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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Virgilia, by Felicia Buttz Clark
+
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+Title: Virgilia
+       or, Out of the Lion's Mouth
+
+Author: Felicia Buttz Clark
+
+Release Date: April, 2005 [EBook #7938]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on June 2, 2003]
+
+Edition: 10
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VIRGILIA ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Charles Frank
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+VIRGILIA
+
+_or_
+
+OUT OF THE LION'S MOUTH
+
+_By_
+
+FELICIA BUTTZ CLARK
+
+
+1917
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+CHAPTER   I. A confession of faith
+
+CHAPTER  II. The "Little Fish"
+
+CHAPTER III. The hymn of the water-carrier
+
+CHAPTER  IV. The inner shrine of Jupiter
+
+CHAPTER   V. The Old One speaks
+
+CHAPTER   VI. The Feast of Grapes
+
+CHAPTER  VII. Enter, Lycias, the gladiator
+
+CHAPTER VIII. The symbol of the lizard
+
+
+
+
+I.
+
+A CONFESSION OF FAITH.
+
+
+The Circus in Rome was thronged with an enormous crowd of persons on a
+day in June, about two thousand years ago. One hundred thousand men
+and women sat on its tiers of white marble seats, under the open sky
+and witnessed a gladiatorial contest in the arena, beneath.
+
+At the western end of the oval amphitheatre was the Emperor's box,
+flanked with tall Corinthian pillars, on which were hung the
+coat-of-arms of the Roman people. Here sat one of the most cruel
+emperors Rome has ever suffered under. His cloak was royal purple,
+and was thrown carelessly back, on this warm June afternoon, to
+disclose a white tunic, embroidered in scarlet.
+
+Beside him were several ladies, elaborately gowned in the manner of
+the day, with hair dressed high, studded with jewels brought from
+Oriental lands, while their necks and arms were loaded with strings of
+pearls and emeralds, armlets of tawny gold in Etruscan designs, in
+which were set cameos of extraordinary delicacy and diamonds, only
+partially polished, as large as the half of a hen's egg.
+
+To every class of Romans, the gladiatorial show was open. Senators and
+Patricians, artists and mechanics, poets and artisans, women of every
+rank, from the highest lady of the land to the humblest washerwoman
+who beat her clothes on the rounded stones of the River Tiber, were
+here to gloat over the hideous contest in the arena.
+
+In the third row, about half way in the long side of the oval
+amphitheatre sat two women and a man. The women were unusually
+beautiful. They were mother and daughter. The man was plainly the
+father, a stalwart Roman, a lawyer, who had his office in the courts
+of the Forum, where business houses flanked the splendid temples of
+white marble, where the people worshipped their gods, Jupiter and
+Saturn, Diana and Cybele.
+
+"See," said Claudia, pointing a finger on which blazed on enormous
+emerald, "the Vestals are giving the signal. Their thumbs are
+reversed. The Emperor, also, is signalling for a cessation of the
+fight. How proud Lycias, the gladiator, is to-day, for he won the
+victory. Well, we must go. Come, Virgilia."
+
+The young girl arose, obediently, but her father noticed that her eyes
+were full of tears and that she shivered slightly in spite of the
+warm, scented June air.
+
+As the three mingled with the thousands who were in a very leisurely
+manner wending their way down the steps to the ground, Aurelius
+Lucanus drew her frail hand through his arm and said, gently: "What
+hast thou, dearest? Art thou not well?"
+
+"I am quite well, father dear," and as she spoke, she drew over her
+face a light, filmy veil, effectually shielding her from the too
+curious gaze of the laughing throng of merry-makers.
+
+"Why, then, dost thou cry, my daughter?"
+
+Virgilia glanced at her mother and noticing that she was out of
+hearing, whispered in his ear: "I hate it, father. Do not bring me
+again."
+
+He looked at her with surprise, then, remembering that girls have
+strange fancies, he was silent, and guided her safely out into the
+blazing sunshine. The sun was still an hour above the horizon; the
+pine-trees on the Palatine Hills, where Caesar's palaces were, stood
+up like giant sentinels against a sky of limpid blue.
+
+Aurelius Lucanus led the way through the Forum, where his wife, an
+ardent worshipper of the gods, stopped to lay a bunch of roses on the
+base of a large statue of Ceres, standing near the Temple and a
+building dedicated to the use of the Vestal Virgins.
+
+The Chief Virgin was being carried to the entrance in her chair, borne
+by four bearers, while in front of her walked the two men who held
+high the symbols of her priestly office. Claudia fell upon her knees
+as the holy vestal went by, until her chair had been carried through
+the iron gates.
+
+Virgilia watched her mother, with an anxious look on her young face.
+
+"Why didst thou not also kneel before the holy one?" her mother said,
+in a stern tone. "Dost not know that in her hands she holds such power
+that even the emperor himself trembles before her and does her
+bidding, lest the gods send upon him disaster and ruin?"
+
+Virgilia made no reply, but walked quietly by her mother's side
+through the Forum, beneath the great arches, up over the Capitoline
+Hill where Jupiter's Temple arose in grandeur, its ivory-tinted
+marbles beginning to turn a dull rose in the rays of the fast-lowering
+sun.
+
+They descended on the other side and entered a labyrinth of narrow
+streets, winding in and out between rows of houses, most of them
+showing a plain, windowless front, the only decoration being over and
+around the door.
+
+With a quick double-knock at one of these doors, the lawyer summoned a
+servant, who bowed deeply as the two ladies and his master entered.
+
+Aurelius Lucanus lingered a moment, while his wife passed on into the
+atrium, but here, it was hot, so she went further, into a court,
+transformed into a beautiful garden. Around the fountain, which cooled
+the air, bloomed literally hundreds of calla lilies, masses of stately
+blossoms with snowy chalices and hearts of gold. Around the pillars
+twined the June roses, pink and yellow, and mixed with them were
+vines, of starry jessamine, shedding forth a faint, delicious odor,
+akin to that of orange-blossoms.
+
+Here were chairs of rare woods inlaid with ivory, and couches,
+gracefully formed, covered with soft silks and cushions embroidered in
+gold.
+
+Claudia sank down, as if she were weary, and a slave sprang forward to
+remove the white outer garment, worn upon the street to cover the
+costly silk one, and the jewels which she had worn in the
+amphitheatre.
+
+Aurelius was conversing with the dark-skinned porter.
+
+"Has Martius returned?" he asked.
+
+"Yes, master. He came in about two hours after noon, but went out
+again almost immediately."
+
+"Leaving no word?"
+
+"No, master."
+
+The porter stood watching his master as he walked away. There was a
+strange expression on his strongly marked face. He was pitted with
+small-pox, and over one eye was a deep scar. He had never forgotten
+how he got that scar, how he had fallen beneath a blow struck by that
+man's hand, the man who owned his body, but not his soul. In falling,
+he had struck his head against the corner of the marble pedestal
+supporting the statue of the god who ruled in this household, and had
+been carried away unconscious.
+
+Ah, no, he had not forgotten!
+
+Aurelius entered the court just in time to hear his wife saying
+To Virgilia in her severest tone: "Thou art exactly like thy
+step-brother, Martius, self-willed and foolish. Why else has he
+been exiled from Rome by thy father? He has worshipped strange gods,
+has followed after a man named Christus, a malefactor, a thief,
+crucified with thieves--"
+
+"Mother!" exclaimed Virgilia, and there was that in her voice which
+stopped the stream of language, and made Claudia sit up straight and
+grasp the griffin-heads on the arms of her chair.
+
+"Wilt tell me that thou, too, art mad over the dead Christus?" she
+shrieked. "Then art thou no daughter of mine! Thou shall go forth from
+here, homeless, an outcast. Join thyself with the beggarly band of men
+and women who hide in the dark places of the earth that they may work
+their spells--"
+
+"Claudia, cease thy talking," exclaimed Aurelius, taking his daughter
+in his arms. "Canst thou not see that the child is fainting? She is
+ill. I saw it but now in the Circus. Hast thou no heart?"
+
+"What, thou, too, Aurelius! Thou art but half a man, and worshipeth
+the gods only in form. Long have I suspected that Virgilia had been
+infected by this poisonous virus, this doctrine of a malefactor. Thy
+son taught it to her, thy son, Martius, who is, thanks to Jupiter, far
+away from here."
+
+"Not so, dear mother," said a cheerful voice, "Martius has returned to
+his father's house, and to thee and Virgilia."
+
+A tall youth, about nineteen years of age, full of manly vigor
+speaking in a rich voice, vibrant with feeling, sprang forward, knelt
+at Claudia's feet and kissed her hand, then he embraced his father and
+sister.
+
+Claudia's expression relaxed. Had it not been for his absurd belief in
+the Jew, who seemed to have set the world mad, she could have loved
+this fine-looking young man, whose auburn curls fell over a white
+forehead, whose brown eyes gleamed with a mixture of earnestness and
+merriment. He was, indeed, a lovable youth.
+
+"Hast thou come back cured, Martius? Then art thou indeed welcome."
+
+"Cured of what, mother?"
+
+"Of thy mistaken worship of Christus."
+
+"No, mother," came the firm reply. Aurelius saw his son's face pale,
+saw him straighten up as though he expected a blow on those broad
+shoulders, saw his hand clench as if he were in pain. And Aurelius was
+sorrowful. He loved Martius for himself and for his mother, whom he
+resembled. The lawyer was also, only too well aware of the danger run
+by all those who called themselves followers of Christus. The worst
+had not yet come. There were only threats now against the members of
+this sect who were growing daily more numerous, and more menacing to
+the priests and the pagan religion. No one could tell what might
+happen by to-morrow, the storm would break suddenly.
+
+He knew Claudia and her blind bigotry. She would not hesitate to
+sacrifice Martius if she thought that her soul's salvation depended on
+it; Claudia's soul was her chief thought. But would she sacrifice her
+own daughter, if her religion should prove to be the same as that of
+her brother?
+
+The sister had slipped her hand into that of Martius. She stood beside
+him shoulder to shoulder. Virgilia was unusually tall. She had
+inherited the fine, cameo-like profile of her mother, but her hair was
+fair and very abundant. It was bound around her head in heavy braids
+and was not decorated by any jewel. Her white draperies had fallen
+from her arm, disclosing its pure whiteness and delicate outline.
+
+Virgilia looked straight at her mother and spoke, breaking sharply the
+silence following the two words of Martius. The sun had now set. It
+was almost dark in the garden. The lilies gleamed ghostly white among
+their long green leaves. The odor of the jessamine was heavy on the
+evening air, overpowering in its sweetness. A servant entered and
+lighted torches in iron rings fastened on the fluted pillows. He lit,
+also, the wicks in huge bronze lamps placed here and there, and in a
+three-tapered silver lamp on a table by Claudia's side.
+
+The soft radiance lit up the strange scene, the Roman matron, seated
+in her chair, jewels gleaming in her dark hair and on her bosom, her
+face set and stern. It shone upon the young Virgilia and Martius,
+standing before her, and upon the heavier figure of the lawyer,
+Aurelius Lucanus, just behind them.
+
+Then Virgilia spoke, and her voice was as clear as the sun-down bell
+which had just rung out its warning from Caesar's Hill.
+
+"I, too, am a Christian."
+
+With a sharp outcry, Claudia, dragging her white draperies on the
+ground, disappeared in her small room, opening by a long window from
+the gallery bordering on the garden. She was seen no more that night.
+Silently, the lawyer and his son and daughter ate their evening meal,
+reclining on the triclinium in the long room tinted in Pompeian red, a
+frieze three feet in width ran around the walls. Small, chubby
+cherubs, or cupids doing the work of men, weaving draperies, preparing
+food, chopping meat, plucking grapes and carrying them away in
+miniature wheelbarrows, were faithfully portrayed in rich colors. Some
+of these frescoes, tints as vivid as when they were laid on by the
+artists of twenty centuries ago, remain to this day on the walls of
+ancient Roman dwellings, and enable us to know how people lived in
+those far-off times.
+
+A servant, assisted by the porter, Alyrus, brought the food in on huge
+trays, roast kid and vegetables, green salad fresh from the market in
+the Forum Boarium, dressed with oil from the groves of Lucca and
+vinegar made of sour red wine. Then came a delicious pudding, made
+from honey brought from Hymetus in Greece to add luxury to the food of
+the already too luxurious Romans, and fruit strawberries, dipped in
+fine sugar and sprinkled with lemon.
+
+Virgilia ate little; the main portions of the food she sent away
+untouched. The salad and fruit were more to her liking. She was very
+pale. The scene in the Circus, followed by the sudden confession of
+her faith, had taxed her strength. This, her anxiety for her mother
+and the unusual heat of the evening caused her to feel faint, so that
+she excused herself and went away, climbing a narrow staircase to the
+flat, tiled roof. Here were many plants, blossoming vines and the
+gurgling of cool water, as it passed through the mouth of a hideous
+gorgan mask and fell into a basin where soft green mosses clung and
+ferns waved their feathery fronds.
+
+Seating herself on a granite bench, supported by two carved lions,
+Virgilia fell into deep thought. It was the everlasting problem, old
+as human life. Ought she to obey her mother, or God? To do the former,
+meant to stifle her conscience and destroy her inner life. Worship the
+gods she could not since this new, this pure love for the meek and
+lovely Jesus had entered into her very being.
+
+She clasped and unclasped her slender white hands in her agitation.
+What should she do? If God would only show her where duty lay.
+
+Glorified in the silvery whiteness of the moonlight, arose the
+splendid palaces of the Caesars. Virgilia could see them plainly if
+she lifted her eyes, for they stood high, on the Palatine Hill. There
+was revelry yonder. The notes of flutes and harps came faintly to her
+ears. Below, wound the Tiber, back and forth, like the coils of a
+huge, glistening serpent. Many boating parties were enjoying the river
+and its coolness, while the moon rode high in the heavens and shone
+upon the sheeny garments and fair faces of the women.
+
+Up the river, from the port of Ostia, came a big merchant vessel
+bringing from Constantinople and Egypt, carpets and costly stuffs,
+richly wrought in gold, filmy tissue and rare embroideries for Roman
+ladies and papyrus volumes for the learned Senators.
+
+Far out on the Campagna, Virgilia knew that the Christians were
+gathering to-night, coming from all parts of the city. Some were
+freedmen and others were slaves; among the figures gliding out on the
+cobble-stoned Appian Way were members of Caesar's household, and one
+or two tall Praetorian guards. The religion of Christ had found
+converts among all classes. Rome was full of Christians, many of whom
+feared to openly confess their faith, though later, they dared to do
+so, even in the face of a cruel death.
+
+Virgilia was so intent on her thoughts that she did not observe the
+cat-like approach of her mother's personal slave, the daughter of
+Alyrus, the porter. She and her father had been brought to Rome as
+prisoners of war after a victorious conquest by the Romans in North
+Africa. They were by descent, Moors, having dark skins but very
+regular, even classical features. Sahira, the slave, walked like a
+queen and was so proud that she would not mingle with the other
+servants. Her father, Alyrus, chief of hundreds in the desert-land of
+his own country, was but a door-keeper in the house of Aurelius
+Lucanus, and he was, very bitter in spirit.
