was suffering particularly severely, and begged +to remind Melissa of her promise to serve him gladly if he required her. +Her presence, he assured Euryale, would do the sick man good, and he +guaranteed that, so long as Caesar was tormented by this unbearable pain, +the young woman had nothing to fear. + +Melissa, who had risen from her seat when the philosopher had entered, +exclaimed: + +"I am not afraid, and will go with you gladly--" + +"Quite right, child," answered Philostratus, affectionately. Euryale, +however, found it difficult to keep back her tears while she stroked +the girl's hair and arranged the folds of her garment. When at last she +said good-by to Melissa and was embracing her, she was reminded of the +farewell she had taken, many years ago, of a Christian friend before she +was led away by the lictors to martyrdom in the circus. Finally, she +whispered something in the philosopher's ear, and received from him the +promise to return with Melissa as soon as possible. + +Philostratus was, in fact, quite easy. Just before, Caracalla's helpless +glance had met his sympathizing gaze, and the suffering Caesar had said +nothing to him but: + +"O Philostratus, I am in such pain!" and these words still rang in the +ears of this warm-hearted man. + +While he was endeavoring to comfort the emperor, Caesar's eyes had fallen +on the gem, and he asked to see it. He gazed at it attentively for some +time, and when he returned it to the philosopher he had ordered him to +fetch the prototype of Roxana. + +Closely enveloped in the veil which Euryale had placed on her head, +Melissa passed from room to room, keeping near to the philosopher. + +Wherever she appeared she heard murmuring and whispering that troubled +her, and tittering followed her from several of the rooms as she left +them; even from the large hall where the emperor's friends awaited his +orders in numbers, she heard a loud laugh that frightened and annoyed +her. + +She no longer felt as unconstrained as she had been that morning when she +had come before Caesar. She knew that she would have to be on her guard; +that anything, even the worst, might be expected from him. But as +Philostratus described to her, on the way, how terribly the unfortunate +man suffered, her tender heart was again drawn to him, to whom--as she +now felt--she was bound by an indefinable tie. She, if any one, as she +repeated to herself, was able to help him; and her desire to put the +truth of this conviction to the proof--for she could only regard it +as too amazing to be grounded in fact--was seconded by the less +disinterested hope that, while attending on the sufferer, she might +find an opportunity of effecting the release of her father and brother. + +Philostratus went on to announce her arrival, and she, while waiting, +tried to pray to the manes of her mother; but, before she could +sufficiently collect her thoughts, the door opened. Philostratus +silently beckoned to her, and she stepped into the tablinum, which was +but dimly lighted by a few lamps. + +Caracalla was still resting here; for every movement increased the pain +that tormented him. + +How quiet it was! She thought she could hear her own heart beating. + +Philostratus remained standing by the door, but she went on tiptoe toward +the couch, fearing her light footsteps might disturb the emperor. Yet +before she had reached the divan she stopped still, and then she heard +the plaintive rattle in the sufferer's throat, and from the background of +the room the easy breathing of the burly physician and of old Adventus, +both of whom had fallen asleep; and then a peculiar tapping. The lion +beat the floor with his tail with pleasure at recognizing her. + +This noise attracted the invalid's attention, and when he opened his +closed eyes and saw Melissa, who was anxiously watching all his +movements, he called to her lightly with his hand on his brow: + +"The animal has a good memory, and greets you in my name. You were sure +to come--, I knew it!" + +The young girl stepped nearer to him, and answered, kindly, "Since you +needed me, I gladly followed Philostratus." + +"Because I needed you?" asked the emperor. + +"Yes," she replied, "because you require nursing." + +"Then, to keep you, I shall wish to be ill often," he answered, quickly; +but he added, sadly, "only not so dreadfully ill as I have been to-day." + +One could hear how laborious talking was to him, and the few words he had +sought and found, in order to say something kind to Melissa, had so hurt +his shattered nerves and head that he sank back, gasping, on the +cushions. + +Then for some time all was quiet, until Caracalla took his hand from his +forehead and continued, as if in excuse: + +"No one seems to know what it is. And if I talk ever so softly, every +word vibrates through my brain." + +"Then you must not speak," interrupted Melissa, eagerly. "If you want +anything, only make signs. I shall understand you without words, and the +quieter it is here the better." + +"No, no; you must speak," begged the invalid. "When the others talk, +they make the beating in my head ten times worse, and excite me; but I +like to hear your voice." + +"The beating?" interrupted Melissa, in whom this word awoke old memories. +"Perhaps you feel as if a hammer was hitting you over the left eye? + +"If you move rapidly, does it not pierce your skull, and do you not feel +as sick as if you were on the rocking sea?" + +"Then you also know this torment?" asked Caracalla, surprised; but she +answered, quietly, that her mother had suffered several times from +similar headaches, and had described them to her. + +Caesar sank back again on the pillows, moved his dry lips, and glanced +toward the drink which Galen had prescribed for him; and Melissa, who +almost as a child had long nursed a dear invalid, guessed what he wanted, +brought him the goblet, and gave him a draught. + +Caracalla rewarded her with a grateful look. But the physic only seemed +to increase the pain. He lay there panting and motionless, until, trying +to find a new position, he groaned, lightly: + +"It is as if iron was being hammered here. One would think others might +hear it." + +At the same time he seized the girl's hand and placed it on his burning +brow. + +Melissa felt the pulse in the sufferer's temple throbbing hard and short +against her fingers, as she had her mother's when she laid her cool hand +on her aching forehead; and then, moved by the wish to comfort and heal, +she let her right hand rest over the sick man's eyes. As soon as she +felt one hand was hot, she put the other in its place; and it must have +relieved the patient, for his moans ceased by degrees, and he finally +said, gratefully: + +"What good that does me! You are--I knew you would help me. It is +already quite quiet in my brain. Once more your hand, dear girl!" + +Melissa willingly obeyed him, and as he breathed more and more easily, +she remembered that her mother's headache had often been relieved when +she had placed her hand on her forehead. Caesar, now opening his eyes +wide, and looking her full in the face, asked why she had not allowed him +sooner to reap the benefit of this remedy. + +Melissa slowly withdrew her hand, and with drooping eyes answered gently: + +"You are the emperor, a man. . . and I. . . . But Caracalla +interrupted her eagerly, and with a clear voice: + +"Not so, Melissa! Do not you feel, like me, that something else draws +us to one another, like what binds a man to his wife?-There lies the gem. +Look at it once again--No, child, no! This resemblance is not mere +accident. The short-sighted, might call it superstition or a vain +illusion; I know better. At least a portion of Alexander's soul lives in +this breast. A hundred signs--I will tell you about it later--make it a +certainty to me. And yesterday morning. . . . I see it all again +before me. . . . You stood above me, on the left, at a window. . . +I looked up; . . our eyes met, and I felt in the depths of my heart a +strange emotion. . . . I asked myself, silently, where I had seen +that lovely face before. And the answer rang, you have already often met +her; you know her!" + +"My face reminded you of the gem," interrupted Melissa, disquieted. + +"No, no," continued Caesar. "It was some thing else. Why had none of my +many gems ever reminded me before of living people? Why did your +picture, I know not how often, recur to my mind? And you? Only +recollect what you have done for me. How marvelously we were brought +together! And all this in the course of a single, short day. And you +also. . . . I ask you, by all that is holy to you. . . Did you, +after you saw me in the court of sacrifice, not think of me so often and +so vividly that it astonished you?" + +"You are Caesar," answered Melissa, with increasing anxiety. + +"So you thought of my purple robes?" asked Caracalla, and his face +clouded over; "or perhaps only of my power that might be fatal to your +family? I will know. Speak the truth, girl, by the head of your +father!" + +Then Melissa poured forth this confession from her oppressed heart: + +"Yes, I could not help remembering you constantly, . . . and I never +saw you in purple, but just as you had stood there on the steps; . . . +and then--ah! I have told you already how sorry I was for your +sufferings. I felt as if . . . but how can I describe it truly?-- +as if you stood much nearer to me than the ruler of the world could +to a poor, humble girl. It was . . . eternal gods! . . ." + +She stopped short; for she suddenly recollected anxiously that this +confession might prove fatal to her. The sentence about the time which +should be fulfilled for each was ringing in her ears, and it seemed to +her that she heard for the second time the lady Berenike's warning. + +But Caracalla allowed her no time to think; for he interrupted her, +greatly pleased, with the cry: + +"It is true, then! The immortals have wrought as great a miracle in you +as in me. We both owe them thanks, and I will show them how grateful I +can be by rich sacrifices. Our souls, which destiny had already once +united, have met again. That portion of the universal soul which of yore +dwelt in Roxana, and now in you, Melissa, has also vanquished the pain +which has embittered my life. . . You have proved it!--And now . . . +it is beginning to throb again more violently--now--beloved and restored +one, help me once more!" + +Melissa perceived anxiously how the emperor's face had flushed again +during this last vehement speech, and at the same time the pain had again +contracted his forehead and eyes. And she obeyed his command, but this +time only in shy submission. When she found that he became quieter, and +the movement of her hand once more did him good, she recovered her +presence of mind. She remembered how often the quiet application of her +hand had helped her mother to sleep. + +She therefore explained to Caracalla, in a low whisper directly he began +to speak again, that her desire to give him relief would be vain if he +did not keep his eyes and lips closed. And Caracalla yielded, while her +hand moved as lightly over the brow of the terrible man as when years ago +it had soothed her mother to sleep. + +When the sufferer, after a little time, murmured, with closed eyes + +"Perhaps I could sleep," she felt as if great happiness had befallen +her. + +She listened attentively to every breath, and looked as if spell-bound +into his face, until she was quite sure that sleep had completely +overcome Caesar. + +She then crept gently on tiptoe to Philostratus, who had looked on in +silent surprise at all that had passed between his sovereign and the +girl. He, who was always inclined to believe in any miraculous cure, of +which so many had been wrought by his hero Apollonius, thought he had +actually witnessed one, and gazed with an admiration bordering on awe at +the young creature who appeared to him to be a gracious instrument of the +gods. + +"Let me go now," Melissa whispered to her friend. "He sleeps, and will +not wake for some time." + +"At your command," answered the philosopher, respectfully. At the same +moment a loud voice was heard from the next room, which Melissa +recognized as her brother Alexander's, who impetuously insisted on his +right of--being allowed at any time to see the emperor. + +"He will wake him," murmured the philosopher, anxiously; but Melissa with +prompt determination threw her veil over her head and went into the +adjoining room. + +Philostratus at first heard violent language issuing from the mouth of +Theocritus and the other courtiers, and the artist's answers were not +less passionate. Then he recognized Melissa's voice; and when quiet +suddenly reigned on that side of the door, the young girl again crossed +the threshold. + +She glanced toward Caracalla to see if he still slept, and then, with a +sigh of relief, beckoned to her friend, and begged him in a whisper to +escort her past the staring men. Alexander followed them. + +Anger and surprise were depicted on his countenance, which was usually so +happy. He had come with a report which might very likely induce Caesar +to order the release of his father and brother, and his heart had stood +still with fear and astonishment when the favorite Theocritus had told +him in the anteroom, in a way that made the blood rush into his face, +that his sister had been for some time endeavoring to comfort the +suffering emperor--and it was nearly midnight. + +Quite beside himself, he wished to force his way into Caesar's presence, +but Melissa had at that moment come out and stood in his way, and had +desired him and the noble Romans, in such a decided and commanding tone, +to lower their voices, that they and her brother were speechless. + +What had happened to his modest sister during the last few days? Melissa +giving him orders which he feebly obeyed! It seemed impossible! But +there was something reassuring in her manner. She must certainly have +thought it right to act thus, and it must have been worthy of her, or she +would not have carried her charming head so high, or looked him so freely +and calmly in the face. + +But how had she dared to come between him and his duty to his father and +brother? + +While he followed her closely and silently through the imperial rooms, +the implicit obedience he had shown her became more and more difficult +to comprehend; and when at last they stood in the empty corridor which +divided Caesar's quarters from those of the high-priest, and Philostratus +had returned to his post at the side of his sovereign, he could hold out +no longer, and cried to her indignantly: + +"So far, I have followed you like a boy; I do not myself know why. But +it is not yet too late to turn round; and I ask you, what gave you the +right to prevent my doing my best for our people?" + +"Your loud talking, that threatened to wake Caesar," she replied, +seriously. "His sleeping could alone save me from watching by him the +whole night." + +Alexander then felt sorry he had been so foolishly turbulent, and after +Melissa had told him in a few words what she had gone through in the last +few hours he informed her of what had brought him to visit the emperor so +late. + +Johannes the lawyer, Berenike's Christian freedman, he began, had visited +their father in prison and had heard the order given to place Heron and +Philip as state prisoners and oarsmen on board a galley. + +This had taken place in the afternoon, and the Christian had further +learned that the prisoners would be led to the harbor two hours before +sunset. This was the truth, and yet the infamous Zminis had assured the +emperor, at noon, that their father and Philip were already far on their +way to Sardinia. The worthless Egyptian had, then, lied to the emperor; +and it would most likely cost the scoundrel his neck. But for this, +there would have been time enough next day. What had brought him there +at so late an hour was the desire to prevent the departure of the galley; +for John had heard, from the Christian harbor-watch that the anchor was +not yet weighed. The ship could therefore only get out to sea at +sunrise; the chain that closed the harbor would not be opened till then. +If the order to stop the galley came much after daybreak, she would +certainly be by that time well under way, and their father and Philip +might have succumbed to the hard rowing before a swift trireme could +overtake and release them. + +Melissa had listened to this information with mixed feelings. She had +perhaps precipitated her father and brother into misery in order to save +herself; for a terrible fate awaited the state-prisoners at the oars. +And what could she do, an ignorant child, who was of so little use? + +Andreas had told her that it was the duty of a Christian and of every +good man, if his neighbor's welfare were concerned, to sacrifice his own +fortunes; and for the happiness and lives of those dearest to her--for +they, of all others, were her "neighbors"--she felt that she could do so. +Perhaps she might yet succeed in repairing the mischief she had done when +she had allowed the emperor to sleep without