+
+"Your mother has need of you," said Sahira, in her velvet voice. "I
+think that the Lady Claudia is very ill."
+
+"I will come at once."
+
+The Lady Claudia was indeed very ill and continued so for several
+weeks. The summer waxed and waned. The cool winds of September blew
+strongly from the West and the calla lilies and jessamine had long
+since withered in the garden before Claudia was able once again to sit
+in the chair under the late tea-rose vines and listen to the rippling
+water of the fountain.
+
+The old, proud Claudia seemed to have disappeared and in her place was
+a feeble woman, with trembling hands, whose glance followed every move
+her daughter made, who seemed to be happy only when Virgilia was near.
+She ignored the ministrations of the slave Sahira, whose heart warmed
+to only one person except her father, and that was her beautiful
+mistress. Sahira cast angry looks at Virgilia's fair head, bending
+over her embroidery while she talked cheerfully to her mother. The
+slave went away and cried, for she was of a deep, passionate nature,
+loving few and ready to lay down her life for those whom she adored.
+
+Alyrus, her father, found her crying one night in her tiny room in the
+section of the house assigned to the servants. He succeeded in finding
+out the thing that caused her sorrow. When he went away there was a
+resolution formed in his soul which boded ill to Virgilia. He would
+bide his time--and then--
+
+The young Christian wondered often whether her mother had forgotten
+that scene on the day she was taken so ill, had forgotten that she, as
+well as Martius, was one of the despised sect. Up to the present,
+Virgilia had never refused to twine the garlands to be laid on the
+altars of the household gods or at the feet of the special god which
+Claudia worshipped in her own room. She had not refused because she
+felt that it would agitate her mother too much, and the man who came
+from the School of Esculapsius on the Island in the Tiber where the
+Temple was, had warned them against exciting the invalid. It might
+cause her death, he said.
+
+Virgilia knew, however, that the time must come soon when, if she was
+loyal to her faith, she must refuse to offer outward homage to the
+pagan gods.
+
+In spite of her belief in Christ and her desire to serve him, her
+heart grew cold within her and her limbs trembled at the thought of
+that dread time, for she was very delicate and her mother's will was
+strong. How could she defy her mother? It was an awful crime in pagan
+Rome to refuse to offer libations and flowers before the shrines of
+the family gods, a crime punishable by death.
+
+Had she strength to stand firm?
+
+
+
+
+II.
+
+THE "LITTLE FISH."
+
+
+In the meantime, Martius was still under the roof of his father's
+house. It looked now as if he would be allowed to stay there, for his
+step-mother's illness and the quiet condition of her mind during her
+convalescence, gave rise to the hope that when completely recovered,
+she would be no longer so intolerant and would permit the religious
+differences to be forgotten.
+
+Aurelius Lucanus was a broad-minded man. In his business as a lawyer
+and pleader of cases in the Law Courts of the Forum, he had come into
+personal contact with several of the Christians, finding them to be
+men and women of the strictest rectitude and following stern moral
+codes, such as were notably unobserved by the Roman of that day.
+
+One of his clients was a widow, Octavia, wife of Aureus Cantus, the
+Senator, a woman of rare mental gifts and a personality which was at
+once gracious and commanding. She had two children, a boy and girl, a
+little older than Martius and Virgilia, and the lawyer, while saying
+nothing, had noticed that his son was not averse to lingering in the
+office when the sweet Hermione came with her mother to consult him on
+some subjects dealing with her husband's will and the large property
+interests now coming under the widow's control.
+
+Octavia did not live in the handsome house formerly occupied when her
+husband was living on the same street where Aurelius Lucanus dwelt,
+preferring to leave it in charge of her freedman and his wife, who had
+served her family for many years. She occupied a villa about two miles
+from the city gates, where there were immense vineyards, festooned
+between mulberry trees. The vines were now hung with great purple
+clusters of grapes, promises of luscious fruits a little later, when
+the time of the Vendemmia should come in October. Then, there would be
+feasting and merriment among the servants, but no dancing or drinking,
+as was the custom on other grape plantations, so numerous on the broad
+Campagna around Rome.
+
+Before Martius had been sent away from home, by his step-mother's
+orders, in the main hope that the poison of Christian belief would be
+drawn from his mind, he had been a student in his father's office,
+going with him daily at nine o'clock and returning at two for the
+family dinner. Now, he resumed his studies for the legal profession,
+and once more walked proudly by his father's side through the crowded
+passageways of the city and the broad, handsome streets of the Forum.
+Martius was a little taller than his father.
+
+Aurelius Lucanus was, like many another pagan, no great believer in
+the gods, although, partly from regard to prevailing sentiment, partly
+because of his business relations, he outwardly gave attention to the
+formal customs of the day.
+
+This morning, as father and son entered the Forum, passing by the
+great statue of Jupiter standing in front of the temple dedicated to
+his worship, Aurelius bowed profoundly, and muttered a prayer, but
+Martius, his proud young head held high, passed by, without making his
+obeisance.
+
+The two were followed, as usual, by a servant, who happened this
+morning to be Alyrus, the Moor. He closely observed Martius and a
+faint smile or sneer added to the ugliness of his disfigured face.
+Alyrus had a fine face, so far as form and feature went, but his
+expression was full of cunning and revenge. In his ears he wore two
+huge gold rings, chased in cabalistic characters of strange design.
+They were the emblem of his chieftain power in that land bordering on
+the desert, from which he had been so rudely carried away. It was not
+strange that Alyrus, a barbarian, should bear in his heart a bitter
+hatred for the Romans and all that belonged to them. A slave, he was,
+and Sahira, too, but they loathed their bonds. It did not occur to
+Alyrus to be grateful that when they were placed on a platform down
+yonder at the lower end of the Forum, to be sold to the highest
+bidder, Aurelius Lucanus, who had bought him first, being moved by
+pity, had also purchased Sahira, his daughter, paying for her many
+sesterces of gold, because she was very beautiful and could bring a
+high price. Thus, father, and daughter, (who was somewhat superfluous
+in a house already well-supplied with women-slaves) were able to dwell
+together, and Sahira was spared many humiliations and dangers to which
+a beautiful young slave was inevitably subjected in these degenerate
+days of ancient Rome.
+
+Alyrus was not the only person who observed the "irreverence" of
+Martius. A priest of Jupiter, coming out of the Temple, saw the whole
+thing and made his own comments. He knew Aurelius Lucanus, the
+Advocate, slightly, but not the young man with him.
+
+He stepped quickly to the side of Alyrus, who had been very profound
+in his reverence to the god, although he hated Rome's gods as he hated
+her people.
+
+"Who is that young man?" inquired the priest.
+
+"The son of my master, Aurelius Lucanus."
+
+"And thou?"
+
+"I am a humble porter," responded Alyrus, with such bitterness that it
+attracted the priest's attention. Being a man who understood character
+at a glance, he seized the opportunity. Anything which could in any
+way enable the pagans to hunt down the hated, despised followers of
+that Christus who had made them so much trouble, was worth following
+up. The priests knew that there were thousands of men in Rome who had
+no faith at all in the gods, but there were few who would dare neglect
+an outward observance. When a man did that, in the public Forum, he
+was certainly possessed of that strange courage typical of the
+Christians.
+
+"Thou art a slave."
+
+Alyrus bowed, keeping his eyes on his master and son, now approaching
+the splendid white marble law-courts.
+
+"What is thy country?"
+
+"Beyond the seas, your reverence."
+
+Alyrus turned a pair of black eyes on the questioner. In them
+smouldered hidden passions.
+
+"Your young master does not bow before Jupiter."
+
+"No."
+
+"And why, may I ask? His father is, I know, a faithful follower of our
+gods. Why not his son, also?"
+
+The portico, surmounted by a marvelous relief in marble, a copy of an
+allegorical representation of jurisprudence, brought from Greece, was
+in front of the slave and the priest. The lawyer and Martius had
+already vanished in the cool shadows of the interior.
+
+For one moment, Alyrus hesitated. It was an awful thing for a slave to
+betray his master's son. He gave one backward thought to those days
+when hundreds of horsemen acknowledged him chief, and date-palms waved
+their feathery arms over his tent; he remembered that he was a slave,
+bought with a price, and his master had struck him. And he remembered
+Sahira and her tears.
+
+"Because Martius, son of Aurelius, is a Christian," he replied, and in
+his heart was a fearsome glee.
+
+He was walking up the broad steps, now, while the priest, laying a
+detaining hand on his arm, said: "I see that thou art a man to be
+trusted. I am interested in these Christians. I would hear more. Come
+to me tomorrow, at the Temple, after sundown. There is a little back
+entrance in the alleyway. Ask for Lycidon, the priest of Jupiter, and
+show the porter this symbol. It will admit thee."
+
+The priest was gone, and Alyrus, half-dazed, stood under the arch
+between two tall columns and gazed down at the bronze lizard he held
+in his hand. The lizard leered at him, he thought.
+
+Just at that moment a cry was heard, which drove the crowds of people
+aside.
+
+"Way! Way for the noble Lady, Octavia, widow of Aureus Cantus, Senator
+of the Roman Empire. Way! I say."
+
+Through the ranks of people was borne a large chair, gilded and
+wrought in graceful form, adapted to such a woman as Octavia, reported
+to be possessed of enormous wealth. The embroidered curtains were
+tightly drawn, so that the passerby could not look in, but so curious
+were they to see the lady whose name was familiar to all, owing to the
+valuable services rendered by her illustrious husband to the State,
+that the people crowded the steps of the Law Courts to watch Octavia
+and her daughter Hermione descend.
+
+They drew their veils closely, but a murmur of admiration arose as
+Hermione's veil slipped aside and revealed cheeks of cream and rose,
+eyes inherited from some northern hero, of deep violet blue, and hair,
+arranged in ringlets, in the style of the age, of a red-brown tint.
+
+Hastily, the two ladies passed into the dark corridors of the court,
+and were soon admitted to the private office of Aurelius Lucanus. Two
+attendants, who had walked behind the chair all the way from the Villa
+to guard their mistress and her daughter, waited in the ante-chamber
+with Alyrus, whose duty it was to remain here until the lawyer's day
+of work was over.
+
+The Roman welcomed Octavia with much ceremony. He bowed to Hermione,
+who threw back her veil and greeted Martius as an old friend.
+
+While her mother explained the matter of business to her trusted
+lawyer, Hermione and Martius withdrew to the other side of the room
+and sat down side by side on an ivory and ebony bench in the window.
+High above them was Caesar's Palace, white and glistening in the
+September sunshine. Sweet scents from the imperial gardens came to
+them, but sweeter yet, in its innocence and freshness was the face of
+the young girl.
+
+"Thou hast been long absent, Martius?" she said, while she twirled in
+her fingers a tea-rose, large and fragrant.
+
+"Half a year, Hermione."
+
+"And hast never wanted to see Rome? Was it so lovely in those far-off
+Eastern lands that thou couldst forget thy home and thy friends?"
+
+"Not so. But it was not possible for me to return. My heart yearned
+for Rome. There is no place like her in all the world, in the whole
+Roman Empire," he said, proudly.
+
+"Was it thy business kept thee?" Then fearing lest she might be asking
+too much, Hermione blushed. Martius thought that the rich color
+flooding her cheek was in tint like that of a wondrous rose he had
+seen on the Isle of Cyprus, where his ship had touched in the journey
+toward Asia Minor. "Do not answer if it is not my right to know," she
+added, hastily. "I thought,--we are old friends--"
+
+Martius was silent. He had heard that Octavia was a Christian, while
+her husband was not. He did not know whether Hermione followed the
+religion of her father or her mother. They had never talked on these
+matters. Christians, while exceedingly courageous where their
+principles were involved, did not run useless risks. There was always
+danger.
+
+He drew from his tunic a small wax-tablet, and with the ivory stylus,
+began, carelessly, to scribble on it, as if he had not noticed her
+question, or as she might readily infer, did not wish to reply.
+
+Hermione, slightly embarrassed and annoyed, watched him idly drawing.
+Then her breath came quickly and her face glowed. He was drawing, in
+the midst of other designs, a fish; little by little, it became plain.
+
+Under her breath, she said: "I, too, am a Little Fish."
+
+There was a sudden clasping of hands, as Martius looked frankly into
+her eyes.
+
+"I was sent away," he explained, after assuring himself that his
+father and Octavia were still busy discussing the case. "Sent away
+because I learned to believe in Christ. My step-mother would not have
+me at home. She hates the Christians, and my father yielded to her,
+though, personally, he is indifferent and says that everyone has a
+right to believe what he pleases."
+
+"Why didst thou return? Is thy step-mother satisfied?" Hermione asked
+eagerly.
+
+"Only a few weeks ago. My father's wife has been very ill. She is only
+now convalescing. All depends on the attitude she takes. I must wait.
+And in the meantime, I am preparing to be a lawyer, like my father. If
+I can stay in Rome, I shall be very happy. If not, I shall go to one
+of the distant provinces."
+
+"O, I hope not!" she exclaimed.
+
+Martius smiled at her.
+
+"I hope not, too," he replied.
+
+"There is another complication," Martius continued, after a pause.
+"The real cause of my stepmother's illness was Virgilia's declaration
+that she, too, has adopted the Christian faith. Where she heard about
+it, further than the things I taught her, I do not know. Thou seest,
+that the matter is very complicated."
+
+ "And dangerous. Dost thou not know that there has been talk in the
+Senate about the constantly increasing number of Christians in Rome
+and in the Empire? It is growing, this religion of Jesus Christ."
+
+"Thanks be to His name," said Martius.
+
+"Amen. But with the growth comes peril and perhaps death. We may have
+to bear witness for our faith before very long. My mother has been
+warned but feels no fear. She says that where other martyrs have gone,
+we can go. She is very brave."
+
+"He giveth strength in time of need. We must wait and trust."
+
+Hermione stretched out her hand to him and he grasped it warmly in his
+strong one. They were destined to be firm, true friends, these two
+young Christians who faced an unknown and dangerous future.
+
+Octavia arose.
+
+"Come, Hermione," she said, "we must be going."
+
+The lawyer rang a small silver bell on his desk, and Alyrus appeared
+at the door.
+
+"See that the Lady Octavia's chair is ready."
+
+The Moor vanished.
+
+"And now, my lady, I trust that you will not be at all anxious about
+this matter. I will attend to it."
+
+"I thank you. Greetings to your wife, and we hope to see you both soon
+at our Villa. The grapes are almost ready for the gathering. My
+children are counting much on the festivities for the Vendemmia. Can
+you not come at that time, you and Claudia, with your son and
+daughter. It will delight Hermione and Marcus. I will send a messenger
+to remind you again before the Feast of the Grapes."
+
+"Claudia has been very ill, my lady. I fear that she could not bear
+the motion of the chair so soon. But I will tell her of your gentle
+bidding to the feast, when the God Bacchus is adored with so much
+mirth."
+
+A cloud crossed Octavia's face.
+
+"The God Bacchus--" she began, but stopped. The warning she had
+received but a few days before from a Christian high in the service of
+the Emperor, rang in her ears. "We must be courageous, Octavia," he
+had said, "but we must not be foolish."