giving one thought to her +father. Instead of waking him, she had misused her new power over her +brother, and, by preventing his speaking, had perhaps frustrated the +rescue of her people. + +But idle lamenting was of as little use here as at any other time; so she +resolutely drew her veil closer round her head and called to her brother, +"Wait here till I return!" + +"What are you going to do?" asked Alexander, startled. + +"I am going back to the invalid," she explained, decisively. + +On this her brother seized her arm, and, wildly excited, forbade this +step in the name of his father. + +But at his vehement shout, "I will not allow it!" she struggled to free +herself, and cried out to him: + +"And you? Did not you, whose life is a thousand times more important +than mine, of your own free-will go into captivity and to death in order +to save our father?" + +"It was for my sake that he had been robbed of his freedom," interrupted +Alexander; but she added, quickly: + +"And if I had not thought only of myself, the command to release him and +Philip would by this time have been at the harbor. I am going." + +Alexander then took his hand from her arm, and exclaimed, as if urged by +some internal force, "Well, then, go!" + +"And you," continued Melissa, hastily, "go and seek the lady Euryale. +She is expecting me. Tell her all, and beg her in my name to go to rest. +Also tell her I remembered the sentence about the time, which was +fulfilled. . . . Mark the words. If I am running again into danger, +tell her that I do it because a voice says to me that it is right. And +it is right, believe me, Alexander!" + +The artist drew his sister to him and kissed her; yet she hardly +understood his anxious good wishes; for his voice was choked by emotion. + +He had taken it for granted that he should accompany her as far as the +emperor's room, but she would not allow it. His reappearance would only +lead to fresh quarrels. + +He also gave in to this; but he insisted on returning here to wait for +her. + +After Melissa had vanished into Caesar's quarters he immediately carried +out his sister's wish, and told the lady Euryale of all that had +happened. + +Encouraged by the matron, who was not less shocked than he had been at +Melissa's daring, he returned to the anteroom, where, at first, greatly +excited, he walked up and down, and then sank on a marble seat to wait +for his sister. He was frequently overpowered by sleep. The things that +cast a shadow on his sunny mind vanished from him, and a pleasing dream +showed him, instead of the alarming picture which haunted him before +sleeping, the beautiful Christian Agatha. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +The waiting-room was empty when Melissa crossed it for the second time. +Most of the emperor's friends had retired to rest or into the city when +they had heard that Caesar slept; and the few who had remained behaved +quietly when she appeared, for Philostratus had told them that the +emperor held her in high esteem, as the only person who was able to give +him comfort in his suffering by her peculiar and wonderful healing power. + +In the tablinum, which had been converted into a sick-room, nothing was +heard but the breathing and gentle snoring of the sleeping man. Even +Philostratus was asleep on an arm-chair at the back of the room. + +When the philosopher had returned, Caracalla had noticed him, and dozing, +or perhaps in his dreams, he had ordered him to remain by him. So the +learned man felt bound to spend the night there. + +Epagathos, the freedman, was lying on a mattress from the dining-room; +the corpulent physician slept soundly, and if he snored too loudly, old +Adventus poked him and quietly spoke a word of warning to him. This man, +who had formerly been a post messenger, was the only person who was +conscious of Melissa's entrance; but he only blinked at her through his +dim eyes, and, after he had silently considered why the young girl should +have returned, he turned over in order to sleep himself; for he had come +to the conclusion that this young, active creature would be awake and at +hand if his master required anything. + +His wondering as to why Melissa had returned, had led to many guesses, +and had proved fruitless. "You can know nothing of women," was the end +of his reflections, "if you do not know that what seems most improbable +is what is most likely to be true. This maid is certainly not one of the +flute-players or the like. Who knows what incomprehensible whim or freak +may have brought her here? At any rate, it will be easier for her to +keep her eyes open than it is for me." + +He then signed to her and asked her quietly to fetch his cloak out of the +next room, for his old body needed warmth; and Melissa gladly complied, +and laid the caracalla over the old mans cold feet with obliging care. + +She then returned to the side of the sick-bed, to wait for the emperor's +awaking. He slept soundly; his regular breathing indicated this. The +others also slept, and Adventus's light snore, mingling with the louder +snoring of the physician, showed that he too had ceased to watch. The +slumbering Philostratus now and then murmured incomprehensible words to +himself; and the lion, who perhaps was dreaming of his freedom in his +sandy home, whined low in his sleep. + +She watched alone. + +It seemed to her as if she were in the habitation of sleep, and as if +phantoms and dreams were floating around her on the unfamiliar noises. + +She was afraid, and the thought of being the only woman among so many men +caused her extreme uneasiness. + +She could not sit still. + +Inaudibly as a shadow she approached the head of the sleeping emperor, +holding her breath to listen to him. How soundly he slept! And she had +come that she might talk to him. If his sleep lasted till sunrise, the +pardon for her people would be too late, and her father and Philip, +chained to a hard bench, would have to ply heavy oars as galley slaves by +the side of robbers and murderers. How terribly then would her father's +wish to use his strength be granted! Was Philip, the narrow-chested +philosopher, capable of bearing the strain which had so often proved +fatal to stronger men? + +She must wake the dreaded man, the only man who could possibly help her. + +She now raised her hand to lay it on his shoulder, but she half withdrew +it. + +It seemed to her as if it was not much less wicked to rob a sleeping man +of his rest, his best cure, than to take the life of a living being. It +was not too late yet, for the harbor-chain would not be opened till the +October sun had risen. He might enjoy his slumbers a little longer. + +With this conclusion she once more sank down and listened to the noises +which broke the stillness of the night. + +How hideous they were, how revolting they sounded! The vulgarest of the +sleepers, old Adventus, absolutely sawed the air with his snoring. + +The emperor's breathing was scarcely perceptible, and how nobly cut was +the profile which she could see, the other side of his face leaning on +the pillow! Had she any real reason to fear his awakening? Perhaps he +was quite unlike what Berenike thought him to be. She remembered the +sympathy she had felt for him when they had first met, and, in spite of +all the trouble she had experienced since, she no longer felt afraid. A +thought then occurred to her which was sufficient excuse for disturbing +the sick man's sleep. If she delayed it, she would be making him guilty +of a fresh crime by allowing two blameless men to perish in misery. But +she would first convince herself whether the time was pressing. She +looked out through the open window at the stars and across the open place +lying at her feet. The third hour after midnight was past, and the sun +would rise before long. + +Down below all was quiet. Macrinus, the praetorian prefect, on hearing +that the emperor had fallen into a refreshing sleep, in order that he +might not be disturbed, had forbidden all loud signals, and ordered the +camp to be closed to all the inhabitants of the city; so the girl heard +nothing but the regular footsteps of the sentries and the shrieks of the +owls returning to their nests in the roof of the Serapeum. The wind from +the sea drove the clouds before it across the sky, and the plain covered +with tents resembled a sea tossed into high white waves. The camp had +been reduced during the afternoon; for Caracalla had carried out his +threat of that morning by quartering a portion of the picked troops in +the houses of the richest Alexandrians. + +Melissa, bending far out, looked toward the north. The sea-breeze blew +her hair into her face. Perhaps on the ocean whence it came the high +waves would, in a few hours, be tossing the ship on which her father and +brother, seated at the oar, would be toiling as disgraced galley-slaves. +That must not, could not be! + +Hark! what was that? + +She heard a light whisper. In spite of strict orders, a loving couple +were passing below. The wife of the centurion Martialis, who had been +separated for some time from her husband, had at his entreaty come +secretly from Ranopus, where she had charge of Seleukus's villa, to see +him, as his services prevented his going so far away. They now stood +whispering and making love in the shadow of the temple. Melissa could +not hear what they said, yet it reminded her of the sacred night hour +when she confessed her love to Diodoros. She felt as if she were +standing by his bedside, and his faithful eyes met hers. She would not, +for all that was best in the world, have awakened him yesterday at the +Christian's house, though the awakening would have brought her fresh +promises of love; and yet she was on the point of robbing another of his +only cure, the sleep the gods had sent him. But then she loved Diodoros, +and what was Caesar to her? It had been a matter of life and death with +her lover, while disturbing Caracalla would only postpone his recovery a +few hours at the utmost. It was she who had procured the imperial +sleeper his rest, which she could certainly restore to him even if she +now woke him. Just now she had vowed for the future not to care about +her own welfare, and that had at first made her doubtful about Caracalla; +but had it not really been exceedingly selfish to lose the time which +could bring freedom to her father and brother, only to protect her own +soul from the reproach of an easily forgiven wrong? With the question: + +"What is your duty?" all doubts left her, and no longer on tiptoe, but +with a firm, determined tread, she walked toward the slumberer's couch, +and the outrage which she shrank from committing would, she saw, be a +deed of kindness; for she found the emperor with perspiring brow groaning +and frightened by a severe nightmare. He cried with the dull, toneless +voice of one talking in his sleep, as if he saw her close by: + +"Away, mother, I say! He or I! Out of the way! You will not? But I, +I--If you--" + +At the same he threw up his hands and gave a dull, painful cry. + +"He is dreaming of his brother's murder," rushed through Melissa's +mind, and in the same instant she laid her hand on his arm and with +urgent entreaty cried in his ear: "Wake up, Caesar, I implore you! Great +Caesar, awake!" + +Then he opened his eyes, and a low, prolonged "Ah!" rang from his +tortured breast. + +He then, with a deep breath and perplexed glance, looked round him; and +as his eyes fell on the young girl his features brightened, and soon wore +a happy expression, as if he experienced a great joy. + +"You?" he asked, with pleased surprise. "You, maiden, still here! It +must be nearly dawn? I slept well till just now. But then at the last-- +Oh, it was fearful!