+
+"If you permit, we will send Martius and Virgilia to represent us at
+the feast," added Aurelius.
+
+"With pleasure. I will send a messenger before the day."
+
+The lawyer and Martius bowed low, and the two ladies, who were
+carefully veiled went out on the portico. Aurelius Lucanus assisted
+them into the luxurious chair and he and Martius stood watching them
+as the four tall bearers carried them away, followed by two stalwart
+men. It had been a marvel to certain circles of Roman society that
+Octavia had freed all her slaves, men and women, after the death of
+Aureus. It was some business connected with this unusual matter that
+had brought her to the lawyer's office today.
+
+Some had said that she was crazy to free hundreds of slaves. Others
+had whispered behind their hands that there were other reasons,
+Octavia followed Christus, and the Christians did not own slaves. But
+they dared not say this aloud, for Octavia was very rich and had
+powerful friends, even in Caesar's Palace.
+
+
+
+
+III.
+
+THE HYMN OF THE WATER-CARRIER.
+
+
+As the lawyer and his children reclined at the triclinium in the cool
+arcade opening on the garden, Martius narrated to Virgilia his
+conversation with Hermione that morning in his father's office.
+
+It was the custom, in the summer months, for the family to take their
+meals out of doors, in the shadowed corridor, where there was almost
+always a pleasant breeze, even when the sun scorched the bricks and
+square stones of the street in front of their house. Occasionally, a
+man would pass through the streets, carrying a sheepskin filled with
+water. He sang a strange, low song as he sprinkled the red bricks from
+which a thick steam arose at once, so scorching hot were they.
+
+He was singing now; the weird melody penetrated even to the corridor.
+
+"What a strange song!" said Aurelius Lucanus, cutting a piece of
+tender chicken, roasted on a spit before an open fire in the kitchen
+so tiny that there was scarcely room for the cook and his attendants
+to move about. Yet here, they prepared the elaborate dinners, served
+with the utmost nicety, in which Romans delighted. "It is different
+from anything I ever heard."
+
+Two men were carrying around the table huge platters of food. One was
+Alyrus, the Moor, who was not only a porter, but a general factotum.
+His duties were many and various, from sweeping the floors and keeping
+their highly-colored mosaics clear and shining, to accompanying his
+master to business, as he had done this morning, and assisting the man
+who served at table. He was sent, also, with Virgilia when she went to
+pay a visit to some of her friends, or when, in former times, she went
+to see one of the Vestal Virgins, and worshipped at the shrine. There
+had been some talk of her taking the vows of the Vestals, who held a
+very high position in Rome, but both her father and mother felt that,
+as an only daughter, she could not be spared from home, Marcella, one
+of her companions, had always entered as a novice. In all her
+seventeen years of life, Virgilia had never been alone outside of her
+father's house. It was not the custom for young girls to go upon the
+streets unaccompanied. Even when she paid a visit, Alyrus or one of
+the other slaves was waiting in the ante-chamber, to obey her lightest
+call.
+
+The other slave, who followed Alyrus with a glass carafe of iced
+water, was named Alexis. He was a Greek, from near Ephesus, seized as
+prisoner by one of the victorious generals, sold to Aurelius as Alyrus
+and Sahira had been. He was unusually handsome, very tall, with broad,
+well-formed shoulders and a face and head like one of the ancient
+pagan gods, whose statues have come down to us from the chisel of
+Phidias, the Greek sculptor. His skin was fair and his hair yellow as
+gold. Between him and the dark Moor who walked near him, there was the
+difference between light and darkness. It was not a difference in
+physical beauty, altogether, although Alyrus bore not only the
+disfiguring scar on his face, but smallpox scars, he was not
+altogether unpleasing in appearance. The difference lay chiefly in the
+expression of eyes and mouth. Alyrus was satirical, sneering,
+critical; Alexis was gentle, yet commanding; benign, yet firm.
+
+Both slaves became alert, as the Master had been, listening to the
+song of the water-carrier, now becoming less and less distinct.
+
+Alexis's eyes shown, but Alyrus cast a malignant glance at Martius,
+whose face was flushed.
+
+"What a strange song!" repeated the lawyer. "It seems to be religious
+in its type, yet I never heard it at our functions or in the temples.
+Who was that man, Alyrus? Thou, who sittest ever at the doorway and
+hast an insatiable curiosity about our neighbors, wilt surely know."
+
+Alyrus frowned at the implied reproof which was, after all, for the
+Moor kept closely to himself, except when information could serve some
+end.
+
+"It is Lucius, the water-carrier," he said, as shortly as he dared
+speak to his master. "It is a Christian song that he is singing."
+
+"Ah!"
+
+Aurelius selected a large, rosy peach, covered with burnished down and
+deliciously cold, from the dish presented to him by Alexis. The figs,
+grapes and peaches were laid in snow and cracked ice, brought from
+distant lands and preserved in this tropical clime by some process
+known to the Romans. If Aurelius Lucanus had not been one of the most
+prominent advocates in the city, receiving a large pension from the
+Emperor himself, he could not have afforded these luxuries.
+
+There was a scowl on his forehead as he pared the peach daintily with
+a sharp silver knife. These Christians were beginning to make him
+nervous.
+
+There was the Lady Octavia, for instance, who must needs be so foolish
+as to release all her slaves just because of a silly fancy that
+Christians should not possess human beings as property. She would lose
+half her income by this freak, and a good share of her principal
+invested in these slaves. What would Aureus Cantus have said to such a
+wild thing as this? He should have tied up his affairs in a way which
+would have prevented the widow from having the rights to do it. She
+was now in for trouble and he did not know how to get her out of it.
+His own reputation would suffer if he lost her case.
+
+And then, he had to deal with Martius and Virgilia. That was even more
+difficult, for he loved them both very dearly, and hated to be severe
+with them. The illness of Claudia could be traced to the same cause,
+the singular fanaticism of the members of this new sect.
+
+"The Lady Octavia has invited us to come to enjoy the festivities of
+the grape-gathering," Martius was saying.
+
+"It was very good of her and we shall have a splendid time. Everything
+at the villa is so beautiful. I wish that father would buy a home out
+on the Campagna. But he says that he cannot afford to keep up two
+establishments and he must remain in Rome on account of the Emperor
+and the Law Courts."
+
+"Father says, though, that when the Emperor goes to his villa at
+Antium, we shall all go, too. The Emperor wants father near at hand.
+Thou knowest that his magnificent villa is finished now. The house is
+enormous, and there is room for us and many others."
+
+"Hast thou seen Octavia's place?"
+
+"Very often. During thy absence, I have been carried frequently out of
+the gates and along the Ostian Way. Mother never wished to go. She
+dislikes the Lady Octavia. Alyrus, and sometimes Alexis, was with me."
+
+The lawyer had now left the table, retiring to his wife's room.
+Martius cast a cautious look around and, seeing no one, said, under
+his breath: "I do not wonder that mother does not desire to go there.
+Thou knowest, that they, too, are of the faith? Today, Hermione told
+me: 'I too, am a little Fish.'"
+
+A smile lit up Virgilia's sweet face.
+
+"Who should know it better than I? For from Hermione I have heard much
+of Christ. With her, I went to the meetings of the Christians, of our
+brothers and sisters, and heard the Truth."
+
+"What will be the outcome of it all, Virgilia?" Martius spoke
+earnestly in her ear. "When mother is well, what will happen? Thou
+dost remember what she said, that we must both leave this roof? I try
+to forget those cruel words, I try to believe that I shall stay here,
+to work in my father's office, to take up his profession, to be in
+that dearest place of all--home. It is hard to be exiled, Virgilia,
+hard never to see Rome again, Rome, the centre of the world. But if it
+should be hard for me, what will it be for thee, so tenderly matured,
+so lovingly cared for? It cannot be possible that Claudia will thrust
+thee, her own daughter, forth from her door, simply because thou hast
+become a follower of Christus. No. It is only a bad dream."
+
+That Martius was deeply in earnest could be seen from his clenched
+hands, where the nails sank into the flesh, from the pallor of his
+cheeks and the sorrow in his eyes.
+
+"Neither can I believe it. Martius, by nature, mother is not cruel. It
+is only our religion that she hates, not us. But when the moment comes
+that she asks me to give up Christ, I will face hunger and privation,
+even death, itself, for His sweet sake."
+
+The light of that exaltation which filled the martyrs of ancient days
+with strength to face a shameful and awful death was on Virgilia's
+face, it was the look of a saint.
+
+Martius was thrilled by her enthusiasm.
+
+"And I, too, dear sister, will never deny my Saviour. We will go forth
+together, if need be. Let us hope for better things, however. God can
+do all things.
+
+"Amen," responded Virgilia. "But, Martius, things cannot continue as
+they are now. Each morning, to please my mother, I weave the garlands
+for the statues of the gods, I offer sweet oils and spices and
+libations at the altar. I could not do otherwise while she was so ill.
+Now, she is getting better. Tomorrow, or the next day, I must refuse
+to do this. What will happen then?"
+
+They had left the triclinium, and were walking slowly in the garden.
+So tall was she that Virgilia's head was almost on a level with that
+of her stalwart brother. Alyrus and Alexis had cleared the table,
+watching with keen gaze the young people walking in the Pergola,
+beneath the heavy grape vine, whose leaves, pierced by the sun, cast
+queer shadows over Virgilia's white draperies and on her abundant
+hair, which threw back glints of copper tints to mock the shifting
+lights. Alyrus watched them because he hated them and longed for the
+moment when he could wreak his revenge. Alexis looked at them in love,
+for he, too, was a Christian, and the reason for the scene which
+Claudia had made in the garden on the day when Martius returned from
+exile, was well known to all the servants. In the dark corners of
+their miserable quarters, they discussed the situation, wondering what
+would happen. In these early days of Christianity, men and women often
+worked side by side, never daring to make known that they were
+Christians, for fear that the other might prove traitor. In this
+household of Aurelius Lucanus and Claudia, there were three slaves who
+were Christians, and one was Alexis, the Greek, but the others were
+unaware of it. He waited now in silence, hoping to be able to help the
+young son and daughter of his master. He, too, saw the shadow of
+suspicion creeping nearer, growing larger. Some day the Christians of
+Rome would be enveloped in the darkness and then would come death, as
+it had come in other times to other martyrs of the Cross.
+
+Martius had only time to seize his sister's had and press it warmly,
+when his father's voice was heard behind them.
+
+"Virgilia, thy mother needs thee. Go to her. She seems to be very
+weak. Do nothing to agitate or excite her. Sacrifice thine own wishes
+to hers."
+
+He was gone, and the girl looked in bewilderment at Martius.
+
+"Dost think that he heard what I said?" She whispered.
+
+Martius shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"I know not. But he is right, Virgilia. Thou must wait. For a time, we
+must worship in secret. Some day, all will be open to the light and we
+must suffer what comes. Christ will help us."
+
+"Yes, Christ will give us strength."
+
+All that afternoon, Virgilia sat patiently by her mother's couch. The
+change in the proud woman during these weeks of illness was only too
+apparent. It seemed as if the ardor of her hatred had burned out her
+strength. Her lovely eyes were lustreless. The neck on which Sahira
+had hung a splendid cord of sapphires from Persia, linked together
+with milky pearls from India, was thin and haggard. Her skin, fair and
+beautiful on that day when she sat so proudly by her husband and
+daughter in the Circus, watching the gladiatorial contest, was yellow
+and drawn. The jewels were a mockery in the shadow of threatened
+death.
+
+It was nearing sundown when Virgilia, very tired from the hours passed
+in gently soothing her mother's querulous complaints, giving her
+cooling drinks and telling her old Grecian legends to amuse her,
+entered her own little cubicleum, her sleeping-chamber.
+
+In Roman houses, the sleeping quarters were the smallest, the worst
+ventilated of all. It is a superstition, come down to modern times,
+that night air is injurious. Many ancient Roman dwellings show that
+rooms used for sleeping sometimes had no windows at all, the sole
+means of ventilation being provided by the doorway, which was
+curtained, opening into a larger room, or by a small trap door in the
+ceiling.
+
+The furniture in Virgilia's room was very simple. The bed was a couch,
+covered with white, with head and foot-board of ebony, curved in form
+and inlaid with quaint flower designs in mother-of-pearl. There was
+one chair, with slender arms, also in ebony and mother-of-pearl, and a
+stand, with ewer and basin of beaten brass. The floor was laid in red
+brick, and on it, at the bedside, lay a tiger-skin, brought from the
+East. Its tawny tints, varied by bright yellow, were the only colors
+in the room.
+
+Virgilia was fond of fresh air. She pushed up the trap door in the
+roof, reaching it easily, as the ceiling was so low, and let in a
+flood of glorious evening light. Through the aperture she could see a
+patch of brilliant blue sky. The swallows, dipping and circling, were
+swirling about in the heavens, black specks against the golden light
+of the departing sun.
+
+Virgilia drew a long breath and then another. It had been very hot and
+very fatiguing in her mother's room. She had refused to have any sun
+or light except that coming out of the large living-room, from which
+four sleeping chambers opened.
+
+The girl stretched out her arms, in graceful languor, then, throwing
+herself on the couch, she closed her eyes, but she was not sleeping. A
+panorama of thoughts and visions passed rapidly through her mind. She
+saw herself as she had been, a pagan, a worshipper of the gods, with
+no thought above the arranging of her hair or the flowers she would
+wear at the banquets. She recalled the visits to Hermione and the
+quiet meetings of the Christians in their hiding-places in the
+catacombs, surrounded by the graves of many martyrs to the Christian
+faith.
+
+One scene she would never forget. It was one afternoon when she and
+Hermione accompanied by Marcus leaving Alyrus sleeping in the
+antechamber, had slipped out by a side entrance, joining the other
+Christians in the shadowy passageways of the underground cemeteries.
+
+An old man, with snowy beard and piercing eyes was reading aloud a
+letter, a letter from the Apostle Paul to those who were at Rome. The
+light from torches stuck into the rough walls of the cubiculum shone
+on an hundred upturned faces of brave followers of Christ who knew not
+on what day, or in what hour they would be arrested and thrown into
+prison.
+
+They listened to the words of their fellow Christian, Paul, who had
+seen the Lord on the way to Damascus.
+
+"To all that be in Rome," he wrote, "beloved of God, called to be
+saints: Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord
+Jesus Christ * * * Your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world
+* * * I long to see you * * * I am debtor both to the Greeks and to
+the Barbarians * * * So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the
+Gospel to you that are at Rome also."
+
+Then the elder told them that a report had been brought by brethren
+arrived from Antioch, that the Apostle, who had for some time been
+confined at Caesarea, had finally appealed to Caesar, and would be
+brought to Rome to be tried. He might come at any time, and perhaps
+they would be privileged to see him face to face.
+
+Marcus and Hermione had said also on the way back to the villa, that
+their mother thought that some day the Apostle would come to Rome, it
+might be soon, and would bring them news of the Lord Christ, for he
+had seen him with his own eyes.
+
+The darkness settled down over Rome and still Virgilia dreamed on, but
+the dreams were not prophetic; in the visions which she had there were
+no forebodings of that which was to come.
+
+
+
+
+IV.