--Adventus!" + +Melissa, however, interrupted this cry, exhorting the emperor to be quiet +by putting her finger to her lips; and he understood her and willingly +obeyed, especially as she had guessed what he required from the +chamberlain, Adventus. She handed him the cloth that lay on the table +for him to wipe his streaming forehead. She then brought him drink, and +after Caracalla had sat up refreshed, and felt that the pain, which, +after a sharp attack, lasted sometimes for days, had now already left +him, he said, quite gently, mindful of her sign: + +"How much better I feel already; and for this I thank you, Roxana; yes, +you know. I like to feel like Alexander, but usually--It is certainly a +pleasant thing to be ruler of the universe, for if we wish to punish or +reward, no one can limit us. You, child, shall learn that it is Caesar +whom you have laid under such obligations. Ask what you will, and I will +grant it you." + +She whispered eagerly to him: + +"Release my father and brother." + +"Always the same thing," answered Caracalla, peevishly. "Do you know of +nothing better to wish for?" + +"No, my lord, no!" cried Melissa, with importunate warmth. "If you will +give me what I most care for--" + +"I will, yes, I will," interrupted the emperor in a softer voice; but +suddenly shrugging his shoulders, he continued, regretfully: "But you +must have patience; for, by the Egyptian's orders, your people have been +for some time afloat and at sea." + +"No!" the girl assured him. "They are still here. Zminis has shamefully +deceived you;" and then she informed him of what she had learned from her +brother. + +Caracalla, in obedience to a softer impulse, had wished to show himself +grateful to Melissa. But her demand displeased him; for the sculptor and +his son, the philosopher, were the security that should keep Melissa and +the painter attached to him. But though his distrust was so strong, +offended dignity and the tormenting sense of being deceived caused him to +forget everything else; he flew into a rage, and called loudly the names +of Epagathos and Adventus. + +His voice, quavering with fury, awakened the others also out of their +sleep; and after he had shortly and severely rebuked them for their +laziness, he commissioned Epagathos to give the prefect, Macrinus, +immediate orders not to allow the ship on which Heron and Philip were, to +leave the harbor; to set the captives at liberty; and to throw Zminis, +the Egyptian, into prison, heavily chained. + +When the freedman remarked, humbly, that the prefect was not likely to be +found, as he had purposed to be present again that night at the exorcisms +of the magician, Serapion, Caesar commanded that Macrinus should be +called away from the miracle-monger's house, and the orders given him. + +"And if I can not find him?" asked Epagathos. + +"Then, once more, events will prove how badly I am served," answered the +emperor. "In any case you can act the prefect, and see that my orders +are carried out." + +The freedman left hastily, and Caracalla sank back exhausted on the +pillows. + +Melissa let him rest a little while; then she approached him, thanked him +profusely, and begged him to keep quiet, lest the pain should return and +spoil the approaching day. + +He then asked the time, and when Philostratus, who had walked to the +window, explained that the fifth hour after midnight was past, Caracalla +bade him prepare a bath. + +The physician sanctioned this wish, and Caesar then gave his hand to the +girl, saying, feebly and in a gentle voice: "The pain still keeps away. +I should be better if I could moderate my impatience. An early bath +often does me good after a bad night. Only go. The sleep that you know +so well how to give to others, you scarcely allow to visit you. I only +beg that you will be at hand. We shall both, I think, feel strengthened +when next I call you." + +Melissa then bade him a grateful farewell; but as she was approaching the +doorway he called again after her, and asked her with an altered voice, +shortly and sternly: + +"You will agree with your father if he abuses me?" + +"What an idea!" she answered, energetically. "He knows who robbed him of +his liberty, and from me shall he learn who has restored it to him." + +"Good!" murmured the emperor. "Yet remember this also: I need your +assistance and that of your brother's, the painter. If your father +attempts to alienate you--" + +Here he suddenly let fall his arm, which he had raised threateningly, +and continued in a confidential whisper: "But how can I ever show you +anything but kindness? Is it not so? You already feel the secret tie-- +You know? Am I mistaken when I fancy that it grieves you to be separated +from me?" + +"Certainly not," she replied, gently, and bowed her head. + +"Then go," he continued, kindly. "The day will come yet when you will +feel that I am as necessary to your soul as you are to mine. But you do +not yet know how impatient I can be. I must be able to think of you with +pleasure--always with pleasure--always." + +Thereupon he nodded to her, and his eyelids remained for some time in +spasmodic movement. Philostratus was prepared to accompany the young +girl, but Caracalla prevented him by calling: + +"Lead me to my bath. If it does me good, as I trust it will, I have many +things to talk over with you." + +Melissa did not hear the last words. Gladly and quickly she hurried +through the empty, dimly lighted rooms, and found Alexander in a sitting +position, half asleep and half awake, with closed eyes. Then she drew +near to him on tiptoe, and, as his nodding head fell on his breast, she +laughed and woke him with a kiss. + +The lamps were not yet burned out, and, as he looked into her face with +surprise, his also brightened, and jumping up quickly he exclaimed: + +"All's well; we have you back again, and you have succeeded! Our father- +I see it in your face--and Philip also, are at liberty!" + +"Yes, yes, yes," she answered, gladly; "and now we will go together and +fetch them ourselves from the harbor." + +Alexander raised his eyes and arms to heaven in rapture, and Melissa +imitated him; and thus, without words, though with fervent devotion, they +with one accord thanked the gods for their merciful ruling. + +They then set out together, and Alexander said: "I feel as if nothing but +gratitude flowed through all my veins. At any rate, I have learned for +the first time what fear is. That evil guest certainly haunts this +place. Let us go now. On the way you shall tell me everything." + +"Only one moment's patience," she begged, cheerfully, and hurried into +the chief priest's rooms. The lady Euryale was still expecting her, and +as she kissed her she looked with sincere pleasure into her bright but +tearful eyes. + +At first she was bent on making Melissa rest; for she would yet require +all her strength. But she saw that the girl's wish to go and meet her +father was justifiable; she placed her own mantle over her shoulders-- +for the air was cool before sunrise--and at last accompanied her into the +anteroom. Directly the girl had disappeared, she turned to her sister- +in-law's slave, who had waited there the whole night by order of his +mistress, and desired him to go and report to her what he had learned +about Melissa. + +The brother and sister met the slave Argutis outside the Serapeum. He +had heard at Seleukus's house where his young mistress was staying, and +had made friends with the chief priest's servants. + +When, late in the evening, he heard that Melissa was still with Caesar, +he had become so uneasy that he had waited the whole night through, first +on the steps of a staircase, then walking up and down outside the +Serapeum. With a light heart he now accompanied the couple as far as the +Aspendia quarter of the town, and he then only parted from them in order +that he might inform poor old Dido of his good news, and make +preparations for the reception of the home-comers. + +After that Melissa hurried along, arm in arm with her brother, through +the quiet streets. + +Youth, to whom the present belongs entirely, only cares to know the +bright side of the future; and even Melissa in her joy at being able to +restore liberty to her beloved relations, hardly thought at all of the +fact that, when this was done and Caesar should send for her again, there +would be new dangers to surmount. + +Delighted with her grand success, she first told her brother what her +experiences had been with the suffering emperor. Then she started on the +recollections of her visit to her lover, and when Alexander opened his +heart to her and assured her with fiery ardor that he would not rest till +he had won the heart of the lovely Christian, Agatha, she gladly allowed +him to talk and promised him her assistance. At last they deliberated +how the favor of Caesar--who, Melissa assured him, was cruelly +misunderstood--was to be won for their father and Philip; and finally +they both imagined the surprise of the old man if he should be the first +to meet them after being set at liberty. + +The way was far, and when they reached the sea, by the Caesareum in the +Bruchium, the palatial quarter of the town, the first glimmer of +approaching dawn was showing behind the peninsula of Lochias. The sea +was rough, and tossed with heavy, oily waves on the Choma that ran out +into the sea like a finger, and on the walls of the Timoneum at its +point, where Antonius had hidden his disgrace after the battle of Actium. + +Alexander stopped by the pillared temple of Poseidon, which stood close +on the shore, between the Choma and the theatre, and, looking toward the +flat, horseshoe-shaped coast of the opposite island which still lay in +darkness, he asked: + +"Do you still remember when we went with our mother over to Antirhodos, +and how she allowed us to gather shells in the little harbor? If she +were alive to-day, what more could we wish for?" + +"That the emperor was gone," exclaimed the girl from the depths of her +heart; "that Diodoros were well again; that father could use his hands as +he used, and that I might stay with him until Diodoros came to fetch me, +and then... oh, if only something could happen to the empire that Caesar +might go away-far away, to the farthest hyperborean land!" + +"That will soon happen now," answered Alexander. "Philostratus says that +the Romans will remain at the utmost a week longer." + +"So long?" asked Melissa, startled; but Alexander soon pacified her with +the assurance that seven days flew speedily by, and when one looked back +on them they seemed to shrink into only as many hours. + +"But do not," he continued, cheerfully, "look into the future! We will +rejoice, for everything is going so well now!" + +He stopped here suddenly and gazed anxiously at the sea, which was no +longer completely obscured by the vanishing shadows of night. Melissa +looked in the direction of his pointing hand, and when he cried with +great excitement, "That is no little boat, it is a ship, and a large one, +too!" Melissa added, eagerly, "It is already near the Diabathra. It will +reach the Alveus Steganus