+
+THE INNER SHRINE OF JUPITER.
+
+
+Alyrus crept out of the rear door of the house about sundown, while
+Virgilia, her head pillowed on a cushion of soft down, was dreaming of
+things past. He told Alexis to guard the entrance and if the master
+inquired for him to tell him that a pair of sandals needed repairing
+and he was carrying them to the shoemaker. In fact, he had the
+sandals, of yellow Persian leather, wrapped up in an old handkerchief,
+and showed them to the Greek.
+
+While Alexis seated himself on the porter's marble bench just inside
+the front door, left open that the evening breeze blowing fresh and
+cool from the sea might pass through the heated rooms, Alyrus went
+into the narrow alley at the rear. Just outside, a man crouched
+against the brick wall. It was Lucius, the water-carrier, who had sung
+the Christian hymn so boldly on the streets where pagan gods were
+worshipped. His goat-skin water-bag was empty and lay, wrinkled and
+collapsed, beside him.
+
+Lucius, himself, was a strange sight in the midst of the luxurious
+people of Rome. A peasant he was, dwelling in a cave far out on the
+Roman Campagna, remote from the splendid villas and gardens lining the
+wide ways leading out of the city to North and South and West. This
+cave was in a mass of tufa rock rising abruptly from the flat, green
+fields, and not far from the aqueduct, three tiers of brick arches,
+one above the other, joined by massive masonry, through which fresh
+water was brought in big leaden pipes to the city.
+
+Hundreds of long-horned cattle, white and clean and strong, were
+grazing in the fields. It was such as these that Cincinnatus guided,
+ploughing the fields, when the messenger rode swiftly from Rome to
+call him to come and save her by becoming Dictator.
+
+Lucius was a tiller of the fields, but, also, a water-carrier. He was
+resting now, after his labors in the scorching sunshine, half-asleep.
+
+The Moor roused him into wide wakefulness, by giving him a sturdy
+kick.
+
+"What art thou doing here, lazybones? Get thou to thy kennel, wherever
+it may be, dog of a Christian, and do not dare to show thy face here
+again."
+
+"Dog of a Christian!" murmured Lucius, scrambling to his feet. "How
+did you know?"
+
+Alyrus caught the words.
+
+"How did I know? When a creature such as thou singest thy wicked songs
+in broad daylight, he must expect to be heard. A little more and thou,
+too, wilt go to feed the lions and offer entertainment to the
+thousands who are weary of other amusements and seek something new.
+Turn pale, scarecrow, and tremble. Thy day will come, the day when
+those and others--shall suffer. Ha! ha! it strikes home, doesn't it?
+Thou fearest, eh? So much the better."
+
+Lucius stood before him, a pitiable figure. His body, brown as an
+Indian's, was bare almost to the waist. He wore only one garment, a
+sort of a shirt, made from the skin of one of his own sheep. His legs
+and feet were as brown as the rest of his body, and as tough as those
+of an animal.
+
+His hair was black and long, a lock hung over his forehead and hid his
+black eyes. A long beard fell from cheeks and chin on to his hairy
+breast. There was nothing attractive about his appearance, it was
+thoroughly animal.
+
+"I am not afraid," he replied, with such dignity that Alyrus stared at
+him. "When my time comes, I can die, trusting to a God whom thou
+knowest not, Alyrus, the Moor, doorkeeper in the house of Aurelius
+Lucanus."
+
+"Thou knowest me, then?"
+
+"I know thee well." His manner became cringing and servile. "I did but
+wait here a moment to rest, and fell asleep. I will go on my way."
+
+Alyrus nodded and walked on, going first to the shoemaker's, a tiny
+shop where a man worked all day and slept at night. Having
+accomplished this business, and saved himself from having left a lying
+message for the lawyer, the porter went on his way to the Forum, where
+all was still now, for the business of the day was over. A few men
+were passing, but they paid no attention to the Moor.
+
+It was quite dark, heavy clouds from the west were encircling rapidly
+toward Rome and the wind had increased to a gale. There were sharp
+flashes of copper-blue lightning and a roar of thunder like booming
+cannon, echoing against the Alban and Salbine Hills encircling the
+city.
+
+So dark was it that Alyrus did not observe that he was followed; did
+not see a strange figure with a sheep-skin flung over his back not far
+behind him, slipping from one doorway to another, hiding behind
+pillars, keeping the Moor ever in view.
+
+Lucius the shepherd knew only one thing, intelligently, and that was
+the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Even the most ignorant can
+learn this. The knowledge had been obtained one day, when, seeing a
+company of men and women crossing the Campagna, he had, out of
+curiosity, followed them to their gathering-place, where he had
+learned the truth about Jesus. Outside of this Lucius was absolutely
+unlearned, and almost as stupid as his own sheep. He had not wit
+enough to know that when he sang a Christian hymn where any and all
+could hear it his life was in the greatest danger. He was stupid,
+downright stupid, but he had a keen eye, knew whom to trust and was
+possessed of an insatiable curiosity.
+
+Because, by instinct, he knew that Alyrus was up to some mischief, he
+followed him to see where he went. There was another reason. In the
+house of Aurelius Lucanus dwelt a small scullery maid, who assisted
+the slaves in the kitchen, doing all the dirty work and being struck
+and sworn at for any mistake. She earned a few cents a day. Lucius was
+waiting outside in the alley-way, as was his daily custom after
+finishing his work, to exchange a word with his daughter, whom he
+dearly loved.
+
+I have said that in the lawyer's household were three Christians, one
+was Alexis, the Greek, and another was Lidia, the scullery-maid, who
+had been baptized by the white-haired elder in the Catacomb, beside
+her father.
+
+Through her Lucius had learned that Martius and Virgilia were, also,
+Christians and, with his usual genius for following people, he had
+gone behind them to the Christian meeting place. He knew how wicked
+Alyrus was, how ill the Lady Claudia had been and for what reason.
+Lidia had poured out the whole story to him.
+
+Lucius crouched down near the temple door at the side of the huge
+white building with its many columns, after he had heard the knock
+Alyrus gave at the small portal, and had heard the door clang behind
+the porter. No good could come from that temple and its priests. Even
+though they bowed before the statue of the god and burned incense, the
+Romans did not trust the priests. They regarded them as intriguers,
+trying to get their hands on everything, ready to worm out secrets for
+their own profit and obtain private and political power whenever
+possible.
+
+The great black cloud enveloped Rome. It belched out lightning and
+thunder, the flashes revealing the groups of stately buildings in the
+Forum and Caesar's palace on the Palatine Hill. The rain poured in
+torrents and it hailed, the ground was white with stones, some as
+large as pigeon eggs.
+
+Still, Lucius waited, calmly. He was accustomed to all sorts of
+weather and his finery could not be spoiled. He drew his bare legs up
+under him, threw the skin water bag over his head and shoulders and
+waited.
+
+Neither did Alyrus trust the priests. After all, these were not his
+gods, nor his priests. He worshipped Baal, a greater god than Jupiter.
+As a matter of personal safety, however, he bowed the knee to those
+strange and worthless gods of Rome.
+
+He kept his eyes well open, having been admitted to the temple by a
+young priest, who, carrying a taper, led him through several winding
+passages. A man could get into this gruesome building and never find
+his way out, thought Alyrus, and though a brave chieftain in his own
+country, he shivered here in the black corridors, echoing with every
+footfall.
+
+The priest conducted him to a large square room, with very high
+ceiling, lighted only by a single silver lamp having five branches,
+each of which contained a taper. Evidently this was an internal room,
+having no windows. Alyrus judged that it was lighted by day from an
+opening in the roof, covered with transparent material which withstood
+water. The rain began to beat upon it, and later, hailstones clattered
+by the thousands.
+
+Around the table sat six priests, ghostly in their white robes. Their
+faces were stern and gloomy. The Moor began to feel a misgiving about
+his errand here. Perhaps after all, it would have been wiser to stay
+at home.
+
+"Hast thou the token I gave thee?" asked Lycidon, the priest, who sat
+at the head of the table.
+
+Alyrus saw that he was higher in position than the others. Around his
+forehead was bound a golden circlet, bearing a lizard covered with
+jewels. Its eyes were two emeralds and its body blazed with diamonds
+and rubies.
+
+"I have."
+
+The porter held up the bronze lizard, similar in form to that on the
+priest's forehead.
+
+"It is well. Come forward to the light, and relate to me and these my
+brethren, all that thou knowest of thy master."
+
+The spirit of recklessness which makes men daring possessed Alyrus at
+this moment. He felt approaching the glad hour of his revenge on those
+whom he despised. But he had not lost all caution.
+
+"What do I get as a reward for this knowledge which you so much
+desire?"
+
+The priest rose to his full height. His eyes blazed with anger and he
+raised his arm to strike Alyrus, who did not cringe but faced him
+boldly, though his dark cheeks grew livid.
+
+An aged priest on the superior's right, laid a trembling hand on his
+arm.
+
+"Is it wise?" he asked, gently. "If thou frightenest the slave, he
+will not give thee correct information."
+
+"Thou art late to-night, father," said Lidia, reaching up her hardened
+little hands to caress affectionately his weatherworn cheek. "I was
+just going to bed."
+
+"I was late because I was watching _him_," Lucius nodded his head
+toward the door.
+
+"Who? the master? Surely thou wouldst not."
+
+"Be not so hasty, Lidia. It was not the master, but Alyrus."
+
+"Oh! he is worth watching," responded wise and observant Lidia.
+
+She was little thing, in spite of her twenty years, with a small face,
+old in anxiety, but sparkling with vivacity. Lucius had said sometimes
+that her eyes talked, they varied so with her different moods. She
+petted and humored her father in an amusingly maternal way, and
+carried the cares of his poor home in her heart.
+
+"I believe it. To-night, he has been for an hour at the temple in the
+Forum, and it bodes little good. What has he to do with the priests of
+Jupiter? I trust not one of them, not one. It means some evil to this
+dwelling."
+
+Lidia's eyes grew anxious.
+
+"I fear," she began then paused. She had learned that while her father
+was apt in tracing information, he was not to be relied on in moments
+when delicate problems were to be solved. Her own brain was much more
+clear. "I will watch," she added. "Go home now, dear father and get
+thy rest, for our God is ever near us. No harm can really destroy us.
+It can only touch our bodies, not our souls, as the Great Teacher
+saith."
+
+"And thou, Lidia," the shepherd drew her close to him and turned the
+determined little face so that he could see her. "Art thou happy here?
+Remember thou art no slave, though thou hast chosen to be a menial.
+Thy father wears no iron ring of bondage around his neck. He is a free
+man."
+
+"I wash the kettles clean," replied Lidia, laughing, while her
+expressive eyes danced, "and that is something. What said our Teacher?
+He who does the meanest work faithfully and well, has the Lord Christ
+by his side. I am happy. And though I am only a kitchen maid, I can
+see sometimes sweet Lady Virgilia whom I love. She is in danger,
+father. Perhaps--perhaps, the little unknown maid in the kitchen may
+save her. Who knows?"
+
+"As thou wilt, child, as thou wilt. But it is lonely without thee in
+the cave on the Campagna."
+
+He started on his long walk homeward and Lidia watched his strange,
+wild-looking figure until it was out of sight.
+
+"Our God protect thee," she said in her heart and going inside, closed
+and barred the door.
+
+Before she went to bed she sought out a woman called _The Old One_.
+What her real name was, or whence she had come, even Aurelius
+himself did not know. She had come into his possession as a legacy
+from his father, who had said: "Guard and care for her well, for she
+has view of the future beyond that of human kind." Now, she was very
+aged, her form was bowed and her face covered with tiny wrinkles. Some
+said that she had passed the century limits; but no one knew, and her
+secrets were buried in her own heart.
+
+The Old One was reputed to be very wise. Her expression was almost
+queenly in its dignity, and placid and kindly.
+
+To her, Lidia poured out the news brought her by Lucius, adding to
+these some things that her father did not know, which bore light upon
+the designs of Alyrus and his daughter, Sahira.
+
+The Old One listened, quietly. Then she laid her withered hand on
+Lidia's head, very gently.
+
+"Lie down and sleep, my child, and be at peace. The Lord is with thee.
+What the future holds we fear not."
+
+There were three Christians in the servants' quarters of the lawyer's
+home, one was Alexis, the Greek, one was Lidia, the scullery-maid. And
+the third was the Old One, whose age no man knew, or whence she came.
+
+
+
+
+V.
+
+THE OLD ONE SPEAKS.
+
+
+Aurelius, the lawyer, found his wife crying when he returned from
+business a fortnight later. It was one of those rainy days, coming
+early in October, when it seems as though the skies opened to let down
+streams of water, washing trees and bushes, drenching the heavy dust,
+which, during a long summer drouth had accumulated so much in the
+cracks of the stones on the streets, on the roofs and ledges of the
+houses and on the leaves of vines and flowers that even the
+thunder-storm on that night when Alyrus made his visit to the temple
+had not had force enough to remove it.
+
+It was a desolate day. In Rome when it rains the whole aspect changes,
+it becomes dreary and depressing. Even people are affected by the
+gloom, nerves are set on edge, and Aurelius, having had a trying
+morning, was a little irritated to find his wife in this condition.
+
+Remembering her weakness, he sat down beside her, took her cold hand
+in his and said, gently: "What is the matter, dear one? What has
+happened to annoy thee?"
+
+"It is that miserable sect of Christians. I cannot bear them. Here is
+thy son, Martius, acting the fool, stubborn, wilful, and now Virgilia
+must show the same traits. It is past endurance. Something must be
+done to break this charm whatever it is, that controls them so. I wish
+that every Christian in the land would be destroyed by Jupiter. He can
+do it if he wishes."
+
+The lawyer's face grew stern. One of his troubles that morning had
+been that everlasting affair of the Lady Octavia, who insisted on
+freeing her slaves, and by this had succeeded in involving herself in
+a law-suit which threatened disaster, because of a prior claim to a
+certain slave who was very valuable.
+
+"What has Virgilia done?" he asked, and his tone boded no good to his
+daughter.
+
+"She has refused," sobbed his wife, "refused to make the garlands for
+the gods or offer them the customary libations. Says that she cannot;
+it is contrary to the law of Christ--as if that mattered! Her
+disobedience is bad enough in itself, but the worst for us are the
+punishment and misfortunes which are certain to come upon us if the
+gods are not placated."
+
+Aurelius grew pale. This was to him, in spite of his general unbelief,
+a real difficulty. Who knew what might happen?
+
+"Dost thou mean that the gods have been neglected all the day? It must
+be attended to at once!"
+
+He sprang up, but Claudia held his hand tight in hers.
+
+"It has been attended to. Sahira wove the garlands, a slave, not my
+own daughter. The gods will be wrathful, of course, but perhaps we can
+placate them by costly offerings of gold and spices at the temple. It
+is of Virgilia that I would speak. What is to be done with such an
+undutiful child? She must be married, or sent away to some lonely
+place. Perhaps marriage would be better. Then her husband would
+control her. The Senator Adrian Soderus has asked for her hand, but
+thou didst send him away. Recall him."
+
+"He is seventy years old and as ugly as night. While Virgilia is so
+young and sweet."