in a moment, and pass the pharos." + +"But yonder is the morning star in the heavens, and the fire is still +blazing on the tower," interrupted her brother. "Not till it has been +extinguished will they open the outside chain. And yet that ship is +steering in a northwesterly direction. It certainly comes out of the +royal harbor." He then drew his sister on faster, and when, in a few +minutes, they reached the harbor gate, he cried out, much relieved: + +"Look there! The chain is still across the entrance. I see it clearly." + +"And so do I," said Melissa, decidedly; and while her brother knocked at +the gate-house of the little harbor, she continued, eagerly: + +"No ships dare go out before sunrise, on account of the rocks--Epagathos +said so just now--and that one near the pharos--" + +But there was no time to put her thoughts into words; for the broad +harbor gate was thrown noisily open, and a troop of Roman soldiers +streamed out, followed by several Alexandrian men-at-arms. After them +came a prisoner loaded with chains, with whom a leading Roman in +warrior's dress was conversing. Both were tall and haggard, and when +they approached the brother and sister they recognized in them Macrinus +the praetorian prefect, while the prisoner was Zminis the informer. + +But the Egyptian also noticed the artist and his companion. His eyes +sparkled brightly, and with triumphant scorn he pointed out to sea. + +The magician Serapion had persuaded the prefect to let the Egyptian go +free. Nothing was yet known in the harbor of Zminis's disgrace, and he +had been promptly obeyed as usual, when, spurred on by the magician and +his old hatred, he gave the order for the galley which carried the +sculptor and his son on board to weigh anchor in spite of the early hour. + +Heron and Philip, with chains on their feet, were now rowing on the same +bench with the worst criminals; and the old artist's two remaining +children stood gazing after the ship that carried away their father and +brother into the distance. Melissa stood mute, with tearful eyes, while +Alexander, quite beside himself, tried to relieve his rage and grief by +empty threats. + +Soon, however, his sister's remonstrances caused him to restrain himself, +and make inquiry as to whether Macrinus, in obedience to the emperor's +orders, had sent a State ship after the galley. + +This had been done, and comforted, though sadly disappointed, they +started on their way home. + +The sun in the mean time had risen, and the streets were filling with +people. + +They met the old sculptor Lysander, who had been a friend of their +father's, outside the magnificent pile of buildings of the Caesareum. +The old man took a deep interest in Heron's fate; and, when Alexander +asked him modestly what he was doing at that early hour, he pointed to +the interior of the building, where the statues of the emperors and +empresses stood in a wide circle surrounding a large court-yard, and +invited them to come in with him. He had not been able to complete his +work--a marble statue of Julia Domna, Caracalla's mother--before the +arrival of the emperor. It had been placed here yesterday evening. He +had come to see how it looked in its new position. + +Melissa had often seen the portrait of Julia on coins and in various +pictures, but to-day she was far more strongly attracted than she had +ever been before to look in the face of the mother of the man who had so +powerfully influenced her own existence and that of her people. + +The old master had seen Julia many years ago in her own home at Emesa, +as the daughter of Bassianus the high-priest of the Sun in that town; and +later, after she had become empress, he had been commanded to take her +portrait for her husband, Septimus Severus. While Melissa gazed on the +countenance of the beautiful statue, the old artist related how +Caracalla's mother had in her youth won all hearts by her wealth of +intellect, and the extraordinary knowledge which she had easily acquired +and continually added to, through intercourse with learned men. They +learned from him that his heart had not remained undisturbed by the +charms of his royal model, and Melissa became more and more absorbed in +her contemplation of this beautiful work of art. + +Lysander had represented the imperial widow standing in flowing +draperies, which fell to her feet. She held her charming, youthful head +bent slightly on one side, and her right hand held aside the veil which +covered the back of her head and fell lightly on her shoulders, a little +open over the throat. Her face looked out from under it as if she were +listening to a fine song or an interesting speech. Her thick, slightly +waving hair framed the lovely oval of her face under the veil, and +Alexander agreed with his sister when she expressed the wish that she +might but once see this rarely beautiful creature. But the sculptor +assured them that they would be disappointed, for time had treated her +cruelly. + +"I have shown her," he continued, "as she charmed me a generation ago. +What you see standing before you is the young girl Julia; I was not +capable of representing her as matron or mother. The thought of her son +would have spoiled everything," + +"He is capable of better emotions," Alexander declared. + +"May be," answered the old man--" I do not know them. May your father +and brother be restored to you soon!--I must get to work!" + + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A THRONY PATH, BY EBERS, V6 *** + +******** This file should be named 5535.txt or 5535.zip ******** + +This eBook was produced by David Widger + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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