+
+"So stubborn and rebellious. He is old, but very rich. She will forget
+this foolishness when she is surrounded by such luxury as he can give
+her. Send for him."  "Where is Virgilia now?"
+
+"In her room, where I sent her to think over her sins and repent."
+
+Aurelius thought of the small, dark cubiculum where his daughter sat
+alone on this day when the floods descended, and his heart warmed to
+the culprit.
+
+"I will talk with Virgilia," he said, rising.
+
+"And thou wilt send for the Senator?"
+
+"We shall see."
+
+During the silent meal, eaten by the father and son under the torch-
+light, so dark was the room, Aurelius did think seriously.
+
+Of the two evils, marriage for Virgilia was, probably the one which
+would cause her the least suffering. To send her away to a lonely
+mountain place, to the holy women who dwelt apart, might break her
+will, but it would ruin her health. Yes, marriage would open out a new
+life and in the splendid home to which the Senator would be only too
+happy to welcome her, she would forget this new and detestable
+religion.
+
+He summoned Virgilia to him in his own private room, the most
+comfortable in the house, because it opened upon the street, had light
+and air, was hung with rich silks in green and white and provided with
+chairs and couches, having soft cushions. On the floor were rugs, the
+work of the Old One's hands, during these long years. Day by day, hour
+by hour, the woman had drawn the threads through the warp, inventing
+the designs, forming beautiful figures with tints that harmonized.
+Here were the faints-colors of the ever-varying opal; the bright blue
+of the turquoise, the rose hues of the blossoms on the tea-rose, the
+aqua-marine tints of the Mediterranean Sea. Truly oriental they were,
+giving a hint of the Eastern origin of the Old One. Like some
+godmother in the fairy tale, like some ancient wife of mythological
+times, the Old One had wrought into these designs her own life. And
+what had been her thoughts during those long hours and days and years?
+
+Virgilia's face was not streaming with tears, as her father had
+expected to see her. In fact, her eyes glowed with softness and
+beauty. Yet there was a set look about her mouth which the lawyer knew
+by past experience meant wilfulness.
+
+The sympathy which had caused his heart to grow tender, vanished at
+sight of this radiant young being as beautiful as a goddess who bathes
+her face in the early morning dew, with the stubborn mouth.
+
+Claudia was right. Something effectual must be done to bring this
+lovely culprit to her senses.
+
+"Thou hast grieved thy mother very much by thy disobedience and
+irreverence," he said, coldly.
+
+"I am truly sorry, dear father. For that I am truly sorry. But, thou
+seest, I could not help it. It is wrong to offer flowers and prayers
+to the gods."
+
+"To whom then wouldst thou offer them?"
+
+"We should bow only to the true God."
+
+"And he? Who is he? Where is he?"
+
+"He is the one invisible and mighty, the God of Heaven and of all
+men."
+
+"That is Jupiter, the all-powerful."
+
+"It is not Jupiter, it is our God, as revealed in the Lord Jesus
+Christ."
+
+"A malefactor."
+
+Virgilia smiled.
+
+"Crucified for us," she murmured, "that we might have eternal life. He
+sitteth now on the right hand of God.".
+
+Her father gazed at her in astonishment. The girl was certainly out of
+her mind? But, if she were then so was the Lady Octavia and her son
+and daughter, and Martius, and hundreds, perhaps even thousands of
+others, if rumor spoke truly. It was a dangerous heresy, and must be
+destroyed.
+
+It was no use to argue with a person who was really scarcely
+responsible, as Virgilia now appeared to him to be. He must deal very
+gently with her.
+
+"Sit down here by me, dearest, I want to talk with thee a little."
+
+So Virgilia sat down on a little stool at her father's feet and leaned
+her arm on his knee, and while he stroked her soft hair, bound with
+fillets of chased gold, set with large turquoises, he strove to calm
+her and distract her mind from its vagaries.
+
+When he sent her away, he was fully determined on a line of action.
+
+He drew the tablets to him, and wrote a note to the most honorable
+Senator Adrian Soderus, asking him to make an appointment.
+
+Calling Alexis, he ordered him to carry the message to the house of
+the Senator and bring him the answer.
+
+The Greek returned, promptly. If it stopped raining, the Senator would
+come to the house of the lawyer Aurelius Lucanus that evening, after
+sundown, accompanied by the notary.
+
+Then he summoned Sahira.
+
+"Thou wilt clothe the Lady Virgilia in her most costly garments. Thou
+wilt bind jewels in her hair and hang strings of pearls about her
+neck. Her fingers, too, shall be laden with rings. Tell Alexis to
+decorate the whole house with flowers and make it beautiful for a
+feast."
+
+Sahira went away, wondering what new turn affairs were taking, but she
+did as she was bid, and at sundown in all Rome no more lovely maiden
+could have been found than Virgilia, in her costly robes and flashing
+jewels. But more beautiful than all, was the white, pure soul which no
+man could see.
+
+"Is it for a feast, Sahira?" asked Virgilia, looking at herself in the
+long metal mirror, and smiling at the reflection. Virgilia was human.
+
+"For a feast, your father said," replied the slave, leaving Virgilia
+in her splendor, sitting in the fast-darkening room, alone.
+
+The Senator Adrian Soderus, indeed, lost no time. He arrived at the
+lawyer's house just at the hour of sundown, when the heavy clouds were
+scattering and the sun sent shafts of golden light to turn the mists
+overhanging the towers and pinnacles of Rome's palaces and temples
+into filmy veils. It looked like a wraith-city, hung with yellow
+gauze.
+
+The chair stopped at the door and the noted man alighted with much
+difficulty, for he was very stout from too much indulgence in the good
+things of the world, and half-crippled with rheumatism, besides. It
+took two strong slaves to lift him out and support him until he sank,
+with a groan, on the largest and strongest seat possessed by Aurelius
+Lucanus.
+
+Claudia was given new life by the prospect of her daughter's marriage
+to one of the wealthiest men in Rome, a thing which she had tried to
+bring to pass some months before, but failed because of her husband's
+opposition. He had said that it was wicked to give so fair a maiden as
+Virgilia to this old and feeble man. Now, Claudia thanked the gods,
+the objection had been removed by Virgilia's own fault.
+
+She arrayed herself to receive the Senator with as much care as if she
+were going to be a guest at Caesar's table. This marriage of
+Virgilia's would bring her and her husband into the first rank of
+society, a thing for which her soul had longed for many a year. A
+lawyer, though a man highly honored and received at the palace, was
+nevertheless, considered of medium rank. The mother of a Senator took
+a different position. And all this had been caused merely by a chance
+meeting with Adrian Soderus, when he had been charmed by Virgilia's
+lovely face. Well, she was lovely, Claudia acknowledged, in the
+intervals of scolding her waiting-woman because she did not arrange
+the curls on her forehead to her satisfaction; no lovelier could be
+found in the whole province, even the emperor himself had smiled upon
+her one day, when she had gone with her father and mother to the
+palace. Emperor's smiles, however, had little value, whereas the
+Senator's riches were practical.
+
+Claudia greeted the ponderous guest with deepest courtesies, and soon
+she and the lawyer, with the notary, a little dried-up man who took
+snuff freely from a golden, bejeweled box, and sneezed so violently
+thereafter that Virgilia, sitting alone in her room, heard him and
+laughed outright, had arranged the whole affair. Virgilia was only a
+child and did not dream that in another part of the house, she was
+being discussed as if she were a package of merchandise, bargained
+over as coolly as though the affair concerned the sale of a slave.
+
+This was no unusual thing in ancient Rome. A girl was her father's
+property, to be disposed of as he saw fit and to his advantage.
+Neither Aurelius nor Claudia intended to be cruel to Virgilia. It was
+the custom of the times and her mother, at least, was thoroughly
+frightened over the fact that Virgilia had been led away by strange
+doctrines, taught by what she considered a very low class of persons.
+She actually believed that this disposal of the daughter whom she
+truly loved, would be in the end for her happiness. The Senator had a
+kind face. He would be good to Virgilia.
+
+Her father was not, however, so convinced of the right, moral right,
+of what they were doing. He knew that he was fully within the civil
+right. He felt very uncomfortable and inclined to throw the whole
+thing up, if it were possible.
+
+It was too late now, he feared. Claudia had set her heart on this--had
+been urging it for a long time. She looked brighter this evening, more
+like herself. Perhaps on the whole, Virgilia would not be any more
+unhappy in the home which this old man could give her, than she would
+be married to some young man whom they would choose.
+
+The Senator provided very handsomely for Virgilia, according to the
+legal document already drawn up by the notary, and this was finally
+signed by all three contracting parties and by two freedmen brought by
+the notary to be witnesses.
+
+Then, the little man, after many profound bows and a parting series of
+sneezes just outside the curtained door, went away. Martius was called
+and told to bring Virgilia.
+
+A feast was not unusual in the house of Aurelius, and Virgilia
+anticipated it with pleasure. The memory of her disobedience and
+daring in the morning had faded from her mind for the moment. Very
+gaily she took Martius' hand and walked by his side.
+
+"Thou art very beautiful to-night, sister mine," he said, with a boy's
+admiration for her finery. Virgilia's laugh rang out and the group
+waiting silently for her arrival, heard it. The Senator smiled,
+Claudia drew her draperies around her with a hand that trembled a
+little. Aurelius frowned. He wished with all his heart that he had
+never signed that document which bound her to this man.
+
+"It is my fine clothes," replied Virgilia. "A peacock would be nothing
+without his gay feathers. What is the feast to-night, Martius?"
+
+"I know not. Perhaps some friends of father's have come to eat and
+drink with us."
+
+The Senator rose with difficulty as the radiant girl entered, led by
+Martius.
+
+Amazed, Virgilia looked at her mother.
+
+"I was called," she said, and she grew very pale.
+
+Some time before, her mother had informed her that the great Senator
+had asked her hand, but, after a conversation with her father she had
+been assured that negotiations would be dropped. This man, the meaning
+of the decoration of the rooms with gay Autumn blossoms of yellow and
+purple; this was to be her betrothal and she had not been told. In a
+flash, it was revealed to her that it was a result of her refusal to
+do homage to the gods that morning. Very well, she would suffer the
+consequences bravely. But, in the house to which she was to go, she
+would never bow down to the idols, no matter what the result might be.
+She signed the contract, submitted to the Senator her hand, and sat by
+his side at the table, decorated his head with the marriage garland
+and received from him another wreath of fine white orange-blooms.
+
+Her father saw, with sorrow, that her face was deathly white.
+
+There was eating and drinking and merriment, in which Virgilia, in
+spite of her sadness, tried to join. It did not occur to her to
+protest or question her father's judgment. A daughter must accept the
+husband chosen for her; but she wished with all her heart that it
+might have been Marcus, the son of Octavia, who was sitting by her
+side, wearing the bridal garland, rather than this feeble old man.
+Yet, even the thought was disloyal and unmaidenly. She dismissed it.
+
+The merriment was at its height, and Aurelius began to feel that
+Virgilia would not suffer much from this necessary solution of a
+difficult problem, when the curtain of Persian silk at the door was
+suddenly torn aside and the Old One entered.
+
+Very slowly, leaning on her staff, bowed half over, and with white
+hair streaming down to her shoulders, she approached the table.
+Claudia screamed when she saw her and the Senator trembled. People
+were very superstitious in those days, and the Old One was known to be
+a prophetess.
+
+Aurelius left his place.
+
+"What dost thou desire, Mother?" he asked.
+
+She lifted to him eyes filled with a strange light. The gray mantle
+she wore fell away from her skinny arm as she raised it high.
+
+"Woe! woe to the house of Lucanus!" she cried shrilly. "Your feasting
+shall be turned into sorrow, your rejoicing shall be changed into
+mourning and the voice of weeping shall be heard, a mother weeping for
+her daughter, a father bemoaning the loss of his children, a
+bridegroom grieving over a lost bride. Woe! Woe!"
+
+Virgilia and her mother were clinging to each other. The Senator was
+pallid and shaking with fear.
+
+"Woe! woe to the house of Lucanus!" wailed the aged woman, and would
+have fallen if Martius had not caught her in his strong arms.
+
+The slaves, frightened, had gathered in the doorway. At a sign from
+Aurelius, they carried her away, while Sahira tried to assist Virgilia
+to calm her mother.
+
+"She is very aged," explained the lawyer.
+
+"She must be crazy," energetically remarked the Senator, demanding his
+chair.
+
+When he had gone away, and Claudia was in bed, with Virgilia, by her
+side, the lawyer sat a long time in his little room and thought.
+
+What was this woe that the Old One had prophesied for him and his
+household?
+
+As the light of a rosy dawn bathed the world in the beauty of a
+promised day, he arose.
+
+"She must be crazy," he said, repeating the Senator's words.
+
+But he did not forget.
+
+
+
+
+VI.
+
+THE FEAST OF THE GRAPES.
+
+
+Sunshine and laughter came after clouds and sadness. It was natural
+that the effects of the Old One's strange words should pass away and
+be almost forgotten, except by the lawyer, who feared disaster. He did
+what for him was a novel thing. He made an offering to Jupiter. After
+all, there might be something in this worship of the gods; it was
+safer to be on the right side.
+
+It was a gift of money that he made, a large gift, for Lucanus was
+prosperous and received many sesterces of gold from the imperial
+treasury, besides having a lucrative practice. Being so large a gift,
+he decided to present it in person and get full credit for his piety
+and devotion to the gods.
+
+So, on a morning, a week later, accompanied by Alexis, the Greek
+slave, who followed Christus--though this was not known--he went to
+the main door of the temple in the Forum and boldly asked for the
+Lycidon, chief priest of Jupiter.
+
+"Wait thou here," he commanded, and Alexis seated himself on the
+steps, watching the busy crowds passing by.
+
+It was a feast-day, and a white bull, hung with flowers was being led
+through the Sacred Way to a shrine where the people would worship him
+as possessing the spirit of a great god. Everything was a god to the
+Romans, even trees and animals were possessed of spirit.
+
+Alexis looked at the bull and the procession of priests following it;
+at the dancing girls and the motley crowd of men and women. He prayed
+to Almighty God that he might show these poor deluded beings the
+better way to Eternal Life.
+
+The tall superior was more gracious to the lawyer who brought rich
+gifts than he had been to the slave Alyrus. When he learned the name
+of the donor, he was still more suave and his eyes were very keen.
+
+"Thy name shall go down to all generations as a faithful follower of
+the gods," he said, laying aside the golden chalice and purse of gold
+pieces. "In these days when Rome is filled with new doctrines and
+heretics are found on every side, it is cheering to know that the
+learned lawyer Aurelius Lucanus gives richly to the gods."
+
+But when Lucanus had gone away, flattered, yet relieved to get out of
+those dismal corridors into the brilliant October sunshine, the priest
+smiled, a cruel smile of one who meditates evil. Alexis rose from his
+seat on the steps and followed his master to his office.
+
+Claudia, in the excitement of preparing a handsome outfit for
+Virgilia, forgot the Old One's words entirely and recovered her health
+marvellously. She was very affectionate to Virgilia and her offense
+was no more mentioned, nor was she required to worship the gods. Her
+mother left this fever to run its course and be healed by new scenes
+and costly jewels.
+
+Even Virgilia, herself, grew interested in the preparations for her
+departure to her husband's house, which had been fixed for a day in
+November, when the religious ceremony should take place. There were
+cedar chests to be filled with piles of linen, woven by the slaves.
+One very handsome oak marriage chest was full of silks and gauzes of
+much price, brought on the ships which sailed up the Tiber from the
+port of Ostia, on their return from Egypt.
+
+A copper box held jewels, set in Etruscan gold, exquisitely chased by
+the cunning hands of workers in the Way of the Goldsmiths. There were
+opals, shimmering in the sunrays, alive with inner fires of flame-
+color. There were diamonds, half-cut, and pearls found in the Ganges,
+with emeralds and sapphires, rubies and garnets, many of them gifts
+from friends to whom announcements of the betrothal had been sent on
+ivory tablets engraved in blue.
+
+Claudia lifted out the diadem which the emperor, himself, had caused
+to be brought to their door by a train of slaves, thus calling
+attention to their high social standing in the eyes of all the
+neighbors.
+
+When the Senator gave Virgilia a necklace of diamonds to match those
+in the diadem sent by Caesar, Claudia felt that her cup was full of
+happiness. Even Virgilia was pleased and for the moment, being young
+and fond of pretty things, forgot that the Christian maiden should be
+unadorned save by her own modesty.
+
+Martius was the gravest of the family. Now that Virgilia was so
+occupied that she could not go to the meetings of the Christians,
+although this had always been difficult for her, he went alone, or
+joined Hermione and Marcus. From them and other Christians he heard
+news which greatly alarmed him. There were rumors of an uprising
+against the followers of Christ. It was said that the priests of
+Jupiter were arousing the senators and even the emperor to a sense of
+the danger in which the government would find itself if these heretics
+were allowed to increase as they were doing at the present time.
+
+The Senator Adrian Soderus, who visited the lawyer and his wife
+frequently and in view of the coming marriage was permitted to see
+Virgilia, confirmed the news, entirely unaware of the fact that both
+his betrothed and her brother Martius belonged to the despised people.
+
+"They multiply like rats," he said, sipping from a silver goblet the
+sweet orange juice Sahira prepared. "And like rats they live in holes
+in the ground. There they hold their wicked meetings and form their
+impious designs. They are a menace to Rome and must be destroyed."
+
+"Ought I to tell him?" Virgilia asked her brother after one of these
+conversations.
+
+"How do I know, dearest? It is for father to speak, and he does not. I
+fear--I fear. Yet, if thou art once married to him, he is bound to
+protect thee. Thou wilt surely be safe."
+
+"But thou--and Hermione--and--Marcus?"
+
+"God is all-powerful. We are in his hands."
+
+There came the messenger from the Lady Octavia bearing a pearl anklet
+as a wedding gift to Virgilia with many greetings and good wishes. And
+if it were possible, would they all come "to celebrate the Feast of
+the Grapes, in five days?"
+
+"I will not go," said Claudia. "The Lady Octavia is not to my liking."
+
+"Nor I," added Aurelius, "but we must not be discourteous, she is a
+good client. It will be an enjoyable feast in this fine weather.
+Virgilia's cheeks are too pale. She and Martius shall go."
+
+On the day of the Feast, Virgilia was glad to go out into the fresh
+air, to leave the seamstresses busy sewing in the inner courtyard.
+They were embroidering fine garments of silk so soft that it could be
+drawn through a ring. They were hemming and drawing threads, draping
+and cutting the rich material from Tyre which was to form part of
+Virgilia's wedding outfit.
+
+The young girl was sad on this beautiful October day when the air was
+spicy with the whiffs of ripe grapes and pomegranates in the gardens
+and vineyards. She was thinking of what it would mean to go away from
+her home, to leave her parents and Martius, to take up another life,
+and be obedient to the old Senator, who, kind and indulgent as he
+might be, was, nevertheless, little more than her master, or she,
+little better than one of her own slaves. Not once, however, did the
+thought enter her mind that she was a free being, at liberty to rebel
+and decline this marriage so suddenly arranged for her. It was for her
+parents to decide what her future should be, and for her to obey.
+
+Early in the morning of the day which they were to pass in the lovely
+gardens of Octavia, Virgilia ascended a narrow steep staircase and
+went out upon the flat roof. It was like a garden up here, with
+trellises and vines. Some late tea-roses were in bloom. The girl broke
+off one and placed it in the folds of her gown. She could breathe in
+its sweetness.
+
+Over at one end of the roof--or terrace, as it is called--sat the Old
+One, making a carpet. Above her head was a gay scarlet and blue
+awning, to protect her from the sun, still hot, even in cool October.
+
+The slave looked up and smiled when Virgilia came near, motioning to a
+pile of cushions.
+
+"Ever busy, Mother?" said the young girl, examining the work.
+
+The rug was very handsome. It had five borders wrought in dull blues,
+white and yellow, covered with conventional designs, and the centre
+was exquisite, a white ground on which loose flowers were thrown
+negligently, carelessly, without regular form, yet the whole was
+perfect.
+
+"It is almost finished, my child, and when it is done, it shall be for
+thee, to adorn thy home."
+
+"For me?"
+
+"My wedding gift to thee. On the day that thou wast born, I began it,
+and all through these seventeen years I have worked at it, thinking
+that on the day when thou shouldst go away to thy husband, the rug
+would go with thy household goods to remind thee of the aged woman
+whose gnarled and withered hands wrought it for thee."
+
+"I shall ever hold it precious."
+
+Virgilia sank down on the cushions, listlessly. Far away she could see
+the blue lines of mountains, bordering the fields where Lucius the
+Water-Carrier lived, where were the marvellous tombs of the great on
+the Appian Way; where stately homes bordered the fashionable Ostian
+Way, and where were the Catacombs where the Christians buried their
+dead and gathered for worship.
+
+She looked with some curiosity at the placid, gentle face of the old
+woman. That night, when she had burst in upon the betrothal feast with
+her dire prophecies, she had been transformed, a creature of whom they
+were afraid. Had she been conscious of what she said then? Virgilia
+thought not.
+
+"Mother," she said, "thy many years of life have brought to thee
+wisdom. Should one tell everything to one's husband? Even when it may
+be dangerous?"
+
+The Old One held a yellow thread suspended from her ivory hook and
+looked keenly at Virgilia.
+
+"Thou hast a secret, my child?"
+
+"Yes, mother."
+
+"One of which thou art ashamed?"
+
+"No, no. But it involves others."
+
+The bricks were sprinkled with sand. Virgilia stopped and drew a fish
+in the sand. She had for some time suspected that the Old One was a
+Christian. If she were, she would recognize the symbol of Christ, the
+"Icthus." If she were not, it would do no harm.
+
+"And thou, too, art a little fish," murmured the Old One. "Thanks be
+to His holy name, when the Lord Christ was born, I was a Princess in
+the court of Herod, the King, who was sore afraid, because it was told
+him that a new King had come to reign over Israel. The angels sang at
+His birth and the kings from the East brought presents of frankincense
+and myrrh. I fell into the hands of the Romans, and here I am, a
+slave. But it was a plan of God. In Rome, I learned to know Christ."
+
+"Virgilia! Virgilia!" Martius called. "It is time to go. Hurry! The
+chair is at the door."
+
+"If the time comes when for conscience' sake thou must disclose that
+thou art a follower of Christ, do so. If not, keep silence and worship
+Him in thine heart lest evil come upon the thousands who love Him,"
+said the Old One. Her eyes grew filmy and she stretched out her hands,
+tremblingly. "I see--I see--a shadow of death--approaching. But in the
+shadow--shines the face--of our--Risen Lord."
+
+"Mother, Mother!" said Virgilia, alarmed.
+
+"Was I speaking? What did I say? This work must be finished soon, for
+the marriage."
+
+"Virgilia!" came Martius' peremptory summons.
+
+"Yes, I am coming."
+
+Stopping only to call Sahira to bring the Old One a refreshing drink,
+Virgilia veiled herself, entered her chair, and with Martius walking
+by her side, was borne out of the city gate guarded by men in full
+uniform, armed with staves and knives, and through the road leading to
+the Lady Octavia's house.
+
+What a day that was! The vines, festooned gracefully between dwarf
+mulberry trees, were loaded with huge bunches of purple and white
+grapes. The men and women slaves were gathering them and heaping them
+up in baskets. The red juice escaped and ran in streams over the
+yellow earth.
+
+Laughing and merry the four young people passed among the servants
+eating grapes to their heart's content, telling stories of other days,
+leaving the future to unfold for itself. They did not try to foresee
+it.
+
+At noon, they went to the cool, shady room overlooking the garden and
+ate the cold meats and fresh green salad, luscious fruit and white
+goat's cheese, finishing the meal with sweet cakes and a delicious
+drink made from the fresh juice of the grapes just gathered.
+
+Before they ate, the freedmen stood, respectfully waiting, while
+Octavia, in a low voice, offered a prayer of thanksgiving for the food
+so bountifully provided. Only a small part of the servants, formerly
+slaves, were Christians, and Octavia had often been warned that her
+life and that of her children was in danger through her open defiance
+of the priests and declaration of her own Christian faith.
+
+"I trust in God," was all that she would say.
+
+In her house were no gods, no images. Flowers there were, in
+abundance, the rooms were bowers of beauty, the table, with its
+spotless cloth of fine white linen, bore silver vases filled with
+roses and autumn blossoms, but there were no shrines and no statutes.
+
+On this Feast of the Grapes around Rome Bacchus was worshipped and
+much wine was drunk, until the people lost their senses and became
+brutes. In Octavia's home, the feast was observed with games and songs
+and merriment, but all was done decently and in order. It was because
+her views were not theirs that many of the friends who had visited
+them when the Senator was alive--now refused to associate with the
+Lady Octavia, although they could not openly ignore her on account of
+her great wealth.
+
+It drew toward evening. The days were still long, and Martius planned
+to return home by moonlight. At seven o'clock, they were eating supper
+in an arbor at the side of the Villa. The big, round moon was rising
+over the Alban Hills, soon it would be a great lamp in the sky.
+
+All over the Campagna the Feast of the Grapes had been celebrated that
+day. The sounds of boisterous laughter, of loud singing, came to their
+ears from the crowds who were passing outside the high walls
+surrounding the entire estate.
+
+"There is more noise than usual," remarked Octavia.
+
+The sounds had changed. They grew menacing. People were quarreling
+with each other. "It is nothing," replied Marcus. "Always on this
+Feast, there is much drunkenness and revelry."
+
+But his mother was uneasy.
+
+"It is wiser for thee to return home at once, Martius," she said. "I
+will carry thy chair, Virgilia. The bearers have been resting long."
+
+"I have a strong stick," Martius said, laughing, "and Alexis is armed.
+We can easily protect Virgilia."
+
+"Is it not better for you to remain here," suggested Marcus. "We will
+send a messenger to thy father."
+
+"Nonsense. There is no danger. But it is wiser that we should start at
+once. Later, there will be thousands returning home."
+
+At that moment, the porter from the gate came running toward the
+arbor. He was, plainly, very much excited. With him was a man of dark
+swarthy skin, and a scar across his forehead.
+
+"Thou, Alyrus?" exclaimed Martius, surprised to see the Moor here.
+
+"I have a message for you, my young master." Martius failed to observe
+the bitterness in which he spoke the last words, or the glow of his
+dark eyes, resting by turns on each member of the group. "You and the
+Lady Virgilia are to return home at once. Your father desired me to
+tell you that the people are enraged at an insult offered by some
+Christians to one of the holy gods."
+
+"Go, go!" said Octavia.
+
+Martius stopped a moment to speak to Hermione, while Marcus assisted
+Virgilia into her chair.
+
+"Is it safe for thee?" he asked. "We cannot tell what may happen."
+
+She smiled at him.
+
+"God is with us, Martius, my friend."
+
+"I would that I had thy great faith, Hermione. We part but to meet
+again."
+
+"If God will?"
+
+The chair, carried by four men, passed out of the iron gate, which
+swung shut behind them. The heavy bolts were shot quickly into place
+by the frightened porter. Riots were not unknown in Rome, but riots
+which were against Christians were very serious matters.
+
+If glances full of meaning were exchanged between Alyrus and the
+bearers, neither Martius nor Alexis noticed them.
+
+The crowd in front of Octavia's gate was now very menacing. The men
+were throwing stones over the wall and crying: "Down with the
+Christians!"
+
+"Way! Way for the daughter of Aurelius Lucanus, worshipper of the
+gods" cried Alyrus, and the crowd parted to let them through.
+
+
+
+
+VII.
+
+ENTER, LYCIAS, THE GLADIATOR.
+
+
+Lidia, the scullery maid, stole out of the back door of her master's
+house. Bare-foot she was and her black hair streamed out behind her as
+she ran swiftly through the streets of Rome. Few noticed her, for the
+people were still excited from the doings of the night before. Groups
+stood at the places where roads crossed, or in the shadows of the
+columns and discussed what had occurred. When such important matters
+as the arrest of a few hundreds of Christians were concerned, the
+little maid with frightened eyes and ragged clothes was not of any
+moment.
+
+"It is the priests who stirred up this trouble," said one man looking
+up at the grim grayish-white walls of Jupiter's temple. "I am no
+follower of Christus, but I employed a man who was, and he was ever
+industrious and sober. They are not such a bad lot. It is a pity--"
+
+"Whist!" exclaimed another man. "Speak not so loud. Even the walls of
+yonder temple have ears. They say that there are speaking tubes hidden
+in every room so that the Superior may know just what goes on. I'll
+tell you the one thing, my friend, if the priests are in it there's
+gold somewhere. They don't do things for nothing."
+
+"That they do not. Didst hear that the splendid villa of Octavia,
+widow of Aureus Cantus, the Senator, was raided by a mob last night?
+The freedmen are scattered or seized again as slaves and the family,
+the lady and two children have entirely disappeared. Her home and all
+its treasures have already been confiscated, as belonging to a traitor
+and I'll venture that the priests in yonder get a good share of the
+wealth."
+
+"She was an honorable woman. It is a shame."
+
+"Shame, yes, but it pleases the people and gratifies the priests, two
+things very essential to him who sits upon the throne."
+
+"Dost think--"
+
+"Aye, I think much that I do not say. Hundreds of Christians have been
+herded into the prisons, the uprising of the multitude yesterday was
+but part of the game. It was all planned. They say, too, that a dark
+man, with great gold rings in his ears and a scar on his face, has
+been tracking these Christians for weeks. No doubt he was an emissary
+of the priests."
+
+"I have seen him myself. There he goes, now."
+
+Alyrus walked through the crowd like a king, as if he expected them to
+bow before him.
+
+"I've seen him before," said the first man. "Where was it? I remember
+now. It was he who sat in the ante-chamber of Aurelius Lucanus'
+office. He is his slave."
+
+"And is the honorable lawyer mixed up in this business?"
+
+"Who knows? One thing is certain. The people will be amused and forget
+the cruelties of the Emperor, for there will be a grand show in the
+amphitheatre, far grander than any gladiatorial show."
+
+"Thou meanest--"
+
+"That these Christians must be disposed of, or they will rebel. The
+lions are even now growling in the underground cages."
+
+Lidia sped on, though her feet grew very weary before she reached the
+cave where Lucius dwelt. He was standing in front of it, blowing into
+a flame some charcoal in a small iron brazier. She approached him
+unseen. He looked up, startled when he heard her calling him.
+
+"Ah, Lidia, is it thou? Hast come to have supper with thy father? Thou
+art welcome. There is a tender kid roasted and I have gathered some
+fresh greens in the field. I will make thee a salad."
+
+"Please do, dear father. I am very weary and have tasted no food since
+morning."
+
+Sitting down on the grass, they gave thanks and ate. The shepherd gave
+her a large plantain leaf for a plate. Their food was such as Jacob
+ate in days of old, long before Rome was built.
+
+"Thou art very weary, my child."
+
+"And heart-sick. Thou hast not been in the city for two days."
+
+"No. The rains have been so heavy that the sprinkling from my
+sheepskin bag was not needed. So I stayed here to care for the herds."
+
+"Then thou dost not know what has happened. Father, my master and the
+Lady Claudia are in deep distress. Martius and the Lady Virgilia went
+to visit the widow of Cantus outside the gate, on the day when the
+Feast of the Grapes was celebrated. They have never returned. Nor has
+Alyrus, who was sent on an errand by Aurelius that afternoon, nor
+Alexis, the Greek. Not one has come back to tell of their fate. This
+morning, Sahira, my Lady Claudia's waiting-maid disappeared and the
+mistress lies there moaning and crying. It is pitiful. Everyone is in
+disorder of spirit. I, even though I am but a scullery-maid, did creep
+into my Lady's room and put cold cloths on her head and fanned her
+face. No one else thought of her. The servants go here and there,
+without a head; the whole house is in confusion. Some of the slaves
+have already run away. It is rumored, father, that many Christians
+have been arrested. No doubt Martius and Virgilia are among them."
+
+"But thou?"
+
+"I am safe. Who cares for so humble a person as I? The Old One is very
+ill. I think she is going to die. No one cares for her but me. But I
+am safe. No one notices me, for I am little and ugly, thank God. I
+soothe the Old One, who moans and cries: 'Woe. Woe! to this
+household,' I must go back now. It is but four and twenty hours,
+father, since the home of Aurelius was full of joy and gladness. Now
+it is desolate."
+
+The shepherd rose and picked up his staff.
+
+"Lidia, it is Alyrus who has wrought all this. He and the priests of
+Jupiter. I will seek out Lycias, the gladiator. He will know what to
+do."
+
+A warm red shone in Lidia's thin, sallow cheeks.
+
+"Thou wilt greet him from me, father?"
+
+He nodded, and walked rapidly away, while Lidia, taking another path,
+ran toward the gates of Rome. Inside the walls, she almost collided
+with Alyrus, the Moor, who strode by not recognizing her. Slipping
+along in the shadows, she followed him eagerly, as intently as her
+father would have done, through the streets, into the Forum to the
+Temple of Jupiter, and saw him enter the side door.
+
+Then she hastened back to her duties, going into the house which was
+very still and deserted. Only a few of the many slaves owned by
+Aurelius the lawyer, remained to guard his interests. When the
+displeasure of an emperor falls on a man, it means disaster.
+
+She looked in at her mistress' door and found her sleeping, moaning as
+she slept. She went to the servant's quarters. On her humble couch lay
+the Old One, who had been a Princess in the court of Herod sixty years
+before, beautiful, admired. Her face was very quiet and the expression
+was sweet. Death had touched her lightly when he bore her into the
+presence of the Lord whom she had loved. The finished rug which she
+had made for Virgilia's wedding present lay under the scarlet and
+white awning on the Terrace.
+
+Alyrus had come into his reward. He was free, and Sahira his daughter
+was free, a purse of gold was in his hand and a ship lay waiting in
+the harbor, to carry them away to their home by the desert.
+
+Alyrus was not ready to go, yet. He wanted first to see all the
+amusement which there would be in Rome. He could not miss the climax
+of what he had intrigued for. He knew nothing of that Judas who had
+sold his Lord for thirty pieces of silver, or he might have likened
+himself to this traitor.
+
+No, he would not leave until the games were over. The scheme had
+worked well. There had not been the slightest hitch from the moment
+that they left the gate of Octavia's villa, until the bearers, who
+were in the plot, carried Virgilia into the Temple of Jupiter, and
+Martius and Alexis, little noticed in the unusual excitement stirred
+up by the priests, were easily overpowered and cast into one of the
+lowest dungeons.
+
+Yes, it had been most successful. Alyrus returned to the temple now to
+see Sahira who was in charge of the holy women and sallied forth again
+to sit in one of the shops and drink a glass of grape juice. He was a
+thoroughly temperate man, knowing that wine muddles the brain and
+perverts the judgment.
+
+It was now late in the evening. Proclamations were already on the
+walls announcing that on the fourth day, there would be grand games in
+the Circus. Gladiatorial contests would be the first thing on the
+program, followed by the lions and Christians. The learned ones were
+reading this notice aloud to the ignorant and the women, and all
+seemed to be much pleased.
+
+Alyrus sat down and ordered his cup of fresh grape juice, with snow
+from Mt. Hermon to cool it in. As he sipped it, he saw the great
+gladiator, Lycias, come into the circle of light from the flaring
+torches, but he did not perceive the shepherd, who remained outside,
+in the shadow.
+
+Now, Lycias was a great man in the eyes of the Romans. He had been a
+poor boy, but by reason of his strength had risen to be the first
+gladiator. He and Lidia the kitchen-maid, had grown up together in the
+cave of Lucius, for Lycias had been found, a tiny baby, lying at the
+door of the sheepfold. For the love and care bestowed upon him, Lycias
+had always been grateful.
+
+Therefore, at the request of Lucius, was he here.
+
+At the entrance of the famous gladiator, a shout arose from the men
+seated at the small tables.
+
+"Hail, Lycias! Hail, Lycias!" came from every side.
+
+The tall man bowed to one friend and then another, smiled and walked
+through the room, seeking a place to sit. With a smile, he declined
+proffered seats with groups of men, and finally took a place near
+Alyrus, the Moor.
+
+"If it does not inconvenience you," he said.
+
+"Not in the least," replied Alyrus, flattered at the attention thus
+drawn to him.
+
+The gladiator laid aside his silver helmet, unloosed his short sword
+and ordered light refreshment from the proprietor who came himself to
+serve so noted a guest.
+
+Had some great philosopher entered, he would have been greeted with
+respect but would not have aroused anything like so much interest or
+enthusiasm as did the victorious gladiator. Even the boys in the
+streets knew his name and tried to imitate him.
+
+For some time, while he had satisfied a very hearty appetite, Lycias
+did not open a conversation, and Alyrus, a little awed, had hesitated
+to speak.
+
+Apparently for the first time, the gladiator examined the Moor's face.
+
+Springing to his feet, he saluted in a military fashion.
+
+"Your pardon, my lord, I knew not that I had ventured to presume upon
+the kindness of Claudius Auranus, governor of Carthage."
+
+Alyrus stammered.
+
+"Be seated, sir, I--I am not his excellency the governor of Carthage.
+I am a much humbler man, a chieftain of Tripoli."
+
+"Ah! I knew that you were some distinguished person, from your bearing
+and dress."
+
+When Alyrus smiled, he was uglier than ever.
+
+"A brute!" muttered Lycias, under his breath. Then aloud: "Are you on
+some mission to the Emperor?"
+
+"Ahem. Not so. But very high in the secrets of the chief priest of
+Jupiter."
+
+"One might call him the power behind the throne."
+
+"Thou hast said truly."
+
+"And it is really true that thou art admitted to those holy
+precincts?"
+
+"Behold!" Alyrus drew from the folds of his garment the bronze lizard.
+"Not only does this admit me to the temple itself but to any place in
+the city of Rome. Thou seest. It is the symbol of the priests of
+Jupiter."
+
+"I see," Lycias' eyes gleamed, as he watched Alyrus placing the
+precious symbol in a safe place.
+
+Then, Alyrus, intoxicated by the events of the past few moments, by
+his sudden transition from slavery to freedom, at the prospect opening
+before him of a speedy return to the home he loved, flattered at the
+homage shown him by the gladiator, poured out the whole story into
+ears only too willing to hear. He narrated everything except that he
+had been a slave, representing himself as a client of Aurelius
+Lucanus, who had been grievously wronged by him. He told how he had
+discovered, one day in the public Forum, that the son and daughter of
+the lawyer were Christians, and Aurelius sympathized with them; how,
+by the chief priest's desire, he had assisted in tracking many more of
+the despised sect, of whom several hundred were now languishing in
+prison, among them, Octavia the widow of the proud Senator Aureus
+Cantus, and her son and daughter.
+
+Lycias passed his big hand over his smoothly shaven face to hide his
+expression of disgust. He rose.
+
+"If you permit, honored sir, I will now retire, with the hope that we
+shall meet again."
+
+"Willingly will I continue the conversation. Perhaps--" Alyrus was
+swelling with importance, "it would interest you to visit the prisons
+and see these Christians before they are thrown into the arena. I
+understand that you are first on the program."
+
+"Yes. I had thought of asking such a privilege as a visit to these
+prisoners. By the way, where is the daughter of Aurelius?"
+
+Alyrus shot a keen glance at him, but the face of Lycias was guileless
+as that of a child.
+
+"She is well guarded. I can tell you that, and her brother Martius,
+with Alexis the Greek slave--who ever looked down upon me," he added,
+unguardedly, continuing in haste, as he perceived his mistake, "I
+should have said, who was impertinent to me one day, lie in a dungeon
+far in the earth below the temple. From there, is a private
+underground passageway to the Circus. They will never see the light of
+day again."
+
+"A faithless friend, a bitter enemy," was Lycias' thought as striding
+forth from the room, he joined Lucius.
+
+"It is worse than I feared," Lucius said. "There is little hope."
+
+"We shall see," responded the gladiator, thoughtfully. "Art thou
+willing to take great risks to save the son and daughter of Aurelius?"
+
+"For the sake of Lidia, who loves them, I am."
+
+"Await my instructions, then," and they parted.
+
+The next afternoon, Alyrus let Lycias through the dark prisons in
+which the Christians were herded like beasts. The guards opened every
+door at the sight of the symbol of priestly authority, the bronze
+lizard.
+
+Lycias, brave and strong man, grew sick at the dreadful suffering of
+delicate women, frail young girls accustomed to luxury, who were so
+suddenly thrown into surroundings and as they had never dreamed of.
+
+All because of their faith? Lycias began to wonder what the power was
+which enabled these feeble creatures to face death with calmness and
+courage.
+
+"There must be something in this religion of Jesus Christ which makes
+them forget themselves," he thought. "I will ask Lidia to tell me the
+secret."
+
+In one corner of a dark, damp cell, several persons were kneeling in
+prayer. The voice of an old man could be heard, petitioning God, for
+Christ's sake, to lead them through this valley of the shadow of death
+and bring them to the holy city in its beauty and into the presence of
+their Lord and Master.
+
+"There, that is Virgilia, the fair one, yonder, with face upraised,"
+said Alyrus.
+
+Lycias took a long look at the young girl, so that he would know her
+again.
+
+"Next to her is Hermione, and Octavia, widow of Aureus Cantus and her
+son. All three are there!"
+
+The laugh of the Moor was hideous in its coarseness. The young girls
+shivered and drew closer to Octavia.
+
+"Fear not," Octavia whispered, smiling at them. God had given her
+great courage.
+
+It was on this day that Alyrus, growing more confidential, told Lycias
+of the vessel lying in the River Tiber, ready to set sail as soon as
+he and Sahira went on board.
+
+"I have only to show them the symbol," he quoted, "and the sailors and
+officers are subject to my orders."
+
+That evening, the gladiator went to the cave, and finding Lidia with
+her father, ate the supper of coarse bread and goat's cheese with
+them.
+
+"Thou art accounted of much wisdom," he said to Lidia, "thy little
+head hath been ever steady on thy shoulders. Tell us what to do."
+
+"I am only a kitchen-maid," Lidia replied, blushing at the compliment,
+"but I should think that we might do thus."
+
+And a plan was made to their satisfaction, a very difficult plan
+involving great danger for all of them, perhaps death to Lycias and
+Lucius. It hung to a large degree on one thing which seemed to be
+unattainable.
+
+"With God, all things are possible," said wise little Lidia.
+
+"Let us pray," said the shepherd, and he and Lidia fell upon their
+knees on the grass in front of the cave, where even now in late
+Autumn, some tiny pink-tipped daisies were blooming.
+
+After a moment's hesitation, Lycias, who had never knelt to any but
+heathen gods, bent his knee also and uncovered his head in the
+presence of the unseen but powerful Ruler of the Universe.
+
+He and Lidia walked back to Rome together.
+
+As they parted, the big gladiator looked down into her earnest little
+face, with the clear, honest eyes.
+
+"I should like to learn about Christ," he said.
+
+"I will teach thee, Lycias, though I am but a weak follower of my
+Master."
+
+The next day, the one before the games were to take place in the
+Circus, two things happened.
+
+Alyrus, met again by Lycias, took him to the marble quarry by the
+Tiber, where, on the slowly flowing river, were moored great ships.
+There was a veritable forest of masts, cut from the strong cedars of
+Lebanon, and the groves of Mt. Hermon.
+
+"That is my ship, yonder," he said. As they emerged from the wharf,
+Alyrus was suddenly jostled by a rough-looking shepherd. Lycias caught
+the Moor in his arms to prevent his falling. The draperies Alyrus wore
+were disarranged and a small object fell, unnoticed by him, to the
+ground. Lycias placed his big, sandaled foot over this object.
+
+"Dog of a shepherd!" raved Alyrus, running after the man.
+
+Lycias stooped, picked up the small object and thrust it into his gown
+and soon reached the Moor by a few long strides.
+
+"Let him go!" he advised. "See, he is already almost out of sight."
+
+
+
+
+VIII.
+
+THE SYMBOL OF THE LIZARD.
+
+
+The games in the amphitheatre on this, the first day of November
+attracted an unusual number of persons.
+
+The emperor was there, with all his court, and the Vestals honored the
+games with their presence. Alyrus sat in a prominent place, with
+Sahira, former slave of Aurelius Lucanus and maid to Claudia, beside
+him. The dark-faced girl attracted much attention, so great was her
+beauty. Freed by special decree of Caesar, at the request of Lycidon,
+the priest, she had, by her father's desire been dressed like a
+fashionable girl of the period.
+
+"Dost see them coming?" asked Alyrus, eagerly. "Thine eyes are younger
+than mine. Dost see them yet?"
+
+"No, father. It is only the gladiators. Ah! that Lycias is a king
+among men! how strong! how noble!"
+
+A shade passed over the face of Alyrus the Moor.
+
+"Yes. A fine youth, yet--I wish that I had not lost that bronze
+lizard, Sahira. It bodes misfortune. Rome is not a safe place for us,
+in spite of the favor of Lycidon. We must go as soon as the games are
+over. Could it be possible that Lycias--"
+
+"Look, father, see Lycias, the conqueror. The emperor smiles upon him;
+a lady has thrown him a jewel. He bows. He is gone. How proud he must
+be!"
+
+"And now, they will come! See, yonder, Sahira, that group of white-
+robed men and women. Ha! hear the wild beasts, how they growl in their
+cages, pawing the bars, pleading to be let loose."
+
+Alyrus, wild with gratified hatred, his face as evil as that of a
+demon, leaned far over that he might lose nothing of the pitiful drama
+about to be enacted in the arena.
+
+The Christians came forward slowly, the women clinging together in
+their physical weakness, though their souls were strong in the
+strength of their faith.
+
+There was Octavia, leading Hermione and Virgilia. The widow's face was
+bright with a great light. There was Martius almost blinded by the
+contrast between the terrible darkness of the dungeon beneath
+Jupiter's temple, where he had spent four days and nights of misery,
+frantic when he thought of Virgilia and what her fate might be. He and
+Alexis had only a half hour before been brought through the
+underground passage-way to the cells where the Christians were
+waiting. He and Virgilia met here, on the sanded arena, where
+thousands of persons were gazing at them. Martius stepped to his
+sister's side, and put his arm around her. He stretched out his hand
+to clasp that of Hermione.
+
+"We shall meet again, yonder," he whispered, glancing upward.
+
+Now, just as they were being pushed into the arena, a strange thing
+had happened. A tall man, whom Martius had not recognized as Lycias,
+the gladiator, approached him and said: "In the arena, I will be near
+you, standing by one of the gates. If you can be calm enough in the
+moment of excitement, note where I am. When I give the signal, take
+your sister in your arms and follow me."
+
+He had said the same to Marcus, telling him to assist Octavia and
+Hermione and bear them forth.
+
+"Fear not," the stranger had said. "If your God has power, he will
+save you all out of the lion's mouth."
+
+Opening from the arena were several iron gates. Some of these served
+as entrances to the prisons or cells, where the Christians had been
+kept until the moment when they were commanded to come forth and
+perform their part in amusing the wicked emperor and his impious
+people. Others, four in number, were the entrances to passageways
+leading to the open air. There were used by the gladiators and by the
+employees whose duty it was to arrange the "scenery."
+
+Each gate was guarded, in the arena and at the outer exit, by a
+soldier, well armed.
+
+It was by one of these open gates that Martius and Marcus obeying the
+words of the gladiator, eager to seize any chance of escape, kept the
+women.
+
+The shouts of the multitude arose. "The Christians! The Christians! To
+the lions!"
+
+It was then that Alyrus shrank back and a deadly fear seized him. What
+had he done? What had he done? He remembered past kindnesses. He
+remembered how Sahira had been saved from a life of sorrow and shame
+by Aurelius Lucanus. How had he repaid him? By treachery and evil. For
+the first time in his life, Alyrus was conscious of sin. The
+Christian's God! Who was He? Could he avenge? A horrible coldness
+enveloped him. He could not move. Then he knew nothing more.
+
+But Sahira, not noticing that her father was ill, was looking down at
+the white group, now kneeling on the ground, while the white-haired
+elder prayed, with arms up-raised.
+
+There was another shout.
+
+Martius who had never felt cooler in his life, saw Lycias and touched
+Marcus on the arm.
+
+"Come," he said. "We are not far from the entrance. Quick!"
+
+Martius seized Virgilia in his arms; Marcus led his mother and
+Hermione.
+
+It was but a step, a moment and they were by the side of Lycias.
+Hermione was fainting. The gladiator lifted her as easily as if she
+were a child.
+
+"Follow me," said Lycias, striding before them.
+
+Dazed, scarcely knowing where they were or what they were doing, the
+women, clinging to the men; walked along the narrow way. In the
+circus, there were more shouts and cries. Hermione trembled in the
+strong arms of Lycias. He soothed her gently.
+
+"Pray to your God," he said, "that He may bring us safely through."
+
+"Who are you?"
+
+"I am Lycias, a friend of Christians, and I, too would learn of the
+faith."
+
+One great danger lay before them. It was the guard at the outer
+doorway, which opened on the street. He opposed their exit.
+
+"No one passes here," he said.
+
+"No one except me and my friends," responded the gladiator, boldly.
+"Dare you say to Lycias that he may not pass?"
+
+The soldier's face relaxed, but still he stood in the path.
+
+"To-day, I have specially strict orders lest some of the Christians
+escape. For my part, I would willingly let some of those poor
+creatures flee, but I value my head."
+
+"Perhaps thou wilt not gainsay me when thou seest my pass."
+
+Lycias held up the bronze lizard. Really, the big gladiator himself
+doubted the power of this symbol. He began to fear that they would all
+be forced back into the arena, which was sure death, not only for
+those whom he wished to save, but for himself, also. He would receive
+no mercy, even though he had been the idol of the people but an hour
+before and the air had rung with his praises. It would count him
+little, if he were caught helping the victims to escape.
+
+The soldier looked at him with staring eyes.
+
+"The symbol of the chief-priest," he whispered. "In the name of
+Jupiter, go by in peace, and may his wrath not fall upon me and mine."
+
+A few paces more, and the light of air of the blessed day bathed them
+in warmth and gave them courage.
+
+The gladiator set Hermione on her feet and wiped his dripping
+forehead.
+
+"Barely escaped," he muttered.
+
+No one was in this part of the street by the amphitheatre. All the
+interest was in the interior. So great had been the number of
+Christians that Octavia and the others in this little group had not
+been missed.
+
+Where they were going, they knew not; but that, for the moment, they
+were safe, they all thankfully realized and that they owed it to this
+big stranger with the honest face.
+
+"Let us, for one moment, thank God for our deliverance," said Octavia.
+
+Not daring to kneel, they turned their faces toward Heaven while
+Octavia breathed forth a fervent prayer.
+
+"We must hurry," said Lycias, leading the way to the Forum, to-day
+deserted for the greater amusements of the games, in which the
+Christians were the chief attraction.
+
+It was a long, hard walk to the marble wharf where the ship lay on
+which Alyrus and his daughter were soon to set sail, as Lycias well
+knew. His great fear was lest the Moor might have decided to go
+earlier and not wait for the conclusion of the games. Suppose they
+arrived at the wharf and found the ship gone? What should they do?
+
+Lycias' brain studied this problem. All these people were homeless,
+except the shepherd. Ah! that was it! If the ship had sailed, he would
+take these delicately nurtured women to the cave on the Campagna.
+
+It grew necessary for the men to help the women, who were very weary
+and weak from excitement; although Lycias did not wish to call any
+more attention to them than was necessary, for fear that the ladies,
+especially Octavia, who was well known, might be recognized. All the
+Romans had not gone to the Circus, some were sitting in the eating-
+places, and women were knitting in the doorways. Fortunately, it was
+getting toward evening, but that would be a signal for the thousands
+to leave the amphitheatre and scatter to their homes.
+
+There was need for haste.
+
+They approached the shores of the Tiber, turned into gold by the
+sunlight from the setting sun. The masts were visible now.
+
+Lycias gave a sigh of satisfaction as he saw, sitting on a grassy bank
+a man and a woman, who was heavily veiled. Standing beside them was a
+slender girl. It was Lidia, the daughter of the shepherd, who sprang
+forward and put her arms around her father's neck, while great tears
+of happiness rolled down her cheeks.
+
+"At last! at last! thou art come. Thanks be to our God."
+
+It had not been a difficult matter for the little scullery-maid to
+persuade the lawyer to venture upon a scheme as bold as it was
+doubtful in its outcome. Aurelius Lucanus was a broken man. He had
+lost his children. He had not known how dear they were to him until
+they disappeared. What mattered it if they were followers of
+Christians, members of a despised sect? They were his own, and he
+loved them. His business was ruined, his home deserted, the emperor no
+longer looked on him with favor. All was gone.
+
+In the room near by, Claudia lay weeping. She, too, was broken-
+hearted. Her daughter, her ambitions, all those things which formed
+her life had vanished as suddenly as the dew dries upon the green
+grass in midsummer.
+
+The lawyer was sitting in the garden. Bright yellow and scarlet
+dahlias bloomed around him; plumy lavender and rose colored asters
+nodded cheerfully in the chill breeze of this first of November. The
+water in the fountain rippled as musically as in those happy days, now
+gone.
+
+That morning early, Aurelius had gone again to the Senator Adrian
+Soderus, to whom Virgilia had so cruelly been betrothed. It was a sign
+that no longer was the lawyer held in high esteem, when he was kept
+waiting in the outer chamber, and a message was brought him by a young
+slave that the Senator could no longer receive him. He would have no
+dealings with the parents of Christians.
+
+Then he, too, knew their disgrace. It must have been noised--abroad in
+the city. Aurelius hurried home and sitting down where Claudia had
+rested, looking so beautiful, on her return from the amphitheatre on
+the Spring day which seemed so long ago, he buried his face in his
+hands.
+
+An awful fear haunted him. To-day had been fixed for the games. Could
+it be possible that Virgilia, so fair, so delicate, shielded all her
+life from the rough and hard things, protected and loved, was among
+those Christians whom Caesar had, in his cruelty, doomed to death?
+
+And Martius, where was he?
+
+He felt a light touch on his shoulder and looked up with dull eyes,
+clouded with misery and loneliness, into the dark, sallow face of the
+kitchen-maid, whom he had never noticed before until he saw her
+tenderly ministering to his wife.
+
+In a few concise sentences, she told him all.
+
+Virgilia and Martius were to be sacrificed, with hundreds of other
+Christians that afternoon. It was known that Octavia, and her children
+were also condemned. Lycias, the gladiator, would try to save them.
+Perhaps he could succeed; there was a little hope. In any case, he
+would try. Aurelius and Claudia, with herself, would go to a quiet
+place near the marble quarry, and wait for them. If they did not come,
+all was lost, and there remained nothing but to return to this house.
+If they came, there was a chance of escape for them all. She told him
+of the ship belonging to Alyrus, his porter, now a freedman. It was he
+who had wrought the mischief. If possible--God only knew!--they would
+all sail away together. Whither, who could tell? Away from Rome, away
+from all this trouble and sorrow.
+
+Lidia possessed a lovely voice, thrilling sweet. As she talked, the
+lawyer's brain cleared. He was more himself than he had been since the
+children had disappeared. Now, he knew the worst. Sometimes certainty,
+even though bad, is better than the agony of suspense. There was a
+chance, and if they escaped--a thought came to him.
+
+"Thou wilt dress thy Lady."
+
+Lidia nodded.
+
+"And gather together the jewels. Bring the diadem sent by the emperor
+to Virgilia and the necklace, the gift of Adrian."
+
+Even in his anguish of soul, the lawyer smiled, grimly. When the
+Senator sent to reclaim his valuable gift, he would not find it. At
+least, he would have contributed that much to Virgilia's future
+happiness. His wealth was so great that he would not miss the game.
+
+"I will gather together all the jewels, my master, also those of the
+Lady Claudia, and will hide them in my bosom. No one will imagine that
+the kitchen-maid carries such treasures."
+
+"A quick-witted girl," muttered Aurelius, "and now for my part. If the
+gods please, they will escape, and we shall be happy again. If not--
+then we will never return to this house."
+
+It took him until noon to examine the papers in his strong-box. Three
+of the documents he placed in his toga. The others, he burned.
+
+It was a long and difficult matter to bring the Lady Claudia, in her
+weakness, to the place agreed upon. Here, they waited, while the sun,
+burning hot in Rome even in October, beat upon them pitilessly, for
+there was no shade here.
+
+The whole story had not been told Claudia, who was saved that
+suffering. She knew, only, that they were to set sail in a ship and
+leave this city where she had been so happy. She was utterly
+apathetic, caring nothing where they went.
+
+Losing hope, as time passed, Aurelius grew more and more silent. Even
+Lidia began to fear that the worst had happened. The sun sank and the
+vessels were shrouded in shadow. No sound was heard save the
+monotonous singing of a sailor, or the creaking of a sail.
+
+Then around the corner came the forlorn little group, and Lidia threw
+herself in her father's arms, while her eyes sought Lycias, who smiled
+at her.
+
+The rest was easy. The bronze lizard worked like magic. No one
+inquired where was the dark man with the gold rings in his ears. The
+vessel had been chartered and paid for by the priest of Jupiter. The
+orders were to sail, when the symbol was shown them. As the tide was
+high and the wind fresh, the sails were raised and just as the people
+were swarming out of the Circus, just when the Emperor in his golden
+chair, was being carried to his marble palace, the fugitives, scarcely
+knowing where they were and not caring whither they should go, sat on
+the deck, breathed in the cool air of life, watched the stars come
+out, one by one, and thanked God for delivering them out of the mouth
+of the lion.
+
+Day after day they sailed over a blue sea, where the waves danced and
+broke into froth, which in its turn, dissolved into a million
+jewel-points of colors as brilliant as those flashed by the diamonds
+in Virgilia's diadem, the gift of the emperor.
+
+Among the papers brought away by the lawyer was the deed of a small
+villa on the Island of Cyprus. It had belonged to his father and a
+revenue was received each year from the steward who cultivated the
+vineyard.
+
+To Cyprus, the vessel went, landing there a fortnight later, for the
+winds had been favorable, and they had made a quick voyage.
+
+On the broad terraces, commanding a view of the sea, with passing
+vessels, Claudia lay on a couch, daily gaining strength. She held
+Virgilia's hand as if she could never let it go, while the young girl
+told her of Jesus and His love, and read to her the precious letter of
+Paul, the Apostle, a copy of which Martius had made in the days of his
+exile.
+
+Here, they heard of the martyrdom of the Apostle, and his burial in
+the vineyard of Lucia, the Roman matron. He had "finished his course"
+and "kept the faith," and had gone to receive his "crown of
+righteousness."
+
+As the days passed, peace and happiness came to them all. The
+gladiator, forgetting his prowess in the arena, worked diligently in
+the vineyard, while Lucius guarded the flocks of sheep, grazing
+beneath the light-green olive-trees. And Lidia cooked for them in a
+small stone cottage, singing as she worked.
+
+Martius and Marcus, grown to be men, worked also, and when the labors
+of the day were over, sat on the terrace in the moonlight, while
+Hermione and Virgilia talked with them, and Claudia and Octavia smiled
+at their happiness.
+
+One thing, they did not know; that Alyrus, the Moor, justly punished
+for his misdeeds, never spoke again after the games in the Circus. He
+died soon afterward. Sahira, robbed of her freedom by the jealousy of
+a woman high in favor in the imperial court, who envied her beauty and
+the favor of the emperor, sank again into slavery, and as the years
+passed, became a drudge in the palace.
+
+When the sun crept lower to the waves of the sea, and as the darkness
+shrouded all nature, young and old knelt on the terrace and prayed
+that God would keep them safe.
+
+And Aurelius, the lawyer, with Claudia, his wife, knelt also, for
+there were no statues of the gods in this home set among the trailing
+festoons of the vineyard on the Island of Cyprus.
+
+[FINIS.]
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Virgilia, by Felicia Buttz Clark
+
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